natural gas

By Sarah Morken - The North Star, April 16, 2017

Tacoma has been one of the main dumping grounds for polluting industry in western Washington. We are home to nine EPA Superfund clean up sites.

This week we gathered on the Tacoma tide flats outside outside the site where Puget Sound Energy (PSE) is preparing to build the nations largest fracked gas storage plant (Liquid Natural Gas or LNG). There were members of the Puyallup Tribe, Standing Rock Tribe, the Palouse Tribe and their non-native allies from local political and environmental groups. We were about 50 people coming and going. The protest was hosted by Tacoma Direct Action and sponsored by Redline Tacoma, Save Tacoma Water and Green Party Tahoma. This was the first local protest actually at the site.

Takes More Than Prayer

James Rideout, member of the Puyallup Tribe and geoduck diver started the protest with a prayer and a song, with help from Jesse Nightwalker a member of the Palouse Tribe. James asked how far we were willing to go to fight this project, reminding us that it was going to take more than prayer, reminding us about what happened in Standing Rock.

ILWU

We stood on the four corners at the intersection located between the LNG site and Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE). TOTE is supposedly one of the primary customers of the LNG. We handed out flyers to Longshore workers (ILWU 23) as they drove through the gate at TOTE and also to other port workers as they drove by. Some of the cars drove past without stopping, but many of them took our flyers. Most of them were not even aware of the project. They weren’t aware that their union leadership supports the project. The decision to support LNG was voted on at a general membership meeting without effort to truly inform the members on the issue. The union has been helping with the million dollar greenwashing campaign for PSE.

Interestingly, ILWU 23 sent a delegation with supplies and money to Standing Rock showing solidarity with the Water Protectors against the oil and gas industry there. Can the dockworkers be convinced to stand in solidarity with the Puyallup Tribe right here at home? Or will they instead support the the oil and gas industry? In my opinion, it would be helpful if Puyallup Tribe members ask their Tribal Council to set up a meeting with ILWU 23 and have a conversation about this. As union members, as the working class, our natural allies are fellow exploited/oppressed/discriminated people, like Native Americans, not Puget Sound Energy!

By Trevor Houser, Jason Bordoff, and Peter Marsters - Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy, School of International and Public Affairs, and the Rhodium Group, April 2017

From the introduction: Six years ago, the US coal industry was thriving, with demand recovering from the Great Recession, and global coal prices at record highs along with the stock prices of US coal companies. By the end of 2015, however, the industry had collapsed, with three of the four largest US miners filing for bankruptcy along with many other smaller companies. While coal mining employment has been on the decline for decades – from a peak of more than 800,000 in the 1920s to 130,000 in 2011 – the pace of job loss over the past six years has been particularly dramatic. After campaigning on a promise to end what he called his predecessor’s “War on Coal,” President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order in March 2017 ordering agencies to review or rescind a raft of Obama-era environmental regulations, telling coal miners they would be “going back to work.”

This paper offers an empirical diagnosis of what caused the coal collapse, and then examines the prospects for a recovery of US coal production and employment by modeling the impact of President Trump’s executive order and assessing the global coal market outlook. In short, the paper finds:

• US electricity demand contracted in the wake of the Great Recession, and has yet to recover due to energy efficiency improvements in buildings, lighting and appliances. A surge in US natural gas production due to the shale revolution has driven down prices and made coal increasingly uncompetitive in US electricity markets. Coal has also faced growing competition from renewable energy, with solar costs falling 85 percent between 2008 and 2016 and wind costs falling 36 percent.
• Increased competition from cheap natural gas is responsible for 49 percent of the decline in domestic US coal consumption. Lower-than-expected demand is responsible for 26 percent, and the growth in renewable energy is responsible for 18 percent. Environmental regulations have played a role in the switch from coal to natural gas and renewables in US electricity supply by accelerating coal plant retirements, but were a significantly smaller factor than recent natural gas and renewable energy cost reductions.
• Changes in the global coal market have played a far greater role in the collapse of the US coal industry than is generally understood. A slow-down in Chinese coal demand, especially for metallurgical coal, depressed coal prices around the world and reduced the market for US exports. More than half of the decline in US coal company revenue between 2011 and 2015 was due to international factors.
• Implementing all the actions in President Trump’s executive order to roll back Obama-era environmental regulations could stem the recent decline in US coal consumption, but only if natural gas prices increase going forward. If natural gas prices remain at or near current levels or renewable costs fall more quickly than expected, US coal consumption will continue its decline despite Trump’s aggressive rollback of Obama-era regulations.
• While global coal markets have recovered slightly over the past few months due to supply restrictions in China and flooding in Australia, we expect this rally to be short-lived. Slower economic growth and structural adjustment in China will continue to put downward pressure on global coal prices and limit the market opportunities for US exports. Indian coal demand will likely grow in the years ahead, but not enough to make up for the slow-down in China. The same is true for other emerging economies, many of whom are negatively impacted by decelerating Chinese commodities demand themselves.
• Under the best case scenario for US coal producers, our modeling projects a modest recovery to 2013 levels of just under 1 billion tons a year. Under the worst case scenario, output falls to 600 million tons a year. A plausible range of US coal mining employment in these scenarios ranges from 70,000 to 90,000 in 2020, and 64,000 to 94,000 in 2025 and 2030 -- lower than anything the US experienced before 2015.

