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Pandemic crisis offers glimpse into oil industry’s future
John Browne, the former chief executive of BP, has witnessed first hand the ups and downs of the oil industry for more than five decades. But unlike the usual market cycles of boom and bust he believes the coronavirus-linked price crash will serve as a warning for the industry of what is to come. “We’re seeing just how fragile the world is in this pandemic, and awareness of fragility is a very important thing in shaping human behaviour,” Lord Browne says. “People who have spent months worrying about their lungs are more likely to want clean air.” [ read more … ]
Pandemic
Poll– More than half of voters support renewable bailout
The Morning Consult poll shows that support for the renewable industry is higher than that for a bailout of the oil and gas industry, but it showed support for the latter also went unchanged between the two polls, even as oil prices dipped below zero last month. [ read more … ]
Energy transition to be shaped by world response to COVID-19
The coronavirus pandemic may accelerate a shift from fossil fuel spending to investments in renewable energy, but the pace of that transition depends heavily on how governments direct economic recovery spending, and whether the consumer behavior changes induced by the outbreak become permanent. [ read more … ]
Coronavirus crisis hits solar and wind energy industry
The coronavirus crisis is not only battering the oil and gas industry. It’s drying up capital and disrupting supply chains for businesses trying to move the country toward cleaner sources of energy. While President Trump has promised lifelines for airlines and oil companies struggling with a drastic decrease in demand as Americans remain under stay-at-home orders, there is little focus in Washington on economic relief for this sector — unlike during the Great Recession a decade ago, when Congress and the Obama administration earmarked an unprecedented sum for renewable energy and more efficient automobiles in a stimulus bill.
[ read more … ]
Grid
Trump’s grid security executive order will create vendor ‘black list,’ complicate equipment sourcing
President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order halting the installation of bulk-power system (BPS) equipment “designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied, by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary.” The order will effectively create a “black list of companies” from which utilities will need to stop purchasing equipment. [ read more … ]
Climate
Is gas really better than coal for the climate?
America’s carbon dioxide emissions have fallen consistently over the last 15 years in large part because power companies have swapped coal for natural gas. Now it appears that those CO2 reductions might be smaller than previously thought. A recent study by the Environmental Defense Fund found that 3.7% of natural gas produced in the Permian Basin leaked into the atmosphere. That’s enough to erase the greenhouse gas benefits of quitting coal for gas in the near term. [ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
Judge cancels hundreds of oil, gas leases in Montana
“The Court does not fault BLM for providing a faulty analysis of cumulative impacts or impacts to groundwater, it largely faults BLM for failing to provide any analysis,” Morris wrote.
The judge chided the BLM’s attorneys for citing irrelevant findings from their environmental reviews to answer the plaintiffs’ allegations, the judge said. [ read more … ]
Fossil fuel firms linked to Trump get millions in coronavirus small business aid
US fossil fuel companies have taken at least $50m in taxpayer money they probably won’t have to pay back, according to a review of coronavirus aid meant for struggling small businesses by the investigative research group Documented and the Guardian. A total of $28m is going to three coal mining companies, all with ties to Trump officials, bolstering a dying American industry and a fuel that scientists insist world leaders must shift away from to avoid the worst of the climate crisis. [ read more … ]
Mexico Indefinitely Halts New Clean-Energy Plans, Blaming Virus
Mexico’s Centro Nacional de Control de Energia (Cenace), which oversees the electrical system, indefinitely suspended critical tests for new clean-energy projects as the nation grapples with the spread of the coronavirus. Preoperative tests of intermittent power plants would be suspended along with other measures to increase the reliability of the national electrical system, Cenace said in a statement released Friday. Tests that haven’t yet started will also be suspended [ read more … ]
Commentary
How Trump’s EPA Is Making Covid-19 More Deadly
Scientists are warning us that air pollution makes Covid-19, which strikes at the lungs, more deadly. Nonetheless, in the space of about a month, the president has repeatedly undermined rules limiting air pollution. Tens of thousands of Americans will die as a result. A recent Harvard study shows that even a tiny increase in fine particulate matter air pollution — commonly known as “soot” — increases death rates from Covid-19. Hit the hardest are low-income communities and people of color, who are disproportionately exposed to pollution sources, such as highways and refineries. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.