Top Stories

  • The fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act would require the Trump administration to sanction companies working with the Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom to build the Nord Stream 2 and Turk Stream pipelines, under an agreement reached Monday night. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said last month the Nord Stream 2 line could enter into operation in mid-2020. (Financial Times)
  • Oklo Inc. will announce today that it is the first non-light water power reactor to receive a site use permit from the Energy Department, for the construction of its 1.5-megawatt compact fast reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory. The project, which is subject to environmental analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act, comes after Oklo entered into a memorandum of understanding with the DOE in 2017. (Morning Consult)
  • Six U.S. oil executives charged with corruption in Venezuela related to a $4 billion refinancing plan of Citgo Petroleum Corp. bonds were granted house arrest after spending the past two years in a Venezuelan prison, according to two people familiar with the case. While prosecutors say the men tried to benefit from the proposed plan that never came to pass, others claim the group is being held as bargaining chips. (The Associated Press)

Chart Review

Nuke plant owner gave to justices
Jim Provance, Toledo Blade

Events Calendar (All Times Local)

12/10/2019
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting
gridCONNEXT Event
House Science, Space and Technology Hearing on Research and Innovation to Address the Critical Minerals Challenge 10:00 am
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Oversight Hearing on the International Maritime Organization 2020 Standards 10:00 am
Keystone Policy Center and OurEnergyPolicy.org Event on the Fate of Nuclear Power 12:00 pm
Axios Conversation on the Smart American City 5:45 pm
12/11/2019
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting
S&P Global Platts Global Energy Outlook Forum 8:00 am
gridCONNEXT Event
The Inter-American Dialogue Event on Mexico’s Energy Sector under AMLO 9:00 am
Third Way Event on Setting the Standard For Carbon-Free Power 12:00 pm
House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Hearing on Creating a Climate Resilient America: Smart Finance for Strong Communities 2:00 pm
12/12/2019
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting
gridCONNEXT Event
Resources for the Future Event on Implementing Changes to the ESA: What Happens Next? 9:30 am
Senate Energy and Natural Resources business meeting on pending legislation 10:00 am
12/13/2019
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting
Organization of American States and Department of Energy Event on Investing in Natural Gas: Options for Resilient and Flexible Power Systems 9:30 am
NCAC-USAEE Career Perspectives Lunch 12:00 pm
12/14/2019
University of Maryland College Park Event – Rebuild Maryland: Climate Action Summit 9:00 am
View full calendar

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Download the full report.

General

Without Trump’s help, America’s other leaders go it alone in the fight against climate change
Drew Kann, CNN

President Donald Trump’s move to begin pulling out of the Paris Agreement last month signaled to world leaders that the US government is stepping away from the global push to stop the climate crisis.

Kavanaugh opens door to carbon rule challenge
Niina H. Farah, E&E News

Some legal experts say that question could become a focus for the Supreme Court’s conservative majority now that Justice Brett Kavanaugh has signaled interest in reconsidering the scope of agency powers.

Nations around the world take cues from U.S. climate insurgents
Zack Colman, Politico

They’re taking a cue from the climate split inside the United States, where states like California and New York and more than 2,200 businesses and investors are pledging their support for the 2015 Paris pact despite President Donald Trump’s plan to abandon it.

Bloomberg shows up as climate UN talks get into tough phase
Frank Jordans and Aritz Parra, The Associated Press

American billionaire and Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg says that the next U.S. president should halt fossil fuel subsidies altogether.

Government Website for Federal Rules Input Shuts Off
Alan Levin and Todd Shields, Bloomberg

Regulations.gov — normally a vast hive of U.S. regulatory activity and the portal for making comments in response — lost its security certificate, according to a man who answered the site’s help line and declined to provide his full name. The website returned to service on Monday night after being out for much of the day.

How PFAS negotiations fell apart
Ariana Figueroa, E&E News 

The compromise that lawmakers were nearing would have required EPA to designate two types of PFAS as hazardous and would have tasked EPA with setting strict drinking standard to regulate the chemicals.

Oil Steady Near 12-Week High Amid Stockpile Drop, Trade Anxiety
Sharon Cho and Grant Smith, Bloomberg

West Texas Intermediate futures were little changed, after briefly surging on signs of economic confidence in Germany. U.S. crude stockpiles fell by 2.5 million barrels last week, a Bloomberg survey showed before government data due Wednesday.

