EMISSIONS: U.S. greenhouse gas emissions jumped 6.2% in 2021 compared to the year before, with rising coal-fired electricity generation and rebounding truck traffic playing a big role in the increase. (Washington Post, New York Times)

EFFICIENCY:
• The Biden administration faces bureaucratic delays as it looks to reverse the Trump administration’s dismantling of energy efficiency rules. (Washington Post)
• New Hampshire’s utility regulator says it won’t reconsider its unpopular decision to gut funding for the state’s energy efficiency programs. (WMUR)

TRANSPORTATION:
• The U.S. Postal Service estimates it will need $3.3 billion to convert its thousands of gasoline trucks to electric vehicles. (E&E News)
• A California agricultural town transitions from a “transportation desert” to one of the nation’s greenest farmworker communities by adopting an electric vehicle rideshare program that could serve as a model for the Biden administration’s green transportation push. (Los Angeles Times)
• Ford is working with Purdue University researchers on a patent-pending plan to cut the average time it takes to recharge all-electric vehicles from about 25 minutes to 5 minutes. (Detroit Free Press, subscription)
• New England transportation officials say the biggest hurdle to electrifying public bus fleets is upgrading garages and their electrical systems. (RTO Insider, subscription)

NUCLEAR: Some analysts see expanding nuclear energy as increasingly necessary to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals, especially via the U.S.-piloted effort to build small modular reactors. (Bloomberg) 

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: The Biden administration’s top environmental justice official Cecilia Martinez leaves her position. (Grist)

OIL & GAS:
• Critics pan President Joe Biden’s ambiguous approach to fossil fuels as he holds a large auction for new oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico while blocking oil and gas development elsewhere. (Sierra)
• Fewer than half of the oil and gas drillers in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions plan to curb carbon dioxide and methane emissions this year, and even fewer plan to cut back on flaring of excess gas, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. (Bloomberg)

UTILITIES:
• Seven major utilities join a Biden administration effort and vow not to shut off service to customers seeking financial assistance. (Newsweek)
• Connecticut’s utility regulator finds many phishing attempts against utility vendors and partners, which are a “significant risk” to utilities, were successful because of a lack of multi-factor authentication. (CT Insider)

BIOGAS: Riverkeeper organizations across North Carolina are flying privately chartered planes over a growing number of industrial-scale hog and poultry operations to document waste leaking into watersheds. (Inside Climate News)

COMMENTARY: In 2022, policy experts predict Americans will purchase close to 2 million electric vehicles, federal policy and spending will spur clean energy adoption and grid expansions, and that coal will again decline. (Forbes)

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Kathryn Krawczyk

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.