Fossil Fuels - Climate Extra

DOE’s Wright Presses Europe To Loosen Methane Control Requirements

Energy Secretary Chris Wright is pressing European Union officials to weaken their current methane emissions control program for gas imports and asserting that at least some European officials agree with him, arguing that such a step is needed to ensure greater U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to the continent. Wright’s remarks, during a Sept. 12 appearance at the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, came in response to a query from a representative of the International Association of...

Climate Policy Fades From ECOS’ Agenda Despite Continuing Priority

SANTA FE, NM -- Climate policy appears to have faded as a headline discussion item from state environmental regulators’ agenda in the face of the Trump administration’s aggressive push to shrink climate-related rules and eliminate grants, even though some states continue to identify the issue as a priority. “With respect to grants, work plans, we’ve all had to remove certain words from our documents we provide, and ‘climate’ has been one of those words,” said James Kenney, New Mexico’s environment...

Small Oil & Gas Producers Seek To Broaden Methane Rule Compliance Delay

Small oil and gas producers are urging EPA to expand the scope of its interim final rule that extends methane emissions compliance deadlines to also include delay of certain reporting requirements, even as environmental groups are challenging the rule in court as a violation of the Clean Air Act and Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The pitch, which surfaces in comments on EPA’s rulemaking, comes even as industry groups broadly praised the extension during a public hearing on the measure, while...

Group Launches New Tool For Linking Methane Releases To Air Toxics

A science-focused environmental group is touting a first-of-a-kind effort to “calculate and visualize” the effects of “methane-linked” hazardous air pollutants and their health risks, offering the latest advocacy efforts to highlight the local health implications from oil and gas sector emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane and other pollutants. The effort, which is relevant to community-level climate and health policy advocates, could also have added significance as the Trump EPA pushes to deregulate industrial polluters in part by downplaying...

Environmentalists Urge D.C. Circuit To Quickly Scrap Methane-Delay Rule

Environmental groups are pressing the D.C. Circuit to quickly scrap EPA’s interim final rule (IFR) delaying oil and gas companies’ compliance deadlines for Biden-era methane rules, filing a motion for summary vacatur that argues the interim measure flouts core Clean Air Act procedural requirements. “EPA’s action substantially delays compliance dates under a final Clean Air Act rule the agency issued in 2024, which provides critical protections against some of the nation’s largest sources of air pollution,” the groups say in...

EJ Groups, Industry Clash Over Newsom’s Plan To Spur Oil Production

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) draft legislation to spur new oil production in the state to avoid a fuel supply “crisis” is drawing clashing responses from environmental groups and the petroleum industry, with both sides urging his administration to substantially amend the plan before presenting it to lawmakers in the coming weeks. The draft proposal “is a step in the wrong direction and will not achieve reliability in supply or price. Instead, it marks the arrival of the Trump Administration’s...

Environmental Groups Challenge Oil & Gas Methane Standards Delay

A dozen environmental groups are challenging EPA’s interim final rule to delay oil and gas companies’ compliance deadlines for Biden-era methane rules, declaring that the agency’s efforts to delay the deadlines by roughly 18 months without public comment is a “clear violation of the law.” The groups filed an Aug. 1 petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, styled as Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) v. Lee Zeldin . It was filed the...

EPA Moves To Extend Oil And Gas Sector Emissions Compliance Deadlines

EPA has released an interim final rule to extend Biden EPA compliance deadlines for control of methane and other emissions from oil and gas facilities, vowing that the measure will be the “first of multiple actions the EPA plans to take to ensure that oil and gas regulations do not overburden producers.” “The extensions in the [new rule] provide more realistic timelines for owners and operators to meet requirements and for states to develop and submit plans for limiting emissions...

Judge Backs L.A. District, Rejects Industry Claims Boiler Rule Violates EPCA

A federal judge is siding with Los Angeles air district regulators and rejecting a gas industry lawsuit that claims the district’s rule requiring commercial buildings to transition to zero-emission industrial water heaters is preempted by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), maintaining that a prior court decision does not support the claim. In that precedential case -- California Restaurant Association (CRA) v. City of Berkeley -- a federal district court found that EPCA preempted the city’s ban on...

OMB completes review of EPA methane delay rule

White House officials have completed their inter-agency review of an EPA interim final rule delaying deadlines in the Biden administration’s oil and gas sector methane standards, suggesting that the agency could soon release the measure that would take immediate effect. According to the Office of Management & Budget’s (OMB) website, it completed review of EPA’s rule on July 22. OMB review, the final step in the regulatory process before the agency publicly releases a rule, came after an unusual start...

