Biden Cabinet Nominees at Energy, UN on Track for Approval
It is a bonanza of confirmation hearings for President Joe Biden’s Cabinet, including hearings vetting his pick to lead the Energy Department.
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Department of Energy
Idaho Is Top Pick for Energy Department Nuclear Test Reactor
The U.S. government said Thursday that Idaho is its preferred choice ahead of Tennessee for a test reactor to be built as part of an effort to revamp the nation’s fading nuclear power industry by developing safer fuel and power plants.
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States Say Trump Let Energy-Efficiency Standards Get Way Out of Date
Counting dozens of outdated energy efficiency standards, 14 states plus New York City and Washington, D.C., accused the U.S. Department of Energy in a federal complaint Monday of frustrating their efforts to realize their climate change policy goals.
Read moreSpeaking of Inefficiency…
Complaining that Trump’s Energy Department has missed efficiency-standard deadlines for more than two dozen consumer and commercial products, six nonprofits brought a federal complaint to force its hand.
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Quantum Loop: US Unveils Blueprint for ‘Virtually Unhackable’ Internet
U.S. officials and scientists have begun laying the groundwork for a more secure “virtually unhackable” internet based on quantum computing technology.
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Energy Secretary Says National Labs Are Working on Covid Treatments
Speaking before a House panel Tuesday, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette defended his department’s response to the Covid-19 crisis and also emphasized the importance of securing the national energy grid.
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Feds Urged to Plan for Climate Change Threats at Contaminated Sites
A federal watchdog says the U.S. government needs to do a better job of planning for climate change threats to contaminated sites across the country where the government once developed nuclear weapons and researched nuclear energy.
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California Leads Suit Over Lax Energy-Conservation Standards
Leading a coalition of states and New York City, California sued the Trump administration Tuesday claiming the federal government has made alterations to energy conservation standards that hurt consumers and lead to more pollution.
Read moreEnergy Department Releases Documents Relating to Perry’s Ukraine Trip
Energy Department released Tuesday night offer the latest look into the roles senior administration officials, including former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, were tapped to play on a White House-approved delegation to Ukraine last year.
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Blackout on Renewable-Energy Study Called Politically Expedient
Accusing the Trump administration of suppressing politically inconvenient research, environmentalists filed suit Thursday to unearth a taxpayer-funded study on the electricity grid.
Read moreMercury Contamination
Coeur Rochester sued the U.S. Department of Energy in federal court, claiming its long-delayed yet still hasty and sloppy regulations on mercury storage and disposal are irrational and illegal.
Read moreSave the Birds
The American Bird Conservancy sued the Department of Energy and Army Corps of Engineers in federal court, claiming their funding and authorization of the offshore Icebreaker Wind Project in Lake Erie “presents serious risks to millions of birds and bats per year that migrate through the Project area.”
Read morePerry Defends Urging Trump to Make Call in Impeachment Focus
Outgoing U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Saturday that he asked President Donald Trump to make the phone call at the center of the impeachment inquiry because it was “important” for the country’s energy needs and had nothing to do with former Vice President Joe Biden or his son Hunter.
Read moreEnergy Secretary Perry Resigning at End of Year, Trump Says
Energy Secretary Rick Perry will leave his job by the end of the year, President Donald Trump said Thursday.
Read moreNinth Circuit Orders Thaw of Obama-Era Energy Efficiency Standards
The Trump administration cannot indefinitely freeze Obama-era energy efficiency standards that are expected to cut carbon emissions and save billions of dollars in energy costs, the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday.
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Ninth Circuit Rejects Nevada’s Resistance to US Plutonium Shipments
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday ruled against Nevada in a battle with the federal government over its secret shipment of weapons-grade plutonium to a site near Las Vegas, but the state’s attorney general says the fight isn’t over yet.
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Nevada: Feds Should Restudy Seismic Risk at Nuke Dump Site
Nevada’s governor and congressional delegation are pointing to earthquakes this month in the California desert and calling for the U.S. Energy Department to look again at seismic risks of burying the nation’s most radioactive nuclear waste at a site in the Mojave Desert.
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House Panel Dives Into Cyber Threats to Electric Grid
A malicious cyberattack in March disrupted the California, Utah and Wyoming electrical utility systems for several hours. No customers lost power and it only affected internal system operations, but it was enough to raise concerns about a more damaging and widespread attack on the electric grid.
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US Seeing Gains in Gas Market, Experts Tell Senate
Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said Thursday that the U.S. faces a narrow window to becoming a global leader in the natural gas market.
Read moreNuclear-Waste Hot Potato Gets Underway in House
Diving into a decades-long stalemate, federal lawmakers considered three bills Thursday that take different approaches to the storage and disposal of America’s nuclear waste.
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