In a Yale e360 interview, John O’Grady, head of the employees’ union at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, rips into the Trump administration for its budget-slashing proposal that he says is aimed at destroying the agency that safeguards the nation’s air and water.
Day: March 22, 2017
Tackling Food Waste In Iowa’s K-12 Schools
Read the full story in Biocycle.
Audits at 17 schools found students generate more food waste at lunch than an initial estimate of 0.1 lbs/student, creating a baseline for prevention and recovery steps.
2015 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) data now available
The first data from the 2015 RECS are now available. These housing characteristics tables, featuring estimates of fuel use, structural characteristics of homes, heating, appliances, electronics, and more, can be found at http://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2015/.
EIA expects to release an overview of the 2015 data, a methodology report, and the preliminary public use microdata file in April. Square footage estimates from the 2015 RECS are expected in summer 2017. Estimates of energy consumption and expenditures are currently in production and are anticipated to be released in 2018.
EIA’s 2015 RECS Household Survey captured information about more than 200 energy-related items from more than 5,600 households. The 2015 RECS is the 14th iteration of the program, which has been conducted periodically since 1978.
Trump freezes Obama-era energy rules
Read the full story in The Hill.
President Trump’s regulatory moratorium expires Tuesday, but not before the administration delayed a half-dozen Obama-era energy standards.
The Department of Energy (DOE) said Monday it is postponing five efficiency rules, including test procedures for walk-in coolers and freezers, central air conditioners, heat pumps and compressors. The agency is also delaying energy conservation standards for ceiling fans and construction standards for federal buildings.
The Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also chimed in Monday delaying new sound requirements for hybrid and electric vehicles.
Trump’s review of car fuel standards could lead to fight with California, environmentalists
Read the full story in the Washington Post.
President Trump opened the door Wednesday to rolling back fuel efficiency standards that were adopted during the Obama administration, a move that could lead to a legal fight with state regulators and environmental groups in the coming years.
Climate Change As An Issue Of National Security
Read the full story at NPR.
Defense Secretary James Mattis called climate change a national security threat. Retired Brig. Gen. Gerald Galloway talks about how the Pentagon will manage challenges presented by climate change.
Green energy in a coal state: the struggle to bring solar jobs to West Virginia
Read the full story in The Guardian.
Local entrepreneurs want to replace disappearing coal jobs with employment in solar – but that’s a tough move in a state that lacks the solar-friendly regulations of places like California.
Offices of Volkswagen and Audi Chiefs Searched in Raid, Warrant Says
Read the full story in the New York Times.
German officials included the offices of both Volkswagen’s chief executive and the head of the Audi division when they raided company premises last week as part of an investigation into emissions fraud, according to a copy of the search warrant.
This lead-poisoned Indiana city could be the next Flint
Read the full story in Grist.
In East Chicago, Indiana, where 90 percent of this population of 29,000 are people of color and one-third live below the poverty line, a lead crisis is unfolding and residents are concerned that the Environmental Protection Agency under Scott Pruitt is unlikely to respond.
FY 2017 Sustainable Materials Management Grant
Request For Applications (RFA # EPA-R5-LCD-2017)
Open Date: March 15, 2017
Closing Date: June 1, 2017
Summary: EPA Region 5 is soliciting applications to address one of two Sustainable Materials Management priorities. Projects must be implemented in EPA Region 5, which encompasses the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Priorities are identified below (see solicitation for additional requirements):
Prevent or Reduce Wasted Food in a Tribal Community
Projects addressing this priority must:
- Support the goals of a tribe’s approved Integrated Waste Management Plan.
- Identify a baseline of the significant sources of wasted food in the community.
- Track, evaluate, and report amounts of wasted food prevented or reduced.
- Include plans to communicate the outcomes of the project with other tribes and communities, such as through a webinar, conference presentation, etc.
Demystify Potential Midwestern Recycling End Markets through Collaboration
Projects addressing this priority must:
- Create an information resource to identify end markets as well as the economic opportunity afforded by these potential markets using economic indicators such as jobs, wages and/or tax revenues.
- Provide estimates of the volume of materials that are and could be managed.
- Include a long term strategy for maintaining and sharing the end market information.
- Include a long term strategy for continuing and building on the collaboration established as part of the project.
Informational Call
Date: April 4, 2017 at 2:00 pm Central Time/ 3:00pm Eastern Time
Topic: Land and Chemicals Division, Sustainable Materials Management Request for Applications
Phone Number: 866-299-3188, conference code 9389329
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