TRANSITIONS:
• Oil companies are now saying the future is in natural gas, their other main product and a fuel they’re promoting as the logical successor to coal. (Bloomberg)
• The automobile industry appears to be in the throes of a transformation of the type that felled corporate behemoths like Kodak, Nokia and Sears. (Quartz)
• Tesla co-founder Ian Wright wants to electrify noisy, gas-guzzling trucks that deliver packages, haul garbage and make frequent stops on city streets. (Associated Press)
EMISSIONS: The EPA is expected to announce new rules to cut emissions from airplanes as early as Friday. (The New York Times)
INFRASTRUCTURE: House Republicans are largely in agreement with the Obama administration on the need to improve pipelines, electric transmission lines, energy storage and more. (The Hill)
METHANE: A presenter at the World Gas Conference on Tuesday highlighted how methane leaks may undermine natural gas as a climate-friendly alternative to oil. (Bloomberg)
CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• Appalachian Power ceased operations Monday at three coal-fired power plants in West Virginia and two in Virginia to comply with EPA emissions standards. (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)
• States complying with EPA’s Clean Power Plan run the risk of ceding jurisdiction over energy policy decisions to the federal government, according to a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (EnergyWire)
ENFORCEMENT:
• A federal court has sided with the EPA, saying that the federal agency has wide latitude when enforcing limits on ground-level ozone pollution. (The Hill)
• The EPA’s National Fuel and Vehicle Emissions Laboratory—a big player in early Clean Air Act crackdowns on tailpipe pollution—is getting a makeover for enforcement of President Obama’s climate action plan. (Greenwire)
JOBS:
• The oil bust is sweeping away another 200 jobs in Texas, this time striking the manufacturing and trucking firms that support the battered oil field services sector. (FuelFix)
• Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. says it’s cutting 1,400 jobs in the coming year as the helicopter manufacturer faces declining demand for shuttling workers to offshore oil platforms. (Associated Press)
ETHANOL: U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack pushed back Tuesday against complaints that the Obama administration has weakened its commitment to ethanol as an alternative fuel. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
SUBSIDIES: Elon Musk has built a multibillion-dollar fortune running companies that make electric cars, sell solar panels and launch rockets into space, with at least $4.9 billion in government support. (Los Angeles Times)
PIPELINES: President Obama’s nomination of Marie Therese Dominguez to lead the federal agency that oversees pipelines was greeted with surprise and uncertainty by pipeline safety experts. (InsideClimate News)
CARBON TAX: Ben & Jerry’s announced that it will institute an internal carbon tax of $10 for every metric ton of its greenhouse gas emissions, from farm to landfill. (Sustainable Brands)