These findings indicate that President Trump’s efforts to roll back environmental regulations will not materially improve economic conditions in America’s coal communities. As such, the paper concludes with recommendations for steps that the federal government can take to safeguard the pension and health security of current and retired miners and dependents and support economic diversification. Attracting new sources of economic activity and job creation will not be easy, and even at its most successful will not return coal country to peak levels of past prosperity.

But responsible policymakers should be honest about what’s going on in the US coal sector—including the causes of coal’s decline and unlikeliness of its resurgence—rather than offer false hope that the glory days can be revived. And then support those in America’s coal communities working hard to build a new economic future.

Read the text (PDF).

By staff - Adapting Canadian Work and Workplaces to Respond to Climate Change and United Steelworkers, April 2017

The United Steelworkers Union (USW) in Canada has produced a new workshop guide to educate workers about the impact of climate change on jobs, and to better prepare them to ensure that government policies promoting a just transition are put in place. The workshop and guide were piloted at the United Steelworkers National Health, Safety, Environment and Human Rights Conference that was held in Vancouver in 2017.

The workshop guide leads union members through discussion topics and activities, such as asking participants to answer the question, “What can your workplace do to combat climate change?”

Topics covered include:

• How Climate Change Connects Us
• How Climate Change Contributes to the World of Work
  • Employment
  • Forestry
  • Mining
  • Transportation
• Just Transition
• What Does a Green Job Mean in Relation to the Environment?
  • Collective Agreements
  • Political Lobbying
  • Green Procurement
  • Training
  • Employment Insurance
• National Concern for the Economic Growth of Canada

Read the text (PDF).

By Alex Steffin - Medium, December 15, 2016

You can’t understand what Trump’s doing to America without understanding the “Carbon Bubble”

If you’re an American, you’re likely misinformed about the most dire crisis in our world.

American journalists, pundits and media executives have largely convinced themselves that climate change is not a serious political issue, because they think the polls tell them that. A majority of American voters regularly tell pollsters they don’t think climate change is a critically important election issue, so therefore the media decides it must not be an important political issue at all.

Unfortunately, that conventional wisdom blinds us to both to the actual bedrock reality of this era, and to — as I see it — the defining aim of the in-coming Trump administration: delaying climate action.

Trump has surrounded himself with more oil industry and oil industry connected people than any president in history (even George W. Bush). You can’t understand what’s going on with Trump unless you understand the oil industry… and you can’t understand the oil industry without understanding climate change.

Understanding Climate Change

In case you’re just joining us here on Earth, we’re making the planet hotter. The science is incontrovertible that by burning fossil fuels, we’re changing the planet’s climate. Because the consequences worsen dramatically as we emit more climate pollution and the planet gets hotter, every nation on Earth agreed last year in Paris to hold that temperature rise to two degrees Celsius (2ºC).

This means we must limit the total amount of CO2 and other greenhouse pollution we put into the sky: we have to meet a “carbon budget.” To meet that budget, we have to radically cut greenhouse gas emissions — burning way less oil, coal and gas — in the next two decades, and set the global economy on a steep path to zero emissions.

Again, the American media has failed to convey the magnitude of the costs of unchecked global warming. Those costs are profound already, today, as the Arctic heatwave, Syrian civil war, bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, worsening storms, droughts, wildfires and freak weather events all show. Those costs will only grow, and they will grow more dire, more quickly as the planet heats.

