Today
Evening clouds will give way to clearing overnight. Low 53F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..
Tonight
Evening clouds will give way to clearing overnight. Low 53F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Updated: April 10, 2021 @ 9:12 pm
Environmental News For The Week Ending 20December 2019
This is a collection of interesting news articles about the environment and related topics published last week. This is usually a Tuesday evening regular post at
GEI (but can be posted at other times).
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Note: Because of the high volume of news regarding the coronavirus outbreak, that news has been published separately:
Some of the COVID-19 graphics presented in the above articles have been updated below.
Also, mentioned in two articles near the end of the disease collection is that there is a new strain of the virus circulating in southeast England that is 70% more infectious than the common strain. Since these news collections were assembled, England has locked down London and several European countries have restricted travelers from the country. I expect that we ll have more news on that in this coming week.
Charleston, WV
The West Virginia Public Service Commission approved a settlement agreement between West Virginia Citizen Action Group (CAG) and Solar United Neighbors (SUN), FirstEnergy Corp., and other parties that halts FirstEnergy’s plan to spend approximately $250 million on two aging coal-fired power plants in West Virginia. CAG and SUN, represented by Charleston attorney Emmett Pepper and the nonprofit law firm Earthjustice, applaud the Commission’s approval of this settlement at a time when ratepayers should not be asked to foot the bill for spending on uneconomic power plants.
“This agreement is a money-saving win for West Virginians,” said
Autumn Long of Solar United Neighbors. “It confirms that solar energy is ready today to power our state. We look forward to seeing more solar on our homes and in our communities.”
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James Van Nostrand, director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at West Virginia University. Photo by WVU +1
Tim Cronin, fellow at the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at West Virginia University. Photo by WVU
MORGANTOWN â A new report issued by the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at the West Virginia University College of Law, says the switch to renewable energy would be cost-effective and can be done in a way that creates thousands of jobs as well as save consumers money.
The âWest Virginiaâs Energy Futureâ report spells out how West Virginia can dramatically increase renewable energy production over the next 15 years, and generate more than 70% of the stateâs electricity from wind and solar by 2035. Currently, less than 5% of the stateâs electricity comes from those sources.
Electric rates will drop by 3.7% next year for West Virginia customers under a settlement between energy efficiency advocates and FirstEnergy subsidiaries Mon Power and Potomac Edison.
The West Virginia Public Service Commission approved the deal Wednesday. The utilities also must justify continuing coal plant operations and provide an economic analysis of plants for which they plan major improvements. The deal rejects the companiesâ application to modernize two coal plants, but the utilities can apply again.
FirstEnergy expects a multi-year modernization and improvement program at the plants to be complete by 2025. The program would include continuing air-emission reduction projects at both plants and new wastewater treatment projects to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyâs new effluent limitation guideline requirements, according to FirstEnergy spokesman Will Boye.