General
Top Leader at Interior Dept. Pushes a Policy Favoring His Former Client
Coral Davenport, The New York Times
As a top official since 2017 at the Interior Department, Mr. Bernhardt has been finishing the job: He is working to strip away the rules the farmers had hired him to oppose.
Senate rejects bid to block future national monuments in Utah
Timothy Cama, The Hill
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) wanted to attach the amendment to the Natural Resources Management Act, a wide-ranging public lands bill that has bipartisan support. The legislation includes provisions related to recreation, access to land and indefinitely extending the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Supreme Court environmental cases: The watch list
Ellen M. Gilmer, E&E News
Court watchers have their eyes on three types of cases: the ones already argued, a few on deck this spring and petitions the high court hasn’t yet decided to review.
Appeals court sides with Trump in border wall prototype dispute
Lydia Wheeler and Timothy Cama, The Hill
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court ruling that sided with the Trump administration in a lawsuit challenging its authority to waive environmental and public participation laws to expedite the border construction projects.
Oil up nearly 2 percent on Saudi and OPEC cuts
Noah Browning, Reuters
Oil prices gained nearly 2 percent on Tuesday, supported by OPEC-led production cuts which Saudi Arabia said it would surpass by over half a million barrels per day (bpd) and by U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela.
Oil and Natural Gas
Antero agrees to $3.15m fine in W.Va. pollution settlement
The Associated Press
The U.S. Department of Justice says in a news release the agency and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection reached a proposed settlement with Antero Resources Corp. over allegations of Clean Water Act violations at sites in Doddridge, Harrison and Tyler counties.
Saudi Arabia goes on the hunt for global oil and gas
Anjli Raval and David Sheppard, Financial Times
Saudi Arabia plans to develop an international energy exploration and production business for the first time, doubling down on oil and gas even as the kingdom seeks to curb its reliance on hydrocarbons.
With Iran squeezed out, U.S. oil takes on new rivals in Europe
Olga Yagova and Devika Krishna Kumar, Reuters
U.S. giant Exxon Mobil and European rival Royal Dutch/Shell prepared brochures for oil buyers detailing various U.S. crude grades and why they were suitable to replace part of Asia’s long-standing supplies from the Middle East, Africa and Russia.
Europe to be top US LNG export destination: Eni executive
Nick Coleman, Platts
Europe is likely to be a prime destination for US LNG cargoes well into the next decade as shipping costs make Europe preferable to Asia as a destination for US exporters, Massimo Montavani, head of gas and LNG marketing at Italy’s Eni, said Monday.
Kremlin: no talks are underway to create new Russia-OPEC alliance
Gleb Stolyarov and Tom Balmforth, Reuters
Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in December it was highly unlikely OPEC and other oil producers would set up a joint structure due to the additional red tape it would create, as well as the risk of U.S. sanctions against monopolies.
Exchange giants take their rivalry to Texas as shale oil booms
Gregory Meyer and David Sheppard, Financial Times
Last last year, exchange operators CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange introduced duelling futures contracts that track the price of West Texas Intermediate crude as delivered at the coastal city.
Utilities and Infrastructure
New US gas pipeline capacity installed rose 35% in 2018: FERC report
Maya Weber, Platts
About 13 Bcf/d of new interstate pipeline capacity was placed in service in 2018, a 35% rise from 9.7 Bcf/d added the prior year, according to FERC’s recently released December 2018 infrastructure report.
Renewables
Upstart Rivian Could Be a Tesla Disrupter in SUVs and Pickups
Esha Dey, Bloomberg
The nascent electric vehicle market in the U.S. — currently dominated by Tesla Inc. — hasn’t been around long, but it’s already due for a disruption.
Solar energy sector lost 8,000 jobs in US last year, but future looks bright – report
Edward Helmore, The Guardian
The solar energy sector lost 8,000 jobs in the US last year, the second consecutive year of declines, hit by uncertainty over the Trump administration’s energy and trade policies and a 30% tariff on imported solar panels, according to a report released on Tuesday.
Trump’s Tariffs Took a Bite Out of Once-Booming Solar Job Market
Brian Eckhouse, Bloomberg
U.S. solar jobs fell for a second straight year as companies, expecting President Donald Trump to slap tariffs on their imports, delayed projects. The good news for the industry: They’re set to bounce back in 2019.
Coal
First U.S. Coal Plant in Years Opens Where No Options Exist
Joe Ryan, Bloomberg
One way to boost coal in the U.S.: Find a spot near a mine with no access to oil or natural gas pipelines, where it’s not particularly windy and it’s dark much of the year.
Nuclear
NRC sends notice to end MOX construction
Sarah LeBlanc, The Augusta Chronicle
According to a news release from the Savannah River Site Watch, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission sent a letter terminating the construction license for the South Carolina project to CB&I Areva MOX Services on Friday.
API, NGSA file brief with US Supreme Court opposing state-level nuclear power subsidies
Jared Anderson, Platts
Trade groups American Petroleum Institute and Natural Gas Supply Association want the US Supreme Court to grant review of, and overturn lower court rulings that upheld nuclear subsidy programs in New York and Illinois.
Climate
Climate groups threaten lawsuit to force Shell to ditch oil
Ivana Kottasová, CNN
A coalition of environmental groups in the Netherlands said Tuesday that they will hand over a court summons on April 5 if Shell does not change its business model to comply with the Paris climate accord.
Climate Studies, Research Feel Lingering Aftermath of Shutdown
Bobby Magill, Bloomberg BNA
Scientific monitoring in the Pacific Ocean, using buoys to take seawater temperatures, screeched to a halt when the government recently shut down for 35 days.
The Tiny Swiss Company That Thinks It Can Help Stop Climate Change
Jon Gertner, The New York Times Magazine
Just over a century ago in Ludwigshafen, Germany, a scientist named Carl Bosch assembled a team of engineers to exploit a new technique in chemistry. A year earlier, another German chemist, Fritz Haber, hit upon a process to pull nitrogen (N) from the air and combine it with hydrogen (H) to produce tiny amounts of ammonia (NH₃).
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
Vote on the Green New Deal
The Editorial Board, The Wall Street Journal
Democrats rolled out their Green New Deal last week, and by all means let’s have a national debate and then a vote in Congress—as soon as possible. Here in one package is what the political left really means when it says Americans need to do something urgently about climate change, so let’s see who has the courage of those convictions.
To cut carbon emissions, the nuclear option isn’t optional
Maria Korsnick, The Hill
With every new report of rising carbon emissions and its consequences — including recent findings that oceans are warming unsustainably and Antarctica’s ice reserves are disappearing at a dangerous rate — the argument that we can afford to neglect or reject emissions-free sources like nuclear grows more absurd.
Research Reports
National Solar Jobs Census
The Solar Foundation
This year’s National Solar Jobs Census found that solar employment experienced its second decline since The Solar Foundation first began tracking jobs in 2010. As of November 2018, the solar industry employs over 242,000 solar workers, representing a decline of 3.2%, or 8,000 fewer jobs, since 2017.
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