At the same time, the innovations we need to create zero-carbon prosperity are already here. From plummeting costs for solar, wind, electric vehicles and green buildings to better approaches to urban planning, agriculture and forestry, we already have the tools we need to start building a much more prosperous world, producing hosts of new companies and millions of jobs. Indeed, a giant building boom is what successful climate action looks like.

Because we have no real choice but to act — and, in fact, climate action will make most people not only safer, but better off — big changes are coming, far sooner than most Americans understand.

But some people totally understand: the ones who stand to lose money from these changes.

By Oscar Reyes - Foreign Policy in Focus, November 21, 2016

One of the sad ironies of Donald Trump’s victory is that climate change has risen up the political agenda only after the campaign, when both candidates and debate moderators largely ignored it. Trump’s denialism in the face of an urgent, planetary threat provides some potent imagery for how the devastation caused by his presidency might look.

Climate scientists have been quick to condemn Trump’s election as a “disaster,” and it’s not hard to see why.

The last three years have broken temperature records, with 2016 set to become the hottest yet. The UN Environment Program just warned that we need to do far more and far faster, while a new study of pledges from G20 countries found that even under Obama, the U.S. remained a long way off meeting its share of the global effort to tackle climate change. Yet we’ve just elected a man who promises to drill more oil, burn more coal, and scrap our national climate plan.

The Trump disaster could hit communities on the front line of climate justice struggles the hardest. Scenes like the militarized response to the struggle against the Dakota Access Pipeline could be the new normal under Trump if the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure is matched with increasingly repressive policing.

It’s little wonder, then, that Trump’s election has left climate advocates reeling. But as mourning turns to anger and resistance, it’s worth recalling that there are significant limits on what Trump can do to hold back action on climate change.

The transition to cleaner energy will carry on regardless, as coal will remain uncompetitive. States and cities could ramp up their own climate efforts irrespective of the federal government. And international climate action has a momentum that’s not solely dependent on who occupies the White House.

Rogue State

Some of the loudest noises coming from the Trump camp suggest that his administration will withdraw from the Paris climate deal.

Since this process takes four years, it’s rumored that Trump is considering the shortcut of leaving the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which George Bush Sr. signed in 1992 and the Senate ratified. That would set the U.S. apart from every other nation on earth (except the Vatican, which is strongly in favour of climate action all the same). There would be no clearer way to signal that Trump is making the U.S. a rogue state.

Unilateralism on this scale could throw up legal, political, and diplomatic hurdles that Trump’s team might not easily overcome. The Senate might demand a say on leaving the UNFCCC — and it’s not a given that a majority would favor the path of global isolation.

Alternatively, the Trump administration might choose to ignore Washington’s commitments without formally abandoning the international climate process. One of the first victims could be the global Green Climate Fund, which was set up to help developing countries with their climate transitions — and is now unlikely to see at least $2 billion of the $3 billion originally promised to it by the United States.

But the Trump wrecking ball won’t be able to destroy everything in its path. There are strong signs that U.S. isolation won’t wreck the Paris Agreement. Many other countries (including Saudi Arabia) have suggested that they will stick to their international climate commitments with or without the United States. There’s precedent here, too: When George W. Bush withdrew from the last global climate treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, the rest of the world continued with it anyway.

Faced with failed harvests, floods, droughts, and ever more extreme weather, most countries now realize that taking on climate change is in their own self-interest. Ultimately, the countries that lead the way in renewable energy, efficient buildings, and improved public transport (among other climate measures) will be best placed to cope with changes in the global economy.

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, September 20, 2016

A supplement to Eco Unionist News:

Lead Stories:

• Another coal domino falls as the Indian Government’s billion tonnes a year by 2020 target fades - By Bob Burton, End Coal, September 14, 2016
• Seven charts show new renewables outpacing rising demand for first time - By Simon Evans, Carbon Brief, September 14, 2016
• Creditors lose historic sums in oil bankruptcies, Moody’s says - By Collin Eaton, FuelFix, September 12, 2016
• China’s Continuing Renewable Energy Revolution – latest trends in electric power generation - By John A. Mathews, Asia-Pacific Journal, September 1, 2016

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, September 13, 2016

A supplement to Eco Unionist News:

Lead Stories:

