Friday, May 27, 2016

G7 Ise-Shima Summit May 26-27

 

This is the last post.

WIMS has now closed all operations.

I will be blogging about broken government and related matters @

http://jpmcjefferson.blogspot.com

<> G7 Ise-Shima Summit May 26-27 - The G7 Ise-Shima Leaders' Declaration includes a section on "Climate Change, Energy, Environment" [see page 26] -- ". . .we reaffirm not only our continuous commitment in our global efforts against climate change, but also our determination to maintain the momentum of COP21 and ensure swift and successful implementation of the Paris Agreement including the long-term aims on mitigation, adaptation, and finance. . ."

Thursday, May 26, 2016

House moves toward conference committee on sweeping energy bill

<> House moves toward conference committee on sweeping energy bill - The House took a step Wednesday toward forming a conference committee on a wide-ranging energy bill -- lawmakers voted 241-178 to pass an amended version of the Senate's energy bill -- the House replaced the Senate measure with its own energy legislation passed last year and attached to it numerous other, mostly Republican, energy and natural resources bills

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

House Clears Monumental Update to Chemical Safety Laws

<> House Clears Monumental Update to Chemical Safety Laws - The House of Representatives today (5/24/16) passed a landmark bicameral, bipartisan overhaul of our chemical safety standards -- the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act passed the House by a vote of 403 to 12 -- for over three years, the committee has examined the Toxic Substances Control Act and has conducted nine hearings examining all aspects of the laws shortcomings -- the bill passed is the product of months of bipartisan House and Senate negotiations.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

EPA's Newest Environmental Justice Strategy Available for Public Review

<> EPA's Newest Environmental Justice Strategy Available for Public Review - Article by Charles Lee is the Deputy Associate Assistant Administrator for Environmental Justice at EPA about the EJ 2020 Action Agenda (or EJ 2020).

Monday, May 23, 2016

Lessons Learned From Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident - Phase 2 Report

<> Lessons Learned From Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident - Phase 2 Report - The Phase 2 report from the National Academies of Sciences provides findings and recommendations for improving U.S. nuclear plant security and spent fuel storage as well as re-evaluates conclusions from previous Academies studies on spent fuel storage safety and security -- the report from Phase 1 of this study was released in July 2014. 

Friday, May 20, 2016

Humans damaging the environment faster than it can recover, UN finds

<> Humans damaging the environment faster than it can recover, UN finds -Degradation of the world's natural resources by humans is rapidly outpacing the planet's ability to absorb the damage, meaning the rate of deterioration is increasing globally, the most comprehensive environmental study ever undertaken by the UN has found.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Warming due to carbon dioxide jumped by half in 25 years

<> Warming due to carbon dioxide jumped by half in 25 years - Human activity  has increased the direct warming effect of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere by 50 percent above pre-industrial levels during the past 25 years, according to NOAA's 10th Annual Greenhouse Gas Index -- In 2015, the global average CO2 concentration reached 399 parts per million, increasing by a record amount of almost 3 ppm -- from the end of the Ice Age to the beginning of the industrial era, atmospheric carbon dioxide remained remarkably stable at 278 ppm.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Future power sector carbon dioxide emissions depend on status of Clean Power Plan

<> Future power sector carbon dioxide emissions depend on status of Clean Power Plan - Trends in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from electricity generation through 2040 depend significantly on whether or not the Clean Power Plan (CPP) rule issued last August by the U.S. EPA is implemented -- analysis in the U.S. Energy Information Administration Annual Energy Outlook 2016 (AEO2016) examines what the CPP could mean for the fuels used to generate electricity, especially coal -- two AEO2016 cases: The Reference case assumes implementation of EPA's final CPP rule, while the No CPP case assumes the rule, enforcement of which is currently on hold pending judicial review, does not ever come into effect.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

D.C. Appeals court delays action on Obama's carbon emissions plan

<> D.C. Appeals court delays action on Obama's carbon emissions plan 5/116/16. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Monday delayed consideration of a challenge by 27 states to President Barack Obama's federal regulations to curb carbon dioxide emissions mainly from coal-fired plants, meaning a decision will not come until after the November presidential election -- it will now hear the case on Sept. 27 -- originally scheduled to hear the case on June 2.

Monday, May 16, 2016

FACT SHEET: U.S.-Nordic Collaboration on Climate Change, the Arctic, and Clean Energy

<> FACT SHEET: U.S.-Nordic Collaboration on Climate Change, the Arctic, and Clean Energy - The leaders of the United States, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden marked another major milestone in their leadership in the fight against climate change with the release of a U.S.- Nordic Leader Summit Joint Statement.

Friday, May 13, 2016

USDA Releases Results of New Survey on Honey Bee Colony Health

<> USDA Releases Results of New Survey on Honey Bee Colony Health - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) released the results of its first ever Honey Bee Colony Loss survey -- queried more than 20,000 honey beekeepers about the number of colonies, colonies lost, colonies added, and colonies affected by certain stressors and gleans state-level estimates on key honey bee health topics -- developed as part of the " National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators" released last summer

Thursday, May 12, 2016

EPA Releases First-Ever Standards to Cut Methane Emissions from the Oil and Gas Sector

<> EPA Releases First-Ever Standards to Cut Methane Emissions from the Oil and Gas Sector - EPA announced comprehensive steps to address methane emissions from both new and existing sources in the oil and gas sector -- for new, modified and reconstructed sources, EPA is finalizing a set of standards that will reduce methane, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and toxic air emissions in the oil and natural gas industry; for existing sources, EPA is starting the process to control those emissions by issuing for public comment an Information Collection Request (ICR) that requires companies to provide the information that will be necessary for EPA to reduce methane emissions from existing oil and gas sources.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Developing economies in Asia lead projected growth in world energy use

<> Developing economies in Asia lead projected growth in world energy use - World energy consumption is projected to increase by 48% over the next three decades, led by strong increases in the developing world—especially in Asia, according to "International Energy Outlook 2016" (IEO2016), released today by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) -- IEO2016 presents updated projections for world energy markets through 2040. 

