| | | | |  | | By Arianna Skibell | |  A woman looks at the Jaenschwalde coal-fired power plant in Peitz, Germany. | Sean Gallup/AFP via Getty Images | Some of the world's richest nations want to limit funding for fossil fuel projects — and the U.S. could make or break the plan. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is meeting starting today to discuss a European Union-led proposal to end loans and guarantees from their export credit agencies to oil and natural gas projects, writes Sara Schonhardt. The group of 38 countries — which collaborates on issues of trade and finance — ended such investments in coal in 2021. But the Biden administration has left it unclear how it will approach the latest proposal. “All eyes are on the U.S.,” Kate DeAngelis, deputy director of international finance at the climate advocacy group Friends of the Earth, told Sara. “Without the U.S. coming to the table, we’re not going to see Japan and Korea get in line.” If the countries reach a deal, it could help squash the flow of billions of dollars into international energy projects that release planet-warming pollution into the atmosphere. But the window for such action could be closing. The next round of talks is in November, when former President Donald Trump, who’s running on a pro-fossil-fuel agenda, could win his bid to retake the White House. The Treasury Department, which represents the United States in these meetings, said in a statement that the administration was still working “on the details of our position.” “The United States is committed to its international climate pledges, including ending new direct support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector,” Megan Apper, a senior spokesperson for Treasury, told Sara in an email. President Joe Biden has previously made other efforts to end public funding for fossil fuel projects abroad. In 2021, he signed an executive order barring federal agencies from financing these overseas projects. But one U.S. agency, the Export-Import Bank, has continued to back them, drawing fire from Democratic lawmakers and climate activists.
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President Joe Biden speaks at the General Motors Factory Zero electric vehicle assembly plant on Nov. 17, 2021, in Detroit. | Evan Vucci/AP | Why EVs could mean more pollution for this tribe
Meeting President Joe Biden's electric vehicle and Made in America goals requires the domestic production of a lot of copper, writes Sean Reilly. But the top U.S. producer is a century-old plant in arid southeastern Arizona that in recent years has spewed hundreds of tons of lead, arsenic and other hazardous pollutants into the skies only a few miles from an Apache Indian reservation. As production rises, the tribe fears that pollution will rise, too. They’re coming (with labels) for gas stoves
Lawmakers in California, New York and Illinois have introduced bills requiring gas stoves to come with a warning label informing shoppers that the ubiquitous kitchen appliance puts them, their children and even (in California) their pets at risk of asthma, leukemia and other illnesses, write Wes Venteicher and Marie J. French. Appliance manufacturers like Samsung and LG are pushing back, accusing proponents of demonizing the fossil fuel for political gain — the latest skirmish in the fight over regulating gas stoves, an effort Republicans have cast as a symbol of Democratic overreach in addressing climate change. ‘Clean’ hydrogen faces Texas water fight
Environmentalists are pushing back against a $2.5 billion clean hydrogen project in Texas, saying it could use too much water in an area prone to drought, writes Christian Robles. The Avina Clean Hydrogen project would use a machine called an electrolyzer to split millions of gallons of water a day from the Nueces River to form zero-carbon hydrogen.
| | Oil spill: A huge oil spill blackened Singapore’s picturesque beaches, launching a multiday cleanup operation. Too much of a good thing? Spain's green energy might exceed demand.
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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. | Adrian Kraus/AP | New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is facing political consequences for her congestion pricing reversal, including alienation from many of her key supporters. Federal scientists have forecast a Connecticut-sized dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico this summer, where low-oxygen levels from fertilizer and other nutrients kill or drive out marine life. The Senate is expected to pass a bipartisan nuclear energy package this week, paving the path to the president's desk for the first major climate and energy bill since the Inflation Reduction Act. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
