General
Elections in the West highlight divisions and diversity
High Country News
Justice, power and environment: The 2020 elections were defined by grassroots organizing and deep partisanship.
Environmentalists aim to use EPA guidance removal rule as tool despite opposition
Rachel Frazin, The Hill
Despite environmental groups’ opposition to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that allows the public to ask the agency to eliminate policy guidances, at least one organization has already started to use the rule to its advantage.
Arizona’s Net-Zero Plan Unites Democrats and Republicans
Dan Gearino, InsideClimate News
Arizona is showing the rest of the country how to set the terms for a transition to clean energy that is substantial and nonpartisan. Considering that the state is controlled by Republicans and was known until recently for the way its largest utility, Arizona Public Service, was willing to go to great lengths to oppose progress, that fact in itself is incredible.
Oil Set for Weekly Gain as Vaccine Optimism Outweighs Lockdowns
Elizabeth Low and James Thornhill, Bloomberg
Oil is poised for a third weekly gain in New York as positive Covid-19 vaccine developments outweighed concerns about stricter restrictions due to a surge in global infections that will dampen fuel demand.
Oil and Natural Gas
Biden vowed to ban new drilling on public lands. It won’t be easy.
Juliet Eilperin and Dino Grandoni, The Washington Post
One of Joe Biden’s boldest campaign pledges was to ban “new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters,” part of a sweeping agenda aimed at curbing greenhouse gases that are warming the planet and threatening life on Earth. Transforming that promise into reality, however, will be tough.
New Mexico increases enforcement of clean-up at oil sites
The Associated Press
The New Mexico State Land Office that oversees thousands of oil and natural gas development leases in a major U.S. petroleum-production basin is expanding environmental enforcement efforts to ensure that oilfield sites get cleaned up and restored as leases expire.
U.S. court allows Equitrans to keep building Mountain Valley natgas pipe
Scott DiSavino, Reuters
The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a motion to stay a permit for the $5.8-$6.0 billion Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to Virginia.
Oil’s stable state of chaos
Ben Geman, Axios
These are wild times for the oil industry. COVID-19 is still hurting demand but there’s optimism around vaccines; the incoming Biden administration is vowing new U.S. drilling restrictions, and there are big question marks about the future of global consumption.
Utilities and Infrastructure
In filing, FirstEnergy says former executives’ firings tied to questionable $4 million payment to entity tied to unnamed state official
Andrew J. Tobias, Cleveland.com
A new federal filing from FirstEnergy offers additional details on why the Akron-based utility company abruptly fired three senior executives last month, including former CEO Chuck Jones.
States urge FERC to avoid further intrusions on authority in any future carbon pricing policy
Catherine Morehouse, Utility Dive
Stakeholders commenting on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s proposed carbon pricing policy statement were divided on what role such a policy should play in the clean energy transition.
Renewables
California Wants Its Imperial Valley to Be ‘Lithium Valley’
David R. Baker, Bloomberg
The region’s Salton Sea contains a massive trove of the metal needed for electric-car batteries.
Clean energy startup Ecolution kWh raises $3 million in VC seed money
Ben Geman, Axios
Ecolution kWh — a startup looking to commercialize tech that stores and dispatches kinetic energy from vehicle motion — raised $3 million in seed money from the VC firm Brown Venture Group.
US EV market sales to rise to 6.9 million units by 2025: Frost & Sullivan
Jacqueline Holman, S&P Global Platts
The US electric vehicles market is expected to reach 6.9 million unit sales by 2025, up from 1.4 million unit sales forecast for 2020, due to government incentives driving EV ownership, Frost & Sullivan said Nov. 19.
Big electric trucks and buses are coming. Here’s how to speed up the transition.
David Roberts, Vox
Financing, policy, and private sector tools can fund vehicle costs and new charging infrastructure.
California Mulls 90% Electric Vehicle Goal for Uber, Lyft
Emily C. Dooley, Bloomberg Law
Ninety percent of the cars used in ride-hailing fleets for companies like Uber and Lyft would have to be electric vehicles by 2030, under a rule set to go before California air regulators next year.
Coal/Nuclear
‘No new coal,’ UN chief tells EU
Kalina Oroschakoff and Karl Mathiesen, Politico EU
The EU, the world’s self-proclaimed climate leader, got an earful Thursday from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. He called on the EU to drop coal for good and urgently raise its 2030 emissions reduction goal.
Trump boost to nuclear power to live on in Biden administration
Josh Siegel, Washington Examiner
President-elect Joe Biden is poised to embrace nuclear power in pursuit of aggressive reductions to carbon emissions and will look to build upon the Trump administration’s support for new smaller forms of the technology.
Climate
Lawmakers condemn Trump’s ‘destabilizing’ and ‘politicizing’ moves on climate assessment
Rebecca Beitch, The Hill
Nearly 90 Democratic lawmakers wrote to the White House to protest a recent shakeup at the agency charged with organizing a key assessment that helps the government consider how to respond to climate change.
UN climate chief: Pledges by big polluters boost Paris hopes
Frank Jordans, The Associated Press
The U.N.’s climate chief says deadlines set by some of the world’s top polluters to end greenhouse gas emissions, along with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s pledge to take Washington back into the Paris accord, have boosted hopes of meeting the pact’s ambitious goals.
Wildlife diseases poised to spread northwards as climate changes: study
Yereth Rosen, Reuters
As the world’s climate warms, parasite-carried wildlife diseases will move north, with animals in cold far-north and high-altitude regions expected to suffer the most dramatic increases, warns a study to be published on Friday in the journal Science.
Historic wildfire season dents decline in US emissions during coronavirus pandemic
Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill
Extreme wildfires in the West have hindered the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions the U.S. expected to see this year as the coronavirus has stalled much of human activity.
Equitable Retreat: The Need for Fairness in Relocating Coastal Communities
Katherine Bagley, Yale Environment 360
Rising seas and stronger storms are increasing the risks of living along the world’s coasts. As governments look to move millions of people out of harm’s way, geographer Jola Ajibade says they must ensure that managed retreat is done in a just and equitable way.
Coronavirus relief funds could pay to stop the worst of climate change while rebooting economies
David L. McCollum, Quartz
As of late summer, governments around the world had pledged $12.2 trillion of relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic. That’s around 15% of global GDP, three times larger than government spending put forward during and after the 2008-2009 global financial crisis and enough for every adult in the world to receive a $2,000 check.
Trudeau unveils new net-zero emissions plan to meet climate change targets
John Paul Tasker, CBC
Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson tabled new legislation today that would force current and future federal governments to set binding climate targets to get Canada to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
Dear Joe Biden: are you kidding me?
Erin Brockovich, The Guardian
The president-elect has tapped a former DuPont consultant to join his Environmental Protection Agency transition board.
Research Reports
Nuclear Waste Disposal: Better Planning Needed to Avoid Potential Disruptions at Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
U.S. Government Accountability Office
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is the nation’s only repository for certain waste from nuclear weapons research and production. The facility is expected to run out of disposal space by 2025. The Department of Energy plans to expand it, but work may not be completed before existing space is full.
EPA Grants to Tribes: Additional Actions Needed to Effectively Address Tribal Environmental Concerns
U.S. Government Accountability Office
The Environmental Protection Agency provides grants to Indian tribes to help protect health and the environment. EPA awarded over $985 million directly to tribes for FY 2014-2019 through 43 grant programs. Tribes use the grants to help prevent air and water pollution, to educate the community about the dangers of radon, and more. More tribes are applying for a stagnant or declining pool of funds—leaving each tribe with less.
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