EnviroPolitics Blog

Once wind-energy darling Ørsted replaces CEO as stock price sags

*Wind turbines at Ørsted’s Block Island wind farm off Rhode Island.*

COPENHAGEN, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Ørsted Chief Executive Mads Nipper will step down to be replaced by company insider Rasmus Errboe, the world’s biggest offshore wind developer said on Friday, as it seeks to arrest an 83% slump in its share price since its 2021 peak.

The Danish renewables firm has been crucial to establishing a European industry for wind at sea, but the industry has struggled in recent years with rising costs, supply chain bottlenecks, higher interest rates, and regulatory changes.

Its push into the nascent U.S. market has also proved challenging, resulting in delays and impairment charges, and has been complicated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s outspoken opposition to wind power. Trump has suspended federal offshore wind leasing pending an environmental and economic review.

Nipper, who took the helm in January 2021, faced questions over his stewardship as losses mounted and the share price fell.

“The impacts on our business of the increasingly challenging situation in the offshore wind industry … mean that our focus has shifted,” Ørsted Chair Lene Skole said in a statement, without elaborating.

“Therefore, the board has today agreed with Mads Nipper that it’s the right time for him to step down.”

The former oil and gas company’s woes reflect the changing fortunes of wind power globally as soaring costs, delays and limited supply chain investment prompt investors to reassess the speed of the energy transition.

Once a green investor favorite, Ørsted’s market value stood at $15.1 billion at Thursday’s close, a far cry from its peak of $93.9 billion in January 2021, LSEG data shows

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Shell exits NJ’s 1st offshore wind farm. Can project survive?

By Steven Rodas | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Shell has effectively withdrawn from New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm, Atlantic Shores — marking the latest major setback to the state’s clean energy ambitions.

Spokespeople told NJ Advance Media on Thursday that the developer remained committed to the project.

At the end of last year, Atlantic Shores (made up of both Shell New Energies US and EDF Renewables North America) noted that its plans for nearly 200 wind turbines were on schedule.

The CEO of the developer also said construction on the wind farm — set to be built roughly 8 to 20 miles off the coast of New Jersey between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light — could begin some time in 2025.

It’s unclear if that timeline remains intact after Shell’s Chief Financial Officer said in an earnings call Thursday that the company would, while retreating from the project, write-off of nearly $1 billion. That financially signals a significant pivot from previous plans.

Read the full story here

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Trump’s new MPG edict: Guzzle Baby, Guzzle

By ALEXA ST. JOHN, Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — Hours after being sworn in as the new U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy took aim at the main way the federal government regulates miles per gallon for cars and pickup trucks — also a principal way that it regulates air pollution and addresses climate change.

Duffy ordered the federal agency in charge of fuel economy standards to reverse them as soon as possible. The standards have been in place since the 1970s energy crisis and were intended to conserve fuel and save consumers money at the gas pump.

Read the full story here

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‘Gold Bar Bob’ sentenced to 11 years in prison

*Prosecutors asked a judge to give the Democrat 15 years in prison for crimes that include acting as an agent of the Egyptian government. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, File)*

NEW JERSEY — Former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in prison Wednesday after being convicted of 16 felony counts in a high-profile bribery scheme.

Last July, the Hudson County Democrat was convicted of accepting bribes, using the power of his office to protect allies from prosecution, and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt. He resigned from the Senate in August, after months of maintaining his innocence and resisting calls from other top Democrats to step down.

Menendez, 71, fought through tears as he asked U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein for leniency in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday.

“You really don’t know the man you are about to sentence,” Menendez said, before going in to a list of accomplishments from his decades in public service.

Prosecutors had asked the judge for a 15-year sentence. Lawyers for the longtime senator asked for no more than an eight-year sentence on Wednesday.

Attorney Adam Fee told Stein to give Menendez credit for a “lifetime of extraordinary public service and personal sacrifices.”

“Despite his decades of service, he is now known more widely as ‘gold bar Bob,'” Fee said.

Read the full story here

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NYC Local Law 97 Alert: Hire An Engineer By The End Of The Week!

By Jullee Kim and Haley G. Brescia

NYC Local Law 97 Deadline Alert: Hire An Engineer By The End Of The Week!

01-29-2025

Deadlines under New York City’s Local Law 97, the city-wide regulatory program aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, are fast approaching. Most importantly, May 1, 2025, will be the very first time owners of most buildings over 25,000 square feet will have to submit an annual report to the City that either demonstrates compliance with their building-specific emissions cap or details how much the building exceeds its cap.

The post NYC Local Law 97 Deadline Alert: Hire An Engineer By The End Of The Week! appeared first on Cole Schotz.

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White House gives un-dramatic explanation for NJ drone mystery

Many of the drones were authorized by the FAA for “research and various other reasons,” the White House said.

By Michelle Rotuno-Johnson, Patch Staff

NEW JERSEY — Many of the drones that people have spotted buzzing around New Jersey in recent months were actually approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, the White House said on Tuesday.

Theories abounded about the mysterious flights, as communities across the state reported seeing several drones hovering at a time, or operating near critical infrastructure. President Donald Trump had pledged to get to the bottom of the issue, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said a number of the drones were authorized “for research.”

“This was not the enemy,” Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday.

The president’s own Bedminster golf club is one of the areas of New Jersey where drone flight restrictions were issued, and Trump said previously that he thought the Biden administration knew more than they were letting on about the mysterious flights.

Leavitt said Trump had just shared an update with her in the Oval Office before her press conference.

“After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons,” she said.

Read the full story here

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