Parts Per Billion (Bloomberg)

Scientists have developed ways to suck greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere. So climate change is solved then, right? Bloomberg Environment's Abby Smith tells us why this technology isn't yet ready for widespread use and why the government's policies toward what some call "carbon capture" aren't totally coherent right now.

Host: David Schultz

Editors: Jessica Coomes, Marissa Horn

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Invasive Burmese pythons are becoming a real problem in Florida’s everglades, where they have no natural predators and are causing plummeting populations of native species like foxes and rabbits. State wildlife officials have encouraged the hunting of these massive snakes, but the problem still persists.

Now, according to Bloomberg Law correspondent Jennifer Kay, officials are trying a different tack: convincing Sunshine Staters to start eating python meat.

On the latest episode of our weekly environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, Jennifer explains to us why Florida is getting increasingly desperate to eliminate pythons and whether encouraging Floridians to eat snakes could actually work.

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There's a fight going on right now over saving the rainforest, but it might not be the rainforest you're thinking of. On this episode of Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Environment's Bobby Magill talks about the Tongass National Forest in southeastern Alaska and how its future could affect the environment not just locally but literally across the entire planet. Host: David Schultz. Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes.

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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.

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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To an outsider, it seems like the state of Texas now has no choice but to make huge changes to its energy policies, with last week's freeze-induced power outages and utility failures becoming nothing short of catastrophic. But Rachel Adams-Heard isn't too sure about that.

The Bloomberg News energy reporter and Texas native says, after the state finishes cleaning up from this disaster, it may very well decide the costs of bolstering its power grid against another deep freeze are simply too high.

On this episode of our weekly environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, Rachel talks about all the system failures that led to last week's catastrophe and why the Lone Star state must decide just how far it's willing to go to prevent this from happening again.

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The Biden administration is staffing up quickly and it seems like there's a new headline almost every day about the President-elect's choice for one cabinet position or another. But less attention is being paid to the lower-level attorneys, even though the new administration's entire environmental agenda largely depends on them.

On this episode of our weekly environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, we talk to Bloomberg Law's Ellen M. Gilmer about how these regulatory attorneys will be trying to help their agencies win in court and about how the attorneys can avoid getting a reputation as a sort of statutory killjoy.

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There's a particular chemical gas that the medical device industry uses to sterilize its instruments and, unfortunately, that gas happens to be extremely toxic. On this episode of Parts Per Billion, reporters Amena H. Saiyid and Ayanna Alexander explain how the FDA and the EPA are at a loss for how to deal with this gas and they lay out the stakes of new environmental regulations for the healthcare industry. Host: David Schultz. Editors: Jessica Coomes and Anna Yukhananov.

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Here's yet another complicated and confusing question about the transition to a post-greenhouse gas world: Is what's billed as low-carbon gasoline good or bad for the environment?

That's the question lawmakers in several Democratic-led states are asking themselves, and no easy answers are appearing.

New Mexico, New York, and Minnesota, to name a few, have debated new standards that would encourage the adoption of more climate-friendly auto fuels, either through blending with ethanol or with another type of biofuel. But in all of these states, these measures failed amid opposition from environmentalists, who say a new fuel standard would simply delay the abandonment of fossil fuels altogether.

On today's Parts Per Billion, our biweekly environmental law podcast, we hear from reporter Zach Bright about why low-carbon fuel standards are struggling to gain traction at the state level, despite support from high-level Democrats. Bright also talks about the states that have managed to adopt their own standard, and how they did it.

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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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.

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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Tucked away in the stimulus bill that the President just signed was nearly half a billion dollars for research into carbon capture technology.

On this episode of our weekly environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, we hear from Bloomberg Law's Bobby Magill about why this money was added into to the bill, where it will go, and why it probably won't make a significant dent in our climate change problem.

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The federal government is granting leases that allow oil drilling on huge amounts of federal land in the state of Nevada. This is despite a fossil fuel market with highly depressed prices—and despite scant evidence that any oil actually exists below the Silver State.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, we talk with Bloomberg Law's Bobby Magill about the colorful bunch of so-called "wildcatters" who are not only willing but eager to search for oil in Nevada's vast public lands.

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The average road and bridge in the U.S. is in poor shape, and has been for some time. That could pose a serious obstacle for the makers of electric heavy-duty trucks—and for the states that have laws mandating their adoption in the coming decades.

Currently, a battery that can power one of these trucks would add more than two tons to the weight the vehicle. And data about how much damage this could do to the country's highway infrastructure is spotty at best.

On this week's episode, Bloomberg Law reporter Emily C. Dooley talks about her recent story on the electric truck industry. She says the industry, and electric vehicle regulators, are banking that technological advancements will make these batteries lighter in the coming decades. If not, Dooley says, electric vehicle adoption goals may be very, very difficult to achieve.

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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.

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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The owners of Arizona's Navajo Generating Station are having a hard time finding someone who wants to take the power plant off their hands before its lease expires at the end of the year. But while few if any want to buy the plant, there lots of people who don't want to see it close. Bloomberg Environment's Stephen Lee joins us to talk about why the future of the largest coal-fired power plant west of the Mississippi is so uncertain. 

