Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Climate

What to Know About Shell’s Big Court Victory

On big oil emissions, COP updates, and methane fees

What to Know About Shell’s Big Court Victory
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: The Philippines is bracing for another major storm, the fifth in under a month • Warnings are in place for Guam as Tropical Storm Man-Yi approaches • It is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny in Washington, D.C., where Congress is back in session.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Shell wins appeal to overturn landmark emissions ruling

A Dutch court has overturned a 2021 ruling that ordered oil giant Shell to significantly curb its greenhouse gas emissions. The decision is a “big set back for efforts to use the courts to compel companies to transition faster,” wrote Tom Wilson, an energy correspondent with the Financial Times. The original ruling, issued by a lower court in a case brought by Friends of the Earth and 17,000 Dutch citizens, said Shell had to reduce its emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. The landmark decision marked the first time a court ordered a private company to align its efforts with the goals of the Paris Agreement. But Shell appealed, arguing that it was already working to reduce its emissions (aiming for a 15-20% reduction by 2030 compared to 2016), that it can’t be held responsible for how customers use its products, and that such rules should be made by governments, not courts. “The Dutch court case may serve as a bellwether, with potential ripple effects on future decisions across the region,” saidBloomberg. The case could go to the Dutch Supreme Court, but it would likely take years to play out.

2. A few updates from COP29

It’s day two of the COP29 climate summit in Baku. Yesterday began with “more than nine hours of backroom bickering over what should be on the agenda,” The Associated Pressreported. But even so, there has been some noteworthy progress:

  • Negotiators yesterday agreed on rules for international carbon markets. The agreement could provide a mechanism for rich countries to help fund adaptation efforts to the tune of some $250 billion annually. Some hailed the decision as a bright spot, while others said it had been rushed and wasn’t scrutinized by all parties. “We are a long way from halving emissions this decade, but this will help get us back in the race,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell.
  • The U.K. is expected to unveil its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) today, becoming one of the first major countries to do so ahead of the February deadline. Prime Minister Keir Starmer will reportedly announce a goal of curbing emissions by 81% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels, through decarbonizing the grid and expanding offshore wind, plus carbon capture and storage investments.

3. Guterres says COP climate finance deal is ‘a must’

COP figureheads are giving forceful keynote speeches in an attempt to set the tone for the summit at the outset. “The sound you hear is the ticking clock,” said UN Secretary General António Guterres. “We are in the final countdown to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. And time is not on our side.” He called 2024 a “masterclass in climate destruction,” and urged countries to deliver on their promise to move away from fossil fuels, accelerate the energy transition, and put forward bold NDCs in line with the Paris Agreement. And he said “developing countries must not leave Baku empty-handed. A [climate finance] deal is a must.”

Ahead of Guterres’ speech, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev slammed Western critics of his country’s fossil fuel industry. As Reutersput it, “the airing of these opposing views on the main stage underscore the challenge at the heart of the climate negotiations: many Western states remain dependent on fossil fuels while at the same time seeking to pressure others who produce them into shifting to greener energy sources.”

4. Trump selects Lee Zeldin to lead EPA

President-elect Donald Trump tapped former Long Island Congressman and New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. In his four terms in Congress as the representative from New York’s easternmost congressional district on Long Island, Zeldin did not cut any particular profile on climate, environment, or energy issues, and was best known for his hawkish foreign policy position, reported Heatmap’s Matthew Zeitlin. To the extent Zeldin has defined himself on the environment beyond standard-issue Republican opposition to restrictions on fossil fuels and car purchasing, it’s been in the context of issues specific to his coastal Long Island constituency. During his 2018 congressional campaign, he pointed to his membership in the “shellfish and national estuary caucuses,” as well as federal programs for estuaries and his opposition to expanded offshore drilling exploration at an event hosted by the League of Conservation Voters. Throughout his surprisingly close run against Kathy Hochul for New York’s governor’s mansion in 2022, Zeldin assailed New York’s ban on fracking and criticized New York’s planned phase-out of sales of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035, as well as the proposal to institute congestion pricing in Lower Manhattan.

5. EPA finalizes methane fees for oil and gas sector

The Biden administration today finalized a rule that sets a fee for excessive methane emissions for major oil and gas producers. Fossil fuel operations are the largest industrial source of methane emissions in the U.S., and the Environmental Protection Agency estimates this rule would prevent 1.2 million metric tons of methane emissions through 2035. The new fees start at $900 per metric ton of methane emitted this year, increasing to $1,200 next year, and $1,500 thereafter. The rule is paired with incentives for companies that fix their leaky infrastructure, and mandated under the Inflation Reduction Act, which CNN reported could make it harder for the incoming Trump administration to revoke.

THE KICKER

“Are we facing new headwinds? Absolutely. But we won’t revert back to the energy system of the 1950s. No way.”U.S. climate envoy John Podesta on the challenges facing the energy transition under a Trump administration.

Yellow

You’re out of free articles.

Subscribe today to experience Heatmap’s expert analysis 
of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability.
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
or
Please enter an email address
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
Politics

Here Are the Grants EPA Canceled

The agency provided a list to the Sierra Club, which in turn provided the list to Heatmap.

Lee Zeldin.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency remain closed-lipped about which grants they’ve canceled. Earlier this week, however, the office provided a written list to the Sierra Club in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, which begins to shed light on some of the agency’s actions.

The document shows 49 individual grants that were either “canceled” or prevented from being awarded from January 20 through March 7, which is the day the public information office conducted its search in response to the FOIA request. The grants’ total cumulative value is more than $230 million, although some $30 million appears to have already been paid out to recipients.

Keep reading...Show less
Energy

The New Campaign to Save Renewables: Lower Electricity Bills

Defenders of the Inflation Reduction Act have hit on what they hope will be a persuasive argument for why it should stay.

A leaf and a quarter.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

With the fate of the Inflation Reduction Act and its tax credits for building and producing clean energy hanging in the balance, the law’s supporters have increasingly turned to dollars-and-cents arguments in favor of its preservation. Since the election, industry and research groups have put out a handful of reports making the broad argument that in addition to higher greenhouse gas emissions, taking away these tax credits would mean higher electricity bills.

The American Clean Power Association put out a report in December, authored by the consulting firm ICF, arguing that “energy tax credits will drive $1.9 trillion in growth, creating 13.7 million jobs and delivering 4x return on investment.”

Keep reading...Show less
Green
Politics

AM Briefing: A Letter from EPA Staff

On environmental justice grants, melting glaciers, and Amazon’s carbon credits

EPA Workers Wrote an Anonymous Letter to America
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Severe thunderstorms are expected across the Mississippi Valley this weekend • Storm Martinho pushed Portugal’s wind power generation to “historic maximums” • It’s 62 degrees Fahrenheit, cloudy, and very quiet at Heathrow Airport outside London, where a large fire at an electricity substation forced the international travel hub to close.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Trump issues executive order to expand critical mineral output

President Trump invoked emergency powers Thursday to expand production of critical minerals and reduce the nation’s reliance on other countries. The executive order relies on the Defense Production Act, which “grants the president powers to ensure the nation’s defense by expanding and expediting the supply of materials and services from the domestic industrial base.”

Keep reading...Show less
Yellow