As Democratic and Republican parties plan their nominating conventions beginning next week amid a pandemic and a recession, it’s instructive to examine the state of thinking about a “green recovery.” Backgrounder looks at the politicking and policies behind the notion that a massive clean energy plan could be good not just for addressing climate change, but also the economy.
"A coalition of environmental and other groups on Monday threatened to sue the Department of Energy (DOE) over missed deadlines to update energy efficiency standards for products such as appliances."
"The Trump administration may have a road map for holding the first oil and gas lease sale in the history of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but it's keeping the plan under wraps, current and former Interior Department staffers say."
"The Trump administration is expected in the coming days to lift Obama-era controls on the release of methane, a powerful climate-warming gas that is emitted from leaks and flares in oil and gas wells."
"Anxious residents of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius stuffed fabric sacks with sugar cane leaves Saturday to create makeshift oil spill barriers as tons of fuel leaking from a grounded ship put endangered wildlife in further peril."
"The Interior Department on Friday proposed a new rule that would allow oil and gas companies to pay less money to the government in exchange for producing energy on public lands by changing how these royalties are calculated."
"Donations to support the president’s re-election have flooded in from a fossil fuel industry that has enjoyed three years of energy deregulation and tax cuts".
"A $1 billion project to harness carbon dioxide emissions from a Texas coal plant suffered chronic mechanical problems and routinely missed its targets before it was shut down this year, according to a U.S. Department of Energy report."
"A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday said the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) does not have to be shut and drained per a lower court order, but a legal battle continued over the permit that allowed the line to be finished."
"As Oregon Gov. Kate Brown crafted a bill in 2018 to enact sweeping limits on greenhouse gas emissions, leaders at an obscure state agency worked behind the scenes to discredit research they feared would persuade her to target one of the state’s most powerful industries."
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