OIL & GAS: A journalist explains how fossil fuel advocates embed climate skepticism in K-12 education, from pushing oil and gas jobs in classrooms to developing children’s books starring fossil fuel-loving characters. (Slate)
ALSO: The U.S. will auction more than 80 million acres of oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico today, just days after joining global agreements to phase out fossil fuel production. (The Guardian)
SOLAR: A federal court strikes down tariffs on imports of double-sided solar panels that the Biden and Trump administrations supported but an industry trade group opposed. (E&E News)
POLITICS: A U.S. House panel hears from energy industry analysts and manufacturing trade group leaders about supply chain issues slowing the clean energy transition. (The Verge)
CARBON CAPTURE: A company says it has delivered zero-emissions electricity from natural gas to the grid for the first time, though questions remain over how economical the new technology is. (E&E News)
GRID:
• Federal regulators release a final report on last February’s winter storm that recommends electric grids strengthen winterization rules and better coordinate with the natural gas industry to prevent future blackouts. (KTRK, Reuters)
• An American Electric Power official joins other utility executives in encouraging grid planners to identify “renewable energy zones” and plan transmission lines to reach those areas and help meet future needs. (Utility Dive)
• A California startup says its conductors can increase existing transmission capacity by as much as 250%, precluding the need to build new lines to carry growing amounts of renewable power. (Canary Media)
OVERSIGHT: The U.S. Senate confirms President Biden’s nominee Willie Phillips Jr. to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (The Hill)
NUCLEAR: TerraPower, founded by Bill Gates, announces it will site its experimental nuclear reactor at a Wyoming coal plant scheduled to close in 2025. (Seattle Times/Inside Climate News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• President Biden’s visit today to a new electric vehicle factory in Detroit will spotlight federal spending proposals to help transition older Midwestern auto factories and the communities that depend on them. (Reuters)
• Electric vehicle maker Canoo announces it will build its company headquarters, an R&D center and a production facility for small package delivery vehicles in northwestern Arkansas. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
• A new poll finds a majority of Massachusetts voters say they’re likely to buy an electric vehicle in the next five years, suggesting the state can accelerate its plans to phase out gas-powered vehicles. (Energy News Network)
EMISSIONS:
• The White House asks the U.S. Senate to ratify a global treaty amendment aimed at cutting the use of super-polluting hydrofluorocarbons after the Trump administration weakened rules limiting their use. (Washington Post)
• More than 300 members of the global tourism industry pledge to cut their carbon emissions in half by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. (New York Times)
COAL: An 80 MW power plant in West Virginia that buys waste coal from Sen. Joe Manchin’s company fights to stay open with a new plan to sell power for cryptocurrency mining and coal ash for concrete. (E&E News)