Mondays Overnight Energy & Environment – Welcoming You,The latest news and information on energy, environment, and everything in between. Subscribe here thehill.com/newsletter-signup.
Today, we are looking at how a court ruling affects the Biden administrations climate plan, a new U.S./Egypt weather working group and German climate protests which are blocking traffic.
Rachel Frazin was the editor of The Hill. Zack Budryk was the vice-president. Send us tips: [email protected]And [email protected]. Follow us on twitter: @RachelFrazinAnd @BudrykZack.
Lets jump in.
Biden administration delays oil and gas leasing despite appeal from climate ruling
Following a court ruling against its process of calculating the social cost associated with climate change, the Biden administration announced this weekend that it would suspend or delay federal oil-and-gas leasing.
On February 11, Judge James Cain of Louisiana, a Trump appointee obstructed the administration’s method of computing the social costs of greenhouse gases, the primary driver of climate changes. Biden’s administration had reverted to Obama-era calculations methods and plans to develop its own.
How did we get to this point? Cain was ruled by him. Federal agencies blockedThe White House Interagency Working Group’s findings, which were tasked with creating new metrics based off the Obama-era calculations, was prohibited from being considered. It also prohibits the administration from considering global effects of greenhouse gas emissions. This distinction is what made the Obama estimates so much higher than those of Trump.
Saturday evening, the Justice Department filed a legal request to the court for a stay of the injunction. The Justice Department cited the possibility that its appeal will succeed.
Every President, starting with President Nixon, has placed some requirement within the Executive Branch for federal agencies that they assess the benefits and costs associated with major government actions. This injunction also calls into question the authority granted by the previous three Administrations to provide standard guidance to agencies on the best methods to estimate the social cost of greenhouse gas emissions.
Next: The filing states that work on public-facing rules, grants and leases has been halted or delayed in order to allow agencies to assess whether and how they can proceed.
Interior spokesperson Melissa Schwartz stated that the Interior Department has evaluated program components that include the interim guidance from the Interagency Working Group on the social cost of carbon analysis. She also said that delays are expected in permitting or leasing for oil and gas programs.
Learn more about the filing process here.
US and Egypt form joint working group
U.S. climate envoy John KerryIn the midst of Kerry’s Cairo trip, Sameh Shoukry, Egyptian Foreign Minister, has initiated the first meeting in a joint climate group between the two countries.
According to the State Department the group will focus on two areas: one, the COP27 climate summit which will take place in Egypt in November; and the other, bilateral cooperation on a range mitigation and adaptation-related topics.
The group was created by the countries that agreed to it last year.
Kerry also spoke Monday at American University Cairo.
What did he say to you? During his speech, the former secretary to State and Democratic presidential candidate emphasized the importance of implementing climate goals or what he called implementation +.
What does this entail? According to a copy his prepared remarks, it means delivering on existing promises, strengthening commitments that don’t seem strong enough, and creating new efforts and commitments where none are.
However, the push comes amid uncertainty over whether the U.S. can really meet its climate commitments. Sen. Joe Manchin
Joe ManchinCollins calls for reform of the Electoral Count Act. Peaceful transfer should not require heroes’ Photo of the Week: Ukraine and Super Bowl LVI. Penguins. Child poverty rose to 3.7 million after the expiration of expanded child tax credit.(D-W.Va.), despite his openness to climate action, has resisted the Biden administration’s social and climate spending bill.
Kerry nodded in agreement, saying, “We hope to pass legislation that would spend $500 billion on combating climate change,” according to prepared remarks.
Learn more about the announcement.
GERMAN OFFICIALS CONDEMN ACTIVISTS IN CLIMATE ACTION WHO BLOCK ROADS
GMonday’s climate protests were condemned by erman officials. They included those near Hamburg, which is the country’s largest port.
To block people’s mobility or to stop the movement of goods is a serious violation of the law. Joachim Herrmann (Bavaria’s top security official), is a member the Christian Social Union, reported German newspaper Funke media. According to The Associated Press.
According to the AP, members of the group Uprising of the Last Generation blocked roads in Stuttgart, Freiburg, and Hamburg in protest of food waste. The group demanded that food waste be stopped, claiming that the disposing of large amounts of food waste contributes to hunger and climate changes.
According to the AP Nouripour, the head German environmentalist Green Party, stated that he supports peaceful protests. However, he added that roadblockages may hinder the support to combat climate change. He also condemned the threat of protestors to intensify their demonstration if the government does not comply with their demands by Sunday.
Germany It is not on track for reducing carbon emissionsAfter the government set ambitious climate goals to be carbon neutral by 2045, reduction targets were established.
Find out more about the protests in this article.
WHAT WAS READING
- The global climate attention crisis (POLITICO)
- One year after the Texas cold spell, a study has shown that renewable energy could prevent blackouts (The Washington Post)
- Wyo., EPA edge toward power plants dealE&E News)
- New Mexico’s legislative session is a failure for energy and environment bills (NM Political Report)
Finally, here’s something completely off-beat. Hank.
That’s all for today. Thank you for reading. Check out The HillsEnergy & Environment PageFor the most recent news and coverage. We’ll see you Tuesday.