Energy

Image: The New York City skyline.

energymanager.com - September 23rd, 2014 - Linda Hardesty

New York City is committing to an 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2050, with 2005 as a baseline. Central to that commitment, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a sweeping plan to retrofit public and private buildings – One City, Built to Last: Transforming New York City’s Buildings for a Low-Carbon Future.

Every single city-owned building with any significant energy use – about 3,000 buildings – will be retrofitted within the next ten years, by 2025, with interim goals along the way.

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Image: Eleni Kalorkoti

nytimes.com - by David J. Hayes - July 17, 2014

STANFORD, Calif. — AFTER years of hype, renewable energy has gone mainstream in much of the United States and, increasingly, around the world. . .

. . . But many communities that need small-scale renewable energy remain out in the cold — literally and figuratively.

In Alaska, for instance, the vast majority of the more than 200 small, isolated communities populated primarily by native Alaskans rely on dirty, expensive diesel fuel to generate their electricity and heat.

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Hundreds of protestors shout 'Ban Fracking Now' at a rally outside Gov. Cuomo's Manhattan fundraiser at the Hyatt Hotel on Monday. Also Monday, a top state court ruled that towns can ban the drilling practice even if the state allows it.  Nancy Siesel for new york daily news

nydailynews.com - by Kenneth Lovett - June 30, 2014

ALBANY — The state's top court on Monday ruled that local communities can ban the controversial drilling technique known as hydrofracking, whether or not the state agrees to allow the practice.

In its 5-2 decision, the Court of Appeals upheld local zoning ordinances passed by two central New York towns banning the drilling because of environmental concerns.

In her 28-page opinion, Judge Victoria Graffeo said the two towns “engaged in a reasonable exercise of their zoning authority.”

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Growing Economy, Falling Emissions

Economic growth has been stronger in nine Northeast states that have a current cap-and-trade program. Carbon emissions in those states have fallen much more quickly than in the rest of the country.

The New York Times
Sources: ENE; Energy Information Administration

nytimes.com - by Hannah Fairfield - June 6, 2014

Some critics of the Environmental Protection Agency’s new requirements for power plants argue that forcing emissions reduction will curtail economic growth. But the recent experience of states that already cap carbon emissions reveals that emissions and economic growth are no longer tightly tied together. . .

. . . The nine states already in the program — Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont — have substantially reduced their carbon emissions in recent years. At the same time, those states have had stronger economic growth than the rest of the country.