There's a certain symmetry to a pair of energy sector developments Wednesday: Solar stocks jumped on a day that also brought hard evidence the oil industry has little interest in trying to drill in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The big picture: Solar and oil aren't really direct competitors, but both will be affected by the incoming Biden administration's policies and the speed of the global transition toward lower-carbon sources.
The average fuel efficiency of cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. dipped in model year 2019, newly released federal data shows.
Why it matters: Transportation is the nation's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. The overall trends (see above) show that the sector is far from steep emissions cuts.
Part of a new post by energy analyst Nikos Tsafos raises an important point: Joe Biden's approach to U.S. financing of natural gas projects abroad and LNG exports is something of a mystery, even as he plans new domestic regulations.
The big picture: Tsafos notes there's been significant support in recent years from a pair of U.S. agencies — the Export-Import Bank and the International Development Finance Corp.
Scientists this year will update how they calculateaverage temperatures, altering our reference point of a "normal climate."
Why it matters: What we think of as normal in life — whether in climate, politics or society — is always changing due to what's known as the "shifting baselines syndrome." Because we often miss those changes, we end up with a warped image of the present that shapes our policies and our future.
There's good news and bad news when it comes to curbing carbon emissions from Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing services, courtesy of new analysis from the Rocky Mountain Institute.
Why it matters: Ride-hailing creates new emissions challenges.
There are lots of energy policy implications if Democrats have indeed pulled off a surprising sweep of Georgia's Senate races that hands them both chambers of Congress. As of 10am Wednesday, Raphael Warnock has defeated Kelly Loeffler, and Jon Ossoff is on track to beat David Perdue.
The big picture: Senate rules work against moving big bills without a supermajority (a topic we explored yesterday). But that said, the party in power controls the agenda and has some room to maneuver even with the thinnest possible margin.
A federal judge on Tuesday denied a bid to thwart the Interior Department's plan to sell oil drilling leases in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Why it matters: District court judge Sharon Gleason's ruling clears the way for the Interior Department to unseal bids tomorrow for drilling rights in the region.
