Your weekly resource to learn what the environmental movement is saying about the news of the day and the political fight of our generation. This week, we’re covering a massive clean energy success story, Big Oil’s Q2 profits and the cost to consumers, and Todd Blanche’s confirmation process.
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“This is a serious mistake for the Senate to approve Todd Blanche as the next Attorney General.”
— Senator Dick Durbin (IL) on Senate Republicans moving Todd Blanche’s nomination forward.
“[Utility bills are] up 18% since Trump came into office. Remember, he promised to cut them in half.”
— LCV President Pete Maysmith on Trump’s attacks on the climate and rising energy bills.
“Every time we burn fossil fuels, it adds more chemicals to the atmosphere that trap more heat, creating a positive feedback loop that makes everything hotter and drier.”
— Salon National Affairs Editor Troy Farah on the wildfires in Spokane, Washington.
NEW MEXICO’S ENERGY TRANSITION ACT BOOSTS RENEWABLE ENERGY: New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act has successfully bolstered clean energy in the state, shifting the state’s electricity supply from climate-warming fossil fuels to a majority renewables in just five years.
NEW YORK ADOPTS RULES LOWERING CAP ON CLIMATE POLLUTION FROM FOSSIL FUEL POWER PLANTS: New York adopted updated regulations for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) that lower the cap on climate emissions from the power sector. RGGI is a cooperative, market-based, cap-and-invest program between 11 states on the East Coast from Virginia to Maine. Under the new rules, the greenhouse gas emissions cap will decrease by around 10% annually through 2033, and by around 3% from 2034 through 2037, dropping to about 89% below its 2024 level by 2037. As a result of RGGI, New York has already reduced carbon dioxide emissions from its power sector by 50% below 2005 levels and generated more than $3 billion in program revenue that has been reinvested into cost-saving projects including energy efficiency, clean energy, and electrification efforts. New York ratepayers will save nearly $12 billion due to the program’s success.
NYLCV TAKE: New York LCV President Julie Tighe said, “As the federal government continues to retreat from climate action, programs like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) are more essential than ever. For over two decades, RGGI has saved families billions of dollars in energy costs, substantially reduced pollution, and supported thousands of jobs while providing significant health benefits by cleaning up our air.
“By updating the regulations – including an 85% reduction in the emissions cap over time, as well as more robust reporting, monitoring, and enforcement mechanisms – New York is helping to ensure RGGI will continue to deliver even more benefits for participating states in the coming years. We applaud Governor Hochul, DEC, and NYSERDA for leading the way in this bipartisan, multi-state effort, and for their strong commitment to building an affordable, clean energy future for all.”
GOVERNOR SPANBERGER SEEKS TO INTERVENE IN DOMINION-NEXTERA MERGER: Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger announced that she will seek to intervene in the $67 billion merger between Dominion and NextEra Energy. A new survey found that three in four Virginians instinctively opposed merger because of fear that it will raise their electricity bills and are looking to their state leaders to protect them from high energy costs.
VALCV TAKE: Virginia LCV Executive Director Michael Town said, “Virginians are sending a crystal-clear message: they do not want a mega-utility monopoly that pads corporate profits by driving up our monthly power bills even further. Our state leaders must give regulators the time and power they need to thoroughly scrutinize this merger and protect everyday Virginians from footing the bill for creating the largest utility in the world.”
OIL AND GAS COMPANIES REPORT OVER $46 BILLION IN EXCESS QUARTERLY PROFITS: Quarter two profit reports have shown that major oil and gas companies have made over $46 billion in excess profits so far this year while families and everyday people are struggling to pay their bills and fill up their tanks.
OUR TAKE: LCV Senior Federal Advocacy Campaigns Director Leah Donahey said, “Across the country, everyday people are being forced to make impossible decisions between putting food on the table and gas in the tank. Meanwhile, oil and gas CEOs are raking in their highest profits in years: over $40 billion and counting in just the last three months. This money is coming straight out of our pockets. Trump promised to cut energy bills in half in his first year office, but the average family has spent an additional $504 on gas just since April.
“Trump and congressional Republicans have the power to stop Big Oil from price gouging and return windfall profits to working families, as well as to bring down our costs by investing in cleaner, more affordable alternatives. Instead, they are canceling clean, affordable energy projects, rolling back fuel efficiency standards, making electric vehicles less accessible, and using billions of our taxpayer dollars to subsidize the very companies gouging us at the pump.
“We cannot let Big Oil continue to amass staggering profits at our expense. We urge Congress to pass the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax to prioritize our families and communities over polluter profits.
DEMOCRATS REJECT REPUBLICAN FARM BILL: Senate Democrats rejected Senator Boozman’s (AR) latest partisan draft of the Senate Farm Bill, the Agricultural Act of 2026. The bill would have failed to address the harmful SNAP cuts from the Republicans’ harmful tax law while also cutting conservation programs that help farmers fight and adapt to climate change.
OUR TAKE: LCV Healthy Communities Program Director Madeleine Foote said, “Today, Senate Democrats stood up for struggling families, small farmers, rural communities, and the environment by opposing Republicans’ harmful Farm Bill. Not only would this bill have failed to address congressional Republicans’ manufactured SNAP crisis, but it also included devastating funding cuts to critical, already-oversubscribed conservation programs that help farmers engage in sustainable and regenerative practices. This bill would have made it more difficult for farmers to continue feeding our families, resulting in higher costs when people are already struggling to put food on the table. LCV applauds Senate Democrats for continuing to fight for a bipartisan Farm Bill that truly delivers for our farmers, communities, and the environment.”
Ahead of the vote, LCV released a statement opposing the bill.
