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Keeping It Green

GOVERNMENTAL DIRECTORY

• Note Worthy

Page Updated:
June 9, 2025

• • In Puerto Rico, a Struggle for Power Comes to Light

  The Trump Administration is Clawing Back Millions in Climate Grants Promised to Credit Unions in Puerto Rico
  
  

  June 4, 2025 -Reporting on the effects of the Environmental Protection Agency’s attempts to claw back some $20 billion in climate grants: Of that, more than $100 million had been promised to credit unions in Puerto Rico. They planned to use the grants to offer people low-cost loans for rooftop solar installations.

  As of this month, the money still hasn’t arrived.

• • Interior Moves to Rescind 2024 Rule on Alaska’s Petroleum Reserve

  Regulation Overstepped Legal Limits, Hindered Responsible Energy Development in the Resource-Rich Region
  
  {U.S. Department of the Interior}
  
  

  June 2, 2025 -The Department of the Interior has proposed rescinding a rule put in place last year that added new restrictions on oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. Rescinding the 2024 rule will remove regulations that are inconsistent with the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 (NPRA), restore the original intent of the Act for the management of the area, and eliminate roadblocks to responsible energy production.

  After a thorough legal and policy review, Bureau of Land Management and Department officials concluded that the 2024 Bureau of Land Management rule entitled “Management and Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska” exceeds the agency’s statutory authority under the NPRA, conflicts with the Act’s purpose, and imposes unnecessary barriers to responsible energy development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.

• • Energy Dept. Cancels $3.7 Billion
  for New Technologies to Lower Emissions

  The 24 awards Would have Gone to a Range of Companies Trying to Reduce Pollution That's Heating the Planet
  
  

  May 30, 2025 -The Energy Department announced on Friday that it was terminating $3.7 billion in Biden-era awards to companies trying to demonstrate technologies that might one day help tackle global warming.

  Some of the 24 canceled awards would have gone to industrial companies that were aiming to reduce emissions from cement, iron, glass and chemicals production.

• • E.P.A. Wants to Erase Greenhouse Gas Limits on Power Plants

  Agency Plans to argue that Carbon Emissions From Power Plants do Not Contribute “Significantly” to Climate Change
  
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  May 24, 2025 -The Environmental Protection Agency has drafted a plan to eliminate all limits on greenhouse gases from coal and gas-fired power plants in the United States, according to internal agency documents reviewed by The New York Times.

  In its proposed regulation, the agency argued that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from power plants that burn fossil fuels “do not contribute significantly to dangerous pollution” or to climate change because they are a small and declining share of global emissions. Eliminating those emissions would have no meaningful effect on public health and welfare, the agency said.

• • Trump’s Proposed Budget Would Cut a Major Ecology Program

  From Bee Science to Understanding the Impact Of a Warming World on Plant Life, Here’s What the Ecosystems Mission Area Does
  
  

  May 21, 2025 -The Trump administration’s proposed budget for 2026 ends funding for one of the country’s cornerstone biological and ecological research programs.

  Known as the Ecosystems Mission Area, the program is part of the U.S. Geological Survey and studies nearly every aspect of the ecology and biology of natural and human-altered landscapes and waters around the country.

• • States and Cities Fear a Disaster Season
  Full of Unknowns Amid Federal Cuts

  Trump’s Efforts to Downsize the Government Threaten Essential Functions that Americans Have Come to Rely On Before, During and After Natural Disasters
  
  

  May 21, 2025 -States and cities along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are heading into hurricane season? with an extraordinary level of uncertainty, unable to gauge how significant cuts at vital federal agencies will affect weather forecasts, emergency response and long-term recovery.

  They're bracing for the likelihood that fewer meteorologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will lead to less accurate forecasts, and that the loss of experienced managers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will lead to less coordination and more inaction.

• • Where Local Forecast Offices No Longer
  Monitor Weather Around-the-Clock

  For at Least Half a Century, the National Weather Service has been an Around-the-clock Operation. That is No Longer Possible in Parts of the Country
  
  

  May 16, 2025 -For at least half a century, the National Weather Service (NWS) has been an around-the-clock operation. But after the U.S. DOGE Service led efforts to shrink the federal government, that is no longer possible in some parts of the country.

  In four of the agency’s 122 weather forecasting offices around the country, there aren’t enough meteorologists to staff an overnight shift, according to the NWS Employees Organization, a union representing agency workers. And at least several more forecast offices are expected to stop staffing an overnight shift as early as Sunday.

