[TheClimate.Vote] April 7, 2020 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Tue Apr 7 10:04:58 EDT 2020
/*April 7, 2020*/
[warnings -- concrete examples of the ways the GOP are using the
pandemic as cover for unpopular policies]
*Drilled News *Investigating Delay on Climate Action
*The Climate and Environmental Rules Being Rolled Back During the
COVID-19 Pandemic*
The Drilled News Climate & COVID-19 Policy Tracker is keeping an eye on
climate change-related rollbacks by the Trump administration and state
governments amid the coronavirus crisis, along with favors to oil and
gas, and other energy and climate-related industries.
By Amy Westervelt
We've been covering how the fossil fuel industry and its allies in the
Trump administration have wasted no time in leveraging the COVID-19
pandemic to increase the federal government's financial favors to oil
and gas. The administration is also moving fast to stall or roll back
regulations that the industry finds onerous, and push forward with other
policies that may benefit the petroleum sector.
These changes are especially worrying right now, because they're
happening even as climate scientists say that industrial nations must
slash their carbon pollution within roughly a decade for all nations to
have a chance of averting catastrophic climate change.
We're documenting and mapping these fossil fuel-friendly changes here,
on the Drilled News Climate & COVID-19 Policy Tracker, along with other
moves affecting additional energy and climate-related industries.
If you have a tip, please send it to pitches at drillednews.com
*Federal Government:*
*FERC to Fast-Track Requests for Relief* -- In its proposal the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission states, “We want to assure
regulated entities that we will expeditiously review and act on
requests for relief, including but not limited to, requests for cost
recovery necessary to assure business continuity of the regulated
entities' energy infrastructure in response to the national
emergency.“ Status: Pending; proposed notice was published April
2nd, official notice scheduled for April 7, 2020.
*Rollback of Fuel Efficiency Standards* --Reduces Obama-era CAFE
(Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards, which required U.S
automakers to achieve 55 mpg across their fleets by 2025, to about
40 mpg by 2026. Status: Enacted March 30, 2020.
*Request for Oil and Gas Royalty Relief* -- Senate Republicans sent
a letter to Department of Interior Secretary, David Bernhardt, to
request request royalty relief and automatic lease extensions for
oil and gas operations on public lands. Oil and gas royalties for
drilling offshore brought in $3.8 billion to the U.S. Treasury in
2019. Critics argue that the royalty rate for onshore drilling
should have been increased long ago: it was set at 12.5% in 1920 and
has remained there. Status: Pending; letter sent March 30, 2020.
*EPA Temporary Waiver on Summer Low-Volatility Gas Requirements* --
“EPA intends to provide additional flexibility to the marketplace to
transition from winter-grade, high volatility gasoline to
summer-grade low vapor pressure gasoline. Due to the steep fall-off
in gasoline demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, gasoline
storage capacity is limited and more time is needed to transition
the distribution system in order to come into compliance for the
summer driving season. EPA will temporarily waive the summer low
volatility requirements and blending limitations for gasoline.“
Winter-blend gasoline emits more volatile organic compounds when
used in warmer weather. Status: Enacted March 27, 2020.
*Request to Establish a Strategic Reserve for Uranium* -- The
National Uranium Miners Association requests the Trump
Administration establish a strategic reserve for uranium, and
purchase strategic stockpiles of critical minerals to fill it.
Status: Pending, letter sent March 27, 2020.
*
**Temporary EPA Compliance Enforcement Discretion* -- “The EPA does
not expect to seek penalties for violations of routine compliance
monitoring, integrity testing, sampling, laboratory analysis,
training, and reporting or certification obligations in situations
where the EPA agrees that COVID-19 was the cause of the
noncompliance and the entity provides supporting documentation to
the EPA upon request.“ Status: Enacted March 26, 2020.
*
**Regulatory Relief from the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)* --
Provides immediate regulatory relief and fee exceptions for a wide
range of chemical manufacturers, including petrochemical
manufacturers. Status: Enacted March 25, 2020.
*
**Request for “Critical Infrastructure“ Designation and Compliance
Waivers* -- In a letter to President Trump, the American Petroleum
Institute requested “critical infrastructure“ for every piece of the
fossil fuel supply chain, and a waiver of what it called
“non-essential compliance obligations.“ Status: Compliance waiver
enacted, critical infrastructure designation pending; letter sent
March 20, 2020.
*
**Request for Regulatory Relief and Reduced Fees for the Coal
Industry* -- The National Mining Association has requested a
reduction in the Black Lung Excise Tax, elimination or reduction in
royalty payments, reduction in fees collected for the Abandoned Mine
Land Fund, and an increase in the availability of credit to the
industry. Status: Pending; letter sent March 18, 2020.
*State, Regional, and Local Governments:*
*California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington Fuel Breaks
Project* - Department of Interior and Bureau of Land Management Fuel
Breaks Project -- DOI has approved a $275 million BLM plan to
construct and maintain a system of up to 11,000 miles of
strategically placed fuel breaks to control wildfires within a 223
million- acre area in portions of California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon,
Utah and Washington. Critics say it's an expensive end-run around
environmental regulations aimed at protecting native vegetation and
vulnerable species such as the Greater sage-grouse. Status: Enacted
April 1, 2020.