• Peabody Energy’s Pathway Out Of Bankruptcy Leads … Backs To Bankruptcy, Says IEEFA - By Joshua S Hill , Clean Technica, September 8, 2016; [related]: As coal companies sink into bankruptcy, who will pay to clean up their old mines? - By David Roberts, Vox, September 2, 2016
• Frustration among out-of-work attendees at annual Labour Day BBQ - By Roberta Bell, CBC, September 5, 2016
• State of The Transition, August 2016: Tailwinds for clean energy and the Paris agreement, deepening doldrums for the incumbency - By Jeremy Leggett, Jeremy Leggett, September 4, 2016

Carbon Market Watch:

• Panic buying sees coking coal price jump 20% in a week - By Frik Els, Mining.Com, September 11, 2016
• South African mining output falls sharply - By Valentina Ruiz Leotaud, Mining.Com, September 11, 2016
• One Hundred Years of Natural Gas? Not At These Prices - By Art Berman, The Petroleum Truth Report, September 8, 2016
• Traders see low prices, more pain ahead for oil industry - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 8, 2016; [related]: Oil trims weekly gains as market discounts drop in inventories - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 9, 2016 | Oil climbs on report of inventory decline - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 8, 2016 | Oil, gasoline inventories plunge; crude prices rise - By Staff, FuelFix, September 8, 2016 | Oil advances as traders look to OPEC, Russia for signs of output freeze - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 7, 2016 | Market Currents: Production freeze hopes fizzle - By Matt Smith, FuelFix, September 6, 2016
• Global Coal Plant Pipeline Slows, According To CoalSwarm - By Joshua S Hill, Clean Technica, September 7, 2016

Other Carbon Bubble News:

• Norway's Wealth Fund Dumps Duke Energy Over 'Risk of Severe Environmental Damage' - By Donna Lisenby, EcoWatch, September 8, 2016
• The Energy-Water Nexus [25] - Jordan Macknick interviewed by Chris Nelder, The Energy Transition Show, September 7, 2016
• Great Lakes Region Pivots From Fossil Fuels - By Codi Kozacek, Circle of Blue, September 6, 2016
• Oil downturn ripples through city finances in New Mexico - By Morgan Lee, Associated Press, September 6, 2016
• Waiting for rebound, producers still looks at west coast for coal export potential - By Heather Richards, Casper Star Tribune, September 4, 2016

Utility Death Spiral News:

• NSW energy minister blames Basslink for SA price spikes - By Giles Parkinson, REnew Economy, September 9, 2016; [related]: Gas plants fingered again for South Australian power price hikes - By Giles Parkinson, REnew Economy, September 6, 2016
• Solar developer protests community solar size in Colorado Xcel settlement - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, September 7, 2016
• New proposals from Iowa utilities raise red flags for solar advocates - By Karen Uhlenhuth, Midwest Energy News, September 6, 2016

For more green news, please visit our news feeds section on ecology.iww.org; Twitter #IWWEUC; Hashtags: #greenunionism #greensyndicalism #IWW. Please send suggested news items to include in this series to euc [at] iww.org.

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, September 7, 2016

A supplement to Eco Unionist News:

Lead Stories:

• The $8 Trillion Fight Over How to Rid America of Fossil Fuel - By Eric Roston, Bloomberg, August 30, 2016
• Mass protests by China’s coal, iron and steel workers on the decline - By staff, China Labour Bulletin, August 18, 2016

Carbon Market Watch:

• Oil ends slide on Putin freeze comments - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 2, 2016; [related]: OPEC output rises to record before talks with Russia on freeze - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 2, 2016 | Oil holds near lowest levels in three weeks - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 1, 2016 | Oil has worst day in almost a month; back below $45 - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 31, 2016 | Oil trades near $47 as gasoline inventories appear to have dipped - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 30, 2016 | Doubts linger over potential OPEC deal - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 29, 2016

Other Carbon Bubble News:

• QUT becomes first Queensland University to its dump fossil fuel investments - By 350.org, REnew Economy, September 5, 2016
• California nixes funding for coal export terminals - By Paige Blankenbuehler, High Country News, September 2, 2016
• India shelves coal mining target on weak demand - By Megan Darby, Climate Change News, September 2, 2016
• Petrobras sheds 11,704 workers in plan to save $1.2 billion - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 2, 2016
• Baker Hughes cuts employee pay 5 percent through furloughs - By Jordan Blum, FuelFix, September 1, 2016
• Canada’s Enbridge drops Sandpiper crude oil pipeline - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, September 1, 2016
• Caterpillar to close Belgium plant, lay off 2000 workers - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, September 1, 2016
• Over 3000 UK churches on way to ditching fossil fuels - By Ed King, Climate Change News, September 1, 2016
• Mass adoption of electric vehicles is “much sooner than most people realize” - By Andy Rowell, Oil Change International, August 31, 2016
• Canada’s mining industry faces workers shortage of up to 127,000 - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, August 30, 2016
• U.S. universities using less coal for heat, power - By David Hunn, FuelFix, August 30, 2016
• Solar power growing rapidly as prices tumble and tax credits are extended - By John Funk, Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 27, 2016
• The Gilded Rage: A Conversation With a Trump Supporter That Will Surprise You - By Alexander Zaitchik, Alternet, August 22, 2016
• Old King Coal - By Dan Weissmann, WBEX 91.5 FM, June 22, 2016

