Climate and Environment

November 21, 2023

Toni Aguilar Rosenthal

Blog Post Climate and EnvironmentExecutive 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 Climate and EnvironmentDepartment 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 Climate and EnvironmentExecutive 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 and Environment

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 Climate and EnvironmentExecutive 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.

September 27, 2023 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter

KJ Boyle

Newsletter Climate and EnvironmentCorporate CrackdownGovernment CapacityHealth

New Watchdog Reports Highlight Insufficient EPA Enforcement Ahead Of Shutdown

Corporate greed and emaciated federal regulatory capacity means people are needlessly suffering physically, and sometimes even dying. That’s the upshot of two recent reports from the EPA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG). These reports illustrate the concerning state of environmental regulation and enforcement in regards to water quality and refinery emissions. 

September 18, 2023

Hannah Story Brown Dorothy Slater

Press Release Climate and EnvironmentExecutive BranchHealth

RELEASE: White House Should Deepen Its New Recognition of the Environmental Salience of Its Cancer Moonshot Initiative

The White House announced late last week that the Environmental Protection Agency is launching epa.gov/cancer as part of the Biden administration’s Cancer Moonshot efforts, and will share new information about the EPA’s role in leveraging its existing authorities to “accelerate the rate of progress to prevent cancer, including phase-outs of carcinogens, regulatory actions to protect children, workers and overburdened communities, and enforcement actions to ensure pollution is curbed.” 

September 06, 2023

Hannah Story Brown Emma Marsano

Press Release Climate and EnvironmentCorporate CrackdownExecutive BranchTreasury Department

RELEASE: As the Hydrogen Industry Vies for Tens of Billions of Federal Dollars, Lax Oversight and Entrenched Fossil Fuel Ties Raise Red Flags

The Revolving Door Project released a new Industry Agenda report today examining the executive branch influence agenda of the rapidly growing “clean” hydrogen industry, which is poised to receive tens of billions of dollars under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.