• The European Union’s European Investment Bank, the largest multilateral lender worldwide, said it will stop funding fossil fuel projects starting in 2021 and intends to finance $1.1 trillion in climate-related work by 2030, helping the EU hit a 32 percent renewable target by that time. The decision is said to be in line with the European Green New Deal, a proposed $13 trillion effort. (The Wall Street Journal)

• The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Environmental Protection Agency erred when it proposed to limit its asbestos safety review to products that continue to be manufactured, a decision that firefighters and construction workers said could threaten their health. The American Chemistry Council trade group has countered that the Obama-era EPA’s asbestos review plan chased “illusory risks.” (The Associated Press)

• Oil production in the United States, Brazil and other nations outside of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will increase non-OPEC supply growth to a projected 2.3 million barrels per day in 2020, up from 1.8 million bpd this year, according to the International Energy Agency’s monthly report. IEA estimated demand for OPEC crude oil to reach 28.9 million bpd next year — down 1 million bpd from OPEC’s current output. (Reuters)

House Democrats near unveiling first plans for meeting goal of net-zero carbon emissions by midcentury
Abby Smith, Washington Examiner

House Democrats will soon be filling in some of the details of their broader climate strategy in an effort to support the goal they set earlier this year of ushering in a 100% clean economy by 2050.

FEMA nominee says he does not know the causes of climate change
Gregory Wallace, CNN

“The climate has changed. I cannot attribute the scientific reasons why,” Gaynor, currently FEMA’s deputy administrator, said when questioned by Sen. Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware.

McConnell nukes House Ex-Im Bank bill in rebuke to Waters
Zachary Warmbrodt, Politico

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is refusing to take up House legislation that would extend the operations of the beleaguered Export-Import Bank for the next decade and is instead inclined to keep the agency running as part of an upcoming government funding bill, he told POLITICO.

Climate Advocates Blast Missed Opportunity in Ex-Im Bank Renewal
Brian Dabbs, National Journal

House Democrats are readying to sign off on big-ticket trade legislation that climate hawks say squanders a key opportunity to pare down international greenhouse-gas emissions. And it’s not the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Sanders’s Climate Ambitions Thrill Supporters. Experts Aren’t Impressed.
Lisa Friedman, The New York Times

Climate scientists and energy economists say the plan is technically impractical, politically unfeasible, and possibly ineffective.

EPA bulldog stares down agency watchdog
Anthony Adragna and Alex Guillén, Politico

Ryan Jackson, a native Oklahoman who worked for Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) for more than a decade and a half, has maintained a relatively low profile since becoming EPA’s chief of staff in the early days of the Trump administration. 

Oil prices dip on concerns about rising supplies
Julia Payne, Reuters

Oil prices fell on Friday fueled by concerns about rising supplies next year, although losses were checked by signs of progress toward ending the U.S.-Chinese trade row.

IEA says Opec and allies face ‘major challenge’ in 2020
Angli Raval, Financial Times

Accelerating production from rivals poses questions for oil supply alliance.

Cap and Trade Is Supposed to Solve Climate Change, but Oil and Gas Company Emissions Are Up
Lisa Song, ProPublica

Countries have called California’s cap-and-trade program the answer to climate change. But it is just as vulnerable to lobbying as any other legislation. The result: The state’s biggest oil and gas companies have actually polluted more since it started.

Wolf says he’s unaware of any wrongdoing in Mariner East pipeline permitting process
Katie Meyer, StateImpact Pennsylvania

“I welcome anybody to look at what’s going on in the administration, and if something’s not right then people shall be held to account,” Wolf said of the reported investigation. “Openness and transparency and integrity are absolutely important to me.”

‘Severe’ Economic Pain Raised in Bid for Biodiesel Tax Credit
Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Bloomberg Environment

U.S. biodiesel industry faces “a severe economic disruption” without an immediate multiyear extension of a $1-per-gallon tax credit that lapsed 22 months ago, more than 140 biofuel and energy companies warned congressional leaders Thursday.

Nation’s largest utility in long-term deals to sell power
Adrian Sainz, The Associated Press

Most of the local companies that receive power generated by the Tennessee Valley Authority have signed long-term partnership agreements, but some larger customers still have not agreed to the 20-year deals, officials said Thursday.

