"The department recommended higher fees for oil and gas leases, but there was no sign the government planned to take global warming into account when weighing new applications."
The history of environmental racism is a long one in the United States, far longer than the efforts to address the problem. But reporting on environmental justice continues to tick upwards, and an analysis in the latest Backgrounder points to promising progress, explaining why for journalists the year ahead may yield important stories, whether about future footholds or new missteps.
"Dan Tronchetti received a letter in August that alarmed him: Summit Carbon Solutions, a company he'd never heard of, wanted his permission to conduct survey work for a 2,000-mile pipeline it planned to route through his Iowa corn and soybean fields."
"The Biden administration’s proposal to bolster environmental permitting review is a good first step but doesn’t go far enough towards scrapping Trump-era rules, according to a coalition of Democratic attorneys general."
"Hilcorp Energy Co. has a spotty pipeline safety record and refuses to make its financial records public. Can it safeguard the pipeline from climate change?"
"Environmental organizations and pipeline experts continue expressing concerns about a secretive Texas petroleum company with a spotty safety record that acquired the largest share of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline last year as thawing permafrost and flooding linked to climate change threatened the massive oil conduit.
"Maine’s environmental commissioner suspended a permit Tuesday for a $1 billion electricity transmission line, delivering another blow to the project aimed at bringing Canadian hydropower to New England."
"Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, opening a new parliamentary session on Tuesday, vowed to help British Columbia rebuild after the devastating floods last week, and said it was time to ramp up the fight against climate change."
"Hammered by high gasoline prices, President Biden announced this morning that the Department of Energy will release 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to lower prices."
The massive infrastructure measure signed into law last week is a potential mother lode of stories for environmental journalists. If that is, they can figure out where the money is going. The latest TipSheet takes an initial look at the $1.2 trillion plan and offers guidance on how to track down reportable local and regional projects.
"The White House on Tuesday said it would make 50 million barrels of oil available from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserves to help cool oil prices."
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