Bloomberg
Oct. 17, 2018
The Energy Department is moving—slowly—on home and commercial appliance energy efficiency standards, but indefinite delays remain for more than a dozen other appliance rules.
The Department moved efficiency standards for three products—small electric motors, walk-in freezers, and commercial ice makers—from its long-term agenda to pre-rule stages, but 14 appliance standards remain in limbo, according to the fall regulatory agenda issued Oct. 17.
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Energy Dept.
October 18, 2018
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced its Solar Decathlon student competition to challenge collegiate teams to design and build high-performance, energy-efficient buildings. The winners of the competition, which spans 2019 and 2020, are the teams that best blend design excellence with smart energy efficiency and renewable energy production.
Teams interested in participating must submit an application and $100 application fee by November 6, 2018, at 5 p.m.
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Washington Post
Oct. 17, 2018
Tornado frequency has increased across the eastern third of the United States and especially across the mid-South, according to a new study in the journal Climate and Atmospheric Science.
While tornadoes have increased in the East, there has been a notable decrease in twister activity across a large chunk of the Southern Plains of Texas and Oklahoma as well as the high plains of Colorado. These focal zones are among a broad downward trend across the Plains — historically known as tornado alley.
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Roll Call
Oct. 17, 2018
Roll Call’s analysis shows that a majority of the 20 congressional districts facing the highest risk from rising sea levels, more frequent and severe storms and other climate effects by the end of the century are represented by lawmakers — mostly Republicans — who tend to vote against measures to slow global warming, such as efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
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The Coalition for a Sustainable Built Environment has launched a campaign to oppose the EPA’s proposed
Affordable Clean Energy rule
that critics say will undermine efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the environment.
The building industry letter states that, “Abandoning commitments to reduce fossil fuel generation will make it much more difficult for the building sector to continue reducing GHG emissions. Worse, by attempting to reduce the cost of fossil fuel at the expense of renewable sources like wind and solar, the ACE creates powerful financial disincentives for the economy to move towards cleaner forms of energy.”
The letter is open until October 25; the EPA is accepting comments on its proposal until Oct. 31. To sign the letter,
click here.
NEW IN CONGRESS
Sponsor: Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI)
Introduced: Oct. 11, 2018
S. 3589 amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 by establishing a program to support the modernization, renovation, or repair of career and technical education facilities (including energy efficiency improvements), and to enable schools serving grades 6 through 12 that are located in rural areas or that serve Native American students to remodel or build new facilities to provide STEM classrooms and laboratories and support high-speed internet, and for other purposes.
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