• • EPA Will Weaken Rule Curbing ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water

  The Agency said it Will Reconsider Drinking Water Standards for Four Chemicals that have been Linked to a Range of Illnesses
  
  

  May 14, 2025 -The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that it plans to rescind and reconsider limits on four “forever chemicals” under a landmark drinking water standard implemented last year by President Joe Biden.

  The drinking water rules were adopted as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to limit public exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), hazardous chemicals linked to a range of serious illnesses. The original rule covered six common PFAS contaminants, including PFOA, a known human carcinogen, and PFOS, a likely carcinogen.

• • Trump Administration to Fast-Track Permits for Utah Uranium Mine

  An Environmental Review of the Project, Known as Velvet-Wood, Would Normally Take Roughly a Year, But...
  
  

  May 12, 2025 -The Interior Department said it would fast-track the permitting process for a uranium mine in Utah as part of President Trump’s plan to shorten environmental reviews and speed the construction of certain types of energy projects.

  An environmental assessment of the Velvet-Wood mine project will be completed in 14 days, the agency announced. Such a review would typically take about one year.

• • U.S. Government to Stop Tracking the Costs of Extreme Weather

  Making it Harder to Study Wildfires, Storms and Other “Billion Dollar Disasters”
  
  

  May 8, 2025 -The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Thursday it would stop tracking the cost of the country’s most expensive disasters, those which cause at least $1 billion in damage.

  The move would leave insurance companies, researchers and government policymakers without information to help understand the patterns of major disasters like hurricanes, drought or wildfires, and their economic consequences, starting this year. Those events are becoming more frequent or severe as the planet grows hotter, although not all disasters are linked to climate change.

• • E.P.A. Plans to Shut Down the Energy Star Program

  Employees were Told that the Popular Energy Efficiency Certification Program Would Be “De-Prioritized and Eliminated”
  
  

  May 6, 2025 -The Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) plans to eliminate Energy Star, the popular energy efficiency certification for dishwashers, refrigerators, dryers and other home appliances, according to agency documents and a recording of an internal meeting.

  E.P.A. managers announced during a staff meeting on Monday that divisions that oversee climate change and energy efficiency would be eliminated as part of an agency reorganization. That includes the E.P.A.’s climate change office as well as the division that oversees Energy Star.

• • First-of-its-Kind Hawaii Bill Raises
  Tourist Taxes to Fund Climate Relief

  Governor is Expected to Sign the ‘Green Fee’, Which Adds 0.75% Levy to State’s Existing Tax on Short-Term Lodging
  
  

  May 5, 2025 -Lawmakers in Hawaii have passed first-of-its-kind legislation that will increase the state’s lodging tax to raise money for environmental protection and strengthening defenses against natural disasters fueled by the climate crisis.

  Hawaii’s governor, Josh Green, supports the creation of the so-called “green fee”, and is expected to sign it.

• • Hawaii Announced a Climate Lawsuit

  So the Government Sued Hawaii First
  
  

  May 1, 2025 -On Monday, Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii said his state intended to sue fossil fuel companies over their role in climate change to make them pay for damage from its effects, like the 2023 wildfires that devastated Maui.

  “I guess this might be breaking news,” he said during an interview on local television. “We will be filing suit.”

  On Wednesday, the Trump administration sued Hawaii first, seeking to block the lawsuit before it could even be filed.

• • House Votes to Block California from Banning Sales of Gas Cars by 2035

  Both the Senate Parliamentarian and the Government Accountability Office Have Concluded that Congress Lacks Authority to Block California’s Climate Policy
  
  

  May 1, 2025 -The House voted Thursday to block California from enforcing a rule that would ban sales of new gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2035.

  Lawmakers voted 246-164 to pass a resolution targeting the rule, which ranks as one of the nation’s most ambitious policies aimed at combating climate change and promoting electric vehicles. However, it is unclear whether the Senate will follow suit and send the measure to President Trump’s desk.

• • As US Dismantles Its Climate Policy, Other World Leaders Seek Solidarity

  The U.N.’s Secretary-General Said, “No Group or Government Can Stop the Clean Energy Revolution”
  
  

  Apr. 25, 2025 -As the U.S. Department of State proposed this week to shut down its office managing international climate policy, leaders from several other countries that are key to the climate fight said they are determined to press ahead with global action.

  If it withstands congressional review, the State Department’s move, announced Tuesday, could further solidify the Trump administration’s intentions to withdraw from international climate processes, as announced in a Jan. 20 executive order.