Utility Death Spiral News:

• Back to school? Schools that have installed solar panels threatened with an unfair tax bill - By staff, The Ecologist, September 5, 2016
• A Battle Over Bringing Local Renewables To Rural Electric Co-ops - By Cally Carswell, Inside Energy, September 2, 2016
• Facing stricter climate goals, California passes 4 bills to boost energy storage - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, September 2, 2016
• The graph that shows the death of traditional energy utilities - By Giles Parkinson, REnew Economy, September 2, 2016
• In 11th hour deal, California public utility reaches net metering compromise - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, September 2, 2016
• The Climate Change Authority’s gamble on political pragmatism - By Frank Jotzo, The Conversation, September 1, 2016
• Nevada regulator blocks SolarCity from grandfathering proceedings - By Krysti Shallenberger, Utility Dive, September 1, 2016; [related]: SolarCity Barred From Intervening in Nevada Grandfathering Dockets - By Julia Pyper, GreenTechMedia, August 31, 2016
• 2 GW Of Colorado Wind Can Replace 6000 GWh Of Coal - By Aisha Abdelhamid, Clean Technica, September 1, 2016
• Florida votes to strike property taxes on solar panels - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, August 31, 2016
• Wind Power Curtailment in China Expected to Increase in Second Half of 2016 -  By Liu Yuanyuan, Renewable Energy World, August 31, 2016
• Australia’s natural-gas cartel is bleeding Australia - By Bruce Robertson, REnew Economy, August 30, 2016
• New England’s Big Energy Switch - By Alisa Barba, Inside Energy, August 30, 2016
• New Hampshire Sticks With Solar Net Metering, Which Voters Support - By Peter Allen, Clean Technica, August 30, 2016
• No new solar! How network lobby imagines Australia’s clean energy transition - By Giles Parkinson, REnew Economy, August 30, 2016
• Solar groups pour money into Arizona utility regulatory election - By Peter Maloney, Utility Dive, August 30, 2016
• AEP Ohio wants to double fixed charges, joining net metering debate - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, August 29, 2016
• Distributed Generation Under Fire (Q2 2016) - By Karlee Weinmann, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, August 29, 2016
• A Funny Thing Happening in the Race for Renewables - By Steve Hargreaves and Courtney St. John, Nexus Media, August 22, 2016

For more green news, please visit our news feeds section on ecology.iww.org; Twitter #IWWEUC; Hashtags: #greenunionism #greensyndicalism #IWW. Please send suggested news items to include in this series to euc [at] iww.org.

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, August 17, 2016

A supplement to Eco Unionist News:

Lead Stories:

• Coal Companies Have Mined An Area The Size Of NYC, Now They Have To Clean It Up - By Stephanie Joyce, Wyoming Public Radio, August 13, 2016
• Selling T-shirts, lies, anger to miners left without jobs, hope - By Gary Bentley, Lexington Herald-Leader, August 13, 2016
• Coal isn’t the only fossil fuel in trouble, Rice researcher says - By  David Hunn, FuelFix, August 12, 2016
• The solar transition - By staff, The Next Wave, August 12, 2016; [related]: Climate science: revolution is here - By Paul Rogers, Open Democracy, August 11, 2016
• Bob Murray: MSHA inspections ‘total harassment’ - By Ken Ward Jr, Charleston Gazette-Mail, August 11, 2016
• Oil trades near 1-week low after U.S. stockpiles rise - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 11, 2016
• [related]: Ending $4 billion U.S. oil subsidy would have minor impact, report says - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 8, 2016

Other Carbon Bubble News:

