POLITICS: As U.S. Senate Democrats look to include a clean electricity standard in their budget resolution, the energy efficiency standard President Biden campaigned on seems unlikely to be included. (E&E News)
ALSO:
• Some environmental groups are frustrated with President Biden’s moves to lower gasoline prices, but one expert says the moves are necessary for Democrats to retain power and enact meaningful climate legislation. (Politico)
• A group of moderate House Democrats threaten to sink the party’s $3.5 trillion budget proposal over Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to hold up the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure package until the budget measure passes. (E&E News)
• Many Republican Congress members no longer dispute the existence of climate change but still argue preserving jobs is more important than quickly ending the use of fossil fuels. (New York Times)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Ohio electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors expects to start limited production of its electric truck next month as it continues to seek long-term funding from investors. (Associated Press)
• The shift by Ford and the auto industry toward electric vehicles unsettles Kentucky’s automotive industry, which is home to four assembly plants and dozens of supplier manufacturers. (WDRB)
• Texas officials offer up grants and tax breaks to electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian as it considers building a factory near Fort Worth. (WFAA)
SOLAR: A New England solar developer’s litigious approach to challenging projects and policies that dampen the regional solar industry is harming the sector’s reputation, critics say. (Energy News Network)
OIL & GAS:
• The natural gas industry secretly paid California residents to advocate for deployment of natural gas vehicles rather than electric vehicles at a massive port in Los Angeles, according to a media investigation. (Los Angeles Times)
• “The COVID pandemic kind of put the industry to sleep, and it’s struggling somewhat to wake up,” a North Dakota official says as statewide oil production has plateaued in recent months. (Bismarck Tribune)
BUILDINGS: Decarbonization advocates and build efficiency experts envision what “climate-adapted homes of the future” will look like. (Guardian)
CLIMATE:
• U.S. scientists confirm July was the Earth’s hottest month in recorded history. (Guardian)
• The Dixie Fire in northern California surpasses this summer’s Bootleg Fire as the nation’s largest on record and a fast-moving fire in eastern Utah forces thousands to evacuate. (New York Times)
UTILITIES:
• California prosecutors won’t pursue charges against Southern California Edison for its role in the 2018 Woolsey Fire even though an investigation found that the utility’s equipment ignited the blaze that killed three people. (Los Angeles Times)
• Incoming Xcel Energy CEO Bob Frenzel has worked in the power sector for most of his career and says the company is “going to lead in the clean-energy transition.” (Star Tribune)
HYDROGEN: An analysis from a climate research group suggests zero-carbon hydrogen could reach cost parity with fossil fuel-produced hydrogen over the next decade. (Axios)
FINANCE: New York’s state public pension fund — one of the largest in the U.S. — divests from some coal investments and plans to review hundreds of millions of dollars worth of investments in 42 shale oil and gas companies. (Reuters)
CONSERVATION: Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune will resign at the end of the year after an 11-year term spent leading an expansion of the group’s mission to include social justice and labor rights. (Politico)