*Broomfield, CO - Temporary Restraining Order Against the City's
Emergency Decree to Pause Fracking Flowback During Shelter-in-Place*
-- Flowback is when fracking fluids flow back up the well bore after
a well is fracked; air pollution is particularly likely during
flowback and can include toxics like benzene, a carcinogen. Because
of their proximity to oil and gas operations, residents of
Broomfield, CO were at risk of toxic exposure during
shelter-in-place orders, so the city issued an emergency decree for
local operations to cease fracking flowback during the pandemic.
Extraction Oil was able to get a temporary restraining order to
block the city's order. It's the first test of Colorado's SB181,
passed in 2019, which prioritizes public health and safety over oil
and gas production and allows local governments to enact more
stringent safeguards than the state's. Status: Enacted March 31, 2020.
*California and Nevada - Protections Removed for the Sage Grouse* --
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service denied Endangered Species Act
protection for the bi-state sage grouse, an iconic bird that roams
western Nevada and eastern California, stating that voluntary
conservation efforts have been enough to protect populations of the
bird. The sage grouse population has continued to decline under
voluntary conservation efforts. Status: Enacted March 30, 2020.
*California - Request to Delay All Air Resources Board Rulemaking to
2021 *--Assemblyman Jim Frazier sent a letter to the Californiia Air
Resources Board asking that it delay voting or meeting on all
proposed regulations until 2021. Status: Pending; letter sent March
27, 2020.
*
**West Virginia - House Bill 4615 to define and protect critical
infrastructure* -- Expands definition of “critical infrastructure“
to include a wide range of oil, gas and pipeline facilities,
slapping fines as high as $20,000 on anyone found guilty of causing
“damage, destruction, vandalization, defacing or tampering“ that
totals $2,500 or more. Status: Enacted March 27, 2020.
*Louisiana - Request for regulatory relief for oil and gas *--
Request from the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association for a lift on
plugging requirements for idle wells, fast-tracking of permits for
new wells, an extension on financial requirements for inactive
wells, and extensions and deferments on testing that ensures oil and
gas operations are not contaminating water sources. Status: Enacted
March 26, 2020.
*Pennsylvania - Exemption for Mariner East Pipeline* - Texas-based
Energy LP has been granted a waiver via the Department of Community
and Economic Development from Gov Wolf's emergency coronavirus
shutdown. The waiver enables the company to continue construction on
the controversial Mariner East pipeline, across 17 locations in
Pennsylvania.
*
**California - Request for Delay in At-Berth Emissions Regulations
at Ports* -- California Association of Port Authorities is
requesting a delay on At-Berth emissions regulations that were to
take effect this year. Status: Pending; letter sent March 24, 2020.
*Texas - Waiver of Regulatory Requirements* -- Oil and gas operators
in the state may apply for a waiver of regulatory requirements on a
case-by-case basis. Environmental groups have already documented an
increase in methane emissions in the state's shale oil fields.
Status: Enacted March 24, 2020.
*South Dakota - House Bill 1117, expansion of “incitement to riot“
law* -- Expands the definition of incitement to riot to include
“intentional use of force or violence by three or more persons“ that
causes “any damage to property.“ Status: Enacted March 23, 2020.
*California - Request to Delay Electrification of Big Rigs* -- The
current California Air Resources Board plan would require that by
2030, 50% of all medium-to-heavy trck sales would need to be
zero-emission vehicles, and 15% of all other truck sales would need
to be as well. The Truck & Engine Manufacturers Association has
asked for a delay or modification. Status: Pending; letter sent
March 23, 2020.
*Massachusetts - Designation of natural gas construction projects as
“essential“* -- As building trades prepare to strike in
Massachusetts, the governor extends definition of “essential
construction“ to include various oil and gas projects, including the
Weymouth natural gas compressor, which has no clear customers.
Status: Enacted March 23, 2020.
*South Dakota - Senate Bill 151 to designate and protect critical
infrastructure* -- Expanded “critical infrastructure“ designation to
include any oil, gas or utility equipment, and raised the charges
for causing “substantial interruption or impairment“ of such
facilities to felonies.Status: Enacted March 18, 2020.
*Kentucky - House Bill 44 protecting key infrastructure* --
Designates “natural gas or petroleum pipelines“ as “key
infrastructure assets“ and made causing damage that totals more than
$1,000 or tampering “in a manner that renders the operations harmful
or dangerous“ felony charges of “criminal mischief in the first
degree.“ Status: Enacted March 16, 2020.
https://www.drillednews.com/post/the-climate-covid-19-policy-tracker
[California aspirations]
*Californian Carbon-Negative Roadmap*
Apr 5, 2020
Just Have a Think
Carbon Negative Emissions. The latest 'buzz phrase' in Climate Science.
But it's not just a vague concept. Our scientists tell us that removing
huge quantities of carbon dioxide from our atmosphere is now the only
way we can keep warming within controllable limits. And a new study by a
research team co-ordinated by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
explains exactly how California will lead the way to that elusive goal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYtm-wZduk0
[Digging back into the internet news archive]
*On this day in the history of global warming - April 7, 2009 *
In a story entitled "New Data Show Rapid Arctic Ice Decline," the
Washington Post observes: "The new evidence -- including satellite data
showing that the average multiyear wintertime sea ice cover in the
Arctic in 2005 and 2006 was nine feet thick, a significant decline from
the 1980s -- contradicts data cited in widely circulated reports by
Washington Post columnist George F. Will that sea ice in the Arctic has
not significantly declined since 1979."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/06/AR2009040601634.html
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