On May 13, 2021, a partnership between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the State of Maryland, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), began to research the United State’s potential offshore wind turbine supply chain. The study will be carried out by NREL, the Business Network for Offshore Wind, and others. Initial results from will be available in the Fall of 2021. The full report will be released by the end of 2022. The purpose of the project is to put together a Supply Chain Roadmap which will present the collective benefits of a domestic supply chain and to help facilitate the acceleration of the offshore wind industry in […]

The Network’s Brief makes recommendations for immediate and long-term strategic actions that policymakers should take to ensure the U.S. offshore wind market deploys 30 GW by 2030 May 12, 2021 Baltimore – The Business Network for Offshore Wind today published its Offshore Wind Policy Brief: Advancements in Coordinated Transmission Approaches. The Briefing provides updates to the Network’s 2020 Transmission White Paper and offers immediate and long-term recommendations for strategic actions that policymakers should take to ensure the U.S.  deploys 30 GW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030. The Network released this Brief just one day after the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s issued the Record of Decision for Vineyard Wind, the first major offshore wind project in U.S. waters and a historic day for clean energy in […]

May 11, 2021 In response to the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan issued a second emergency fuel waiver to help alleviate fuel shortages in states whose supply of gasoline has been impacted by the pipeline shutdown. The waiver legally makes it harder for gasoline dealers to hike prices, as they have to justify the hike to the federal government. This second emergency fuel waiver expands on a waiver that EPA issued this morning for the District of Columbia and areas of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The second waiver waives the requirements for low volatility conventional gasoline and Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) for the District of Columbia and areas of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and […]

May 2, 2021 By Ramona du Houx Federal and state lawmakers in the U.S. are proposing bills to encourage companies into picking up the tab for managing empty packaging they use by charging them for the waste they produce. Such rules could help pay for curbside collection and sorting infrastructure, and spur companies to design packaging that is easier to recycle. “It puts the financial burden of plastic pollution back on the manufacturers who generate it and profit from it,” said Sen. Tom Udall (D., N.M.), who in 2020 introduced a bill that would make companies pay to collect and process waste. Udall left the Senate at the end of 2020. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) […]

By Ramona du Houx May 5, 2021 Northern states burn substantial gas, biomass and wood to heat buildings. According to a new study, these fuel sources are causing premature deaths in Maine, and across America. New York is the hardest hit. Burning gas, biomass and wood in buildings has more negative health effects than burning coal in many states, says a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The peer-reviewed study, published in Environmental Research Letters, is the first to examine the effects of burning different fuels and quantify those impacts in terms of both early deaths and monetary cost in the United States. This study fills an important gap in research by providing an inventory of outdoor health impacts from stationary […]

On Wednesday evening, President Joe Biden delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress. Truman Project experts on climate change, immigration, cybersecurity, and other national security priorities offered the following analysis of President Biden’s remarks: Alex Cornell du Houx, Political Partner, Climate Change: “Biden means business when talking about climate change. Finally, we have a president who is committed to bold action in combating the climate crisis. Not relying on China to build wind turbines, advanced batteries, and electric cars strengthens our security and highlights the central theme of his agenda – jobs, jobs, jobs. The cost of solar and wind power have dropped 85 and 49 percent in the last decade. Global investment in new fossil fuel power of hundreds of dollars […]