Governors Wind Energy Coalition
Continuing climate change fight, Virginia lawmakers commit to clean car standard Source: By Sarah Vogelsong, Virginia Mercury • Posted: Monday, February 22, 2021
An electric vehicle charges at a public station in Henrico County, July 2020. (Sarah Vogelsong/Virginia Mercury)
In their second year in control of the legislature, Virginia Democrats pushed through another major measure to combat climate change when the Senate on Friday voted to adopt California regulations that set stringent vehicle emissions standards and electric car sales targets.
“We know that our automobile emissions greatly contribute to our environmental problems,” said Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax. “It is incumbent upon us to start making changes.”
The EPA is considering plans for cleaning up legacy coal ash ponds. Tell them to make sure this toxic mess doesn t jeopardize our communities.
Amid this patchwork of farm fields fortified with gray matchstick forests sits two centuries worth of waste from the coal industry. Since the United States began burning coal on an industrial scale in the 19th century, upwards of 35 percent of the immolated material has fallen to the bottom of boilers as ash. That ash has then been removed, mixed with water, and placed in ponds and landfills. Over 3 billion tons of it now occupy more than 1,400 sites across the United States. According to the industry s own data, over 90 percent of these sites contaminate groundwater with almost two dozen heavy and radioactive metals including arsenic, lead, mercury, selenium, and radium at levels exceeding the EPA s health standards. A 2014 EPA study revealed that living next to a coal ash waste site increases one s risk of getting cancer from drinking grou
A Memphis City Council committee pushed votes regarding the Byhalia Connection pipeline project Tuesday pending a meeting with the council and its attorney on the.
Published: Monday, February 22, 2021
Energy collage. Credits: Claudine Hellmuth/E&E News (illustration); Internet Archive Book Images/Flickr (drafting sketches); jwigley/Pixabay (pump jack); MaxPixel (turbines); Tikilucas/Wikimedia Commons (coal plant)
Many state energy regulators are pushing for less coal power and more renewables, forcing some electric companies to redo their long-term energy plans. Claudine Hellmuth/E&E News (illustration); Internet Archive Book Images/Flickr (drafting sketches); jwigley/Pixabay (pump jack); MaxPixel (turbines); Tikilucas/Wikimedia Commons (coal plant)
Utility regulators in several states are taking the unusual step of telling electric companies to redo their long-term energy road maps, a move that could dramatically alter the trajectory of fossil fuels and renewables.
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