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Jackson, Ryan[jackson.ryan@epa.gov] Bloomberg Environment Thur 11/30/2017 12:07:05 PM First Move: Ocean Summit in Canada Pruitt Off to Iowa More Clean Power Hearings?
Ocean Summit in Canada Pruitt Off to Iowa More Clean Power Hearings?
By Chuck M:cCutcheon
Depleted fish stocks, plastic pollution, melting glaciers, and rising sea levels are jusl a few of the issues confronting Earth's oceans. And, depending on one's point of view, the solutions range from solvable to daunting.
The Woi .' ean Council's Sustainal
ean Summit is taking place this week in
Halifax, Nova Scotia, to discuss some of the potential solutions. Adam Allington is
reporting from the conference, which follows up on the United Nations' first-ever
Ocean Conference earlier this year.
Ocean waves break off Sunset Beach, Calif.
Photographer: David McNew/Getty Images
The council functions as sort of an international chamber for ocean commerce. It seeks to bring together such industries as shipping, oil and gas, fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, and renewable energy, along with maritime legal, financial, and insurance companies.
One of the summit's panels will focus on climate change and ocean acidification and look at how businesses can ensure that ports and coastal infrastructure can be made more resilient against extreme weather. Another session on marine pollution will explore how industries collaborate to halt the introduction of invasive species.
The EPA today is scheduled to finalize 2018 ethanol volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standard. The RFS is the 2005 law that requires U.S. oil refineries to blend increasing amounts of ethanol and biodiesel into the nation's fuel supply.
Corn-state lawmakers have pushed EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to jettison plans to revamp the standard mandating the use of ethanol and other biofuels. Their concerns help to explain why tt plans to visit the city of Nevada, Iowa, on Friday to meet with farmers and biofuel groups.
That meeting signals that Pruitt plans to stick to his October pledge to the
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lawmakers and issue ' i uirement ft i i I ill lion gallons of conventional biofuel--mostly corn-based ethanol..
Now that the official hearings on repealing the Clean Power Plan are over,
proponents of the Obama-era initiative are demanding m
ssions.
Abby Smith, who reported from the public hearings in Charleston,
Plains
that New York already is planning to host a forum in mid-December--with or without
tt
:icipation.
"Ilf EPA will not bring these important hearings to our residents, we will bring the hearings to them," Miike Myers, an assistant attorney general for New York state, testified at the Charleston hearing..
aring in New York--or in another large city--would almost certainly draw larger
numbers of low-income people and minorities who back tl - -i r '</ver Plan.
Some of them testified in Charleston that controlling climate and air pollution from
coal-fired plants, as tl
ama administration sought to do in its plan, is critical to
environmental justice..
Other Stories We're Covering
The Senate has begun voting to start debate of the Republican-backed tax
overhaul, which includes provisions to open drilling in Alaska's Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge.
Pennsylvania's environment department is hosting a webinar today on final
regulations for methane emissions from oil and gas wells. The final
regulations--the first of their kind in the nation, the department says--are an
update to draft regulations announced in January 2016 that seek to target
methane leaks. Les
/pas is following..
A House Natural Resources panel is holdii ' I earing i ! ill that would
streamline tri " u sau of Reclamati-r ' |u ess for approving water projects.
David Schultz is covering.
Donald Blankenship, former Massey Energy chief executive who went to
prison in the wake A '' w me explosion that kill' < ' , ns to run for the
ate from West Virginia.
Quote of the Day
"This is not a standard vaccine. It's proving to be an elusive little genie to get out of the bottle." --Peter Janssen, principal research scientist for a New Zealand program trying to develop a vaccine to make cows burp less, thus reducing their contribution to climate change.
Around the Web
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Grants funded by the National Science Foundation have sec
eady drop
this year in the use of the phrase "climate change."
: University has release > ap breaking down opinions on climate change
at the state and congressional district levels and sorted by political party; it
finds 62 percent of New Yo
publicans believe global warming is
happening, while only 48 percent i - v -ublicans in Nebraska ar ; nsas
concur.
General Motors Co. will demonstrate its battery-powered, computer-operated
Chevrolet Bolt prototype today in San Francisco, hoping to establish itself as a
leader in the race to bring driverless cars to market.
Today's Events
9:30 a.m. Interior Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt will testify before a
House Appropriations panel.
0 p.m. FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee will speak at the Natural Gas
Roundtable luncheon.
, o li rgy Secut r
ources for the Future hosts webcasted
event on energy security with speakers including MIT's How
'uenspecht,
who recently stepped down as the Energy Information Administration's acting
administrator.
Al':--, I i rgy and Climate 'as Public Policy Foundation and the
Heritage Foundation host the At the Crossroads IV: Energy and Climate Policy
Summit. Speakers include Republican Sens. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoi
i Mike
Lee of Utah.
For all of today's Bloomberg Environment headlines, visit Envirc
I i IL, ' I
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