• The Environmental Protection Agency plans to issue a rule rescinding Obama-era methane emission regulations for certain oil and gas producers, relaxing reporting requirements and in some cases reducing how often a plant must check for leaks and pollution, according to senior administration officials. The new rules are expected to be issued and signed this week, and will apply to wells drilled since 2016, though they will also remove some large pipelines and storage sites from agency oversight of smog and greenhouse gas emissions. (The Wall Street Journal)

• According to data from Baker Hughes Co., oil drilling has hit a 15-year low as oil demand and prices plunge and companies rein in their exploration, with the Permian Basin taking most of the hit. Both Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. have indicated they could eliminate billions of barrels of oil reserves from the books because present market conditions make them unprofitable. (Bloomberg)

• Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company said that its profit has fallen 73 percent in the second quarter, with earnings plummeting to $6.6 billion compared to $24.7 billion a year ago. However, the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. said it will continue paying its $18.75 billion quarterly dividend — mostly to the kingdom’s own government — which the oil giant is locked into due to commitments made before its initial public offering on the Saudi stock exchange. (The New York Times)

Biden vows to block Alaska mine project if elected
The Associated Press

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Sunday that if he’s elected, his administration would stop a proposed copper and gold mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region.

Energy Companies Have Spent Billions on Projects That Go Nowhere
Akela Lacy, The Intercept

Ohio’s high-profile bailout of nuclear plants is just one of several questionable schemes between lawmakers and energy companies.

Is the carbon tax dead? Not yet, says this senator.
Shannon Osaka, Grist

For years, the idea of putting a price on carbon emissions seemed like a no-brainer — economists claimed that it would cut fossil fuel pollution quickly and efficiently, and at the same time, could even give money back to the American public. But lately the policy has fallen out of favor. Over the past few months, as Democrats have rolled out multiple comprehensive plans to slow down climate change and turbocharge renewable energy, the idea of a “carbon tax” has been notably absent.

Oil Climbs With Saudi Aramco Seeing Demand Recovery Continuing
Elizabeth Low and Alex Longley, Bloomberg

Oil snapped a two-day losing streak on growing signs that consumption in key regions is edging higher.

Oil giants’ production cuts come to 1 million bpd as they post massive writedowns
David Gaffen, Reuters

The world’s five largest oil companies collectively cut the value of their assets by nearly $50 billion in the second quarter, and slashed production rates as the coronavirus pandemic caused a drastic fall in fuel prices and demand.

Interior Plan Aims to Cut Oil, Gas Royalties on Federal Lands
Bobby Magill, Bloomberg Law

The Interior Department on Friday announced a proposal to update how federal oil, natural gas, and coal royalties are calculated, potentially cutting the money fossil fuel producers on public lands would owe to the federal government.

Oil companies are backing Trump’s re-election after giving heavily to Clinton in 2016
Michael J. Coren, Quartz

American industries tend to play both sides by donating to candidates from both major political parties. That’s particularly true when it comes to the presidency, which oversees a vast federal bureaucracy influencing trillions of dollars in spending.

Shale Job Losses Accelerating and the Worst May Be Yet to Come
David Wethe, Bloomberg

Roughneck job cuts accelerated in July and the outlook may worsen as new Covid-19 cases stifle economic activity, according to the Petroleum Equipment and Services Association.

Land Bureau OKs Wyoming Drilling Project Despite Grouse Concerns
Tripp Baltz, Bloomberg Law

The Bureau of Land Management has given a green light to a massive oil and gas project in central Wyoming over concerns the increase in drilling activity in the region will negatively impact greater sage grouse and their habitat.

BP’s green energy targets will be tough to meet
Shadia Nasralla and Susanna Twidale, Reuters

BP will need to invest tens of billions of dollars over the next decade and may have to accept lower returns than it can get from oil if it is to meet its target of becoming one of the world’s largest renewable power generators.

Nobel-winning Mexican scientist calls for complete ban on fuel oil
David Alire Garcia, Reuters

Dirty fuel oil widely used to generate electricity in Mexico should be completely banned, Mexican scientist Mario Molina said, citing its high sulfur content as a danger to both human health and the earth’s atmosphere.

