(Fuels Institute) ESG Integrity, a Fuels Institute program, and the National Association of Fleet Managers (NAFA) announced a partnership to assist the fuels and transportation industries with meeting the growing demand for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) planning and reporting. ESG planning and reporting is becoming a necessary tool in
Securities and Exchange Commission

The recent SEC proposed rule that would require public companies to include certain climate-related information is being seen as a game-changer in ESG reporting. It also stands to accelerate boards of directors and the C-suite to hone their products, processes and business models to meet this new era of transparency
by Ariana Fine (NGT News) Fleet Advantage, a truck fleet business analytics, equipment financing and life cycle cost management (LCCM) company, has released a program to help corporate truck fleets certify their greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) output, which was recently mandated under a proposed rule issued by the Securities and Exchange
by Douglas MacMillan and Maxine Joselow (Washington Post) From Coca-Cola to Tesla, companies report emissions in widely different ways. A new federal rule is expected to standardize climate disclosures, putting the U.S. on closer footing with other countries. — The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to require all publicly traded
by Katanga Johnson (Reuters) As the U.S. securities regulator wraps up a draft of a landmark new climate change rule, environmental campaigners and activist investors want it to require companies to disclose not only their own greenhouse gas emissions but those generated by their suppliers and other partners. Corporate groups, meanwhile,
by Matthew Choi (Politico’s Morning Energy) The American Petroleum Institute unveiled a voluntary template for its members to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions. Ben breaks down what it entails: “The template put forward by API includes five data sections, including areas to list emissions that came from energy a company
by Lorraine Woellert (Politico) In a draft executive order, President Joe Biden reaches into all corners of the federal government with plans that would touch every sector. — President Joe Biden is preparing to instruct federal agencies to take sweeping action to combat climate-related financial risks to government and the
by Steven Mufson and Juliet Eilperin (Washington Post) The Commodity Futures Trading Commission aims to create a new Climate Risk Unit, joining initiatives at Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Reserve — A growing number of federal regulators are pushing corporate America to reckon with the cost
(Our Daily Planet) The Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission wants to know what you want to know about how corporations are dealing with climate change and other environmental risks. In a speech yesterday to the liberal think tank the Center for American Progress, she explained specifically what the Commission, which
by Matthew Choi and Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico’s Morning Energy) The commission is setting up a climate and ESG task force in its enforcement division as the financial industry faces growing pressure to be more proactive on ESG disclosures, particularly regarding climate risk. Goldman Sachs announced Thursday it would offer more
(Aken Gump) On Tuesday, March 2, Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee introduced a sweeping climate proposal—the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s (CLEAN) Future Act—an amended version of draft legislation released last year in the 116th Congress. The measure, which authorizes $565 billion in spending
by Avery Ellfeldt (E&E News) The acting head of the Securities and Exchange Commission is expanding the agency’s efforts to push public companies to be transparent about the threats they face from climate change. Acting SEC Chair Allison Herren Lee announced yesterday (February 24, 2021) that the agency’s Division of Corporation Finance
by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico’s Morning Energy) Securities and Exchange Commission member Allison Herren Lee said on Tuesday that “climate change presents a systemic risk to the financial market” and that “there’s certainly evidence that climate risks are currently underpriced.” Lee, who was appointed to the SEC by Trump, said she wants
(Bloomberg Law) Scheme to defraud EPA renewable fuel program; Criminal cases made damages easy to calculate e-Biofuels LLC and other defendants face a $70 million liability for violating the False Claims Act by engaging in a scheme to defraud the EPA’s renewable fuel program, an Indiana federal court said. Alexander Chepurko’s
by Dave Stafford (The Indiana Lawyer) Evansville-based Imperial Petroleum Inc. has been ordered to pay nearly $32 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission after it failed to reply to the SEC’s court filings seeking damages in a biofuels fraud case that resulted in prison time for the former company president. Senior
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In November 2011, the Digest ran a story on a remarkable proposition — advanced by Richard Hamilton, then CEO of Ceres — that biofuels companies – on the “level playing field” theory advanced by opponents of government mandates and subsidies, should have a mechanism to book
by Amy Harder (Axios) … Trillium proposed a resolution calling on EOG to set a target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. EOG complained to the SEC in late December that the proposal would micromanage the company, calling it a “rigid, time-bound” target, and asked to omit it from consideration. Responding in late February, the SEC
by Jeff Amy (Fox Business/Associated Press) A federal judge has approved a $4.5 million settlement for private shareholders of failed biofuel maker KiOR, and a lawsuit by the state of Mississippi seeking to recover a much larger amount continues. U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal issued the order Monday in Houston
by Timothy Gardner (Reuters) The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission informed eight Democratic U.S. senators last month that it is not investigating biofuels credits after the lawmakers had urged it to probe billionaire Carl Icahn’s activity in that market, according to a copy of a letter seen by Reuters on
(Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren) U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), called on the heads of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Montana, Blue Marble Biomaterials will become the first biomaterials company to utilize Regulation A+, a type of equity crowdfunding regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and will offer equity shares to the public. Regulation A+ differs from other popular crowdfunding methods, such as Kickstarter.
