A portion of roadway is flooded in Corpus Christi, Texas on Sept. 20, 2020 due to storm surge from Tropical Storm Beta in the Gulf of Mexico. Matt Pierce / iStock Editorial / Getty Images Plus
The National Hurricane Center has run out of names for tropical storms this year and has now moved on to the Greek alphabet during an extremely active hurricane season. Late Monday night, Tropical Storm Beta became the ninth named storm to make landfall. That's the first time so many named storms have made landfall since 1916, when Woodrow Wilson was president, according to NBC News.
<p>Beta is a small but slow-moving storm. Its tropical-storm winds extend 125 miles from the eye of the storm. However, the danger from Beta is not its winds, but the tremendous amount of rain it is expected to drop on towns and cities along the Interstate 10 corridor in Texas and Louisiana, according to the <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/weather/hurricane/os-ne-hurricane-teddy-tropical-storm-beta-monday-update-20200921-ppok6b2fbvcf3mh4ykjv7k44ci-story.html." target="_blank">Orlando Sentinel</a>.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCUAT2+shtml/220401.shtml?" target="_blank">National Hurricane Center</a> issued an update late last night that the center of Beta made landfall in Texas near the Southern End of the Matagorda peninsula around 10 p.m. CDT.</p><p>The storm's slow movement will stall Beta over Texas and drench the region with five to 10 inches of rain, said Rich Otto, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, MD, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/20/us/tropical-storm-beta.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported. The heavy rains and wind will also create dangerous storm surges.</p>
<p>"Twenty-four hours from now it will be in roughly the same location," Otto said Monday, according to The New York Times.</p><p>That stalled movement has put roughly 11 million people under flash flood warnings that span the Texas and Louisiana coast, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/21/weather/tropical-storm-beta-texas-louisiana-monday/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>. The sustained rain is also expected to cause river flooding and urban <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a>.</p><p>Early Tuesday morning, Beta was moving no faster than people typically walk, at just 3 miles per hour. It is predicted to stall over inland Texas Tuesday and then move toward the east and northeast later in the day when it will begin to weaken, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/f19bbc72c7ec3d2040c0b942666eee90" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AP</a>. It is expected to stay in southeastern Texas through Wednesday and then move over Louisiana and Mississippi through Friday.</p>
<p>Dangerous flash floods may continue through Wednesday, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Amaryllis Cotto in Galveston, Texas, who spoke to the AP. Cotto added that 6-12 inches of rain has already fallen in the area and some areas have seen 18 inches of rain.</p><p>On Monday night, Beta's storm surge washed away a pier in Galveston, Texas. The incident was captured on video and posted to <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSHouston/status/1307883681717972992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1307883681717972992%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fweather.com%2Fnews%2Fnews%2F2020-09-21-tropical-storm-beta-texas-louisiana-flooding-damage-galveston" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</p><p>The governors of Texas and Louisiana both urged residents to be vigilant during the storm. Texas Governor Greg Abbot issued a disaster declaration for 29 counties Monday, while Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency and begged residents still recovering from Hurricane Laura to be especially careful, according to <a href="https://weather.com/news/news/2020-09-21-tropical-storm-beta-texas-louisiana-flooding-damage-galveston" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Weather Channel</a>.</p>
<p>Nic Hunter, the mayor of Lake Charles, Louisiana, worried that Beta's intense rains may be "an emotional and mental toll for a lot of our citizens," as the city tries to recover after Hurricane Laura damaged 95 percent of the city's nearly 30,000 buildings, according to the AP.</p><p>While Beta slowly drenches Texas, Hurricane Teddy has strengthened in the Atlantic and is churning towards Nova Scotia in Canada. It is expected to make landfall Wednesday.</p><p>"Teddy should turn to the north-northeast and move over eastern Nova Scotia on Wednesday then over the Gulf of St. Lawrence late Wednesday into Thursday," National Hurricane Center forecasters said, according to the Orlando Sentinel.</p>
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'Unsurvivable Storm Surge' Expected as Hurricane Laura Hits Gulf Coast With 150 mph Winds
27 August
Climate
A NOAA satellite image of the Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 27, 2020 at 7:36 a.m. EST. NOAA
In the middle of the night, Hurricane Laura made landfall, hitting the Gulf Coast in Louisiana with record-setting 150 mph winds, according to the National Hurricane Center, which warned of an "unsurvivable" storm surge.
<blockquote>"Unsurvivable storm surge with large and destructive waves will cause catastrophic damage from Sea Rim State Park, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, including Calcasieu and Sabine Lakes. This surge could penetrate up to 40 miles inland from the immediate coastline, and flood waters will not fully recede for several days after the storm."</blockquote>
<p>The storm weakened rapidly as it moved inland, losing strength as it was downgraded to a category 3 hurricane. Early Thursday morning, it was down to a category 2 and the National Hurricane Center expects it will weaken to a tropical storm as it turns northeast and moves over Arkansas Thursday.</p><p>"At the time of landfall, Laura was a ferocious looking hurricane with a clear circular eye, an intense eyewall, and tightly-coiled surrounding spiral bands," the <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT3+shtml/DDHHMM.shtml" target="_blank">National Weather Service said</a> in an update on the storm early Thursday, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/26/hurricane-laura-updates-texas-louisiana/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_lufbanner-6a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p>
<p>Cameron, Louisiana on the Gulf Coast, about 35 miles east of the Texas border, bore the brunt of Laura as it moved on shore with near record winds. In Lake Charles, a city of 78,000 people, buildings shook as the storm's winds ripped through the city's streets.</p><p>"There will be parts of Lake Charles underwater that no living human being has ever seen before," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told WWL Radio, as CNN reported. "We are marshaling all of our people and assets to go in ... and start a very robust search and rescue effort."</p>
<p>The National Hurricane Center warned that the storm surges would make a low-lying area, like Cameron, part of the Gulf of Mexico until the storm had passed and the floodwaters receded, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/us/hurricane-laura-update.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>In the run up to the storm, governors from both Louisiana and Texas urged people to evacuate. "I'm asking people right now to pay attention to this storm, to get out of harm's way," said Edwards during a briefing before the storm's arrival, as The New York Times reported. "Understand, our state has not seen a storm surge like this in many, many decades. We haven't seen wind speeds like we're going to experience in a very, very long time."</p>
<p>While the storm is weakening, its heavy winds are still ripping through Western Louisiana and grazing East Texas, causing widespread power outages. Furthermore, the hurricane is dropping five to 10 inches of rain over a wide swath of the Gulf Coast, and up to 18 inches in some areas, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/26/hurricane-laura-updates-texas-louisiana/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_lufbanner-6a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>. That intense rain is leading to flash flooding in some areas.</p><p>The National Hurricane Center warned that just because the storm is weakening does not mean it is safe. The effects will continue to be felt through the weekend for areas east of the Mississippi River.</p>
<p>In a statement Thursday morning, it said:</p><blockquote>"It should be noted that strong hurricanes like Laura are not just coastal events. Even though Laura's highest winds will decrease quickly as it treks inland, significant impacts from heavy rains and strong wind gusts are likely through at least tonight across portions of Louisiana and Arkansas. Some strengthening as an extratropical cyclone is expected when the storm moves over the Atlantic waters late this weekend and early next week."</blockquote>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU4NTQyMS9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MjM1NzEwM30.hPRcCM493arLmJomOA3h9-4NUlVqDlBHKzavR-O8L0M/img.gif?width=980" id="9f9f2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1d55d58693229ea2e3cf3dc574c4c639" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
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Fire and smoke at a plastics plant in Grand Prairie, Texas, on Aug. 19, 2020. The massive fire that broke out overnight is likely to burn for days, officials said. Xinhua / Dan Tian via Getty Images
A plastics plant near Dallas,Texas caught fire midnight Wednesday, sending a column of toxic smoke billowing over North Texas.
