The Final Hearing to decide if Invenergy will be allowed to build its fracked gas and diesel oil power plant in Rhode Island is underway. By law, the most important questions to be answered by the state’s Energy Facility Siting Board: Is this plant really needed (it’s not) and would the plant cause unacceptable environmental harms (it would).
“Today’s decision is an unqualified win for climate leadership in Massachusetts,” said Bradley Campbell, President of CLF. “Carbon pollution poses a major threat to our environment, our health, and our economy, and the Court’s opinion is a resounding call for the electricity sector to offer climate solutions rather than resistance and roadblocks.”
You know that sinking feeling? The one where you think you’ve done a good job, but it turns out you didn’t. That’s the boat Vermont finds itself in right now when it comes to tackling climate change. We thought we were leading. But in fact we are falling behind.
“Today’s decision is a huge win for the city of South Portland, and it proves that local action can make a difference,” said Sean Mahoney, Executive Vice President and Director of CLF Maine. “Big oil tried every legal trick in the book to try and invalidate this ordinance and they lost on every count.”
“By rolling back the Clean Power Plan, the Trump administration is once again ignoring science and turning its back on the American people,” said Greg Cunningham, Vice President and Director of CLF’s Clean Energy and Climate Change program. “Increased carbon emissions threaten our lives, our economy, and our environment. It is our government’s legal responsibility to reduce the public health menace that is carbon pollution. It is imperative for states to step up and stop this administration’s attempt to turn back time on clean energy progress.”
“Because other people break the law doesn’t make breaking the law right,” responded Jerry Elmer, senior attorney for the CLF.
You know that sinking feeling? The one where you think you’ve done a good job, but it turns out you didn’t? That’s the boat Vermont finds itself in when it comes to tackling climate change. We thought we were leading. But in fact, we are falling behind on our climate goals. Vermont’s climate-damaging emissions are… Continue reading New England Can’t Fall Behind on Climate
When Representative Carlos Curbelo proposed a price on carbon recently, he garnered a lot of attention among energy hawks, and not just because he is a Republican. The Trump administration has been busy scrubbing all references to human-caused climate change from its policies – and instead pushing hard to deepen our addiction to coal, oil,… Continue reading Federal Proposal to Price Carbon Should be Considered, then Rejected
The Massachusetts Legislative Session is over, and CLF has our recap of the good, the bad, and the “meh” from the last two years of work by our elected officials.
When the Rhode Island General Assembly convened for its 2018 session, CLF and our partners focused on several key measures aimed at combating climate change, reforming how energy projects are sited, and protecting our waters from offshore drilling. With progress on these issues stalled (or moving in reverse) at the national level, state and local… Continue reading Rhode Island General Assembly Fails to Make Progress on Environmental Initiatives, But Some Bad Bills Defeated
