Morning Consult Energy: Energy Companies Raise Concerns About Looming Rail Strike
 

Energy

Essential energy industry news & intel to start your day.
September 14, 2022
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Today’s Top News

  • Energy companies are warning that a nationwide rail strike, which could happen as soon as Friday, would wreak havoc on their supply chains, causing severe bottlenecks across coal, chemicals and oil and gas industries and possibly resulting in a spike in fuel prices for consumers. Refiners and chemical manufacturers use railroads for shipments of raw materials and to transport finished products, as chemicals make up the second-largest category of rail freight after coal. (E&E News)
  • Up to 80% of retired or active coal power plant locations in the United States could be converted to nuclear power sites, according to a Department of Energy report, including as many as 157 retired plants and 237 operating plants. The report said the switch could help the nation reach its net-zero emission goals by 2050 by hosting advanced nuclear reactors. (Reuters)
  • Global climate change impacts are entering “uncharted territories of destruction” as climate-related disasters have increased fivefold over the last five decades, costing $200 million a day, according to a report compiled by the World Meteorological Organization. (CNBC)
  • The Department of Agriculture will triple its initial investment in climate-friendly farming and forestry practices to about $3 billion after receiving more than 1,000 applications asking for more than $20 billion from the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program. The program will fund 70 projects across the United States and Puerto Rico to encourage emissions reductions through measures such as planting cover crops, improving manure management and collecting data on grazing practices. (Reuters)

 

Worth watching for (all times local): 

  • 10 a.m. The House Natural Resources Committee’s oversight subcommittee will discuss whether public relations firms helped the oil and gas industry spread disinformation about climate change.
 

Chart Review

 
 

What Else You Need to Know

General
 

The many paradoxes of Charles III as ‘climate king’

Shannon Osaka, The Washington Post

When King Charles III assumed the throne, some were quick to point out his environmental bona fides. But the new monarch’s beliefs are messy.

 

How the New Climate Law Can Save You Thousands of Dollars

Coral Davenport, The New York Times

Rebates and tax credits can lower the cost of solar panels, energy-efficient appliances and electric vehicles.

 

Big Oil’s new strategy in climate cases: Cite Captain Planet

Lesley Clark, E&E News

The oil and gas industry is citing “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” in an effort to dismiss one of nearly two dozen lawsuits that accuse the industry of deceiving the public about the dangers of burning fossil fuels.

 

Republican wants to raise office temperatures at DOE, EPA

Jeremy Dillon, E&E News

A new bill introduced Tuesday by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) would set the temperature at the agencies’ headquarters to at least 78 degrees during the summer.

 
Climate Change and Emissions
 

NC utilities panel hears testimony over Duke Energy CO2 plan

Gary D. Robertson, The Associated Press

North Carolina’s electricity regulators began listening Tuesday to potentially weeks of testimony over proposals by Duke Energy Corp. subsidiaries on how to carry out a state law demanding greenhouse gas reductions in the next decade.

 

Private Equity’s Role in Climate Crisis Spurs Transparency Demand

Tim Quinson, Bloomberg

The industry’s giants say that while they hear the critics of their multibillion-dollar investments, they’re sticking with fossil fuels for now.

 

Biden administration seeks to lower industrial greenhouse gas emissions — and that won’t be easy

Ben Adler, Yahoo News

With the passage last month of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the federal government has taken its first major steps towards reducing greenhouse emissions from cars, houses and power plants by incentivizing the purchase of electric vehicles, solar panels, electric heat pumps and other existing technologies.

 

Oil industry’s ad firms shun U.S. hearing on climate disinformation

Valerie Volcovici, Reuters

Public relations firms declined to attend a Wednesday hearing set by U.S. Democrats about whether they helped the fossil fuel industry spread disinformation about climate change, according to the House of Representatives panel holding the event.

 

Wisconsin’s first grassland climate adaptation site is a ‘best case scenario’ for mitigating climate change

Gaby Vinick, Wisconsin Public Radio

Environmental groups team up to protect nearly 50 rare or declining species in Rush Creek State Natural Area.

 
Renewables and Storage
 

U.S. invests in multi-state offshore wind hubs to narrow supply gaps

Eduardo Garcia, Reuters

A new federal-state initiative to build regional offshore wind infrastructure could offer faster access to local components and push the U.S. closer to President Biden’s climate goals.

 

IRA ‘turbocharging’ of clean energy tax credits could boost NextEra, AES, other renewable developers: S&P

Ethan Howland, Utility Dive

Renewable energy developers like Brookfield Renewable Partners, Clearway Energy and Pattern Energy Group could also benefit by providing electricity to make green hydrogen.

 

New York announces $16.6M for hydrogen and 4 other long-duration storage demonstration projects

Emma Penrod, Utility Dive

The five projects represent a variety of long-duration storage technologies, including battery storage, pumped hydroelectric storage, and hydrogen.

