Climate

December 20, 2023

Hannah Story Brown

Blog Post

ClimateExecutive BranchRevolving Door

Rahm Emanuel, LNG Ambassador To Japan

The pressure on the Biden administration to stop the rapid ongoing expansion of liquified natural gas (LNG) export infrastructure in the United States is intensifying. Over 300 organizations released a letter at COP28 demanding that the administration halt the planned build-out of LNG facilities. 60 Democrats in Congress wrote a letter demanding that the Energy Department reassess whether new LNG terminals were in the national interest. The Hill reported that the Biden administration’s continued support for LNG exports was causing a “revolt” within the Democratic party. 

December 06, 2023 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter

Hannah Story Brown

Newsletter

ClimateCongressional OversightEthics in GovernmentRight-Wing Media

The “Billionaire Matchmaker” and his Bad Amici

How does one right-wing activist get his worst ideas to appear in the legal decisions of the most powerful judges in America? A bombshell Politico investigation this week has the answers on how rightwing activist and “billionaire matchmaker” Leonard Leo managed to influence the outcome of several of the Supreme Court’s highest-profile and most damaging decisions over the past two years.

November 29, 2023

Emma Marsano

Newsletter ClimateCorporate CrackdownHousingLarry SummersTech

Biden Administration Remains Split Over Fighting Concentrated Corporate Power

This week’s newsletter looks at executive branch attempts to counteract concentrated corporate power across our focus areas – from consumer protection in Big Tech, to housing, to climate regulation. While the FTC and DOJ antitrust division continue to be present in important fights to support consumers and tenants, proactive climate policy continues to be absent, as Biden’s rhetoric regarding challenging climate change rings hollow in areas where the president has considerable discretion.

November 21, 2023

Toni Aguilar Rosenthal

Blog Post ClimateExecutive BranchIndustry InfluenceState Attorneys General

Fossil Fuel Front Groups Do Not Care About You

In efforts to reduce average emissions across the incredibly pollutive transportation sector, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a new tailpipe emissions standard. The new rule functionally mandates automakers to electrify portions of their fleets in order to comply with a reduced average emissions standard for vehicles starting with 2027 new vehicle classes. The proposal, while one of the most significant of the administration’s forays into regulating pollution reductions, has also faced steep criticism from some environmentalists for not going nearly far enough in achieving the 75 percent pollution cut necessary to actually address the climate crisis. On July 11, 2023, however, the American Petroleum Institute (API) led a sign-on letter campaign asking the EPA to roll over to industry on the rule. For far too long corporate feedback has been hugely – and disproportionately – influential for regulators. It shouldn’t be.

November 09, 2023

Toni Aguilar Rosenthal Dorothy Slater

Blog Post ClimateDepartment of Homeland Security

Biden’s Border Wall  

The Biden Administration announced last month that it had deemed it “necessary” to waive 26 federal laws, including the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, amongst others, in order to move forward with the construction of Trump’s infamous border wall along the US-Mexico border. This decision came after Biden vowed during his 2020 campaign that there would “not be another foot of wall constructed” during his presidency.  

November 08, 2023 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter

Hannah Story Brown

Newsletter ClimateExecutive BranchMedia Accountability

We Can’t Afford Supply Side Liberals’ Climate Strategy

All that this administration has done to make renewables easier and cheaper to build in this country is threatened by the administration’s simultaneous willingness to let U.S. fossil fuel companies continue to extract the massive reserves of oil and gas still in the ground, and, increasingly, to export it abroad. We share one global atmosphere. There is no decarbonizing America—no avoiding climate change reshaping the possibilities for life on this planet—without keeping our massive oil and gas reserves in the ground. 

November 01, 2023

Hannah Story Brown

Blog Post

Climate

Utilities Are Increasingly Passing Premiums for “Certified” Gas Onto Consumers Across The Country 

Our recent inquiry into whether utilities around the country are paying premiums for purchasing “certified,” “differentiated,” or “responsibly sourced” natural gas—and if so, whether they are passing on those higher prices to customers—has uncovered a significant uptick in utilities seeking these gas options and passing on the costs to ratepayers. You can find our research document here.

October 11, 2023 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter

Hannah Story Brown

Newsletter ClimateExecutive Branch

Calcasieu Pass Makes Its Billions From Polluting Louisiana in the Wake of Putin’s War

On Thursday the 19th, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is expected to vote on whether to approve Calcasieu Pass 2, a massive long-term natural gas liquefaction and export facility that intends to export 20 million metric tons of planet-warming methane gas a year. Dodging its responsibility so far to consider the full range of consequences of its infrastructure permitting decisions, FERC looks set to greenlight this monstrosity. As this newsletter will explore, not only are the global climate consequences of new gas export infrastructure enormous, but the immediate impacts are keenly felt by the local community inundated with pollution from the original Calcasieu Pass facility.