General
Trump races clock on remaining environmental rollbacks
Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill
The Trump administration is scrambling to wrap up a slew of environmental rollbacks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office in less than 70 days.
California official sees state auto emissions deal as ‘template’ for Biden
Nichola Groom and David Shepardson, Reuters
California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols, who sources say could be the next federal environment chief, said on Thursday her state’s agreement with manor automakers for fuel efficiency requirements could serve as a “good template” for federal standards through 2025.
Contender to lead Biden EPA says agency should focus on environmental justice
Valerie Volcovici, Reuters
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should strengthen its use of the federal Civil Rights Act to better to protect poor and minority communities from pollution and climate change, a top candidate to head the agency under the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden said. Heather McTeer Toney, a former regional EPA administrator under the Obama administration and senior director at the Moms’ Clean Air Force, is among a short-list of candidates being vetted for the post, according to sources close to Biden.
Phishing Exercise That Angered Staffers Won’t Reoccur, EPA Says
Stephen Lee, Bloomberg Law
The EPA this week sent its employees a “phishing” test disguised as a network update, falsely informing workers that they could keep teleworking full time for as long as they saw a risk to their health or their family’s health, according to internal emails reviewed by Bloomberg Law.
Oil Falls Below $41 With Surging Covid Cases Menacing Demand
Alex Longley, Bloomberg
Oil fell for a second day — dropping below $41 a barrel in New York — as the ongoing spread of coronavirus dampens the demand outlook.
Oil and Natural Gas
Renting a Slice of U.S. Oil’s Hot Spot Is 70% Cheaper After Rout
Gerson Freitas Jr., Bloomberg
The price to drill an acre of land in the biggest U.S. shale basin has tumbled amid the oil rout, creating conditions ripe for more mergers and acquisitions.
Vaccine Hopes Fail to Spark Revival in Oil Demand Forecasts
Julian Lee, Bloomberg
You’d think that the euphoria around the announcement of a big step toward a vaccine against the coronavirus that has run riot this year would brighten the outlook for oil. Not so fast.
Generation share for gas in the US Northeast likely to fall this winter as prices rise
J. Robinson and Kieran Kemmerer, S&P Global Platts
As more winter-like temperatures arrive across the US Northeast, rising cash prices there could begin to pressure market share for gas as power generators switch away from the fuel in favor of coal.
Top Trader Vitol Strikes Deal to Buy Oil Liquids Made from Tires
Andy Hoffman and Lars Erik Taraldsen, Bloomberg
Vitol Group, the world’s biggest independent oil trader, is betting on a new technology to produce hydrocarbon liquids from recycled car and truck tires.
Utilities and Infrastructure
Lawsuit seeks to stop construction of $1B transmission line
David Sharp, The Associated Press
Three conservation groups are asking a judge to stop construction of a 145-mile (230-kilometer) power transmission line corridor to bring Canadian hydropower to the New England grid.
Future of Dakota Access pipeline uncertain as Biden presidency looms
Laila Kearney, Reuters
The election of Democrat Joseph Biden could create more headaches for the Dakota Access Pipeline’s (DAPL) owners, who are already embroiled in legal battles to keep the main conduit for flowing oil out of North Dakota running.
Enbridge Line 3 Oil Pipeline Project Wins Minn. Water Permit
Robert Tuttle, Bloomberg Law
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency grants Enbridge so-called 401 Water Quality Certification to build its Line 3 Pipeline replacement through the state, according to letter posted on agency website.
Exelon, owner of Baltimore-based Constellation and BGE, weighs splitting business
Lorraine Mirabella, The Baltimore Sun
Energy giant Exelon, owner of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and five other utilities, is weighing the benefits of spinning off its power generation business, including Baltimore-based power supplier Constellation, to form a separate company.
Transmission troubles? A solution could be lying along rail lines and next generation highways
Herman K. Trabish, Utility Dive
Recent studies, including the landmark and reportedly suppressed Department of Energy Seam study, show expanded transmission is critical. But two key barriers — where to put the new lines and how to pay for them — still slow development, according to a June 2020 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission report to Congress.
Renewables
Ford Adds Electric Van to Keep its Grip on Commercial Market
Keith Naughton and Edward Ludlow, Bloomberg
Ford Motor Co., playing catch-up to Tesla Inc. in electric cars, is rolling out a battery-powered cargo van to lay claim to a new segment of the commercial fleet market that its gas-powered vehicles dominate.
Fiat Lays More Groundwork for Getting Into the Electric-Car Game
Daniele Lepido, Bloomberg
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, one of the carmakers that was slowest to embrace electrification, is signaling it’s serious about making a shift.
Coal/Nuclear
Coal Unit in Oklahoma Accused of Putting Tribal Health at Risk
Paul Stinson, Bloomberg Law
An obscure decision over a proposed modified air permit for a coal-burning unit in Oklahoma is raising broader environmental justice concerns for its health impact on local American Indian communities.
Contura Energy signs deal to divest Pennsylvania assets, Cumberland mine
Tyler Godwin, S&P Global Platts
Contura Energy reached an agreement with Iron Senergy Holding for the divestment of Contura’s Pennsylvania coal operations, including the Cumberland coal mine in Greene County, Pennsylvania, Contura said Nov. 12.
Climate
Biden SEC Likely to Push More Climate, Diversity Disclosures
Andrew Ramonas, Bloomberg Law
The SEC will have the power, under Democratic control, to mandate corporate disclosures on diversity and climate change risks, police more of Wall Street, and reverse recent efforts to ease capital raising in private markets in the coming years.
Biden climate ambitions for EPA hamstrung by conservative Supreme Court
Abby Smith, Washington Examiner
President-elect Joe Biden’s plans for aggressive climate regulations at the Environmental Protection Agency face huge challenges: a conservative-majority Supreme Court and dozens of Trump-era rollbacks.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
Remember Climate Change?
David Leonhardt, The New York Times
The issue is simply more salient today than it was in 2008, as Gina McCarthy, who ran the Environmental Protection Agency under Mr. Obama and has advised Mr. Biden, points out. “The difference between then and now is that the issue of climate change is so much more relevant and personal now,” said Ms. McCarthy, who runs the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Research Reports
Shale Shocked: Cash Windfalls and Household Debt Repayment
J. Anthony Cookson et al., The National Bureau of Economic Research
How do persistent cash flow shocks affect debt repayment across the distribution of households? Using individual data on natural gas shale royalty payments matched with credit bureau data for 215,639 consumers, we estimate that individuals repay 33 cents of debt per dollar of windfall, and that initially-subprime individuals repay approximately 5 times more debt than initially-prime individuals do.
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