COP26: Public health has become a top issue at the United Nations climate conference for the first time this year, with health experts hoping that making people the face of the climate crisis will encourage political action. (New York Times)

ALSO:
• Interior Secretary Deb Haaland discusses the Biden administration’s still unreleased oil and gas leasing review and offshore wind efforts to encourage other countries to take more climate action. (E&E News)
• The global pledge to stop financing overseas fossil fuel projects won’t apply to facilities that include carbon capture, among other exemptions. (Politico)
• A coalition of companies announce they’re nearly doubling their plans to build out green hydrogen production, saying they’ll finance 45 GW of electrolyzers by 2026. (Canary Media)

RECONCILIATION:
• The U.S. House is expected to vote today on Democrats’ reconciliation bill; it will then head to the Senate, where it’ll likely have a harder time passing. (E&E News)
• U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado discusses why he didn’t join fellow Democrats opposing the reconciliation bill and how he went from having strong oil and gas industry support to backing a carbon tax and other climate measures. (E&E News)

CLEAN ENERGY:
• After the demise of the Clean Electricity Performance Program, two U.S. House members are pushing what they’ve called a bipartisan clean energy standard that has utility and union support. (Utility Dive)
• More than a dozen Senate Democrats introduce a bill to make tax credits for installing clean energy systems refundable, meaning they could benefit lower-income Americans whose tax bills aren’t big enough to fully utilize typical tax credits. (news release)

GRID:
• Entergy estimates damages from Hurricane Ida at $2.7 billion and seeks funding for repairs from the congressional infrastructure bill. (WDSU)
• A conservation group asks Maine to halt construction on Central Maine Power’s transmission line following a voter referendum shunning the project, though Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker thinks it still has a chance to be finished. (Bangor Daily News, Boston Globe)

SOLAR:
• U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff stumps for a bill to boost domestic manufacturing of solar panels that could lay the groundwork for a new domestic supply chain. (HuffPost)
• Nine public housing authorities are taking advantage of Rhode Island’s virtual net metering program to pool resources on a major solar contract, collectively saving them an estimated $30 million over the next two decades. (Energy News Network)

COAL: Southern Co. announces it will close 55% of its coal fleet by the end of the decade. (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Canadian official says the country would respond “appropriately” to proposed U.S. tax credits for electric vehicles built in America, which he says would violate trade agreements and harm workers. (Reuters)

NUCLEAR: The cost of two nuclear reactors being built at Plant Vogtle in Georgia escalates to $28.5 billion, more than twice the original price tag. (Associated Press)

HYDROGEN: A bipartisan group of U.S. senators sponsor a package of bills that would create grant funding for hydrogen power projects. (Carlsbad Current-Argus) 

FINANCE: Public finance experts say a $20 million bond sought by Burlington, Vermont, may be the first tied specifically to a net-zero energy goal. (Energy News Network)

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn brings her extensive editorial background to the Energy News Network team, where she oversees the early-morning production of ENN’s five email digest newsletters as well as distribution of ENN’s original journalism with other media outlets. From documenting chronic illness’ effect on college students to following the inner workings of Congress, Kathryn has built a broad experience in her more than five years working at major publications including The Week Magazine. Kathryn holds a Bachelor of Science in magazine journalism and information management and technology from Syracuse University.