Fish seek cooler waters, leaving some fishing nets empty

Photo by Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times



Erica Goode reports for The New York Times:


POINT JUDITH, R.I. — There was a time when whiting were plentiful in the waters of Rhode Island Sound, and Christopher Brown pulled the fish into his long stern trawler by the bucketful.


“We used to come right here and catch two, three, four thousand pounds a day, sometimes 10,” he said, sitting at the wheel of the Proud Mary — a 44-footer named, he said, after his wife, not the Creedence Clearwater Revival song — as it cruised out to sea.


But like many other fish on the Atlantic Coast, whiting have moved north, seeking cooler waters as ocean temperatures have risen, and they are now filling the nets of fishermen farther up the coast.


Studies have found that two-thirds of marine species in the Northeast United States have shifted or extended their range as a result of ocean warming, migrating northward or outward into deeper and cooler water.


Lobster, once a staple in southern New England, have decamped to Maine. Black sea bass, scup, yellowtail flounder, mackerel, herring and monkfish, to name just a few species, have all moved to accommodate changing temperatures. 

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Court orders EPA to review its oil and gas waste rules

Truck delivering fracking waste water to a recycling plant in Pa. StateImpact photo



Jon Hurdle reports for StateImpact:

A federal court directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to review and possibly update its regulations on oil and gas waste, in a decision that was welcomed by environmental groups who had sued the agency, claiming its rules have failed to keep pace with the fracking boom.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a consent decree late Wednesday saying the EPA must review the regulations, and if necessary issue a new rulemaking if it deems an update to be appropriate. The actions must take place by March 2019, the court said.
The consent decree, which is designed to settle a dispute between two parties without either admitting guilt or liability, is the outcome of a lawsuit against EPA by seven environmental groups who claimed that the agency has failed to review oil and gas waste regulations, as required every three years under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976.
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In the suit, filed in May, the plaintiffs said existing regulations are too weak to stop the escape of toxic materials such as benzene and mercury that have been used in the fracking boom since the mid-2000s.
The environmental groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Integrity Project argued that EPA should use the law to stop drillers spreading fracking waste on fields and roads, and require landfills and pond that receive fracking waste to install liners that prevent leakage.
The suit also urged EPA to use the rules to address the disposal of waste water in underground injection wells, a practice that has been linked to earthquakes in several states.
On Thursday, the plaintiffs welcomed the court’s decision. 
“This consent decree is a step in the right direction toward fulfilling EPA’s duty to the public,” said Adam Kron, senior attorney at the Environmental Integrity Project.  “EPA has known since 1988 that its rules for oil and gas wastes aren’t up to par, and the fracking boom has made them even more outdated.”
Amy Mall, senior policy analyst for NRDC, said that any move by the incoming Trump administration to block the decree would leave the government in violation of the court order. “We are certainly very hopeful that the incoming administration will not violate the federal government’s legal commitments,” she said.
Among the incidents that could have been averted by updated EPA regulations, was one in Tioga County, Pennsylvania in 2012 when a pond holding 6 million gallons of fracking waste water leaked pollutants including strontium and arsenic into groundwater and a nearby stream.
The EPA referred an inquiry to the U.S. Department of Justice, which declined to comment. A spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute could not be reached for comment.
The other plaintiffs were Earthworks, San Juan Citizens Alliance, West Virginia Surface Owners Rights Organization, the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, and the Responsible Drilling Alliance.
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Utility employs Google mapping cars to sniff out gas leaks

Using the same cars that take pictures for Google Maps, Google and PSE&G are able to detect areas with the most intense methane gas leaks caused by aging, cast iron pipes and replace them with plastic pipes. 


It’s a big job. The state has approved the utility’s spending of $905 million for the replacements. PSE&G says even more is needed. Andrew Schmertz has the story for NJTV NEWS. 

Google Street View car equipped with methane detectors (Photo: PSE&G)


James M. O’Neil reports for The Record:


To prioritize which aging gas mains to replace, the utility used a Google Street View car equipped with methane sensors.

PSE&G collaborated on the leak detection effort with the Environmental Defense Fund, Google and Colorado State University. The utility learned about work EDF and Google had done mapping gas leaks in Boston and Indianapolis, and asked to work together to do the same in North Jersey.

The EDF collaborators have since mapped gas leaks in Dallas, Syracuse, Los Angeles, Chicago, Pittsburgh and elsewhere. This was the first project in which the EDF group worked directly with a utility to map out leaks.
The PSE&G gas main replacement project is designed to improve safety, waste less gas and reduce emissions of methane — the main component of natural gas — that contribute to climate change.


“Reducing methane emissions is one of the quickest ways we have to protect the climate,” said EDF President Fred Krupp.

