Energy
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Essential energy industry news & intel to start your day.
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September 23, 2022
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Today’s Top News
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President Joe Biden said the federal government will pay 100% of Puerto Rico’s recovery costs over the next month, including debris removal, power and water restoration, shelter and food, as the island tries to rebuild after Hurricane Fiona hit over the weekend. The federal government typically pays 75% of disaster recovery expenses and shares the remaining cost with state and local entities. (Politico)
- The California Air Resources Board voted to phase out natural gas for heating homes and businesses by requiring all new space and water heaters sold in the state by 2030 to have zero emissions. The agency will craft standards for the heaters in an effort to come into compliance with federal air quality standards over the next 15 years, as the rule is expected to rely heavily on heat pumps. (Reuters)
- Biden administration officials have looked at ousting World Bank President David Malpass after he failed to directly answer if climate change was caused by humans during a climate week discussion in New York City, although Malpass has been on thin ice for months, people familiar with the matter said. The process for replacing Malpass, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2019, would likely be messy, officials acknowledge. (Axios)
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Richard Glick said the agency is ready to use its new authority as detailed in Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) permitting proposal, but noted that FERC “can’t move forward from a progress perspective on policy related to transmission just at FERC, and the states can’t do it alone.” Manchin’s bill, called the Energy Independence and Security Act, would for the first time give the agency authority to issue permits for long-distance transmission lines listed as being in the national interest. (E&E News)
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| PRESENTED BY THE NATIONAL CORN GROWERS ASSOCIATION |
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What Else You Need to Know
Schumer looks for way past Manchin permitting impasse
Alexander Bolton, The Hill
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is looking for a way to avoid a government shutdown next week while also keeping his promise to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to pass permitting reform before October.
Lawmakers want to change permitting bill. Will they succeed?
Jeremy Dillon et al., E&E News
The new permitting reform proposal is already facing calls from skeptical lawmakers who want to dramatically change it.
World Bank Leader, Accused of Climate Denial, Offers a New Response
David Gelles and Alan Rappeport, The New York Times
David Malpass touched off a furor, including calls for his removal, when he refused to acknowledge that fossil fuels are warming the planet.
House GOP agenda light on energy details, silent on climate
George Cahlink and Timothy Cama, E&E News
House Republican leaders Friday plan to outline an agenda for GOP candidates to campaign on this fall that highlights long-standing conservative energy priorities like expanded domestic production and regulatory reforms.
Overdue reform or underhanded deal? Here’s what’s in Manchin’s permitting bill.
Jake Bittle and Naveena Sadasivam, Grist
The bill drew criticism from both sides of the aisle, but it’s unclear how it would affect U.S. emissions.
BlackRock’s pension funds face ESG criticism from New York Comptroller
Reuters
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said he is reassessing business relationships with BlackRock Inc., among other asset managers, on concerns that it is straying from its “climate commitments”.
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Climate Change and Emissions
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Oil, Gas and Alternative Fuels
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Talos to buy Gulf of Mexico oil producer EnVen in $1.1 bln deal
Reuters
Talos Energy Inc. said on Thursday it will buy EnVen Energy Corp, a private producer in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico, in a $1.1 billion deal including debt.
How Texas’ abortion ban hurts Big Oil’s effort to transform its workforce
Liz Hampton and Sabrina Valle, Reuters
As Texas officials moved to restrict abortion, promote Christianity in schools and the state’s power grid teetered on collapse, oil worker Steven Beaman and his wife Hayley Hollands decided it was time to live elsewhere.
Sustainable fuel startup Air Company to sell to JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic
Doyinsola Oladipo, Reuters
Sustainable fuel startup Air Company has multi-year agreements to sell jet fuel made from captured carbon emissions to carriers JetBlue Airways Corp. and Britain’s Virgin Atlantic, the companies said on Thursday.
Judge approves $230M settlement in California oil spill case
The Associated Press
A judge has approved a $230 million lawsuit settlement by the owners of a pipeline that spilled more than 140,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean off California in 2015, lawyers announced Thursday.
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Electricity, Utilities and Infrastructure
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Environment, Land and Resources
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California to again protect insurance policies in fire areas
The Associated Press
California temporarily banned insurance companies Thursday from dropping customers in areas affected by recent wildfires, a day after evacuation orders were lifted for residents near a two-week-old blaze that’s become the largest in the state so far this year.
Wildfires are burning higher in the West, threatening water supplies
Joshua Partlow, The Washington Post
Winter snowpack that melts slowly in the spring and summer is a primary water source for the West. And so these trends of more fire at higher elevations and faster melting represent “a major threat to a critical water reservoir for the region,” said Dan McGrath, a Colorado State University scientist.
Can modern water management save the Rio Grande?
Jennifer Yachnin, E&E News
Kneeling near an irrigation ditch carrying muddy water through modern metal and century-old wooden headgates, Rep. Melanie Stansbury is using a stick to sketch a map of the Rio Grande’s path through New Mexico.
Fiona will lash parts of Canada as region’s strongest storm on record
Matthew Cappucci, The Washington Post
Parts of Atlantic Canada are bracing for hurricane-force winds, heavy rainfall and a dangerous storm surge.
More consumers buying organic, but US farmers still wary
Scott McFetridge, The Associated Press
In the 1970s when George Naylor said he wanted to grow organic crops, the idea didn’t go over well.
The Corn Belt will get hotter. Farmers will have to adapt.
John McCracken, Grist
The nation’s largest corn producing region could soon be known as the Extreme Heat Belt.
Where the Colorado River crisis is hitting home
Kirk Siegler, NPR News
These days it can feel almost cliche to throw around the word Dystopian. But it’s hard not to use it while standing on the narrow road crossing the Hoover Dam as tourists gawk at the hulking structure’s exposed columns that for decades were underwater.
EPA may try to block what could be the first seawater desalination plant built in Texas
Erin Douglas, The Texas Tribune
Citing water quality concerns, the Environmental Protection Agency may refuse to recognize a permit that Texas approved Thursday for a marine desalination plant at the Port of Corpus Christi.
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A Message From the National Corn Growers Association:
Corn ethanol is an economic and environmentally friendly energy source available today. Low carbon liquid fuels are essential to decarbonizing the transportation sector successfully and affordably. In fact, according to researchers from Harvard, MIT, and Tufts, corn ethanol cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 46% compared to GHG emissions from gasoline. Learn more about how corn ethanol is part of the climate solution. Low-Carbon, High-Octane, Low-Cost.
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Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
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The World’s Militaries Aren’t Ready for Climate Change
Erin Sikorsky, Foreign Policy
As the war in Ukraine continued this summer, with billions of dollars’ worth of military aid pouring into Kyiv from its allies and partners, governments around the world were also busy deploying their militaries to deal with a less conventional threat: climate change.
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