Governors' Wind Energy Coalition

The Biden administration has championed carbon removal projects as better neighbors than the pollution-spewing industries of the past. But the Department of Energy’s first two candidates for its $3.5 billion direct air capture program have conducted an opaque early outreach process in the disadvantaged Louisiana and Texas communities where the projects would be built. Some residents and advocates say they feel shut out of a process that was intended to protect them.

As Republican presidential hopefuls slam President Joe Biden’s energy policy on the campaign trail, his administration seems to have an obvious political weapon: surging oil production. Domestic production is projected to reach an all-time record high of 12.9 million barrels a day by the end of this year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. A data analysis by E&E News also shows that the Bureau of Land Management has approved more oil and gas leases on federal lands during Biden’s first two years and seven months as president than former President Trump did during the same amount of time at the beginning of his administration.

“A government shutdown will impact agencies doing important work implementing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and hurt America’s energy economy,” Erin Duncan, vice president of congressional affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association said in a statement. “Businesses are mobilizing now to incorporate IRA programs into their work. Delays in implementation mean delays in investment and, importantly, delays in hiring thousands of workers.”

A cumulative $12 trillion will be spent on clean energy in North America by 2050, but neither the U.S. or Canada are on track to meet their 2050 net zero emissions targets, says a new report from analysis and consulting firm DNV. Some of the biggest barriers to net zero in the U.S. include the lack of transmission buildout and continually increasing demand for electricity, said Cornelis Plet, who leads DNV’s power system advisory team.

Along a parched stretch of La Salle County, Texas, workers last year dug some 700 feet deep into the ground, seeking freshwater. Millions of gallons of it. The water wouldn’t supply homes or irrigate farms. It was being used by the petroleum giant BP to frack for fossil fuels. The water would be mixed with sand and toxic chemicals and pumped right back underground — forcing oil and gas from the bedrock. It was a reminder that to strike oil in America, you need water. Plenty of it.

President Joe Biden’s new crusade to recruit thousands of young people for clean energy and conservation jobs doesn’t yet include his top climate change-fighting agency. The White House announced Wednesday the creation of the American Climate Corps, which will place 20,000 young people in careers centering on addressing global warming in the program’s first year. Six agencies will sign a memorandum of understanding to implement the new initiative. EPA, despite being the tip of the Biden administration’s regulatory spear against greenhouse gas emissions, is not one of them.

The Biden administration announced plans Thursday to consider climate costs in a much broader swath of government policies and decisions than ever before — including how the federal government wields its massive buying power. The social cost of greenhouse gases — a metric for the climate damage done by a ton of carbon dioxide or methane as it enters the atmosphere — has been a regulatory staple for years. But on Thursday the president ordered agencies to get ready to use it consistently in a host of other government activities — including annual budgets, permitting decisions and foreign assistance programs.

A federal judge has upheld one of the Biden administration’s more unconventional efforts to tackle climate change. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Amarillo today rejected a Republican-led challenge to a Labor Department rule that makes it easier for retirement plan sponsors to account for climate risks with environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing.

In a recent development, the Joint Corporations Committee addressed a proposed bill that sought to impose a moratorium on renewable energy in Wyoming. This proposed legislation triggered discussions and debates, emphasizing the importance of sustainable energy and its integration into the state’s energy portfolio. The bill aimed to halt the progress of renewable energy projects in Wyoming, sparking concerns among advocates for sustainable energy. They argued that sweeping policies like moratoriums, especially concerning vital energy resources, can have adverse effects on utility costs and stifle the growth of renewable energy in the state.

While the United States has excellent wind resources over much of the country, some locations are less windy and, as a result, have not seen much wind energy development. Harnessing wind power in a cost-effective manner has long been a challenge in these areas. But new technologies could make it possible to profitably capture winds blowing higher above the ground across much of the United States.