Oil and Natural Gas

Move over, coal: Gas now emits more CO2 in U.S.
Benjamin Storrow, E&E News

Those findings, reported last week in a study by the Global Carbon Project, add more fuel to an already smoldering debate about the role of natural gas in a carbon-constrained world. They also raise questions about its ability to serve as a “bridge fuel.”

No major impacts on Lake Superior found from Line 3 pipeline
Steve Karnowsi, The Associated Press

An updated environmental review released by a state agency Monday found no serious threat to Lake Superior if crude oil ever leaked from a new pipeline to replace Enbridge Energy’s aging Line 3 across northern Minnesota.

Saudi Arabia to Spend ‘a Lot’ of Its Aramco IPO Proceeds Locally
Vivian Nereim, Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund expects to spend “a lot” of the $26 billion in proceeds from the sale of a stake in Aramco in the domestic economy, Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said.

Utilities and Infrastructure

PG&E’s $13.5B deal with fire victims removes huge obstacles
Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press

Pacific Gas and Electric will be able to avoid two legal obstacles that could have tripped up its efforts to bounce back from bankruptcy if California Gov. Gavin Newsom and a federal judge approve a $13.5 billion settlement with victims of catastrophic fires blamed on the utility’s equipment.

Renewables

US wind capacity hits 100 gigawatts; Texas is No. 1 wind state
L.M. Sixel, Houston Chronicle

The nation has reached a milestone of 100 gigawatts of installed wind energy capacity, with more than half of that installed in the past seven years, according to the Department of Energy.  One gigawatt provides enough power for about 700,000 homes.

Coal

Gordon still undecided over legal response to blocked coal export terminal
Camille Erickson, Casper Star Tribune

Gov. Mark Gordon continues to mull an original lawsuit against Washington after the state blocked the construction of the largest coal export terminal on the West Coast, he said in an interview with the Star-Tribune.

Nuclear

Nuclear Power, a Low-Carbon Energy Source, Is Shunned by the West
David Hodari, The Wall Street Journal

In the U.S., nuclear-reactor designer Westinghouse Electric Co. and utilities company FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. have emerged from chapter 11 status over the past year, after struggling with plant construction and battling to compete with declining natural-gas and renewable-energy prices, respectively.

DOJ Nixing of Battelle Energy Nuclear Contract Fraud Suit Upheld
Daniel Seiden, Bloomberg Environment

False claims whistleblower Douglas Toomer couldn’t show that an interlocutory appeal is needed to challenge the dismissal of False Claims Act claims against Terra Power LLC and Battelle Energy Alliance LLC, two Energy Department contractors, an Idaho federal court said.

Climate

Climate On Track to Warm at Least 3 Degrees Without Action
Jeremy Hodges and Demetrios Pogkas, Bloomberg

The world is on track to warm by almost 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century, double the rate scientists have identified as needed to constrain the worst impacts of climate change.

Companies Say They Want to Save the Planet—but They Can’t Agree How
Saabira Chaudhuri, The Wall Street Journal

Companies increasingly talk about being climate positive, but they disagree on what that means and how to measure it—a problem business leaders plan to start hashing out this week.

Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives

Don’t Let China Win the Green Race
John Kerry and U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), The New York Times

We should not be spectators in shaping our own future, or the world’s. We should pledge that by the end of the next decade, America will surpass China and win the clean energy race.

Life after Yucca Mountain: The time has come to reset US nuclear waste policy
David Klaus and Rod Ewing, The Hill

After decades of inaction and stalemate, there are small but significant signs that the U.S. government may finally be ready to meet its legal commitment to manage and dispose of the more than 80,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel at 74 operating and shut-down commercial nuclear reactors sites in 35 states across the country. 

Next Oil Rally May Be Made in Texas, Not Vienna
Spencer Jakab, The Wall Street Journal

Last week’s meeting of OPEC+—the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus its noncartel allies—lighted a temporary fire under crude prices. The effect gave the historic initial public offering of Saudi Arabian Oil Co. a boost.

Research Reports

Climate variability reduces employment in New England fisheries
Kimberly L. Oremus, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

This paper provides empirical evidence that fluctuations in a regional climate index reduced county-level fishing employment in New England by an average of 16% between 1996 and 2017. The findings cannot be extrapolated to other regions without further study, but they demonstrate how climate can be linked to fishing employment at a regional level via a biophysical pathway.

Morning Consult