OIL & GAS: The American Petroleum Institute is considering a statement supporting a price on carbon “instead of mandates or prescriptive regulatory action” to fight climate change. (Wall Street Journal)

ALSO: The natural gas industry reveals its playbook for subverting local clean energy policy by pushing line-by-line revisions of proposed ordinances, activating customer opposition, and lobbying top state and local officials. (The Guardian/Floodlight)

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CLIMATE:
• Global carbon emissions are poised to rebound past pre-pandemic levels, dashing hopes that 2019 will mark peak emissions. (The Guardian)
• CitiGroup, which was the third-largest financier of fossil fuel companies last year, pledges to make its financing activities net-zero by 2050. (Bloomberg)
• Massachusetts climate and justice advocates endorse a bill that would impose a fee on carbon emissions from transportation and heating that would fund local climate projects. (Energy News Network)

EQUITY: The EPA’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council seeks to reassert itself after Trump administration efforts to stifle discussion of the topic. (E&E News, subscription)

TRANSITION: Two Senate Democrats introduce a bill to reinstate and expand up to $8 billion in tax credits for investment in clean energy technology, with half of that designated for coal communities. (E&E News, Charleston Gazette-Mail)

CLEAN ENERGY:
• “You can’t have green energy without mining”: President Biden’s land conservation pledges could conflict with the need for lithium and other materials for advanced energy technology. (Reuters)
• Another Biden pledge — to favor U.S. manufacturers — will pose a challenge with China dominating the market for solar. (E&E News)

SOLAR: Advocates want President Biden’s infrastructure plan to build rooftop and community solar panels to power up to 30 million homes, boosting grid reliability during power shortages and disasters. (The Intercept)

TRANSMISSION:
• A Washington-based clean energy solutions company backed by Bill Gates says transmission and renewables investments could help the U.S. achieve 70% carbon-free electricity and reduce emissions by 42% by 2030. (Bloomberg)
• Federal energy regulators should assert their authority to promote competition in transmission development after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a case involving a Minnesota law, a former regulator says. (E&E News, subscription) 

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Volvo announces it will only offer electric vehicles starting in 2030. (Associated Press)
• A dispute over electric-vehicle battery technology between two Korean companies goes to the White House after an international trade commission ruling threatens construction of a factory in Georgia. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• The drag-racing organization NHRA pledges to be “a leader, not a follower” as interest grows in racing electric vehicles. (news release)

UTILITIES:
• Texas’ top utilities regulator resigns after last month’s historic power outages. (ABC News/Associated Press)
• Two House Republicans call for emergency funding to help communities offset the cost of recent natural gas spikes. (E&E News, subscription)

COAL: Wyoming lawmakers introduce bills requiring more extensive analysis of costs and grid reliability before fossil-fuel power plants can be retired, with one bill sponsor incorrectly blaming recent Texas outages on the “radical Left” “cancelling fossil fuels.” (Casper Star-Tribune) 

BIOGAS: A Minneapolis company whose platform tracks renewable energy transactions records its first exchange using a new “renewable thermal certificate” standard it created for renewable natural gas. (Energy News Network)

COMMENTARY:
• An advocate says “it’s time to reconsider dated stereotypes” about rural communities and better incorporate them into climate solutions. (The Hill)
• An energy planer in Vermont says reliance on Canadian hydropower for clean energy exposes a “racist blind spot” due to the damage done to the Quebec environment and its Indigenous peoples. (VT Digger)
• Joe Manchin’s introduction of a bill intended to accelerate clean energy investment offers a bipartisan path forward for coal communities, writes a West Virginia teacher and former congressional fellow. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

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Ken Paulman

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.