CLIMATE: President Trump will sign an executive order today that rolls back Obama-era climate change initiatives, but it’s unlikely to restore coal mining jobs. (Washington Post, New York Times)
ALSO:
• Former EPA administrator Gina McCarthy calls Trump’s order “dangerous” and “embarrassing to us and our businesses on a global scale.” (Mother Jones)
• Governors and mayors in the Northwest say they will move forward with regional climate change efforts, regardless of President Trump’s executive order. (Northwest Public Radio)
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COAL:
• The CEO of coal giant Murray Energy says he told President Trump to “temper” his expectations about restoring coal mining jobs, because “he can’t bring them back.” (The Guardian)
• A San Antonio utility says it will stick with plans to close a coal-fired power plant, regardless of whether the Trump administration scraps the Clean Power Plan. (San Antonio Business Journal)
• Coal miners in Ohio are hopeful that President Trump will revive the industry, despite poor odds. (Columbus Dispatch)
PIPELINES: The Dakota Access Pipeline is filled with oil and will soon be placed into service. (The Hill)
FRACKING: A company is continuing a fight to drill for natural gas on land it owns in Pennsylvania, despite having a federal lawsuit dismissed. (Associated Press)
BIOFUEL: Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is raising ethical questions by working for the Trump administration to reform the Renewable Fuel Standard, while also being the majority investor in a Texas-based oil refining company. (New York Times)
RENEWABLES:
• Clean energy employs more people than fossil fuels in 41 states, according to a Sierra Club analysis, making it “clear that Donald Trump is attacking clean energy jobs purely in order to boost the profits of fossil fuel billionaires.” (ThinkProgress)
• Lawmakers in Nebraska are expressing a growing interest in Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing, which provides long-term financing options for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. (Midwest Energy News)
SOLAR:
• Solar industry jobs doubled in the Cleveland, Ohio area last year, while coal employment falls in the state. (Midwest Energy News)
• A net-metering bill that could help restore the rooftop solar industry in Nevada has its first hearing in a state Assembly subcommittee. (Review-Journal)
• How Florida solar advocates defeated a misleading anti-solar amendment last Fall. (Yale Climate Connections)
• Ikea is building the largest rooftop solar array in Illinois, with a capacity of 2.91 megawatts. (Midwest Energy News)
WIND: Unless North Carolina enacts aggressive renewable energy goals, the state’s first offshore wind farm is still a decade or more away despite a lease auction earlier this month. (Southeast Energy News)
EFFICIENCY: Federal energy efficiency programs helped commercial buildings in Los Angeles save up to 30 percent on energy, representing about 145,000 metric tons in carbon dioxide emissions a year, according to a recent study. (Washington Post)
COMMENTARY:
• Wind energy is good for the U.S. economy and will employ nearly 250,000 people by 2020, says the CEO of the American Wind Energy Association. (The Hill)
• President Trump can’t help the coal industry because it’s facing an economic problem, not a regulatory one, according to an editorial in the Boston Globe.
• The co-founder of Sunrun gives advice to the U.S. solar industry. (Greentech Media)
• Can innovation save nuclear power? (Vox)