** The Supreme Court dealt a major setback to the oil industry Monday, refusing to block lawsuits from California and other blue states that seek billions of dollars in damages for the effects of climate change. Without a comment or dissent, the justices turned down closely watched appeals from Sunoco, Shell and other energy producers. ** Landmark …
Category: EPA
Energy briefs
** Enbridge Inc. is devising plans to rapidly boost capacity on its US oil pipeline system if the incoming Trump administration succeeds in kicking off a drilling boom. Enbridge, which delivers about 5.8 million barrels of crude and liquids a day across North America, would focus on moving more oil out of the Rockies and …
Audit shows Energy Secretary’s EV road trip wasn’t as bad as Congressional critics claimed
Republicans in Congress blasted a 2023 EV road trip taken by Energy Secretary Granholm to push Biden’s green energy programs, saying it was “ripe with waste, fraud and abuse.” But, there’s always a but, and in this case it is a report from the Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General, better known as …
Energy briefs
** The number of faults on the power grid near three of the major Los Angeles County fires skyrocketed in the hours before the blazes began, according to a company that monitors electrical activity. Bob Marshall, the chief executive of Whisker Labs, said in an interview with The Times that the areas near the Eaton, Palisades and Hurst …
What environmental reporters think of a 2nd Trump term
Many environmental reporters believe when Donald Trump takes office for a second term in the White House, he will un-do many of the green energy efforts of President Biden. In other words, “drill baby drill” will roll back the “green energy” efforts of the Biden Whitehouse. The Society of Environmental Journalists recently indicated in …
Senate hearings to be held next week for Interior Secretary and Energy Secretary nominees
The Republicans now in control of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources aren’t waiting for Donald Trump to be sworn into office for a second term before handling his nominees for Interior Secretary and Energy Secretary. Utah Sen. Mike Lee, the new chairman of the committee announced plans to holding hearings …
Biden administration hands out millions to Oklahoma Indian tribes to fight climate change
President Biden’s latest climate funding handout involved $121 million for Indian Tribes including several in Oklahoma—all with the intent of fighting climate change. The funds, according to the announcement by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, are designed to help “Tribal communities prepare for the most severe climate-related environmental threats to their homelands.” It is …
Energy briefs
** Blue states are preparing for a legal battle with the Trump administration over whether they will be allowed to continue to adopt California’s more stringent regulations on tailpipe emissions. (Stateline) ** U.S. Senate Democrats say Republicans are rushing to confirm former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as interior secretary without the necessary background checks and paperwork. ** The owner …
Energy briefs
** Although Tesla held the title of most vehicles recalled for 2024, Ford Motor Company was hot on its heels with the number two spot, reported The Manual. In one of its most recent recalls filed with the NHTSA, the Blue Oval added nearly 300,000 more vehicles to that total (which still leaves Tesla roughly half …
Attorney General to join lawsuit challenging housing energy standards
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond plans to join a lawsuit filed by 15 other Republican attorneys general who sued to challenge the energy efficiency standards of a 1990 housing Act. Drummond was not among the originally attorneys general who went to federal court challenging a section of the Cranston-Gonzalez Act of 1990, claiming its …