OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Nuclear regulatory chief to step down

by Laura Barron-Lopez - 10/21/14 7:04 PM ET

NUCLEAR: Allison MacFarlane, the head of the nation’s top nuclear regulator, announced her plans to resign in January on Tuesday.

MacFarlane, who has served as chairwoman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission since June of 2013, will leave on January 1, for a position with George Washington University.

{mosads}”At George Washington, I will continue to work on nuclear safety and security and for a better public dialogue on nuclear technology through my teaching and writing as well as by training a new generation of specialists in this area,” she said.

Read more here.

ON TAP WEDNESDAY I: Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will deliver remarks at the Solar Power International conference and will tour the trade show in Las Vegas.

ON TAP WEDNESDAY II: Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) will hold a news conference on the need to bring clarity to the Clean Water Act with EPA deputy assistant administrator, Ken Kopocis in Maryland.

Rest of Wednesday’s agenda…

The Woodrow Wilson Center will host a talk on the future of food and climate change. Participants include director of California Academy of Science, Jonathan Foley, and Paulo Sotero of George Mason University’s Environmental Change and Security Program.

The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) will release its 2014 scorecard on states’ energy efficiency.

NEWS BITES:

Wind installations… The U.S. installed 1,254 megawatts of wind energy, or 711 turbines in the third quarter of 2014, which is more than during all of 2013, but lags behind previous years, according to the American Wind Energy Association’s market report.

In 2012, the industry installed over 13,000 megawatts, but is now facing delays and uncertainty due to the expiration of the wind production tax credit.

Pinch-hitter… Former Vice President and environmental champion Al Gore is standing in for Democratic Sen. Mark Udall at a fundraiser Tuesday night in Palo Alto, Calif., Bloomberg reports.

Udall will not be at the fundraiser for his campaign, leaving Gore to headline the event for him. Instead, Udall, who is facing a tough reelection race against Republican Rep. Cory Gardner, will be in Colorado campaigning with Hillary Clinton.

AROUND THE WEB:

CEO of French oil company Total SA, Christophe de Margerie died when his airplane hit a snowplow on a Moscow runway Monday night, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Businessweek takes a look at how climate change is fueling the real estate boom in Miami, Fla.

United Nations climate negotiators may be closer to laying down a concrete blueprint for a global deal on climate change than previously thought, Reuters reports.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out Wednesday’s stories…

– Nuclear regulatory chairwoman heads for exit
– Ukraine, Russia gas talks end without final deal
– Green group targets McCarthy over national parks
– US energy-related carbon emissions rose in 2013, feds say
– Steyer puts $15M into his climate super-PAC
– Dentists brace for new EPA pollution rules
– Biofuels group launches six-figure ad buy across 3 states
– US, EU want UN to push low cost of climate fight