<p><br/></p>
Twitter
<div id="530f0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4a9d167b449145aafb50e9b487e967bb"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1296088867293069313" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">TEXAS FIRE: Local media reports a major fire and explosions at the Poly America industrial facility in Grand Prairi… https://t.co/kf5VPU8uVw</div> — NowThis (@NowThis)<a href="https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/statuses/1296088867293069313">1597846640.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The smoke could be seen for miles and was picked up on a weather camera in Denton, about 40 miles away, <a href="https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/massive-fire-breaks-out-at-factory-in-grand-prairie/287-aa702222-e44e-40e8-8e45-2d625ec62e90" target="_blank">WFAA reported</a>. No injuries were reported and no evacuations were ordered, but people with underlying medical conditions were warned to avoid the smoke and self-evacuate if needed. </p><p>"Anybody with any breathing problems, any asthmatics, I mean it is the combustion from plastic so it's not good to breathe," Grand Prairie Assistant Fire Chief Bill Murphy told <a href="https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/08/19/fire-rages-manufacturing-plant-grand-prairie-poly-america/" target="_blank">CBS Dallas-Fort Worth</a>. </p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/radar?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#radar</a> captured the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/smoke?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#smoke</a> plume from the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GrandPrairie?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GrandPrairie</a> industrial <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fire?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#fire</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/dfwwx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#dfwwx</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/txwx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#txwx</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/polyethylene?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#polyethylene</a> <a href="https://t.co/OjQR21LohY">pic.twitter.com/OjQR21LohY</a></p>— NWS Fort Worth (@NWSFortWorth) <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSFortWorth/status/1296038755472572420?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>The fire broke out at Poly-America factory in Grand Prairie, which manufactures polyethylene and petroleum-based products such as trash bags, drop cloths, plastic sheeting and vapor barrier film. </p><p>Firefighters think the blaze started when a powerline fell on an area where plastic rolls were being stored. </p><p>"All of their storage there at Poly-America, for their rolled plastic, is underneath those towers so it ignited the plastic rolls. It just spread to all the inventory that they have back there," Murphy told CBS Dallas-Fort Worth. </p>
<p>Because of the nature of the plastic fuel, firefighters initially thought the fire would burn through Thursday, but they managed to contain it by 4 p.m. Wednesday, <a href="https://apnews.com/5a242526f448227dd9ccf021ab0fb4bb" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>.</p><p>"Plastic is hard to put out and it's just gonna burn," Murphy said. </p><p>Another difficulty was train tracks that ran between the firefighters and the factory building, WFAA reported. One train car filled with paint caught fire.</p><p>"It was a solid wall of 15-foot flames all night long," Murphy said.</p><p>The factory building itself was removed from the fire and not expected to be damaged.</p><p>The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Grand Prairie officials said they would continue to monitor air quality, The Associated Press reported. </p>
<p>"The State of Texas is monitoring the industrial fire in Grand Prairie and working closely with local officials and first responders to address safety concerns in the community," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement reported by WFAA. "The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Grand Prairie officials are continually checking air quality conditions and the State will provide any necessary resources to the area. I ask Texans in the Grand Prairie community to heed the guidance of local officials and pray for the safety of the first responders combating the fire."</p><p>This isn't the first time Poly-America has caught fire. Another blaze 32 years ago took a day to put out.</p><p>Texas environmental groups said the fire exemplified the dangers of producing plastics. </p><p>"This is a dramatic and frightening example of why we must reduce our dependence on toxic plastics," <a href="https://www.texasenvironment.org/" target="_blank">Texas Campaign for the Environment</a> senior strategy director Corey Troiani told <a href="https://www.greensourcedfw.org/articles/plastic-plant-fire-grand-prairie-should-be-wake-call-say-environmentalists" target="_blank">Green Source DFW</a>. "The plastics industry has targeted Texas to expand dangerous facilities like this one to produce more unsustainable single-use products. Incidents like this remind us that we must transition to a cleaner economy and protect our health and environment from plastics. Our hearts go out to the residents of Grand Prairie and neighboring cities who live near this fire."</p>
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The Florida National Guard collects specimens for coronavirus testing at a nursing home on May 1, 2020. Sgt. Michael Baltz / Florida National Guard
Florida has now confirmed more coronavirus cases than New York, the early epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, in another sign that the U.S. as a whole is struggling to control the deadly disease.
<p>Florida became the second state after California to overtake New York's case count Sunday. It had 423,855 total cases to New York's 411,736, according to Sunday afternoon figures from Johns Hopkins University <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/26/895596931/florida-case-count-surpasses-that-of-new-york-the-countrys-original-epicenter" target="_blank">reported by NPR</a>. California, the U.S.'s most populous state, remained in the lead with 450,242 cases, while Texas was in fourth place with 391,000, according to a <a href="https://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUKKCN24R0IH" target="_blank">Reuters tally</a>.</p><p>"What we have right now are essentially three New Yorks," White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said of Florida, Texas and California on Friday, as the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e7a2d746-35f9-4669-a56b-d8e256889343" target="_blank">Financial Times reported</a>. "That's why you hear us calling for masks and increased social distancing, to really stop the spread of this epidemic."</p>
<div id="d7a78" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b85676cae18d963e7a34c5ee8d75a0fa"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1287434140573405191" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">BREAKING: Florida has passed New York for 2nd in total COVID-19 cases. The top 5 states by total cases:
1) Califor… https://t.co/szC6VLGFFt</div> — Florida Coronavirus Tracker (@Florida Coronavirus Tracker)<a href="https://twitter.com/FloridaCovid/statuses/1287434140573405191">1595783193.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>New York continues to hold the lead for coronavirus fatalities with more than 32,000, according to Reuters. Florida has the eighth most with nearly 6,000.</p><p>However, deaths are rising in Florida and across the nation. California, Texas and Florida all reported record increases in deaths this week, according to the Financial Times. Florida reported 970 deaths and 3,452 hospitalizations for the week ending Sunday, up from 758 deaths and 3,021 hospitalizations the week before, the <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/07/26/florida-reports-9344-coronavirus-infections-sunday-78-deaths/" target="_blank">Tampa Bay Times reported</a>. COVID-19 is by far the deadliest infectious disease in the state this year. It is currently killing three times as many people as AIDS, viral hepatitis, the flu and pneumonia combined.</p><p>Nationwide, the death toll rose by more than 1,000 for a fifth day in a row Saturday, the Financial Times reported. Deaths averaged 876 a day for the week ending Saturday, the highest daily average since early June.</p>
<p>The mortality increase follows a surge in cases that brought the U.S. total to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/us-coronavirus-cases-2646792890.html" target="_self">over four million</a> last week.</p><p>However, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and state health officials thought new infections were beginning to plateau in the state, according to the Tampa Bay Times.</p><p>Birx also told NBC news there was evidence of plateauing in Florida, Texas, California and Arizona, another hard-hit state, as <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-deaths-us-covid-trump-cdc-guidelines-states-reopening-a9638066.html" target="_blank">The Independent reported</a>.</p><p>It is hard to tell which state really leads in cases since the pandemic began, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/26/world/coronavirus-live-updates.html?smtyp=cur&smid=fb-nytimes&fbclid=IwAR1-zmI6vuqH6_4xhLXVU414qXV-L6RDeOa3tibhDhucRJljqRbSRdnIwrs#link-7666357" target="_blank">The New York Times pointed out</a>. That's because New York and California both experienced outbreaks early, when testing was still limited. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coronavirus-infections-reported-cases-antibodies-2646449259.html" target="_self">published this month</a> calculated that the number of coronavirus infections could be two to 13 times higher than the official case count.</p>
<p>While they are neck and neck for confirmed cases, New York and Florida represent very different approaches to controlling the pandemic, according to NPR.</p><p>New York decreased infections and deaths by late spring, just as infections began to rise in Western and Southern states.</p><p>New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo lifted lockdown measures gradually and has required masks in public since April. Florida's DeSantis, meanwhile, has declined to mandate masks or impose new restrictions since most businesses were allowed to reopen in May.</p>
<p><em>Correction: An earlier version of this story said that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said state health experts thought cases were beginning to plateau in the state. The story has been updated to note that both DeSantis and state health officials said this.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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Hanna Pummels Texas as First Atlantic Hurricane of 2020 and Earliest ‘H’ Storm on Record
27 July
Climate
A Coast Guard aircrew conducts an overflight of areas impacted by Hurricane Hanna near Aransas Pass, Texas on July 26, 2020. U.S. Coast Guard photo
Hurricane Hanna, the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, battered the Texas coast on Saturday and Sunday as the state continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
<p>Hanna made landfall as a Category 1 storm at 6 p.m. EDT Saturday along the Padre Island National Seashore, around 50 miles south of Corpus Christi, <a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/hurricane-hanna-first-atlantic-hurricane-of-2020-plows-toward-texas/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections reported</a>. South Texas, including Corpus Christi, has the highest coronavirus hospitalization rate in the country.</p><p>"Any hurricane is an enormous challenge. This challenge is complicated and made even more severe, seeing that it is sweeping through an area that is the most challenged area in the state for Covid-19," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Saturday, as <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/hurricane-hanna-texas-tropical-storm-hurricane-douglas-hawaii-coronavirus-a9639141.html" target="_blank">The Independent reported</a>.</p><p>Abbott said that, to encourage social distancing, some people would be sheltered in hotel rooms. He also said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had approved an emergency declaration for the state.</p>
<div id="e6447" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="68b88ec3be5096a8bf5aa564d4a39827"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1287494695011196929" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">FEMA & President Trump have already approved the Texas request relief from #HurricaneHanna.