• China doesn’t need any more coal plants - By Fu Sha and Zou Ji, Climate Change News, August 12, 2016
• The view from Canada: ‘The industry is in a tough position’ - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 12, 2016; [related]: Canada’s oil industry not likely to rebound by end of decade: report - By Tania Kohut, Global News, August 4, 2016
• Christy Clark holds fast to market fundamentalism as LNG dreams crumble - By Harjap Grewal, Rabble.Ca, August 11, 2016
• Court upholds Obama's social cost of carbon accounting for federal regulations - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, August 11, 2016
• How a US energy company tried to sell its failing ‘clean coal’ project to the world - By Zachary Davies Boren, Greenpeace, August 11, 2016
• IEA says global oil demand growth could sink - By Collin Eaton, FuelFix, August 11, 2016
• Oregon Finds Switching From Coal to Renewable Energy Is a Bargain - By John R. Platt, Take Part, August 11, 2016
• Chesapeake Energy leaving Barnett, birthplace of shale revolution - By Collin Eaton, FuelFix, August 10, 2016
• Peabody Energy Lenders Accept Miner’s Business Plan - By Dow Jones Newswires, Denver Post, August 10, 2016
• Saudi Arabia reports record output on summer demand - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 10, 2016
• Trump keeps pandering to the coal miners - By Ken Ward Jr, Charleston Gazette-Mail, August 10, 2016
• Oil services firms face $110B in debt — and the bill is coming due - By Collin Eaton, FuelFix, August 9, 2016
• Kosmos Energy announces $108.3 million net loss for second quarter 2016 - By staff, Oil Voice, August 8, 2016
• Tesla Motors vs. Fossil Fuels: An electrifying showdown - By Matt Pressman, EV Annex, August 7, 2016

Utility Death Spiral News:

• Australian energy markets have echoes of Enron crisis in California - By Giles Parkinson, REnew Economy, August 15, 2016; [related]: SA power prices inflated by generators gaming market, says report - By Sophie Vorrath, REnew Economy, August 11, 2016 | South Australia would face higher electricity bill without wind energy - By Giles Parkinson, REnew Economy, August 9, 2016
• Japan's big 'nuclear restart' overtaken by conservation and renewables - By Jim Green, The Ecologist, August 12, 2016
• New Mexico settlement blocks solar fees proposed by Xcel Energy - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, August 12, 2016; [related]: Big Victory for Solar Energy in New Mexico - By Earthjustice, EcoWatch, August 11, 2016
• Arizona regulators preserve net metering in UNS case - By Christian Roselund, PV Magazine, August 11, 2016; [related]: Big Win for Arizona Solar Customers - By Earthjustice, EcoWatch, August 12, 2016
• California Has More Solar Power Than You Think—a Lot More - By Bentham Paulos, GreenTechMedia, August 11, 2016
• Facts and Falsehoods in Energy Transition [23] - Dr Jonathan Koomey interviewed by Chris Nelder, The Energy Transition Show, August 10, 2016
• In Corporate March to Clean Energy, Utilities Not Required - By Jan Ellen Spiegel, InsideClimate News, August 8, 2016
• Is Solar Energy Really Too Expensive? - By Jill Richardson, Other Words, August 3, 2016

For more green news, please visit our news feeds section on ecology.iww.org; Twitter #IWWEUC; Hashtags: #greenunionism #greensyndicalism #IWW. Please send suggested news items to include in this series to euc [at] iww.org.

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, August 10, 2016

A supplement to Eco Unionist News:

Lead Stories:

• Oil and natural gas production jobs in May were 26% lower than in October 2014 - By Robert McManmon, OilVoice, August 5, 2016
• Oil majors’ debt balloons as energy slump persists - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 5, 2016; [related]: How will industry respond after oil’s fall below $40? - By staff, FuelFix, August 3, 2016 | Oil prices flat after two-day rally - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 5, 2016 | ‘The days of $100 oil are gone.’ So what’s next? - By staff, FuelFix, August 2, 2016 | Oil rises after its dip below $40 a barrel - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 2, 2016 | Oil settles below $40 for the first time since April - By staff, FuelFix, August 2, 2016 | Growing oil glut shows investors there’s nowhere to go but down - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 1, 2016 | Oil prices continue to slide - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 1, 2016 | Oil settles above $40 a barrel after falling below threshold in intraday trading - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 1, 2016
• State of The Transition, July 2016: Might the fossil fuel industries implode faster than the clean energy industries can grow to replace them? - By Jeremy Leggett, Jeremy Leggett Blog, August 3, 2016
• Today’s Downturn Sets Markets Up For A Dramatic Oil Price Spike - By Nick Cunningham, OilPrice.Com, August 2, 2016
• Hydrocarbons and the Illusion of Sustainability - By Kent A. Klitgaard, Monthly Review, July-August 2016