• • Interior Department to Fast-Track Oil, Gas and Mining Projects

  Trump Plans to Dramatically Reduce Environmental Reviews Before Permitting Drilling and Mining Projects on public Lands and in Federal Waters
  
  

  Apr. 23, 2025 -The Interior Department said late Wednesday that it would fast-track approvals for projects involving coal, gas, oil and minerals on public lands, arguing that President Trump’s declaration of an energy emergency allowed it to radically reduce lengthy reviews required by the nation’s bedrock environmental laws.

  Environmental reviews that typically take a year to complete would be finished in 14 days, administration officials said. More complicated environmental impact statements that usually take two years would be completed in 28 days, they said.

• • Release of E.P.A. Climate Grants Is Paused by New Court Ruling

  After a Federal Judge on Wednesday Ordered the Release of Up to $650 Million in Frozen Grants, an Appeals Court Temporarily Halted the Payouts
  
  

  Apr. 17, 2025 -Hours after a federal judge ordered Citibank to pay out as much as $625 million in federal climate grant money that had been frozen at the Trump administration’s request, an appeals court stayed the decision. The grant money was frozen again before any was sent to recipients.

  It amounted to at least a temporary setback for nonprofit recipients of $20 billion in funds that were appropriated by Congress through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

• • The States Where You Can Still Get Cash For Clean Energy

  Trump has Taken Aim at Green Programs — but These States are Forging Ahead
  
  

  Mar. 22, 2025 -Over the past two months, Trump has targeted or frozen many programs that he calls part of the Green New Deal — including grants for electric-vehicle chargers and community solar.

  But some programs are still underway in several states, including one that gives homeowners thousands of dollars off a new heat pump, electrical panel or other home efficiency improvements.

• • US Coast Guard Academy Censors
  ‘Climate Change’ From Its Curriculum

  The Terminology Will Be Stricken in Classes for Future Officers in a Service that Confronts Global Warming Every Day
  
  

  Mar. 7, 2025 -The missions of the U.S. Coast Guard propel its members across changing and sometimes perilous waters, into neighborhoods damaged by ever-more-intense hurricanes and around the melting ice of the Arctic.

  But the academy that trains most of the officers of the nation’s sea-going law enforcement and search and rescue force has eliminated “climate change” and related terminology from its curriculum in an effort to conform to President Donald Trump’s policies.

• • Cuts Could Close Campsites and Trails in California

  Forest Service Memo Says
  
  

  Mar. 5, 2025 -In California, summer could be on the chopping block.

  Almost 4,000 campsites across many of California’s 18 national forests could close for part or all of the summer season, according to an internal United States Forest Service spreadsheet viewed by The New York Times on Friday. These potential shutdowns follow a wave of federal government firings and budget freezes last month that have led to staffing shortages and stalled contracts for basic services like pumping toilets.

• • Minnesota’s Red-Tape-Cutting Experiment

  Last Year, the State Passed a Law to Tackle a Major Barrier to Cleaner Energy
  
  

  Feb. 28, 2025 -One of the biggest hurdles to bringing clean energy sources online in the U.S. often isn’t a lack of money, necessity or even willpower. It’s red tape.

  In some states, simply getting government approvals to build solar or wind projects can take more than a year, and that can come on top of local opposition or federal environmental reviews.

• • FEMA Quietly Eases Rules that Protect Buildings in Flood Zones

  The Agency Issued an Internal Memo Saying it Would “Pause” a Regulation Directing that Schools, Libraries and Other Public Facilities Damaged By Disasters Be Rebuilt Safely
  
  

  Feb. 14, 2025 -The Federal Emergency Management Agency has decided to stop enforcing rules designed to prevent flood damage to schools, libraries, fire stations and other public buildings. Experts say the move, which has not been publicly announced, could endanger public safety and may be in violation of federal law.

  The change in policy was laid out in a Feb. 4 memo by FEMA’s chief counsel, Adrian Sevier, that was viewed by The New York Times.

• • Where Did Billions in Climate and Infrastructure Funding Go?

  The Agency Issued an Internal Memo Saying it Would “Pause” a Regulation Directing that Schools, Libraries and Other Public Facilities Damaged By Disasters Be Rebuilt Safely
  
  

  Feb. 13, 2025 -y the time President Donald Trump retook office, lawmakers had announced nearly $700 billion in funding for infrastructure- and climate-related projects under two bills passed during Joe Biden’s administration — the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law. That money was promised to all sorts of community and local projects, from clean energy initiatives to water system upgrades.

