Economy & Business

"US energy use has been flat. But new industries are forcing a boost in utility forecasts for demand, potentially harming efforts to cut emissions."

"A mere 57 oil, gas, coal and cement producers are directly linked to 80% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since the 2016 Paris climate agreement, a study has shown."

"Separate efforts by Brown University researchers and OpenSecrets allow searches of who’s influencing state lawmakers. Less than half of states make lobbying information accessible for analysis."

"In March, Enviva, the world’s largest woody biomass producer for industrial energy, declared bankruptcy. That cataclysmic collapse triggered a rush of political and economic maneuvering in the U.S. (a key wood pellet producing nation), and in Europe (a primary industrial biomass energy user in converted coal plants)."

"The federal government will provide a $1.5 billion loan to restart a nuclear power plant in southwestern Michigan, officials announced Wednesday."

"The fiscal 2024 spending package released Thursday proposes to prolong and expand a critical lifeline for the domestic nuclear energy industry."

"“Barons,” published Tuesday by Austin Frerick, a native Iowan and Yale University food policy fellow, argues that a runaway process of monopoly has gutted rural America while bleeding the taste from American food."

"Some oil and gas industry executives fear Donald Trump’s protectionist policies could spark a global trade war".

"The Biden administration pumped more money into clean energy projects Thursday, announcing up to $475 million in federal funding for projects in five states — including the political battleground states of Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada." "The administration said the clean energy projects will strengthen the country’s energy security while helping ensure mining communities continue playing a role in the energy economy."

"Once the world’s top aluminum producer, the U.S. is now making much less of it — just as cleantech industries drive up demand for the metal and advocates try to drive its emissions down."