Events & News - June 28
Events of Interest to CSGA
Drawdown Intro / Greenbelt Climate Action Network
Jun 28, 7PM - Greenbelt Community Center, Greenbelt
News, Information, and Opinion of Interest to CSGA
County Executive Schuh vetoes plastic foam ban - Capital Gazette
County Executive Steve Schuh vetoed the recently passed polystyrene foam ban. This means the council will have to override the veto with at least a 5-2 vote.
Environmentalists and historic preservationists are fighting a proposed natural gas compressor across the Potomac from Mount Vernon - The Washington Post
The home of the first president is fighting Dominion Energy’s plans to build near the banks of the Potomac.
Appeals court issues stay of permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline in W.Va. | roanoke.com
A federal appeals court issued a stay Thursday delaying construction of parts of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia.
Mountain Valley Pipeline construction should be stopped in Virginia, too, lawyers say | wvgazettemail.com
The Mountain Valley Pipeline can’t continue building in streams and wetlands in Virginia, lawyers for citizen groups and environmental organizations told a federal appeals court Tuesday.
Old growth forest in Bath to become encampment in pipeline fight | richmond.com
Opponents of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline are setting up camp in the shadow of an old-growth forest in Bath County that could become a major battleground.
City Climate Change Suits Against Big Oil Tossed by Judge - Bloomberg
BP Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. escaped blame for the public costs of global warming when a U.S. judge ruled that lawsuits by cities against oil companies aren’t the answer to climate change.
4 Decades Out of Date, Federal Coal Lease Program's Impact Statement Lives On | InsideClimate News
A federal appeals court has dealt a setback to environmentalists trying to force the Interior Department to reconsider the climate impacts of its coal leasing program, one of the world’s biggest sources of global warming pollution.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the department was under no obligation to redo the program’s environmental impact studies, which were conducted four decades ago when the science of climate change was in its infancy.
In the Arctic, the Old Ice Is Disappearing - The New York Times
This winter, the Arctic Ocean hit a record low for ice older than five years. Scientists say that summers in the Arctic may be ice-free in the future.
Washington State Has the Greatest Fuel Cost Savings for an Electric Vehicle Versus a Gasoline Vehicle | Department of Energy
EVs Could Save California Billions in Energy Storage Investment | Greentech Media
Strategic EV charging could ease the “duck curve” more than California’s energy storage mandate, according to DOE researchers.
Utility regulators: No easy road to supporting EVs -- www.eenews.net
Utility regulators face a host of difficulties as they pave the way for electric vehicles, including skeptical lawmakers, hostile consumer advocates and a technology landscape that's moving way too fast.
The Controversy Surrounding Liberty Utilities' Home Storage Pilot | Greentech Media
Liberty Utilities is seeking approval for a 1,000 unit customer-sited battery pilot, to prove out the notion that distributed assets can help customers while averting more expensive traditional infrastructure investments.
Most American homes are still heated with fossil fuels. It’s time to electrify. - Vox
Replacing all those natural gas furnaces is going to be tricky.
The Economics of Electrifying Buildings - Rocky Mountain Institute
Europe's first solar panel recycling plant opens in France | Thomson Reuters Foundation
The plant is set to recycle 1,300 tonnes of solar panels in 2018 - virtually all solar panels that will reach their end of life in France this year.
As Nuclear Struggles, A New Generation Of Engineers Is Motivated By Climate Change : NPR
The number of people graduating with nuclear engineering degrees has more than tripled since 2001. Many say they are motivated by climate change.
Leach natgas pipe, after West Virginia blast, to resume operations early July | Reuters
TransCanada Corp's Columbia Gas Transmission (TCO) unit has estimated that the section of the Leach Xpress natural gas pipeline, damaged in a blast on June 7 in Marshall County, West Virginia, will resume operations early in July.
ETP says its pipeline leaked into creek near Philadelphia : WHYY
Officials installed a boom along the north side of the creek to prevent the spread of gasoline after receiving reports of a sheen on the water last week.
Train derailment leaks crude oil, forces mandatory evacuation in Iowa | Des Moines Register
A 32-car freight train carrying crude oil derailed early Friday, forcing the evacuation of some Iowans in northwest Iowa.
Extreme weather: Massive rains are causing more flash flooding, and experts say it's getting worse - The Washington Post
As air temperatures have warmed, record rainfalls across the Eastern United States in May led to deluges in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and the Great Lakes region.
How the Koch Brothers Are Killing Public Transit Projects Around the Country - The New York Times
In communities across the country, the billionaire conservatives are waging a sophisticated fight against new rail projects and bus routes.
Maryland’s proposed expansion of Beltway and I-270 ranks among top U.S. ‘boondoggles,’ group says - The Washington Post
Climate Change Sparked the Border Migration Crisis | Daily Beast
The Northern Triangle’s agricultural crisis has been more than a decade in the making.
Texas region with ‘tender age’ shelters face disaster declaration with torrential rains, flooding – ThinkProgress
A disaster declaration has been issued this week in an area near Texas shelters.
Why Abolishing ICE Is Good Climate Policy - In These Times
The war on terror has unleashed unspeakable cruelty. We must not rely on its institutions to fix the climate crisis.
Climate Refugees: No International Definition, Recognition Or Protections : NPR
They're known as 'climate refugees.' But there's not even an international definition for them, let alone recognition or protection.
Plant trees in refugee camps to stop forest loss and conflict, U.N. says | Thompson Reuters Foundation
Four out of five people who flee their homes rely on firewood for cooking and heating, which is a major cause of deforestation in surrounding areas.
Kenyan activists protest plans for coal-fired power plant | AP
Kenyan activists on Tuesday protested the plans for a joint venture between the Kenyan and Chinese governments to mine coal and open a coal-fired power plant near the Indian Ocean coast, saying it will have devastating effect on the environment and health of the local population.