Parts Per Billion

Electric vehicles are seen as one of humanity's best hopes at fighting climate change, and that means humanity will need to build a whole lot of lithium ion batteries.

Unsurprisingly, the price of lithium is skyrocketing and the Biden administration is eager to develop domestic sources of the ultra-light metal. One of its best hopes here is a proposal to build a $1 billion open-pit lithium mine in a remote area of northern Nevada called Thacker Pass.

But while producing more lithium may have broad environmental benefits, a new mining operation could cause acute environmental harms to the farmers, ranchers, and tribal communities in and around Thacker Pass. Bloomberg Law reporter Daniel Moore traveled there to find out what's happening on the ground and to speak to the people who could be most affected by this politically popular mine project, and he tells us about it on our environmental policy podcast, Parts Per Billion.

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The Inflation Reduction Act contains billions of dollars to help states fight climate change and achieve other environmental goals, but only some state lawmakers have plans to spend this money.

Bloomberg Law reporter Zach Bright spoke with three Democratic state legislators in Democratic-controlled states about how they'd like to allocate the money their states will be getting. But Bright also says states with Republican-controlled statehouses, where fighting climate change isn't as high of a priority, may end up leaving these federal dollars on the table.

On this episode of our environmental policy podcast, Parts Per Billion, Bright lays out what states can do with the climate funding they'll be getting through the IRA. He also talks about how the bill has provisions in place that can partially circumvent conservative statehouses.

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Joe Manchin, the West Virginian who represents the crucial 50th Democratic vote in the Senate, surprised Washington last week with a dramatic about-face. Just weeks after rejecting his party's climate legislation, he reversed course and announced he'd reached a deal with Democratic leaders to send a climate bill to the president's desk.

However, it later became clear that, in exchange for his support, Democrats granted Manchin numerous pro-fossil fuel provisions, including a measure that would essentially force the Biden administration to open up more federal lands for oil and gas drilling.

On this week's episode of our environmental policy podcast, Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Law reporter Bobby Magill joins us to break down the legislative horse trading that led to Manchin's reversal and also about whether environmental activists can stomach the latest additions to the bill.

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It's still technically possible for Congress to pass President Joe Biden's climate policy agenda sometime this year. But most people on Capitol Hill, including some Democrats, say Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) just essentially delivered a death blow to this agenda last week.

Though Democratic leadership already scaled down their climate legislation earlier this year to accommodate him, Manchin announced he couldn't support even this more modest package, citing this month's high inflation numbers.

It's still possible Congress could send something to Biden's desk after it returns from its August recess. But Ari Natter, who covers energy on Capitol Hill for Bloomberg News, says Manchin's move likely closes the window on ambitious climate legislation for the rest of this year—and possibly for the rest of Biden's term. Ari joins us to explain why on our environmental policy podcast, Parts Per Billion.

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A group of 12 Republican senators criticized the Pentagon's Climate Adaptation Plan last year, saying its focus in that area distracts from its mission of fielding a "ready and lethal force."

But the Defense Department, and its commander in chief, counter that the exact opposite is true.

They contend its many climate initiatives—everything from shoring up flood-prone installations to electrifying its fleet of tanks and armored vehicles—actually make the military more capable, not less.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, our environmental policy podcast, Bloomberg Law reporter Stephen Lee talks with us about what the department is doing to both prepare for climate change and to reduce its own emissions, and about whether the charges that the agency is taking its eye off the ball have any merit.

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Scientists and environmental regulators have been studying PFAS for years now, but new details are still coming out that make these so-called "forever chemicals" seem even more hazardous than previously thought.

Earlier this month, the EPA said it's unsafe to be exposed to essentially any amount of PFOA and PFOS, the two most well-known PFAS chemicals. The agency set a new non-binding health advisory for these two chemicals at less than one tenth of one part per trillion. The EPA's prior standards set in 2016 were thousands of times higher this and, furthermore, current PFAS sampling technology can only detect concentrations of four parts per trillion and above.

Bloomberg Law chemicals reporter Pat Rizzuto joined our environmental podcast to talk about why the agency took this extraordinary step, where the science on PFAS chemicals is heading, and what this will mean for regulators grappling with this ongoing environmental problem.

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If it was ever easy to be the manager of an ESG fund, it certainly isn't any more.

Demand for these environmentally friendly investment options is skyrocketing, but scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission is increasing along with it. Late last month, BNY Mellon paid the agency $1.5 million to settle a claim that it misled investors about how it applies ESG principles to some of its mutual funds. Also, the SEC released proposed regulations imposing new requirements on funds that advertise themselves as ESG.

Will all of this have a chilling effect that may halt or even reverse the rapid growth of this area of investing? To find out we, hear from two attorneys who represent fund managers that work on ESG investments.

George Raine and Robert Skinner are partners at the firm Ropes & Gray who specialize in the financial services industry. They spoke with Bloomberg Law's Andrew Ramonas about why the SEC is doing what it's doing, and why it's more important than ever for ESG fund prospectuses to be bulletproof.

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DuPont, a company founded shortly after the turn of the 19th century, has gone through a merger and several spinoffs in recent years, still existing more or less in name only.

And while there were many reasons for these moves, the weight of liability from the chemicals collectively known as PFAS undoubtedly played a factor.

But DuPont isn't the only company that could be brought low by PFAS suits. Bloomberg Law's Andrew Wallender did a deep dive on PFAS litigation data and found that plaintiffs here are widening their scope and pursuing other companies, including, most prominently, 3M.

On this episode of our environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, Andrew speaks about what he learned from looking at this litigation data and how 3M and the other targets of these suits will try to defend themselves.

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Last year's infrastructure bill gave the EPA a deluge of cash to hand out to water utilities for infrastructure upgrades. But some of the smallest and neediest water utilities in the country may not see much, if any, of it.

There are thousands of struggling water systems, many in remote, rural areas, that serve just a few hundred people. Many are in the Catch-22 situation of desperately needing federal money, but simply not having enough expertise and manpower to apply for it.

On today's episode of Parts Per Billion, our environmental law podcast, reporter Bobby Magill talks about his recent trip to New Mexico to speak to some of these small utilities. He says some are acknowledging their limitations and partnering with larger nearby utilities—even though this can mean a painful loss of local control.

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It's never easy for environmental activists—whether global, national, or local—to stop the construction of a big energy infrastructure project. But now, it may be nearly impossible.

For an example, look to southwestern Louisiana. Fossil fuel companies are building new liquefied natural gas terminals there as fast as they can, with explicit approval from a Biden administration that desperately wants to replace Russian's energy dominance overseas. And these terminals are being built in an economically depressed region where fossil fuel jobs can represent a ray of light.

Against these types of headwinds, what's an activist supposed to do?

That's the topic of discussion on today's Parts Per Billion, our weekly environmental podcast. Bloomberg Law's Daniel Moore traveled to Louisiana and talked to residents living near current and future LNG terminals about how the facilities are affecting the Gulf Coast's environment. And Daniel explains why advocates for renewable energy there are having a tough time making their case in the current economic and geopolitical climate.

Do you have feedback on this episode of Parts Per Billion? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

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