INFRASTRUCTURE: The infrastructure package includes $8 billion to build four “regional clean hydrogen hubs” throughout the U.S., with one powered by renewables, one by nuclear, and one by fossil fuels. (Bloomberg)
ALSO:
• The U.S. Senate is weighing amendments to its bipartisan infrastructure bill, starting by rejecting a measure that would’ve barred funding for building code updates that phased out natural gas. (E&E News)
• Financially struggling U.S. nuclear power plants would get a $6 billion lifeline under the proposed bipartisan infrastructure bill. (Bloomberg)
• The proposed federal infrastructure bill includes $14.6 billion to benefit carbon capture projects and carbon dioxide pipelines in North Dakota’s Bakken region. (Williston Herald)
CLIMATE:
• EPA head Michael Regan names 47 new members to the Scientific Advisory Board he disbanded in March to expel its Trump appointees. (The Hill)
• Hundreds of federal climate and environmental jobs remain unfilled after a mass exodus during the Trump administration, hampering President Biden’s climate efforts. (New York Times)
SOLAR:
• Solar manufacturers Auxin Solar and Suniva ask the Biden administration to extend tariffs on solar materials imported from China, pitting them against project developers who often opt for China’s lower-cost products. (Canary Media)
• A new Illinois law expands protections for homeowners to install solar while facing opposition from homeowners associations. (Energy News Network)
OIL & GAS:
• The Biden administration says it will review the potential climate impacts of several Trump- and Obama-era oil and gas leases on public lands in the Western U.S. (E&E News, subscription)
• Oklahoma natural gas companies bank on the idea that consumers who want cleaner alternative energy sources will buy not just renewables but “responsibly-sourced” natural gas. (The Oklahoman)
TRANSPORTATION: Logistics provider DHL orders 12 electric cargo planes from Seattle-based Eviation, becoming the company’s first customer. (Axios)
UTILITIES:
• A tree falling on a Pacific Gas & Electric power line may have sparked the Fly Fire in northern California, which later merged with the massive Dixie Fire, also ignited by the utility’s equipment. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Activists block the entrance to a Massachusetts environmental agency in protest of Eversource Energy’s proposed electrical substation in an environmental justice community, urging officials to deny the utility’s permit. (Boston Globe)
RENEWABLES:
• Massachusetts Clean Energy Center grants $1.6 million to eight offshore wind workforce training programs aimed at helping people of color and low-income people enter the industry. (Energy News Network)
• Nearly 58% of Iowa’s electricity came from renewable sources last year, more than any other state, according to an industry report. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
COAL: Eastern Tennessee officials and environmental groups react to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plans to retire two coal-fired plants, one of which was the site of a massive coal ash spill and the other of which has been linked to nearby contamination. (Oak Ridger)