Study finds speeding cargo ships, not offshore wind, injuring whales

OFFSHORE WIND: An ocean nonprofit’s study finds cargo ships violating speed regulations — not offshore wind development — are injuring different whale species at a rate that threatens some with extinction. (New Jersey Monitor)

ALSO:

• Vineyard Wind has installed its first of over 60 wind turbines, an ​“important symbolic milestone” for an industry that has seen numerous challenges recently. (CNBC)
• Federal ocean regulators outline a 3.5 million acre plot in the Gulf of Maine for potential offshore wind development, which excludes almost all of a lobster capture zone. (Maine Public Radio)
• New York’s decision not to pass on more offshore wind development costs to ratepayers means some projects may be canceled. (Reuters)

SOLAR: A group of scientists, including Pennsylvania State University faculty, publish a study describing a new way to make more-durable perovskite solar cells, which are already less expensive but more sustainable than silicon models. (news release)

TRANSPORTATION: New York City’s council votes to direct the city’s transit agency to improve equity in transit planning and create investment maps that underscore the projects needed to support underserved neighborhoods. (news release)

FUNDING:

• Massachusetts’ governor wants to reserve $250 million from accumulated interest from the state’s rainy-day fund to pursue billions of dollars worth of federal grants for climate change, infrastructure and other types of projects. (WCVB)
• Rhode Island Energy is potentially set to receive around $50 million in federal funds for grid resilience and modernization projects, but first needs to clarify its plan with officials. (Providence Business First)

NATURAL GAS: New York’s governor should use next year’s state budget to ban new gas hook-ups, according to a letter signed by fifty state politicians, joining calls from doctors and scientists to protect public health by passing the NY Home Energy Affordable Transition Act. (Spectrum News 1, Gothamist)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Automotive dealers and manufacturers say New Jersey drivers are still hesitant to purchase electric vehicles, citing prices and charging infrastructure problems, concerns likely to persist even with the state’s adoption of a gasoline car phaseout. (RTO Insider, subscription)

NUCLEAR: Federal energy regulators give themselves more time to review the $6.3 billion sale of Energy Harbor, the owner of three nuclear power plants in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. (RTO Insider, subscription)

CLIMATE: A professor at New Jersey’s Rowan University publishes a study showing that climate change causes hurricanes to rapidly intensify across the Atlantic Ocean. (Washington Post)

BUILDINGS:

• New York’s governor announces $236 million will be used to help create or preserve hundreds of affordable housing units and ensure they meet state climate policies. (news release)
• A historic New Hampshire property facing floodwaters receives a climate adaptation facelift with newly installed steel and wood beams that raise it ten feet above the ground. (NHPR)