Transportation

"The Department of Energy has issued a final rule rolling back liquefied natural gas project reviews under a landmark environmental law, the latest in a string of Trump administration actions aimed at overhauling the federal approach to the National Environmental Policy Act.

The rule would exempt liquefied natural gas facilities from NEPA review at DOE through so-called categorical exclusions and is aimed at boosting an industry that has faced headwinds amid a slump in global energy demand brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

"A group representing major automakers on Tuesday vowed to work with President-elect Joe Biden on efforts to reduce vehicle emissions even as the industry remains split over whether to let California set its own emission rules."

"Minnesota regulators approved the final permit Monday for Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 crude oil pipeline replacement across northern Minnesota, giving the company the green light to begin construction on the $2.6 billion project."

"The owners and operators of more than half a million diesel pickup trucks have been illegally disabling their vehicles’ emissions control technology over the past decade, allowing excess emissions equivalent to 9 million extra trucks on the road, a new federal report has concluded."

"Japan and China are racing to build a new type of ultra-fast, levitating train, seeking to demonstrate their mastery over a technology with big export potential."

"General Motors turned its back Monday on the Trump administration’s legal fight to nullify California’s strict fuel economy rules, signaling that it was ready to work with President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. to reduce climate-warming emissions from cars and trucks."

"As numbers of North Atlantic right whales keep declining because of entanglements with fishing gear and fatal ship strikes, conservationists are using acoustic technology and waging an escalating legal battle to push for more aggressive action to protect the world’s rarest cetacean."

"New cars and vans powered wholly by petrol and diesel will not be sold in the UK from 2030, Boris Johnson has said."