FEMA is providing reim… https://t.co/lTZ5UV1AcN</div> — Greg Abbott (@Greg Abbott)<a href="https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/statuses/1287494695011196929">1595797630.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Meanwhile, Red Cross Texas Gulf Coast chapter CEO Henry Van De Putte said the organization was working to keep its shelters safe by opening them at reduced capacity, conducting temperature checks on volunteers and evacuees and having a medical worker on hand at each location.</p><p>"Yes, coronavirus provides risk, but so does floodwater, so does not having electricity, so does not having required medications," Van De Putte told The Associated Press, as The Independent reported. "We're doing everything we can do possible to make it a safe environment."</p><p>Hanna made landfall a second time in Kenedy County, Texas, <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-storm-hanna/tropical-storm-hanna-threatens-flash-floods-on-covid-hit-texas-coast-idUKKCN24R0D7" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. By Sunday, it had weakened to a tropical depression. There were no immediate reports of injuries.</p>
<div id="81229" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="65260d432f7dafbd575edbf3019ddbdc"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1287148796162584577" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Latest 0.5-km resolution visible loop from @NOAA's #GOES16🛰️ of #HurricaneHanna making landfall in Texas. Get the l… https://t.co/t0lZZwh86D</div> — NOAA Satellites - Public Affairs (@NOAA Satellites - Public Affairs)<a href="https://twitter.com/NOAASatellitePA/statuses/1287148796162584577">1595715161.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In Port Mansfield, winds knocked down sugarcane fields and trees and even tore the roofs off of houses.</p><p>That included the home of 75-year-old Sharon Pecce, who was visiting a friend with her husband when the damage occurred.</p><p>"You could hear the wind blowing and the rain blowing and you looked outside you could see sheets of water blowing down the street," Pecce told Reuters. "It's scary to go through this at my age, a lot could have happened ... we could have been killed."</p><p>Wind also knocked over at least three 18-wheeler trucks and a recreational vehicle. Attempts to right the trucks shut down two miles of U.S. Route 77 in Sarita, Texas Sunday.</p><p>The storm also brought power outages and heavy rain. At one point, there were more than 283,000 homes and businesses without power, but that number had decreased to 98,000 by Sunday night.</p><p>The storm also dumped more than a foot of rain on some parts of South Texas, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/26/weather/tropical-storm-hanna-texas-hurricane-douglas/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>, leading to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a>.</p><p>In Mission, Texas, the National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency as rising waters prompted several water rescues.</p>
<div id="02d54" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d1e256b3f9e04f1f239239e6fcb145c9"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1287356366311632896" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">❗️Help is here. A National Guard team equipped with high profile vehicles and boats are in #Mission to assist with… https://t.co/9mR6KGlb9m</div> — City of Mission, TX (@City of Mission, TX)<a href="https://twitter.com/CityOfMissionTX/statuses/1287356366311632896">1595764650.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Storm waters also flooded parts of downtown Corpus Christi, including the Art Museum of South Texas, according to Yale Climate Connections.</p><p>The storm passed over to northeast Mexico Sunday morning and is expected to break up over the mountains there.</p><p>"Heavy rain and dangerous flash flooding continue over northeast Mexico," the <a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/1287671082711945217" target="_blank">National Hurricane Center said early Monday</a>.</p><p>Hanna extends 2020's emerging reputation as an <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/atlantic-hurricane-2646594495.html" target="_self">early and active Atlantic hurricane season</a>. It broke records as the first H storm of any Atlantic hurricane season and came well before the average date for the first Atlantic hurricane of a season — Aug. 10, according to Yale Climate Connections.</p>
<div id="46af1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="57c47b28e9dba4bce5bac58907c8a642"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1287036367088877570" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#HurricaneHanna approaching Texas. I wouldn't be surprised at a little more strengthening before landfall this afte… https://t.co/a0EemgUyX0</div> — Marshall Shepherd (@Marshall Shepherd)<a href="https://twitter.com/DrShepherd2013/statuses/1287036367088877570">1595688356.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>It is also the fourth named storm to make landfall in the U.S. this year. The only other year to have four named storms make landfall so early in the summer was 1886.</p>
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A bat with white-nose syndrome in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on March 12, 2012. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
A deadly fungal disease responsible for the deaths of millions of bats across the U.S. has been confirmed in Texas for the first time.
<p>White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a disease in bats caused by a cold-loving fungus known as <a href="https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/static-page/the-fungus" target="_blank"><em>Pseudogymnoascus destructans</em></a>, which infects the skin on the muzzle, ear and wings of hibernating bats. Infected bats have obvious fungal growth on their body, but may also behave erratically both inside and outside of caves during the winter when they should be hibernating, according to the <a href="https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/static-page/what-is-white-nose-syndrome" target="_blank">White-Nose Syndrome Response Team</a>. The fungus that causes the disease was first detected in the state in 2017, but there were no signs of the WNS that it can cause, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (<a href="https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20190508a" target="_blank">TPWD</a>). In the years since, the fungus has spread to dozens of sites in 21 counties. At the time, biologists said that it usually takes a few years after detecting the fungus for the disease to manifest.</p>
<p>The infected animal is a type of bat known as cave myotis (<em>Myotis velifer</em>) and was found in the central part of the state on Feb. 23. Analysis conducted by the USGS National Wildlife Health Center confirmed the presence of both the fungus and the disease that it causes.</p><p>"Finding WNS in Central Texas for the first time is definitely concerning," <a href="https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20200305a" target="_blank">said</a> Nathan Fuller, bat specialist at TPWD. "Biologists had hoped that white-nose syndrome, a disease that thrives in cold conditions, might not occur in warmer parts of Texas. We're following up on several other reports to determine whether this was an isolated incident or if the impacts are more widespread. We recently received a report from a site in Bell County of five cave myotis that we suspect were infected as well. We should know more in the next few weeks."</p>
<p>WNS was first detected in New York more than a decade ago and has since spread from the northeastern part of the country to the southcentral states at what the USGS calls an "<a href="https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-white-nose-syndrome?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products" target="_blank">alarming rate</a>." It is believed to have been introduced from Europe where bats appear to be resistant to the fungus. The fungus is largely transmitted between bats but can be brought into caves on the clothing and gear of humans.</p><p>As of this year, millions of bats in at least 33 states and seven Canadian provinces have died from the disease. In some parts of the U.S., normally long-lived winter bat populations have fallen by more than 90 percent. Because many species only produce one offspring each year, experts say it could take decades for some populations to recover.</p>
<p>Currently there is no cure for WNS but scientists are collaborating to study the disease and understand how it spreads to infect bats, as well as what can be done to control it. Lab tests have shown that oral vaccines may increase the chances of surviving an infection, <a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/vaccines-may-help-bats-fight-white-nose-syndrome" target="_blank">reports</a> Science News. Evidence suggests that WNS only occurs in bats and is not transmissible to humans as the fungus only grows at temperatures between 41 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which is much lower than the human body, according to the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/what-is-white-nose-syndrome.htm" target="_blank">National Park Service</a>. No human infections have been documented after exposure to WNS-infected bats or caves.</p>
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Texas Bill Would Make Protesting Pipelines a Felony on Par With Attempted Murder
20 May 2019
Politics
Activists in North Dakota confront pipeline construction activities. A Texas bill would impose steep penalties for such protests. Speak Freely / ACLU
By Eoin Higgins
A bill making its way through the Texas legislature would make protesting pipelines a third-degree felony, the same as attempted murder.
