Long Islander's Blog – May 2020 Archive (12)

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) says the two largest energy utilities in the state, Eversource Energy and United Illuminating (UI), have filed power purchase agreements with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to procure 804 MW of offshore wind power.

This is a major milestone for Connecticut’s clean energy portfolio and the future of offshore wind in the state and region. If approved by PURA, this would be the largest procurement…

Some of the more important articles in this issue are:

Trump issues executive order to protect power grid

Wind and solar add zero value to the grid

Clean energy needs reliable supplies of critical minerals

Large solar farm could cause explosion on scale of small nuclear bomb

EPA: Drinking Water Health Advisories for PFOA and PFOS

Video of superior talk by Bret Kugelmass

Report: The inadequacy of wind and solar

Report: Wind Turbine…

Craig Richard - May 15, 2020

General USA

The research suggested project operators are incentivised to maintain turbines during the first decade by the tax credit support system. The fall in performance is noticed more acutely after a project is no longer receiving the subsidy. As the production tax credit (PTC) is paid in line with a turbine’s output, operators maximise the benefit of the support before it is phased out by keeping their turbines in better condition to maintain…

The power company asked a state court Wednesday to reject plans for a Nov. 3 statewide public vote on the controversial project.

Avangrid Networks asked a state court Wednesday to block state officials from putting a referendum on the November ballot that could overturn the 2019 decision by regulators to allow the construction of a controversial 145-mile hydropower transmission line from Quebec to Lewiston.

The suit, filed in Cumberland County, argues the referendum…

By Fred Bever

The state Department of Environmental Protection and the Land Use Planning Commission signed off today on vital land use permits Central Maine Power needs for its proposed 151-mile power line through western Maine.

The permits include dozens of conditions the agencies say will mitigate damage to forest values, with special attention to reducing habitat fragmentation by a 51-mile section of all-new timber cuts stretching between…

A concise three-sentence letter sent by the U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday suggests relief is on the way for a renewables industry concerned about meeting quickly approaching tax credit deadlines.

The letter came in response to a…

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 5, 2020

Some of the more important articles in this issue are:

China’s coronavirus actions are just one of many threats it poses

We Can’t Entrust US Interests to UN

Modeling Catastrophe in a Climate of Fear

Model Madness – Parallels Between Failed Climate and Coronavirus Models

Study: Systemic Misuse of Scenarios in Climate Research and Assessment

The Scientific Case for Vacating the EPA’s Endangerment Finding

US CO2 Emissions Have Declined More Than Anywhere…

Last week, anti-hydrocarbon activist and documentary maker Josh Fox — along with Stanford professor Mark Jacobson, Penn State climatologist Michael Mann, and several others — succeeded in briefly getting Michael Moore’s new documentary, Planet of the Humans, taken off of a website owned by a group called Films for Action. 

Fox’s censorship effort was cheered by Eric Holthaus, a meteorologist and journalist who tweeted “cheers to @joshfoxfilm and everyone who worked hard and…