by Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill Highlights The Vatican has released “Journeying Towards Care For Our Common Home,” a 225-page encyclical calling on all church bishops to divest from fossil fuels in efforts to slow the climate crisis The document also calls on Catholics to drop support for companies that support abortion and armaments Pope Francis … Read more
by Beth Gardiner, Yale Environment 360 Highlights Polluting industries such as airlines and fossil fuel companies have been lobbying for bailout funds and loosening of environmental regulations during the COVID-19 crisis Bailouts and lack of environmental regulations will create a high-carbon legacy that will last much longer than the current pandemic Since the pandemic, U.S. … Read more
by Chanan Bos, Clean Technica Highlights Many of Russia’s oil wells are built on permafrost, a layer of frozen soil, sand, and gravel. This permafrost is now melting quickly, jeopardizing the country’s oil supplies and accelerating climate change The permafrost these oil wells are built on is considered contiguous, meaning it stays frozen for thousands … Read more
by Greg Muttitt, Oil Change International Highlights A new study in the journal Climate Policy has laid out steps to a sustainable and just energy transition away from fossil fuel extraction. Wealthy countries such as Canada, the United States, and Norway are using funds to bail out their oil industries while less fortunate countries must … Read more
By Brian Eckhouse, Bloomberg Highlights Solar power and onshore wind power are now the cheapest new sources of electricity in the majority of the world’s population. The Levelized Cost of Energy for wind has fallen 9% and solar has dropped by 4% Prices are especially low in the U.S., China, and Brazil Improvements in the technology, … Read more
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Bloomberg Green Highlights Environmental activists are fighting oil companies to keep drilling out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by putting divestment pressure on banks. Tribal representatives and other environmental activists pressed banking executives about their policies during shareholder meetings and in conversations with sustainability directors Morgan Stanley has announced that … Read more
From Bloomberg Highlights The coronavirus pandemic has caused oil markets to plunge into the negative due to a lack of storage for unused oil. Michael Tran, managing director of global energy strategy at RBC Capital Markets, says that there is little to be done about the market nose-diving even further: “Refiners are rejecting barrels at … Read more
By Rosanna Esparza and Ashley Hernandez, The Sacramento Bee ACTION ALERT: Send Governor Newsom a message now to reverse his decision and halt fracking. Highlights California Governor Gavin Newsom approved 24 new fracking permits for the state in the midst of shelter-at-home mandates as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. Though Newsom is doing great at … Read more
By Justin Guay, Medium Highlights The current pandemic could be an opportunity for the US to eliminate our use of fossil fuel dependency and transition into a clean energy economy The US fracking industry is in a tricky place – facing negative pricing and less demand, indicating that the industry wasn’t viable to begin with … Read more
By Ivan Penn, The New York Times Highlights Even though the renewable energy sector is facing some losses during the coronavirus pandemic, renewables are set to account for nearly 21% of the electricity in the United States, a 3% increase from 2019 Renewables prices have not dropped as much as oil and gas prices during … Read more
