Climate Law & Liability - 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.

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.

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.

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.

Minnesota Eyes Permitting Reform for Clean Energy Amid Gridlock in Congress

By Kristoffer Tigue — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 18:00:00 +0000

Bills meant to streamline federal permit approvals have stalled, but states are already passing their own measures. That could be key to speeding up the energy transition, experts say.

By Kristoffer Tigue

Minnesota lawmakers are holding a hearing today to debate a proposed bill that would enact a series of changes to the way the state permits wind and solar farms, as well as the transmission lines needed to deliver the electricity they produce.

Tribes Meeting With Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Describe Harms Uranium Mining Has Had on Them, and the Threats New Mines Pose

By Noel Lyn Smith — Sun, 10 Mar 2024 09:05:00 +0000

As spiking uranium prices drive a surge of proposals for new mines, the Navajo Nation joined the Ute Mountain Ute, Havasupai, Northern Arapaho and Oglala Sioux tribes in a commission hearing with federal officials to push back against mining on and near their lands.

By Noel Lyn Smith

Members of five tribes told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that Indigenous communities in the United States continue to suffer from the legacy of uranium mining and will face a persisting threat if new proposals for uranium extraction in the West are authorized during a hearing on Feb. 28 about mining to support the nation’s nuclear industry.

Wyoming Considers Relaxing Its Carbon Capture Standards for Electric Utilities, Scrambling Political Alliances on Climate Change and Energy

By Jake Bolster — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

A bill lowering the amount of CO2 a utility must capture at its power plants has drawn opposition from two groups usually diametrically opposed to each other’s priorities—environmentalists and climate change skeptics.

By Jake Bolster

As Wyoming nears the end of its 2024 legislative session, clean energy advocates and climate change skeptics find themselves in an uneasy situation: an alliance. Both groups oppose legislation that would weaken and delay the state’s carbon capture requirements, albeit for wildly different reasons.

Climate Rules Reach Finish Line, in Weakened Form, as Biden Races Clock

By Marianne Lavelle — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 10:10:00 +0000

Allies have pressured his administration on corporate climate risk disclosure, power plant and vehicle emissions regulations, while foes wait for their chance to roll back rules.

By Marianne Lavelle

This spring was meant to bring a flowering of climate action by President Joe Biden’s administration. But the heat of the 2024 political season has scorched some of its most ambitious plans.

Q&A: Maryland’s First Chief Sustainability Officer Takes on the State’s Climate and Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Goals

By Aman Azhar — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 09:55:00 +0000

Meghan Conklin will collaborate with federal and state agencies on efforts to design, implement and track progress toward the state’s environmental and climate targets.

By Aman Azhar

Meghan Conklin is no stranger to corridors of powers. A California transplant, she cut her teeth in Washington, D.C., where she spent more than 20 years serving in various roles in Congress and the federal government. As a staffer, she assisted committees and legislators on issues such as climate change, environment, and energy policy in Maryland and nationally.