Tag: renewable energy

Interior Department approves first large-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S.

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The Vineyard Wind project envisions building 62 turbines off Martha’s Vineyard producing enough electricity to power 400,000 homes

The Biden administration on Tuesday approved the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the United States, a project that envisions building 62 turbines off Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and creating enough electricity to power 400,000 homes.

Vineyard Wind is the first of several massive offshore wind-farm proposals that could put more than 3,000 wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to North Carolina. The Biden administration has committed to processing the other 13 projects under federal review by 2025 in an attempt to meet the administration’s ambitious goal of producing 30,000 megawatts of electricity from offshore wind by 2030, powering some 10 million homes.

The goal is part of the Biden administration’s effort to fight climate change by shifting away from fossil fuels. Continue reading.

Rep. Long and Sen. Frentz introduce 100 percent clean energy bill

SAINT PAUL, MN — On Tuesday, January 5, State Representative Jamie Long (DFL—Minneapolis) and State Senator Nick Frentz (DFL—North Mankato) will join environmental advocacy groups who have led the grassroots push for clean energy to introduce a plan to move Minnesota towards 100 percent clean energy. This legislation would prompt a transition away from power sources that rely on fossil fuels in favor of renewable sources like wind and solar.

What: 100 percent clean energy bill introduction

Who: Rep. Jamie Long and Sen. Nick Frentz

When: Tuesday, January 5 at 12pm

Where: State Capitol Press Room B971, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155

Final Farm Bill Rejects GOP Attempts to Dismantle Nutrition Programs

Thanks to Senator Debbie Stabenow’s (D-MI) and Rep. Collin Peterson’s (MN-07) leadership, lawmakers passed a final Farm Bill that invests in rural communities, provides needed certainty to farmers and producers, creates new opportunities for beginning and underserved farmers, and gives struggling families access to healthy foods. Democratic leaders in the House and Senate worked across the aisle to negotiate a final bill that includes critical support for farmers, rural communities, and working families and rejects conservative proposals like cutting access to food stamps after Republicans held up the bill for months to make these poison-pill demands.
The final Farm Bill protects food stamps, rejecting Republican efforts to cut access to nutrition assistance.
Politico: “The deal is a win for Democrats, who unanimously opposed the House plan to impose stricter work requirements on millions of participants in SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. SNAP helps nearly 40 million low-income Americans buy groceries and accounts for more than 75 percent of the farm bill’s total price tag.”
CNBC: “The massive bill left out the controversial stricter work requirements sought by House Republicans for people getting food stamps, or participants in the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Democrats opposed adding the tougher work requirements that would have cut or reduced benefits for more than 2 million people.”

Continue reading “Final Farm Bill Rejects GOP Attempts to Dismantle Nutrition Programs”

Interior Secretary Zinke’s claim that the U.S. has struggled to produce ‘low-cost, abundant and reliable energy’

The following article by Nicole Lewis was posted on the Washington Post website October 11, 2017:

President Trump made several false claims — new and repeated — about coal, energy, the Paris Accord and the environment at an event celebrating ‘unleashing American energy’ on June 29. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“Our country has inherited an energy-dependent country from previous generations, and in recent years, we’ve struggled to be self-sufficient in producing low-cost, abundant and reliable energy.”

— Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, in remarks during a speech at the Heritage Foundation, Sept. 29, 2017

During a speech at the Heritage Foundation on Sept. 29, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke laid out his vision for U.S. energy dominance. In his opening remarks, Zinke said the Trump administration does not support an agenda of “regulation and red tape,” which he argues keeps the U.S. reliant on foreign energy sources and weakens its national security. Continue reading “Interior Secretary Zinke’s claim that the U.S. has struggled to produce ‘low-cost, abundant and reliable energy’”