An airport solar plan, the state that hates EVs and keeping tabs on clean energy funding
Last week, paid members of this newsletter got an email with access to the first selection in our extremely-low impact reading club on Threadable.
I’m using the app to share a selection from a climate-related book as well as my comments and questions each month. Read along with us by becoming a paid member here.
A tricky part of writing a newsletter each week is when your plans fall through. That happened this week, but in a way I hope it leads to a stronger newsletter edition soon. In the meantime, let’s take a look at some local climate action stories happening around the US.
JFK’s Solar Microgrid
The New York airport announced a 13,000 panel solar installation on the roof of a new terminal that will also serve as a microgrid — potentially helping it to continue operating during grid outages. Now, about all that jet fuel…
Batteries and the stuff that make them
Colorado is getting a very large, long-term battery, running off of iron, not lithium, for power production. Meanwhile, a report from a climate advocacy think tank suggests a way to avoid many of the environmental problems from battery mineral mining: actually building extensive public transportation, focusing on smaller EVs and aggressively recycling the lithium that is used. Related: Why is Joe Biden in an electric Hummer? Why does the electric Hummer even exist?
Wyoming really, really doesn’t like electric cars:
You’ll remember the bizarre attempted EV ban in the state legislature earlier this year. But the state has also decided to not accept federal funds for charger installation along major routes. This story gets into why Wyoming’s reasons go beyond partisan posturing, the alternatives they suggested, and the potential big problem for one of America’ major east-west highways.
Who’s keeping tabs on the clean energy credits in your state? After a company sold nearly $2 million in Oregon Clean Fuel credits based on made-up chargers, the state’s department of environmental quality says they are keeping closer tabs on the program
Green is a color, but renewable energy is generally not a finite amount of gas
Last month, Ohio passed a bill to consider natural gas “green” energy source within the state, despite it being a fossil fuel. This month, a similar bill to declare gas “renewable” in New Mexico died in committee.
Awkward, given Lewis won
Louisiana’s Democratic Party endorsed Davante Lewis in the race for a spot on the state’s public utility agency. But then they accepted money from the utility companies backing his opponent. The story gets even messier from there
(Spoiler: It’s Texas, mostly)
Is your local Congressperson one of the top recipients of oil and gas money?