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The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) provides a framework for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and selected Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs to transition from application to action. CATF emphasizes prioritizing hydrogen for hard-to-abate sectors, ensuring transparency in project planning, coordinating funding across federal programs, and deepening community engagement to ensure equitable and climate-beneficial outcomes.

The Earthjustice Northern Rockies office focuses on protecting biodiversity, safeguarding sacred Indigenous lands, defending water quality, and transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy through litigation and partnerships in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.

The report identifies 19 private equity firms investing in 35 oil and gas companies that have received federal drilling permits since 2017. It estimates that U.S. taxpayers could face up to $384 million in cleanup costs for nearly 2,700 wells operated by these private-equity-backed companies across eight states, with Colorado and New Mexico facing the highest liabilities. The authors argue that the private equity business model—characterized by high leverage and quick exits—combined with outdated federal bonding requirements (averaging only $2,122 per well) and bankruptcy laws, allows firms to externalize environmental costs. The document also highlights 'greenwashing' strategies, such as the promotion of 'certified gas,' used to maintain investor support despite ongoing fossil fuel expansion.

The author contends that continuing coal mining on U.S. public lands is incompatible with climate goals, noting that coal generates nearly 60% of energy sector CO2 emissions despite providing less than 25% of electricity. The text criticizes the Bureau of Land Management's focus on whether to maintain a leasing moratorium, arguing instead for a total phase-out of federal coal production by 2030 to align with 1.5°C targets. It calls for closing leasing loopholes, ensuring pollution cleanup, and utilizing Inflation Reduction Act investments to support energy communities and tribal lands.

The document details the legal and environmental challenges facing the Bull Mountains Underground Coal Mine in Montana, highlighting a history of corruption, health and safety violations, and water contamination. It criticizes the Office of Surface Mining for failing to properly assess the climate impacts of a proposed 170-million-ton expansion and calls on the Department of the Interior to halt operations and shift focus to mine reclamation.

RMI's analysis indicates that US states can secure significant federal investment, job growth, and health improvements by ambitiously adopting the Inflation Reduction Act's (IRA) tax credits, rebates, and grants. Under a "Climate Ambitious Scenario," states could see cumulative investments between $1 billion and $130 billion by 2030, with the highest per capita gains expected in states with strong renewable energy potential and industrial activity, such as Wyoming, Montana, and Louisiana.

The briefing highlights a severe energy affordability crisis in the US, where high fossil fuel prices and rising electricity rates are increasing household bills, with estimated winter increases of 10 percent for electricity and 28 percent for natural gas. It details how this burden disproportionately affects low-income, Black, and Latinx households, often forcing them to choose between energy payments and basic necessities. The document proposes a suite of regulatory solutions, including shutoff moratoriums, arrearage management programs, expanded outreach for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and the implementation of fuel cost-sharing structures to protect ratepayers from volatile fossil fuel prices. Long-term recommendations include adopting totex ratemaking, performance-based regulation, and leveraging Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds to transition toward a clean energy system.

In 2022, the U.S. experienced 18 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters causing $165 billion in damages and 474 deaths, with Hurricane Ian being the costliest hurricane on record. The year was the 18th hottest on record for the U.S., with 73% of analyzed locations experiencing warmer-than-normal temperatures. These events are part of a longer warming trend, with 98% of analyzed U.S. locations showing increased average annual temperatures from 1970 to 2021. Meanwhile, U.S. fossil fuel emissions increased by 1.5% in 2022, though the Inflation Reduction Act is expected to help double annual wind and solar PV capacity additions by 2027 compared to 2021.

WWF's 2023 Plowprint analysis reveals that 1.6 million acres of grasslands in the US and Canadian Great Plains were plowed in 2021, contributing to a total loss of 32 million acres since 2012. The report identifies crop insurance subsidies and biofuels policies as primary drivers of this conversion. To combat this, WWF recommends that the US Congress use the Farm Bill to strengthen the Sodsaver provision, expand the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), and protect Inflation Reduction Act funding. Additionally, the report supports the North American Grasslands Conservation Act and amendments to the Renewable Fuel Standard to ensure biofuels do not incentivize the conversion of native sod.

Georgia electricity customers face high energy burdens, particularly low-income households and people of color, despite relatively low electricity rates. The document identifies several regulatory levers the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) could use to lower costs, including reducing Georgia Power's return on equity (ROE) to the national average, implementing fuel-sharing mechanisms to mitigate natural gas price volatility, and updating the Integrated Resource Plan to incorporate Inflation Reduction Act incentives. It also suggests securitization as a means to save customers $1.05 billion and recommends comprehensive transmission and distribution planning to avoid unnecessary capital-intensive spending.