• • An EPA Rule Will Reduce Lead in Drinking Water

  Unless This Effort
  to Block It Succeeds
  
  

  Feb. 13, 2025 -A landmark Environmental Protection Agency rule enacted at the end of last year sought to address the lead crisis—which threatens the health of millions of Americans—by tightening limitations on toxic lead and copper in drinking water. But that might not be the final word.

  U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) introduced a resolution last month to block it and forever bar the EPA from writing a substantially similar rule again.

• • Trump Stocks E.P.A. With Oil, Gas and Chemical Lobbyists

  Top Political Appointees are Already at the E.P.A. Preparing to Erase the Agency’s Climate Rules and Pollution Controls
  
  

  Jan. 25, 2025 -Trump is stocking the Environmental Protection Agency with officials who have served as lawyers and lobbyists for the oil and chemical industries, many of whom worked in his first administration to weaken climate and pollution protections.

  Lee Zeldin, Mr. Trump’s choice to lead the E.P.A., has little experience with environmental policy. He will be expected to hit the ground running, though, to fulfill Mr. Trump’s fire hose of orders directing the agency to cut regulations.

• • Energy Dept. Backs $22 Billion in Loans to Reshape U.S. Power Grids

  The Loan Guarantees are One of the Final Attempts by the Outgoing Biden Administration to Encourage Power Companies to Cut Emissions
  
  

  Jan. 16, 2025 - The Energy Department said on Thursday that it planned to offer $22.9 billion in loan guarantees to help eight electric utilities around the country modernize their power grids, add large amounts of renewable energy — and pass along any resulting savings to customers.

  The deals amount to one of the biggest commitments ever made by the department’s Loan Programs Office, which under President Biden has already doled out tens of billions of dollars for battery factories and other low-carbon energy projects.

• • How to Get FEMA Help

  The Agency Offers Different Types of Financial Assistance After Disasters
  
  

  Jan. 16, 2025 - After disasters like the Los Angeles wildfires, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers different types of financial assistance.

  The fastest is what FEMA calls “serious needs assistance,” which is a one-time payment of $770. That money is meant to be used for immediate needs, such as food or other supplies, for people who had to leave their homes.

• • FDA Bans Controversial Red Dye

  Found in Candy, Drinks and Snacks
  
  

  Jan. 15, 2025 - Federal officials moved Wednesday to ban a controversial bright red dye used in drinks and snacks that has been linked to cancer in animals, a decision arriving decades after the coloring was removed from cosmetics.

  The Food and Drug Administration’s action affects red dye No. 3, which was approved for permanent use in food and ingested drugs more than 50 years ago.

• • Supreme Court Clears a Path for Climate Lawsuits to Proceed

  The High Court Declined to Hear a Challenge to a Major Case in Which Honolulu is Suing Energy Companies Over Climate Change
  
  

  Jan. 13, 2025 -In a decision widely seen as benefiting climate activists, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a lawsuit filed by Honolulu against oil companies over their role in global warming.

  The Honolulu case is one of the most prominent among two dozen similar suits brought by state and local governments that argue oil companies engaged in a decades-long coverup about climate change in a quest for profit, and should have to pay for the consequences.

• • Biden to Designate Chuckwalla and
  Sáttítla National Monuments in California

  With These Two New Monuments, Mr. Biden Has Protected More Federal Land and Waters than Any Other President
  
  

  Jan. 9, 2025 - President Biden will travel on Tuesday to the Coachella Valley in California to announce the creation of two national monuments that together will protect more than 848,000 acres of land in the state from drilling and mining as well as wind, solar and other energy development.

  According to the White House, one site in the mountains near Joshua Tree National Park will be designated the Chuckwalla National Monument. The other, in the woodlands north of Mount Shasta near the Oregon border, will be the Sáttítla National Monument.

• • Treasury Sets Rules for Billions in Hydrogen Subsidies

  With a Lucrative Tax Credit, the Biden Admin. Hopes to Establish a New Industry that Might Help Fight Climate Change
  
  

  Jan. 3, 2025 - The Biden administration on Friday made final its long-awaited plan to offer billions of dollars in tax credits to companies that make hydrogen, in the hopes of building up a new industry that might help fight climate change.

  When burned, hydrogen mainly emits water vapor, and it could be used instead of fossil fuels to make steel or fertilizer or to power large trucks or ships.

