Energy

Essential energy industry news & intel to start your day.
May 18, 2021
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Top Stories

  • An International Energy Agency special report found that countries would need to immediately stop investing in fossil fuels and briskly move to phase out gas-powered vehicles in order to cut carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050. This is the first time the IEA, which advises countries large and small on energy policy, has released a blueprint for hitting the 2050 target. (The New York Times)
  • The Supreme Court dealt a blow the city of Baltimore in its 2018 move to sue a group of more than 20 large oil and gas companies, alleging that they failed to warn the public about the climate change-related dangers of using their products and that the city is consequently grappling with problems from rising sea levels and extreme weather. A federal appeals court had said it didn’t have the power to grant the defendants’ request to move Baltimore’s case to federal court from the state system, but the Supreme Court sent the case back to a federal appeals court in a 7-1 opinion that cited technicalities but said nothing about the case’s merits.  (The Wall Street Journal)
  • The Biden administration said it will develop “building performance standards” for federal facilities, a move that should not require congressional approval. This comes as a part of a broader push from the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Council on Environmental Quality and the General Services Administration to cut emissions from buildings and homes, which will also include investing in research and setting new Energy Star standards for heat pumps.  (The Washington Post)
 

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Events Calendar (All Times Local)

 

What Else You Need to Know

General
 

Haaland makes endorsement in race for her old House seat

Rachel Frazin, The Hill

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is wading into the race to replace her in Congress, endorsing Democratic candidate Melanie Stansbury to represent New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District. 

 

Sunrise Movement endorses Nina Turner in special election for Ohio House seat

Zack Budryk, The Hill

The progressive environmental group Sunrise Movement has endorsed former Democratic Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner in the primary to fill the House seat vacated by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge.

 

White House environmental justice advisors express opposition to nuclear, carbon capture projects

Rachel Frazin, The Hill

The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council expressed opposition to nuclear and carbon capture projects as well as projects that expand capacity for fossil fuel production in a report issued Friday.

 
Climate Change and Emissions
 

Greenland ice sheet on brink of major tipping point, says study

Damian Carrington, The Guardian

Scientists say ice equivalent to 1-2 metres of sea level rise is probably already doomed to melt.

 

Teenagers Are Winning Climate Fights One Court Case at a Time

Laura Millan Lombrana, Bloomberg

After leading mass demonstrations, young people everywhere are suing countries and companies over their failure to address global warming.

 

Washington State Tells Businesses to Eliminate Emissions by 2050

Leslie Kaufman, Bloomberg

The new law, the most aggressive in the U.S., creates a market where polluters buy and sell credits from the state for every ton of greenhouse gases they emit.

 

‘Say on Climate’ campaign faces first big test at investor meetings

Attracta Mooney and Billy Nauman, Financial Times

Support for shareholder resolutions on emissions strategy is at a high despite clashes.

 

Russia, U.S. tout cooperation ahead of Arctic Council meeting

Humeyra Pamuk and Tom Balmforth, Reuters

With a warming climate melting more Arctic ice cover and global industries eager to exploit the region for shipping, fishing, drilling and mining, the United States and Russia sounded a rare, cooperative note going into an Arctic meeting this week.

 

Snap to cut emissions, achieves carbon neutrality in new climate strategy

Sheila Dang, Reuters

Snap Inc on Monday announced a climate strategy to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, purchase 100% renewable energy and remain carbon neutral after offsetting emissions dating back to its launch.

 

Researchers: Emissions goals must incorporate Arctic permafrost warming

Zack Budryk, The Hill

Current international emissions goals do not properly incorporate up-to-date science on carbon emission feedback loops in the Arctic, according to commentary published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

 
Renewables and Storage
 

How to turn an oil boom town into an oasis of renewable energy

Qilai Shen et al., Bloomberg

After pumping oil for more than 70 years, the birthplace of China’s petroleum industry is going green.

 
Oil, Gas and Alternative Fuels
 

Exxon Activist Wins Partial Glass Lewis Support in Board Fight

Scott Deveau, Bloomberg

The activist seeking to revamp the board of Exxon Mobil Corp. received a boost Monday with another prominent shareholder advisory firm recommending investors support two of its four nominees.