Host: David Schultz. 

Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes.

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Alex Flint believes climate change is real and the best way to deal with it is to raise taxes on carbon emissions. He's also a Republican. On this episode of Parts Per Billion, we speak with Flint about how a carbon tax would work, how it could appeal to conservatives, and why he thinks the carbon tax in the Democrats' Green New Deal won't become a reality.

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Record-low prices gave the fossil fuel industry a horrible year financially in 2020. But Kirkland & Ellis, the law firm that handled a huge percentage of the industry's bankruptcy filings, made money hand over fist.

On today's episode of Parts Per Billion, we hear from Bloomberg Law reporter Roy Strom, who analyzed a database of large bankruptcy filings and found that this firm soared above its rivals in 2020 thanks to the energy industry's slump.

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The President wants Andrew Wheeler to be the permanent chief of the EPA, but first he'll have to get through the Senate. Bloomberg Environment's Dean Scott joins us to talk about how Wheeler's nomination will almost certainly succeed, although the vote may be pretty close. 

Host: David Schultz. 

Editors: Jessica Coomes and Marissa Horn.

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The EPA has a program to hire older workers to perform administrative, and sometimes more complex, duties. It's meant to help the seniors get some work experience and earn some income, but the workers' wages are drastically lower than those of their younger colleagues.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, reporter Stephen Lee explains who these workers are and why they continue working at the agency despite their low pay.

Read more of Stephen's reporting on this issue here.

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Problems with honey bees have grabbed headlines, but scientists say we should really be tracking the health of native bee species.

That's one of many topics discussed at a recent annual conference in Seattle for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS. Bloomberg Environment's Adam Allington was at the conference and held a live taping of our special six-part podcast series, Business of Bees. Host: David Schultz. Producers: Jessica Coomes, Marissa Horn, Josh Block.

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Companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are now some of the country's largest consumers of electric power. And as Bloomberg Law's Daniel Moore reports, they're starting to wield their strong purchasing power.

Big Tech companies are pushing the energy industry to bring more renewable power projects online, Moore says, and they're also hiring energy lobbyists to achieve these goals in Washington.

Moore joins our environmental policy podcast, Parts Per Billion, to talk about where the tech industry wants the country's electric grid to go and what that means for both utilities and ratepayers.

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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The former governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder (R), was hit with criminal charges last week over his role in the drinking water contamination crisis in the town of Flint. He is fighting the case and his attorneys say the charges are "wholly without merit."

Will this usher in a new era where elected officials could be thrown in prison if an environmental catastrophe occurs on their watch? Not likely, says Bob Percival, a law professor at the University of Maryland who leads the school's environmental law program. We spoke to Percival about why prosecutions like Snyder's are so rare for our weekly environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion.

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California's power companies are trying to stop wildfires by imposing targeted blackouts in high risk areas. Their hope is that this will prevent a downed live wire from sparking a conflagration.

This strategy was effective a tamping down fires last year, but in the year of Covid-19, many worry the solution will be nearly as bad as the problem.

On this episode of our podcast, Parts Per Billion, California correspondent Emily C. Dooley talks about how power companies are struggling to ensure people fighting the pandemic don't lose power, and also about whether there may be a long-term solution that doesn't require ad hoc power shutoffs.

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A group of heavily armed ranchers made headlines a few years ago by getting into a tense standoff with law enforcement during their protest of federal grazing policies.

Though those Obama-era protests more or less fizzled out, Bloomberg Environment's Bobby Magill says now the Trump administration may be poised to give the angry ranchers nearly everything they wanted. Magill joins our podcast, Parts Per Billion, to talk about the proposal to change grazing rules on federal lands and what its environmental impact could be.

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California has some of the most aggressive climate change regulations of any state in the country. But, with greenhouse gas emissions plummeting due to the economic shutdown, those regulations may actually be backfiring.

On this week's episode of Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg News reporter David R. Baker explains how the Golden State's so-called "cap-and-trade" system for greenhouse gasses is struggling to function in a pandemic-afflicted world. 

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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.

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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Funding for the EPA, the Interior Department, and all other federal agencies expires on Oct. 1, the end of the government's fiscal year. But House Democrats may have a strong incentive to try to push this deadline past November's elections into the lame duck session of Congress.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, Capitol Hill reporter Kellie Lunney talks about how lawmakers are crafting spending bills for environmental agencies and also explains the complicated game theory at play in this pivotal election year.

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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.

Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

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The Biden Administration just released a road map for how it's going to deal with the problem of PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals." The plan calls for establishing new standards for these chemicals in water and soil, but it's less clear on where the money will come from to achieve these standards.

On today's episode of our weekly environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Law's Pat Rizzuto talks about what's in the PFAS road map and why federal officials are still struggling to get a handle on how much it will cost to solve this emerging environmental problem.

