Inside Energy (https://insideenergy.org/tag/congress/)
President Trump is set to announce a plan to shrink the boundaries of two national monuments in Utah: Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monument, the latter created by President Obama one year ago this month. Trump’s action will mark an important milestone in the story of these two red buttes which has become an outsized symbol for a slew of western issues.
It’s been a busy week for lawmakers in the nation’s capital pushing their bills that fall in line with the Trump Administration’s energy dominance agenda. Congresswoman Liz Cheney is working to make it harder for federal agency’s to unilaterally approve a federal coal leasing ban. Congressman Evan Jenkins is seeking to do away with the Obama-era social cost of carbon calculation. E & E Reporter Dylan Brown walks us through what happened and why it’s important.
Wyoming’s biggest bet on clean coal is almost finished. The Integrated Test Center outside Gillette aims to host researchers who are finding ways to turn carbon emissions into marketable products. But what does this test center and clean coal mean for the state, the coal industry or climate change? Inside Energy’s Madelyn Beck takes us on a 360-degree view of clean coal to answer that question.
Many would have liked to see the Endangered Species Act reformed years ago, yet it has resisted change thanks to bipartisan and public support. But momentum in Congress and in western states is building to make changes to the landmark regulation that protects threatened animal and plant species and their habitats.
As coal companies go bankrupt, the high price tag on mine clean up is a growing concern. Today, Senate democrats introduced legislation aimed at preventing the problem from getting even bigger.
Despite being one of the few issues with wide support from Republicans and Democrats, as well as private industry, federal energy efficiency legislation has been stagnant. In the new GOP-controlled Congress, the time for energy efficiency policy might finally be near.
Republicans want to approve the Keystone XL pipeline as soon as they take control of the Senate in January. But the pipeline is less important to some oil companies than it used to be. So why do Republicans care so much about it?
In this first piece of our series on energy policy in the new Congress, we examine hydropower regulatory reform as a dark-horse candidate for legislative compromise.
Inside Energy reporters recap the results of the 2014 midterm elections in our focus states, and take a look at what may be around the corner nationally for energy issues.