The report examines the rapid growth of proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining in the U.S. following China's 2021 ban. It argues that the industry's high energy demands drive the revival of defunct fossil-fuel power plants, increase greenhouse gas emissions, and place financial burdens on electricity ratepayers. The document also details local harms, including noise and water pollution, and debunks industry claims regarding sustainability and grid stability.

A federal court ruling in Montana has halted coal leasing on federal lands, reinstating a moratorium because the environmental and health impacts of coal were insufficiently accounted for. Earthjustice asserts that this creates a critical opening for the Biden administration to move beyond its current support of lease applications and instead phase out coal extraction, increase royalty rates to reflect true costs, and support transitioning coal-mining communities.

The policy brief examines the impact of high-severity wildfires on the U.S. forest carbon sink, noting that forests in several Western states have become net carbon emitters. It advocates for scaling up 'fuel load treatments'—such as prescribed burns and mechanical removal of biomass—to mitigate wildfire risk and suggests developing markets for thinned biomass (e.g., biochar, green hydrogen) to fund these efforts and reduce emissions. The brief calls for federal policy support via the 2023 Farm Bill to increase research, support rural and Tribal communities, and incentivize innovative wood products.

Earthjustice calls for the modernization of the 150-year-old Mining Law of 1872, asserting that current regulations allow mining companies to pollute public lands without accountability or fair compensation to taxpayers. The organization advocates for the Clean Energy Minerals Reform Act and the Biden administration's Interagency Working Group to establish standards that prioritize tribal consultation, environmental protections, and the reclamation of abandoned mines to support a clean energy transition.

The document argues that proof-of-work digital currencies, specifically Bitcoin, cause significant environmental harm through soaring electricity demand, increased greenhouse gas emissions, and the generation of substantial electronic waste. It highlights the negative impacts on local communities, such as increased electricity prices and thermal pollution in water bodies, and notes that these operations can strain critical semiconductor supply chains. The authors propose several mitigation strategies, including stringent EPA permit reviews, the creation of a mining operation registry by the OMB, energy efficiency standards from the DOE, and transparency requirements from financial regulators like the SEC and CFTC.

The report profiles 12 private equity firms—including Blackstone, Carlyle, and KKR—detailing their substantial portfolios of oil, gas, and coal assets. It argues that these firms fuel the climate crisis and environmental injustice while their executives accumulate immense wealth and social prestige. The document provides specific examples of environmental violations, such as oil spills and methane leaks, and highlights the firms' tendency to avoid global climate pledges like those made at COP26.

The document details the establishment of the Mine Audits Unit and the role of the Chief Auditor in British Columbia, created to ensure independent, transparent evaluation of the provincial mining regulatory framework. This initiative followed the 2014 Mount Polley tailings storage facility breach and a 2016 Auditor General report that found compliance and enforcement activities were inadequate. The first major audit focused on Tailings Storage Facilities (TSFs), concluding that 2016 Code revisions have had positive impacts but identifying seven recommendations for improvement, including resolving inconsistencies with the Water Sustainability Act and clarifying ambiguous language. The Ministry has accepted these recommendations and established a Strategy and Advisory Services Team to implement them.

The 2022 Native Nations Partnership Report details conservation initiatives in the Northern Great Plains, focusing on the reintroduction of plains bison and black-footed ferrets. Key achievements include the growth of the Wolakota bison herd to nearly 1,000 animals and a 105% increase in black-footed ferret detections at the Fort Belknap Reservation in 2021. The report highlights the establishment of the Buffalo Nations Grasslands Alliance (BNGA) as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the creation of a Buffalo Research and Education Center at Aaniiih Nakoda College. It also describes the 'Stronghold Working Group's' efforts to regain community participation in managing the South Unit of Badlands National Park within the Oglala Lakota Nation.

Analysis of 246 U.S. locations from 1970 to 2021 shows that 98% experienced an increase in average winter temperatures, with the Great Lakes and Northeast regions seeing the most significant warming. Winter is the fastest-warming season for 38 out of 49 states. While extreme cold events still occur, warming winters threaten regional economies through reduced snowpacks in the West, lower fruit yields, and the migration of disease-carrying pests.

The report examines the historical and current trends of coal ash reuse, distinguishing between encapsulated uses (such as concrete and wallboard) and unencapsulated uses (such as mine reclamation and structural fill). While encapsulated reuse can reduce CO2 emissions, unencapsulated reuse is flagged as a high-risk practice that may serve as a loophole for unregulated disposal, potentially contaminating groundwater. The document advocates for the precautionary principle and legal classification of unencapsulated reuse as disposal to protect public health.