Minnesota attorney general joins Michigan suit to shut down Enbridge pipeline
Brooks Johnson, Star Tribune

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has joined a lawsuit in Michigan seeking the shutdown of the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline, which starts in Superior, Wis., and runs underwater across the Straits of Mackinac that connects Lakes Michigan and Huron.

National Grid ‘confident’ over New York supply dispute
Nathalie Thomas, Financial Times

Governor Andrew Cuomo has warned group it may lose licence if it fails to resolve issue.

BLM Considers 2,000-Mile CO2 Pipeline Proposal, Sage-Grouse Impact
Bobby Magill, Bloomberg Environment

The Wyoming Pipeline Corridor Initiative is a state-proposed project that would provide rights of way up to 300 feet wide for pipelines that would supply oil fields with carbon dioxide to boost crude oil production. The pipelines would be built across federal land managed by the BLM.

California businesses at risk amid fires, power outages
Joyce M. Rosenberg, The Associated Press

The California wildfires are taking a toll on small businesses, including those that are miles away and safe from the flames. Smoke, ash and power outages force companies to shut down or cost them business even if owners and employees aren’t forced to evacuate.

Tesla sedans regain recommended status in Consumer Reports survey
Ben Klayman, Reuters

Tesla’s ranking improved four spots to No. 23 out of 30 brands in the U.S. market as it worked to resolve production problems with the Model 3, said Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports. Both the Model 3 and S raised their reliability ratings to “average.”

Building a Lithium-Ion Battery That’s Less Likely to Explode
Nick Leiber, Bloomberg Businessweek

The Clinton Foundation and other groups have since installed SimpliPhi systems—batteries, management software, and other tools—in multiple hospitals and clinics across the island.

Why some hydropower plants are worse for the climate than coal
Miyo McGinn, Grist

Scientists have known for a while now that hydropower facilities release greenhouse gases — mostly methane, but also CO2 and nitrous oxide. But the way they’ve historically calculated a facility’s climate impact has obscured methane’s heat-trapping potency. 

Energy secretary nominee vows to remove plutonium from Nevada
Gary Martin, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, tapped by President Donald Trump to replace Secretary Rick Perry, sailed through a Senate confirmation hearing Thursday where he said he would uphold an agreement to remove weapons-grade plutonium from Nevada.

Northeast senators seek to expand regional climate programs
The Associated Press

Led by Sen. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, the group has introduced bipartisan legislation to support and expand programs such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which includes the six New England states plus Delaware, Maryland and New York.

New EPA Rules Aim to Reduce Toxic Emissions. But Many “Cancer Alley” Chemical Plants Won’t Have to Change.
Mark Schleifstein, The Advocate

Environmental groups had been waiting nearly three years for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to comply with a federal judge’s orders to update Clean Air Act rules governing emissions of various toxic chemicals.

Why We Formed the Future of Transportation Caucus
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) et al., Streetsblog USA

We need a new model: Simply throwing more money at a deteriorating transportation system will not help us get to the root of the problem, nor will it help us devise smart solutions to address the connectivity challenges facing our communities. 

Climate change solutions can’t wait for the politics to catch up
U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), Roll Call

In the Pacific Northwest, we have a sense of urgency about addressing climate change. That urgency is driven, in part, by the fact that we are already seeing its impacts.

Climate change prevention is losing to sprawl in San Diego County
The Times Editorial Board

Over the last decade, state leaders have passed laws prodding local governments to plan housing and transportation projects so people don’t have to drive as much, thus cutting the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming.

Trump and His Party of Pollution
Paul Krugman, The New York Times

For air quality has deteriorated significantly over the past few years — a deterioration that has already cost thousands of American lives. And if Trump remains in power, the air will get much worse, and the death toll rise dramatically, in the years ahead.

The Un-SAFE Rule Update: Weakening Fuel Economy and Emissions Standards Costs Consumers Money in Every State 
Consumer Reports

For each scenario, the following metrics were calculated: the average fleet wide real world fuel economy required for MY2026 vehicles, the present value net increase in lifetime costs per new MY2026 vehicle, the increased fuel costs for the average MY2026 vehicle, the net costs converted into a gas tax equivalent, and the total nationwide net costs to consumers.