<p><a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=86R&Bill=HB3557#vote161" target="_blank">H.B. 3557</a>, which is under consideration in the state Senate after passing the state House earlier this month, ups penalties for interfering in energy infrastructure construction by making the protests a felony. Sentences would range from two to 10 years.</p><p>The legislation was authored by Republican state Rep. Chris Paddie. It passed the state House May 7 on a 99 to 45 vote, with two abstentions. The bill is being cosponsored in the state Senate by Republican state Sen. Pat Fallon.</p><p>In remarks on the state House floor during the bill's passage, Paddie <a href="https://www.statesman.com/news/20190507/house-backs-stiffer-penalties-for-those-who-damage-pipelines" target="_blank">sought to assuage the fears</a> of those who believe the legislation will target non-violent protest.</p><p>"This bill does not affect those who choose to peacefully protest for any reason," said Paddie. "It attaches liability to those who potentially damage or destroy critical infrastructure facilities."</p><p>But opponents of the measure don't agree, pointing to the bill's language.</p><p>"It's an anti-protest bill, favoring the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> industry, favoring corporations over people," Frankie Orona, executive director of the Society of Native Nations, told the Austin American-Statesman.</p><p><a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/pipeline-protesters-could-face-20-years-in-prison-under-bill-in-texas-house/" target="_blank">The legislation is "is criminalizing conscientious, caring people who are the canaries for their communities," activist Lori Glover told the Texas Observer.</a></p><p>A hearing on the law in the state Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Economic Development on Wednesday drew opponents of the measure to <a href="http://tlcsenate.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?clip_id=14545" target="_blank">speak out</a> against the law, but it's unclear if their testimony will make a difference.</p>
<p>The Texas bill is just the latest piece of legislation at the state level to target pipeline protests. In the wake of a spike in anti-pipeline actions over the past few years, Grist<em> </em><a href="https://grist.org/article/after-standing-rock-protesting-pipelines-can-get-you-a-decade-in-prison-and-100k-in-fines" target="_blank">reported</a> Tuesday, a number of states have come down on environmental activists.</p><blockquote>The effort to punish pipeline protestors has spread across states with ample oil and gas reserves in the last two years and, in some cases, has garnered bipartisan support. Besides Louisiana, four other states — Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa — have enacted similar laws after protests against the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dakota-access-pipeline">Dakota Access Pipeline</a> generated national attention and inspired a wave of civil disobedience.</blockquote><p>The bill is drawing national attention as well.</p><p>"Texas aims to make pipeline protest a third-degree felony, same as attempted murder," climate activist Bill McKibben <a href="https://twitter.com/billmckibben/status/1129362925485821952" target="_blank">tweeted</a> on Friday.</p><p>In a tweet, the advocacy group Public Citizen <a href="https://twitter.com/Public_Citizen/status/1128701777736548352" target="_blank">described</a> the legislation as "an oil and gas backed effort to squash environmental protest."</p><p>"This needs to be a nation-wide story," the group said.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"Could someone sharing details of a protest — time, place, what to wear, etc. — on his or her <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Facebook?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Facebook</a> page be seen as "advising" rioters?" <a href="https://t.co/fhgTXWBh6V">https://t.co/fhgTXWBh6V</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NRDC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NRDC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/kxlblockade?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kxlblockade</a></p>— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) <a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/status/1127287374503919618?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/17/texas-state-bill-would-make-protesting-pipelines-felony-par-attempted-murder?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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An extended version of the Fuxing bullet train at the China National Railway Test Center on Oct. 15, 2018 in Beijing, China. VCG / VCG via Getty Images
By Jeff Turrentine
Is it just us?
Other countries don't seem to have a problem getting their high-speed rail systems on track. This superfast, fuel-efficient form of mass transit is wildly popular throughout Asia and the European Union. Japan's sleek Shinkansen line, the busiest high-speed rail system in the world, carries an estimated 420,000 riders every weekday. In China, the new Fuxing Hao bullet train now hurries more than 100 million passengers a year between Beijing and Shanghai at a top speed of 218 miles an hour, allowing its riders to make the trip of 775 miles — roughly the distance from New York City to Chicago — in about four and a half hours. Spain, Germany and France together have more than 4,500 miles of track dedicated to high-speed rail, over which more than 150 million passengers travel annually.
<p>But here in the U.S., attempts to implement regional high-speed rail networks have floundered and faltered. The most recent setback was in California, where just last month the state's new governor, Gavin Newsom, announced that he would be <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-12/california-governor-says-he-s-dropping-high-speed-rail-plan" target="_blank">dramatically downsizing</a> an ambitious, exciting system linking the northern and southern portions of the state via a 220-mph bullet train. Cost overruns had more or less doubled the original price tag from roughly $40 billion to $77 billion, with some estimates placing the final bill at nearly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/us/california-high-speed-rail.html" target="_blank">$100 billion</a>. As of right now, the previously planned 800-mile line between Los Angeles and San Francisco has dwindled to a $10.6 billion project across 171 miles between the rural Central Valley cities of Bakersfield and Merced — what cynics have mockingly dubbed a "<a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Time-to-derail-California-s-train-to-nowhere-13632213.php" target="_blank">train to nowhere</a>."</p><p>Meanwhile, in Texas, plans for a bullet train linking the state's two biggest cities, Dallas and Houston, are going forward — but not without plenty of resistance. Unlike the California project, the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/airplanes-vs-bullet-trains-race-texas" target="_blank">Texas Central Railroad's</a> project, pegged at $12 billion to $20 billion, is being financed entirely with private funds, so no one is complaining about the money. Instead, the complaints come from landowners and other stakeholders upset about the <a href="https://www.palestineherald.com/news/legal-issues-could-derail-high-speed-rail-in-texas/article_8caeeab8-4136-11e9-bcf8-875c732afdd3.html" target="_blank">seizure and purchase of privately owned tracts</a> through <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/uncle-sam-wants-youto-vacate-premises" target="_blank">eminent domain</a>. In late January, a <a href="http://www.texansagainsthsr.com/category/blog-article/press-releases/" target="_blank">court ruled</a> that Texas Central Railroad, in point of fact, isn't even a railroad in the legally recognized sense of the word, since it doesn't currently own anything by way of tracks or rolling stock. As a result, the company's reliance on eminent domain to obtain land for its future trains' right-of-way is misplaced — and illegal — according to the judge overseeing the case. (Texas Central Railroad must now face individual landowners in court.)</p>
<p>The friction these projects are encountering can take many forms, but there's no denying that it's real: A lot of Americans seem downright resistant to high-speed rail. To some, whatever benefits rail travel may confer to individual riders, cities or the environment can't ever be enough to offset the massive (and, typically, ballooning) costs to taxpayers during the construction period, which can stretch on for decades. To others, high-speed rail projects — no matter how they're funded — are little more than land grabs that punish rural communities in pursuit of what many perceive as an urbanist folly.</p><p>I can't help but wonder if behind both sentiments is a latent fear: that this form of mass transit, precisely <em>because</em> it's so popular in other cultures, somehow poses a threat to our own culture of rugged individualism. The history of American transportation conjures romantic images of the "lone rider" — in the past on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePlyWlhobDU" target="_blank">horseback</a>, now on a <a href="http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/193236/Easy-Rider-Movie-Clip-Born-To-Be-Wild.html" target="_blank">motorcycle</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sleoPDnze4A" target="_blank">in a car</a> — charting his or her own course out on the open road, free from interference or intervention. This notion often gets compressed into a shrugged assertion: <em>Mass transit is a nice idea, but let's face it: America is a car culture. As a people, we just like to drive. We don't like to be driven.</em></p>
<p><br>Actually, if this was ever true, the data suggest it is <a href="https://www.arity.com/move/patient-change-gonna-come/" target="_blank">less true now</a>. Millennials, especially, are <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/wisniewski/ct-biz-young-adults-cars-attitudes-20181106-story.html" target="_blank">rejecting the romanticization</a> of automobiles. According to <a href="https://www.arity.com/move/patient-change-gonna-come/" target="_blank">a 2018 report</a> published by Arity, a Chicago-based company that studies transportation data, more than half of millennials say that car ownership isn't worth the money or the hassle, and that they don't much care for driving anyway. It's worth noting that these are the same people who are currently leading the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/02/aocgreen-new-deal-new-era-millennial-climate-politics/582295/" target="_blank">leading the public fight</a> against <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>, refusing to accept the untenable status quo foisted upon them through the inaction of their elders.</p><p>This generation is also, not coincidentally, <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/04/26/millennials-cities-where-they-live-218059" target="_blank">key to the future economic success</a> of cities, states and regions. If you want to attract young, educated professionals to your city or town, you'd be wise to meet their demands for better and more plentiful public transportation.</p><p>Let's face it: When it comes to feelings about mass transit, young Americans appear to have more in common with Asian and European citizens of all ages than they do with older Americans. In anticipation of the day when they're calling the shots economically and politically — a day that's already dawning — we should be busy installing high-speed rail systems in all regions of the country where traffic congestion, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution" target="_self">pollution</a> and the expenses associated with driving hinder travel between major cities and reduce the quality of life for their citizens.</p><p>Yes, we should be mindful of costs. Yes, we should be mindful of landowners' concerns. But should we allow these factors to derail us? Absolutely not.</p>
<div id="80e9d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="YYV89G1576662070"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1041717581592383488" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">World's First Zero-Emissions Hydrogen Trains Enter Service https://t.co/1fvIKsRIUL</div> — Enviro Voter Project (@Enviro Voter Project)<a href="https://twitter.com/Enviro_Voter/statuses/1041717581592383488">1537199800.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><em>Jeff Turrentine is the culture & politics columnist at NRDC's <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/high-speed-rail-rocks" target="_blank">onEarth</a>.</em> </p>From Your Site Articles
- Dutch Trains Are World's First to Run on 100% Wind Power ... ›
- Kochs Mobilize to Kill Public Transit Plans - EcoWatch ›
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Why Beto O’Rourke’s Oil-Related Money Shows We Need a Just Transition to Renewable Energy
26 February 2019
Insights + Opinion
Greenpeace
By Tim Donaghy
Time is running out for the oil and gas industry, and they know it. But delaying the transition to a clean energy economy even for a few more years means billions of dollars in profits for their investors. The 2018 elections show that even in their twilight years, oil cash can corrupt our democracy and block necessary progress on climate. The industry spent millions to kill off a Green New Deal-style initiative in Washington state and a Colorado initiative that would have increased the buffer between homes and schools and drilling areas.
