Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raises questions about the world energy supply and related environmental consequences (such as pressure to lease U.S. lands for drilling). TipSheet explores the politics — and the reality — of U.S. energy policy in the wake of Ukraine and in the run-up to November’s midterm elections, and asks the question: Do federal policies on pricing really matter?
A historical look at how profit and capitalism have ravaged the natural world is the subject of our new BookShelf review. Contributor Melody Kemp offers her take on award-winning Australian journalist Jeff Sparrow’s forthcoming volume, which explores the damage wrought by cars, roads and PR spin, as well as solutions suggested by models of Indigenous land management.
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's enforcement activities have dropped sharply since 2018, as criminal fines and civil penalties paid by polluters dropped to new lows, a Washington D.C. watchdog group said Friday in a report."
"Some of the nation's best-known corporations are undermining their promises to slash emissions by donating significant sums to elect Republican attorneys general, who have emerged as frequent courtroom foes of climate policies and regulations, according to a report shared exclusively with The Climate 202."
"For years, Europe’s dependence on Russian energy has held it back from taking powerful action against Kremlin mischief. But now, the Russia-Ukraine crisis is forcing a change unlike any before, driving the European Union to make plans for a permanent, far-reaching break from Russian oil and gas, European policymakers said."
"More than 60 countries have expressed their support for the global treaty on eliminating plastic pollution proposed by Rwanda and Peru."
"The Biden administration on Tuesday said it found “significant deficiencies” in a Trump-era environmental analysis of a mining road that would cut through wilderness and Indigenous territory in northwest Alaska."
"The Supreme Court today dealt a blow to a pipeline developer, deciding against hearing a dispute over environmental reviews for infrastructure projects."
"Germany halted certification of the pipeline linking the country to Russia in response to the Kremlin’s recognition of two separatist regions in Ukraine."
"Ethiopia began producing electricity on Sunday from its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a multi-billion-dollar hydropower plant on the River Nile that neighbours Sudan and Egypt have worried will cause water shortages downstream."
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