In the news today…
Energy:
- The Journal Times reports four states with climate change worries are asking a judge to stop the Trump administration from selling coal from public lands. Attorneys general from California, New Mexico, New York and Washington are due in the courtroom in Montana today, to argue the sales put the climate at risk and shortchange taxpayers.
- Bloomberg reports a coalition of environmental groups will claim in oral arguments Dec. 13 that Trump’s restart of the national coal leasing program was improper because it bypassed an environmental review they said was required under NEPA.
- S&P Global takes a look at why an EPA proposal to loosen carbon emissions rules for new coal plants won’t spur new construction on its own — and why that’s not the end of the story.
- Bloomberg reports while Appalachian coal production so far this year is up about 2.3 percent from a year earlier, much of the additional output is heading for export markets, not U.S. power producers.
- Argus reports Judge Robert Bryan of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled that the state of Washington had not violated the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act (ICCTA) in its September 2017 denial of a water quality permit needed to move forward with constructing the coal export terminal.
- The Washington Times (DC) carries an op-ed from William Shughart, research director of the Independent Institute and a professor at Utah State University. Shughart warns of an increasingly fragile grid, highlighting a recent report from the North American Reliability Corporation which warns of dire consequences should baseload coal and nuclear power plant retirements continue at accelerated levels.