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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Later this month we'll see the kickoff of COP26, the 26th meeting of the UN's main climate change arm. Not only is this the first of these annual meetings to take place during the Biden administration, but it's also one in which the nations of the world are expected to lay out exactly how committed they are to achieving the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

On this week's episode of our environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, we hear from Bloomberg News' Jess Shankleman, who'll be attending the conference in Glasgow, Scotland. She'll go over the stakes for this year's conference, who's expected to be attending, and whether this UN process is moving too slowly to have a meaningful effect on climate change.

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We don't know what environmental policy will look like under a potential Biden administration, but we do know that the Democratic presidential candidate has signaled he wants to get much more involved in a series of high profile climate change lawsuits.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Law's Ellen M. Gilmer looks at what it would mean if a Biden Justice Department starts assisting cities and states in their legal fight against fossil fuel giants.

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One sign of how bad the wildfires have gotten along the West Coast is that the newest must-have tech gadget there is a personal air quality sensor.

These devices send data on air quality to any smartphone or computer and, with wildfire smoke blanketing cities up and down the coast, manufacturers say demand is off the charts.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion we speak with Laura Bliss, a reporter with Bloomberg's CityLab. She reported on the rapid adoption of these devices in communities affected by wildfires and about the way they're responding to a desire for real-time data that federal regulators can't provide.

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Despite decades of work to educate more Black lawyers, the percentage of Black associates and partners in firms across the U.S. remain very low, and well below those of other professional careers. Big Law firms across the board are ramping up social justice efforts as the nation engages in a renewed dialogue on race and equality. But some have accused firms of using minorities as “diversity props” to impress clients and misrepresent their inclusiveness to potential employees. So what are law firms doing to fix their lack of diversity?

Hosts Adam Allington and Lisa Helem, along with reporters Ayanna Alexander, Ruiqi Chen, and Meghan Tribe, interviewed lawyers across the industry, from corporate general counsels to top Am Law 200 lawyers to current law students, each sharing their experience navigating the legal space as a person of color. We try to answer what law firms are doing to recruit more diverse classes of lawyers, and how they are addressing barriers to entry for Black lawyers.

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Several states—including the biggest, California—have moved to partially or fully ban the use of nonstick chemicals known as PFAS in firefighting foam. But many of these bans won't take effect for years or, in some cases, many years.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, we talk with Bloomberg Law California correspondent Emily C. Dooley about the Golden State's own recently enacted PFAS ban and its long, winding journey through the state's legislature.

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If you thought Russia's invasion of Ukraine hurt the oil market, wait until you hear what it's doing to uranium.

Before last month's invasion, Russia and its allies supplied nuclear power plants in the U.S. with half of their uranium, and 100% of a special type of uranium needed for smaller, next generation power plants.

That entire supply chain has obviously been thrown into question since then, and that has huge implications for not only the future of nuclear power but also for climate change.

On today's episode of our environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, we hear from Bloomberg Law reporter Daniel Moore about the Biden administration's attempts to find a new source of uranium for the country's nuclear reactors and about whether a decline in nuclear power would mean a rise in fossil fuels.

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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The Trump administration may need every single minute of its four-year term to accomplish its goal of opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling.

On today's episode of Parts Per Billion, we hear from Bloomberg News reporter Jennifer A. Dlouhy about how the administration is in a race against the clock to auction off leases in this environmentally sensitive area of northeastern Alaska. Jennifer says there's so little time that it's possible the auctions may take place on Inauguration Day, just hours before President-elect Biden takes office.

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The Endangered Species Act typically wasn't used to go after people who run wild animal petting zoos. But that was before "Tiger King."

Today on our weekly environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Law's Maya Earls talks about how the Netflix show has led activist groups, and even some federal agencies, to think differently about how to use decades-old environmental statutes in new ways.

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The House passed its first major climate change bill in a decade last week, but few environmentalists are cheering. Bloomberg Environment's Tiffany Stecker joins Parts Per Billion to talk about where Congress is at on climate change and where it may be heading in the months and years to come.

Host: David Schultz.

Editors: Jessica Coomes, Marissa Horn.

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The 117th Congress is coming to a close at the end of this year and, now that most of the midterm races have been called and partisan control of both chambers decided, we have a pretty good idea of what the dynamics will be in the new 118th.

Bloomberg Government energy reporter Kellie Lunney joins this episode of Parts Per Billion, our environmental policy podcast, to talk about what to expect on Capitol Hill for the next two years. For one, she says, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) will maintain considerable influence over the chamber as his party's surprising performance in the midterms means he'll continue to lead the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Even if Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) wins the December runoff against Republican Herschel Walker and becomes the Senate's 51st Democrat, Manchin could still jam things up for his party on any number of issues.

Lunney also talks about what could happen during the lame duck session currently under way, and specifically about whether any environmental provisions will hitch a ride on two huge pieces of must-pass legislation.

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Attorneys and environmental activists have been trying for years to prove that Exxon Mobil Corp. and other fossil fuel companies knew about—and covered up—the fact that their products cause climate change. Now, it appears that members of Congress are joining the effort.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, our weekly environmental podcast, Bloomberg Law reporter Jennifer Hijazi talks about the documents top Democrats in Congress are demanding from the fossil fuel industry ahead of an important hearing next month and about where this all could eventually lead.