When popular democracy threatened their profits, the oil industry opened up their checkbooks. And they'll run the same playbook on the fledgling Green New Deal too — unless we stop them.
<p>This is why <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/how-to-demand-real-climate-leadership/" target="_blank">phasing out fossil fuels and getting dirty energy money out of our elections are key ingredients in any federal action on climate change</a>. Real climate leaders need to counteract the political, financial and social power of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuel</a> industry, or risk seeing a tide of oil money wash away progress.</p><p>But we also need a just transition that lifts up workers and communities. Here's why.</p><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTIyOTg5Ny9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTIzMDU5Mn0.U3eTUY_Nu7IpsfQS1Ty4C5Mc8B0FrnG94Cac9crfGEE/img.png?width=980" id="e4b98" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c6a94d316548bb2cae9ef189c49cba9c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">While O'Rourke actually didn't take PAC money, he did raise a ton of money in individual donations from people who work in the oil and gas industry. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Center for Responsive Politics</small></p><p>Recently, a mini-controversy erupted across Twitter when people realized that the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?ind=E01&cycle=2018&recipdetail=M&sortorder=U" target="_blank">number two recipient of oil and gas campaign contributions in 2018</a> was actually … Democratic rising star Beto O'Rourke, who nearly unseated Texas Senator Ted Cruz in a close race. In fact, only Cruz himself raised more money from the oil and gas industry.<br></p><p>The revelation was immediately sucked into the <a href="https://twitter.com/PaulHRosenberg/status/1079465825419939840" target="_blank">insatiable vortex of speculation about the 2020</a> presidential primaries, contrasting O'Rourke's record with that of other presidential hopefuls. It was especially confusing since O'Rourke had publicly pledged not to take any money from political action committees (PACs, which are often used by corporations and industries to influence elections) and was even at one point listed on the <a href="http://nofossilfuelmoney.org/" target="_blank">No Fossil Fuel Money</a> pledge website before being removed. What gives?</p><p>While O'Rourke actually didn't take PAC money, he <em>did</em> raise a ton of money in individual donations from people who work in the oil and gas industry. When you donate money to a political campaign you have to disclose your employer — meaning that everyone from drilling crews all the way up to the CEO count in the industry contribution totals. And it turns out oil is still an enormous part of the Texas economy.</p><p>The following <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/counties-with-highest-concentration-of-employment-in-oil-and-gas-extraction-june-2014.htm" target="_blank">map from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics</a> shows the counties with the highest concentrations of oil and gas employment. The counties in green show communities where the local economy is most dependent on oil and gas, and where a just and equitable energy transition is most crucial. Naturally many of those counties are located in Texas, and in fact O'Rourke made it a campaign talking point that he had visited each one of Texas's 254 counties.</p><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTIyOTkwNi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTE0MzkyMX0.gPxVO5FWR-J7_Rlemlsmmu2cYz6gyLlejt4MQU4ACrI/img.png?width=980" id="1023f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0701e972f4636fff94630c6cb08a2127" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p>A just transition away from fossil fuel reliance envisions an inclusive, participatory process that leaves these workers and communities better off than before. Policies to bring about this transition could include local and state planning bodies, protections for workers such as guaranteed pensions and wage replacement, job retraining and placement in growing renewable industries, and investment targeted at specific communities. As climate justice <a href="https://twitter.com/naomiaklein/status/516967907872362497?lang=en" target="_blank">activists have stated</a>, "<a href="https://movementgeneration.org/transition-is-inevitable-justice-is-not-a-critical-framework-for-just-recovery/" target="_blank">Transition is inevitable. Justice is not</a>." Without the voices of these workers and communities, any plan to build a more sustainable economy will inevitably fail.<br></p><p>A lot of O'Rourke's oil and gas donations were indeed from ordinary Texans excited by his candidacy, but at least <a href="https://splinternews.com/by-accepting-oil-money-beto-orourke-broke-a-promise-to-1831000480" target="_blank">some came from oil and gas executives</a> and other wealthy donors giving the maximum $2,700 contribution, which is also a serious problem. The No Fossil Fuel Money pledge applies not just to PAC money, but also donations of $200 or more from fossil fuel executives. O'Rourke was on the right track in calling out the pernicious influence of PAC money on our elections, but we still need to demand more of our politicians. Hopefully going forward, he (and many other candidates) will be able to fully comply with the pledge.</p><p>In comparison, his opponent <a href="https://www.followthemoney.org/show-me?dt=1&y=2018&f-fc=1&c-exi=1&c-t-eid=210204&d-cci=33#%5B%7B1%7Cgro=c-r-id,c-t-sts,c-t-p,c-t-eid,d-et,d-id" target="_blank">Ted Cruz took over $100,000 directly from the oil and gas industry PACs</a> — including a $40,000 check from Valero's PAC, and $5,000 donations from PACs representing Phillips 66, Devon Energy, ExxonMobil, and others.</p><p>But a question remains: are small donations from ordinary folks in the oil industry the same as a $2,700 check from a CEO — or a mega-donation from a PAC? Clearly PAC and executive money are donated with the goal of obtaining access to politicians and ultimately influencing policy to benefit companies who are wrecking the climate, and overall small donations only make up a <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/resources/dollarocracy/04.php" target="_blank">small fraction of campaign funds</a>. But in many places where the oil and gas industry is strong, there are inevitably a large number of non-millionaire workers who depend on the industry for their livelihood.</p><p>Corporate money in politics is absolutely corrupting our democracy, yet O'Rourke's small donors should remind us that many parts of the U.S. are economically dependent on oil and gas extraction, and that those workers need to be at the center of any transition away from fossil fuels. The good news is that we know that building out a clean energy economy will require putting a lot of people to work, and <a href="https://www.labor4sustainability.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/cleanenergy_10212015_main.pdf" target="_blank">dollar for dollar, renewable energy creates more jobs</a> than fossil fuels.</p><p>It will take strong climate leadership in D.C. and a committed movement of people to defeat these entrenched 19th-century industrialists. <a href="https://engage.us.greenpeace.org/onlineactions/Uz6V_WEFEEeX2pKUsSd05Q2?utm_source=website&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=greennewdeal_leadgen_multi&sourceid=319770&_ga=2.18310905.1768985442.1551134501-178382324.1545141538" target="_blank">In order to get us to the green future we want, federal legislation MUST halt any major oil, gas, and coal expansion projects.</a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="372b5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ZLE2G31576662637"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1057669589201383424" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Big Oil Pours Record $30M to Sway Voters Against Nation's First Carbon Tax https://t.co/wKSZn2veCK https://t.co/7cKdNfDvg8</div> — Renewable Search (@Renewable Search)<a href="https://twitter.com/RenewableSearch/statuses/1057669589201383424">1541003055.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p><em>Tim Donaghy is a senior research specialist with <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/" target="_blank">Greenpeace USA</a>.</em><br></p>
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The W. A. Parish Power Plant, owned by NRG Energy, is one of the largest coal-fired power plants in the U.S. Roy Luck / CC BY 2.0
Power plants across Texas are leaching toxins into groundwater, according to new research. A report released this week from the Environmental Integrity Project found that all of the state's 16 coal-fired power plants are leaching contaminants from coal ash into the ground, and almost none of the plants are properly lining their pits to prevent leakage.
