It sits on the banks of the Monongahela River like a monstrous monument to extinction. With no fire in its belly and no smoke in its stacks, the rusting power plant provides only one sign of its former inhabitants, scribbled on a white board in a padlocked guard booth."RIP Mitchell," the handwriting reads. [node:read-more:link]
The partial U.S. government shutdown has docked fishing boats in Alaska, delayed public meetings on a proposed wind farm off the Massachusetts coast and blocked pharmaceutical companies from seeking approval for new drugs. But the Trump administration is working overtime to make sure the shutdown doesn’t halt oil drilling too -- in ways critics say may flout federal law.“One of the principles of government is that you serve everybody equally,” but that’s not what’s happening here, said Matt Lee-Ashley, a former deputy chief of staff at the Interior Department. [node:read-more:link]
PG&E, facing billions in potential losses from the Camp Fire and other wildfires, is reportedly exploring the sale of its natural gas division or a bankruptcy filing as it tries to deal with its staggering financial liabilities. NPR, quoting anonymous sources, said Friday that PG&E might sell the gas division as well as some of its real estate, including its headquarters in San Francisco, to raise cash for wildfire claims. The entire effort is part of a strategy code-named “Project Falcon,” NPR reported. [node:read-more:link]
Farmer Bruce Buchanan was so elated with Donald Trump's October vow to allow higher sales of corn-based ethanol that he carved a huge thank-you note in his Indiana cornfield. Now, though, the president's actions have him worried. The government shutdown that Trump says could last "a long time" without funding for a border wall may hurt farmers by delaying the administration's ability to steer through the approval for year-round sales of a 15 percent ethanol blend for gasoline before the summer begins. That's up from 10 percent allowed now.The increased sales would certainly be helpful. [node:read-more:link]
A discovery by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) shows that recycling carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals and fuels can be economical and efficient -- all through a single copper catalyst. When you take a piece of copper metal, it may feel smooth to the touch, but at the microscopic level, the surface is actually bumpy -- and these bumps are what scientists call "active sites," said Joel Ager, a researcher at JCAP who led the study. [node:read-more:link]
A proposed solar project could be developed on 94 acres of high-value farm land east of Klamath Community College and south of Olene.Klamath County commissioners plan to vote in early January on whether or not to grant Santa Monica, Calif. company Cypress Creek Renewables a permit to build the solar farm, which is called the Merrill Solar project. The project would generate about 10 megawatts of energy, said county planning director Mark Gallagher, powering roughly 2,000 homes annually.The proposed site is on high-value land exclusively zoned for agricultural use. [node:read-more:link]
The developer of the Dakota Access oil pipeline missed a year-end deadline to plant thousands of trees along the pipeline corridor in North Dakota, but the company said it was still complying with a settlement of allegations it violated state rules during construction. Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, which built the $3.8 billion pipeline that’s now moving North Dakota oil to Illinois, is falling back on a provision of the September 2017 agreement that provides more time should the company run into problems. [node:read-more:link]
The Trump administration moved closer to opening thousands of miles within Alaska’s pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing, issuing a draft report that concluded the polar bears, caribou and other wildlife could safely share their untouched wilderness with oil and gas producers. The report released by the Bureau of Land Management studied the environmental impact of opening between two-thirds and all of 1.65 million acres (667,731 hectares) of coastal plain within the remote refuge for oil and gas leasing. [node:read-more:link]
Funding for a wide-ranging renewable energy funding program that benefits farmers and other rural businesses somehow made it into the new Farm Bill intact. REAP is already laying plans for its 2019 round of funding. Eligible clean power projects include:Biomass (for example: biodiesel and ethanol, anaerobic digesters, and solid fuels)Geothermal for electric generation or direct use. [node:read-more:link]
Stone built a new bridge across the creek and a new road right in front of the Martins’ house. The company told Martin it needed the road to reach the new natural gas wells it drilled on the new well pad for which it flattened an area she used to go to pray, bucolic hills forested with huge oak trees. Soon, hundreds of trucks rumbled past her house every day, spewing exhaust. Martin had asked the company to build the bridge farther up the creek, away from her house, and the well pad away from the oaks.But Martin didn’t have a say over any of this. [node:read-more:link]