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You would think that record low fossil fuel prices would spell certain doom for the future of solar, wind, and other forms of renewable energy. But you'd be wrong.

At least, that's according to Albert Cheung, the head of global analysis at the research group Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Cheung joins Parts Per Billion to talk about why the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic likely won't stop renewable energy from slowly but steadily replacing other forms of energy in the coming decades.

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About a year ago, Richard Glick was chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and was poised to get renominated to a new term. Today, he's out of the job.

Glick's plans to more closely scrutinize gas pipeline projects ran afoul of the powerful chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.). Without Manchin's support, the Biden administration couldn't get Glick's nomination through the Senate.

Bloomberg Law reporter Daniel Moore spoke to Glick shortly before his term at FERC expired and he joins our environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, to talk about what went down and about how losing Glick will affect the Biden administration's climate change goals.

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Extreme heat waves are breaking out all across the country, and some environmental activists are questioning whether this unprecedented summer is making the EPA's air pollution regulations obsolete.

On today's episode of our environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Law's Jennifer Hijazi explains how high heat can both trigger more pollutant emissions and also intensify the pollution already in the air. And she explains why the EPA's cap-and-trade system for managing these pollutants is having trouble keeping up.

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Bloomberg Environment's Sylvia Carignan joins Parts Per Billion to talk about the future of PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals," a family of man-made substances that have been found in groundwater across the country and have been linked to numerous health problems. 

Host: David Schultz. 

Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes.

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The human body isn't the only place the coronavirus can be found. Pieces of the pathogen can be found throughout the environment, even in the waste we flush down the toilet.

On this week's episode of Parts Per Billion, reporter Sylvia Carignan explains how environmental testing for the coronavirus might work and why scientists are asking the EPA to get to work developing a standard method of testing.

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The Supreme Court heard oral argument in West Virginia v. EPA on Monday, a case that could result in the narrowing of the agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

But, to some surprise, a few of the court's conservative justices posed tough questions to the attorney arguing against the EPA, which may indicate they're open to siding with the agency in this case.

On today's episode of Parts Per Billion, our weekly environmental podcast, we're joined by Bloomberg Law's Jennifer Hijazi to break down what happened at the high court on Monday. Jennifer explains why, even if the court doesn't end up siding with the EPA, the agency has likely avoided the potential worst-case scenario some had feared going into the argument.

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It's no secret that the coal industry is struggling, with renewable energy continuing to get cheaper and a glut of natural gas flooding the market. The governors of some coal-producing states are now trying to halt this downward spiral by taking their neighbors to court.

On this episode of our environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Law correspondent Tripp Baltz outlines the arguments these states are making. He says these Republican-led states are blaming the potential shuttering of coal-fired power plants on renewable energy mandates pushed by, as one governor put it, "woke, overzealous regulators."

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On this episode of Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Environment's Pat Rizzuto tells us about what happens when people discover their land has been polluted with PFAS chemicals and why there are strong incentives for them to stay quiet. Host: David Schultz. Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes.

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President Donald Trump has been in a nearly decade-long dispute with New Jersey environmental officials over some relatively minor wetlands violations at his signature golf course there. Though these violations were minor, they bring up some interesting questions about what happens when a President in charge of making environmental policy decisions is also personally affected by those decisions.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, we talk to Bloomberg Law's Stephen Lee about what's going on at the President's golf course and why managing this or any golf course is environmentally tricky.

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Last year's infrastructure bill made a landmark $15 billion investment in lead pipe removal, and even more funding may be on the way to get this toxic metal out of the country's drinking water system.

But, according to two Bloomberg Law reporters, this money may be much slower than expected in getting to the communities that need it.

On today's episode of Parts Per Billion, our weekly environmental podcast, Bobby Magill and Paige Smith explain why Congress' funding allocation is a pivotal—but definitely not final—moment in the EPA's war on lead. For one, drinking water systems don't have a comprehensive inventory of where lead is still in use. And for another, it's far from clear whether the country has enough plumbers and pipefitters to actually achieve the goal of total lead pipe eradication.

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There's a section of the Gulf Coast in the South that has significantly higher rates of cancer than other parts of the country. This section, nicknamed "Cancer Alley," is also home to dozens of chemical factories and petroleum refineries.

Today on Parts Per Billion, we talk with Bloomberg Law's Pat Rizzuto about how the EPA calculates the risk of toxic chemical exposure in areas like Cancer Alley and about how some activists are using the agency's own data to prod it to change.

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This week, we're sharing an episode of the newest weekly podcast from Bloomberg Industry Group, Downballot Counts. It's a podcast about the 2020 U.S. House and Senate elections and the fight to control Congress. The series is hosted by Bloomberg Government Senior Elections Reporter Greg Giroux and Elections Team Leader Kyle Trygstad. Subscribe to Downballot Counts wherever you get your podcasts.

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The EPA under the Trump administration has frowned upon allowing its own employees to work from home—that is, until a global pandemic suddenly changed the agency's mind.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, reporter Stephen Lee talks about the EPA's approach toward telework, how the coronavirus has altered that approach, and about the Trump administration's attempt to bring private-sector management philosophies into the government.

