Politics & Policy - Inside Climate News

Virginia Lawmakers Try to Use Budget to Rejoin RGGI – But Success Is Questionable

By Hannah Chanatry — Sat, 16 Mar 2024 09:05:00 +0000

State lawmakers added an amendment to the budget bill demanding the state rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative but draft changes could prompt a veto from Gov. Youngkin.

By Hannah Chanatry

Closed-door negotiations during Virginia’s budget process may have undercut lawmakers’ plans to rejoin a regional emissions reduction program.

Controversial Maryland Data Center Bill Tests Governor’s Climate Credentials, Environmentalists Say

By Aman Azhar — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 18:45:00 +0000

Governor Moore’s administration is supporting legislation to exempt data centers from environmental scrutiny. Advocates say that amounts to reneging on previous climate promises.

By Aman Azhar

“We endorsed Wes Moore primarily because of his forward-facing climate agenda. We liked what he said and his level of commitment. And that’s why this bill has been so difficult,” said Kim Coble, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters (LCV), choosing her words with caution.

As Conflict Rages On, Israel and Gaza’s Environmental Fates May Be Intertwined

By Kiley Price — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 18:32:20 +0000

Sewage from Gaza is inundating the Mediterranean Sea, and may soon flow into Israel, reports say.

By Kiley Price

The Israel-Hamas war has claimed the lives of more than 30,000 people. Like all armed conflicts, it has also come with an environmental toll.

How Clean Energy Tax Breaks Could Fuel a US Wood Burning Boom

By James Bruggers — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 09:05:00 +0000

While the forest biomass industry maneuvers to try to take advantage of new federal climate policy, environmental advocates are pushing back and trying to protect trees.

By James Bruggers

Businesses that burn wood to produce energy have struggled in the United States to compete economically, even as wood-pellet exports to Europe from states like Alabama and North Carolina have soared with overseas subsidies.

California Votes to Consider Health and Environment in Future Energy Planning

By Emma Foehringer Merchant — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 08:30:00 +0000

State regulators approved a plan to determine how to weigh “non-energy benefits” in decisions about energy resources, as the state pursues 100 percent zero-carbon electricity by 2045.

By Emma Foehringer Merchant

The California Energy Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to begin a process to incorporate the value of “non-energy benefits,” such as health impacts and job creation, in future decisions about the state’s energy mix.

Pennsylvania’s Governor Wants to Cut Power Plant Emissions With His Own Cap-and-Invest Program

By Jon Hurdle — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 22:00:00 +0000

Gov. Josh Shapiro promises to pull the state out of a broader cap-and-invest cooperative involving 11 Northeast states, known as RGGI, if lawmakers approve his plan. But Shapiro promised to press on with his appeal of a court ruling that effectively blocked RGGI membership, until his own plan is passed.

By Jon Hurdle

Pennsylvania would run its own cap-and-invest program for cutting carbon emissions from power plants and increase its use of renewable fuels if lawmakers approve two bills outlined by Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday.

MIT’s Sloan School Launches Ambitious Climate Center to Aid Policymakers

By Phil McKenna — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 09:05:00 +0000

Environmentalists welcome the new initiative, but worry about potential funding and influence from fossil companies.

By Phil McKenna

An ambitious new climate change initiative at MIT’s Sloan School of Management seeks to harness the collective knowledge of the university to help tackle the climate crisis by connecting current and future climate research to policy.

Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, Shouts Down Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro Over a Proposed ‘Hydrogen Hub’

By Kiley Bense — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 17:20:00 +0000

Activists want more public participation in a proposal to produce hydrogen in southeastern Pennsylvania. Touted by the Biden administration as “crucial” to the nation’s climate goals, advocates fear the federally-funded project will create more pollution and further burden environmental justice communities.

By Kiley Bense

Protestors disrupted a public meeting on Monday about a federally-funded “hydrogen hub” to be located in southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware that would produce, transport and store the controversial fuel at sites across the region.

Across the Nation, Lawmakers Aim to Ban Lab-Grown Meat

By Wyatt Myskow, Lee Hedgepeth — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 09:10:00 +0000

Restricting the sale of protein cultured from animal cells, developed as a way to raise meat without the climate impacts of livestock, has become a trendy right-wing legislative focus in states from Arizona to Florida.

By Wyatt Myskow, Lee Hedgepeth

Months in jail and thousands of dollars in fines and legal fees—those are the consequences Alabamians and Arizonans could soon face for selling cell-cultured meat products that could cut into the profits of ranchers, farmers and meatpackers in each state.

Maryland Lawmakers Remain Uncommitted to Ending Subsidies for Trash Incineration, Prompting Advocate Concern

By Aman Azhar — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 09:05:00 +0000

Community members have urged lawmakers from the House and Senate to put the bill to a vote ahead of the March 18 deadline.

By Aman Azhar

Within a year of moving to Cherry Hill, a majority Black neighborhood on Baltimore’s southern tip, Shanae Thomas noticed her asthma—a health problem she was born with—had gradually worsened.