General
Obama takes shot at Trump over rollback of vehicle emission standards
Ursula Perano, Axios
Former President Obama tweeted a rare rebuke of President Trump on Tuesday over the current administration’s rollback of Obama-era vehicle emissions standards.
Trump Calls New Fuel Economy Rule a Boon. Some Experts See Steep Costs.
Coral Davenport, The New York Times
The Trump administration on Tuesday announced a new rule on automobile fuel efficiency, completing the president’s rollback of Obama-era standards and gutting the federal government’s most important climate change policy.
California cities want transparency rules waived in pandemic
Juliet Williams, The Associated Press
Citing the unprecedented challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic, city officials across California are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to suspend or delay numerous state laws, saying they can’t comply with everything from environmental regulations to public records laws that give people a window into how the government is spending public money.
EPA Gave Congress Inaccurate Grants Data, Internal Watchdog Says
Stephen Lee, Bloomberg Environment
The EPA gave inaccurate information to Congress about its grant awards, potentially influencing lawmakers’ spending and policy decisions, the agency’s internal watchdog said Tuesday. As of September 2019, the Environmental Protection Agency had $8.3 million in unspent balances for grants that expired one year or more earlier, the agency’s Office of Inspector General revealed in a report.
Our environmental practices make pandemics like the coronavirus more likely
Sigal Samuel, Vox
The story we tell about pandemics casts us as victims of nature. It’s the other way around.
Left-Behind Industries Clamor for Billions in Next Stimulus Bill
Jennifer A. Dlouhy et al., Bloomberg Environment
Industries that missed out on the largest stimulus bill in U.S. history are already lobbying to ensure they get a piece of the next one.
The state’s new delta water rules don’t end conflict with Washington
Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times
When the Trump administration rolled back endangered species protections in the Bay Area delta that serves as the hub of California’s water-supply system, the state decided to go its own way.
Oil Holds Above $20 as Saudi Output Surges, Russia’s Won’t Rise
Alex Longley, Bloomberg
Oil held near $20 a barrel as Saudi Aramco’s output surged above 12 million barrels a day, but Russia said it would refrain from further production hikes.
Oil and Natural Gas
Oil Companies on Tumbling Prices: ‘Disastrous, Devastating’
Clifford Krauss, The New York Times
The once mighty oil industry is shrinking quickly around the world, hunkering down in survival mode. With the coronavirus pandemic all but eliminating travel and commutes, demand for energy is tumbling, and oil companies from Algeria to West Texas are slashing budgets. Refineries are cutting production of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Pipeline operators are telling producers that they can ship crude only if there is a buyer willing to take the fuel because storage tanks are filling up fast. And American oil companies are dropping rigs, dismissing fracking crews and beginning to shut down wells.
OPEC March oil output rises from 2009 low after supply pact collapse
Alex Lawler, Reuters
OPEC oil output rose in March from the lowest in more than a decade last month as Saudi Arabia boosted output following the collapse of an OPEC-led supply pact, offsetting further declines in Libya, Iran and Venezuela.
Trucking Demand Throws a Lifeline to Ailing Refineries
Jeffrey Bair, Bloomberg
With jets grounded and cars parked, diesel fuel for trucking is giving some relief to refiners as the coronavirus spread cuts deep into demand.
Shell secures $12bn credit facility to safeguard dividend
Anjli Raval, Financial Times
Energy major boosts available liquidity to more than $40bn as coronavirus bites.
U.S. LNG Behemoth Tests Slump in Sign It May Curb Production
Naureen S. Malik et al., Bloomberg
One of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas exporters is signaling it may throttle back production. Cheniere Energy Inc. has tendered to buy six shipments for delivery to Europe later this year, a rare step for a company that’s fundamentally a seller of the fuel. The company could be testing the size of the current glut as it weighs output cuts, or even seeking cargoes for its customers that could be cheaper than producing and shipping its own from the U.S. Gulf Coast, according to a Bloomberg survey of traders.
Oil’s Apocalyptic April Is Set to Reverberate for Years to Come
Ben Sharples, Bloomberg
Oil is entering a period of unparalleled demand destruction this month that promises to transform the industry for years to come. Daily consumption will plummet by 15 million to 22 million barrels in April from a year earlier, according to estimates from some of the world’s most influential energy analysts. The crash has already led to refiners slashing processing, drillers halting output and storage tanks swelling across the world.
How the oil price collapse could reduce methane emissions — or make them much worse
Naveena Sadasivam, Grist
Last year, oil and gas companies in the country’s two largest shale fields either burned off or directly released almost 500 billion cubic feet of natural gas into the air. That figure is more than the total natural gas released nationwide the year prior — and it would be sufficient to heat about 6 million homes for a year, if it hadn’t been wasted.
