• Politics

Stimulus Package Passes Senate With Major Green Groups’ Support

• coronavirus
• fossil fuels
• green infrastructure
• Green Stimulus
• stimulus

The $2 trillion stimulus package the Senate passed unanimously late last night contained neither the funding the President sought to fill up the tank on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve nor the provisions that would have required the airline industry to become more sustainable in exchange for large grants. 

Why This Matters:  The most important thing, in the end, was the aid for workers, small businesses, hospitals, and state and local governments so direly needed at this moment.

• People

One Hoya Saxa Thing: Georgetown University Announces Decision To Divest From Fossil Fuels

• #HoyaSaxa
• divest
• fossil fuels
• Georgetown University

Late last week, Georgetown University announced a major decision — “to divest from fossil fuel investments over the next decade—including divestment from public securities within five years and private investments within ten years.”   University President Jack DeGioia gave credit to members of the University community and to the Pope whose 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’: On […]

• Politics

One Cringeworthy Thing: Fossil Fuel Pals Running the Government

• EPA
• fossil fuels
• Sciece
• Trump

If you happened to read the New York Times’ exposé this week you would have caught that among 20 of the most powerful people in government environment jobs, most have ties to the fossil fuel industry or have fought against the regulations they now are supposed to enforce. These are folks who have career-long connections […]

• Energy

Trump Administration Approves Four New LNG Terminals for South Texas

• endangered species
• Environmental Justice
• fossil fuels
• LNG

Moving full speed ahead on new fossil fuel infrastructure, the Trump Administration’s federal regulators approved permits for three new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals in the Rio Grande Valley and the expansion of another in Corpus Christi, according to the Houston Chronicle.  They do not have financing and final approvals yet, and a coalition of environmentalists, Native Americans, shrimpers, fishers, and communities working under the banner Save RGV From LNG are fighting the  Brownsville projects due to safety and environmental concerns.

Why This Matters:  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with President Trump’s appointees at the helm have sped through 11 LNG projects in the last 9 months alone.

• Politics

For the Conservation Movement, It’s Almost Heaven, West Virginia

• #ResistRockwool
• AI
• coal
• fossil fuels
• satellite monitoring
• waste-to-energy

By Monica Medina, Founder and CEO of Our Daily Planet And now, for those of you who need a break from a long week of impeachmentpalooza, take a trip with us to Shepherdstown, West Virginia — a small town, nestled at the northeastern edge of the Shenandoah Valley, practically an exurb of Washington, D.C. It […]

• Energy

CA Governor Halts Fracking Permits, NY Governor In Standoff Over Natural Gas

• fossil fuels
• fracking
• gas
• Infrastructure

Governors on both coasts are going to battle with oil and gas companies over climate change. Continuing his strong environmental protection agenda, California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced new regulations putting in place a moratorium on fracking and curbed steam-injected oil drilling in the state, which environmentalists have long opposed.  Meanwhile, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo […]

• Green New Deal

One of the Largest Banks in the World Will Stop Fossil Fuel Lending in by 2022

• climate change
• European Investment Bank
• fossil fuels
• Green New Deal

The European Investment Bank (EIB) in what some called a “game-changer” announced at the end of last week that it will phase out funding for fossil fuel projects by the end of 2021, dealing a major blow to oil and gas companies.  Instead, according to The Wall Street Journal, the bank will “use €1 trillion ($1.1 trillion) for climate-change action and environmentally sustainable investment by 2030 and help the EU reach 32% renewable energy across the bloc by 2030.”

Why This Matters:  We can think of 1.1 trillion reasons.  And this policy covers ALL fossil fuels including traditional natural gas projects.

• People

New Group Seeks to Address Harvard University’s Failure to Act on the Climate Crisis

• divestment
• fossil fuels
• Harvard

In response to widespread frustration in the Harvard community about the University’s inaction to climate change, a  coalition of alumni, students and faculty have launched a campaign called Harvard Forward to elect five new members of the Board of Overseers with the goal of changing the University’s policies on divesting from fossil fuels and on committing more resources to climate initiatives.

Why This Matters:   What makes this campaign interesting and different from previous ones (like South African divestiture in the ’80s) is that rather than protest the decisions of university leaders, this campaign is seeking the power to make the decisions themselves.  The last time the university restructured its Board of Overseers was almost 150 years ago.  It seems like its time to modernize it and addressing climate change is the perfect impetus.

• Politics

Andrew Yang Rolls Out Climate Plan in New Hampshire

• Andrew Yang
• carbon fee
• climate change
• climate emergency
• fossil fuels

With a healthy dose of both optimism and realism, Andrew Yang rolled out an ambitious plan to spend $5T over 20 years to combat climate change and get to net-zero carbon emissions by 2049 using the slogan “Lower Emissions, Higher Ground” to sum up his approach. 

• Sustainability

Toxic Blooms Have Energy Potential

• algae
• algae blooms
• biofuel
• fossil fuels
• Gulf of Mexico
• jet fuel

We often write about the damaging impacts of algal blooms found in the ocean and in lakes that are fouling beaches and coastal waters, not to mention drinking water in certain areas.   But algae have the potential to be used as fuel for everything from delivery trucks to warplanes and ships, according to author Ruth Kassinger in an opinion piece in The Boston Globe. –

• Politics

Governor Jay Inslee Rolls Out More Climate Policy

• climate change
• climate crisis
• fossil fuels
• Infrastructure
• polluters
• subsidies
• transparency

When it comes to climate policy, Governor Jay Inslee already has a plan to address nearly every element of the climate crisis, but on Monday he rolled out a new one — this time aimed at creating “Freedom from Fossil Fuels” by ending corporate welfare, holding polluters accountable, and transitioning the U.S. economy off fossil fuels. 

• People

Heroes of the Week: Clean Energy Change Makers in Tucson

• clean energy
• clean energy jobs
• coal
• fossil fuels
• solar power
• Superfund
• sustainability

In Tuscon, 90 percent of the public gets its power from coal and other fossil fuels, which degrades the air quality particularly for the Latinx community there.  The south side neighborhoods are home to all the area’s major polluting sources, including a gas-burning power plant, the I-10 freeway, and a Superfund site, and not surprisingly, […]