Category «Energy»

How Do We Inventory the Materials Needed To Build Wind and Solar Farms?

New Database Quantifies What the Country Needs To Meet Its Big Clean Energy Goals – Wind and sun may be nearly infinite resources. But the materials needed to build wind turbines and solar panels are not always common. Take the rare earth metals—neodymium, dysprosium, and praseodymium—for example. Chances are those names are just as unfamiliar …

Subjects: Climate Change, Energy, Environmental Law, Knowledge Management

DOE Critical Materials Assessment July 2023

Politico: “The Energy Department this week unveiled its final list of “critical materials,” a determination that could shape how the agency spends billions of dollars to thwart climate change and bolster a shift to electric vehicles and renewable energy like offshore wind and solar. The assessment deems more than a dozen materials critical, including the …

Subjects: Climate Change, Energy, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Transportation

Fortune Global 500

“The corporations on our annual list of the world’s largest companies showed their muscle in 2022, delivering record-high aggregate revenues of $41 trillion. But the Fortune Global 500 has been anything but static, as technological change and scientific breakthroughs threaten established leaders and elevate new winners. Walmart remains No. 1 for the 10th consecutive year, …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Energy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Food and Nutrition, Health Care

Capital markets: The hidden pipeline for fossil fuel financing

“A new report – Capital markets: The hidden pipeline for fossil fuel financing by the Sierra Club’s Fossil-Free Finance campaign on the role of big US banks in capital markets reveals a hidden pipeline for fossil fuel financing through the banks’ underwriting of bonds and equities for polluting companies. The analysis raises important questions about …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Energy, Environmental Law, Legal Research, Social Media

GAO – Federal Buildings Remain Underutilized

Federal Real Property – Preliminary Results Show Federal Buildings Remain Underutilized Due to Longstanding Challenges and Increased Telework, July 13, 2023. Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives: “Federal agencies have long struggled to determine how much office space they needed to …

Subjects: Economy, Energy, Government Documents

Biggest Fossil Fuel Firms Responsible for a Third of Western Forests Burned

Yale Environment 360: “Emissions from the world’s 88 largest fossil fuel firms and cement makers are responsible for 37 percent of the forest burned in the western U.S. and Canada since 1986, according to a new study. “Over the last several decades, human-caused climate change has turned routine Western wildfires into exceptionally destructive events,” Kristina …

Subjects: Climate Change, Energy, Environmental Law

Lobbyist Database

FMinus: “Companies and organizations that are supposed to be on the right side of the environmental movement too often hire compromised lobbyists. Search our database to find out who’s hiring who—and whether or not their track record is consistent with their values. [Search by State or Search by Client] Launched in July 2023, F Minus …

Subjects: Climate Change, Congress, Economy, Education, Energy, Environmental Law, Freedom of Information, Legal Research

Drought and Public Health: A Roadmap for Advancing Engagement and Preparedness

Drought.gov: “Drought is one of the costliest and deadliest climate-related disasters in the United States, necessitating public health engagement at a national level. Although drought is not typically thought of as a health hazard, the pathways to human health outcomes are prevalent and numerous. To better understand these pathways, and actions that could be taken …

Subjects: Climate Change, Energy, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Health Care

Supreme Court Narrows Federal Jurisdiction Under Clean Water Act

CRS Legal Sidebar Supreme Court Narrows Federal Jurisdiction Under Clean Water Act June 21, 2023 – On May 25, 2023, the Supreme Court decided Sackett v. EPA, a case with significant implications for the scope of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA). While the Court unanimously agreed that the lower court applied the wrong …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, Energy, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

The data on 40 years of California wildfires is alarmingly clear

Quartz: “Wildfires in northern and central California increased fivefold between 1971 and 2021, according to a new study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The scientists behind the study found that those fires were mostly caused by anthropogenic climate change, the kind accelerated by human actions like burning fossil fuels …

Subjects: Climate Change, Energy, Environmental Law