Utilities and Infrastructure
PG&E Won’t Make Victims of Deadly Fire Pay Its Criminal Fine
Joel Rosenblatt, Bloomberg
PG&E Corp. won’t tap a fund for wildfire victims to pay $4 million in fines and expenses for involuntary manslaughter, avoiding a possible hurdle to its exit from bankruptcy. Insurers with claims against PG&E in bankruptcy agreed to wait 15 days to be paid, letting the fund generate enough interest to cover the fine, according to a lawyer for the fire victims.
For electric cooperatives, the COVID-19 crisis is unique from other emergencies: NRECA chief
Jeffrey Ryser, S&P Global Platts
Electric co-ops, guided by their coronavirus pandemic plans, are preparing to operate with a smaller workforce, potential disruptions in the supply chain, and limited support services for an extended period of time, the head of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association said Tuesday.
Power industry response to COVID-19 aided by lessons learned from grid security drills
Jasmin Melvin, S&P Global Platts
Coordination with the natural gas and telecommunications sectors as well as supply chain challenges continue to be areas the electricity industry needs to improve upon to better withstand threats to the grid, but a number of practices honed during grid security exercises have aided the power industry’s response to the current coronavirus pandemic, officials with the North American Electric Reliability Corp. told reporters Tuesday.
Renewables
This former oil driller taps into the Earth’s clean energy
Grist
There’s power locked inside our planet: heat that could be tapped to provide a rock-solid source of renewable electricity. By borrowing tools and know-how from the dirty business of oil and gas extraction, Tim Latimer’s San Francisco startup, Fervo Energy, hopes to use that heat to create a far cleaner energy future.
Covid-19 Wreaks Havoc on the Wind Industry
Bloomberg NEF
The spread of Covid-19 has plunged the wind industry into unprecedented uncertainty. Supply-chain disruption and labor shortages are putting what promised to be a record year into jeopardy and have caused us to slash our 2020 onshore wind forecast.
Coal
Coronavirus is accelerating the demise of coal power in the US
Michael J. Coren, Quartz
As the coronavirus crushes energy demand around the world, the bottom has fallen out from under an already weak coal industry. Moody’s Investors Services recently warned coal firms are facing a wave of bankruptcies—with few ways out.
Newly approved mine expansion could provide coal, and jobs, well into 2031
Tom Lutey, Casper Star Tribune
Spring Creek Mine was on Monday granted the expansion, which could yield an additional 72 million tons of coal, in a decision by Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality. The approval should extend the life of the mine to 2031, four years longer than current conditions allow.
Nuclear
Nuclear regulators ease some power reactor regs in response to COVID-19
Matthew Bandyk, Utility Dive
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its strain on available nuclear plant personnel, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is allowing power reactor operators to apply for temporary exemptions from regulations limiting the amount of hours workers can stay on the job, according to a letter released by the agency on Monday.
The Quest for Next-Generation Nuclear Fuels
Power
The brightest prospects in the vast realm of possibilities that relate to the future of nuclear power are advanced reactor technologies. The reason is, experts will tell you, because many are inherently safer. But because they can also be relatively small and flexible, they could fit the bill for less-developed grids, complement renewables, and even pry open new non-electric applications.
Climate
Coronavirus: When Meeting a National Emissions-Reduction Goal May Not Be a Good Thing
Dan Gearino, InsideClimate News
Climate scientists and environmental advocates say any short-term drop in emissions gives a misleading sense of progress. This could do harm if it saps some of the urgency to address climate change at a time when there are many competing demands for public money and attention.
Outbreak reveals radical climate idea: Economic ‘degrowth’
Daniel Cusick, E&E News
Some climate-focused economists see the COVID-19 pandemic as an unwitting experiment for a radical strategy to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The concept is called “degrowth.” It involves a planned slowdown of economic sectors that emit large amounts of global carbon dioxide. Those sectors would scale down until the broader economy meets “sustainable emissions levels,” advancing long-term health and environmental goals.
The planet is full of land holding ‘irrecoverable carbon’—and it’s at risk
Adele Peters, Fast Company
If we keep cutting down trees or destroying marshes, it won’t matter how many emissions we stop: The planet won’t be able to reabsorb the carbon we’ve released in time.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
Free-Market Principles, Not Overreaction, Key to Resolving Oil Market Volatility
George Nethercutt, Morning Consult
Saudi Arabia’s recent announcement that it would abandon restraints on its crude oil production has sent shockwaves through the global oil market. The price per barrel of oil has plummeted from $60 per barrel at the beginning of the year to the $20 range earlier this week.
Trump’s Energy Dominance Gives Way to Incoherence
Liam Denning, Bloomberg
There are better ways to shock-proof America than asking Russia for help and rolling back efficiency.
Research Reports
Reduced net methane emissions due to microbial methane oxidation in a warmer Arctic
Youmi Oh et al., Nature Climate Change
Methane emissions from organic-rich soils in the Arctic have been extensively studied due to their potential to increase the atmospheric methane burden as permafrost thaws.
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