Latest news with #LiamNiemeyer
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump administration terminates award for Kentucky carbon capture project
The sign outside one of the corporate offices for utility Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer) A federal award funding a collaboration between Kentucky's largest utility, the University of Kentucky and other partners to implement a new system capturing greenhouse gas emissions is among two dozen energy-related awards the Trump administration terminated last week. The $72 million award terminated by the U.S. Department of Energy funded the testing of a carbon capture system on a natural gas-fired turbine operated by electric utility Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities at its Cane Run Generating Station in Jefferson County. Carbon capture refers to technologies that seek to reduce climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels by capturing and storing carbon dioxide before it's released into the atmosphere. The utility described the project last year as an 'important step in assessing the future viability' of carbon capture technology for natural gas-fired power plants. LG&E and KU, which serves more than 1 million customers in the state, would have captured a portion of carbon dioxide emissions to be potentially reused by a nearby manufacturer, according to a press release. Liz Pratt, a LG&E and KU spokesperson, in a statement said the utility was 'disappointed' the award was terminated but remained 'focused on driving innovation and important research and development in this space.' 'Together with our project partners, we will review our options for advancing this important research project,' Pratt said. Among the other awards terminated Friday by the DOE included a number of other carbon capture and storage projects and a project by multinational alcoholic beverage company Diageo that sought to add batteries to decarbonize production facilities including in Shelbyville, Kentucky. U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright in a Friday statement said canceling the approximately $3.7 billion in total awards was 'in the best interest' of Americans. 'While the previous administration failed to conduct a thorough financial review before signing away billions of taxpayer dollars, the Trump administration is doing our due diligence to ensure we are utilizing taxpayer dollars to strengthen our national security, bolster affordable, reliable energy sources and advance projects that generate the highest possible return on investment,' Wright said in a statement. Investment into carbon capture systems played a large role in the energy policy of the former Biden administration, which sought to require utilities with coal-fired power plants operating past 2039 to capture 90% of carbon dioxide emissions from the plants or have those plants retire by 2032. That carbon capture requirement also applied to new natural gas-fired power plants. The Trump administration has swiftly reversed course, reportedly planning to eliminate any caps on greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired and natural gas-fired power plants. Supporters of carbon capture technologies generally say it's necessary in transitioning to clean energy and addressing industries that are hard to decarbonize, while skeptics, including environmentalists, question whether the technologies will allow for the further burning of fossil fuels. Byron Gary, an attorney with the environmental legal organization Kentucky Resources Council, told the Lantern the award termination fits into the Trump administration's 'broader strategy' of 'trying to undermine climate regulation.' E&E News reported Friday that the Trump administration is expected to argue the U.S. power sector, a major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, doesn't contribute 'significantly' to climate change. Gary said while his organization would rather see investment into zero-emission renewable energy paired with utility-scale batteries, the award terminations appear to ensure carbon capture technology isn't a 'viable option' for the future.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Climate change intensified April flooding in Kentucky, according to scientific modeling
A home along Paul Sawyier Drive in Frankfort is submerged by Kentucky River flooding, April 6, 2025. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer) An increasingly warming climate intensified the deluge of rain that fell on Kentucky and other states in early April, according to a new report from a multinational academic group that studies climate change's connections to extreme weather events. Torrential downpours inundated communities across Kentucky in early April, with some parts of Western Kentucky receiving more than a foot of rain in just four days. Some waterways including the Kentucky River in Frankfort crested at near-record highs as Kentuckians were forced to evacuate low-lying homes and businesses. Dozens of counties declared states of emergency, hundreds of roadways were closed and Gov. Andy Beshear said the storms were responsible for the deaths of seven Kentuckians. A report from World Weather Attribution found, based on climate modeling, that the extreme rainfall across Kentucky and seven other states was about 9% more intense because of warming, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, that already has occurred. Climate change increased the likelihood of the extreme rainfall — which pulled its moisture from a significantly hotter Gulf of Mexico — by about 40% compared to a cooler climate according to the report. The likelihood of such a rainfall event is still relatively rare, the report authors found, at about a 1 in 100-year event. Bernadette Woods-Placky, a chief meteorologist at the New Jersey-based nonprofit research organization Climate Central, said in a Wednesday briefing that it's hard to discern how climate change impacted flooding in specific waterways and communities without studying the hydrology of each area. But she said an increase in flooding intensity, even if marginal, can be significant when talking about a 'tipping point' of whether a river crests a bank or barrier that's holding it back. 