• • Biden Sets an Aggressive Climate Goal for the U.S.

  But, the Promise of Deeper Emissions Cuts Will Very Likely Be Ignored By the Trump Administration
  
  

  Dec. 19, 2024 -President Biden on Thursday announced an aggressive new climate goal for the United States, saying that the country should seek to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 61 percent below 2005 levels by 2035.

  The target is not binding and will almost certainly be disregarded by President-elect Trump, who has called global warming a “scam.” But Biden administration officials said they hoped it would encourage state and local governments to continue to cut the emissions that are rapidly heating the planet, even if the federal government pulls back.

• • Gas Exports Pose Some Risks to U.S. Economy and Environment

  This, According to
  a Long-Awaited Study
  
  

  Dec. 17, 2024 -The Biden administration on Tuesday released a lengthy study that outlined the economic and environmental risks of shipping more liquefied natural gas overseas, a move that could complicate President-elect Trump’s plans to approve additional gas export terminals.

  If the U.S. were to continue exporting liquefied natural gas in the way that has made it the world’s biggest gas supplier, the study by the Energy Department found, it could drive up energy costs in America by further exposing the domestic market to international pricing....

• • PG&E Secures $15 Billion Loan From U.S. Energy Department

  The Loan, the Biggest-Ever Commitment from the Loan Programs Office, is Intended to Fund the California Utility’s Grid and Climate Resiliency Projects
  
  

  Dec. 17, 2024 -The Energy Department plans to offer a record $15 billion loan guarantee to Pacific Gas & Electric, California’s largest utility, to improve its electrical grid and fund climate resiliency projects, the department said on Tuesday.

  The loan guarantee is the biggest commitment to date from the department’s Loan Programs Office, which has doled out tens of billions of dollars in loans and guarantees under the Biden administration to fund energy and electric vehicle projects.

• • Supreme Court to Hear Challenge
  to California Tailpipe Emissions Limits

  The Justices Agreed to Decide Whether Industry Groups Have Suffered the Sort of Injury That Gave Them Standing to Sue Over an Unusual Waiver
  
  

  Dec. 13, 2024 -The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to consider whether business groups may challenge an unusual federal program that lets California set its own limits on tailpipe emissions to combat climate change.

  The groups, including fuel producers and sellers, told the justices that the court’s intervention was needed to prevent California from effectively setting national policy.

• • History of the Clean Water Act

  History of the Clean Water Act

  Sep. 12, 2019  (EPA)- The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 was the first major U.S. law to address water pollution. Growing public awareness and concern for controlling water pollution led to sweeping amendments in 1972. As amended in 1972, the law became commonly known as the Clean Water Act (CWA).

  The 1972 amendments:
  
  Established basic structure for regulating discharges into the waters of the U.S.
  Gave EPA the authority including setting wastewater standards for industry
  Maintained requirements for water quality standards
  Illegalized discharge any pollutant into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained under its provisions
  Funded the construction of sewage treatment plants
  Recognized the need for planning to address the critical source pollution problems

• • Is Ethanol Really a Good Idea?

  Food Vs. Fuel: What
  Trump's Ethanol Policy
  Means For The Food System

  Forbes Magazine -The EPA moved forward with President Trump’s directive to lift a federal ban on high ethanol blended gas during the summer months, though not quickly enough for Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who Reuters reports is urging the EPA to lift the ban on a much quicker timeline.

  Lifting the ban is a policy shift that’s being celebrated by large-scale corn growers and decried by biofuel opponents. But the policy has implications for the food system too, as many food system reformers say the last thing U.S. farmers should be growing is more corn.

• • EPA to Halt Fuel Economy Standards

  California Getting Ready
  to Fight Back

  Mar. 29, 2018 - The Trump administration is poised to abandon America's pioneering fuel economy targets for cars and SUVs, a move that would undermine one of the world's most aggressive programs to confront climate change and invite another major confrontation with California.

  The EPA is expected to announce in the coming days that it will scrap mileage targets the Obama administration drafted in tandem with California that aim to boost average fuel economy for passenger cars and SUVs to 55 miles per gallon by 2025, according to people familiar with the plans.

• • The E.P.A is a Sinking Ship

  E.P.A. Officials,
  Disheartened by Agency’s
  Direction, Are Leaving in Droves

  Dec. 22, 2018 - More than 700 people have left the Environmental Protection Agency since President Trump took office, a wave of departures that puts the administration nearly a quarter of the way toward its goal of shrinking the agency to levels last seen during the Reagan administration.

