Energy & Fuel

"Public lands infrastructure projects being fast-tracked as a Covid-19 pandemic response under a June 4 executive order will be kept from public view, the White House said Tuesday. Environmental attorneys and other legal practitioners say the White House’s shroud over the expedited projects suggests that the administration’s efforts to use the economic fallout from Covid-19 to circumvent environmental regulations may not be legal."

"The nation’s 10 largest utilities spent about $1 billion on charitable giving from 2013 to 2017, a move critics say is meant to shape policy decisions."

"The Democratic-led House Appropriations Committee on Monday proposed a funding bump for the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), soundly rejecting cuts proposed by President Trump."

"The Trump administration on Monday formally authorized exports from a proposed Oregon natural-gas terminal, the first on the U.S. West Coast. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette signed the order for the proposed Jordan Cove liquid natural gas terminal in Coos Bay, Oregon."

"The Supreme Court today [Monday] allowed the Army Corps of Engineers to resume using its streamlined water-crossing permit for the construction of new oil and gas pipelines, but it excluded the Keystone XL oil pipeline."

"A federal judge today [Monday] ordered operation of the Dakota Access pipeline to be halted and emptied of oil by Aug. 5 until developers conduct a more robust environmental analysis, which is expected to take more than a year."

"Coal, which fueled the factories, steam engines and power plants that made Britain the center of the Industrial Revolution, has all but disappeared from the United Kingdom."

"Letters by key legislators including North Dakota’s governor written by officials of MDU Resources, a subsidiary of WBI Energy".

"As coal declines and wind and solar energy rise, some are pushing to limit the use of natural gas, but utilities say they are not ready to do so."

"Two of the nation’s largest utility companies announced on Sunday that they had canceled the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which would have carried natural gas across the Appalachian Trail, as delays and rising costs threatened the viability of the project."