"A federal judge yesterday struck down Obama-era regulations on royalty valuations for coal mined from public lands but kept parts of the rule related to oil and gas payments."
"President Biden will nominate the chair of the District of Columbia’s Public Service Commission to fill a vacancy on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the White House announced today [Thursday].
If confirmed by the Senate, Willie Phillips, a Democrat, would tip the political scale in favor of Biden’s party on the five-member commission that regulates wholesale power markets and large energy projects and is crucial for the success of the administration’s climate agenda.
"Democrats aim to pour tens of billions of dollars into a New Deal-style program that would hire young people to work on projects to protect communities and the environment from disasters that are growing more destructive due to climate change."
"The Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday that it would restore protections for Alaska’s Bristol Bay, blocking the construction of a massive and controversial gold mine near the world’s largest sockeye salmon run."
"The House Natural Resources Committee late on Thursday passed legislation that will go into a wider budget reconciliation package that includes restoring protections for a pristine Arctic wildlife refuge from oil and gas drilling."
"Shoppers drawn to sustainable, humanely raised meat and dairy products could be forgiven for thinking the nation’s big food companies have turned away from the industrial farming practices that have long dominated American agriculture." "A flurry of litigation by advocacy groups seeks to combat what they say is a rise in deceptive marketing by food giants."
"A coalition of environmental groups has called for a pivotal climate conference to be postponed amid concern that many of those most affected by global warming won’t be able to attend because of the continuing threat from COVID-19."
"The world’s top Christian leaders — Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians — on Tuesday issued a joint appeal for delegates at the upcoming U.N. climate summit to “listen to the cry of the Earth” and make sacrifices to save the planet."
"President Biden warned Americans on Tuesday that Hurricane Ida’s lethal destruction was the sure sign of a nation and world “in peril” from climate change and said drastic action would be needed to prevent extreme weather patterns from worsening."
Longtime energy and environment journalist Elizabeth McGowan traveled to southeast Kentucky to shine a light on efforts to diversify Appalachia’s longtime coal-based economy. In FEJ StoryLog, McGowan shares how her on-the-ground reporting approach, funded in part by the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Fund for Environmental Journalism, yielded not only a powerful story, but insights into overcoming its challenges.
