Today’s ESG Updates
- Trump Administration Revives Bid to Halt Revolution Wind: The justice department asks a court to send the 704MW Rhode Island wind farm’s approval back for reconsideration, weeks after the White House signalled a softer stance on wind.
- Trump’s Coal Push Wins Policy, Not Yet a Revival: Direct access to the White House has delivered $75 million for a California export terminal and emergency orders keeping plants open, yet US coal output is still forecast to fall this year.
- Australian Court Blocks Coal Mine Over Climate Harm: The High Court ruled that planners must weigh the climate effects of burning coal, directly affecting 17 proposals in New South Wales.
- Heat Pump Grant Cuts Spark Industry Backlash: Plans to trim the Boiler Upgrade Scheme as the energy department hunts for £2bn of savings for defence spending face criticism from Octopus Energy and others.
Trump administration revives bid to halt Revolution Wind
The Trump administration has reopened its fight against Ørsted’s Revolution Wind, a 704MW offshore wind farm off Rhode Island, only weeks after signalling it would ease its opposition to wind projects. In a filing on Friday made for the interior department, the justice department argued the Biden administration wrongly approved the project in August 2023, despite knowing it would harm fishing, scientific research and scenery. It asked the court to send the approval back for reconsideration.
The move cuts across the president’s pledge to drop his opposition to wind in order to win Democratic support for a bipartisan permitting bill, prompted by surging power demand from AI data centres. The administration tried to halt five offshore wind farms in December on national security grounds, but each sued and finished construction. Jarrod Agen of the National Energy Dominance Council said the White House still backs permitting reform and called the case an old lawsuit brought by the local community. Revolution Wind has installed all 65 turbines and is due to reach full commercial operation later this year.
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Push by U.S coal industry wins policy, not yet a revival
A long-stalled coal export terminal in Oakland, California, has won $75 million in federal funding after years of failing to attract private backers. It shows how the coal industry has turned access to the Trump administration into policy. Industry executives, including the chairs of the revived National Coal Council, have direct contact with senior officials, and the administration has acted on 10 of the council’s recommendations, covering regulation, leasing, power plants and exports. It has also issued 24 emergency orders keeping six coal plants running past their planned retirement.
The impact seems minimal so far. U.S coal production is forecast to fall 2% this year and generation 8%, while mining employment is down 6% since Trump returned. The plants covered by emergency orders burn under 1% of the power sector’s coal. The Oakland money covers only a third of the project’s costs, California has tightened environmental reviews, and Democrats could try to block the funding if they win Congress in November.
Related Articles
Here is a list of articles selected by our Editorial Board that have gained significant interest from the public:
Australian court blocks coal mine over climate harm
Australia’s High Court has blocked the expansion of Mach Energy’s Mount Pleasant coal mine in New South Wales. It ruled that planning authorities must weigh the climate effects of burning coal, not only of producing it. The court upheld a state ruling that the planning commission should not have approved the expansion without assessing how burning the coal would affect the region through extreme weather. The project represented about A$2bn of investment from Indonesia and Japan and would have almost doubled the mine’s annual output.
The case was brought forward by retired science teachers and a community group. The ruling directly affects 17 coal proposals in the state’s planning pipeline. The Minerals Council of Australia, whose members include Glencore and BHP, called it a blow and said investors would review it closely. The judgment cited the UK Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling on burning oil and gas, and LSE’s Noah Walker-Crawford described it as a “judicial dialogue” between courts.
Heat pump grant cuts spark industry backlash
Labour ministers in the UK are facing an industry backlash over plans to cut hundreds of millions of pounds from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which gives households in England and Wales grants of up to £9,000 to switch to heat pumps. The energy department must find £2bn of savings in the coming weeks to help fund defence spending, after then prime minister Sir Keir Starmer singled it out for extra cuts in June. Energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh is reportedly weighing a raid on the £15bn Warm Homes Plan, alongside the hydrogen transport pot and possible delays to carbon capture schemes.
Critics say the timing is poorly chosen. Nesta said heat pump applications jumped in July and August as gas prices rose after the Iran war. Octopus Energy’s Greg Jackson called a cut “remarkably short-sighted”, noting the scheme’s budget is about 0.5% of what gas exposure cost the Treasury in the last crisis.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — Cover Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
