The United Kingdom has issued a moratorium on hydraulic fracking, citing concerns about earthquakes that could create "unacceptable impacts," the AP reports.
The big picture: "The ban marks a major U-turn for the Conservative party and the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who once referred to fracking as 'glorious news for humanity' and urged the UK to 'leave no stone unturned, or unfracked' in pursuit of shale gas, the Guardian reports.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday gave the green light for the initial public offering of state-owned oil giant Aramco, per reports in Bloomberg and Reuters.
Why it matters: Offering a small slice of the company is designed to raise tens of billions of dollars to fund the kingdom's economic diversification efforts. But the plan to list up to 5% of Aramco has been beset with delays since the crown prince first made the announcement in 2016.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Friday that his administration is preparing a plan to take over PG&E should it fail to resolve its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.
Why it matters: The embattled utility company is currently in bankruptcy court over its liability for fires that took place in 2017. At the same time, the company is dealing with the ongoing fire season in California and the added disruption to residents that widespread power shutoffs in October have caused.
The United Nations confirmed that Madrid will host next month's climate talks after Chile canceled last minute due to national protests over economic instability, according to the AP.
The big picture: The talks are set for Dec. 2–13. The original host, Brazil, dropped out after the election of President Jair Bolsonaro. Climate activist Greta Thunberg tweeted Friday after the meeting relocation was confirmed, "It turns out I've traveled half around the world, the wrong way." The Swedish teenager refuses to fly because of the carbon footprint of air transport and has requested assistance to attend the UN summit.
Automakers are choosing sides in the increasingly heated political debate over vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards in an attempt to protect the investments they've made in a clean energy economy.
The big picture: President Trump is at war with California on multiple fronts, and carmakers are caught in the crossfire. Despite their differences, the carmakers are united on this: only one emissions rule should apply across the country.
President Trump's war with California over carbon emissions is putting several giant automakers in activists' crosshairs.
Driving the news: Multiple shareholder and environmental groups have begun, or are weighing, pressure campaigns against companies that have sided with the White House effort to strip California's power to impose strict mandates.
The world's biggest publicly traded oil and natural gas companies would have to cut production by roughly a third on average by 2040 to meet the goals of the Paris climate deal, according to a new report.
The big picture: The opposite is occurring. Most oil and gas producers are expanding production in response to growing demand and the fact that the world is not on track to meet the Paris ambitions.
