INFRASTRUCTURE: Critics say President Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan lacks a clear strategy on climate resilience, with some saying his administration doesn’t have enough expertise on climate adaptation policy. (New York Times)
ALSO: The Biden administration plan to conserve 30% of the country’s land and water by 2030 contains few details about what the pledge means for its other priority of significantly expanding solar and wind power. (Grist)
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OIL & GAS:
• The Biden administration moves to restore a federal rule — weakened under President Trump — that protects migratory birds from accidental killings by people and organizations such as oil and gas companies. (Washington Post)
• Restoring the land surrounding more than 430,000 spent and abandoned oil and gas wells in the U.S. would cost $7 billion but return $21 billion to the economy within 50 years, Arkansas researchers find. (Democrat Gazette)
EMISSIONS: A United Nations report warns that methane emissions must be reduced quickly and dramatically to avert the worst of global warming. (Associated Press)
FOSSIL FUELS: Bitcoin mining is helping to prolong demand for fossil fuel electricity, prompting a second life for a once-shuttered New York power plant. (Grist)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• As electric vehicles turbocharge demand for lithium, a race is on to mine the material in the United States, and some approaches might not be very green. (Reuters, New York Times)
• Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm holds millions of dollars in stock options in an electric vehicle company recently touted by President Biden. (CNN)
• Bus manufacturer Blue Bird is looking forward to the Biden administration’s proposal to replace 20% of diesel-powered school buses with electric models, as well as a Senate bill that would devote $25 billion to the shift. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
SOLAR: Federal officials and members of the solar and environmental justice communities discuss efforts to improve justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in the solar workforce. (Canary)
HYDROPOWER: A collaboration between environmental advocates and the hydropower industry, announced last fall, unveils a $63 billion plan that would fund removal of 2,000 dams while increasing capacity at existing hydropower facilities. (Los Angeles Times)
UTILITIES:
• The Tennessee Valley Authority announces a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, saying it will need advanced nuclear power to make that happen. (E&E News, subscription)
• A trust established to compensate victims of a 2018 wildfire sparked by PG&E power lines has paid out only $7 million while incurring $51 million in overhead expenses, an investigation finds. (KQED)
COAL: Federal regulators still haven’t issued enforceable safety standards to address pandemic risks for coal miners, leaving mining unions to negotiate protections for members and nonunion miners to fend for themselves. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
PIPELINES:
• The Anishinabek Nation says the Canadian government is putting the oil and gas industry ahead of the Great Lakes with its support for the Line 5 pipeline. (Canadian Press)
• Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. says shutting down the Line 5 pipeline is not a threat to Canada’s national energy security. (CBC)
GRID: An attempt by Texas’ grid operator to prevent blackouts during February’s storm by paying industrial consumers to curb energy use actually constrained gas supplies that power plants needed, an analysis finds. (Wall Street Journal, subscription)
TRANSMISSION: The latest lawsuit against a Wisconsin transmission project is the fourth by conservation advocates, though a national clean energy group recently highlighted its potential to help deliver wind and solar power. (Wisconsin State Journal)
OFFSHORE WIND: “Large numbers” of endangered northern right whales are congregating in and around areas leased by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to developers for New England offshore wind production. (National Fisherman)