CLIMATE: President Biden orders federal agencies to evaluate climate risks facing the country and develop plans to help mitigate them as part of a government-wide strategy. (Reuters)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Ford’s joint venture with battery maker SK Innovation will eventually produce batteries for roughly 600,000 electric vehicles per year. (Associated Press)
• A Korean auto supplier will invest $10 million and hire 285 people in Georgia to make battery modules and energy storage systems. (Associated Press)
• California regulators adopt a rule requiring electric vehicles to account for 90% of rideshare trips by 2030 while acknowledging there’s little they can do to prevent companies from passing costs on to drivers. (Reuters)
• New Jersey proposes a rule to transition medium- and heavy-duty trucks to electric, earning applause from environmentalists and little opposition from critics. (NJ Spotlight)
***SPONSORED LINK: The Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition via Fresh Energy is hiring for a Manager of Building Policy and Technology consultant to support policy and technology solutions. Apply before June 1.***
EFFICIENCY: The White House takes its first step to revise light bulb efficiency standards, asking stakeholders for input on its proposed changes. (The Hill)
EMISSIONS:
• Air pollution from fossil fuels annually costs Americans an average of $2,500 in additional medical bills and contributes to an estimated 107,000 premature deaths, a report from the Natural Resources Defense Council and health professionals concludes. (Grist)
• Several states have adopted carbon pricing schemes or are discussing them, but momentum has not made it to the federal government. (Politico)
OIL & GAS:
• Texas oil and gas companies complain that renewables receive unfairly large subsidies despite being heavily subsidized themselves. (Texas Monthly)
• A 635 MW natural gas-fired power plant in New York will continue operating now that local officials have reduced its property taxes. (Times Union)
• Some cryptocurrency miners use trailers to capture stray natural gas at oil drilling sites in the Great Plains to power operations. (Reuters)
• Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso introduces a bill to allow oil and gas leasing on some public lands currently designated as wilderness areas. (E&E News, subscription)
PIPELINES:
• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approves two pipeline projects despite high emissions impacts, but specifies the decision shouldn’t “serve as precedent” for any future orders. (Utility Dive)
• Kentucky landowners on the losing side of an eminent domain case argue that a 12-mile Louisville Gas and Electric Co. pipeline would serve a private rather than a public use — specifically Jim Beam’s distilleries. (Courier Journal)
BIOFUELS: The EPA will reportedly leave biofuel blending standards unchanged from last year’s as it addresses weak fuel demand during the coronavirus pandemic. (Reuters)
COMMENTARY:
• Federal subsidies for electric vehicles “transfer wealth upward” by rewarding affluent buyers who could already afford to purchase one, a columnist writes. (Washington Post)
• When the federal government offers tax credits “as a delayed refund for renewable energy projects” instead of awarding cash upfront, it largely benefits Wall Street, a columnist writes. (New Republic)
• The $40,000-plus electric Ford F-150 is still too expensive to be the mass-market electric vehicle the U.S. needs to fully transition from gas-powered cars, a columnist argues. (Vox)