WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, issued the following news release: United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is raising concerns over cryptomining's extraordinarily high energy usage, its impact on climate, and rising electricity costs for consumers as operations grow in the United States. Bitcoin mining operations tripled their annual power consumption since 2019, consuming as much energy as Washington State and rivaling the total energy usage of countries   more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 -- The U.S. Department of Energy issued the following news on Dec. 2, 2021: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $35 million in funding for twelve projects focused on developing technologies to reduce methane emissions in the oil, gas, and coal industries. DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Reducing Emissions of Methane Every Day of the Year (REMEDY) program was unveiled earlier this year for universities and private companies focused on dr  more

DALLAS, Texas, Dec. 2 -- The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas issued the following article as part of its Southwest Economy 3rd quarter publication by associate economist Christopher Slijk and Keith R. Phillips, assistant vice president and senior economist in the San Antonio Branch: * * * The negative environmental impacts of global warming have motivated the beginnings of a global transition from traditional fossil fuels to renewable energy. History suggests that the Texas economy likely will   more

MILTON, England, Dec. 3 -- Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, a peer-reviewed journal that says it features environmental hazards to humans and ecological systems, published research articles on the following topics in its Vol. 27, No. 9/10 edition: Research Articles: * A combined model to quantitatively assess human health risk from different sources of heavy metals in soils around coal waste pile * Watershed landscape ecological risk assessment and landscape pattern optimization: Take F  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory issued the following web feature: By Elsie Puig Santana The national electric grid drives economic growth, but the benefits-and costs-don't extend equally to everyone. Low-income households cannot afford electric vehicles, rooftop solar panels, and energy-efficient appliances. But they often carry the greatest energy burdens. The Department of Energy (DOE) defines energy burden as the percentage of gr  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 -- Rep. Fred Keller, R-Pennsylvania, ranking Republican member of the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, issued the following remarks at a Dec. 2, 2021, hearing entitled "Strengthening the Safety Net for Injured Workers": * * * "The hearing today takes a kitchen-sink, spaghetti-on-the-wall approach to a wide variety of federal workers compensation programs, including legislation which purports to solve shortcomings in many of them. Unfortunately  more

DULUTH, Minnesota, Dec. 3 -- Minnesota Power, a division of Allete, issued the following news release on Dec. 2, 2021: The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) today found Minnesota Power's Nov. 1 rate request filing complete and approved interim rates for the company's customers. This is the first step of a longer process to evaluate Minnesota Power's most recent request to change its rates. The decision will increase rates by approximately 7% for residential customers and approximate  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 -- The U.S. Department of Transportation's Surface Transportation Board issued the following decision (Docket No. AB 167) entitled "Consolidated Rail Corporation - Abandonment Exemption - In Schuylkill and Carbon Counties, Pa.": On November 12, 2021, Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 C.F.R. part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to abandon a railroad line known as the Tresckow Branch, which runs between milepost 0.0 and mi  more

CHARLESTON, West Virginia, Dec. 3 -- West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore issued the following news release on Dec. 2, 2021: State Treasurer Riley Moore today urged members of Congress to oppose any attempts to pass federal legislation that would require banks to end future investment in coal, oil and natural gas companies or projects. "Any attempts to pass legislation banning investment in reliable, affordable sources of energy is an anti-American assault on our capitalist economy and fi  more

EUGENE, Oregon, Dec. 3 (TNSRep) (TNSPol) -- The Western Environmental Law Center issued the following news release on Dec. 2, 2021: Climate and conservation groups filed a Freedom of Information Act request today seeking public records from the Interior Department relating to its recent report reviewing the federal oil and gas leasing programs that presumes expanded leasing. "This flimsy report abandons Biden's campaign promise to end new federal oil and gas leasing and drilling. Instead, it r  more