Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI)

Decommissioning: A New Era in the U.S. Nuclear Power Industry; a Critical Need for Congressional Oversight

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A live webcast will be streamed at 2:00 PM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing on the new era of the U.S. nuclear power industry as its electricity generation winds down and decommissioning of nuclear power plants ramps up. Decommissioning is the process of dismantling a closed plant, securing or removing its radioactive waste, and lowering a site’s residual radioactivity. Getting it right is critical to communities’ health and safety. Getting it wrong could pose existential threats.
The U.S. civilian nuclear fleet is aging out. As civilian reactors approach the end of their operating lives, their economics have been undercut by less expensive natural gas-fired generation. Even though nuclear owners are demanding state subsidies to keep some aging plants open a while longer, it will not stop the coming wave of closures. Six reactors have shut down since 2013. Another 15 are slated to close by 2025. Most of the civilian reactor fleet will inevitably close over the next 20 years.
As plants close, previously profitable assets become liabilities owners are eager to offload. Enabled by recent legislative and regulatory changes, private companies (chiefly Holtec International’s joint venture with the Canadian firm SNC-Lavalin and NorthStar’s joint venture with French subsidiary Orano, formerly Areva) are stepping in to acquire the plants, taking over their licenses, liability, decommissioning funds and waste contracts. Their business model is to decommission as quickly and inexpensively as possible, claiming any remaining decommissioning funds as profit. Economic incentives encourage them to pack highly radioactive spent fuel into thin-walled dry storage canisters not designed for the decades or centuries of storage that may be needed. Absent a geologic repository, the companies plan to ship high-level nuclear waste to Consolidated Interim Storage (CIS) sites – one owned by Orano in Texas and another by Holtec in New Mexico.
There is currently little opportunity for meaningful input from citizens, municipalities or states into the companies’ decisions on decommissioning, nuclear waste, or use of ratepayer-financed decommissioning funds. Yet more than 80 reactor communities and communities near waste storage sites, plus countless communities along proposed radioactive waste transport routes (which traverse 75 percent of Congressional districts), will be profoundly affected by those decisions.
Waste transport, CIS and the emerging privatized model of decommissioning and waste stewardship raise dilemmas and potential safety threats that have yet to be solved, or in some cases adequately studied. Even so, Congress will be called upon this year to decide on legislation and appropriations regarding CIS, Yucca Mountain and other key issues related to decommissioning. Congress has the power to require studies and stronger oversight of decommissioning.
To explore these issues, distinguished experts including regulators, independent scientists, NGO advocates, and representatives of affected communities, will speak and answer questions at the briefing.

The National Flood Insurance Program: Critical Issues and Needed Reforms

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A live webcast will be streamed at 2:00 PM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Established by Congress in 1968, NFIP provides affordable, government-administered flood insurance to property owners, renters, and businesses. However, the NFIP is more than just an insurance program, it is also intended to be a floodplain management and flood risk mitigation program. NFIP requires participating communities to adopt and enforce minimum construction and land use regulations that make them less vulnerable to flooding. With over 5 million flood insurance policies in force, the NFIP is the single largest source of flood insurance for homeowners and small businesses.
As flood risks grow around the nation, this is an important time for Congress to reform and update this vital 50-year old program to better protect people and property. Without appropriate action, a warming climate coupled with continued development in flood-prone areas will raise the human and economic toll of flood disasters while taxpayer dollars are squandered on risky, business-as-usual practices. The NFIP has reached an important crossroads. After ten temporary extensions since 2017, the NFIP is set to expire on May 31. The program is popular, but it is more than $20 billion in debt, despite the cancellation of $16 billion in debt by Congress in October 2017. Flooding is the most pervasive and costly natural disaster in the United States, and climate change is exacerbating extreme weather events. Warmer temperatures lead to more water evaporation, which makes downpours more frequent and intense, leading to more flooding. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has experienced a $100 billion increase in total flood losses each decade; however, NFIP losses did not show a significant increase until the 2005 hurricane season. Fast-paced, inadequately regulated development in areas prone to flooding is also a major cause of such rising expenses.
This briefing will provide a basic understanding of the National Flood Insurance Program, its history, its challenges, and reforms needed. The panel will provide important background and highlight new strategies for improving NFIP’s financial stability and for reducing the impacts of future floods on vulnerable populations and communities.

What Can Congress Do to Build Better Buildings?

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A live webcast will be streamed at 2:00 PM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing to explore how the quality of buildings contributes to the national economy and promotes healthier environments, and to learn how Congress can support such benefits. Because Americans spend over 90 percent of their time indoors, the design, construction, and operation of buildings greatly influence the health, productivity, and safety of their occupants.
As Congress develops legislation and conducts oversight around infrastructure investment, it must also consider opportunities to promote overall sustainability, resilience, and well-being. Just as Congress has incorporated “Buy America” provisions so that dollars spent in America benefit Americans, Congress should also incorporate standards and provisions into infrastructure investment to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used to promote healthy, safe, and productive environments and buildings that will benefit the occupants and, furthermore, the economy. Congress should also continue to support research and technical assistance, as well as the development of codes and standards to improve current building practices.
At this briefing, hear directly from the experts:
Understand how modern building codes provide $11 in flood, earthquake and hurricane mitigation benefits for every dollar invested; however, less than a third of communities at risk of natural hazards have adopted contemporary building codes.
Discover how light and lighting design play a role in your daily activities. Proper lighting design can help prevent depression, distraction, and a variety of other health risks.
Realize that, in the absence of a holistic focus on how buildings are designed, constructed and operated, federal investments made in buildings can fail to achieve their potential. There have been multiple deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning in HUD-funded housing, and the federal government continues to fund the construction of buildings to standards that do not meet FEMA’s minimum requirements for post-disaster reconstruction.