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The Trump Administration is putting forth a proposal that would eliminate, in some cases, the penalties for killing protected bird species. And, according to Bloomberg Law reporter Bobby Magill, it got pretty creative in justifying why it believes this move is necessary.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, Magill explains how the administration cited 2009's "Miracle on the Hudson" plane crash as a reason why allowing more birds to be killed might be a good thing.

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Michael Regan is the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency and Bloomberg Law's Stephen Lee had an exclusive interview with him this week.

On this episode of our weekly podcast, Parts Per Billion, Stephen tells us what he learned from speaking with Regan and about the background of this not very well known cabinet official. Stephen also talks about why Regan is prioritizing tighter limits on auto emissions, an about face from the policies of his predecessor.

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With the coronavirus spreading rapidly, several American Indian reservations in the Southwest are experiencing extreme water shortages, a problem worsened by poor water infrastructure.

Though no one denies the acuteness of the problem, what is in dispute is who's to blame. Activists and environmentalists in these communities say decades of water-intensive coal mining has caused a dramatic drop in their aquifer. But the company that ran these now-shuttered coal mines disagrees.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Law correspondent Tripp Baltz explains the effect this dispute is having on these tribal communities and why Congress may be about to step in.

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The new acting head of the Bureau of Land Management, Bill Pendley, has some strong views about how federal lands should be managed: he'd like to see them all sold off On this episode of Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Environment's Bobby Magill talks about how Pendley's appointment indicates the Trump administration is taking an uncompromising approach to long-simmering tensions over land use in the West. 

Host: David Schultz. 

Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes.

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Waging war—and keeping the peace—can be a dirty business. On this episode of Parts Per Billion, we speak with Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), the congressman in charge of the Pentagon's environmental cleanup, about how the military is doing on this difficult issue and about negotiations over what could be a landmark bill to address PFAS contamination. 

Host: David Schultz. 

Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes.

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The litigation over the toxic nonstick substances known as PFAS—or also known by their nickname "forever chemicals"—was already going to be pretty complicated. But now the pandemic has dialed that complexity up to a whole new level.

On this week's episode of Parts Per Billion, reporter Ellen M. Gilmer talks about the delays these high stakes lawsuits have suffered in recent months and about whether one side in these types of disputes benefits more than the other when court deadlines get postponed.

And to check out our new landing page that collects all of Bloomberg Law's reporting on PFAS, click here.

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California doesn't usually find itself in the underdog role, but that's exactly where it is in its ongoing legal battles with the Trump Administration over the rollback of environmental protections. Emily Dooley, Bloomberg Environment's California correspondent, joins Parts Per Billion, to discuss how the Golden State's political leaders are struggling to stay aggressive in the courtroom against their much larger and more powerful foes.

Host: David Schultz

Editors: Marissa Horn & Jessica Coomes

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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.

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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The Senate-passed infrastructure bill aims to revive nineties-era taxes on chemical companies and importers to pay for cleaning up some of the nation’s most contaminated sites.

While the bill still needs to clear the House, the chemicals industry claims the Superfund tax provisions are unfair because they impact a small subset of the industrial sectors that contributed to pollution. But advocates say the return of the “polluters pay” doctrine is a step in the right direction to clean up toxic sites.

On this week’s episode of Parts Per Billion, corporate tax reporter David Hood talks to Steve Jawetz, a principal at the environmental law firm Beveridge and Diamond PC, who argues the tax is unfairly targeted. David also talks to Danielle Melgar, an advocate with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group’s “Zero Out Toxics” program, about how this tax is a victory for environmental groups.

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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A little-known environmental official from the Trump administration made big headlines when it was reported he worked with the President in a failed attempt to oust the acting Attorney General earlier this month in order to bolster baseless claims of election fraud.

The official, Jeffrey Bossert Clark, denied taking any actions against then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen. But Bloomberg Law's Ellen Gilmer says these reports have seriously damaged Clark's career moving forward. For this week's episode of our weekly environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, we hear from Ellen about how Clark got tied to the effort to delegitimize the election and whether he's now all but unemployable in the legal world.

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Congress is back in town and, just this month, it will be facing several bills that all carry the unofficial designation of "must pass." Bloomberg Environment's Capitol Hill reporter Dean Scott joins Parts Per Billion to talk about what this "must pass" tag means and whether any environmental bills will hitch a ride on these quick-moving pieces of legislation. 

Host: David Schultz. 

Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes.

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A strange confluence of events involving a hit Netflix TV show and a global pandemic originating from the animal trade has all of a sudden turned wildlife trafficking into a prime time topic on Capitol Hill.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, reporter Dean Scott explains why both Republicans and Democrats now view a crack down on the sale of wildlife as a winning political issue heading into this fall's elections.

Read more reporting on this issue here.

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Drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a decades-long dream of the energy industry, is closer to reality than ever before after the Trump Administration announced it will start auctioning off drilling rights as early as this year.