<p>"We found contamination everywhere we looked, poisoning groundwater aquifers and recreational fishing spots across the state," EIP attorney and report co-author Abel Russ told the Texas Tribune. "This confirms that dumping large volumes of toxic waste in poorly-lined pits is a terrible idea." </p><p>As reported by the <a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/report-power-plants-are-leaking-cancer-causing-toxins-into-groundwater-across-texas/" target="_blank">Texas Observer</a>:</p><blockquote>"While power plants' propensity to foul nearby air is well-documented, the danger of coal ash dumping has seen much less play in the news media.</blockquote><blockquote>...</blockquote><blockquote>Meanwhile, the Trump administration <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/397619-trump-admin-eases-standards-for-coal-ash-disposal" target="_blank" title="Opens in a new window">has loosened</a> coal ash dumping rules, relaxing pollution thresholds for certain contaminants and allowing states to waive some groundwater monitoring requirements. The action fits within the larger trend of Trump and U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry <a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/despite-trump-and-rick-perrys-best-efforts-another-coal-plant-eats-the-dust-in-texas/" target="_blank">trying their damndest</a> to prop up coal despite it being a <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/smart-energy-solutions/decrease-coal/ripe-for-retirement-closing-americas-costliest-coal-plants.html#.W7VJ-mhKiUk" target="_blank" title="Opens in a new window">wildly inefficient vehicle</a> for energy generation. At the state level, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) proposed in August a "deeply flawed" plan to regulate coal ash disposal, the report says. The TCEQ plan was later withdrawn.</blockquote><blockquote>Representatives from TCEQ did not respond to a request for comment.</blockquote><blockquote>Many of the plants identified in the report are also major air polluters."</blockquote>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="b20f0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="KG7W081576779638"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1002306253304016896" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Groups Sue Utility Company for Leaking Coal Ash Into National Scenic River https://t.co/cz7GzKj7r1 @BeyondCoal @dirtyenergy @Coal_Ash</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1002306253304016896">1527803407.0</a></blockquote></div>
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<p><strong>For a deeper dive:<br></strong></p><p><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2019/01/17/report-texas-coal-power-plants-leaching-toxic-pollutants-groundwater/" target="_blank">Texas Tribune</a>, <a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/report-power-plants-are-leaking-cancer-causing-toxins-into-groundwater-across-texas/" target="_blank">Texas Observer</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/legal-us-usa-texas-coal-pollution/sixteen-coal-ash-pits-contaminating-texas-groundwater-report-idUSKCN1PB2HB" target="_blank">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/texas-coal-ash-polluting-groundwater-f304c328c1cc/" target="_blank">ThinkProgress</a>, <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/study-finds-toxins-leaking-into-texas-groundwater/" target="_blank">Courthouse News</a></p><p> <em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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Wind farms dominate the landscape in West Texas. Robert Coy / EyeEm / Getty Images
By Jeff Turrentine
During the 2016 campaign and in various postelection rallies, President Trump promised to save America's flagging coal industry and put the nation's coal miners "back to work." While Trump continues to labor under the delusion that easing emissions standards will somehow resuscitate the coal industry, his administration's own numbers tell a different story. In fact, more U.S. coal plants have been deactivated in the first two years of Donald Trump's presidency than were taken offline during President Obama's entire first term. Domestic coal use in 2018 was also the lowest it's been since Jimmy Carter was in office.
<p>Cheap natural gas is one reason for coal's demise, but the more interesting—and much more important—part of the story is the role that renewables, specifically wind and solar, are playing in the protracted fade-out of our dirtiest fuel. As for job creation, the <a href="https://www.usenergyjobs.org/" target="_blank">2018 <em>U.S. Energy and</em> <em>Employment Report</em></a> found that there are three times as many Americans now working in clean energy jobs as there are in the fossil fuel industry. For quite some time, conventional wisdom has held that renewables <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2017/06/21/does-coal-stand-a-chance-against-renewable-energy/#74c1170f3686" target="_blank">pose a serious threat</a> to the future of coal. Now it seems clear the future has arrived.</p><p>Just ask the people in my home state of Texas, of all places. In a <a href="https://jrenewables.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40807-018-0054-3" target="_blank">just-published report</a>, scientists at Rice University in Houston conclude that the state could quit coal cold-turkey today and still have energy to spare—all thanks to recent advances in renewables. As one of the coauthors told the <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Texas-has-enough-sun-and-wind-to-quit-coal-Rice-13501700.php?utm_campaign=twitter-premium&utm_source=CMS%20Sharing%20Button&utm_medium=social" target="_blank">Houston Chronicle</a>, "There is nowhere else in the world better positioned to operate without coal than Texas is. Wind and solar are easily capable of picking up the slack."</p><p>The authors acknowledge that Texas is uniquely equipped to be in this enviable position. Ample winds along its Gulf Coast and in its western plains have helped make Texas the country's <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Texas-wind-generation-keeps-growing-state-13178629.php" target="_blank">largest producer of wind energy</a>. And its famed size and sunshine have made it <a href="https://www.citiesservedbyoncor.org/blog-texas-solar-growth-2nd-in-nation/" target="_blank">one of the fastest-growing states</a> in terms of solar capacity, which industry <a href="https://www.treia.org/news/2018/6/22/solar-power-capacity-in-texas-expected-to-double-making-life-tougher-for-power-companies" target="_blank">analysts predict</a> will reach 3,000 megawatts next year—up from just 15 megawatts in 2010.</p>
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<p>Where does all of this progress leave coal? Out in the cold. The state's coal-fired power plants are <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/2018/09/17/much-texas-dropped-reliance-coal-surprised" target="_blank">shutting down or being seasonally mothballed</a> at rates never witnessed before. And according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which provides electric power to more than 23 million Texans, future energy projects in the state are trending—mightily—in favor of wind and solar. <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2018/08/23/us-86-of-texas-future-capacity-will-comprise-solar-or-wind-zero-coal/" target="_blank">One recent chart</a> released by the consortium predicts that these two renewables will generate 86 percent of the megawattage of those future projects. How much coal is in that queue? Precisely 0 percent.<br></p><p>Texas isn't jumping on the renewables bandwagon out of some official commitment to curb climate change, or because it's suddenly turned its back on the fossil fuel industry that <a href="http://permicoroyalties.com/blog/oil-and-gas-in-texas-how-it-changed-our-way-of-life/" target="_blank">helped make it</a> an international economic powerhouse. Texas is joining the club for the same reason that so many other states are joining: It makes sound economic sense. As Dan Cohan, one of the Rice study's coauthors, puts it, "It's the cheapest way to do things, whether or not you care about the environment." The new year brought with it a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/utilities-speed-up-closure-of-coal-fired-power-plants-11547035201?mod=e2tw" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal</a><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/utilities-speed-up-closure-of-coal-fired-power-plants-11547035201?mod=e2tw" target="_blank"> story</a> that pithily sums up where things are headed nationally. Under the headline <em>Utilities Speed Up Closure of Coal-Fired Power Plants</em>, the article traces the phenomenon in large part to the "more economic alternatives" now provided by wind and solar.</p><p>As environmentalists, we'd love for governments, utilities and energy companies to put climate and air quality at the very top of their priority lists. Happily, more and more are doing just that. But as pragmatists, we should acknowledge that money, in the form of savings and/or profits, is going to be the determining factor in the growth of renewables. The good news is that climate advocacy and renewable technology have combined in such a way as to take the still-young clean energy sector to the next level. As it gets bigger, its products and its infrastructure will get cheaper. And as they get cheaper, dirty coal will look more and more like a loser—even to those who were perfectly fine with it before.</p><p>Here's the thing: As disingenuous as President Trump has shown himself to be, I do believe he's sincere in his desire to save the coal industry, even if it's just to shore up votes in Appalachian swing states and appease the corporate fat cats to whom he's indebted.</p><p>The only problem? He can't do it. It's too late.</p><p> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/wind-and-solar-are-final-nails-coals-coffin" target="_blank">onEarth</a>.</em><em></em></p>
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Produced water from gas drilling in the Marcellus shale. Tara Lohan
By Tara Lohan
We're living beyond our means when it comes to groundwater. That's probably not news to everyone, but new research suggests that, deep underground in a number of key aquifers in some parts of the U.S., we may have much less water than previously thought.
