When you look up at a rooftop solar installation, you see the hard costs. But this stuff isn’t what costs the most. In the U.S. these hard costs only make up about 20% of the total cost of a #system. The soft costs—that’s all the stuff that you don’t see—make up the remaining 80%.
“The soft costs are things like the cost of #permitting, the #overhead charged by the installer, and #inspection costs—even the cost of getting the #sale," Griffith said.

#monopolycontrol
#preventingcompetion
#grid #interconnection
#utilitiesrule

I have pre #WWII wiring in my #apartment. How do I know? An electrician came over to check a non-working #outlet. (No, not building #maintenance. An actual bloody #electrician.) The guy explained to me what he did. He said there's probably a junction box #buried in a #wall. Against code, but people still do it. Based on the diagnosis work he did, I agree with him. (For the record, I've previously owned two houses and did some electrical work on them.)

#JunctionBox #ElectricalCode #permitting

#Kleptocracy's golden handshake invested in #bipartisan #carbonbombs: As #climatechange jeopardizes the American West’s tenuous #water supplies, the Utah project — which already received federal #permitting approval — is audacious. It aims to run #trains full of #petroleum from Northeast Utah’s Uinta Basin along the banks of the #ColoradoRiver as it winds through treacherous canyons prone to #rockslides and mudslides.

https://www.levernews.com/biden-admin-boosts-big-oils-colorado-river-scheme/

A Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday revived a Trump-era Clean Water Act regulation, finding the lower court lacked authority to vacate the rule without finding it unlawful.

In 2021, U.S. District Judge William Alsup vacated a Trump administration revision of the “Clean Water Act 401 Certification Rule,” which narrows what issues state and tribal governments can consider when determining whether a project, particularly one discharging #pollution into a waterway, complies with state #water quality standards.

The rule affected the #permitting and relicensing process for thousands of industrial projects, including natural #gas pipelines, hydroelectric plants, #wastewater treatment facilities and construction sites near sensitive #wetlands.

So sad. Never tell me both parties are the same. #WOTUS

https://www.courthousenews.com/ninth-circuit-restores-trump-era-gut-of-clean-water-act-rule/

Yes. 👉🏻 “Involving people affected by a project at the start can ease tensions. (Spot on, Holly Bender.) Research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests that early collaboration may deter litigation later. America needs to undertake one of the biggest #building booms in its history. #Permitting #energy #infrastructure pits hyperlocal concerns against the public good. There is no perfect place to build a wind farm or #transmission line. Progress of any kind will require trade-offs.” #yimby

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/01/29/america-needs-a-new-environmentalism

Update on EPA’s environmental justice air permitting guidance. #environmentaljustice #epa #permitting https://www.afslaw.com/perspectives/environmental-law-advisor/environmental-justice-update-epa-air-office-releases-ej

Hey all you #Permitting and #EnvironmentalReview watchers: the Council on Environmental Quality's Guidance on considering greenhouse gas emissions and climate in National Environmental Policy Act #NEPA review is out. https://www.whitehouse.gov/ceq/news-updates/2023/01/06/biden-harris-administration-releases-new-guidance-to-disclose-climate-impacts-in-environmental-reviews/

This is a really informative discussion of #permitting reform that correctly notes "Critics of #NEPA rely on anecdotal evidence about costly delays. But lengthy delays resulting from NEPA are rare" https://lpeproject.org/blog/seven-reactions-to-the-permitting-reform-debate/

Thank you Rep. Ro Khanna for pointing out that #permitting is not the issue stopping #transmission.

"The roadblock is: Eversource, the utility, does not want to invest in an upgrade of transmission for solar and wind. They don’t want solar and wind to be more a part of their portfolio."

Can we now please stop pretending the #DirtyDeal is anything but a giveaway to #fossilfuels. https://prospect.org/politics/ro-khanna-on-the-new-economic-patriotism/

“The demise of permitting reform reveals that many people within the environmentalist movement are undermining the nation’s emissions goals in the name of localism and community input”

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/10/environmentalists-nimby-permitting-reform-nepa/671775/

#zoning #permitting #environmentalism #localism #communitydevelopment #sustainability

Cambodian wildlife officials arrested and charged with wildlife smuggling by U.S Dept. of Justice. Government officials that betray their duty to protect #endangeredspecies are pervasive in today’s world. #extinction #poaching #development #permitting

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/16/us/cambodia-monkey-smuggling-ring.html

#INTERNATIONAL_TECH_NEWS | #BIG_GOV

California #PARENTS could soon #SUE for #SOCIAL_MEIDA #ADDICTION

#California could soon hold social media companies #responsible for #harming #children who have become #addicted to their #products, #permitting parents to sue #platforms like #Instagram and #TikTok for up to $25,000 per #violation under a #bill that #passed the state Assembly on #Monday.

The bill defines #ADDICTION as kids under 18 WHO ARE HARMED EITHER..

https://apnews.com/article/technology-california-government-and-politics-netflix-inc-f48601e13be547bf8b86aff42eed5124