Energy & Fuel

"At least 11 department officials have cashed out for jobs with fossil fuel interests, lobbying firms or other private companies."

"EPA should expect a massive lawsuit if it does not abandon its efforts to stop regulating methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, more than 20 cities and states said last week."

"The world has squandered so much time mustering the action necessary to combat climate change that rapid, unprecedented cuts in greenhouse gas emissions offer the only hope of averting an ever-intensifying cascade of consequences, according to new findings from the United Nations."

"SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A coalition of 11 environmental groups has sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for revoking California’s authority to set tougher emission standards for cars and trucks than the federal government.

The federal government has allowed California to set its own emission standards since the 1970s because the state has the most cars on the road and struggles to meet air quality standards. Thirteen other states plus the District of Columbia follow California’s rules.

"The Tennessee Valley Authority has long argued it shouldn't be required to limit the toxic metals that its coal-fired power plant dumps into the Cumberland River."

"The Trump administration wants offshore drillers to tap more of the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and natural gas production. And it has just figured out a way of encouraging them to do so: cutting the operators of some new wells a break on how much they have to pay the federal government."

"A pollution-plagued oil refinery that shut down in 2012 is now on the verge of reopening in the U.S. Virgin Islands, thanks to the aid of EPA chief Andrew Wheeler."

"The Trump administration announced a plan Thursday that could allow oil drilling on over three-quarters of the nation’s largest piece of unprotected wilderness, overhauling a 2013 plan that limited development on the Alaskan reserve."

"Energy Secretary Rick Perry was linked far more closely this morning [Wednesday] to a push for an investigation connecting Ukraine energy giant Burisma Holdings Ltd. and the Biden family that had been sought by President Trump and is central to the ongoing impeachment inquiry."

"China is set to add new coal-fired power plants equivalent to the European Union's entire capacity in a bid to boost its slowing economy, despite global pressure on the world's biggest energy consumer to rein in carbon emissions."