Solar and Wind Power Face Serious Threats From the Trump Administration

Less than a year into President Trump’s time in office, clean energy developers face a slew of unanticipated threats from the White House and Republicans in Congress that could slow the industry’s growth in ways unimaginable just a year ago.

During Trump’s presidential campaign, energy analysts were skeptical of his promise to preserve the coal industry at the expense of wind and solar. Even the most aggressive attempts at regulatory rollback couldn’t reverse the market forces driving the decline in coal, they reasoned.

But the administration has not stopped at mere deregulation. From the threat of a subsidy for coal-fired power plants to a tax bill that hurts the financing of clean-energy projects, Republicans in Washington have launched a campaign against renewable energy that includes market interventions that alarm other industries, including oil and gas.

Even if these measures never come to fruition—advocates of transitioning from fossil fuels are pushing back—the changed mood in Washington threatens to undermine the confidence of companies planning to invest in renewables. Jeff Waller, of the Rocky Mountain Institute’s sustainable finance practice, described the lingering threats as a “spook factor” that hangs over investment.

“All these different things add uncertainty to planning and project development,” Waller says.


Much more (includes video): http://time.com/5049849/solar-power-wind-power-trump-coal/?utm_source=time.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=2017120914pm&xid=newsletter-brief

Thank you so much for posting the background and explanation.

I did not know any of this, but it makes perfect sense and I understand a whole lot better now - and I sure admire them even more for their program. I'm AA since 2008.

Stephen Colbert - Monologue and Opening - 12/8/17

Trump officials examining states' authority in pipeline delays

WASHINGTON - After years of pipeline projects getting held up or derailed by environmental concerns, the Trump administration is examining ways to get around state roadblocks that have made it increasingly difficult to build in certain parts of the United States.

In late October, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission startled many state officials when it granted a construction permit for a natural gas pipeline in New York, despite state regulators turning down the developer over concerns the project would increase greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has for months discussed the possibility of using federal authority to speed infrastructure development, a potential political third rail for Republicans who have long proclaimed the sanctity of states' rights.

"This is an administration that's going to carry out its agenda by all means necessary," said Devashree Saha, director of energy and environmental policy at The Council of State Governments, a non-partisan advocate for state governments. "The New York example is the first we're seeing, but it could be a harbinger of things to come."

FERC's action comes as the oil and gas industry increases pressure on the administration and lawmakers to intervene against an increasingly visible "Keep it in the Ground" movement that is leading campaigns across the country to stop pipelines, drilling and other activities that support production and consumption of fossil fuels, the primary cause of global warming. Political leaders in a handful of northeast states, most visibly New York, are beginning to listen, in some cases factoring climate change into regulatory decisions.

"We have to break that log jam, to stop one state from having virtual veto power," Dena Wiggins, president of the Natural Gas Supply Association, told Energy Department officials at industry event last month. "If other states start to have a more expansive view of their [environmental authority] it could be a problem."


More: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Trump-officials-examining-states-authority-in-12413291.php

Seth Meyers: Trump's Hanukkah Reception, Starbucks' Christmas Tree Frappuccino - Monologue - 12/7

Stephen Colbert: Monologue and Opening - 12/7/17

U.S. science groups make last-minute push to influence final tax deal

It wasn’t your typical graduate school experience. But earlier this week, eight graduate students, including doctoral students in anthropology and astrophysics at major U.S. universities, ended up in handcuffs after they refused to end a noisy protest outside the Washington, D.C., office of Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan (R–WI).

The arrests were just one dramatic development in a frenzied, last-minute effort by the U.S. scientific and academic communities to shape a major rewrite of the nation’s tax code now being finalized by Congress. The protesters, for instance, want Ryan to help block a House-passed provision that would impose a new tax on tuition assistance that graduate students receive from universities. Biomedical and environmental scientists, meanwhile, are targeting provisions they argue will harm drug development and efforts to promote renewable energy. But time is running short.

The U.S. Senate last week approved a massive, Republican-backed rewrite of the federal tax code that mirrors, in key respects, a bill passed on 16 November by the U.S. House of Representatives. Both bills would dramatically cut corporate rates and, over a decade, deliver a majority of their benefits to the most affluent individuals.

There are also major differences between the measures, however. The Senate bill, for example, would eliminate the penalty that the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, now requires individuals to pay if they don't acquire health insurance; the House bill would not. Critics say the move could result in millions fewer Americans obtaining health insurance.


Much more: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/12/us-science-groups-make-last-minute-push-influence-final-tax-deal

The Daily Show - In Other News: The GOP Loosens Gun Control and a Reporter Claps Back

Seth Meyers - Al Franken Resigns; Donald Trump Jr. Testifies in Russia Investigation: A Closer Look

Seth Meyers: National Microwave Oven Day, Time Magazine's Person of the Year - Monologue - 12/6/17