• The International Energy Agency raised its 2020 global oil demand estimate by 400,000 barrels per day in its latest oil market report but said a second wave of coronavirus infections could compromise the global economy’s faster-than-expected recovery, dragging global oil demand with it. The organization forecasts demand to average 92.1 million bpd in 2020, down 7.9 million bpd as compared with 2019. (S&P Global Platts)

• After President Trump’s inaccurate 2019 claim about the path of Hurricane Dorian, Neil Jacobs, the then-acting administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said he “definitely felt like our jobs were on the line” if the agency’s officials refused to back the president’s statement, an inspector general report has found. Inspector General Peggy E. Gustafson primarily blamed top aides of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for NOAA’s statement suggesting the president was correct, which she said ran “contrary to the apolitical mission” of the agency. (The New York Times) 

• The Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 ruling that 3 million acres in eastern Oklahoma remain within the boundaries of Indian Country for criminal law purposes, as mandated by an 1832 treaty struck with the Creek Nation, and recognized four other reservations, confirming a total of 19 million acres under tribal control. The case could have implications for the state’s oil and gas industry, with at least one association warning of potential impacts for developing the state’s energy resources. (E&E News)

• After a federal judge rejected Energy Transfer LP’s request to stay an earlier decision mandating the company shut down the Dakota Access oil pipeline by Aug. 5, the company has brought the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, asking the court to freeze the shutdown order for the appeal’s duration. (Bloomberg)

350 facilities skip reporting water pollution under temporary EPA rule
Rachel Frazin, The Hill

More than 350 facilities nationwide have taken advantage of a temporary Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that lets companies forgo monitoring their water pollution during the pandemic.

EPA Hits Pause on Plan to Reopen Washington, D.C., Headquarters
Stephen Lee, Bloomberg Law

The EPA has paused its plans toward reopening its Washington, D.C., headquarters, according to an internal email sent Thursday afternoon. The announcement comes as a win for the guild representing many Environmental Protection Agency employees, which has resisted the agency’s efforts to bring them back to the office.

Emptying Skies to Cut Airline Emissions 38% in 2020, Report Says
James Thornhill, Bloomberg

Airlines’ carbon emissions could drop by more than one-third this year as travel demand sinks, a trend that could continue as businesses reassess their need to fly, according to the Australia Institute.

Major Covid-Related Emissions Drop Still ‘No Cause for Cheer’
Eric Roston, Bloomberg

Greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. fell 18% below last year’s level in the three months ending June 15, reflecting an economy sharply hobbled by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report by research firm Rhodium Group.

Oil Slides on IEA’s Virus Warning and Libyan Export Restart
Saket Sundria and Alex Longley, Bloomberg

Oil fell as the International Energy Agency said a jump in Covid-19 cases could derail the market recovery, while Libya signaled the potential restart of crude exports.

Natural gas pipeline developers aim to differentiate from Atlantic Coast and avoid its fate
Iulia Gheorghiu, Utility Dive

The Constitution Pipeline and Atlantic Coast Pipeline have been abandoned within months of each other, casting shadows across permitting successes.

Natural Gas Is the Past. Natural Gas Is Also the Future.
Nathaniel Bullard, Bloomberg

On Sunday, Virginia-based utility Dominion Energy Inc announced plans to sell almost all of its natural gas pipeline and storage assets to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc for $4 billion. At the same time, the Virginia-based utility said that it’s killing the Atlantic Coast gas pipeline despite a Supreme Court ruling that would grant it passage underneath the Appalachian Trail.

Wave of North American oil and gas bankruptcies to continue at $40/bbl crude: report
Liz Hampton, Reuters

A wave of oil and gas bankruptcies in North America is likely to continue this year as oil prices remain depressed and a new surge of COVID-19 cases threaten to stall any recovery in fuel demand, law firm Haynes and Boone said in a report released this week.

California regulators consider proposal to incorporate climate planning into utility rate cases
Kavya Balaraman, Utility Dive

California regulators on Monday issued a proposal to have the state’s investor-owned utilities incorporate climate change vulnerability assessments into their general rate case cycles, in an effort to guide infrastructure investments over the long term.

DOE Specifies ‘Foreign Adversaries’ for Trump BPS Equipment Ban
Sonal Patel, Power

Taking its first major step to act on President Trump’s May 1 executive order (EO) to limit foreign bulk power equipment transactions in the U.S., the Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a definitive list of six foreign “adversaries” that pose threats to the U.S. bulk power system (BPS): China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela.

Deloitte: Intermittent renewables pass COVID-19 grid reliability test
Iulia Gheorghiu, Utility Dive

The COVID-19 pandemic has served as a “test case demonstration” for grid reliability with a higher use of renewables in recent months, according to Deloitte Consulting.

Report: Decarbonization of World’s 50 Most Influential Power Companies Bleak
Sonal Patel, Power

Two reports analyzing energy transitions toward low-carbon resources released this week offer mixed assessments of how the power industry is faring in efforts to tamp down carbon emissions.