 

Renewable energy to power new West Virginia industrial site

The Associated Press

A firm owned by billionaire businessman Warren Buffett has partnered with the state of West Virginia to buy land for use as an industrial park powered by renewable energy, Gov. Jim Justice announced Tuesday.

 
Oil, Gas and Alternative Fuels
 

Where the New Climate Law Means More Drilling, Not Less

Lisa Friedman, The New York Times

A compromise built into the law ensures oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico for the next decade. Activists say the region has been “sacrificed” to fossil fuels.

 

Manchin deal might not save Mountain Valley pipeline

Mike Soraghan, E&E News

The Mountain Valley pipeline may never be finished — even if Sen. Joe Manchin’s permitting revamp becomes law.

 

OPEC sticks to oil demand growth view, sees pre-pandemic demand in 2023

Alex Lawler, Reuters

OPEC on Tuesday stuck to its forecasts for robust global oil demand growth in 2022 and 2023 citing signs that major economies were faring better than expected despite headwinds such as surging inflation.

 

Lower gasoline prices fuel Democrats’ midterm optimism

Timothy Cama, E&E News

As gas prices continue to plummet, Democrats are seeing their once-grim midterm election prospects improving.

 

EU embargo to hit Russian oil output, IEA says

Tom Wilson, Financial Times

International Energy Agency suggests production will fall by 1.9mn barrels a day by February against a year earlier.

 

The U.S. oil executive making a big bet on combating climate change

Liz Hampton, Reuters

The chief executive of a small U.S. oil company has jumped to the forefront of the energy industry’s greenhouse gas reduction efforts, recruiting high-profile firms to his vision of striking it big by selling access to carbon storage developments.

 

US EPA set to finalize rule on state sales of higher-ethanol gasoline blend – Regan

Stephanie Kelly, Reuters

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency intends to finalize a rule before next summer to allow the year-round sale of gasoline blended with a higher level of ethanol in several states, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said on Tuesday.

 
Transportation
 

Biden to promote shift to EVs in visit to Detroit auto show

David Shepardson, Reuters

President Joe Biden plans to take a victory lap on Wednesday at the Detroit auto show, highlighting automakers’ increasing shift to electric vehicles and billions of dollars in new investments in battery plants.

 

Why Toyota – the world’s largest automaker – isn’t all-in on electric vehicles

Michael Wayland, CNBC

Toyota, the king of hybrid vehicles, has come under scrutiny by some environmentalist groups for its cautiousness on investing in fully electric vehicles.

 
Electricity, Utilities and Infrastructure
 

How power companies have caused and worsened wildfires

Rebecca Leber, Vox

“California Burning” author Katherine Blunt on the lessons learned in California.

 

An Oily Challenge: Evict Stinky Old Furnaces in Favor of Heat Pumps

Somini Sengupta, The New York Times

Building by building, New York and other cities are trying to stop the age-old use of fossil fuels to heat homes and buildings. In the U.S., new climate laws aim to speed things up.

 

Power outages are on the rise, led by Texas, Michigan and California. Here’s what’s to blame

Rachel Ramirez, CNN

Power outages in the US are climbing, researchers reported Wednesday, as extreme weather gets worse due to the climate crisis, the demand for electricity climbs and the country’s energy infrastructure gets older and more vulnerable.

 
Environment, Land and Resources
 

California’s Mosquito Fire prompts more evacuations as it races toward mountain communities, burning homes and cars in its path

Nouran Salaheih, CNN

The Mosquito Fire burning in Northern California flared up Tuesday afternoon, charging toward a mountain community and torching more homes as it burned dangerously close to a high school.

 

In Arizona, worry about access to Colorado River water

Tony Davis, The Associated Press

Robbie Woodhouse’s grandfather began nearly a century of family farming along the Gila River near Yuma in the middle 1920s when he dug up a bunch of mesquite stumps on his land to make way for his barley, wheat, Bermuda seed, cotton and melon fields.

 

Northeast drought endangers Massachusetts’ cranberry harvest

Zoya Teirstein, Grist

Another year of erratic weather means cranberry farmers are facing slim margins and tough decisions.

 

Federal agency seeks protections for bat species decimated by fungus

Jacob Knutson, Axios

Federal officials on Tuesday proposed adding the tricolored bat, a microbat native to eastern North America, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

 
Coal/Nuclear
 

Hurdles ahead for saving Michigan nuclear power plant

Reuters

The governor of Michigan said last week she wants a nuclear power plant to reopen to save jobs and help curb climate change, but the company that bought the plant said there are many hurdles to save the facility.

 
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
 

A Very California Lesson on Just How Weird Electricity Is

Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic

The state’s record-smashing heat wave is a window into the future … and it’s okay.

 

Biden Freezes Oil and Gas Leases

Editorial Board, The Wall Street Journal

Calling Joe Manchin: Interior uses ‘sue and settle’ to suspend Trump-era approvals.

 
Morning Consult