Earlier today in Rhode Island, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved the Deepwater Wind/National Grid Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the construction of an eight-turbine wind farm in Block Island Sound, denying CLF’s Motion to Dismiss. Here’s what CLF’s Rhode Island Advocacy Center Director Tricia Jedele had to say about the decision: Today’s ruling was inevitable, a result dictated by the legislature in a law defined so narrowly that it could have only one outcome. Unchallenged, this law and the accompanying PUC decision set precedent that will only undermine the efforts to build a future for renewable energy in Rhode Island. The failure to allow the PUC any discretion in its decision-making is the very basis of CLF’s Separation of Powers argument, which we are likely to appeal to the read more…

Recent industry legal action to prevent the regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is an eye-opener suggesting a slash and burn strategy that threatens to undo years of successful regulation of air pollution under the Clean Air Act.  Various industry trade groups including the American Chemistry Council, National Association of Manufacturers and American Petroleum Institute are waging a full scale war to prevent regulation of GHG emissions and recently initiated a coordinated, broad and covert legal attack (with no press or public outreach) on EPA’s permitting authority. On July 6, the coalition of industry groups filed 12 similar legal petitions challenging not only EPA’s authority to regulate GHGs, but also the fundamental underpinnings of EPA’s 30 year old permitting program for large emitting facilities.  These appeals present a clear and read more…

Using the authority given it by Congress in the Clean Air Act, and affirmed by the Supreme Court in the landmark case of Massachusetts v. EPA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving to address the threat to the public health and environment from the greenhouse gases damaging our climate. But, as David Jenkins of Republicans for Environmental Protection describes on the Frum Forum website that effort is under attack by an effort led by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). The full piece is well worth reading but the punchline is of special interests to New Englanders who are represented by Senators Scott Brown (R-MA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) or Judd Gregg (R-NH) who voted for Sen. Murkowski’s Dirty Air Act/Big Oil Bailout/EPA rollback the first time it got read more…

If you are qualified to be, and are interested in being, the Executive Director of an organization that brings together renewable energy developers, equipment manufacturers and environmental groups then apply.  Go for it.

If you were listening to Maine Public Radio yesterday (whether because you are on vacation or because you live there) you might have caught this piece about plans to develop a sub-sea cable from Maine to Boston. Bottom line: In order to meet the climate and energy goals that science and sound policy dictate we will need to build thousands of megawatts of clean renewable generation (as well as becoming much more efficient and many other key steps) and the infrastructure to support it.  And a sub-sea cable could be part of that solution, if it is done right.

On June 29, 2010 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied a series of petitions for reconsideration of the “Endangerment Finding”, the official determination that emissions of carbon dioxide and other types of global warming pollution are causing harm to the public health, the environment and the climate. That EPA website provides good links to the very best science like the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) , the U.S. National Academy of Sciences , and the U.S. Global Change Research Program. And the science is telling us not just that humanity is causing a future change in our climate – but also that the change is already in progress – that the damage is already clear and before us. As one news article put it: The read more…

Last Wednesday, Calais LNG delivered its second major surprise in just two weeks.  After stunning all parties by asking the Board of Environmental Protection for a last minute hearing postponement, Calais LNG announced on July 21 that its financial backer, GS Power Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, was in the process of “selling its ownership interests.”  Huh, go figure.  From our perspective, this just confirms that the smart folks at Goldman Sachs finally sat down after spending more than $24 million to take a hard look at the project and reached the same conclusion that we did long ago: the New England market is already saturated with natural gas and there is no need for a new industrial LNG terminal that will have significant adverse impacts on the read more…

The news from the Nation’s Capitol is bleak. The United States Senate will not consider anything remotely like comprehensive energy and climate legislation before its August recess. While it is good that they will be looking at legislation to address oil spills and laudable energy efficiency efforts like HomeStar the decision to not address the underlying climate and energy crisis is tragic. However, even after the BP oil disaster, Congress still continues to leave New England’s ocean and our coastal communities at risk of the next big spill. Effectively, Congress is turning its back on the science that describes the fundamental peril facing our climate, the families who need the jobs that a surge of green development will bring and embracing a course of continued dependence on imported oil and read more…

Through a recently released tool authored by the World Resources Institute as part of Google’s Public Data Explorer, users are able to visualize greenhouse gas emissions like never before: On a per capita basis, New England states are leading the pack with some of the lowest numbers. Why? New England states tend to be more efficient in our use of electricity and natural gas. As our states are more compact and developed, New Englanders generally drive less. New Englanders typically drive more efficient vehicles. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding: Of course, there’s still plenty of room for improvement – and in this midst of this climate crisis, we’re all going to have to do much better to turn things around.

On July 20, transportation agencies completed the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Vermont’s Circ Highway.  The planned project would be an expensive new boulevard roadway outside of Burlington, Vermont.  The project is a poor public investment and a subsidy for sprawl. Costing over $60 million dollars, saving only 4 minutes of travel time, limiting public transportation options, destroying irreplaceable farmland and wetlands while providing less congestion relief in Essex compared to improving existing roads is simply a bad idea. Join CLF in calling for sensible transporation solutions, NOT more crowded roads and more pollution.  Submit comments online by August 27, 2010 or attend a public hearing: Public Hearings will be August 9 & 10: Monday August 9th 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. @ Williston Central School Auditorium -195 Central School Drive, Williston Tuesday August 10th 6:30 p.m. read more…