Article Archive

High Court Takes Heat Out of Mercury Rule

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Submitted by Ken Silverstein on Mon, 2015-06-29 18:14
On Monday, the Supreme Court released its 5-4 decision, which said EPA must take into account the cost of its regulations at the initial stage – the one where it determines that regulation of hazardous emissions from electric power plants would be “appropriate and necessary.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency must – first – consider the costs of compliance before fixing a specific cap on mercury emissions. What’s next?

Natural Gas: Pathway to Freedom?

Ken Silverstein's picture
Submitted by Ken Silverstein on Wed, 2015-06-17 21:18
New studies say natural gas is providing much-needed economic and environmental hope. True?

A decade ago, America’s life changed. That’s when the country began to reap the benefits of unconventional oil and natural gas, making it the world’s largest such producer.

Not only had the nation found itself awash in a cleaner burning generation fuel but it had also started attracting new investment in the chemical and manufacturing sectors. It’s truly been a win-win scenario as the United States has both brightened its economic prospects while also cleaned its environment, having reduced its carbon emissions by 10 percent from 2005 levels.

EPA Blesses Fracking

Ken Silverstein's picture
Submitted by Ken Silverstein on Fri, 2015-06-05 17:43
Natural gas producers today have the wind at their backs, with production rising as America turns to cleaner energy. But any misstep could set the industry back, which is why it needs to work closely with the White House and the environmentalists, both of which have real concerns.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent study on hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) appears really as just a careful continuation of what it has been saying all along – that the drilling techniques used to retrieve shale gas are pretty safe. Thus, while it hedged a little, EPA emphasized that there’s no “widespread” problems associated with fracking and drinking water supplies.

Southern Sees the Light

Ken Silverstein's picture
Submitted by Ken Silverstein on Tue, 2015-06-02 16:57
More than 95 percent of consumers will still be connected to the centralized network for the foreseeable future. But it won’t diminish the trend toward distributed generation – and the attempts by both unconventional parties and power companies from getting into related businesses.

When most people think of Georgia and energy, they think of Southern Company and coal. Well, all that’s changing now that the state is about to embrace a new law on July 1 to allow utilities to sell rooftop solar energy.