Today, the U.S. Senators on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to consider President Biden’s nominations to fill current and future vacancies for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The FERC nominees are Democrats Judy Chang and David Rosner, and Republican Lindsay See. By statute, only three of the five commissioners can be from the same political party. FERC is an independent federal agency that makes key decisions about our nation’s energy future, including the interstate transmission of methane gas and electricity.
Oil and gas industry executives kicked off CERAWeek by dismissing the urgent need to meet globally agreed upon climate goals and calling for an increase in fossil fuel extraction and exports against scientific evidence, according to reporting from Politico. The industry message emerging from CERAWeek overlaps with House Republicans’ dirty “energy week.”
More than 70 climate, health and consumer organizations have called for utilities across the nation to leave the American Gas Association (AGA) over their efforts to block climate policies and proliferate disinformation about the health risks of gas stove pollution. AGA receives millions in annual dues from utilities across the country, primarily paid for through customer bills.
The IEA published its annual World Energy Outlook today, which shows that progress is being made to move the global economy to renewable resources, but there is still too much reliance on fossil fuels that put energy security and the future livability of the planet at risk. Thanks to existing policies, including the U.S.’s Inflation Reduction Act, IEA predicts global fossil fuel demand will peak by 2030 and urges that the transition to renewable energy must happen as quickly as possible. “The sooner the better,” according to IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.
SACRAMENTO, CA – In a stunning turn for the state claiming to lead the country when it comes to renewable energy advances, California’s Public Utilities Commission yesterday authorized SoCalGas to study transporting hydrogen derived from carbon-emitting sources via its Angeles Link project. SoCalGas had proposed to study transport of “green” hydrogen - hydrogen produced exclusively from renewable energy and water.
President Biden said in a speech that he was willing to work with Congress to enact a windfall profits tax on oil and gas companies. Oil and gas prices have hit record highs this year, as fossil fuel executives have used their profits to enrich shareholders and investors rather than easing the pain for consumers.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released its annual World Energy Outlook (WEO) and it underscores how critical the clean energy transition is for global security and energy price stability. The report finds that the global energy crisis, spurred in large part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has been felt hardest by low-income communities, but is blunted in regions with a strong commitment to renewable sources of energy.
Conservation groups finalized an agreement with the Bureau of Land Management today that blocks drilling on more than 45,000 acres of oil and gas leases until officials revise land-management plans governing approximately 2 million acres of public lands in western Colorado.
WASHINGTON, D.C.-- The Nuclear Fuels Working Group released recommendations today calling for a revival of the uranium industry and increased U.S. exports. The recommendations are the latest proposal in a string of Trump administration rollbacks put forward during the coronavirus pandemic that would create new threats to public health. Though widely opposed, uranium industry bailouts have been floated as part of the country’s COVID-19 response.
arlier this week the U.S. Forest Service announced it would be proposing changes to rules that govern how the agency handles oil and gas leasing by the Bureau of Land Management in National Forests. Also announced were changes to rules governing hardrock mineral locations. Unsurprisingly, given the Trump administration’s dirty-fuels first agenda, these rule changes are designed to “reduce the burden on industry” and speed leasing on public lands.
GRAND CANYON, AZ – Emmy-nominated actress Yvonne Strahovski (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) stars in a new video out today calling for protection of the Grand Canyon from toxic uranium mining. The actress recently joined a Sierra Club outing to the Grand Canyon region with her husband, actor Tim Loden, to experience the wonder of Arizona’s immense national park and to see first-hand the need to permanently protect it.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Today the Department of the Interior released draft management plans for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. The proposed plans leave most of Bears Ears without protections, and open significant portions of Grand Staircase to dirty fuel development. The management plans are moving forward for public comment despite current legal challenges to the Trump administration’s illegal actions to shrink the monuments.