CLIMATE: The White House’s proposed 2022 budget would increase climate spending by $14 billion and boost the EPA and National Science Foundation’s budgets by 20%, including $1.4 billion for environmental justice initiatives within the EPA. (Reuters, The Hill)

ALSO:
• The conservative American Legislative Exchange Council is organizing to build upon state efforts to fight President Biden’s climate agenda. (Grist)
• Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee signs a monumental climate bill into law that aims to cut emissions 45% by 2030. (Providence Journal)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Two South Korean electric vehicle battery makers resolve a long-running trade dispute with a $1.8 billion settlement that will allow SK Innovation to complete construction of sprawling factories in Georgia. (Washington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• President Biden proposes $600 million to replace federal agencies’ fleets with U.S.-made electric vehicles, though that task is estimated to cost as much as $2 billion. (Detroit News)

OIL & GAS:
• President Biden’s budget proposal would triple current spending for cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells and mines to $550 million. (E&E News, subscription)
• New Mexico leaders are divided over President Biden’s infrastructure package prioritizing transitioning to clean energy, particularly its impact on the state’s oil and gas production. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• Oil production activity in Colorado, Wyoming, and parts of New Mexico rose in the last quarter, marking the first year-on-year increase since 2019 according to a new report. (Reuters)

PIPELINES:
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it will allow the Dakota Access oil pipeline to continue operating without a federal permit as the agency conducts a new environmental review for the project. (National Native News)
• Pending legislation in Minnesota and at least five other states targets pipeline protesters by increasing penalties for trespassing near energy infrastructure such as the Line 3 pipeline. (Inside Climate News)

WIND:
• The Interior Department revokes a Trump administration opinion that limited offshore wind’s “interference” in the fishing industry, saying the department should now try to “strike a rational balance” between the interests. (The Hill)
• Wind energy generated the most electricity in Texas’ power grid in March, outperforming natural gas in the state for the first time. (Reuters)

SOLAR: Michigan solar advocates make a new push to eliminate a cap that limits distributed energy to 1% of utilities’ peak load. (Energy News Network)

BIOMASS: Opponents of burning wood for energy worry President Biden won’t dismantle the industry as part of his clean energy plans, especially because EPA head Michael Regan approved wood pellet plants as North Carolina’s environmental regulator. (Bloomberg Law)

PUBLIC LANDS:
• Emails obtained by a watchdog group reveal state superintendents from Alaska, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming may have helped with attacking President Biden’s moratorium on new federal oil and gas leases. (Gizmodo)
• Native American tribes are hoping for a systemic change to federal land use policy to decrease adverse impacts from oil and gas projects. (CleanTechnica)

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GRID: Texas lawmakers consider a range of fixes for widespread outages after February’s winter storm, but not what some believe to be a more obvious fix of opening its power grid to interconnect with other U.S. power supplies. (Houston Chronicle, subscription)

COMMENTARY:
• A Minnesota congressmember and a tribal attorney call on President Biden to halt building of the Line 3 pipeline, citing safety concerns during its construction and its potential for environmental harm. (CNN)
• A science magazine says it will begin using the term “climate emergency,” following the lead of thousands of scientists and dozens of countries that have made the same declaration. (Scientific American)
• West Virginia “embodies the potential” of President Biden’s plan to move fossil fuel-producing regions through a “just transition” marked by greater opportunity to work in the clean energy economy, writes a columnist. (Washington Post)
• A Massachusetts solar incentive program hasn’t helped many low-income Bay Staters, so any expansion needs to consider non-financial solar adoption barriers, according to Vote Solar’s Northeast regulatory director. (Energy News Network)

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.