OIL & GAS: The Interior Department pauses oil and gas leasing in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge pending an environmental review, reversing a last-minute Trump administration decision. (Politico)

ALSO:
• Alaska’s governor and congressional delegation condemns the suspension, while environmental advocates call on the Biden administration to make the stoppage permanent. (news release, Common Dreams)
• State lawmakers around the country are using the natural gas industry’s talking points to defend the fossil fuel, documents show. (E&E News)
• Congressional lawmakers from Texas and North Dakota call for a national orphaned well program to clean up the tens of thousands of abandoned wells. (E&E News, subscription)
• The growth potential of oil and gas production in the Permian Basin and the protective posture of Texas’ state government threaten President Joe Biden’s energy goals. (Vox)

PIPELINES:
• U.S. counties whose populations are most vulnerable to health effects from environmental and other external stress also have the highest density of natural gas pipelines, researchers find. (North Carolina Health News)
• A federal judge rules that even though President Biden canceled a presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, a future president could reinstate the project. (E&E News, subscription)

GRID:
• A private company takes over Puerto Rico’s grid from an island-owned power authority after years of corruption, mismanagement, and ongoing blackouts. (Associated Press)
• Climate change will compound extreme weather risks to the grid, experts warn the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• Massachusetts activists urge the municipal power procurement nonprofit behind a planned natural gas power plant to consider whether battery storage could do the job with fewer climate concerns. (Energy News Network)

CLEAN ENERGY:
• The oil and gas industry’s increasing investments in clean energy won’t get the world on track to hit net-zero emissions by 2050, an International Energy Agency report indicates. (Bloomberg)
• Corporate purchasers continue to drive large-scale wind and solar projects across the U.S. (S&P Global)

COAL:
• Bankruptcies that could result in a new wave of mass mine abandonment endanger President Biden’s promise to reinvigorate coal communities. (E&E News)
• PSEG retires a 400 MW coal-fired generating unit in Connecticut, leaving just one coal-fired plant in New England. (S&P Global)

PUBLIC LANDS: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland becomes a focal point for Native Americans hopeful for change at an agency once tasked to “civilize or exterminate” Indigenous people. (New York Times)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Tennessee pledges $60 million toward General Motors and LG Energy Solutions’ electric vehicle battery plant. (Nashville Business Journal, subscription)
• PG&E says its pilot program to use electric vehicle charging as a grid resource is showing promising initial results. (Utility Dive)

OFFSHORE WIND: A Texas shipyard will build a $500 million turbine installation vessel for Eversource Energy and Ørsted to use for two planned Northeast wind farms. (Boston Globe)

POLICY: Adopting any of three major climate policies in Ohio could help society avoid up to $1 trillion in costs over the next three decades, a recent analysis finds. (Energy News Network)

BIOFUELS: The largest U.S. biofuels producer will boost its ethanol production capacity by 40% after acquiring another producer. (Reuters)

COMMENTARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission needs to consistently reject pipeline projects that don’t align with clean energy goals, and it may take a change in the board’s membership to make that happen, two policy integrity attorneys write. (Canary Media)

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.