Fighting AWEA in OH, MI, and DC: Thank You Volunteers for a Great 2013!
By Kevon Martis -- December 23, 2013Thinking back over the past 12 months, it is amazing the things the Interstate Informed Citizens Coalition have accomplished together.
We attended nearly every Energy Forum in the state and brought informed speakers and testimony before the MPSC and MEO.
I was able to present as a formal speaker in Traverse City. We picketed several Energy Forum events and handed out literature across the state and made our “Death Turbine” infamous!
We strengthened our ties with our Ohio brethren, excluding college football:
We picketed the AWEA in Columbus and East Lansing and got great press coverage for our efforts.…
Continue ReadingMicro-Hydro: The Regulatory Noose (Logan City vs. FERC)
By Megan Hansen and Ryan Yonk -- December 20, 2013“[A] complex regulatory nexus surrounds all hydropower projects, no matter how small. As far as regulatory requirements are concerned, it didn’t matter that the project would have little to no environmental impacts…. When it comes to renewable energy, federal policies are working at odds with one another.”
In 2008 Logan City, Utah decided to install a micro-hydro project in its culinary water system. The city’s assistant engineer recognized the opportunity to generate clean, low-cost electricity for the city by installing a turbine in the city’s culinary water pipeline.
Logan City’s project would power 185 homes, and would not require any new construction. At the same time, it would also help reduce excess water pressure in the system. Because the project was so small, and would not affect anything outside of an existing pipeline, city officials thought the permitting process would be a breeze.…
Continue ReadingSupreme Court Global Warming Case: What Legislative History Reveals about Congressional Intent
By Marlo Lewis -- December 19, 2013“The EPA acknowledges that the Timing Rule produces ‘absurd results’ that contravene congressional intent…. The Timing Rule clearly exceeds any discernible congressional intent and should be overturned.”
An amicus brief filed this week to the Supreme Court on behalf of five U.S. Senators argues that “Congress never intended for EPA to have authority to impose” Clean Air Act permitting requirements on stationary sources of greenhouse gases.
The brief, written pro bono by Theodore L. Garrett and Thomas R. Brugato of Covington & Burling LLP, bases its conclusion on my review of nearly 700 proposed bills on greenhouse gases that were introduced between 1989 and 2010.
Background on the Case
The Court in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA is reviewing one question: “Whether EPA permissibly determined that greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles triggered permitting requirements under the Clean Air Act for stationary sources that emit greenhouse gases.”…
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