|
 |
 |
|
OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Obama wants greener schools, defends pollution rules
The Big Story: President Obama’s jobs proposal, unveiled Thursday, calls for a $25 billion effort to modernize at least 35,000 public schools — and making them greener is part of the plan.
“Funds could be used for a range of emergency repair and renovation projects, greening and energy efficiency upgrades, asbestos abatement and removal, and modernization efforts to build new science and computer labs and to upgrade technology in our schools,” states a White House summary of Obama’s broader $447 billion “American Jobs Act.”
The plan also endorses creation of a “National Infrastructure Bank” that includes road, transit, water infrastructure and other types of projects.
It’s modeled on ideas floated by lawmakers including Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas).
The wide range of projects eligible under the Kerry-Hutchison plan includes energy infrastructure such as power transmission, and energy efficiency overhauls for public and commercial buildings.
Obama’s speech drew cheers from the BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of unions and green groups including the United Steelworkers, the Sierra Club and others.
“Bold ideas like an infrastructure bank will strengthen America's efforts to build a 21st century transportation infrastructure — which is essential for businesses to compete and thrive in a global economy where Europe and China are fast racing ahead,” the group said in a statement.
They also liked the schools initiative. “A green school in every community will be a living symbol of how to put America back to work, improve the health of our children and teachers, and move our economy closer to a clean energy future,” the group said.
Obama’s speech also took an oblique shot at GOP efforts to scuttle a range of environmental rules. More on that here.
NEWS BITES:
Murkowski presses EPA to abandon power plant rule: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is urging the Environmental Protection Agency to scrap upcoming rules to cut mercury from power plants until the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) can assess in detail the effects on electricity reliability.
Murkowski, the top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a letter to EPA Wednesday that FERC’s analyses have been far too limited thus far.
Her letter says EPA should defer the upcoming final rules until FERC has conducted a detailed analysis, and then re-propose the rule and seek new input on how it should take reliability into account.
Critics of EPA rules allege that various upcoming regulations will prompt a wave of coal plant closures that threaten the reliability of the power system.
But recent reports by the Bipartisan Policy Center and Congressional Research Service found that these claims are overblown.
U.S. summer was 2nd hottest on record: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration unveiled data Thursday showing that the summer of 2011 was the second-hottest, according to records that date back to 1895.
From NOAA:
The average U.S. temperature in August was 75.7 degrees F, which is 3.0 degrees above the long-term (1901-2000) average, while the summertime temperature was 74.5 degrees F, which is 2.4 degrees above average. The warmest August on record for the contiguous United States was 75.8 degrees F in 1983, while its warmest summer on record at 74.6 degrees F occurred in 1936. Precipitation across the nation during August averaged 2.31 inches, 0.29 inches below the long-term average. The nationwide summer precipitation was 1.0 inch below average.
ON TAP FRIDAY
Hearing to explore environmental waivers for oil drilling: A House Natural Resources Committee panel will gather to explore Interior Department policies on “categorical exclusions,” which exempt some oil-and-gas activities from National Environmental Policy Act review.
A 2005 energy law mandates the exemptions for certain drilling projects on federal lands, such new wells in developed fields. But Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has placed new limits on the waivers, angering Republicans and industry groups.
“Eliminating categorical exclusions causes significant delays in oil and natural gas production that costs money, time and jobs,” states the hearing announcement from committee Republicans.
The director of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management will testify, followed by energy industry officials.
A federal judge last month tossed out the Obama administration limits imposed in 2010, finding that the new policy was issued without proper public notice and comment.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Here’s a quick roundup of Thursday’s E2 stories ...
— Waxman: Obama’s smog retreat is a mistake 'substantively and politically'
— EPA air chief leaves defense of ozone decision to Obama
— FBI raids bankrupt solar firm Solyndra
— Dalai Lama wades into oil sands pipeline battle
— Perry invokes Galileo in defending his climate change doubts
Please send tips and comments to Ben Geman, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and Andrew Restuccia, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Follow us on Twitter: @E2Wire, @AndrewRestuccia, @Ben_Geman
