From Australia to the Arctic to your neighborhood, environment and energy news is already heating up as 2020 kicks off — and the election promises to add fuel to the fire. On January 24, attendees got a head start on the year's top stories at SEJ's 8th annual "Journalists' Guide to Energy & Environment" at the National Geographic Society's auditorium in Washington, DC. Watch the video recording here.
"Climate activists halted a coal train bound for one of New England's last large coal-fired power plants by building a barricade on the tracks and sitting on it for about eight hours this week. The delay was temporary, but it was the fifth time activists had stopped a coal train in the region in less than a month."
"Even a renewable energy leader like Xcel, one of the first to pledge net zero emissions by mid-century, is finding it hard to end coal without adding natural gas."
"U.S. emissions linked to climate change fell last year on a record drop in coal-fired power generation, but further declines are unlikely without rapid policy changes, according to an estimate released on Tuesday."
"The Trump administration on Monday took its first step toward tighter pollution controls on trucks, an anomalous move for a government known for weakening environmental policies but one that would pre-empt tougher state rules."
"With Congress in a partisan deadlock and the Trump administration rolling back environmental regulations, states are taking it upon themselves to tackle issues that could transform the electricity industry."
"After years of mounting opposition to the increasing build-out of oil and gas infrastructure, 2020 is shaping up to be the year that pipeline opponents get their day in court."
"When utilities around the country have wanted to build fossil-fuel plants, defeat energy-efficiency proposals or slow the growth of rooftop solar power, they have often turned for support to a surprisingly reliable ally: a local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People."
"Nearly a decade of BP-funded research has uncovered a laundry list of potential health effects resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, including possible links between obesity and dispersants used to break up the oil; the discovery of dangerous bacteria in tar balls still washing up on Gulf beaches; and a new understanding of the links between disasters and the mental health problems of both fishers and oilfield workers."
"The country is venting frustration with Prime Minister Scott Morrison over what many view as a nonchalant response to the disastrous blazes and his unwavering dismissal of climate change."
"HASTINGS, Australia — The posters have popped up on streets around Australia, showing the prime minister looking very tropical: floral wreath on his head, ocean-blue shirt open at the collar.
“MISSING,” they blared. “Your country is on fire.”