Energy industry veterans to launch hydrogen investment fund
Ron Bousso, Reuters

Two energy industry veterans plan to launch an investment fund focused on hydrogen this year as more and more governments include the niche fuel in their global warming battle plans.

Policy and Investment Failures Doomed the Biofuel Revolution
Todd Woody, Bloomberg

To reignite the industry, biofuels need the type of government incentives that allowed solar and wind companies to flourish, analysts say.

Trump Administration Seeks to Block Settlement Between Sierra Club and Michigan Utility
Timothy Puko, The Wall Street Journal

The Trump administration is asking a federal judge to reject a settlement between the Sierra Club and a Michigan utility over alleged clean-air violations, arguing that the deal improperly goes beyond what the federal government has approved.

Environmental groups sue over W.Va. coal reclamation fund
John Raby, The Associated Press

Environmental groups have sued the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection over what they say is the agency’s failure to adhere to federal reporting requirements for a coal mine reclamation fund.

Nuclear waste site near Carlsbad opposed by indigenous groups during public hearing
Adrian Hedden, Carlsbad Current-Argus

A nuclear waste facility proposed near Carlsbad and Hobbs continued to be opposed by Native American and environmental groups who worried it could be devastating to the environment and local communities as its federal licensing process continued.

Federal judge approves $192 million shareholder settlement over failed SC nuclear project
Andrew Brown, The Post and Courier

A federal judge signed off on a $192.5 million legal settlement Thursday between the former shareholders of SCANA Corp. and the company’s new owner Dominion Energy.

Carney calls for more climate action from world’s stock exchanges
Simon Jessop, Reuters

Mark Carney, the United Nations special envoy for climate and finance, has called on stock exchanges across the world to back a drive to improve the environmental data shared by companies.

6 Takeaways From the Biden-Sanders Joint Task Force Proposals
Maggie Astor et al., The New York Times

Signature progressive programs like “Medicare for all” and the Green New Deal did not make it into the recommendations. But Senator Bernie Sanders’s allies pushed some policies to the left.

Joe Biden on Climate Change: Where the Candidate Stands
James Bruggers, InsideClimate News

How do the 2020 presidential hopefuls compare on their climate history and promises to solve the crisis?

The Limits of Democrats’ Climate Progress
Kate Aronoff, The New Republic

The plans are better than they were. The plans are not enough. What are the plans for?

Intense Arctic Wildfires Set a Pollution Record
Somini Sengupta, The New York Times

High temperatures and dry soil mean ideal conditions for fires. Blazes in June produced more carbon emissions than any other fires in almost two decades of monitoring.

I’ve Seen a Future Without Cars, and It’s Amazing
Farhad Manjoo, The New York Times

As coronavirus lockdowns crept across the globe this winter and spring, an unusual sound fell over the world’s metropolises: the hush of streets that were suddenly, blessedly free of cars. City dwellers reported hearing bird song, wind and the rustling of leaves. (Along with, in New York City, the intermittent screams of sirens).

Facing the double burden of climate change and conflict
Catherine-Lune Grayson, Thomson Reuters Foundation News

Our new report has shown that people living in conflict zones are disproportionately affected by climate change. Of the 20 countries deemed most vulnerable to climate change, 12 are mired in conflict.

Oil companies should pay their fair share for climate change
Susan Glickman, The Sun Sentinel

Climate change is already costing Florida cities, large and small, a fortune. Officials desperately need to explore new avenues both to pay for efforts to make us more resilient and to dramatically reduce dangerous carbon pollution so we don’t make it worse. However, the looming question is: Will taxpayers be left with the bill?

Cogs in the climate machine
Julia Steinberger, Medium

New research, published in Nature, has now measured much more precisely how much of the warming gas carbon dioxide (CO2) was in the atmosphere during this warm spell: 360ppm (parts per million) on average. When my father was born, in 1921, a mere 100 years ago, the CO2 level in the atmosphere was only 304 ppm.

Regulatory Solutions for Building Decarbonization
Sherri Billimoria and Mike Henchen, Rocky Mountain Institute

To meet the imperative of curbing climate change and restoring clean and healthy air to our communities, it is critical that policymakers act to eliminate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the building sector. In the United States, fossil fuels burned in residential and commercial buildings account for at least 600 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions per year—and far more when methane leakage is considered. Utilities, their regulators, and state policymakers together have an opportunity to eliminate these emissions and transform American homes and businesses to run on clean energy.

COVID-19 disruptions in ocean observations could threaten weather forecast and climate change predictions
UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

Partnerships across political borders and operational flexibility may be what it takes to carefully organize the various actors undertaking ocean observations in the face of ongoing disruptions. Moreover, international agreement to classify global ocean observing operations as essential activities could ensure that the global observing system better delivers critical information to weather forecast, warning systems, climate and ocean health applications into the future.

New Lifecycle Analysis of U.S. LNG Exports
American Petroleum Institute

A study released by API and conducted by researchers at ICF examines the environmental benefits of U.S. natural gas use in China, Germany, and India, finding that using U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) rather than coal for electricity generation produces on average 50.5 percent fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in all base case scenarios studied.