EnviroPolitics Blog

Ex-Con and Coal Titan Don Blankenship is running for U.S. Senate

By Brad McElhinny, MetroNews (West Virginia)

A political lightning rod who spent a year in jail on a mine safety conspiracy conviction, Blankenship is running as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate.

This is the seat that Senator Joe Manchin, an independent-minded mainstay of West Virginia Democratic politics, has chosen to bow out of competing to retain.

Most pundits believe the seat is likely to flip to a Republican, and the top candidates on that side are incumbent Gov. Jim Justice and Congressman Alex Mooney.

Related news story
Coal exec Don Blankenship files for Senate run

Blankenship has been involved with Republican politics in West Virginia for many years, first as an activist and financial backer just before the GOP swung to dominance and then in 2018 with a competitive race in the Republican Primary for the U.S. Senate.

Blankenship’s announcement throws a curveball into the current race. He has enough wealth to finance his campaign and he does not anticipate support from the Democratic Party.

“I would expect them to be very upset that I’m even in the race,” he said.

Read the full story here

If you liked this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Don’t take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.

Ex-Con and Coal Titan Don Blankenship is running for U.S. Senate Read More »

10th Delaware Wetlands Conference – February 6 and 7, 2024

Learn more and register!

10th Delaware Wetlands Conference – February 6 and 7, 2024 Read More »

Sustainable Princeton making bank on its green efforts

Sustainable Princeton has been named as the recipient of the Champions in Action Award by Citizens Bank! As a Champion in Action, Sustainable Princeton will benefit from a $50,000 contribution in unrestricted funds, volunteer support from Citizens Bank employees, public relations, and promotional support.

Read the full press release and learn more about the Citizens’ Champions in Action program on our website.

Sustainable Princeton making bank on its green efforts Read More »

Offshore wind energy gets back in the news and planning in NJ

By Benjamin Storrow, E&E News

New Jersey’s efforts to establish a foothold in the offshore wind industry were buoyed Wednesday when it announced two new projects.

New Jersey was ground zero for offshore wind’s woes in 2023. Now, it’s a testing ground for the industry’s recovery.

New Jersey utility regulators awarded contracts Wednesday to a pair of the largest offshore wind projects ever planned in the United States. The two projects combined would generate enough power to supply 1.8 million homes and deliver an emissions cut equivalent to removing nearly 1.3 million cars from the road.

The decision by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities came on the heels of a Danish developer’s move last year to cancel two projects slated to serve the state. The cancellation dealt a major blow to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s climate and clean energy goals and raised serious questions about the future of offshore wind in the United States.

But in awarding offshore renewable energy credits to Leading Light Wind and Attentive Energy Two, state officials said last year’s setbacks were only temporary.

“It is the clearest sign of the long-term commitment from the state of New Jersey and Gov. Murphy, and the beginning of the bounce back after a pretty crummy 2023,” said Tim Sullivan, chief executive officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

Leading Light Wind would be a 2.4-gigawatt project built more than 40 miles off the New Jersey coast. It is the second-largest offshore wind farm proposed in the United States after a 2.6-GW development off Virginia that’s slated to begin construction later this year. Leading Light is a joint venture of clean energy developers Invenergy and energyRe. The pair are the first American-based developers to win a competitive contract for an offshore wind farm in the United States.

“We sort of ceded this offshore business to foreign companies” because Europe got a head start, Invenergy CEO Michael Polsky said in an interview. But he said U.S. efforts were important for American know-how and “the ability to do things.”

He said the company’s experience developing everything from onshore wind and transmission projects to a natural gas plant supplied by liquified natural gas in El Salvador would aid Invenergy in its first offshore wind venture.

“We know how to deal with new challenges,” Polsky said.

Leading Light will fully develop the 76,000-acre lease it purchased in a federal auction for $645 million. The move contrasts with other companies, which have moved to develop their federal leases in stages. However, a full build-out provides the developers with more certainty and an opportunity to achieve greater economies of scale, creating efficiencies and driving down costs.

Read the full story here

Offshore wind energy gets back in the news and planning in NJ Read More »

Justice Department says Cuomo fostered ‘sexually hostile’ workplace

The investigation “found that the executive chamber under former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo … subjected female employees to a sexually hostile work environment”

*Former New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo*

By Brendan J. Lyons, Times Union

ALBANY — The U.S. Justice Department on Friday announced it had reached an agreement with the New York governor’s office “to resolve the department’s claims that the executive chamber under former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo engaged in a pattern or practice of sexual harassment and retaliation” in violation of civil rights laws.

The agreement memorializes reforms that were enacted by Gov. Kathy Hochul and also institutes additional reforms that federal prosecutors said are intended to prevent sexual harassment or retaliation in the executive chamber. The investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office had not been made public until the office announced the agreement on Friday.

But it’s unclear how thorough of an investigation the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn conducted or whether the outcome relied largely on the report issued by the state attorney general’s office in August 2021. That report concluded Cuomo had sexually harassed or acted inappropriately with 11 women. That report also found that Cuomo and some of his top aides had cultivated a toxic workplace.

Read the full story here

Justice Department says Cuomo fostered ‘sexually hostile’ workplace Read More »

Vermont Senate won’t override veto of bottle bill expansion

The bottle bill expansion, which Gov. Phil Scott vetoed last summer, would have added more types of containers and raised the handling fee

Green glass bottles — *Boarding1Now via Getty Images*

By Megan Quinn, Waste Dive

Vermont’s state Senate on Tuesday failed to override the governor’s veto of a bill that would have expanded the state’s container deposit program.

The bill, which passed the state’s House and Senate last summer, would have included a wider range of containers in the program, raised the handling fee, expanded the number of redemption locations and established a producer responsibility organization, among other changes.

Gov. Phil Scott vetoed the legislation back in June, saying he was an advocate for recycling but felt the changes proposed for the container deposit system were too labor intensive and “would move us backwards.” He called instead for investing in and improving “zero sort” recycling systems, a reference to single-stream recycling.

Read the full story here

Vermont Senate won’t override veto of bottle bill expansion Read More »

Ex-Con and Coal Titan Don Blankenship is running for U.S. Senate

10th Delaware Wetlands Conference – February 6 and 7, 2024

Learn more and register!

Sustainable Princeton making bank on its green efforts

Offshore wind energy gets back in the news and planning in NJ

Justice Department says Cuomo fostered ‘sexually hostile’ workplace

Vermont Senate won’t override veto of bottle bill expansion

Subscribe For Latest Updates