But these drilling rights could easily be slow-rolled—or even outright canceled—if Democratic nominee Joe Biden becomes President next year, according to Jennifer A. Dlouhy, an environmental reporter with Bloomberg News. And beyond that, the oil industry is facing record-low prices, with many firms struggling to simply stay in business, Dlouhy said. Will anyone even want to drill in the Arctic?

Dlouhy joins our podcast, Parts Per Billion, to talk about what exactly the Trump Administration did with ANWR and why so much of the refuge's future depends on the outcome of this November's elections.

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Electric vehicles have slowly been gaining market share over the past few decades. But Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) says car buyer tax credits that recently expired must be reinstated to accelerate this trend.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, our weekly environmental podcast, Kildee speaks with Bloomberg Tax's Kaustuv Basu about how Democrats in the House, Senate, and White House are crafting a bill that would not only bring back these tax credits but also change who can take advantage of them. He also talks about how U.S. automakers need EV incentives to avoid once again falling behind their foreign competitors.

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The 26th annual summit of the UN's climate change arm just wrapped up in Glasgow, Scotland, but it's unclear whether what came out of the event will be nearly enough to stave off the worst consequences of climate change.

Bobby Magill was in Glasgow covering COP26 for Bloomberg Law and he joins our podcast, Parts Per Billion, to walk us through how to interpret the pact that was reached last week. He also talks about how covering this year's COP was unique—not only because it was the first to take place during the Biden administration, but also because pandemic restrictions made it tricky for some developing countries to participate.

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Mercury's not just for thermometers anymore—it also comes out of power plants. Bloomberg Environment's Amena Saiyid joins us to talk about what the EPA is doing about mercury pollution from power plants and which special interests are pushing the agency which way on this issue. 

Host: David Schultz. 

Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes.

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It's almost impossible for Democrats to pass any legislation through Congress without all 50 Democratic Senators signing on. That means Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), arguably the most conservative Democrat in the chamber, is very, very powerful.

On this episode of our weekly environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, we talk to Bloomberg Government's Kellie Lunney, who recently traveled to the Mountain State to learn about what Manchin's constituents want him to do to on fossil fuels and other climate policies. Lunney says Manchin, and his also-very-powerful counterpart, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), may not actually block every piece of climate legislation that the Senate will consider.

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The first argument on the Supreme Court's docket when it returns Feb. 22 from its winter break Feb. 22 is a fight over water rights between Florida and Georgia.

Bloomberg Law Florida correspondent Jennifer Kay says the dispute is so contentious that, if the states were sovereign countries, warfare might be the only way to resolve it.

The heart of the conflict is a watershed that spans across both states. Florida says Georgia is using so much freshwater that it's making a famous oyster habitat too salty. Georgia denies this, and says a ruling against it would damage its agriculture industry.

For this week's episode of our environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, Jennifer breaks down the heart of the conflict, and we hear from people living in these states who will be most affected no matter what the justices decide.

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As a multidecade megadrought continues in the West, the Colorado River Basin is drying up. Today we’ll talk about what that means for the millions of people who depend on that water. And we’ll look at what states and regulators are doing to ensure that communities get the water they need to survive.

Seven western states are frantically working to reach an agreement on how to divvy up the available water ahead of a Feb. 1 deadline—at which point the federal government has suggested it would impose its own rules to fix the problem.

That's the topic of discussion on today's Parts Per Billion, our weekly environmental podcast. Bloomberg Law’s water and public lands reporter, Bobby Magill, explains what's at stake—and which states might get first dibs at the dwindling water supply.

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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President-elect Joe Biden will begin his first term in a much weaker position than former President Barack Obama faced when beginning his first term. Regardless of the outcome of January's Senate runoff elections in Georgia, Biden will not enjoy the large majorities in Congress that Obama did.

On today's episode of Parts Per Billion, we hear from Bloomberg Law reporter Dean Scott about how this situation will be the primary factor shaping Biden's environmental agenda.

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The prospect of the wide release of genetically engineered mosquitoes got much closer to reality recently when the EPA gave a biotech company permission to conduct a mosquito field trial in the Florida Keys.

The environmental impacts of releasing GMO insects into the wild could be significant, but perhaps more significant is their potential to rid the world of mosquito-borne diseases. On this episode of Parts Per Billion, reporter Adam Allington explains what these mosquitoes are engineered to do and why their public health properties might lead people to rethink their unease with GMOs.

Read more about the mosquito field trial here. And check out Adam's six-part podcast on threats facing bees and other pollinators here.

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Two energy companies, Dominion and Duke, want to build a pipeline underneath the famed Appalachian Trail, but environmentalists want them to go take a hike. On this episode of Parts Per Billion, we head out to the trail with Bloomberg Environment's Ellen M. Gilmer and find out what this dispute is about and why it's heading all the way to the Supreme Court. Host: David Schultz. Editors: Marissa Horn and Josh Block.

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There are dozens upon dozens of lawsuits out there over the potentially toxic substances known as “Forever Chemicals.” On this episode of Parts Per Billion, we bring in Bloomberg Environment’s best PFAS reporters and have a roundtable discussion about the suits that could have the biggest impact on the legal landscape in 2020. Host: David Schultz. Editors: Jessica Coomes and Anna Yukhananov.