"We found that the average depth of water resources across the country was about half of what people had previously estimated," said Jennifer McIntosh, a distinguished scholar and professor of hydrology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Arizona.
<p>McIntosh and her colleagues—who published a <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aae6d8/meta" target="_blank">new study</a> about these aquifers in November in <em>Environmental Research Letters—</em>took a different approach to assessing groundwater than other research, which has <a href="https://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/applications/groundwater/" target="_blank">used satellites</a> to measure changes in groundwater storage. For example, a <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2015WR017349" target="_blank">2015 study</a> looked at 37 major aquifers across the world and found some were being depleted faster than they were being replenished, including in California's agriculturally intensive Central Valley.</p><p>McIntosh says those previous studies revealed a lot about how we're depleting water resources from the top down through extraction, such as pumping for <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/agriculture">agriculture</a> and water supplies, especially in places like California.</p><p>But McIntosh and three other researchers wanted to look at groundwater from a different perspective: They examined how we're using water resources from the bottom up.</p><p>The study may help close the gap about what we know and don't know regarding how much water is available deep underground, as well as its quality.</p><p>It also rings some alarm bells.</p><h2>A Different Approach</h2><p>Instead of examining how fast water tables were falling, as in previous studies, the researchers looked at water chemistry to determine how deep underground you could drill for freshwater or brackish water before that water became too salty to use.</p><p>"We looked at the bottom limit of groundwater resources," said McIntosh.</p><p>The researchers used information from the U.S. Geological Survey on the quality of groundwater across the country and looked specifically at salinity—how salty the water is. "We looked basin by basin at how that depth of fresh and brackish water changes across the United States," said McIntosh.</p><p>The results were about half as much usable water as previous estimates. That means that deep groundwater reserves are not nearly as plentiful as we'd thought in some places.</p><p>That's important because when shallow groundwater reserves become depleted or polluted, the strategy so far has been to drill deeper and deeper wells to keep the water flowing.</p><p>But we may not always be able to drill our way out of water shortages. "Tapping into these deep waters works for now, but the long-term prospects for using these waters are quite concerning," said the report's lead author, <a href="https://www.usask.ca/water/about/profiles/people/grant-ferguson.php" target="_blank">Grant Ferguson</a>, an associate professor in the department of Civil and Geological Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan.</p><p>The problem isn't evenly distributed across the country. While a number of aquifers in the West have deep freshwater reserves, the water in parts of the eastern and central U.S. becomes salty at much shallower depths. "Drilling deeper water wells to address groundwater depletion issues represents no more than a stopgap measure in these areas," the researchers concluded in their paper. One area of particular concern the researchers noted was in the Anadarko and Sedgwick basins underlying parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, which has particularly shallow freshwater reserves.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA4NTMwMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTY3NDI1OX0.1hRXCMwTh5LNWxenwTgxkUtSnvsKF4piq2hWCexqGpw/img.jpg?width=980" id="814bf" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1c96c3e74348404bebd73ad293444387" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Depth to water with total dissolved solids (a) <3000 and (b) <10 000 mg l−1 based on median values in 100 m bins. (c) TDS distribution relative to the 50th and 95th percentile of water well depths</small></p><h2>Oil and Water<br></h2><p>The study looked at a total of 28 sedimentary basins across the U.S. that were chosen because they're known to contain oil and gas reserves.</p><p>The researchers found that the oil and gas industry uses fresh and brackish water, both of which are drawn from the bottom up. And that's another element of the research that could raise concern.</p><p>In some cases the industry pumps out brackish water as part of its drilling operations. Industry waste is then injected back underground into deep aquifers. As a result, water reserves are depleted from pumping and possibly contaminated during re-injection, the researchers found.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Deep groundwater resources can be threatened by oil and gas production or injection wells.</small></p><p>The depth between oil and gas activities and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water">drinking water</a> reserves varied greatly across the country. Wyoming and the Michigan basin were two places where oil and gas activities are relatively shallow and in close proximity to fresh and brackish water, which could increase the chances of contamination of water resources. Water contamination from <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29032016/fracking-study-pavillion-wyoming-drinking-water-contamination-epa" target="_blank">oil and gas activity</a> has already been documented in Pavillion, Wyoming.<br></p><p>The authors suggest that carefully monitoring for potential contamination or overexploitation of water reserves may be crucial in these areas with minimal separation between groundwater and oil and gas wells used for either production or disposal.</p><h2>The Future Is … Saltier </h2><p>While brackish water can be used for some types of agriculture and by oil and gas activities, it hasn't been used much yet for drinking because it requires desalination (although not as intensively as seawater). But as water resources become more constrained, particularly in the arid West where some communities and farms rely exclusively on groundwater, brackish water may be a more valuable future resource and a larger part of the water supply.</p><p>"I think of it in terms of water security. Both fresh and brackish aquifers are part of our potential water source into the future," said McIntosh.</p><p>But further utilizing these deep-water resources will have "all kinds of policy and economic consequences because they aren't going to be replenished as quickly as other waters" closer to the surface, said Ferguson. And that may mean better monitoring of oil and gas activity is needed in those regions, along with a possible rethinking of how we permit and manage drilling into those deep waters. "That would change the nature of how we're using water in a lot of places," he said.</p><p>While this research adds to our growing knowledge of groundwater resources, there is still a lot we don't know about the chemistry of these deep aquifers beyond just salinity, said McIntosh. Addressing that knowledge gap, she said, will be important as we work to match water resources to our varying needs for drinking, industry and agriculture.</p><p>"This 'bottom up' approach is a novel one and will find great utility, but it does depend upon the availability of deep groundwater data," said <a href="https://aquadoc.typepad.com/waterwired/" target="_blank">Michael Campana</a>, a professor and hydrogeologist at Oregon State University who did not participate in the study. And the deeper we go, the less data we have, said Ferguson.</p><p>Both the researchers and outside experts suggest that more research is needed. This is particularly true in areas not associated with oil and gas activity that weren't part of the study, Campana points out. But the authors say their results may still show the need for important changes on policy or behavioral levels regarding how we use our nation's groundwater.</p><p>"There was this idea that deeper groundwater would be more pristine, and it is to a point, but there are all kinds of natural salinity and hydrocarbon problems once you get into deeper and deeper groundwater systems," said Ferguson. "So we're working with that idea that maybe the window of freshwater is not as big as we thought and it's probably getting even smaller in a lot of areas."</p><p>In an age of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a>, that's something that may play out sooner rather than later.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="d7408" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="SCBYAH1576779568"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1058448717865455619" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">An Aquifer From the #IceAge Becomes a Battleground in New Mexico https://t.co/Sco9rnOlqA @greenpeaceusa @Sierra_Magazine</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1058448717865455619">1541188814.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p><em>Tara Lohan is deputy editor of The Revelator.</em><br></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://therevelator.org/shrinking-groundwater/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>
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Wind farm with solar panels in southern California. 4kodiak / E+ / Getty Images
By Jeff Deyette
Despite the Trump administration's ongoing attempts to prop up coal and undermine renewables—at FERC, EPA and through tariffs and the budget process—2018 should instead be remembered for the surge in momentum toward a clean energy economy. Here are nine storylines that caught my attention this past year and help illustrate the unstoppable advancement of renewable energy and other modern grid technologies.
