Alex Cornell du Houx was elected to the Maine State Legislature and served on the Energy Utilities and Technology and Legal and Veterans Affairs committees. He won the REED award for the best national Public Affairs Campaign for his work founding Operation Free, a coalition of veterans combating climate change. Alex participated and led State Department delegations to Southeast Asia to foster government-to-government relations, is a Huffington Post blogger, a Kentucky Colonel, a senior advisor to the Veterans Campaign, a member of the Global Advisory Council for the American Veteran’s Committee, Partner with the Truman National Security Project and founded the Maine New Leaders Council. His value based communications trainings are requested worldwide. He served in the Marine Corps infantry for seven years, is currently a Public Affairs Officer with the Navy Reserve and consults for businesses, nonprofits, elected officials and candidates.
March 15, 2023 Top executives and insiders at California’s big five oil refiners cashed out $590 million in stock in 2022, according to a review of filings with Securities Exchange Commission by the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog. Chevron, which is the only one of the five oil refiners to fail to comply with a new state law (SB 1322) requiring it to […]
March 14, 2023 Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 will host a webinar 10:30-11:30 a.m. Wednesday on environmental grant opportunities associated with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Montana is in EPA Region 8, along with Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming and 28 Tribal Nations. Register at https://www.epa.gov/grants/region-8-march-2023-grants-webinar Administrator KC Becker and EPA staff will explain the basics on how to find and apply for grants that can help communities protect human health and the environment. Upon registration, you’ll be sent a Zoom the morning of the webinar.
International Youth Organization in New Jersey, a non profit, would be a likely candidate that should apply. Photo from their website Proposals from community-based organizations due by April 12, 2023 March 8, 2023 The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is seeking to partner with up to five community-based organizations to continue its award-winning Youth Inclusion Initiative to help youth […]
02/15/2023 NEW BRUNSWICK – In an address today at Rutgers Univerity, Governor Phil Murphy announced a series of new and accelerated targets and commitments to build upon the Administration’s nation-leading climate action record. The Administration will bolster its robust climate adaptation and mitigation efforts through an accelerated target of 100% clean energy by 2035, ambitious goal-setting for electrification of the state’s […]
March 3, 2023 WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, this week filed an amicus brief in the pending case of Texas v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Senator Carper speaks out […]
March 1, 2023 WASHINGTON – Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is making $250 million available to develop innovative strategies to cut climate pollution and build clean energy economies. These planning grants, through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are the first tranche of funding going to states, local governments, Tribes, and territories from the $5 billion Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program created by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. The program provides flexible planning resources for states, Tribes, territories, and municipalities to develop and implement scalable solutions that protect people from pollution and advance environmental justice. All 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are eligible to receive $3 million in grant funds. In addition, each of the 67 most populous metropolitan […]
By Yuvaraj Sivalingam This year, 2023, is a critical year in planning for offshore wind development in California. In 2023, the state will release its strategic plan, including the identification of additional sea space for future lease sales; finalize a permitting roadmap; and advance an offshore wind infrastructure improvements program to support the development of necessary port facilities and infrastructure. Strategic Plan In September 2021, Governor Newsom signed California State Assembly Bill 525 (AB 525) into law, requiring the California Energy Commission (CEC) to develop a strategic plan for offshore wind energy developments to be installed off the California coast in federal waters. Submission of the strategic plan is due, by statute, to the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) and State […]
Feb 16, 2023 Campus News Cal Poly Humboldt, the Yurok Tribe, and College of the Redwoods have partnered on an initiative to create a local workforce for the proposed development of floating offshore wind projects along California’s North Coast. This partnership is reflected in Memoranda of Understanding that outline future plans. “From this day forward, Native Americans will have the […]
Community solar is poised to become much more common thanks to a new $7 billion fund tied to the Inflation Reduction Act. The EPA began the process of setting up the fund last week. In mid-February the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced initial guidance on the design of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) program, created by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. EPA published two Federal Assistance Listings outlining key parameters of the grant competitions that will ultimately award nearly $27 billion to leverage private capital for clean energy and clean air investments across the country. Federal Assistance Listings are the first public notice requirement to implement a federal grant program. The initial program design guidance follows a robust stakeholder […]
Proposes first-ever Gulf of Mexico offshore wind lease sale; welcomes California and Louisiana to Federal-State Partnership to build America’s supply chain and increase skilled workforce for offshore wind February 24, 2024 Washington D.C. On February 23, 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration announced its latest steps to expand offshore wind jobs and local economic development across the country. These actions, which include […]
Proposed lease stipulations would prioritize workforce training, domestic supply chain development, fishery protection, and community engagement 2/22/2023 WASHINGTON — In another step by the Biden-Harris administration to grow America’s clean energy economy, the Department of the Interior today is proposing the first-ever offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. The announcement is part of the Administration’s latest actions to expand offshore […]
February 17, 2023 WASHINGTON – Today, EPA is reaffirming the scientific, economic, and legal underpinnings of the 2012 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for power plants, which required significant reductions of mercury, acid gases, and other harmful pollutants. Controlling these emissions improves public health by reducing fatal heart attacks, reducing cancer risks, avoiding neurodevelopmental delays in children, and helping protect our […]
February 16, 2023 On February 13th, the Climate Action Campaign produced “Love Our Lungs,” an event calling on the Biden administration and EPA Administrator Michael Regan to strengthen their proposed soot pollution standard. The standards themselves don’t directly set limits on any particular pollution source. Instead, they serve as a national guideline that can trigger EPA actions to ensure the […]
February 16, 2023 Los Angeles, CA—PBF Energy today posted an annual profit of $2.9 billion. The five refiners controlling California’s gasoline market — PBF Energy, Chevron, Marathon Petroleum, Valero, and Phillips 66 – have now reported a combined 2022 annual profit of $75.4 billion, nearly three times the $27.8 billion reported for all of 2021. Like other refiners, PBF’s profits per gallon in […]
EPA is planning to issue a Notice of Funding Opportunity for approximately $2 billion of ECJ Program grants in the summer of 2023 after public input from this RFI has been considered. February 9, 2023 WASHINGTON – On February 9, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking input on its Environmental and Climate Justice […]
Tamara Merino/IMF Photos Novel survey shows how concerned people are about climate change, how they view mitigation polices, and what drives support for climate action Bo Li, Era Dabla-Norris, Krishna Srinivasan of the IMF February 9, 2023 People across the world worry about climate change, but that concern alone doesn’t translate into support for climate mitigation policies. That’s our finding based on […]