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Democrats release $500B green transportation legislation
House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) today released a nearly $500 billion surface transportation bill with robust climate provisions, laying the groundwork for House Democrats’ broader green infrastructure package. The “Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation (INVEST) in America Act” would authorize $494 billion over five years for modernizing the country’s aging network of roads and bridges. [ read more … ]
Markets
Big Oil could end up even bigger by the end of the coronavirus pandemic
The nation’s biggest oil and gas companies could end up even bigger by the end of the coronavirus pandemic. Analysts expect a coming wave of bankruptcies should the price of oil remain low. That could allow the largest petroleum industry players to scoop up more wells on the cheap – and leave them with more reserves after all the market tumult. [ read more … ]
Coal earnings to plunge 50% this year — report
Coal industry earnings in North America could fall by more than 50% this year as coronavirus lockdowns slash electricity demand, according to one financial research company. Moody’s Investors Service said in a report released Sunday that coal production is set to fall by more than 25% in 2020 and the pandemic’s impact to coal miners may be more severe than what the U.S. government forecasts. [ read more … ]
Climate
Climate cases keep landing in state court. Why it matters
Judges across the country have now determined that climate lawsuits against oil and gas companies belong in state courts. But while legal experts say that state judges may be more open to climate arguments lodged by U.S. states, counties and cities, the municipalities still face multiple hurdles in their quest to force Big Oil to pay for sea-level rise and other local impacts worsened by the continued use of fossil fuels. [ read more … ]
China says sticking to climate pledges despite coronavirus outbreak
China will fully implement its commitment to nationally determined contributions (NDCs) on climate change under the Paris climate agreement despite the coronavirus outbreak, the country’s environment ministry said on Tuesday. China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouses gases, pledged to cut “carbon intensity” – the amount of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP – by 40-45% from 2005-2020 as part of the Paris pact it signed in 2015. It said last year it would set a more ambitious target, without giving figures.
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Grid
FERC, states see transmission projects fueling recovery
As the country grapples with the coronavirus’s devastating toll, states are eyeing investment in transmission lines as a way to jump-start economic recovery while meeting clean energy targets. A proposed rule from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission seeks to boost such investment, but critics worry that it could pad the pockets of existing transmission owners without spurring new development. [ read more … ]
5th Circuit considers quashing Texas transmission law
Federal appeals court judges this week questioned whether they could overturn a 2019 Texas law giving existing utilities in the Lone Star State priority in constructing electric transmission lines. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday examined an energy company’s claims that Texas S.B. 1938 violated interstate commerce protections enshrined in the Constitution. The “dormant” commerce clause has featured across a range of legal challenges over pipelines and coal exports. [ read more … ]
EVs
Report: Bus and truck EV models to grow 78% this year
Last year, vehicle makers worldwide produced 95 models. This year, they are expected to manufacture 169 models, a leap of 78%, said Calstart, a clean transportation nonprofit that compiled the figures. The expansion is driven by stronger regulations in big markets like California and an appetite for midsize zero-emission delivery vehicles among big-name fleet operators like Amazon.com Inc. and UPS Inc. The trend appears to be on track amid a pandemic and recession that both help and harm the business case.
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