EarthFix/OPB video, “Dams or Salmon?”, never gives fish a chance

“Explainer” video doesn’t explain, it distorts. We love short, animated explainer videos. They entertainingly and quickly reduce complex issues to their simplest possible terms. The problem is they sometimes overshoot the mark and, instead of the simplest possible terms, they instead present issues in ways that are something less than simple. That’s what we get…

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New Washington solar bill is a move in the right direction

OLYMPIA, Washington — During its last-minute rush to enact a new state budget, the Washington legislature managed to agree on a new package of incentives for commercial, community, and home solar installations.

The bill provides those businesses with a degree of predictability about how the state will gradually reduce incentives between now and the year 2029 when they will vanish altogether. By that time, it is expected that solar costs will have diminished to the point that incentives are no longer necessary.

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New bill threatens salmon, would weaken Endangered Species Act

(Today, the NW Energy Coalition issued the following press release in conjunction with Save our Wild Salmon, the Sierra Club, and Earthjustice.) Northwest business and conservation leaders oppose legislation to overturn 2016 federal court decision and push imperiled wild salmon populations closer to extinction.  House bill would weaken the Endangered Species Act and increase costs…

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Debunking the myth of "Baseload Power"

  The anachronism behind the upcoming DOE grid study When Energy secretary, Rick Perry, issued a memo last April instructing his department to study “how certain policies are affecting, and potentially putting at risk, energy security and reliability”, he flatly stated that “baseload power” provided by coal, natural gas, nuclear, and hydroelectric generation, “is necessary…

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State releases Deep Decarbonization Analysis for Washington State

The Spring 2017 Energy Activist included a feature previewing the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Analysis for Washington State,  a new study that identifies specific strategies to help Washington achieve its statewide goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to the global goal of limiting climate warming to two degrees Celsius.   The report is now available and…

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BPA announces a better solution for I-5 corridor congestion

Seattle, Wa. —  The NW Energy Coalition applauds today’s announcement by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) that it will not move forward with construction of a proposed 80-mile, 500-kilovolt transmission line between Castle Rock, Washington and Troutdale Oregon.  The I-5 Corridor Reinforcement Project was originally proposed in 2008 as a means of addressing growing demand…

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A region finding its way to a clean energy future

Dispatch from the NW Energy Coalition Spring 2017 Clean & Affordable Energy Conference At a time when the federal government seems poised to reverse policies designed to reduce pollution, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and encourage renewable energy, the responsibility for achieving those goals is falling to states, regions, cities, and towns.  The Spring 2017 Clean & Affordable…

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Oregon can become a leader in energy efficient building

In Oregon, House Bill 2710 will help the state reform building codes in ways that: Reduce energy bills for owners and renters Make the air cleaner and temperatures more comfortable in homes and buildings Slash carbon and greenhouse gas emissions Oregon benefitted environmentally and economically by becoming a leader in energy efficient, green building.  House Bill 2710…

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NWEC supports Sen. Ron Wyden in defending the BLM Methane Rule

Rule’s repeal would pollute the atmosphere and cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars   Today, the NW Energy Coalition and the Western Environmental Law Center announced their support for U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) in their efforts to fight a proposed repeal the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Methane Waste Rule.  The…

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