'If you hit that tipping point, then it floods over to everything. And so the littlest bit in certain areas can make a huge impact,' Woods-Placky said. 'A warmer atmosphere forces more evaporation, so our atmosphere in general has more water to come down whenever there's a trigger, wherever there's a trigger. So that's why we're seeing, overall, an increase in heavy rain events.' Friederike Otto, an author of the report and a senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London, said while the methods used in the report have been peer reviewed, the study on the April rainfall has not yet been peer reviewed. Based on modeling, the report predicts that if current climate policies across the globe remain consistent, the climate will warm by approximately 2.6 degrees Celsius by 2100; in that case, extreme rainfall events 'are expected to approximately double in likelihood again' and further increase in intensity by another 7%. Earth recorded its hottest year on record in 2024, crossing a warming threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius that the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015 aimed to avoid exceeding. Otto, the report author at Imperial College London, said significant increases in the likelihood of such weather events from climate change could also compound the costs of recovery in communities hit repeatedly by flooding. If recovery from an extreme weather event costs billions of dollars, having it happen again could transform 'what extreme weather can mean for a community.' Those speaking Wednesday also commended the National Weather Service's preparedness and early warnings of the incoming weather last month across multiple states, saying it was vital in protecting people and property. Woods-Placky advocated for the national agency in light of reporting that multiple NWS offices across the country, including three offices covering almost the entirety of Kentucky, were without a chief meteorologist to lead teams of forecasters and other staff. 'They did some tremendous work, and they did save lives,' Woods-Placky said.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisville air pollution regulator to contest grant termination for air toxics study
A logo on the side of an electric car for the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer) Louisville's air pollution regulator will dispute the Trump administration's termination of a grant that funded an air toxics monitoring study in West Louisville, a larger community effort to study air pollution health impacts in neighborhoods near the Rubbertown industrial complex. The Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District (APCD) received a memo from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency March 31 stating a $1 million grant from the Environmental Justice Government-to-Government Program would be terminated because, in part, it was 'inconsistent with, and no longer effectuates, agency priorities.' An EPA official in a court filing wrote recently that the agency was canceling hundreds of EPA grants, most of them involving environmental justice programs. Matt Mudd, a spokesperson with APCD, told the Lantern Wednesday the regulator planned to dispute the grant termination with the EPA through an internal process. Rachael Hamilton, the executive director of APCD, in an April 16 board meeting described the option to dispute the grant termination as an 'administrative remedy' that would be sent to a regional EPA administrator. Hamilton said in the meeting last month there had been a 'fair amount' of litigation from other grantees that have had grants terminated. The funding, announced in 2023 during the Biden administration, was set to support the placement of canisters measuring volatile organic compounds and two other monitors measuring airborne metals. Some of the monitors were to be placed downwind of Rubbertown, a cluster of chemical plants near West Louisville that have long been the subject of complaints from the adjacent neighborhoods and beyond. The monitors were to be a part of a one-year study to compare the amount of air pollution and health impacts to a previous study done in the early 2000s that found levels of a number of cancer-causing pollutants to be unacceptable high. Mudd said the study's start date was 'imminent' before the grant was terminated. Terry Johnson, a spokesperson for the EPA regional office that covers Kentucky, in a statement said the EPA was reviewing all awarded grants 'to ensure each is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars and to understand how those programs align with administration priorities.' 'Maybe the Biden-Harris Administration shouldn't have forced their radical agenda of wasteful DEI programs and 'environmental justice' preferencing on the EPA's core mission of protecting human health and the environment,' Johnson said in his statement. Johnson did not answer emailed follow-up questions from the Lantern asking what specific issues the agency had with the grant. Rep. Joshua Watkins, D-Louisville, who represents parts of West Louisville neighborhoods in the state legislature, said he hoped the city would exhaust all resources 'to ensure that their mission isn't hindered by any changes — this sort of whiplash of changes — that we see coming from the federal government.' 