“It takes courage to invite an environmental group to come sniffing around for leaks in their system. By tackling these leaks faster, PSE&G will achieve a lot more environmental benefit for their infrastructure dollars.”

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Largest military solar energy project in NE launched in NJ


Air Force and state officials helped
break ground Dec. 20 on a 98-acre solar farm at Joint Base
McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

The 16.5 megawatt solar energy project will be
the largest military solar installation in the Northeast and will include more
than 50,000 solar panels when it’s completed in 2017.

Once completed, the solar array will produce more than 21,000 megawatt-hours of
renewable energy every year – enough to power more than 2,500 homes.

“Solar power is one of the most efficient and affordable energy alternatives
today,” said Adjutant General of New Jersey
Brig. Gen. Michael Cunniff said.

“Whether you’re interested in solar power because of its economic or
environment impact, during these times of budgetary constraints on the federal
side and the state side, I think we can all agree this joint solar project
could not happen at a greater time. “

Affiliates of Starwood Energy Group and Energy
Management, Inc. developed the project, which is located on a capped landfill.
The project is part of the Air Force’s Enhanced Use Lease program that helps
create mutually beneficial commercial projects on Air Force land.

“New Jersey’s leadership in solar energy policies is creating a healthier
environment, greater energy independence and more stable energy costs for the
region,” said Jim Gordon, EMI president.

More than 15,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide
emissions is expected to be reduced, an equivalent of 3,000 cars removed from
the road.

True Green Capital and affiliates will build,
own and operate the solar array in partnership with the Conti Group.

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Tesla, Panasonic to produce solar cells in New York

Chisaki Watanabe and Dana Hull report for Bloomberg:
Tesla Motors and Panasonic completed work on an agreement to begin manufacturing solar cells and modules at Tesla’s factory in Buffalo, New York, eventually bringing some 1,400 jobs to the region.
Production will begin this summer, with the factory’s output capacity expanding to 1 gigawatt by 2019, the companies said in a statement Tuesday. Panasonic will invest more than $256 million (30 billion yen) on the installation of production equipment, Yayoi Watanabe, a spokeswoman for the Osaka-based company, said by phone. The total investment wasn’t disclosed in the statement.
Among the jobs being created are more than 500 manufacturing positions. Palo Alto, California-based Tesla is expanding its manufacturing base in the U.S. and Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk is on President-elect Donald Trump’s business advisory team.
“We already knew about this deal, but now it’s finalized,” said Ben Kallo, an analyst with Robert W. Baird. “Panasonic is covering the capital costs, and Tesla is buying the modules. You’re seeing the stock break out a bit.”

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Tesla shares have declined about 8.2 percent this year.
The announcement underscores deepening ties between Tesla and Panasonic. The two are building a $5 billion lithium-ion gigafactory east of Reno, Nevada, to produce batteries for both electric cars and energy storage products. In October, Tesla revealed plans to work with Panasonic to make solar cells and modules. Tesla acquired solar installer SolarCity for $2 billion. Mr. Musk revealed plans for a new solar-roof made of glass tiles in late October.

“When production of the solar roof begins, Tesla will also incorporate Panasonic’s cells into the many kinds of solar glass tile roofs that Tesla will be manufacturing,” Tesla said in a blog post.
Tesla has several products in its pipeline. Besides the solar roof, there is enormous anticipation around the Model 3, a more affordable electric sedan that is expected to launch in late 2017. Tesla is also working on a semi truck and a transit bus.

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Cuomo quietly seeks sweeping powers over Port Authority

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. | Office of the Governor of New York

Ryan Hutchins and Dana Rubinstein report for Politico:

New York and New Jersey, including the authority to unilaterally remove and appoint commissioners, under draft legislation that has been privately circulating among Albany lawmakers this week and was obtained by POLITICO.

Under the proposal — just one piece of a larger ethics measure — New York’s six appointees on the board of the massive, bi-state agency would serve at the pleasure of Cuomo or his successors. The governor could remove any New York appointees “at his or her discretion without the advice or consent of the [S]enate,” something now required, and then could fill those vacancies “whether the [S]enate is or is not in session.”

Beyond that, the draft legislation would create a new inspector general, appointed by the governor, to focus solely on New York issues at the agency. The inspector general would also be designated a “district attorney” under New York state law, even though the Port Authority already has an inspector general who can be cross-deputized by U.S. attorney’s offices and by district attorneys to act as a law enforcement officer.

The proposal is dated Sunday and was still a topic of heated discussion on Wednesday. By evening, though, Cuomo’s office said it was no longer interested in the appointments changes, with spokesman Rich Azzopardi emailing just before 9 p.m. — five hours after POLITICO first inquired — to say the draft was “bad information.”

But the proposal, after circulating for days, had some agency observers warning about lasting consequences.

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