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

White House On Efforts Re: Public & Private Building Codes & Standards

<> White House On Efforts Re: Public & Private Building Codes & Standards - Fact Sheet: The impacts of climate change – including hotter temperatures, more extreme weather, sea level rise, and more severe drought – pose significant challenges for buildings and homes, many of which were not built to withstand the future impacts of climate change -- White House hosted a Conference on Resilient Building Codes

Monday, May 09, 2016

States, Cities, Groups Reject SCOTUS MATS Attacks

<> States, Cities, EDF and Others Ask Supreme Court to Reject the Latest Attack against the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards - A coalition of 15 states, five local governments, and leading medical and environmental groups including EDF is asking the Supreme Court to reject the latest in a long line of attacks on the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS)

Friday, May 06, 2016

Flint, MI Water Crisis: Wake-up Call for the Country

<> Flint, MI Water Crisis: Wake-up Call for the Country - President Obama's visit to Flint, Michigan this week draws public attention to the nation's water crisis -- an opportunity to set in motion desperately needed reforms and place the water crisis exactly where it belongs: at center stage in the upcoming presidential campaign.

Wednesday, May 04, 2016

President Obama to Local News Reporters: Give Supreme Court Nominee Judge Garland a Vote

<> President Obama to Local News Reporters: Give Supreme Court Nominee Judge Garland a Vote - President Obama speaks with reporters from around the country about the stalled Supreme Court nomination process for Chief Judge Merrick Garland.

Tuesday, May 03, 2016

Patricia Espinosa Selected New UNFCCC Executive Secretary

<> Patricia Espinosa Selected New UNFCCC Executive Secretary - The UN Secretary General has concluded the selection process for the next Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC with the selection of HE Patricia Espinosa (Mexico) -- a further announcement will be forthcoming

Monday, May 02, 2016

President's Weekly Address: It's Time for the Senate To Do Its Job

<> President's Weekly Address: It's Time for the Senate To Do Its Job - In this week's address, the President repeated his call for Republicans in the United States Senate to give Chief Judge Merrick Garland a fair hearing and a vote.

Friday, April 29, 2016

SAB Critical Response To EPA's Draft Fracking Assessment Report

<> SAB Critical Response To EPA's Draft Fracking Assessment Report - In its latest draft, 184-page, Apr 26, document EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) provides its response to EPA's draft "Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources (External Review Draft, EPA/600/R-15/047, June 2015)." – SAB: "Most members of the SAB Panel are concerned that these major findings as presented within the Executive Summary are ambiguous and appear inconsistent with the observations, data, and levels of uncertainty presented and discussed in the body of the draft Assessment Report."

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Federal Regulators Stand Up for Customers, Fair Electricity Market

<> Federal Regulators Stand Up for Customers, Fair Electricity Market - The Federal Energy Regulatory Committee overturned the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio's decision to grant subsidy requests from Ohio-based utility giants AEP and FirstEnergy -- their bailout proposals would have forced Ohio customers to bail out old, inefficient power plants for the next eight years at an estimated cost of $6 billion.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Moving Forward for America's Drinking Water

<> Moving Forward for America's Drinking Water - Too little water in the West, flooding from extreme weather in the Midwest and Southeast, and the recent water quality issues in Flint, Michigan have rightly focused national attention on America's drinking water -- 300 million Americans depend on 152,000 public drinking water systems and collectively drink more than one billion glasses of tap water each day -- in the coming weeks, EPA will launch a targeted engagement with key state co-regulators, regulated utilities, and nongovernmental stakeholders on priority issues related to implementing the Safe Drinking Water Act. 

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Murray Energy Files Petition For MATS Review "Supplemental Finding"

<> Murray Energy Files Petition For MATS Review "Supplemental Finding" - The company filed a petition for review of EPA's final action on April 25, 2016, styled "Supplemental Finding that it is Appropriate and Necessary to Regulate Hazardous Air Pollutants from Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units." 81 Fed. Reg. 24,420 (April 25, 2016).

Monday, April 25, 2016

Record Support for Advancing Paris Climate Agreement Entry into Force

<> Record Support for Advancing Paris Climate Agreement Entry into Force - In an extraordinary show of support for the Paris Climate Change Agreement adopted last December, 175 Parties (174 countries and the European Union) signed up to it at a ceremony at UN Headquarters on Apr 22 that far exceeded the historical record for first-day signatures to an international agreement -- the initial step toward ensuring the agreement enters into force -- 30 days after 55 Parties accounting for 55 per cent of global emissions deposit their instruments of ratification --15 States also deposited instruments of ratification.  

Friday, April 22, 2016

Paris Climate Agreement on Track for Early Start

<> Paris Climate Agreement on Track for Early Start - As many as 170 countries are expected to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change today in a symbolic triumph for a landmark deal that once seemed unlikely but now appears on track to enter into force years ahead of schedule -- never before have so many countries inked an agreement on the first day of the signing period.