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In 2011, KiOR raised $150 million in its June IPO, claiming that it was generating yields of 67 gallons per ton in its Demo unit operations. But it was miles short of that. In our previous installments, we have charted how KiOR moved from a
(U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) On September 26, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Texas-based Mard, Inc., formerly known as KiOR, Inc., (“KiOR”), and its former CEO and President Fred Cannon for failing to disclose important assumptions about the yield that KiOR had claimed to have achieved through the
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … But so far, the company and its celebrity investors and directors such as former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and famed venture capitalist Vinod Khosla had escaped close scrutiny. … The methods for keeping the truth bottled up were not pretty. According to our sources
(U.S. Department of Justice) U.S. Attorney Josh J. Minkler for the Southern District of Indiana announced today the guilty verdict after an eight-day jury trial of Jeffrey Wilson of Evansville, Indiana, who was charged with securities fraud related to a massive multi-state fraud scheme. Wilson’s crimes centered on the e-biofuels
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … The company was beginning to hurtle towards an IPO. But the fuel yields were low; the fuel was not usable by their initial chosen downstream partner; the catalyst they were using to get even down to this unsatisfactory product, ZSM zeolite, was in the $7,000
by Devin Henry (The Hill) Natural gas developers are providing very restricted information about their methane emissions to investors, according to a report released Monday by a green group. According to an Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) analysis, only 18 of 65 major gas companies disclosed methane emissions to their investors, and
(Influence Map) An analysis of SEC 10-K filings by the 20 leading US industrial companies … — The findings in this report complement the existing CERES/CookESG Research SEC sustainability search tool, which covers climate change and water risks for 4,500 public companies (10-Ks only) from 2009 to the present. Summary of Key Points The
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Unlimited oil production, no exploration risk, positive on environment, cheaper than unconventional US crude — what’s not to like about certain biofuels? This year, Joule Unlimited noted that a “10,000 acre plant represents a reserve value of 100 million barrels of Solar Fuels, equivalent to
by Ryan Koopmans (Des Moines Register) … For the last decade, Big Oil has been running nervously through the halls of the U.S. Capitol and the EPA, screaming — to anyone who will listen — that the Renewable Fuel Standard is an “unworkable,” “infeasible,” “unsustainable,” rule that will create a “death
by Siri Srinivas (The Guardian) Shareholders ask the five largest US oil companies – Valero, Exxon Mobil, Marathon Petroleum, Phillips 66 and Chevron – to disclose the risks their operations and facilities face from rising sea levels and storm surges. … In letters signed by Calvert Investments, Pax World Management, Walden
by Steven Mufson (The Washington Post) Just over a year ago, billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla was bubbling with optimism about one of his latest investments: KiOR, a biofuel outfit he said would turn wood chips into hydrocarbons that could be poured straight into a refinery, pipeline or vehicle. …
(Global BioBusiness) A former cofounder of biofuel maker KiOR says he tried to warn other board members about problems with KiOR’s technology. The claims come from Mr. Paul O’Connor, who cofounded the company and worked there until June 2012 and then was hired back as a consultant but definitely quit
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Key figure and company director Paul O’Connor resigns. Allegations relating to possible inside trading, suppression of 3rd party technology report laid by the Board against O’Connor. O’Connor makes allegations concerning “KiOR’s management team and KiOR’s technology”. In Texas, a nasty board-level fight at KiOR spilled
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The following is excerpted from KiOR’s most recent 10-Q quarterly report, as filed with the SEC. “We have substantial doubts about our ability to continue as a going concern. To continue as a going concern, we must secure additional capital to provide us with additional liquidity.
by Joe Leo (Biodiesel Magazine/BrownWinick Law Firm) Let’s be honest, despite the fact that the biodiesel industry is experiencing arguably its most successful year, it is still difficult for biodiesel producers to raise capital in the current investing climate. This difficulty in accessing the capital markets, especially equity capital, is
(PR NewsWire/ Pomerantz Grossman Hufford Dahlstrom & Gross) Pomerantz Grossman Hufford Dahlstrom & Gross LLP has filed a class action lawsuit against Kior, Inc. (“Kior” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: KIOR) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, and docketed under 13-cv-2443, is on
by Jim Lane (BioInvest Digest) Renaissance in biobased capital raising expected; register your interest in raising capital or seeing deal flow. In Washington, SEC Commissioners have voted 4-1 to lift the ban on general solicitation, and to create a new 506( c) class of offering, which will allow advertising of the
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The first gas fermentation technology to come to the public markets: Coskata files its $100 million IPO. Here’s our 10-minute version of the filing, with a translation of the risks into English. …Coskata, which in the past year lost $28.7 million while recording $250K in
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Can PetroAlgae find a market for its feed among the aficionados of alfalfa and fishmeal, with fuels on the side? In its recent IPO revision, it says “sure can”. … PetroAlgae has filed a massive revision to its S-1 registration for a proposed initial public
by Kevin Cooper (Natchez Democrat) A federal judge ruled Thursday that would-be biofuels wizard John Rivera’s claims were not worth the hill of beans he claimed could be magically turned into fuel. U.S. District Judge David Bramlette handed down a summary judgment against Rivera, affirming charges levied by the U.S.
Biofuel, Ag Groups Comment on SEC Climate Disclosures Rulemaking
by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) … Growth Energy’s comments focused on the calculation of biofuel GHG emissions. “The proposed rule would require many public companies to calculate and disclose GHG emissions from throughout their entire supply chain and production cycle,” Growth Energy said in its comments. “How obligated parties calculate the GHG