Video recording of the session at the bottom of this post, along with open Q&A discussion from the session taking place actively on the Energy Central Community:
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Lee Zeldin, new Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, has said, “It’s important for us urgently to do everything in our power to make sure Americans have the cleanest air, land, and water. That’s something that keeps me up at night."
Environmentalists and many in the energy sector believe the Trump administration is doing just the opposite. It has taken aim at a raft of laws and regulations which protect the environment, including the National Environmental Policy Act, bulwark of a vast structure of environmental laws and protections since it was signed into law by President Nixon in 1970.
There is alarm in the utility industry about the administration’s antipathy to wind generation. Its enthusiasm for coal alarms clean air advocates who see it as a step backward.
There also is alarm about the future of transitional funding guaranteed during the Biden administration, under the Inflation Reduction Act, to enhance clean energy and finance transition from polluting fuels to green ones. That funding is frozen and the Department of Government Efficiency operatives have slashed employment in the Department of Energy’s loan office. What now?
The rural electric cooperatives are worried about $9 billion in financing they were to get from the Department of Agriculture for rural electrification projects.
Lesser laws like the Endangered Species Act, it is feared by their defenders, may be repealed or circumvented.
The United States Energy Association at its most recent virtual press briefing, conducted on March 5, examined what to expect from the Trump administration in its reshaping of environmental policy, and the nature and scope of the legal opposition. Court challenges have already been filed and many more are expected.
As usual, a panel of experts were questioned by a panel of senior journalists who cover energy and the environment.
Journalist Llewellyn King organized and moderated the press briefings, which are broadcast live on Zoom and last an hour. Mark Menezes gave welcoming remarks and was on hand to share his deep knowledge as president and CEO of USEA and as a former deputy secretary of energy.
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The Experts:
- Andrew Wheeler, former Administrator, EPA
- Tom Falcone, President & CEO, Large Public Power Council
- Emily Fisher, Chief Strategy Officer, SEPA Power
- Karl Moor, Chief Executive Officer, Powerscape Global
- Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Director, Center for Energy, Climate and Environment, The Heritage Foundation
- Derek Murrow, Senior Director, Federal Power, Climate and Energy, NRDC
- Brad Molotsky, Partner, Duane Morris
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The Reporters:
- Jennifer Hiller, The Wall Street Journal
- Evan Halper, The Washington Post
- Adam Clayton Powell III, PBS
- Matt Chester, Energy Central
- Ken Silverstein, Forbes
- Peter Behr, E&E News
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Ongoing Q&As Taking Place Post Session on EnergyCentral.com:
- What is the impact of Blackrock pulling out of "Net Zero" several weeks ago? It would seem they have tossed in the towel on pressing their investments on addressing climate change?
- Bloomberg as a note in the Bloomberg Green today said that Europe has decided to fund defense rather than their climate change related programs.  What are the expected impacts of this redirection of their funding?
- In what way can distributed energy resources play a role in deferring the urgency to make investments in large-scale, expensive, long-to-develop resources?
- Will recent tariffs that impact construction materials increase the cost to build power and other infrastructure in the US? A lot of cement and timber is imported from Canada and elsewhere, steel is imported in big quantities.Â
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