Hydropower – A New Look at Opportunities for America’s First Renewable Energy Resource

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A live webcast will be streamed at 2:00 PM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and National Hydropower Association (NHA) invite you to a briefing on the role of hydropower in meeting U.S. climate and electric grid reliability and resiliency goals. In 2018, hydropower was the largest generator of renewable electricity in the United States. Beyond the benefit of providing clean, renewable energy generation, hydropower and pumped storage can also be a strategic partner for other, variable renewable energy resources. Pairing hydropower with wind and solar can help them achieve greater penetration and integration while optimizing grid performance.
Opportunities to upgrade and expand the existing hydro fleet, and for new project development, are available across the country. However, challenges holding the industry back from fully realizing this growth, including lack of valuation of hydropower’s benefits in energy and environmental markets and policy; regulatory uncertainty; and disparities in tax policy support.
This briefing will examine the energy, environmental and grid benefits hydropower (and other waterpower technologies, such as pumped storage, conduit power and marine energy) provides, as well as the policy changes needed to sustain hydropower projects and promote continued deployment. For more information, please see NHA’s newly released report: Reinvigorating Hydropower: A cornerstone of our, clean, affordable, reliable electric future.

2019 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook

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A live webcast will be streamed at 12:00 PM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
Hosted in coordination with:
House and Senate Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Caucuses
Sponsored by:
Business Council for Sustainable Energy and Environmental and Energy Study Institute
In its seventh year, the BloombergNEF (BNEF) and Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) 2019 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook provides new industry information and trends for the U.S. energy economy, with an in-depth look at the energy efficiency, natural gas, and renewable energy sectors, as well as emerging areas such as energy storage and sustainable transportation.

Climate Change in the American Mind

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A live webcast will be streamed at 3:30 PM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing discussing Americans' evolving perceptions of climate change. Americans have diverse and sometimes opposing views about climate change, which can fundamentally shape the political discourse around climate action. Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz, the featured speaker, will explain recent trends in Americans' climate change knowledge, attitudes, policy support, and behavior and discuss strategies to build public and political will for climate action. He will discuss how voter attitudes towards climate change and clean energy influenced the 2018 mid-terms and may influence the 2020 election cycle.

Electrification

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A live webcast will be streamed at 2:00 PM EST at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
“Electrification” can create new opportunities to achieve key national economic and environmental goals. There are many opportunities across the residential and commercial sectors. Advances in electric technologies continue to improve our quality of life, while significant decreases in the electricity sector's greenhouse gas emissions are making electricity more appealing from an environmental perspective. Please join us to learn how environmental benefits, increased affordability, and economic progress are not mutually exclusive, and how a low-carbon economy of the future can be approached through electrification.

Green Infrastructure: A Blueprint for Climate Resilient Communities

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A live webcast will be streamed at 2:00 PM EST at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
As the 116th Congress begins work on legislation to close an estimated $2 trillion investment gap for national infrastructure modernization, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invite you to learn more about the economic, environmental, and public benefits of green infrastructure. Experts from ASLA’s interdisciplinary Blue Ribbon Panel on Climate Change and Resilience will discuss their report, Smart Policies for a Changing Climate, which outlines a bold vision for 21st century infrastructure investment to create healthy and resilient communities from coast to coast.

Making Military Bases and Their Communities More Resilient

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A live webcast will be streamed at 3:00 PM EST at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute and the Center for Climate and Security invite you to a briefing on the relationship between military facilities and their neighboring civilian communities, and on the urgent need to make their shared infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters and other threats. Our panel of experts will examine holistic approaches to protecting and maintaining supply chains, housing, transportation, utilities, and other fixtures necessary for communities to thrive and for military installations to maintain mission readiness. The briefing will also explore regional examples of these challenges and how local governments and Department of Defense (DOD) officials are working together to devise solutions.

How Climate Change Affects the United States

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A live webcast will be streamed at 2:00 PM EST at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), and National Wildlife Federation (NWF) invite you to a briefing on the latest climate change findings, as reported by leading scientists in the 4th National Climate Assessment (NCA) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Special Report. Join us to learn more about how climate change is expected to affect the United States and how federal, state, and local governments can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help communities adapt to rapidly encroaching risks over the next decade and beyond. Learn how your Congressional district is being impacted by climate change, and how it could benefit from investing in low-carbon solutions and advance planning to safeguard lives, infrastructure, and businesses.