The Continuing Impact of Coal Ash - Energy Law Insights
Volume 9, Issue 7 Welcome to our seventh issue of Currents 2025. In this issue, we look at the changing tides for coal, the new NEPA procedures, West Virginians desire for lower cost energy, southwestern Virginia's newest...more
Key Takeaways - - Pursuant to President Trump’s executive order seeking to maximize the secretary of energy’s emergency authority under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, the secretary’s two new orders have halted the...more
Two recent studies show that, by the end of 2023, United States carbon emissions will decrease, despite an expansion in the overall economy of about 2.5 percent. That is, according to the United States Energy Information...more
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf Floats Natural Gas Tax to Pay for $3 Billion Pandemic Recovery Plan - "Long a proponent of an extraction tax, Wolf said it could pay for improvements to workforce training and support, remove...more
Is the world hurtling irreversibly toward incinerating, extinction-causing, fossil-fuel induced destruction while we’re doing nothing about it? Maybe not, if you consider overlooked and ignored sources of information....more
Energy Infrastructure Attacks are ‘Probable’: Oil Traders Fear Supply Disruptions in the Middle East - "A dramatic escalation of geopolitical tensions will most likely result in an unplanned oil supply shortage in the...more
Chevron to Take $10B+ Write-Down - "More than half the write-down is related to gas drilling operations in Appalachia." Why this is important: In recent years, the pressure to reduce carbon emissions has affected...more
Russian, Colombian Competition Continuing to Slow U.S. Thermal Coal Exports - "'Central Appalachian and Northern Appalachian exports remain out of the money for shipment to Europe and Illinois Basin coal has significant...more
Q&A with Vivek Warrier - Vivek Warrier moderated the panel on Gas and LNG in North America at the Oil & Gas Council's recent North American Assembly in Houston. Panel members were...more
Trump's EPA Grants 31 Small Refinery Waivers from Biofuel Laws, Angering Corn Lobby - "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted 31 small refinery biofuel waivers for 2018, infuriating the ethanol and corn...more
Trump to Sign Order Seeking to Clear Gas Pipeline Hurdles - "The administration, which is pushing a policy it calls energy dominance, has been considering an order that would push back against states, including New York,...more
Trump Eyes Action to Limit States' Powers to Block Pipelines - "The Trump administration is considering taking steps to limit the ability of states to block interstate gas pipelines and other energy projects, according to...more
U.S. Global Change Research Program - Fourth National Climate Assessment - "Impacts, risks and adaptation in the United States Report-in-Brief" Why this is important: The assessment posits the U.S. will lose 10 percent of...more
New York Sues Exxon Mobil, Saying It Deceived Shareholders on Climate Change - "The litigation, which follows more than three years of investigation, represents the most significant legal effort yet to establish that a...more
The U.S. Supreme Court Slows Children's Climate Lawsuit - For Now - "In the latest step of a fascinating bit of constitutional law called Atmospheric Trust Litigation, the Chief Justice halted the District Court trial...more
The Trump Administration announced a long-awaited proposal to roll back the Obama-era Clean Power Plan late last month. (Chicago Tribune). The action had been promised by the President and his appointees at EPA, who pursued...more
In an Internal Memo, the White House Considered Whether to Simply 'Ignore' Federal Climate Research - "The document, drafted September 18 by Michael Catanzaro, President Trump's special assistant for domestic energy and...more
Pipeline CEOs Vow to Fight Back Against Environmental Activism and Sabotage - "Executives from some of the biggest energy infrastructure companies in Canada and the United States say their industry had been surprised by...more
EPA to Restrict Scientific Advisers Who Get Agency Grants - "Pruitt did not say how restrictive the policy would be. But it has the potential to greatly reduce the body of expert scientists who could serve on the boards...more
Trump is Still Pulling Out of Paris Agreement, Despite Chatter of a Reversal, Experts Say - "President Donald Trump is unlikely to reverse his position to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, despite the White House...more
Most U.S. railroad industry stock rose in the immediate aftermath of Donald Trump's election as president. Optimism surrounding railroad stock may be driven in part by the prospect of a resurgence of the coal industry, since...more
President-Elect Donald Trump has promised to bring back jobs in the coal industry and reduce regulations that could inhibit economic growth. His transition team has already begun arriving at federal agencies to review the...more
The huge unknown about President-Elect Donald Trump's energy plans is in electric power. Whatever he decides, with a unified Republican Congress behind him, he has the ability to shape federal electric policy in the coming...more
Natural gas will be the clear winner whether you vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election. While their proposed energy plans are widely different—Clinton is calling for major investments...more
GOP Presidential Candidate Donald Trump made several sweeping promises while on the campaign trail vowing to reopen shuttered mines and bring coal back to its dominance of a decade ago. These promises, however, are dated as...more