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Electric vehicles, or EVs, represent one of the most promising climate change solutions. But is America ready?

To get the country ready, President Biden and Democrats in Congress gave states more than $7 billion to install electric vehicle charging stations across the country. But, as Bloomberg Government’s Lillianna Byington found, an Eisenhower-era law means these charging stations can’t be built on highways, as many EV advocates had hoped.

On today’s episode of our Parts Per Billion podcast, Lillianna explains why road-tripping EV drivers will have to get off of the highway to charge up. She also talks about some of the other obstacles EVs must overcome before overtaking their gas-powered predecessors.

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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New York's new governor, Kathy Hochul (D), just took a major step toward an all-electric future by signing a bill that would ban the sale of gas-powered cars in her state by 2035.

On this episode of our weekly environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, we talk with Bloomberg Law's New York correspondent, Keshia Clukey, about why Hochul signed this bill so quickly after taking office. Keshia also talks about how lawmakers are hoping their neighbors enact similar laws so that New Yorkers aren't tempted to shop for cars across state lines.

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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Federal contractors are going to have to share more information about their greenhouse gas emissions with the public, under new General Services Administration reporting requirements the White House introduced earlier this month.

However, this isn’t the only climate reporting rule these contractors will have to mind. The Securities and Exchange Commission is about to release its own reporting rules early next year, and no one seems to be sure where or whether the two rules will overlap.

On today’s episode of Parts Per Billion, our weekly environmental news podcast, Bloomberg Law’s Andrew Ramonas explains how these dueling climate rules could open federal contractors up to serious legal liability—especially if these firms provide conflicting data to different federal agencies.

Have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

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The European Union is on a continent-wide push to reduce its carbon emissions. But some environmentalists say this goal is threatened by a nearly 30-year-old treaty enacted in response to the fall of the Soviet Union.

On this episode of our weekly podcast, Parts Per Billion, we hear from Stephen Gardner, Bloomberg Law's Brussels correspondent. He explains how a treaty meant to spur energy investment in post-Soviet republics has turned into a powerful tool of Europe's fossil fuel industry.

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The Department of the Interior wants Americans to celebrate the (presumptive) end of the coronavirus pandemic this fall by going out to federal lands and hunting some animals.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, reporter Bobby Magill explains why the department wants to open up millions of acres of public wildlife refuges for hunting and what this could mean for the environment.

Click here to read more of Bobby's reporting on this issue.

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Ali Zaidi, the White House's new climate czar, doesn't have the name recognition of his predecessor, Gina McCarthy. But maybe that's the point.

McCarthy was instrumental in getting the Inflation Reduction Act, and its billions of dollars for climate projects, through Congress and to President Joe Biden's desk. But now the task turns to getting that money out the door in a quick-but-not-too-quick manner, and the White House thinks Zaidi is the technocrat for the job.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, our environmental policy podcast, we talk about the new national climate adviser with Bloomberg Law reporter Stephen Lee. Lee tells us what Zaidi will be tasked to do and how he'll get it done while working alongside climate officials such as John Kerry, John Podesta, and others.

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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News of the world's first nuclear fusion reaction with a net energy gain created a lot of excitement, and justifiably so—fusion could one day be an infinitely renewable, carbon-free energy source.

Policy makers, including President Joe Biden, said they want to see a fusion reactor providing electricity to the American grid within 10 years. But scientists say that timeline is probably too ambitious, if not impossible.

On today's episode of our environmental policy podcast, Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg News reporter Will Wade explains the promise of nuclear fusion power, what a realistic timeline for its development looks like, and whether it might draw research funding away from other renewable energy projects.

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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The price of oil is at a once-unthinkable low due to the coronavirus pandemic and its accompanying drop off in demand. In fact, the global supply of crude outstrips demand by so much that simply finding a place to store it all is becoming a problem.

This sudden shift in oil markets could have huge ramifications for the environment, as faulty or haphazard oil storage is a particularly acute source of pollution.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, we hear from Rachel Adams-Heard, a Bloomberg News energy reporter based on Houston, about some of the environmental risks of ultra-cheap oil and about whether, if the price of crude continues to fall, illegal dumping may all of a sudden become financially attractive.

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Environmental problems persist, so federal judges hearing environmental cases are struggling to make sure this litigation doesn't grind to a halt.

On today's episode of Parts Per Billion, legal reporter Ellen M. Gilmer talks about the many virus-related delays in these cases and about one case over the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline in which a judge decided a hearing must go on.

(Note: After the recording of this episode, the judge in the Dakota pipeline case issued a ruling. Visit news.bloombergenvironment.com for breaking news coverage.)

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Though she may be better known for her work on gender equality, late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had a substantial impact on environmental law.

On today's episode of Parts Per Billion we hear from Bloomberg Law's Ellen M. Gilmer about some of Ginsburg's most notable environmental opinions and about how these types of cases may fare at the high court after her death.

For more on this topic, check out a column written earlier this week by Harvard Law School professor Richard Lazarus.

