General
How the coronavirus pandemic changed mobility habits, by state
Sara Wise and Amy Harder, Axios
Americans in most states are moving at nearly the same level as, and sometimes even more than, before the pandemic compelled lockdowns across the U.S.
Fiscal 2021 Energy, Water Spending Clears First House Hurdle
Dean Scott, Bloomberg Law
A spending measure that would boost energy and water spending 3% in fiscal 2021, including increased renewable energy and advanced energy research, cleared its first hurdle Tuesday with approval by a House Appropriations subcommittee.
EPA Union Says Agency Has Quietly Changed Reopening Criteria
Stephen Lee, Bloomberg Law
The EPA’s biggest union claims the agency is quietly changing its criteria for reopening offices during the pandemic, adding a new metric that could let it move faster from one phase to the next, under President Donald Trump’s three-step reopening plan.
Al Gore: Where Sustainable Investing Goes From Here
Emily Chasan, Bloomberg
At the end of last year, sustainable investing was having its biggest moment. Climate change was a hot topic and green energy stocks were hitting new highs. Then Covid-19 hit and everything changed. The global pandemic may be just what’s required to address the environmental crisis once and for all, says former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.
Oil Stuck Below $41 With Signs U.S. Crude Stockpiles Swelled
Saket Sundria and Alex Longley, Bloomberg
Oil was anchored below $41 a barrel with an industry report signaling a surprise gain in U.S. crude stockpiles, while concerns linger about the threat to demand from rising coronavirus infections.
Oil and Natural Gas
2020 could decide fate of Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines
Ben Geman, Axios
Two new court actions — one by the Supreme Court and another by a federal judge — together highlight and raise the energy stakes of November’s election.
U.S. Energy Secretary blames activists for big pipeline setbacks
Doina Chiacu and Richard Valdmanis, Reuters
U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said on Monday that he blames activists for a pair of high-profile pipeline setbacks in recent days, including a court’s decision to force Energy Transfer Partners LP to close its Dakota Access crude oil pipeline over its environmental impact study.
Legal and Environmental Setbacks Stymie Pipelines Nationwide
Hiroko Tabuchi and Brad Plumer, The New York Times
They are among the nation’s most significant infrastructure projects: More than 9,000 miles of oil and gas pipelines in the United States are currently being built or expanded, and another 12,500 miles have been approved or announced — together, almost enough to circle the Earth.
UAE’s ADNOC to boost August oil exports as OPEC+ cuts set to ease: sources
Dmitry Zhdannikov et al., Reuters
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company plans to boost its oil exports in August, the first signal that OPEC and its allies are preparing to ease record oil output cuts next month, three sources familiar with the development told Reuters.
US EIA trims gas production forecasts once again on lower prices, curtailments
Maya Weber, S&P Global Platts
The US Energy Information Administration July 7 again lowered its estimates for natural gas marketed production for the rest of 2020, pointing to low gas and oil prices and production curtailments, but it anticipated a pickup in production toward the second half of 2021, as prices rebound.
Pipeline Setbacks in U.S. Rattle Oil-Sands Producers in Canada
Kevin Orland and Robert Tuttle, Bloomberg
This week’s escalation of American pipeline setbacks is heightening concerns among Canadian oil producers who export almost all of their crude to the U.S.
US gasoline demand recovery slows as top-consuming states face coronavirus outbreaks
Ken Raphael and Meghan Gordon, S&P Global Platts
While US gasoline demand continues to recover from April lockdowns, driving fell last week in three states hit hard by rising coronavirus cases, highlighting the ongoing risks to oil demand from reimposed stay-at-home restrictions.
Utilities and Infrastructure
Puerto Rico Unions to Strike Against $1.7 Billion Power Deal
Jim Wyss, Bloomberg Law
A coalition of Puerto Rico unions plans a series of strikes beginning July 15 to protest a contract that will put power transmission and distribution in the hands of a private consortium.