ConEd Calling in Hundreds More Workers to Restore N.Y. Power
Chris Martin et al., Bloomberg

As more than 1 million homes and businesses across the Northeast head into a fifth day without electricity, utilities are bringing in hundreds of additional field workers to help restore power in the wake of Tropical Storm Isaias.

Amid power outages, CEO of generator maker anticipates ‘massive change’ coming to the grid
Tyler Clifford, CNBC

The chief executive of a generator manufacturer told CNBC on Friday that he expects drastic changes are coming to power production and his company is making moves to capitalize on the future of electricity.

Renewable energy prices begin an upward trend, LevelTen data shows
Emma Penrod, Utility Dive

Prices for both wind and solar power purchase agreements (PPA) have experienced year-over-year increases for the first time since renewable energy marketplace LevelTen Energy began publishing PPA data in 2018.

Biden’s union push could force showdown with Elon Musk
Amy Harder, Axios

Joe Biden wants to go big on climate change and big on unions. Elon Musk leads on the former but lags on the latter.

Federal utility moving forward on Tennessee coal ash removal
The Associated Press

A federal utility is moving forward with plans to remove coal ash at a Tennessee power plant and move it to a lined, permitted landfill onsite. The Tennessee Valley Authority says the plan at the Gallatin Fossil Plant is pending state approval. TVA’s preferred option is disposing the ash in an existing, lined dry storage landfill at the plant, a lined expansion of that landfill, or both.

Coal Seen as Casualty of Pennsylvania Joining State Climate Pact
Stephen Lee, Bloomberg Law

Coal-fired power will plummet to 1% of Pennsylvania’s power generation by 2030 if the state joins a regional bid to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the state’s Democratic administration says.

Coal Giant Murray Energy Nears Rebirth After Facing Liquidation
Jeremy Hill, Bloomberg Law

Murray Energy Corp., the coal giant that has languished in bankruptcy since October, is closing in on a sale to lenders that would give it new life.

2°C: Beyond the Limit: This giant climate hot spot is robbing the West of its water
Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post

On New Year’s Day in 2018, Paul Kehmeier and his father drove up Grand Mesa until they got to the county line, 10,000 feet above sea level. Instead of the three to five feet of snow that should have been on the ground, there wasn’t enough of a dusting to even cover the grass.

Jeff Bezos offers a clue to his $10 billion climate change strategy
Theodore Schleifer, Recode

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos quietly created a new corporation to help execute his $10 billion pledge to combat climate change, Recode has learned, offering a clue into the plan known as the Bezos Earth Fund, which has been shrouded in secrecy since it was announced half a year ago.

Covid-19 lockdown will have ‘negligible’ impact on climate crisis – study
Damian Carrington, The Guardian

The draconian coronavirus lockdowns across the world have led to sharp drops in carbon emissions, but this will have “negligible” impact on the climate crisis, with global heating cut by just 0.01C by 2030, a study has found.

Canada’s last intact ice shelf collapses due to warming
Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press

Much of Canada’s remaining intact ice shelf has broken apart into hulking iceberg islands thanks to a hot summer and global warming, scientists said.

Inside Biden’s network of climate advisers
Adam Aton, E&E News

Former Vice President Joe Biden had already assembled a task force of activists and liberal officials to rewrite his climate plan. But there was a problem: Organized labor hadn’t been invited to the weekly Zoom calls.

Does your state want to cut carbon emissions? These old laws could be standing in the way.
Emily Pontecorvo, Grist

Last fall, the town of Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, tried to solve a climate change problem that’s been put on the back burner in many state capitals: reducing emissions from fossil fuels burned in buildings.

Saudi Arabia Turns Off America’s Oil Taps Again
Julian Lee, Bloomberg

The strategy worked wonders in 2017. It will be more challenging this time around unless the pandemic eases its grip on oil demand.

Current and future global climate impacts resulting from COVID-19
Piers M. Forster et al., Nature Climate Change

The global response to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a sudden reduction of both GHG emissions and air pollutants. Here, using national mobility data, we estimate global emission reductions for ten species during the period February to June 2020. We estimate that global NOx emissions declined by as much as 30% in April, contributing a short-term cooling since the start of the year.