Satellite view of construction at the Shentou coal-fired power station in Shanxi, China. In July 2017, China’s National Energy Administration ordered the plant’s owners to stop construction of two 1,000 megawatt units at the plant; in September 2017 the order was changed to “postpone.” Construction on the two units officially resumed on 28 March 2019. Photo: Google

In tougher times, China falls back on coal – “There’s a deep contradiction in this”

By Stephanie Yang 23 December 2019 BEIJING (The Wall Street Journal) – China’s efforts to wean itself off coal are losing steam, as the world’s biggest carbon emitter is putting economic growth and energy security above its ambitions to be a leader in combating climate change. Coal consumption is back near peak levels after rebounding […]

Carbon dioxide emissions from natural gas, petroleum, coal, and land use changes, 1998-2017, in gigatons of CO2 per year. Graphic: GCP

Global carbon emissions growth slows, but still hits record high in 2019 – “Emissions cuts in wealthier nations must outpace increases in poorer countries where access to energy is still needed”

By Rob Jordan 3 December 2019 (Stanford News Service) – The runaway train that is climate change is about to blow past another milestone: global fossil-fuel carbon dioxide emissions will reach yet another record high. Driven by rising natural gas and oil consumption, levels of CO2 are expected to hit 37 billion metric tons this […]

Shell’s “cracker” plant under construction in Pennsylvania. Photo: Keith Srakocic / AP

Will a push for plastics turn Appalachia into next “Cancer Alley”? – “It’s so obvious that they are trying to lock us into fossil fuels”

By Emily Holden 11 October 2019 MONACA, Pennsylvania (The Guardian) – Construction cranes climb into the sky and sprawl across the massive petrochemical facility that will turn a byproduct of fracked gas into plastic on the banks of the Ohio River, just outside Pittsburgh. Even at a distance, from the car park of a cancer […]

Air pollution (fine particulate matter PM2.5) in the United States, 2009-2018. in 2016, pollution started to increase significantly in the U.S. Midwest and West. Data: National Bureau of Economic Research. Graphic: The New York Times

America’s air quality worsens since Trump election, ending years of gains – “This increase is a real about-face”

By Nadja Popovich 24 October 2019 (The New York Times) – New data reveals that damaging air pollution has increased nationally since 2016, reversing a decades-long trend toward cleaner air. An analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data published this week by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that fine particulate pollution increased 5.5 percent on average across the […]

Clip from BP’s “Energy Illustrated” web series. Graphic: Spencer Dale / BP

BP chief economist to youth conference: “The haves must remember the have nots”

By Spencer Dale 23 October 2019 LONDON (BP) – It’s a great pleasure to be here this morning. One Young World is a big deal in BP. As you just heard, Bob Dudley is a massive fan. And many friends and colleagues have been delegates in the past and raved about it. So I’ve heard […]

Total fossil fuel financing by investment banks in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The financing has been led by the Wall Street giant JPMorgan Chase, which has provided $75 billion (£61 billion) to companies expanding in sectors such as fracking and Arctic oil and gas exploration. Graphic: RAN

Top investment banks provide $713 billion to expand fossil fuel industry since Paris climate change agreement – “We can all sit around pointing fingers at each other, but that doesn’t help solve what is a really complex and multifaceted problem”

By Patrick Greenfield 13 October 2019 (The Guardian) – The world’s largest investment banks have provided more than $700 billion of financing for the fossil fuel companies most aggressively expanding in new coal, oil and gas projects since the Paris climate change agreement, figures show. The financing has been led by the Wall Street giant […]

The top 20 companies that have contributed to 480 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent since 1965. At the top is Saudi Aramco, followed by Chevron, Gazprom, and Exxon Mobil. Data: Richard Heede / Climate Accountability Institute. Graphic: The Guardian

Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions – “The great tragedy of the climate crisis is that seven and a half billion people must pay the price so that a couple of dozen polluting interests can continue to make record profits”

By Matthew Taylor and Jonathan Watts 9 October 2019 (The Guardian) – The Guardian today reveals the 20 fossil fuel companies whose relentless exploitation of the world’s oil, gas and coal reserves can be directly linked to more than one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions in the modern era. New data from world-renowned researchers [Climate […]

Screenshot from drone video of a fracked gas well blowout at wells operated by GEP Haynesville, LLC, in Red River Parish, Louisiana, on 1 October 2019. According to Patrick Courreges with LDNR, the well heads have been initially capped and the flow redirected through piping to flare pits to contain the produced water and keep the heat away from the wellheads where workers are trying to kill the wells at surface. Photo: Phin Percy Jr.

Already burning for five weeks, fracked gas blowout in Louisiana could last two more months

By Julie Dermansky 4 October 2019 (DeSmog) – For the fifth week since the blowout began, a large flare is still burning at the site of GEP Haynesville, LLC’s blown out fracked gas wells in northwestern Louisiana. The blowout occurred on 30 August 2019, shortly after the company began a frack job, igniting two adjacent wells. A state official estimated […]

Historical U.S. election industry spending, Energy vs. Environment, 1990-2019, showing contributions to candidate campaigns, party committees, and outside groups (1990-2018 federal election cycles). Graphic: Center for Responsive Politics

Fossil fuel industry continues to dwarf environmental groups in election-related spending – Industry gives millions to Trump Victory and Trump Make America Great Again Committee

By Yue Stella Yu 24 September 2019 (Center for Responsive Politics) – Following a global climate strike over the weekend, climate activists in Washington, D.C., raged on and flooded the district Monday as the United Nations Climate Action Summit took place in New York. Participating groups issued several demands, including the passage of the Green New Deal, the […]

Aerial view of an oil sands field (bitumen mine) in Alberta, Canada. Photo: Jennifer Grant / Pembina Institute / Northern Lifeblood

No large oil companies are “Paris-aligned” – Newly-sanctioned oil development projects will take the world past 1.5ºC

5 September 2019 (Carbon Tracker Initiative) – This report provides an update to our 2017 and 2018 2 Degrees of Separation reports, along with an updated methodology. The most common climate-related question facing investors – “how can we tell if a company is aligned with Paris”? Carbon Tracker’s framework for addressing this challenge in the oil and gas sector […]

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