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The $6.6 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline would send methane gas 300 miles from the Marcellus shale fields in West Virginia to Virginia, crossing almost 1,000 streams and wetlands, and now a national forest. Earlier this week the Agriculture Department granted the pipeline company’s request to cut through 3.5 miles of the Jefferson National Forest, one of the last federal hurdles the project needed to overcome. "The Forest Service’s preferred alternative to allow [the pipeline] to rip through the Jefferson National Forest grossly underestimates the lasting environmental harms from the project, ignores the overwhelming public opposition to sacrificing this treasured land and shirks the agency’s responsibility to steward forests," said Jessica Sims with Appalachian Voice. This is the third time the Agriculture Department has tried to allow the pipeline to be constructed through the national forest. The previous two attempted rulings were rejected by federal judges for failing to adequately consider "the actual sedimentation and erosion impacts of the pipeline." This latest ruling is also expected to be litigated. (AP, Reuters, Common Dreams, Seeking Alpha, Fox News, New York Times $)
Biden Vetoes Attempt To Reinstate Solar Tariffs: The resolution thumbed down by Biden had passed both the House and Senate, and would have reversed a Commerce Department decision to waive tariffs on solar panels imported from Southeast Asian countries for two years. Biden explained the tariff waiver was necessary to establish a “bridge” for continued solar deployment as US manufacturing ramps up to meet the increasing demand for the clean energy technology. “Passage of this resolution bets against American innovation,” Biden said in a statement. “It would undermine these efforts and create deep uncertainty for American businesses and workers in the solar industry.” Less than 30 percent of the solar panels and cells installed in the U.S. are made in the country, though domestically-produced solar content is rising as U.S. manufacturers take advantage of the manufacturing tax credits included in the Inflation Reduction Act. A two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate would be needed to override the President’s veto. (CNN, The Hill, Reuters, AP, Fox News, Washington Post $, New York Times $)
Fossil Fuels To Blame For Western Wildfires - New Study: The work published in Environmental Research Letters is the first to quantify how fossil fuel company emissions have worsened wildfires in the western U.S. and Canada. A huge swath of recently burned forests - as much as 20 million acres - can be directly traced to major fossil fuel companies like Chevron, ExxonMobile, BP and Shell, the study finds. “These companies should be held accountable for their fair share of the damages that they’ve caused,” coauthor and research scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists Carly Phillips told Grist. “They lied and engaged in this orchestrated campaign of deception for years, and it didn’t have to be this way, right?” Phillips and the other researchers found that 37 percent of forests burned since 1986 across the areas studied can be linked to the carbon pollution from 88 of the world’s largest oil, gas, and coal companies. The research contributes to a growing body of climate "attribution" studies, which quantify how fossil fuel pollution is directly tied to global temperature increases, sea level rise, and ocean acidification, and other climate impacts. Attribution research has underpinned many climate lawsuits brought by impacted communities. (CNN, The Hill, Grist, Truthout, Phys.org, E&E $, Sac Bee $, LA Times $)
Climate News
(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Forever chemicals are disproportionately polluting Black and Hispanic neighborhoods (The Verge), Communities of color disproportionately exposed to ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water: study (The Hill), Without Black representation in climate tech, ‘the planet will burn’ (Tech Crunch)
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Analysis & Opinion
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Denier Roundup
Anti-EV Pollster Recycles Op-Eds In Virginia, Delaware and RealClear Telling Dems To Be Nice To Gas Cars
Everyone should be encouraged to recycle, but recycling your own work without noting it's not new is called self-plagiarism, and it's the kind of thing that can get you expelled from college.
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