Momentum grows for piloting Netflix-like fixed subscription rates, but not everyone’s on board
Herman K. Trabish, Utility Dive
Momentum is growing for giving electricity customers the kind of predictable subscription bill options that smartphone and home entertainment customers get.
Regulators reject utility moves to recover revenue lost to COVID-19 as analysts, advocates see trend continuing
Emma Penrod, Utility Dive
‘Absurd’ requests by utilities to pass COVID-19 losses to consumers are unlikely to get purchase with regulators in the near future, though long-term impacts may be discussed in future rate cases, consumer advocates predict.
Renewables
US offshore wind power spending has oil in its sights
Gregory Meyer, Financial Times
From zero 10 years ago, projects are set for $78bn in capital investment this decade.
Big spending, legal appeals in $1B transmission project
David Sharp, The Associated Press
Central Maine Power and Hydro Quebec have spent more money in support of a $1 billion hydropower transmission project than the spending total on a failed referendum on a casino in York County in 2017, an environmental advocacy group said Tuesday.
Coal
US 2020 coal production expected to fall 28.9% on year to 57-year low: EIA
Tyler Godwin, S&P Global Platts
The US is estimated to produce 501.3 million st of coal in 2020, the US Energy Information Administration said July 7, lowering its estimate from a month ago by 28.7 million st, or 5.4%
Wyoming regulators approve state’s first new coal mine in decades
Camille Erickson, Casper Star Tribune
Wyoming environmental regulators have approved a coal firm’s application to construct the state’s first new coal mine in nearly half a century.
Nuclear
Gas to nuclear? Dominion looks beyond pipeline’s demise
Heather Richards and Peter Behr, E&E News
In killing the stalled $8 billion Atlantic Coast pipeline proposal and selling its existing gas pipe and storage business for $9.7 billion to Berkshire Hathaway, Dominion Energy Inc. has positioned itself for the big move into renewable power that the state’s Democratic leadership has demanded.
Climate
Carbon180 brings on The Coefficient Group for new carbon removal lobbying
Ben Geman, Axios
The nonprofit group Carbon180, which advocates for deployment of emerging carbon removal technologies and methods, has brought on The Coefficient Group to lobby, a new filing shows.
Boulder Climate Lawsuit Against Exxon, Others Advances
Ellen M. Gilmer, Bloomberg Law
Local governments in Colorado can pursue a high-stakes climate lawsuit against the fossil fuel industry in state court, judges ruled Tuesday in a setback for Exxon Mobil Corp. and other companies. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit rejected industry lawyers’ claims that a lawsuit from Boulder, Boulder County, and San Miguel County belongs in federal court.
Climate Activists See ‘New Era’ After Three Major Oil and Gas Pipeline Defeats
Marianne Lavelle, InsideClimate News
Court rulings on Monday dealt setbacks to the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines, a day after utilities abandoned the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
2020: A Shifting Paradigm for Rail Safety
Rob Benedict, Morning Consult
The ultimate goal of safety policy is to reduce or even virtually eliminate risk, and policymakers and regulated industries continually face difficult decisions in working toward this objective. In the context of rail safety, all stakeholders must do their part to mitigate the consequences of incidents and take steps to prevent them from occurring altogether. A healthy focus on both mitigation and prevention will make an already safe U.S. freight rail system even safer.
A Hopeful House Climate Plan Has a Big Hole
Ellen R. Wald, Bloomberg
Setting ambitious emissions targets is one thing. Banking on technology that doesn’t exist yet to get there is another.
The scariest thing about global warming (and Covid-19)
David Roberts, Vox
“Shifting baselines syndrome” means we could quickly get used to climate chaos.
Research Reports
Race to the Top: The Case for a New U.S. International Energy Policy
Sarah Ladislaw and Nikos Tsafos, CSIS
U.S. foreign policy has always thought about energy and, more recently, climate. In the last decade, however, the energy landscape has changed dramatically. These changes are occurring within broader geopolitical shifts, which redefine the context for U.S. foreign energy and climate policy. In January 2021, a new administration, and maybe a new president, will be sworn in and the continued search for an international energy and climate strategy will go through another iteration.
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