Washington Post
Mar. 12, 2019
The
2020 Trump administration budget
overview document, released on Monday, doesn’t even bring up the subject of climate change in laying out the president’s major priorities.
Yet as in prior years, it telegraphs what the U.S. government thinks of climate change -- mostly by proposing, in the fine print released individually by separate agencies, numerous cuts to climate research, adaptation, and renewable energy programs.
Congress in past years has largely said no thank you to the administration's proposed cuts. Still, at a time when climate scientists globally say there’s barely a decade to slash emissions, and when the administration’s own scientists say effects within the United States are getting worse, the Trump administration is barely even shrugging at mounting concern over climate change.
More . . .
Washington Post
Mar. 13, 2019
The United Nations released its sixth
Global Environment Outlook report
on Wednesday. Its main message, delivered across 740 pages, is straightforward: Human action is degrading the Earth and its ecosystems, and conditions will worsen if people do not take “unprecedented action” to try to reverse the situation.
Those actions, according to the report, include reducing land degradation, limiting pollution, improving water management, and mitigating climate change. The report also calls for environmental considerations to be “mainstreamed” into all social and economic decisions — so that the environment, in other words, is viewed not as its own issue, but central to all policymaking at all governmental levels. If drastic action is not taken, the report warns that, among other things, millions could die prematurely from air pollution and from deadly infectious diseases from water pollution by 2050.
More . . .
Utility Dive
Mar. 7, 2019
The Department of Energy (DOE) plans to complete 13 product efficiency standards this year out of a list of 16 for which it has missed legal rulemaking deadlines, a spokesperson told Utility Dive Thursday.
That morning, DOE Assistant Secretary Dan Simmons told a House committee the agency would complete "some" of the pending rulemakings this year, which cover efficiency standards for appliances from refrigerators to washing machines and water heaters.
An agency spokesperson later said via email that DOE "plans to take action in the coming months on 13 of the 16," including standards on "clothes dryers, cooking products, and electric motors," but did not provide further details.
NEW IN CONGRESS
Sponsor: Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL)
Introduced: Mar. 7, 2019
Sponsor: Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA)
Latest Action: Approvedby Committee on Education & Labor, 26-20 Feb. 26, 2019
Sponsor: Rep. Matt Cartwright
Latest Action: Passed House by voice vote Mar. 5, 2019
AGENCY ACTION
FTC
Mar. 14, 2019
The Commission proposes amending the Energy Labeling Rule (“Rule”) to make the Rule easier to use by reorganizing several sections, amending language to increase clarity, and eliminating several obsolete provisions. The proposed amendments have no substantive impact on the Rule's requirements. The Commission seeks comment regarding the proposed amendments and invites any suggestions to improve the Rule's format, organization, and clarity.
DOE
Mar. 8, 2019
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is publishing this final rule to correct references to the compliance date for energy conservation standards for ceiling fan light kits (CFLKs) and correct inaccurate cross-references to these standards. On May 16, 2018, DOE published a final rule that amended the energy conservation standards for CFLKs, which contained some inadvertent errors. This document corrects those errors.
DOE
Mar. 8, 2019
In this notice, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is forecasting the representative average unit costs of five residential energy sources for the year 2019 pursuant to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (Act). The five sources are electricity, natural gas, No. 2 heating oil, propane, and kerosene.
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