<h3>1. California Goes All-In for Carbon-Free Electricity</h3><p>In late August, California—the world's 5th largest economy—committed to the target of fully decarbonizing its power sector by 2045. The <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/california_cements_climate_leadership" target="_blank">landmark legislation</a> also strengthens the state's renewable portfolio standard (also known as a renewable energy standard, or RES) from 50 to 60 percent by 2030. What's more, at the bill signing, Governor Jerry Brown signed an <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/adrienne-alvord/even-more-than-100-clean-californias-audacious-net-zero-carbon-challenge" target="_blank">executive order</a> that establishes a goal of achieving carbon-neutrality across all sectors of California's sprawling economy by 2045, cementing the state's place as a global leader in climate action.</p><h3>2. Several States Strengthen Their RES Requirements</h3><p>State-level renewable electricity standards continued to be a primary driver of new renewable energy development in 2018. In addition to California, legislatures in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/nyregion/new-jersey-renewable-energy.html" target="_blank">New Jersey</a> (50 percent by 2030), <a href="https://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?Q=603448&A=4965" target="_blank">Connecticut</a> (40 percent by 2030) and <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/massachusetts-2018-clean-energy-bill" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a> (35 percent by 2030) all adopted stronger targets for renewable energy, accelerating their states' transitions away from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a>. In addition, voters in <a href="https://www.renewableenergyoutlook.com/2018/11/15/nevada-voters-approve-50-renewable-portfolio-standard-by-2030/" target="_blank">Nevada</a> overwhelmingly approved a measure to increase their state's RES to 50 percent by 2030 (the measure must be approved again in 2020 to officially become law).</p><h3>3. Clean Energy Champions Win Gubernatorial Races</h3><p>One of the bright spots in November's election results was the number newly elected governors who campaigned on aggressive clean energy and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a> agendas. Newly elected governors in at least 10 states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico and Wisconsin, have pledged to accelerate clean energy and carbon reductions in their states by supporting U.S. commitments to the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a>, joining the <a href="https://www.usclimatealliance.org/" target="_blank">U.S. Climate Alliance</a> and/or calling for renewable energy targets of 80 to 100 percent. These election results demonstrate the widespread support for greater investments in renewable energy and signal the push for even stronger clean energy policies in the coming year.</p><h3>4. Record Low Prices for Renewables</h3><p>Innovation, growing economies of scale and attractive financing continued to drive the costs down for renewables in 2018. Power purchase agreements for <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind">wind</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar">solar</a> projects in states like Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas have reportedly ranged between $20 to $30 per megawatt-hour, well below the cost of natural gas generation—and the technologies are positioned for further cost reductions to continue to be low-cost options even as federal tax incentives change. What's even more exciting is that the many of these low-priced projects also include energy storage components, increasing their value to the grid.</p>
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<h3>5. Major Utilities Commit to Low-Carbon Portfolios</h3><p>Earlier this month, <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/joseph-daniel/xcel-commits-to-100-carbon-free-energy" target="_blank">Xcel Energy</a> became the first major utility to commit to a completely carbon-free electricity supply across the eight states it operates in. In doing so, it joins a <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/jeremy-richardson/utilities-look-toward-a-clean-energy-future-yet-the-administration-keeps-looking-back" target="_blank">growing number of utilities</a> that are committing to phasing out their use of coal and transitioning to substantially lower carbon energy portfolios. Also this year, both <a href="https://www.apnews.com/f876e5b74bc941fcadea30a99760aa59" target="_blank">Consumers Energy</a> in Michigan and <a href="https://nawindpower.com/indianas-nipsco-plots-coal-phaseout-transition-to-renewables" target="_blank">NIPSCO</a> in northern Indiana announced plans to phase out coal generation and utility giant <a href="https://www.powermag.com/aep-american-power-giant-sets-goal-to-slash-carbon-emissions-80-by-2050/" target="_blank">American Electric Power</a> announced a goal of reducing its carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050. What's especially exciting about these utility actions is that they are <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/sam-gomberg/trump-clean-energy" target="_blank">driven primarily by economics</a>, clearly demonstrating the competitiveness of clean energy technologies.</p><h3>6. Corporate Renewable Energy Purchases Keep Growing</h3><p>Low renewable energy prices continue to attract major corporations looking to save money and achieve ambitious <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sustainability">sustainability</a> goals. As a result, direct corporate purchases of renewable energy have become a major driver of renewable energy deployment. In 2018, the Rocky Mountain Institute <a href="https://rmi.org/press-release/corporate-renewable-energy-procurement-continues-to-break-records-in-2018/" target="_blank">reports,</a> corporate renewable energy purchases—led by companies like Facebook, Walmart, ATT and Microsoft—reached more than 6.4 gigawatts (GW). The <a href="https://www.rmi.org/our-work/electricity/brc-business-renewables-center/" target="_blank">number of corporations</a> investing in renewables expanded at a record pace this year as well, with nearly two-thirds of Fortune 100 and nearly half of Fortune 500 companies now having set ambitious renewable energy goals.</p><h3>7. Offshore Wind Moves Forward</h3>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA0NTM3Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTIzNDE0N30.RlIl9Xnj7vZN7eXZ1QHJBJ4L53CBh31jzs7OBcTRPuQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="75b83" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0d7ba97e1e4be27bc1bcb37140ad7ada" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Kim Hansen / Wikimedia Commons</small></p>
<p>While no new <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-wind">offshore wind</a> projects came online in the U.S. this year (the next project—off the Virginia coast—is scheduled for 2020), the industry did take some big leaps toward becoming a major player in the nation's power supply. For example, the <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/low-price-offshore-wind-massachusetts" target="_blank">winning bid</a> for Massachusetts' first request for offshore wind proposals to help meet the state's offshore wind requirements passed in 2016 went to an 800-megawatt project from Vineyard Wind at a shockingly low price of about 6.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. In addition, the latest U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/derrick-jackson/auction-sets-america-on-course-for-offshore-wind" target="_blank">auction</a> for leasing parcels of water for future projects resulted in 11 bidders and $405.1 million in winning bids, both smashing previous records. And strong state policies, including <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/offshore-wind-massachusetts-rhode-island-new-jersey" target="_blank">new offshore wind requirements in New Jersey</a> and elsewhere, mean that there's a lot more action to come.</p><h3>8. Storage Steps Into the Spotlight</h3>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA0NTM4NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTAwNTg5N30.omEye9FYOO3TjOiWQPO-XImBKe0VJ1zpdcEeUfHDWW4/img.jpg?width=980" id="7f379" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7046e6104690287c1e001ebc573fbec9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Lithium-ion batteries for advanced energy storage</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Argonne National Laboratory / Flickr</small></p>
<p>Once a fringe player in the electric power sector, the energy storage industry is quickly emerging as a game changer in the transition to a clean energy economy as a tool for integrating much higher levels of renewable energy. In 2018, the pipeline for new storage projects doubled to nearly 33 GW as more utilities are investing in the technology thanks largely <a href="https://www.lazard.com/perspective/levelized-cost-of-energy-and-levelized-cost-of-storage-2018/" target="_blank">rapidly falling prices</a> and growing support from state policies. While California has led the nation in storage deployment to date, <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/new-york-psc-sets-states-energy-storage-target-at-3-gw-by-2030/544371/" target="_blank">New York</a> recently established the strongest storage requirement in the country at 3,000 MW by 2030. Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/new-jersey-sets-aggressive-target-2-gw-by-2030-for-energy-storage/524422/" target="_blank">New Jersey</a> set an ambitious storage target of 2,000 MW by 2030 and <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/massachusetts-2018-clean-energy-bill" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a> significantly increased its storage requirement to 1,000 megawatt-hours by 2025. At the federal level, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-order-opens-floodgates-for-energy-storage-in-wholesale-markets/517326/" target="_blank">Order 841</a>, which directs regional grid operators to set market rules that allow energy storage to participate on a level playing field in the wholesale energy, capacity and <a href="https://www.logicenergy.com/what-are-ancillary-services-and-why-do-power-grids-need-them/" target="_blank">ancillary services</a> markets.</p><h3>9. PG&E Turns Down the Gas With Storage and Renewables</h3><p>In one particular sign of what's to come in 2019 and beyond in terms of how these technologies fit together to displace fossil fuels, one of the most exciting <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/storage-will-replace-3-california-gas-plants-as-pge-nabs-approval-for-worl/541870/" target="_blank">regulatory decisions</a> I saw this year was the California Public Utility Commission's approval of PG&E's plan to use energy storage to replace retiring gas generators. One of the key barriers to fully transitioning to a carbon-free economy is replacing natural gas generation and the ancillary services they provide to the power grid. This decision, which marks the first time a utility will directly replace power plants with <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/battery-storage/">battery storage</a>, should spur <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/ca-and-western-states/turning-down-gas" target="_blank">many more similar projects</a> to move forward in California and across the country and open the door for integrating much higher levels of renewable energy onto the power grid.</p><p>These nine stories are just a sampling of what occurred in 2018 to further the clean energy transition. As the year comes to a close, UCS will continue to work hard to keep up the clean energy momentum in 2019.</p>
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</p><div id="5dfb0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="EBO0FK1576662462"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="952909011506139136" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">All Renewables Will Be Cost Competitive With Fossil Fuels by 2020 https://t.co/QectZLGqOF #renewables @350… https://t.co/9rc89HJlCz</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/952909011506139136">1516026187.0</a></blockquote></div>
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<p><em>Jeff Deyette is the director of state policy and analysis at the <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/jeff-deyette/9-clean-energy-stories-from-2018" target="_blank">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>.</em><br></p>
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