NGT News
March 1, 2021
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee, has joined Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, D-Nev., and Reps. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., and Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., to introduce the Clean School Bus Act.Â
The legislation would provide $1 billion for grants to help school districts across the country replace traditional school buses with electric units. By reducing studentsâ exposure to diesel exhaust, the bill would significantly reduce studentsâ risk of asthma and other respiratory illnesses and provide long-term savings to school districts.Â
âAs we work to ensure a brighter future for children in Washington state and across the country, itâs crucial for both the health of our students and the future of our planet that we invest in zero-emission transportation,â says Murray. âThis legislation is good for the health of our students, our economy and our planet – and I look for
How Does a Utility Turn a Net-Zero Vision into Reality? That’s What They’re Arguing About in Minnesota
Xcel Energy says natural gas must be part of the energy transition. Others say wind, solar and batteries can do the job.
February 17, 2021
Xcel Energy is proposing to stop burning coal at the Sherburne County Generating Station in Becker, Minnesota, and build a new natural gas power plant on the site. Credit: Tony Webster
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In the national debate over the role of natural gas power in the energy transition, some of the key players are digging in for a battle in Minnesota.
Federal appellate judges heard debate over whether claims of bias against two commissioners who approved the power line’s construction are enough to halt the project.
Howard Creek in the Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo by Brandon Jones/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
CHICAGO (CN) The tug-of-war over a major electric transmission corridor proposed to run through two Midwest states arrived back before a Seventh Circuit panel on Wednesday, where attorneys and judges raised questions over past approval of the project.
Environmental groups fighting construction of the power line say two members of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin with ties to transmission companies involved with the project were biased in approving the corridor and that the line’s approval is doing ongoing harm. The commissioners and transmission companies say there is no cognizable harm being created by the finished deal and that the allegations of bias are not supported by fact.
Environmental Groups: Stateâs Coal Ash Proposal a Good Start Proposed changes to Illinois Coal Ash Rule incorporate groupsâ input on monitoring, public participation, environmental justice
Contacts
Paul Dailing, Environmental Law & Policy Center, (312) 771-1979
Andrew Rehn, Prairie Rivers Network, (708) 305-6181 Chicago, IL â
The Illinois Pollution Control Boardâs February 5th revisions to coal ash regulations proposed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) make progress towards rectifying coal s dirty legacy in Illinois, but more can be done, said several environmental groups.Â
Coal ash, the waste from burning coal, has contaminated groundwater in Illinois around both active and closed coal plants with arsenic, boron, sulfate, and other chemicals. A 2018 report by Environmental Integrity Project, Earthjustice, Prairie Rivers Network, and Sierra Club found widespread pollution in groundwater around 22