Volume 5, Issue 9
April 22, 2018 – April 28, 2018
Anushka Dasgupta '19 | Amy Amatya '21 | Neha Chauhan '21 | Joseph Kawalec '21
Senators ask Trump to suspend EPA's use of biofuel waivers
April 9, 2018 | Reuters | Jarrett Renshaw and Chris Prentice
A group of five Republican senators issued a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to suspend the use of biofuel waivers. These waivers exempt oil refineries from a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requirement to mix a certain amount of corn ethanol with gasoline. Exemptions are typically granted to about six to eight small refineries a year that face financial hardship. Last year, the EPA issued 25 exemptions following a federal appeals court ruling that required it to loosen exemption requirements. Some of these exemptions were to small refineries belonging to large companies like Andeavor. -NC
States are Breathing New Air Into Nuclear Energy To Preserve Jobs and Environment
April 13, 2018 | Forbes | Ken Silverstein
With natural gas being a cheap, relatively stable energy source in recent years, many sources of renewable energy, especially nuclear power plants, at being put at a disadvantage. Plus, the environmental impact of nuclear reactors on the surrounding area, along with their expensive nature, leaves them unwanted by traditional environmentalists. However, states are still passing legislation to keep these plants operating - such as New Jersey, who recently voted to keep PSE&G’s Salem and Hope Creek plants alive. The effects of power plants to create jobs for local communities, supply power to a wealth of communities, and produce an alternative to carbon-based power is encouraging states across the nation, including New York and Illinois, that their usage of nuclear power has not reached an end just yet. -JK
Total, With Energy Industry in Flux, Makes $1.7 Billion Bet on a Utility
April 18, 2018 | The New York Times | Stanley Reed
Giant corporations in the oil and gas industry are trying to stay ahead of regulations and quell public demand by making investments in clean energy. The latest in the trend? French multinational company Total, which is clubbed in with the likes of ExxonMobil and Chevron in a group known as the “supermajors” in the oil industry. Unlike the others, which are investing in clean energy generation (BP in solar, Statoil in offshore wind), Total just made a deal with a utility company and recently put its money behind energy storage in the past. -AD