COSTS OF CARBON: The Bureau of Land Management is calculating the social costs of carbon emissions from mining oil, gas and coal from public lands, according to an internal memo. (Greenwire)
EMISSIONS: U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increased 2 percent between 2012 and 2013, according to new EPA data, though emissions were still well below 2005 levels. (The Hill)
WIND: Colorado led the nation in wind energy manufacturing jobs in 2014, adding 22,500 for a total of 73,000, according to the American Wind Energy Association. (The Denver Post)
COAL: Murray Energy will lay off the 214 workers at three West Virginia coal mines and blames the lost jobs on President Obama’s environmental policies. (The Hill)
NUCLEAR: A group of South Florida mayors have called on residents to fight expansion of a nuclear power plant near Miami that would place 100-foot tall transmissions lines through some of the area’s toniest neighborhoods. (Reuters)
GRID: The California Public Utilities Commission’s president said the state’s grid is comfortably managing solar and wind energy that reached as much as 40 percent last year and could handle 100 percent. (Bloomberg)
OIL EXPORTS: Three senior Republican senators pitched lifting the 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports on Wednesday, arguing it would help U.S. allies break their reliance on Russia and the Middle East. (The Hill)
ETHANOL: Hillary Clinton met with representatives of Iowa’s ethanol industry Wednesday as part of the first trip of her campaign for the president. (The Hill)
INVESTMENT:
• Only one of the world’s five most successful renewable energy business leaders resides in the U.S., according to a new analysis. (Oilprice.com)
• Harvard University’s $36 billion endowment—the largest in the world—may finance more than 100 million tons of “potential carbon dioxide emissions,” a new report says. (Mashable)
DIVESTMENT: Calls for divestment from fossil fuels prompted Harvard’s president to convene a panel Wednesday led by seven experts on climate policies and energy sources, but only one gave a full-throated endorsement of divestment. (ClimateWire)
POLITICS:
• A coalition of environmental, civil rights and progressive groups aims to register a million climate-conscious voters by election day. (Politico)
• Al Gore and the Tea Party sound as if they’re reading from the same script in their shared push back against utilities’ “war on solar.” (Bloomberg)
TEXAS: State support for Texas’ booming wind power industry moved closer to an end Tuesday when the state Senate voted to shut down the renewable energy program. (The Dallas Morning News)