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California lawmakers on Tuesday released the updated text of a cap-and-trade market reform bill that would address allowance overallocation and supply vis-a-vis offset usage, while also requiring the publication of banking metrics after a similar bill failed this spring.

The Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) on Wednesday approved utility Dominion Energy’s request to suspend its existing rate case so as to recover RGGI allowance costs, ahead of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s (R) widely anticipated plans to severe the state’s RGGI linkage. 

Massachusetts’ power sector Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) cap-and-trade system saw its current vintage allowance auction clear over $9 above the previous sale, while the programme’s first ever sale for future permits settled at less than half that price, according to results published Wednesday.

Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has completed a “carbon offset voyage” for the transportation of cars from Japan to the UK, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Vast Solar and thermal storage hopeful 1414 Degrees to join forces to try and finally deliver long awaited solar thermal project near Port Augusta.

The post Vast Solar and 1414 team up for new attempt at Port Augusta solar storage hub appeared first on RenewEconomy.

EPA administrator Michael Regan announces ‘aggressive action’ but new PFAS limits are advisory and critics call them ‘baby steps’

The US Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced new advisory limits for four kinds of PFAS “forever chemicals”, warning that the compounds, which most Americans are exposed to daily, are far more toxic than previously thought.

The dangerous chemicals are estimated to be contaminating drinking water for more than 200 million people, and the new limits could have significant financial consequences for PFAS polluters, including the US military and producers like 3M, DuPont and Chemours.

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With the greyhound racing season upon us, let’s take a closer look at how governments support the industry. Alexandra McEwan, Lecturer: Law, CQUniversity Australia Jayanath Ananda, Senior Lecturer in Economics Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Nova Scotia’s fifth cap-and-trade auction cleared almost 75% above the 2022 auction reserve price at a record high settlement, rebounding significantly from November’s undersubscribed sale, according to results published Wednesday.

New York state's power generators are joining labour unions and environmental groups in calling for a CO2 charge in the electricity market ahead of the final Scoping Plan publication, a coalition said in public comments released Wednesday.

The UN-backed Race to Zero campaign updated its criteria on Wednesday to ensure credible net zero targets from corporates and financial organisations, aiming to overcome greenwashing concerns while specifying requirements for carbon credit use and other elements.

‘Net zero’ global alliance of financial institutions, begun at Cop26, can still invest in coal and other fossil fuels

Banks that have signed up to a global climate pledge, led by Mark Carney, a former governor of the Bank of England, can still invest unlimited amounts in coal mining and coal power, despite promises to tighten the rules on their lending.

Green campaigners have slammed the loopholes, uncovered by the Guardian, as “greenwashing”, after updated criteria for banks involved in the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) were unveiled on Wednesday.

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EU carbon posted a second day of gains as traders took heart from reports that lawmakers had reached a provisional Parliamentary deal on ETS reforms, while energy markets continued to forge ahead amid further cuts in natural gas supplies.

A European oil major and has teamed up with a forestry management firm in Gabon to develop a sustainable forest management model that aims to generate carbon credits from reduced deforestation, conservation, and afforestation, according to a media release on Wednesday.

A forestry project in Canada has been awarded only a low chance of achieving 1 tonne of CO2 avoidance or removal by a carbon credit ratings agency in its latest update.

The UK's ability to tackle the likes of bird flu could be undermined by poor lab facilities, a report warns.

The promise of a global green economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic has been dashed, sending a warning that the clean energy transition has stalled and making it unlikely that the world will be able to meet critical climate goals this decade, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Senior MEPs from the centre-right EPP, centre-left S&D and liberals from Renew – the three largest political groups – have sealed a provisional deal on the EU ETS late Tuesday that would see an earlier phaseout of free allowances and a slightly tighter annual cap cut than at last week's failed vote.

Fossil fuelled power generation in China continued to fall in May, though at a slightly slower rate than in the previous month as some of the country’s Covid-driven lockdowns eased.

Australia’s energy market operator has suspended the National Electricity Market, due to a perfect storm of coal plants going offline and a spike in fossil fuel prices. Joel Gilmore, Associate Professor, Griffith University Tim Nelson, Associate Professor of Economics, Griffith University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The head of Papua New Guinea's Climate Change Development Authority (CCDA) has told national media that a delay in government policy-making is holding up hundreds of millions of dollars in potential carbon credit revenue.