Tag: natural gas

Where Is Harris On Energy? As Vice President, Close To Biden

As vice president, she moderated her views. Not only does the Biden administration not oppose fracking or offshore drilling, the United States is the leading producer of oil and gas in the world.

The increasing likelihood that Vice President Kamala Harris will lead the Democrats’ White House ticket this fall brings her energy policy positions into renewed focus.

During her brief stint as a 2020 presidential candidate, then-Sen. Kamala Harris was a sponsor of the Green New Deal. She opposed hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and offshore drilling.

As vice president, she moderated her views. Not only does the Biden administration not oppose fracking or offshore drilling, the United States is the leading producer of oil and gas in the world.

The Biden-Harris administration did enact one of the most significant climate and energy policies in a generation, the Inflation Reduction Act.

It contains federal tax incentives for energy investment in traditional fossil fuel communities, including those in West Virginia and Appalachia.

While nowhere as ambitious as the Green New Deal, the legislation did set the nation on a path to transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewables in an effort to slow climate change.

EPA Power Plant Emissions Rules Survive Initial Court Challenge

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, for now, has let stand a set of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules West Virginia and other states challenged.

West Virginia’s attorney general has lost the first round in his challenge to the newest federal power plant emissions rules.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, for now, has let stand a set of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules West Virginia and other states challenged.

In a three-page order Friday, the court declined to block rules intended to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing coal-fired power plants and new gas plants.

The court will still consider the case on the merits.

Electric utilities must reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent or close coal plants by 2032. They can achieve the standard by converting the plants to burn gas and hydrogen or by capturing and storing the CO2. Neither technology has yet been proved on a commercial scale.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey was the lead plaintiff in the EPA challenge, which he initiated last month.

In a statement, Morrisey said he plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Our position remains the same: this rule strips the states of important discretion while using technologies that don’t work in the real world,” he said.

What’s Driving Up The Cost Of Electricity? Group Says It’s Not Renewables

The group specifically cites West Virginia and its near total reliance on coal to supply its power.

Heavy reliance on fossil fuels – coal and natural gas – is driving up electricity prices in many regions of the country.

That’s the conclusion of Energy Innovation Policy and Technology, a nonpartisan research group.

The group specifically cites West Virginia and its near total reliance on coal to supply its power. Coal-fired plants are aging and more expensive to maintain, while coal itself has a harder time competing with gas and renewables, particularly wind and solar.

The state depends on coal for 89 percent of its electricity, the highest percentage of any state.

Other states that have gone big on gas have found themselves paying for the volatility of gas prices in a global market, the group concluded, as well as extreme weather events that have squeezed supplies.

Electricity rates increased the fastest in West Virginia, California, Indiana and New England, the group found, though the reasons varied across states and regions.

In West Virginia, the group’s report cited the state’s coal fleet, most of which is at least 50 years old. The Public Service Commission has allowed the state’s dominant electric utilities, Mon Power and Appalachian Power, to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on environmental compliance upgrades at the plants.

The upgrades, paid for by electricity customers, will keep the plants running beyond 2028, possibly until 2040.

Meanwhile, the group says, the cost of wind, solar and battery storage has decreased and would be a more economically reasonable choice.

Navigating Early Childhood Nutrition And How A Plant Closure Is Affecting A PA City, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, from allergies to introducing solids, the first few years of a child’s life have a surprising number of decisions for parents to make. In our latest entry of “Now What? A Series on Parenting,” Chris Schulz talks with Isabela Negrin, an assistant professor of pediatrics at WVU Medicine, about the ins and outs of early childhood nutrition.

On this West Virginia Morning, from allergies to introducing solids, the first few years of a child’s life have a surprising number of decisions for parents to make. In our latest entry of “Now What? A Series on Parenting,” Chris Schulz talks with Isabela Negrin, an assistant professor of pediatrics at WVU Medicine, about the ins and outs of early childhood nutrition.

Also, in this show, it’s been a year since Pennsylvania’s largest coal-fired power plant shut down. Like hundreds of these plants around the country, the Homer City generating station in Indiana County faced stiff competition from natural gas and renewables. The Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier went to Homer City to find out how the closure is affecting a community that relied on this plant for decades.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Eric Douglas produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

A Budget Surplus, A Coming Special Session And COVID-19 Cases Rise, This West Virginia Week

On this West Virginia Week, Gov. Jim Justice made multiple announcements during a Monday event. The governor said West Virginia residents could soon see their income taxes go down further because the state collected $826 million more in revenue than had been budgeted for this fiscal year.

On this West Virginia Week, Gov. Jim Justice made multiple announcements during a Monday event. The governor said West Virginia residents could soon see their income taxes go down further because the state collected $826 million more in revenue than had been budgeted for this fiscal year.

Justice also said he plans to call another special session of the state’s legislature in the coming months to cut an additional 5 percent from the state’s personal income tax and pass a childcare tax credit.

Plus, we’ll hear about the expansion of the Hope Scholarship and how West Virginians can track their vaccination status during a summer surge of COVID-19.

Emily Rice is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.

West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick and Maria Young.

Learn more about West Virginia Week.

Federal Court Lifts Biden Pause On LNG Export Terminal Permitting

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey joined 15 other states seeking to lift the ban by claiming the White House doesn’t have the authority to enforce it.

A federal judge has sided with West Virginia’s attorney general on new approvals for exporting liquefied natural gas.

In an ongoing policy debate between environmentalists and those who support fossil fuel production, the U.S. District Court in Western Louisiana lifted the Biden administration’s pause on new LNG export approvals Monday.

The policy – halting permits for new export terminals – was announced in January. Soon after, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey joined 15 other states seeking to lift the ban by claiming the White House doesn’t have the authority to enforce it.

“This administration’s Energy Department has no such authority to justify this ban – authority on matters like this lies with Congress and Congress alone,” Morrisey said in a statement.

West Virginia is a top producer of natural gas. Last year the United States was the top exporter of LNG – most of it headed for Europe and Asia.

Energy analysts say additional U.S. export terminals aren’t needed to supply those regions.

Five terminals are under construction and would double the nation’s current LNG export capacity – 12 billion cubic feet a day – by the end of the decade.

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