• Energy

China’s Purchases and Investments In US Energy Are On Their Terms

• Chinese
• fossil fuels
• greenhouse gas emission
• oil and gas
• solar power
• Trade Agreement
• wind power

President Trump trumpeted his trade deal with China, but so far it has been a bust, according to The Wall Street Journal — the Chinese have not purchased nearly the amount of energy (in terms of total dollars) as they promised — only $2B in oil and gas purchases against a commitment of $25B for this year.

Why This Matters:  Trump’s energy policy is a colossal failure, especially when measured against his outlandish campaign promise of complete energy independence.

• Energy

Dept. of Energy Announces $122M In Funding For “Coal Innovation” Centers

• carbon
• coal
• coal products
• Department of Energy
• fossil fuels
• innovation

On Friday, the Energy Department announced it will provide more than $120m in funding to create “coal products innovation centers… [that] …will focus on manufacturing value-added, carbon-based products from coal, as well as developing new methods to extract and process rare earth elements and critical minerals from coal.” 

Why This Matters: Coal innovation is an oxymoron or maybe just moronic – and certainly a dubious investment.

• People

One Holy See Thing: The Pope Urges All Catholics To Divest From Fossil Fuels

• #fossilfuels
• climate change
• conservation
• divest
• environment
• fossil fuels
• Pope

On the fifth anniversary of his historic encyclical “Laudato Si” in which Pope Francis urged Catholics to protect nature and warned of the dangers of failing to address climate change, the Vatican released a guide containing “practical steps” people can take to achieve the goals of the encyclical, including disinvesting from fossil fuel industries, according […]

• Health

Living Near Oil and Gas Wells Tied to Low Birth Weight in California Study

• air pollution
• California
• fossil fuels
• natural gas
• oil
• oil and gas drilling
• public health

Pregnant women in rural California who lived near active oil and gas wells were 40% more likely to give birth to low birthweight babies, according to a new study. The study conducted by University of California researchers is the first to study how California’s network of oil and gas development affects babies born nearby. As […]

• Climate Change

University Divestment Movement Grows – Cornell and UC System Are Latest Wins

• #HarvardForward
• #YaleForward
• climate change
• Cornell University
• divestment
• fossil fuels
• University of California

Cornell University’s Board of Trustees announced on Friday that the University will make no new investments in fossil fuels, and it is believed that they have been divesting of their previous investments for several years, though the details of their endowment are not public. 

Why This Matters:  The climate movement has been led by young people and one easy focus of their activism is the universities they attend.

• 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.