• • How Low Can the EPA Go?

  EPA Reverses Policy on
  'Major Sources' of Pollution

  Jan. 25, 2018 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday it was withdrawing a provision of the Clean Air Act that requires a major source of pollution like a power plant to always be treated as a major source, even if it makes changes to reduce emissions.

  The decision to withdraw the "once-in always-in" policy is part of President Donald Trump's effort to roll back federal regulations and was sought by utilities, the petroleum industry and others. Never mind about the health of the American people.

• • Trump Imposed Tariffs on PV Imports

  30% Tariff Disappoints
  Trade Industry

  Jan. 22, 2018 - Trump has agreed to a recommendation by the International Trade Commission (ITC) to grant U.S. solar manufacturers relief from unfair trade practices in the form of tariffs on solar cells and modules imported to the U.S.

  This will hurt the solar industry which currently employs over 250,000 workers.

• • Fed. Compromise on Anti-PACE Law

  Industry, Lawmakers Compromise
  on Anti-Property Assessed
  Clean Energy Legislation

  Dec. 27, 2017 - A financing program that’s let more than 180,000 homeowners pay for solar panels and clean-energy appliances through their local tax bills is poised to survive an effort by Republicans to add regulations that would have effectively shut it down.

• • The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

  Summary of the National
  Environmental Policy Act

  Originally Passed in 1968 (EPA) — NEPA was one of the first laws ever written that establishes the broad national framework for protecting our environment. NEPA's basic policy is to assure that all branches of government give proper consideration to the environment prior to undertaking any major federal action that significantly affects the environment.

  NEPA requirements are invoked when airports, buildings, military complexes, highways, parkland purchases, and other federal activities are proposed. Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EISs), which are assessments of the likelihood of impacts from alternative courses of action, are required from all Federal agencies and are the most visible NEPA requirements.

  Click now for more,
  including a history of this act.

• • Shouldn’t We Abolish Fossil Fuel Subsidies?

  America Spends Over $20Bn Per
  Year On Fossil Fuel Subsidies.

  July 30, 2018 (The Guardian) -Imagine that instead of taxing cigarettes, America subsidized the tobacco industry in order to make each pack of smokes cheaper.

  A report from Oil Change International (OCI) investigated American energy industry subsidies and found that in 2015–2016, the federal government provided $14.7bn per year to the oil, gas, and coal industries, on top of $5.8bn of state-level incentives (globally, the figure is around $500bn). And the report only accounted for production subsidies, excluding consumption subsidies (support to consumers to lower the cost of fossil fuel use – another $14.5bn annually) as well as the costs of carbon and other fossil fuel pollutants.

• • The D.O.E. Solar Decathlon

  How To Shine In The Solar Village

  October 6, 2017 - At noon Eastern Standard Time today — the second day of competition for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon in Denver — the Northwestern University team was sitting in first place, according to scores released on the competition website.

  The Solar Village, where all 13 teams’ houses are standing for the competition, is now open to the public.

  With scoring under way on three of the 10 competition categories — Heath & Comfort, Appliances, and Home Life — Northwestern was tied with Swiss Team and UC Berkeley/U of Denver on the three segments in Health & Comfort — temperature, humidity and indoor air quality.

• • Budget Slashed for Clean Energy

  Trump’s Budget Expected
  to Massively Slash Research
  On Renewable Energy
  — And ‘Clean Coal’

  May 18, 2017 -The Trump administration is expected to propose massive cuts to federal government research on wind and solar energy next week, according to current and former Energy Department officials familiar with budget discussions.

  The department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), which funds research on advanced vehicles as well as other aspects of clean energy, would face a roughly 70 percent cut in 2018, carving about $ 1.45 billion from its $2.09 billion 2017 budget.

• • The SunShot Initiative

  What is the SunShot Initiative?

  The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office focuses on achieving the goals of the SunShot Initiative, which seeks to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of electricity by the end of the decade.

• • The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act

  Notes from the Solar Underground:
  US Solar’s Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act

  The global solar industry relies on mandate. Let's hope it doesn't go away.

• • Carbon Tax Center

  What is the Carbon Tax Center?

  Why revenue-neutral carbon taxes are essential,what’s happening now, and how you can help.

  In a carbon-constrained world, a permanent U.S. carbon tax is essential to reduce emissions that drive global warming.