Coal production and mining jobs over the past half-century have been influenced by several factors, principally demand from the utility sector, technological breakthroughs in natural gas production, railroad deregulation, and...more
China Risks Winter Energy Crunch - "China is at risk of the same energy-crunch chaos seen in Europe, with a state-run newspaper warning that coal-fired power plants will struggle to keep the lights on this winter." ...more
Welcome to our first issue of 2021! We have been publishing a weekly edition of Currents since 2017 and hope that you find it informative and helpful. Our goal for 2021 is the same -- provide access to interesting and...more
FACEBOOK AND CARNEGIE MELLON PARTNER TO USE AI FOR STORAGE SOLUTIONS - On 14 October 2020, Facebook and Carnegie Mellon University released publicly a dataset of 1.3 million electrocatalyst simulations, a result of a...more
Corona-Induced CO2 Emission Reductions are Not Yet Detectable in the Atmosphere - "Based on current data measured in the energy, industry, and mobility sectors, restrictions of social life during the corona pandemic can be...more
U.S. Shale Producers Race for Federal Permits Ahead of Presidential Election - "Federal permitting in the largest U.S. oilfield in the Permian Basin, located in Texas and New Mexico, is up 80 percent in about the last three...more
China's New Coal Projects Make Up 90% of Global Total for First Half of 2020: Study - "Global coal-fired generation capacity saw a net decline of 2.9 gigawatts from January to June, the first drop on record for a six-month...more
Cancelled Teck Oil Sands Project Underscores Global Climate-Energy Policy Tension - "The Frontier project became the latest casualty in oil-producing countries with robust environmental movements agitating to cut...more
The Insanity is Over: ‘Navigable’ Now Means ‘Navigable’ Again - "The Trump administration has now announced that the intentionally ambiguous and easily abused Waters of the United States Rule has been replaced by the new,...more
Russian, Colombian Competition Continuing to Slow U.S. Thermal Coal Exports - "'Central Appalachian and Northern Appalachian exports remain out of the money for shipment to Europe and Illinois Basin coal has significant...more
Analysts Say U.S. Coal Merger Not Anti-Competitive- "The proposed 'extraordinary' joint venture between U.S. coal majors Peabody Energy and Arch Coal will be structurally beneficial, rather than anti-competitive for U.S....more
Trump to Sign Order Seeking to Clear Gas Pipeline Hurdles - "The administration, which is pushing a policy it calls energy dominance, has been considering an order that would push back against states, including New York,...more
Revised Definition of "Waters of the United States" - Proposed Rule - "The agencies' proposal is the second step in a two-step process to review and revise the definition of 'waters of the United States' consistent with...more
As Storm Looms, 4th Circuit Reverses Ruling Against Dominion on Coal Ash Pollution at Chesapeake Site - "Water pollution from a coal ash landfill and settling ponds at a closed power plant in Chesapeake is not a violation of...more
EPA Chief Looks to Distinguish Himself from Pruitt in Agency-Wide Memo - "The new head of the EPA sent a staff-wide memo laying out steps the agency is taking to increase transparency, a move that's seen as an effort to...more
Appalachian Region Looks to Asia to Revive Economic Hopes - "A Thai chemical company and, more recently, its new South Korean partner, are taking halting steps toward building a multibillion-dollar petrochemical plant in...more
Oil Soars After Trump Nixes Iran Nuclear Deal, Stocks Rally - "Crude oil prices rose more than 3 percent on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from a nuclear accord with Iran, a move that...more
Ohio Supreme Court Joins Texas and Oklahoma in Holding the State Does Not Recognize a Separate Implied Covenant to Explore Further - "We conclude that Ohio does not recognize an 'implied covenant to explore further'...more
EPA Hosts Public Hearing in Charleston on Clean Power Plan - "Those who favored repeal cited coal jobs and economic concerns, saying they fear if the plan were implemented, it would negatively affect coal jobs and along...more
The Trump Administration promotes an "all of the above" energy strategy, but many of the Administration's actions to date seem to favor coal and fossil fuels at the expense of clean and innovative energy solutions. Although...more
On June 1, 2017, President Trump announced that the "United States will cease all implementation" of the Paris Climate Accord. This Commentary provides a short summary of the impacts of President Trump's announcement....more
President Donald Trump's Executive Order (EO) entitled "Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth" is a broad directive accomplishing a number of the Trump Administration's energy-related priorities....more
Energy and Climate Debate - With the November 20 deadline looming, Congress will focus much of this week on the surface transportation bill as House and Senate conferees try to quickly negotiate differences on H.R. 22...more
On June 25, President Obama announced an ambitious plan to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and address climate change making good on a promise he made six months ago in his State of the Union Address when he said: “If...more
In This Issue: Energy and Climate Debate; Congress; Administration; Department of Energy; Environmental Protection Agency; Interior Department; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission;...more