General
In contentious vote, Pennsylvania takes formal step towards joining regional cap and trade market
Robert Walton, Utility Dive
The Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB) on Tuesday voted 13-6 to launch a formal rulemaking process required for the state to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a carbon cap and trade program among 10 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.
Water company withdraws desalination proposal as battle over environmental justice heats up
Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times
Amid mounting controversy and concerns over environmental justice, California American Water on Wednesday withdrew its application for a desalination project in the small Monterey Bay town of Marina.
Oil Steadies Before OPEC+ Review Meeting on Tackling Oversupply
Sharon Cho and Grant Smith, Bloomberg
Oil steadied after its biggest surge since June as the OPEC cartel and its partners prepared to assess a downbeat outlook for the crude market.
Oil and Natural Gas
Oil Producers’ Best Customers Are in Trouble
Jinjoo Lee, The Wall Street Journal
Oil-producing nations have shown remarkable discipline so far in making sure the global supply will be somewhat predictable. Demand, however, is proving much more elusive.
Gas Companies Are Abandoning Their Wells, Leaving Them to Leak Methane Forever
Mya Frazier, Bloomberg
Just one orphaned site in California could have emitted more than 30 tons of methane. There are millions more like it.
An Oil Giant’s Case for Peak Demand, Even Without Climate Heroics
Nathaniel Bullard, Bloomberg
BP’s annual energy outlook sees consumption topping out in the next decade even in its most likely scenarios.
Climate policies, curbs on oil drilling central to Ventura County’s adopted General Plan
Kathleen Wilson, Ventura County Star
County supervisors on Tuesday adopted a general plan for the next 20 years with measures to slow down climate change and increase restrictions on oil drilling near homes and schools in unincorporated areas.
Green groups sue EPA over methane rollbacks
Rachel Frazin, The Hill
A coalition of environmental and tribal groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its rollback of two rules meant to limit the amount of methane emitted by the oil and gas sector.
Dakota Access Oil Pipe Likely Safe From Shutdown Through 2020
Ellen Gilmer, Bloomberg Law
The Dakota Access oil pipeline is poised to stay in service at least through December under a new court schedule, assuming the Trump administration doesn’t force a shutdown.
Utilities and Infrastructure
FERC Nominees Pledge Open Mind on Climate Science, Carbon Tax
Kellie Lunney, Bloomberg Law
The Democratic and Republican nominees for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission told senators that if confirmed they’ll follow the law and facts of individual cases that come before them without favoring any specific energy source.
Renewables
New York State Looks to Fast-Track Renewable Energy Projects
Keshia Clukey, Bloomberg Law
New York state is aiming to speed up renewable energy project siting and construction as it aims to meet its climate change goals, according to proposed regulations released Wednesday.
BP’s renewable energy plans come into focus
Ben Geman, Axios
BP is providing more info this week about its decades-long plan to diversify away from its dominant fossil fuel business — including expectations for the first few years.
World’s Top Electric-Car Battery Business Moves Toward IPO
Kyunghee Park, Bloomberg
South Korean petrochemicals maker LG Chem Ltd. will split off its electric-vehicle battery business into a separate entity, seeking to carve out value as global EV demand increases.
Coal/Nuclear
Trump’s Promise to Revive Coal Thwarted by Falling Demand, Cheaper Alternatives
Rebecca Elliott and Jonathan Randles, The Wall Street Journal
Production is declining at a faster rate than under Obama; still, many in the industry fear things would be even worse under Biden,
BP outlines the path for coal in annual outlook
Ben Geman, Axios
The biggest takeaway from BP’s annual long-term outlook was about peak oil demand, but there are other interesting points in the report as well— including its take on coal’s future.
Climate
As Wildfires Rage, California Presses Insurers to Cut Rates
Christopher Flavelle, The New York Times
Faced with the twin climate crises of historic wildfires and spiraling insurance costs, California on Wednesday laid out new rules to make insurance more affordable in fire-prone areas. But the changes could backfire, experts say — pushing insurers to stop offering insurance in those areas and further imperiling communities on the front lines of climate change.
What Trump’s Environmental Rollbacks Mean for Global Warming
Nadja Popovich and Brad Plumer, The New York Times
President Trump has made dismantling federal climate policies a centerpiece of his administration. A new analysis from the Rhodium Group finds those rollbacks add up to a lot more planet-warming emissions.
Hurricane Sally’s Fierce Rain Shows How Climate Change Raises Storm Risks
Henry Fountain and John Schwartz, The New York Times
Staggering rain totals, fueled by a warming atmosphere that can hold more moisture, are being recorded from the storm.
It’s Not Just the West. These Places Are Also on Fire.
Veronica Penney, The New York Times
Extreme temperatures and more severe droughts, the result of human-caused climate change, have created a world that’s ready to burn.
Trump’s plan for managing forests won’t save us in a more flammable world, experts say
Sarah Kaplan and Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post
In California, smoke plumes spun into twisters made out of soot and flame, prompting the first-ever “fire tornado” warning. In Oregon, blazes advanced on towns so rapidly that even fire crews had to flee. Never in memory have so many fires burned so much land in so many places over such a short span of time. The smoke has enveloped the whole continent, dimming the sun in cities 2,000 miles away.
Vermont governor vetoes global warming solutions act
The Associated Press
Republican Gov. Phil Scott has vetoed a bill that would have required Vermont to meet certain greenhouse gas emissions targets in the coming years and allowed the state to be sued if it didn’t.
These Scientists Are Studying Why California Keeps Burning
Eric Roston, Bloomberg
Residents of fire-ravaged Western states, and an entire world of observers looking on in horror, have asked themselves, “How can this be happening?”
Smoke from U.S. fires reaches Europe
Rebecca Falconer, Axios
Smoke from the historic wildfires ravaging the U.S. West was observed over the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe this week, and it will return to the continent this weekend, per European scientists’ research.
Bill Gates Warns Climate Change Is an Even Harder Problem Than the Pandemic
Erik Schatzker, Bloomberg
The world could use some big breakthroughs—a vaccine to combat coronavirus and innovations to mitigate climate change among them. The Microsoft Corp. co-founder speaks with Bloomberg’s Erik Schatzker about his passion for both, the nightmare that is misinformation, and the difference between Elon Musk and Steve Jobs.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
Activists Threaten Tens of Billions in Investment that Could Aid COVID-19 Economic Recovery
David Holt, Morning Consult
Attacks on traditional (and, increasingly, renewable) energy projects remain a confounding and troubling trend in the United States, and it’s one that puts particular special interests of a few activists and their ideological, political and commercial allies above the needs of ordinary families and small businesses.
After Oil: Throwing Money at Green Energy Isn’t Enough
Meghan L. O’Sullivan, Bloomberg
Lots of stimulus funds are being directed to renewable technologies, but government policies will be more important.
Research Reports
Electric Vehicle Report: The Road to Clean Air
American Lung Association
The transportation sector is a leading contributor to both climate change and air pollution. With nearly half of Americans living with unhealthy air, and climate change making it harder to protect public health today, “The Road to Clean Air” report highlights the potential for major public health and climate change benefits through a robust nationwide transition to electric vehicles.
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