All articles tagged with #fossil fuels
The Supreme Court is weighing Suncor v. Boulder, a case determining if federal law preempts state climate lawsuits against oil giants. Energy experts warn a ruling for Boulder could bankrupt firms and spike gas prices, while justices questioned the scope of potential liability.
Australia's opposition Coalition has proposed a major migration overhaul, aiming to cut net overseas migration to 100,000 by 2028-29. The plan includes 45,000 new visas for major projects, explicitly supporting fossil fuel developments like the Beetaloo gas fields, while slashing other temporary visas. Business and academic groups warn the cuts will harm the economy and workforce, though the Coalition argues it will boost skilled labor and budget neutrality.
The US Supreme Court heard arguments on October 5 in Suncor Energy v. Boulder County, a pivotal case determining whether federal law preempts state-level climate damages lawsuits against ExxonMobil and Suncor. Boulder seeks billions in compensation for climate-related harms, alleging the companies concealed knowledge of fossil fuel impacts. While the court’s direction remains unclear, experts suggest the justices struggled to find a clear legal basis for the industry’s preemption arguments. A ruling is expected next summer, with potential implications for dozens of similar cases nationwide.
Germany has released a national roadmap to phase out fossil fuels by 2045, becoming the third European country to do so after France and the Netherlands. The plan targets 80% renewable electricity by 2030 and aims to exit coal by 2038, potentially as early as 2035. While the move signals a shift from carbon neutrality to explicit fossil fuel reduction, critics argue the targets remain insufficient for energy security and climate goals. The announcement follows recent geopolitical tensions and rising energy prices, highlighting the urgency of reducing dependence on volatile imports.
Copernicus data show August was tied for the hottest month on record, averaging about 1.65°C above pre‑industrial levels with record sea-surface temperatures, driven by fossil-fuel–related warming and El Niño–linked oceans; Europe endured a scorching summer amid heatwaves and drought while global greenhouse gas emissions rose about 0.7% to 54 Gt CO2e in 2025, with the US up 2.2%, China up 0.1%, India down 0.2%, and the EU down 0.2%.
UN and UNEP warn that to avert climate catastrophe we must act now to limit warming to 1.5°C. While the Paris Agreement set this target, current trajectories risk breaching it in coming years unless we rapidly cut methane, accelerate the fossil-fuel phaseout, protect forests, land and oceans, and accelerate a renewables transition. Stronger national climate plans and finance for adaptation—especially for the most at-risk—are essential. Every fraction of a degree worsens health, livelihoods and inequality, so overshoot must be minimized and short, backed by global multilateral action.
A New York court struck down the plan to charge fossil-fuel producers $75 billion for climate-change damages, defeating a bid to fund climate resiliency projects and repairs from extreme weather.
A Financial Times analysis of 60 data centers under construction by Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft finds they could emit about 101.5 million tons of CO2 annually once online—roughly 7% of 2025 US power-sector emissions and the equivalent of 24 million gas-powered cars or 27 coal plants. Despite public emissions pledges, the grid is leaning on gas and coal to power round-the-clock AI demand, with renewable energy credits used to offset the gap, a costly approach likely to draw profitability pressure and renewed activism and policy scrutiny.
A NPJ Climate Action paper argues AI’s environmental impact may exceed its benefits, showing AI-enabled emissions could be 3–13× higher than avoided emissions from renewables as AI accelerates fossil-fuel production; it cites tech-oil partnerships (e.g., Microsoft–Chevron) and a large new fossil-fuel plant by Amazon, and calls for tighter guardrails on AI deployment to curb climate damage.
A new study modeled AI’s impact on the entire power sector across 64 scenarios and found net yearly carbon pollution could rise by 0.47–1.8 gigatonnes CO2 (about 1–5% of energy-emissions) due to productivity gains in fossil fuels outpacing those in clean energy. Emissions only fall if AI-driven gains in renewables outpace fossil-fuel gains by at least fourfold; the research notes its estimates are directional. The analysis did not include datacentre energy use, but real-world deployment of AI in oil and gas has already boosted output and efficiency, according to industry, raising concerns about AI’s net climate impact.
A study by ex-Microsoft sustainability researchers warns that using AI to boost productivity in the oil and gas sector could raise global energy-related emissions by about 1.2–4.8%, potentially surpassing some national emissions like Mexico’s or Russia’s and outweighing AI’s climate benefits for renewables. The researchers describe an 'enabled emissions' effect where AI-driven productivity accelerates fossil-fuel production, creating a self-reinforcing link between AI adoption and increased fossil-fuel use, with data-center emissions unlikely to offset the impact.
The 2025 State of the Climate report from the American Meteorological Society and NOAA warns that global warming is intensifying: oceans reached record-high temperatures for a third straight year, marine heatwaves covered about 87% of the world’s oceans, the Greenland Ice Sheet shed roughly 129 gigatons, surface albedo declined as land surfaces darkened and cloudiness fell, oceans absorbed about 90% of the excess heat and continued to acidify and lose oxygen. Fossil-fuel emissions remain the primary driver of warming and extreme weather, underscoring the need for resilience and stronger climate policies.
The Trump administration has reached a $1.22 billion settlement with German energy firm RWE to cancel offshore wind leases near New York, California, and Louisiana, diverting funds to fossil-fuel projects including a 16% stake in an LNG venture and plans for natural gas plants. This marks the fifth deal of its kind, bringing total payouts to about $4 billion to kill green-energy projects and prompting criticism over taxpayer costs and environmental impact.
German energy company RWE agreed to abandon offshore wind leases off New York, Louisiana and California’s Humboldt coast in a $1.22 billion deal with the Trump administration, the largest of five such buyouts totaling about $2.7 billion aimed at steering projects away from offshore wind toward fossil fuels; the deal jeopardizes California’s 2045 offshore wind goals, leaving only two West Coast leases, as RWE reallocates funds to an LNG terminal stake and natural gas turbine development, a move critics say undermines clean energy and jobs while California pursues its climate targets.
The Trump administration struck a $1.22 billion deal with German firm RWE to relinquish offshore wind leases off New York, California, and Louisiana and redirect resources toward fossil-fuel projects, including a $900 million LNG stake and a $300 million pipeline of gas peaker plants. Critics say the settlement is part of a pattern of payouts to kill renewables, wasting taxpayer money while expanding fossil fuel infrastructure, with total government spend on canceled offshore wind projects approaching $4 billion.