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Keeping It Green

GOVERNMENTAL DIRECTORY

• Note Worthy

Page Updated:
Mar. 12, 2025

• • 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.

• • US Treasury Releases Final Clean Energy Investment Tax Credit Rules

  Under the Category
  of Policy & Regulation
  
  

  Dec. 6, 2024 -They see you when you’re sleeping. They know when you’re awake. And they read all 350+ of your written public comments about the wonky intricacies of tax credits.

  Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS unveiled their final rules for the “landmark” Section 48 Energy Credit, better known as the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which will provide clarity and certainty for developers undertaking major project investments.

  The final rules retain the core framework of the proposed rules and guidance issued in November 2023, tweaked and massaged via the aforementioned stakeholder input to clarify the general rules for the ITC and definitions of what is eligible for it.

• • It's a $400 Billion Clean Energy Program

  Racing to Get Money Out the Door
  
  

  Dec. 6, 2024 -At the heart of the Biden administration’s efforts to advance clean energy is a $400 billion lending program that has backed dozens of projects across the nation, including battery factories in Ohio and Tennessee, the revival of a shuttered nuclear reactor in Michigan and a novel rooftop solar expansion in Puerto Rico.

  Now, the Loan Programs Office at the Department of Energy is hustling to get money out the door before Trump returns to the White House.

• • Maine: The Latest State to Sue Oil Companies Over Climate Change

  The State’s Attorney General Claims Oil Companies Deceived the Public About Fossil Fuel Products’ Contributions to Climate Change
  
  

  Nov. 27, 2024 -Maine has become the latest state to sue oil and gas companies over climate change, claiming that Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron and other giants waged a decades-long campaign to conceal the effects of fossil fuels and contributed to the extreme weather that has pummeled the state in recent years.

  The lawsuit accuses the companies of having withheld what they knew about the consequences of fossil fuel use since the 1960s, leading to a financial burden on the state as it contends with sea-level rise, storms and warmer temperatures.

• • Can AI break Up Our Interconnection Logjam?

  DOE offers $30M for solutions
  
  

  Nov. 26, 2024 -Can artificial intelligence help us manage better manage grid interconnection? The Biden-Harris Administration recognizes the value of leveraging the burgeoning tech to get more clean energy generation connected to the grid.

  “Artificial intelligence is an energy solution capable of helping clear an interconnection backlog that will free up new energy sources to ensure consumers have power when and where they need it,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.

• • A Renewable Energy Siting Showdown is Simmering in Michigan

  A Growing Group of Municipalities is Challenging an Order Issued Last Month by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC)
  
  

  Nov. 14, 2024 -The appeal centers around the impending implementation of Public Act 233, a renewable energy siting law passed by the Michigan Legislature about a year ago that takes effect November 29, 2024. PA 233 grants the MPSC the authority to approve large-scale projects: any solar facility with a nameplate capacity of 50 megawatts (MW) or more, a wind energy facility with a capacity of 100 MW or more, and energy storage sites with a nameplate of 50 MW or more and an energy discharge capacity of 200 MWh or greater.

  Click now to read more.

• • Could Trump’s Return Pose
  a Threat to Climate and Weather Data?

  Project 2025(the Conservative Playbook), Calls For Breaking Up The Federal Agency That Maintains Weather Data and Collects Climate Change Information
  
  

  Nov.14, 2024 - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration might not be a household name, but the federal agency is ubiquitous in homes and businesses across the U.S.

  That’s because this federal office of scientific research, and its more familiar arm, the National Weather Service, stores a mind-boggling amount of data that we use everyday.

• • Gov. Hochul to Relaunch Congestion Pricing With $9 Base Toll

  Kathy Hochul Plans to Relaunch the MTA’s Congestion Pricing Program
  
  

  Nov. 13, 2024 (The Gothamist) - The sources, who were not authorized to speak on the matter on Wednesday, said Hochul plans to eventually increase the base toll. Hochul's office confirmed she will make an announcement regarding mass transit funding on Thursday.

  Sources who spoke to Gothamist named competing start dates for the new toll program. One source with direct knowledge of Hochul’s plan, who was also not authorized to speak on the topic, said the MTA board plans to approve the new tolls during its next meeting on Nov. 20 — and that the governor plans to launch the program Dec. 29.

• • E.P.A. to Charge Oil Companies First-Ever Methane Fee

  But Will It Last?
  
  

  Nov. 12, 2024 - Oil and gas companies for the first time will face fines for emitting methane, a potent greenhouse gas that leaks from wells, pipelines and storage facilities, the Biden administration announced on Tuesday.

  Click now to read all about it.

• • G20 countries Turning Backs On Fossil Fuel Pledge

  Promise to ‘Transition Away From Fossil Fuels’ Made at Cop28 Climate Talks has Been Left Out of Draft Resolutions
  
  

  Sep. 10, 2024 -Campaigners have claimed some of the world’s largest economies are turning their backs on a pledge made last year to transition away from fossil fuels.

  Ministers from the G20 group of developed and developing countries, including the US, UK, China and India, will meet in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday to discuss the global approach to the climate crisis.

• •  Biden-Harris Administration Affirms
  Protection of 28 Million Acres of Public Lands in Alaska

  Areas Remain Open For Selection By Alaska Native Vietnam-Era Veterans
  
  

  Aug. 27, 2024 (US Department of the Interior) -Following an extensive public process, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland today finalized the decision to retain protections for 28 million acres of public lands across Alaska, which many Alaska Native Tribes, Native Corporations and Tribal entities have noted are vital to protecting important natural, cultural and subsistence resources.

  Today’s action comes in response to the previous Administration’s unlawful decision in its final days to end the longstanding protections (known as withdrawals) without sufficient analysis of the potential impacts of such a decision on subsistence and other important resources, appropriate Tribal consultation, and without compliance with other legal requirements...

• • Conflicting Federal Policies May
  Cost Residents More On Flood Insurance

  Leaving Them at Risk
  
  

  Aug. 24 2024 - Conflicting federal policies may force thousands of residents in flood-prone areas to pay more for flood insurance or be left unaware of danger posed by dams built upstream from their homes and worksites, according to an Associated Press review of federal records and data.

• • 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.