The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday largely maintained quotas for a federal ethanol mandate, resisting efforts by oil companies to make bigger changes.
Why it matters, per Axios' Amy Harder: These final quotas show the ethanol lobby and a group of corn-state lawmakers led by Sen. Chuck Grassley remain as powerful as ever even under the unconventional administration of President Trump. EPA did cut the quotas compared to statutory levels, but it discarded more aggressive changes. That mixed bag ultimately led to a range of muted reactions from ethanol backers, including a cautious statement of approval from Grassley, and criticism from oil and refinery interests.
Barring last-second hiccups, reports from the OPEC meeting in Vienna signal that OPEC and Russia will agree to extend the production-limiting agreement by nine months through the end of 2018.
Why it matters: The cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Russia curbing the global supply glut is in part a signal of how the U.S. supply surge has forced a new era in oil geopolitics.
Yesterday, Royal Dutch Shell said it would aim to cut the "net carbon footprint of its energy products by around half by 2050," with an interim reduction goal of 20% by 2035.
Why it matters: The pledge is the latest sign of how the world's biggest oil and gas companies are positioning themselves on climate change. It also comes on the heels of Shell's deepening involvement in electric vehicle charging.
