Need to Know

FEDERAL
 - The U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released their action plan for solving the climate crisis.  Policy recommendations in the action plan include, but aren't limited to: bringing the issue of environmental justice to the forefront of federal climate and environmental policy; putting a price on carbon; achieving net-zero emissions in the electricity sector by 2040; and more.  The action plan puts the United States on a potential path to reach zero net emissions by 2050.  More... 

 - According to the Environmental Defense Fund, there are numerous pieces of legislation in Congress currently that would support climate resilience if passed.  More...

 - In mid-June, Democratic legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives, released information on a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan that legislators tout will help combat climate change while also grow the economy.  More... 

 - A few weeks ago, climate activists virtually met with more than 400 Senate and House Congressional members to urge them to support a carbon tax and and economic relief for communities that have been hard hit by the coal industry.  More...

 - Also in mid-June, the U.S. Senate passed legislation that fully funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund.  It now heads to the House for consideration.  More...

 - The United States joined many other nations this week at the International Energy Agency (IEA)'s online summit focused on implementing green recoveries from COVID-19.  More...

 - Toward the end of March, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implemented a policy that relaxed the pollution monitoring rules for companies due to COVID-19.  Last week, the EPA announced that they will be ending that policy as of August 31.  More...
   

INDIVIDUAL STATES
CALIFORNIA
 - The carbon trading program that the State of California was counting on as a part of their climate action strategy will now be re-examined to determine if the plan will help the state reach their climate goals.  More... 

ILLINOIS 
 - In late June, the Illinois Commerce Commission approved an COVID-19 related agreement to extend the suspension of utility cut-offs for customers.  The suspension will last at least through late July.  More...   
 
MASSACHUSETTS
 - Two cities in Massachusetts - Somerville and Cambridge - recently joined other cities in putting pressure on insurance companies to stop investing in and insuring fossil fuels.  More...    

NEVADA
 - The Governor of Nevada announced in June that Nevada would be adopting California's car pollution rules, with the goal of implementing the rules by 2024.  In doing so, Nevada will join numerous other states who have also adopted the rules.  More...  

NEW JERSEY
 - A bill that would require entities applying for environmental permits to include a statement on the consequences their project would have on neighboring low-income and marginalized communities, has received support from New Jersey's Governor.  Also included in the bill is the opportunity for the Department of Environmental Protection to reject any applications if they believe harm would be caused to the neighboring communities.  More...

VIRGINIA
 - Last week, Virginia commenced a 21-person environmental justice council (part of a package of environmental bills) that will advise legislators.  More...

WASHINGTON D.C. 
 - The Washington D.C. Attorney General is suing four oil and gas companies, accusing the companies of misleading consumers about the negative consequences their products have on the environment.  More...

Opportunities to Participate

NOTE: The following are opportunities for colleges and universities for sign-on; not opportunities for individuals at colleges and universities.  Are you an individual at a higher education institution who believes your college/university may be interested in signing onto one of these opportunities?  We encourage you to reach-out to the leadership at your institution and let them know.  

ARIZONA
The Arizona Corporation Commission which regulates Arizona's investor-owned electric utilities initiated rule-making procedure to consider making changes to numerous policies, some which include renewable energy, energy efficiency and others.  In response, Ceres has created a sign-on letter which will be sent to the Commission, encouraging the Commission to increase energy efficiency and renewable energy in Arizona. 

If you are a higher education institution in Arizona and you are interested in signing onto this letter, please contact: Jennifer Helfrich (helfrich@ceres.org) by 12PM EDT on Monday, July 13, 2020 at the latest.   

Our monthly policy updates, information, and opportunities to participate, are developed with support from Ceres, which is an organizational partner of Second Nature.  Ceres has identified 15 states plus Washington, D.C. for our primary focus - Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. - because of the beneficial legislative climates and real opportunities for policy advancements in these states.  

Note: The states included in each monthly Policy Update will be based on what policy updates we are recommending for that month, and are due to change - but will always be focused on the above 15 states (plus Washington, D.C.) - from month to month.  

Header Photo by Wil Stewart on Unsplash

Sources:
Becker, R.  (2020, June 24).  California re-evaluating its landmark climate strategy.  CalMatters.  URL.  Retrieved: 7/1/2020.  

Beitsch, R.  (2020, June 18).  Democrats unveil $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan.  The Hill.  URL.  Retrieved: 6/30/2020. 

Beitsch, R.  (2020, June 30).  EPA to end policy suspending pollution monitoring by end of summer.  The Hill.  URL.  Retrieved: 7/1/2020.  

Crider, J.  (2020, June 26).  D.C. Attorney General Is Suing Oil & Gas Companies for Their Misinformation Campaigns.  Cleantechnica.  URL.  Retrieved: 7/1/2020.  

Harvey, F.  (2020, June 29).  US to join summit on global green recovery from Covid-19 crisis.  The Guardian.  URL.  Retrieved: 6/30/2020.  

Hernandez, J.  (2020, June 19).  Murphy announces support for N.J. environmental justice bill.  WHYY PBS NPR.  URL.  Retrieved: 7/1/2020.  

House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.  (2020, June).  Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America.  Majority Staff Report.  URL.  Retrieved: 6/30/2020.    

Insure Our Future.  (2020, June 23).  Release: Somerville and Cambridge Join Growing Trend of Cities Calling on Insurance Companies to Stop Insuring and Investing in Fossil Fuels.  Insure Our Future.  URL.  Retrieved: 7/1/2020.  

Lee, S.  (2020, July 1).  Virginia's Blue Wave Climate, Pollution Laws Kick In Wednesday.  Bloomberg Law.  URL.  Retrieved: 7/1/2020.  

Lee, S. and Scott, Dean.  (2020, June 18).  Climate Activists Lobby Congress on Carbon Tax, Coal Town Relief.  Bloomberg Law.  URL.  Retrieved: 6/30/2020. 

Phillips, A.M. (2020, June 22).  Nevada to adopt California's stricter car pollution standards, rejecting Trump rollback.  Los Angeles Times.  URL.  Retrived: 7/1/2020.  

Rupp, M.  (2020, June 30).  Congress is advancing bipartisan climate resilience policies in 3 key ways.  Environmental Defense Fund Blog: Growing Returns.  URL.  Retrieved: 6/30/2020.  

Ruppenthal, A.  (2020, June 23).  What states can learn from Illinois' new COVID-19 utility relief agreement.  Energy News Network.  URL.  Retrieved: 7/1/2020.