EDF Renews Warnings About Delaying Biden EPA Methane Rule Deadlines

An environmental group is renewing arguments that EPA’s upcoming interim final rule to delay deadlines in the Biden administration’s oil and gas sector methane rule is on shaky legal ground, as various groups express input on the measure with the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) prior to its release. “The methane rules were adopted through a lengthy three-and-a-half-year rulemaking process, tons of public input and a robust scientific and technical foundation,” Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) attorney Edwin...

Summit Underscores Trump-Backed Link Between Fossil Fuel Energy, AI

A summit focused on energy and artificial intelligence (AI) in Pennsylvania is underscoring what some see as a critical link between fossil fuel-fired power and AI-driven demand increases, with President Donald Trump and other GOP leaders touting the role of gas and coal power in enabling data center development. Trump and other administration officials joined AI and energy industry leaders at the July 15 event organized by Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA). “You need the natural gas or coal infrastructure in...

BLM Recission Of California Drilling Permit MOU Draws Praise, Criticism

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) recission of a 2012 memorandum of understanding (MOU) with California energy regulators regarding permitting for oil drilling on federal lands is drawing praise from GOP lawmakers but criticism from environmentalists, who argue it will result in approvals of harmful projects. “We write to express our sincere gratitude for rescinding the 2012 [MOU] between the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) and [BLM]. This MOU has historically acted as a significant barrier to oil production...

Senate Rules Chief Blocks Fast Track For GOP Fossil Fuel Measures

The Senate parliamentarian has determined that multiple natural resource-related provisions of Senate Republicans’ pending budget reconciliation bill, including several that encourage fossil fuel development, are ineligible for fast-track consideration and thus might be ultimately removed from the package. The parliamentarian’s findings were announced by Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee in a June 23 release , adding to the list of measures that violate the Senate’s “Byrd rule” that determines which elements can be included in reconciliation legislation passed with...

DOE Revives Coal Council That Faced Prior Environmentalist Criticism

The Energy Department (DOE) has formally re-established the controversial National Coal Council (NCC) that advises department officials about policies related to coal, despite efforts by the Biden administration to “modernize” the panel following attacks from environmental groups that it served as a non-transparent venue to advance coal interests. A June 16 charter and accompanying Federal Register notice say DOE is re-establishing the NCC in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The Biden DOE initially let the charter...

Groups Urge Newsom To Reject Oil Sector Incentives As Fuel ‘Crisis’ Looms

Environmentalists are pressing California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), lawmakers and energy officials to avoid offering oil firms new economic incentives to maintain an adequate supply of transportation fuel amid looming refinery closures and a possible fuel supply “crisis,” even as Newsom and agency leaders are weighing such steps. “Oil lobbyists are using refinery closures, the threat of gas price spikes, and misinformation to pressure California lawmakers for even more subsidies and rollbacks,” argue more than 30 environmental, climate and equity...

EPA Quietly Converts Oil & Gas Methane Delay Rule To Interim Final Status

EPA now appears poised to quickly delay compliance deadlines for Biden-era oil and gas methane standards, with officials stating that the White House is reviewing an interim final rule to delay the deadlines immediately despite prior indications that they would advance the measure as a conventional proposed regulation. The Office of Management & Budget (OMB) earlier posted a notice that it received from EPA on June 4 a “proposed” rule. The rule is expected to extend various deadlines in the...

EPA Begins Oil & Gas Methane Standards Rollback With Deadline Delay Rule

EPA is taking a first step toward rolling back oil and gas sector methane standards, submitting a draft proposal to the White House that would extend compliance deadlines in current rules for new and existing emissions sources amid expectations that officials will develop a subsequent rule to ease the limit themselves. The Office of Management & Budget (OMB) on June 4 began reviewing a proposal focused on deadline extensions for “new, reconstructed and modified sources,” as well as existing sources,...

Gas Sector Urges DOE To Bar Efficiency Rules Encouraging Fuel Switching

The natural gas sector is pressing the Energy Department (DOE) to issue new regulations that would block officials from developing energy-efficiency standards that would phase out appliances that use natural gas in favor of often more-efficient electric models, arguing this would curb a troublesome practice from the Biden administration. “[R]ather than maintaining a fuel-neutral approach that respects consumer choice, DOE has disfavored natural gas and propane appliances, a move that harms consumer choice and violates the plain meaning of” the...

DOE Mandate To Retain Coal Power Plant Could Portend Broader Effort

The Energy Department’s (DOE) requirement that a Michigan coal plant continue operating past its planned retirement date likely previews a broader strategy to preserve “baseload” plants for reliability reasons, potentially via a “strategic electricity reserve” (SER) that Republican state officials are promoting. DOE’s May 23 emergency order , issued under section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act (FPA), will require continued operation of the Campbell coal plant until at least August, even though the plant had been scheduled to retire...

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