FILE -- In this Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018 file photo clouds of smoke are pictured over Europe's largest lignite power plant in Belchatow, central Poland. Government stimulus programs to pull the world out of the coronavirus pandemic offer “a tremendous opportunity” to build a clean-energy economy, former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday, calling on governments not to “invest in the past." Speaking video link from Los Angeles to the Austrian World Summit in Vienna, Schwarzenegger said that “forward-looking decisions” are needed now as trillions are being poured into rebuilding economies around the globe.A group of Greenpeace environment activists have climbed its 180-meter smokestack to spur participants in next week's global climate summit in Poland into taking decisions on limiting the use of coal.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file)
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Energy & Environment
Energy & Environment
The Big Story
Biden tightens air pollution limits for deadly soot
The Biden administration is tightening air pollution restrictions — a move it says will save thousands of lives but is meeting pushback from industry, which argues it will harm the economy.
The decision to
tighten the restrictions on pollution from small particles, commonly referred to as soot, comes as a reversal of the Trump administration, which decided in 2020 to maintain a less stringent standard.
In 2032, the first year that states will be required to meet the standard, the rule is expected to prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said.
EPA also projects that 99 percent of U.S. counties would reduce their pollution to the levels required under the rule with or without the agency’s action — as other policies are also shifting much of the country away from polluting vehicles and energy sources.
But areas that will not already meet the new standard will have to bring down their pollution levels — through state-led policies like requiring emitters to install pollution control technology — to meet the requirements.
A spokesperson for the agency told The Hill via email that many counties projected to exceed the standards are highly and densely populated, so pollution reductions there will impact many people — resulting in significant health benefits.
Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.
After the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) denied protections to Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolves last week, conservation and animal rights activists on Wednesday declared their forthcoming intent to sue the agency.
Nine states signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday calling for heat pumps to comprise 65 percent of heating and air conditioning in residential buildings by the end of the decade.
Southern California, which has been pelted for days with heavy rain and wind from two atmospheric rivers, is now facing the threat of mudslides as the storm moves out of the area.
A national coalition of environmental activists is trying to amend state constitutions to establish a guaranteed right to a safe climate or a clean environment — analogous to the right to freedom of religion or freedom of speech.
The
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing tomorrowon the Biden administration’s pause on natural gas export approvals. Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk is slated to testify.
What We’re Reading
News we’ve flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics:
The Changing Focus of Climate Denial: From Science to Scientists (The New York Times)
Texas Got Early Warnings About Costly Grid Policy, Records Show (Bloomberg)
Thousands of PG&E customers still without power after storm (NBC Bay Area)
A former attorney for the Trump White House predicts that the Supreme Court will rule unanimously against the 45th president on his claims to be immune from criminal prosecution. Read more
Florida’s Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical of the state’s arguments Wednesday that the language on a ballot initiative to protect abortion rights was misleading. Read more
Opinions in The Hill
Op-eds related to energy & environment submitted to The Hill:
