Nuclear reactors against blue sky

Betting on a power-industry glow-up, Big Tech goes nuclear to stop A.I.-driven energy meltdown

Artificial Intelligence is Big Tech’s newest toy. However, AI also requires massive amounts of energy to operate, which puts the industry’s climate commitments at risk. The sprawling data centers that Microsoft and other digital giants need are beginning to strain the nation’s existing power supplies. Meta Platforms recently reported last year’s emissions were roughly 70-percent above 2019 levels. Microsoft’s emissions jumped 40-percent in the three-year period through June 2023, while Google’s surged nearly 50-percent in the four years through December.

These energy needs have rapidly changed …

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Landfill with blue sky and cumulus clouds

EPA not Afraid of Changin’, Wants Landfills to Bring it (Methane Emission) Down

The Environmental Protection Agency intends to issue a rule updating its Clean Air Act emission standards for new and existing municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills to cut methane and other harmful landfill gas emissions. 

The rule follows another Clean Air Act-related proposal the EPA issued in January, designed to reduce emissions of nine pollutants, including smog- and soot-forming sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by approximately 14,000 tons per year at MSW incinerators, as found here.

The EPA expects landfill operators to achieve these standards …

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Wind, sun and water energy.

You Say You Want a (Heavily Subsidized) Revolution: New Clean-Fuel Tech Could Provide Endless Green Mileage

Tech-savvy energy producers are currently looking for economically viable methods to create “green hydrogen” from water using renewable electricity. This technology, which can produce clean fuel for planes, ships, and trucks, could be the world’s biggest development in power generation since the 19th century. In particular, the creation of clean fuels for heavy vehicles could sharply reduce or even eliminate a major source of carbon emissions. Green hydrogen could also cut carbon pollution by providing an ingredient for fertilizers, or to refine steel, chemicals, and oil.

Electric motors can …

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Heap of rechargeable batteries of differentes sizes, NiMH rechargeable.

US EPA’s Proposed New Rule: An Assault on Batteries?

On June 5, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed limits on the use of N-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP), a solvent found in products such as arts and crafts supplies and paint remover. Manufacturers also use NMP during the production of semiconductors and lithium-ion batteries. Studies link NMP to a range of negative health effects, including miscarriages, reduced male fertility, and damage to the liver, kidneys, and immune and nervous systems.

The US EPA’s proposed rule bans the commercial use of NMP in automotive care products, cleaning and …

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Hand with a spatula renovating the paint.

Don’t you know that you’re toxic? EPA spears most uses of controversial solvent.

In late April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a ban on most uses of methylene chloride, a toxic solvent used for paint stripping and linked to over 85 deaths in the last 45 years. The ban forbids all consumer use of the substance, as well as most industrial and commercial uses. TheEPA did not completely ban all uses — it did allow some exemptions for the military, in addition to makers of climate-friendly coolants and electric-vehicle components.

Users often employ methylene chloride to refinish bathtubs …

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Supreme_Court

Chevron with the Wind? In What Might be a SCOTUS Preview, Federal Courts Chip Away at Expansive Regulatory Interpretations

Regulations — and executive agencies’ interpretation of those regulations — can make or break companies, and even entire industries.  For decades now, the judiciary’s approach to administrative review, found in the landmark 1984 case Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. National Resources Defense Council, largely deferred to government agencies’ interpretation of their governing statutes on the grounds that such agencies were best positioned to interpret those statutes. “Chevron deference” became a foundational framework for administrative law.  

But in recent years, critics have argued that Chevron

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celandic Landscape of geothermal power plant

Some Like It Hot: Geothermal Energy May Become a Watershed Clean-Energy Source

Chevron is part of a group of old-school fossil-fuel companies investing hundreds of millions of dollars into geothermal-energy projects aiming to use fracking-type technology to find and access underground heat — heat that might very well become the world’s most-stable source of clean power. 

In sufficient quantities, underground heat can be used to generate a consistent source of carbon-free electricity, making it superior to both wind and solar power, both of which suffer from issues of unreliability.

While finding suitable heat sources in places with …

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Close up of conveyor belt in bottling plant

Regulatory States: Further Limitations on PFAS-Containing Products Now in Effect

Right out of the gate in 2024, we’ve seen several states further regulate the sale of PFAS-containing products. On Jan. 1, a Connecticut statute took effect prohibiting the sale or promotion of any “food package to which PFAS has been intentionally introduced during manufacturing or distribution in any amount.” The law defines “food packaging” to mean “any package or packaging component that is applied to, or in direct contact with any food or beverage.”

Connecticut defines “intentionally introduced” to mean any “deliberately utiliz[ing] regulated metal …

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Supermarket aisle with merchandise and no people

CA Federal District Court Grants Dismissal to Manufacturer in PFAS Complaint

On January 12, 2024, a northern California federal district court dismissed the PFAS-related class-action case of Lowe v. Edgewell Personal Care Company on the grounds that its plaintiffs had not plausibly alleged injury from the products at issue.

The Lowe plaintiffs brought their actions against two different tampon product lines, claiming that the presence of “per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) rendered the manufacturer’s various representations about the products false and misleading.” The plaintiffs alleged that “independent third-party testing” confirmed the presence of PFAS in the tampons …

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Supreme_Court

States Seek Smackdown of EPA’s Pollution Plan; Like a Good Neighbor, SCOTUS is There

In February 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument on various emergency stay applications addressing whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can implement its “Good Neighbor Plan” (the Plan) to reduce cross-state pollution. The court will focus on whether the Plan unreasonably limits emissions and whether the EPA properly disapproved of alternative state emission-reduction plans.

Opponents argue that the Plan arrogates the states’ authority to control emissions and air pollution. They also assert that its unworkable, confusing emissions standards will force them to …

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