'Environmental justice is a freedom issue, and if you don't have a high quality of air, you aren't free to breathe and live a quality of life,' Watkins told the Lantern. 'Clean air is nonpartisan. You need it if you're Republican, you need it if you're a Democrat.' Watkins, who noted city residents in predominantly Black neighborhoods in West Louisville have significantly lower life expectancies compared to the east half of the city, questioned why the air toxics monitoring study wouldn't align with the EPA's mission of protecting human health and the environment. 'What neighborhoods align, I guess, with the EPA mission?' he said. 'If not for the residents of West Louisville who have documented evidence of significantly worse health outcomes, why would we not focus on those citizens?' The air monitoring study was a piece of a larger project addressing the health impacts of air pollution, involving other community partners including the University of Louisville's Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute, the West Jefferson County Community Task Force, Park DuValle Community Health Centers and Louisville's public health and wellness department. UofL researchers planned to conduct a wastewater sampling study alongside the air toxics monitoring study and collect data from both to determine 'community health risks'; Park DuValle Community Health Centers would use the health impact findings from the project to train health professionals on how to treat exposure to air pollution; and the West Jefferson Community Task Force would hold community meetings to provide feedback on the project's findings and policy recommendations. Arnita Gadson, the executive director of the West Jefferson County Community Task Force, told the Lantern she was especially interested in how the 'much needed' project planned to help inform community health workers and doctors on how to treat the impacts of exposure to air pollution. She said the health impacts of air pollution can also extend beyond West Louisville, given that residents impacted by pollution can move elsewhere and bring their health issues with them. 'This grant was to help everybody,' Gadson said. 'I think we were on the precipice of actually establishing a platform that meant that doctors really could start using some of this.' Attempts on Wednesday to reach the CEO of Park DuValle Community Health Centers and a key UofL researcher involved with the project were not successful. Eboni Cochran, the co-director of the grassroots organization Rubbertown Emergency ACTion that seeks to push back against pollution from industries in Rubbertown, told the Lantern while the termination of the grant was sad, APCD could do more to address immediate air pollution impacts. Cochran pointed to ongoing complaints of dust and fires at an industrial plant in the Parkland neighborhood of Louisville. 'An important part of what they were doing was to engage medical professionals, right? I think that is vital to the work of environmental justice,' Cochran said. 'However, you can even prevent or reduce people's likelihood of them even having to get to the medical professional if you listened to the people who live near these industries.'
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Beshear sues to block new state law pushed by conservative Americans for Prosperity
Gov. Andy Beshear is suing the Kentucky legislature over a new law that limits the executive branch's authority to enact regulations. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer) Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has gone to court to block what the lawsuit calls the 'latest power grab' by the GOP-controlled legislature. At issue is a new law that curbs the executive branch's authority to make regulations. The bill was a priority for the conservative group Americans for Prosperity which is pushing the measure in multiple states and the U.S. Congress. In a complaint filed in Franklin Circuit Court on March 28, attorneys for the Office of the Governor and the Public Protection Cabinet wrote House Bill 6 is unconstitutional because it essentially hands over control of a state executive branch function and power — issuing and implementing regulations — to the legislature. Attorneys for the plaintiffs write the debate over HB 6 on the House floor 'clearly shows the legislative branch is intentionally violating the strict separation of powers' in the Kentucky Constitution. Attorneys pointed to comments made by Rep. T.J. Roberts, R-Burlington, on the House floor last month in which Roberts said 'they better ask us for permission before they engage in executive branch lawmaking.' Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd held a hearing on the case Wednesday morning to consider the plaintiffs' request to temporarily block the law. The Lantern has not yet confirmed whether the plaintiffs' request was granted or denied Wednesday. A request for comment sent to a spokesperson for Republicans in the Kentucky House of Representatives was not immediately returned. The Republican-controlled legislature passed HB 6, dubbed the REINS Act or Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny, over a veto by Beshear in the final days of this year's legislative session. The legislation went into immediate effect on March 27 because of the bill's emergency clause. HB 6, primarily sponsored by Rep. Wade Williams, R-Madisonville, would prevent executive branch agencies from filing, amending or repealing regulations unless the regulations meet one of six prerequisites. Wade in a previous statement touted the bill as a way to put 'common sense boundaries on the regulatory powers of unelected government employees.' Those prerequisites include that the regulation will not cost more than $500,000 over two years to implement; is needed immediately to 'to meet an imminent threat' to public health, safety, or welfare; is needed to prevent the loss of funds or meet a deadline established in laws or regulations; or is needed relating to the licensure of health facilities and services. The lawsuit names Emily Caudill, the regulations compiler for the Legislative Research Commission, as the defendant. Attorneys for the governor wrote HB 6 gives Caudill the power to determine whether regulations can be filed including when the legislature is not in session. The governor also says HB 6 restrictions could prevent the implementation of laws passed by the legislature this year, such as creation of a Parkinson's Disease registry that state officials estimate could have an upfront cost of at least $635,000. Another law that the complaint states could be impacted is a move to license retailers who sell nicotine which has regulatory costs that could reach into the millions of dollars, exceeding the limits in HB 6. The passage of HB 6 was applauded by the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity-Kentucky (AFP-KY), a part of a network of political groups affiliated with businessmen Charles Koch and the late David Koch. AFP-KY State Director Heather LeMire said in a statement that while the governor can 'grandstand,' his lawsuit claims are off base. 'If the governor or his administration had read the law, they would know that it has a stipulation for regulations that come out of legislation for the executive branch to promulgate these regulations, as well as a generous stipulation for the governor's emergency powers,' LeMire said. 'It is clear that Governor Beshear wants to avoid accountability and make policy, but that is the job of the legislature. If he is set on being a policymaker, we welcome his resignation so he can run for the General Assembly in November of 2026.' She said the legislature gives the governor the power to issue regulations through a specific chapter of state law.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Significant rollback of Kentucky's regulation of water pollution becomes law
Opponents of Senate Bill 89 gather by the Kentucky River to voice their concerns, March 4, 2025. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer) A controversial bill that would significantly roll back Kentucky's ability to regulate water pollution will become law after the GOP-controlled legislature on Thursday overrode its veto by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. Senate Bill 89, sponsored by Sen. Scott Madon, R-Pineville, would considerably narrow the definition of state waters that are regulated by the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. Madon, with the backing of the Kentucky Coal Association, has touted the bill as a move to relieve industries from housing construction to coal mining of bureaucratic barriers. Environmental groups have lambasted the bill as potentially opening the state's water resources to pollution, threatening the groundwater of hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians who rely on rural public water utilities and private wells. Rebecca Goodman, the secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet, had previously said she had 'grave concerns' with the bill. Beshear in his veto message wrote SB 89 by 'failing to protect all water sources' would result in 'pollution, sickness and more dangerous flooding.' Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, on the Senate floor said he believed changes to the bill made as it advanced through the legislature, after hearing concerns about groundwater pollution, helped improve the legislation. 'We protected our (coal) operators from overreach of the agency, and after listening to constituents, after listening to comments on this floor, provisions to protect groundwater were put back in,' West said. Environmental groups and the cabinet have said the changes made to SB 89 don't go nearly far enough to protect groundwater resources across the state. Democrats opposing the bill referenced a letter from Goodman, the cabinet secretary, who wrote Kentucky would be the only state in the country to cede its authority to regulate water to the federal government. Sen. Robin Webb, D-Grayson, who voted against overriding the veto, said the 'compromise' made to change the bill did not 'go far enough.' 'The origination of this measure arose from agency overreach, but the pendulum now has swung far to the other end,' said Sen. Robin Webb, D-Grayson, who voted. 'I have utilities in my district that rely on groundwater sources. I represent sportsmen and women across this country in the state that have reached out.' Kentucky Waterways Alliance executive director Michael Washburn — in a statement also representing leaders from the Kentucky chapter of the Sierra Club, the Kentucky Resources Council and the Kentucky Conservation Committee — said the legislature sided 'with polluters over Kentucky's people and the industries that rely on clean, safe water.' 'This decision gives coal companies greater freedom to pollute our headwater streams, at the expense of the tens of thousands of homes, farms and businesses that depend on groundwater from private wells in rural Kentucky,' Washburn said. 'To the polluters who championed this bill: we are watching. We have built a resilient, determined coalition — and we are ready to act.'