TAKE 2: LCV Healthy Communities Program Director Madeleine Foote said, “Farmers and ranchers nationwide are struggling with crises on multiple fronts, including rapidly rising costs and extreme weather events fueled by climate change, but Senator Boozman’s latest Farm Bill draft fails to provide the lifelines producers need to keep putting food on our tables. Not only does this bill inadequately address the upcoming SNAP crisis that Congressional Republicans created with the Republican Tax Law, but it still includes devastating cuts to critical, already-oversubscribed conservation programs that help farmers engage in more sustainable and regenerative farming practices. Now more than ever, Congress should be increasing investments in the programs and agencies that help farmers thrive while fighting and adapting to the climate crisis. We urge the Senate to reject this proposal and to pass a truly bipartisan Farm Bill that will actually help farmers who are impacted by Trump’s affordability crisis and the climate and other environmental disasters he’s only making worse.”
ELECTRICITY BILLS SET AN ALL TIME RECORD: In July, the average electricity bill across the country hit a new all-time high of $217. Record high energy bills are the result of Trump and congressional Republicans’ policies bolstering expensive, dirty energy while trying to ban clean, affordable alternatives.
SENATE REPUBLICANS BLOCK ATTEMPT TO MAINTAIN PFAS REPORTING DEADLINES: Senate Republicans voted against S.J. Res. 187, which would have reverted to the reasonable timeline for chemical manufacturers to report PFAS data to EPA after the agency pushed back reporting deadlines for the third time.
OUR TAKE: LCV Healthy Communities Program Director Madeleine Foote said, “Congress should be working to keep toxic chemicals out of our drinking water, but instead, Senate Republicans are helping hide the truth that chemical companies are polluting our water with dangerous PFAS. PFAS are known as ‘forever chemicals’ because they don’t break down and have been linked to numerous issues including cancers, kidney and liver diseases, hormone disruption, neurological developmental problems, and more. With this vote, Senate Republicans sided with Trump’s corrupt administration to put chemical industry profits ahead of our communities’ health and safety. We appreciate Senator Whitehouse’s leadership to shine the spotlight on whether Senators are standing with our communities or with Big Polluters.”
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ADVANCES TODD BLANCHE’S NOMINATION FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL: Despite initial Republican holdouts over concerns about Blanche’s involvement in Trump’s $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund, Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans voted to advance his deeply flawed nomination for Attorney General.
OUR TAKE: LCV Senior Director of Judiciary and Democracy Doug Lindner said, “Todd Blanche continues to be Trump’s personal lawyer, not the American people’s lawyer. At Trump’s direction, Blanche has systematically defied laws, norms, and ethics to undermine our democracy and our environment, purge huge numbers of civil servants, weaponize and politicize law enforcement, harass Trump’s perceived enemies, and protect Trump’s illegal conduct. He has handed billions of taxpayer dollars to energy companies to cancel domestic clean energy projects and redirect funds to fossil fuel export projects at a time of rapidly rising energy prices for American families. And he has worked to hand more billions of taxpayer dollars to Trump and his fellow insurrectionists.
“Nothing in this latest deal with Senate Judiciary Republicans prevents the Trump-Blanche Justice Department from continuing to reach taxpayer-funded settlements with Trump cronies, which it has done as recently as last week. Instead, this deal green-lights the corrupt tax audit immunity Blanche gave Trump, his family, and his business, as well as the sabotage of equal justice under law by an attorney general who serves Trump instead of the American people. Make no mistake: the Republican Senators voting to confirm Todd Blanche are doing so because they support Trump and Blanche’s continued corruption of justice, not because they’ve done anything to stop it. The Senate must reject this nominee and demand an attorney general who works for the people, not just the president and his corporate billionaire friends.”
LCV ACTION FUND CONGRATULATIONS ENDORSED CANDIDATES ON WINNING PRIMARIES: The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund (LCVAF) congratulates Hillary Scholten (MI-03), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) and Donavan McKinney (MI-13) on their wins in Michigan, Wesley Bell (MO-01) on his win in Missouri, Mark Warner (Senate), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), Elaine Luria (VA-02), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Tom Perriello (VA-05), Beth Macy (VA-06), Eugene Vindman (VA-07), Don Beyer (VA-08), Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), James Walkinshaw (VA-11) on their wins in Virginia, and Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Rick Larsen (WA-02), Emily Randall (WA-06), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), and Kim Schrier (WA-08) in Washington.
LCVAF TAKE: LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Sara Chieffo said, “LCV Action Fund congratulates these candidates who understand the impacts their communities are facing from climate change fueled extreme weather and will fight to lower the energy and other costs that are crushing people across the country. The future of our environment and our democracy are at stake while Republicans in Congress continue to prioritize Trump’s personal interests and helping his corporate billionaire friends. Voters have made it clear: they want candidates who will fight for our communities, and stand up to Big Polluters and other greedy special interests.”
FEDERAL APPEALS COURT BARS EPA FROM TAKING BACK $20 BILLION IN GRANTS: A federal appeals court upheld a lower court’s injunction barring EPA from freezing grants under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, one of the signature pieces of the Biden administration’s climate and clean energy law.
ON THE BLOG: What exactly does a poll worker do? And how can you become one? Find out on this week’s edition of The Power Source Blog!
ON OUR SOCIALS: Shifts to clean energy are not just great for the environment, but also for affordability. Instead of supporting clean energy, Trump is instead blaming Big Oil for “making too much money” off of a war that he started.
COMING UP:
AUGUST 11: National Poll Worker Recruitment Day
AUGUST 22: First day of National Parks Week.
AUGUST 29: Comment period closes on EPA’s proposal to roll back emissions standards for heavy duty vehicles.
©2026 League of Conservation Voters