Henry Harrell"s Blog: July 21 Green Energy News

Headline News:

The parent company of Arizona’s largest electric utility filed suit in a bid to block voters from deciding if they want to impose new renewable energy mandates on power companies. Attorneys hired by Arizonans for Affordable Energy, funded by Pinnacle West Capital Corp, claim a series of legal flaws with the petitions to put the issue on the ballot. [The Daily Courier]

Wind farm

“Republican Candidate Calls 18-Year-Old Climate Activist ‘Naive’. Her Response Is Perfect” • A Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate called an 18-year-old naive when she questioned him on climate science. He believes that the Earth is warming because it is moving closer to the sun every year and because a larger population gives off more body heat. [ScienceAlert]
Researchers made an enormous leap recently by moving one step closer to stable fusion nuclear energy. They discovered a way to stabilize plasma in fusion reactors to prevent temperatures and densities from oscillating. The process they discovered runs in simulations. If it runs in fusion reactors as expected, it may help bring them to reality. [Interesting Engineering]
A new independent assessment by The Brattle Group of US President Donald Trump’s plan to bail out the country’s coal and nuclear plants has concluded that the cost of such a bailout could balloon to $70 billion over two years. Coal use is falling with low natural gas prices, and natural gas use is falling with increased reliance on renewable energy. [CleanTechnica]
A federal appeals court in San Francisco rejected the Trump administration’s request to block the trial of a lawsuit by 21 young people who accuse the government of endangering their futures, and the planet, by failing to act against global warming. The administration is asking the US Supreme Court to intervene in this case and another that is similar. [WRAL.com]

Henry Harrell"s Blog