 

California coalition aims to make hydrogen power cost-competitive by 2030

Emma Penrod, Utility Dive

HyDeal Los Angeles, a green hydrogen initiative launched in Los Angeles on Monday, aims to bring the cost of hydrogen fuel to $1.50/kg by 2030. At that price, electricity from hydrogen-fired turbines would run about $35/MWh, estimates the Green Hydrogen Coalition, which launched the cooperative initiative.

 
Transportation
 

Fixing Transit Is More Than Just Infrastructure

Tiffany Chu and Daniel Ramot, Bloomberg CityLab

To address challenges like climate change and inequality, the Biden Administration and Congress will need to stop funding transportation like it’s the 1980s.

 

Nasa leads push for electric planes in next frontier of cutting emissions

Oliver Milman, The Guardian

Flying on batteries presents major technological challenges but companies will be demonstrating their best efforts over the next year in California.

 

The Rules Even Elon Musk Can’t Break

Alan Ohnsman and Sofia Lotto Persio, Forbes

Unexploded World War II bombs, protests over trees, water and animal habitats, union scrutiny and a labor review have hindered Tesla’s Berlin Gigafactory plans — but the biggest hurdle may come in the form of strict German regulations.

 
Electricity, Utilities and Infrastructure
 

Elliott Urges Duke Energy to Consider Separation Into Three Companies

Cara Lombardo and Dana Cimilluca, The Wall Street Journal

Activist investor Elliott Management Corp. is urging Duke Energy Corp. to consider separating into three companies, in what would be a major transformation of one of the nation’s biggest utilities.

 

Big Tech races to clean up act as cloud energy use grows

Alice Kantor, Financial Times

Tech emissions now are estimated to be growing at 6% annually.

 

Does Colonial’s proactive pipeline shutdown illustrate a new cybersecurity threat to utilities?

Samantha Schwartz, Utility Dive

While a controlled pipeline closure is preferred over one carried out by nefarious groups, the decision is up for debate in the security community.

 
Environment, Land and Resources
 

Air Pollution Takes a Toll on the Brain

Nicholas Bakalar, The New York Times

Even short-term exposure to polluted air may impair mental ability in the elderly. Aspirin and other NSAIDs showed some protective effects.

 

‘This is environmental racism’: activists call on Biden to stop new plastics plants in ‘Cancer Alley’

Rachel Ramirez, The Guardian

On Monday, groups of climate activists protested against a proposed petrochemical complex an hour away from New Orleans, Louisiana, calling on the Biden administration to revoke the plastics company’s federal permit to start construction.

 
Coal/Nuclear
 

Environmental groups sue federal mining agency over West Virginia mine cleanup process

Zack Budryk, The Hill

The Sierra Club and two local environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, alleging that the Interior Department’s Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) has been derelict in handling mine cleanup in West Virginia.

 

Coal industry feels heat as Germany doubles down on climate goals

Guy Chazan, Financial Times

The adoption of more ambitious CO2 targets could have huge knock-on effect for industrial regions.

 
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
 

To ‘Build Back Better,’ We Need to Modernize Electricity Markets to Spur Cleaner Energy

Miranda A. Ballentine (CEO, Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance) and Todd A. Snitchler (president and CEO, Electric Power Supply Association), Morning Consult

American innovators, entrepreneurs and businesses are constantly evolving, competing against each other to develop groundbreaking technologies and solving our country’s most challenging problems. Similarly, it is time to unleash the power of innovation through competition once again to solve this century’s challenges of modernizing and preparing our vital electricity grid for climate change.

 

We’ll Innovate Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis or Die Trying

Eric Levitz, New York Magazine

Climate science and political realism are two bitter tastes that taste even more wretched together.

 

Green Energy Solutions Start at Factory Gates

Ellen R. Wald, Bloomberg

Encouraging manufacturers to invest in hydro power and other carbon-neutral generation methods could go a long way toward lowering greenhouse-gas emissions.

 
Morning Consult