Louisiana lousy CCS - Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming (R) is campaigning for a seat in the US Senate with a promise to oppose carbon capture and storage (CCS), according to KTAL News. Fleming said, if elected, the first bill he would submit would be to defund and repeal 45Q tax credits. Three bills recently filed in Louisiana propose changes to state law affecting CCS projects, by removing eminent domain powers and expanding parish-level authority over project siting.

US sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production surged fivefold in 2025, but industry executives said weak federal mandates and a tax credit expiring in 2029 threaten to stall growth as producers call for decade-long policy certainty.

Breezing through - A US federal judge has ruled that construction on the $5 bln Empire Wind offshore wind project off Long Island may resume, dealing a setback to the Trump administration’s efforts to halt multiple East Coast wind developments. US District Judge Carl Nichols said the Interior Department’s stop-work order would likely cause irreparable harm and found the government failed to show it had followed required legal procedures, including providing notice or an opportunity for the developer to be heard. The administration had paused Empire Wind and four other projects last month, citing national security concerns. The decision follows a similar ruling earlier this week allowing the Revolution Wind project to continue. (New York Times)

Clean fuels expansion - Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) staff presented on Thursday to the state’s Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) the proposed timeline to an updated rulemaking on the state’s Clean Fuels Program (OCFP). A Nov. 18 executive order from Gov. Tina Kotek (D) directed the DEQ to update and expand the OCFP, among other things, in a way that will better align Oregon’s programmes with neighbouring jurisdictions. The DEQ will convene a rulemaking advisory committee (RAC) in January or February, aiming to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the final quarter of 2026. The agency would bring the rulemaking before the EQC for a vote in late 2026 or in the first half of 2027.

He ain't heavy - Republican lawmakers appear to be introducing legislation to stop compensation lawsuits aimed at Big Oil, according to E&E News. The outlet reported lawmakers in Oklahoma and Utah have filed bills to prevent lawsuits that seek to impose unreasonable burdens on the commerce of fossil fuels, and that persons will not be liable for climate change, respectively. Climate compensation lawsuits against fossil fuel companies have cropped up in a number of states in recent years, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, Vermont, and others.

Barbados has emerged as a flagship case for how small island developing states (SIDS) can use debt restructuring and climate finance tools to scale mitigation investment and lay the groundwork for future carbon market mechanisms, according to a recently-published report.

Colombia-based carbon standard Cercarbono announced on Wednesday the final update of its methodology for afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) projects, following a public consultation launched in July last year.

Canada remains well off-track from its climate targets and needs a strategy on international carbon credits and carbon removal, an advisory body to the federal government has recommended.

An investment manager for the forestry sector this week unveiled an Ecosystem Integrity Index (EII), designed for timber companies to monitor biodiversity while logging and replanting trees.

Quebec’s initial free carbon allowance distribution of 2026 dipped by about 1% year-on-year (YoY), even as the number of recipient industrial emitters remained the same, provincial data published Wednesday showed.

US airlines were responsible for over 55 Mt of emissions in 2024 that are subject to CORSIA offsetting requirements, data recently published by UN agency ICAO shows, even as analysts highlight ongoing uncertainty around their participation in the scheme.

A voluntary carbon asset management platform and an infrastructure provider have announced a strategic partnership aimed at improving how carbon credits are sourced, evaluated, and transacted across the market.

Fossil fuel demand is on track to peak around 2035, but the surge in global living standards will boost oil demand by another 3 to 5 million barrels per day (bpd) in the early 2030s, according to Shell.

Carbon removal (CDR) experienced bumper growth in 2025 with a burst of new contracts, although Microsoft continues to dominate the market, according to a report released by a portfolio manager this week.

AI train - Mining giant Rio Tinto on Thursday said it will supply Amazon Web Service’s US data centres with low-carbon copper produced using its Nuton bioleaching technology. The process, which cuts emissions and water use, produces 99.99% pure copper at site, avoids smelting and refining, and shortens the supply chain, Rio Tinto said. Under the two-year deal, AWS will provide cloud analytics to Rio Tinto to optimise production at the Johnson Camp copper mine in Arizona. Emissions from data centres are set to rise significantly over the coming years. Rio Tinto is also in talks with rival Glencore to form the world's biggest miner.

Public actors need to strategically tackle the widening gap in insurance against climate-related natural disasters through four actions that embed nature throughout, WWF said on Thursday.

US-based tech giant Microsoft has signed a carbon removal (CDR) offtake agreement with an Indian project developer, marking its first durable CDR purchase in Asia, according to an announcement Thursday.

Microsoft will purchase 2.85 million soil carbon removal (CDR) credits from a US-based agtech firm as part of a new 12-year deal, it was announced on Thursday, marking the third transaction between the two companies.

Quiet fundraise - Sustainable aviation fuels startup Lydian has raised $43.7 mln, Axios Pro reported last week. Following inquiries from Carbon Pulse, Lydian declined to comment on the reporting. The company secured $12 mln in seed funding in 2023 and initially targeted a pilot plant by 2024, with an envisioned production capacity surpassing 5,000 gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) per annum.

California regulator ARB is more than 90% likely to complete its cap-and-invest programme amendments by Sep. 1, setting the stage for updated industrial allocation rules and potential linkage with Washington, a former senior regulator said.

As the rulemaking for New Mexico’s Clean Transportation Fuel Standard becomes finalised, a programme official told conference attendees on Wednesday that the agency is on track to go into effect on July 1.

California regulator ARB granted offsets to just one project in its first issuance of 2026, according to data published Wednesday.

The rapid expansion of the forward offtake market in the voluntary carbon market may be here to stay, and could determine credit pricing dynamics in the years ahead, according to analysis from a carbon data firm and rating agency.