Other Carbon Bubble News:

• Bankrupt coal company execs want huge bonuses — but can they clean up after themselves? - By staff, Western Priorities, August 5, 2016; [related]: Bankrupt coal miner Peabody proposes $11.9 million in executive bonuses - By Tracy Rucinski, Reuters, August 4, 2016
• Synergy Resources announces second quarter 2016 net loss of $153.8 million - By staff, OilVoice, August 5, 2016
• Chesapeake misses estimates as gas field writedowns mount - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 4, 2016
• Dynegy posts loss while preparing for Texas growth - By Jordan Blum, FuelFix, August 4, 2016
• More bad news for copper price - By Frik Els, Mining.Com, August 4, 2016
• W&T Offshore warns of potential bankruptcy after $121 million loss - By Jordan Blum, FuelFix, August 4, 2016
• Crude-by-rail volumes to the East Coast are declining - By Arup Mallik, OilVoice, August 3, 2016; [related]: Crude-oil train movements down 45% this year - By Andrew Maykuth, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 3, 2016
• Hunger strike pushes South Korea to defer coal plant plan - By Bob Burton, EndCoal, August 3, 2016
• Noble Energy sells record amount of oil — but not at a profit - By David Hunn, FuelFix, August 3, 2016
• Occidental swings to loss in 2nd quarter from year earlier - By David Hunn, FuelFix, August 3, 2016
• Solar Beats Out Coal In UK For 2nd Whole Month Ever - By Joshua S Hill, Clean Technica, August 3, 2016
• Coal Glut, Environmental Pushback Derail West Coast Port Plans - By Timothy Puko and Erica E. Phillips, Wall Street Journal, August 1, 2016
• LNG Investments At Serious Risk If China Succeeds On Shale - By Charles Kennedy, Network for Oil & Gas Accountability and Protection, August 1, 2016
• Wyoming’s ‘clean coal’ plans stir false hopes - By Sandy Buchanan, Last Best News, July 29, 2016
• Two Towns Battle Colorado for Freedom to Ban Fracking - By Kate Stringer, YES! Magazine, July 28, 2016
• US to speed oil, gas permits amid sharp drop in applications - By Matthew Brown, Associated Press, July 28, 2016
• Stuttgart pulls out of fossil fuels - By Melanie Mattauch, Fossil Free, July 20, 2016

Utility Death Spiral News:

• South Australia signalling the death of base-load generation - By Giles Parkinson, REnewEconomy, August 8, 2016; [related]: The solution to Australia’s gas crisis is not more gas - By Alan Pears, The Conversation, August 3, 2016
• Warren Buffett Wins: Elon Musk's Ballot Referendum Blocked by Nevada Supreme Court - By Climate Nexus, EcoWatch, August 5, 2016; [related]: Nevada Supreme Court Blocks Rooftop Solar Referendum - By Julia Pyper, Greentech Media, August 8, 2016 | Nevada Court Rejects Solar Power Ballot Initiative As ‘Inaccurate’ And ‘Misleading’ - By Samantha Page, Think Progress, August 5, 2016 | Nevada Supreme Court rejects net metering ballot proposal - By Krysti Shallenberger, Utility Dive, August 5, 2016 | Nevada Supreme Court rejects rooftop solar referendum - By Danielle Ola, PV-Tech, August 5, 2016 | Future of Nevada solar ballot petition unclear after state Supreme Court hearing - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, August 1, 2016
• What happens when 1GW of coal capacity suddenly disappears - By Giles Parkinson, REnew Economy, August 4, 2016
• Big coal generators still fear renewables, despite gas boost - By Sophie Vorrath, REnew Economy, August 2, 2016
• Energy companies are dead already, they just haven’t realised it - By Leon Bateman, REnew Economy, August 2, 2016
• 5 Charts That Illustrate The Remarkable LED Lighting Revolution - By Joe Romm, Think Progress, August 2, 2016
• Have we massively underestimated the battery storage market? - By Nigel Morris, REnew Economy, August 2, 2016
• 'It's just wrong': Thousands in limbo as Louisiana's solar tax credits dwindle - By Jennifer Larino, Times-Picayune, August 2, 2016

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