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In a concession to automakers and labor unions during an election year, the Biden administration plans to relax elements of its regulations to limit tailpipe emissions that are designed to get Americans to switch from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles.  Biden’s EPA is planning to give automakers more time to ramp up sales of electric vehicles. The revised regulations would not require a sharp increase in EV sales until after 2030 . The final rule is expected to be published by early...

The $2 billion conversion of Mexico’s Energia Costa Azul gas terminal into an LNG export facility will open a new, faster means for U.S. natural gas producers to access Asian gas markets, circumventing the Panama Canal. Costa Azul’s conversion is the first of several gas export projects proposed in Mexico, but President Joe Biden’s recent pause on LNG export approvals casts uncertainty over their timelines and development, as these ventures need Energy Department authorization to ship...

Electric vehicles typically weigh significantly more than gasoline-powered cars and can easily crash through steel highway guardrails that are not designed to withstand the extra force, raising concerns about roadside safety, according to a crash test  by the University of Nebraska. Electric vehicles typically weigh 20 percent to 50 percent more than gas-powered vehicles due to their batteries that can weigh almost as much as a small gas-powered car. For example, Ford’s F-150 Lightning EV...

Between the federal government, states and municipalities, billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent adding electric buses to transit fleets across the United States to supposedly reduce carbon dioxide emissions. However, these electric buses are sitting unused as they are broken-down and either cannot be fixed, are too expensive to fix, or have been scrapped altogether.

Officials in Asheville, North Carolina, recently expressed frustration  that three of the five e-buses the city...

Farmers in the Netherlands blocked roads with their tractors to revolt against Europe’s increasingly stringent climate policies, and farmers in Germany and France have risen to the fight against rising diesel prices to protect their livelihoods and culture and ensure that Europeans have food on their tables. Demonstrations first broke out in the Netherlands in 2019 over government demands that livestock production be halved in order to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions . In the wake of...

A Washington state legislator has introduced a House bill to prohibit new gas-powered outdoor equipment beginning in 2026. New gas-fueled lawnmowers, chainsaws, rototillers, weed whackers, log splitters, leaf blowers, pressure washers, stump grinders, wood chippers, snow blowers and other equipment with 25-horsepower or less would be banned. The legislation, House Bill 1868, also would exempt electric-powered equipment from sales taxes and provide $5 million a year  to local governments to...

The Department of Energy is examining whether regulators should take climate change into account when deciding whether a proposed gas export project meets the U.S. national interest. The Energy Department is weighing whether to issue a permit for a gas export plant in Louisiana known as Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2), one of 17 proposed LNG export terminals. The plant would ship up to 24 million metric tons of gas abroad each year from a 546-acre site  in Louisiana’s Cameron Parish. The...

Almost 5,000 auto dealers nationwide wrote to President Biden, urging him to slow down his aggressive push to force automakers to produce and sell electric vehicles. His administration has proposed fuel economy and tailpipe emissions standards that would require two-thirds of the cars sold in 2032 to be electric, increasing consumer costs and unfairly burdening U.S. businesses. Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed  tailpipe emissions standards...

The Biden administration recently unveiled regulations targeting multiple home and commercial appliances, which will impact the pocketbooks and comfort of millions of Americans. Biden’s Department of Energy (DOE) finalized new energy efficiency standards for residential refrigerators and freezers and proposed standards for commercial fans and blowers. DOE’s standards for refrigerators and freezers will be implemented between 2029 and 2030 , and take less efficient and less expensive...

The United States is among 63 countries to join a pledge to cut cooling-related emissions at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai (COP 28). The Global Cooling Pledge includes cutting emissions not only from air conditioning but also from refrigeration for food and medicine and even medical devices such as MRI machines. It commits countries to reduce by 2050 their cooling-related emissions by at least 68 percent  from 2022 levels, along with a suite of other targets including...