WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley led a group of 14 Senators today in pressing U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Rick Perry to reverse course on proposed rule changes that would alter classifications of lightbulbs, effectively rolling back energy efficiency standards and leaving families with higher bills to
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced a major, $2.5 million grant for Oregon State University to develop monitoring systems for offshore wind turbines, advancing the renewable energy technology with cutting-edge research. “If we want to curb climate chaos and remain an economic force
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Angus King, I-Maine, Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, today introduced legislation to increase domestic production of low-carbon, renewable energy from the natural power in ocean waves, tides and currents. The Marine Energy Act provides federal resources to encourage private investments
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) plans to introduce legislation later this month outlining how the United States can completely wean itself off fossil fuels by 2050, his office told The Huffington Post. The senator plans to introduce the bill the week of April 24, shortly before the People’s Climate Movement, an annual
WASHINGTON – Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., joined their fellow West Coast senators in introducing the West Coast Ocean Protection Expansion Act this week to permanently ban offshore drilling on the outer continental shelf of Oregon, Washington and California. The legislation, first introduced in 2010, would amend the
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Patty Murray, D-Wash., today announced funding will be awarded to build the United States’ first open-ocean, power grid-connected wave energy test facility at a site off the Oregon coast. The U.S. Department of Energy will provide
Cleaning up and monitoring toxics in the Columbia River Basin could now be a little easier. Congress recently passed a bill that would authorize the Environmental Protection Agency to start a voluntary grant program for environmental cleanup in the Columbia River system. The Columbia River Basin, which was named as a
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to continue the carbon pollution standards for cars and light trucks through 2025: “The EPA’s re-affirmation of the broadly supported fuel efficiency standards through 2025 is a common-sense win-win-win; these fuel
Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, along with Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Edward J. Markey, D-Mass, wrote to President Obama, urging him to exercise his authority under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to permanently withdraw the West Coast from
Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley is planning to introduce multiple bills in coming months to move the U.S. power mix to 100 percent renewable sources by midcentury. The plan is backed by environmentalists like 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben. Merkley made the announcement last week at the Netroots Nation conference in
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