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It's the morning after the elections and we don't know who the next President of the United States will be. But, despite that, we do have some idea of how things might change for the federal agencies that regulate the environment.

On this special episode of our weekly environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, we speak with three Bloomberg Law reporters about exactly how environmental policy could shift and about who would be on the shortlist to lead the EPA and the Interior Department.

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Just within the past few days, two big energy pipeline projects suffered major legal defeats and another one was abandoned by the company pushing it.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Law's Ellen M. Gilmer updates us on this fast-moving news and explains why the litigation strategy of environmentalists who oppose these projects is now paying off big time.

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On this episode of Parts Per Billion, we do a super-deep dive into a case that the Supreme Court will be hearing in its upcoming term. The case questions how far big businesses must go to clean up their pollution, and we hear from residents of the tiny Montana town where the lawsuit originated. 

Host: David Schultz. 

Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes.

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President Biden's nominee to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission hasn't even been confirmed by the Senate yet. But Bloomberg Law's Andrew Ramonas says the agency may not wait for a permanent leader to begin pushing companies to disclose more climate change information to their investors.

On this episode of our weekly environmental podcast, Parts Per Billion, we hear from Andrew about climate disclosure actions the SEC can take in the coming days and weeks. And Andrew also talks about how environment-minded investors are positively giddy about the policy changes a Biden administration could make.

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Teslas and other electric vehicles may be helping to solve the problem of climate change, but they're also creating a new problem for state and federal transportation budgets. That's because these budgets are funded largely from revenue generated by taxes on gasoline.

But if gas-fueled cars are being phased out, where will funding come from build new roads or even just to maintain existing ones? We posed this question to Sahas Katta, the CEO of an automobile tech startup who is working with several states on developing new ways to tax vehicle use. Katta spoke to Bloomberg Law correspondent Michael Bologna.

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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.

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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Alaska is sweltering through a record heat wave that many are attributing to climate change, but climate scientists at the state's largest university may see their funding cut in the near future. Bloomberg Environment's Maya Goldman talks about why Alaska's governor is cutting this funding and about the tough fiscal choices climate change is forcing lawmakers to make. 

Host: David Schultz. 

Editors: Marissa Horn & Jessica Coomes.

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Bees are a symbol of industriousness, but they've also been the cause of no small amount of panic in recent years amid reports that the flying honey makers may be going extinct. We took a deep dive into these issues with our new special podcast series, Business of Bees, and its producers join Parts Per Billion to talk about what they’ve learned. 

Host: David Schultz. 

Producers: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes. 

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One of the most senior judges in the U.S. says a federal agency's pipeline approval process is a bureaucratic nightmare straight out of a Kafka novel. Bloomberg Environment's Ellen Gilmer joins Parts Per Billion, to talk about this process and about how a lawsuit challenging it could make it much easier for environmental groups to block the construction of these interstate pipelines. Host: David Schultz. Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes.

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An ongoing environmental issue may make it harder to acquire your annual holiday conifer. On this episode of Parts Per Billion, agriculture reporter Adam Allington tells us about how the move to ban a powerful pesticide may make life harder for Christmas Tree farmers. Host: David Schultz. Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes.

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ESG investing has quickly grown into an important institution on Wall Street. But what types of rules govern whether an investment can tout itself as good for the environment, social justice, or corporate governance?

It may surprise you, but there aren't that many.

On today's episode of our weekly podcast, Parts Per Billion, we hear from Bloomberg Law reporter Andrew Ramonas about why this is the case and about the efforts underway in both the public and private sectors to establish a stronger set of rules over who gets to don the ESG halo.

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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The Biden administration has made it crystal clear that, to solve climate change, we need to source more of the critical minerals that go into electric batteries--and we need to source them domestically.

One potentially huge source of these minerals is in northern Alaska. But what will that mean for the Alaska Natives who have been living off of the land there for centuries?

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Law reporter Bobby Magill tells us about his trip to northern Alaska and why the Native population there feels so ambivalent about this modern day gold rush.

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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The Supreme Court has not been shy about wading into some pretty thorny environmental disputes. Including the two cases it took up last week, the justices now have six environmental cases outstanding on their docket.

On this episode of our weekly podcast, Parts Per Billion, we hear from Bloomberg Law's Ellen M. Gilmer, who summarized all of these cases and broke down their individual story lines. She also talks about arguments in a climate change case that the Supreme Court will hear one day before President-elect Biden will officially take office.

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It's well known that using PFAS-laden firefighting foam caused big problems for the military, but it's sometimes overlooked that civilian firefighting agencies are facing many of these same problems.

Bloomberg Law reporters Pat Rizzuto and Andrew Wallender are finding more instances of litigation against fire departments over their use of this foam. And they say the main US firefighters' union is now partnering with law firms after cutting ties with companies that make PFAS-coated protective gear—a sign that lawsuits from individual firefighters may soon follow.

Pat and Andrew join this episode of our environmental policy podcast, Parts Per Billion, to talk about this new frontier of PFAS litigation and why revelations about contaminated protective gear are stirring up strong emotions from the firefighting community.

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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