Energy & Environment

Advisory committee approves controversial emissions regulation offered by Wolf administration

BY: - April 12, 2019

A state advisory committee voted Thursday to advance a new regulation on Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry proposed by Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration, despite concerns among environmental groups that it does not do enough to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Andrew Williams, who testified on the proposal on behalf of the Environmental Defense Fund, confirmed the vote […]

Sen. Ryan Aument, R-Lancaster, testified before the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee.

A former governor supports a bill to aid Pa.’s nuclear industry, but a Senate committee isn’t so sure

BY: - April 10, 2019

Now that it’s been 15 years since he championed Pennsylvania’s clean energy law, Gov. Ed Rendell wishes he could go back in time and change a few things.

COMMENTARY

Regulating PFAS will be harder than you think. This is why | Opinion

BY: - April 10, 2019

Providing due process inevitably takes time. 

Former Gov. Tom Ridge backs deal to help state nuclear industry

BY: - April 8, 2019

At the first of four hearings on a bill written to aid the state’s nuclear power sector, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge told a state House panel Monday that he supports giving the industry a helping hand. Ridge, the nation’s first Homeland Security secretary, told the House Consumer Affairs Committee the choice facing lawmakers is […]

Why some environmental groups oppose a bill to help out low-carbon nuclear plants

BY: - April 5, 2019

After Sen. Ryan Aument revealed his version of a plan to prop up the state’s nuclear power plants on Wednesday, it didn’t take long for the criticism to start rolling in. “We don’t need to see the forthcoming bill to know that any proposed legislation would rob ratepayers, including Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens, to support […]

COMMENTARY

Pa.’s nuke industry doesn’t want a bailout. It wants a handout | Opinion

BY: - April 5, 2019

By Michael Peters Pennsylvanians across the commonwealth are starting to receive direct mail and see headlines about the nuclear industry and its stated need for a bailout to keep its plants open. Bills in the state House and Senate would do just that. Let’s be clear: If state lawmakers go along with this, it won’t […]

COMMENTARY

Yes, what we don’t know about science can hurt us | John L. Micek

BY: - April 4, 2019

It’s often said that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat its mistakes. The consequences of failing to pay heed to science are even greater.

Pa. Rep. Madeleine Dean, others ask for $10M study on PFAS contamination

BY: - April 2, 2019

With residents in her Pennsylvania district dealing with contaminated water, a suburban Philadelphia lawmaker has asked the federal Defense department to help clean up its own mess.

COMMENTARY

This is how state power regulators are making utilities account for the costs of climate change | Opinion

BY: - April 2, 2019

States are folding the social and economic costs of burning fossil fuels into their electricity policies, giving utilities a financial incentive to reduce greenhouse emissions.

‘They are big, very deep, record deepness:’ Trump will fund Great Lakes cleanup after all

BY: - March 29, 2019

Just weeks after his administration proposed slashing federal cleanup money for the Great Lakes from $300 million to $30 million, President Donald Trump says the program will be fully funded after all. During a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Thursday, Trump told a crowd, “We have some breaking news!” The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported. “You […]