TRANSITION: Solar and wind workers make about $12,000 less per year those in the coal or natural gas industry, data shows — a major hangup in President Biden’s promise to create good-paying jobs with a clean energy transition. (Politico)
ALSO: White House climate advisor Gina McCarthy says federal climate action needs to “make sure that there’s no worker and no community left behind” — particularly in coal- and gas-producing parts of Appalachia. (Ohio Valley ReSource)
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OVERSIGHT:
• A federal court tosses out a Trump administration rule that barred the EPA from placing emissions limits on several polluting industries. (The Hill)
• An appeals court halts a lawsuit trying to overturn another Trump administration rule that reduced automakers’ fuel economy standards. (The Hill)
OIL & GAS:
• Investigations find Texas and New Mexico regulators rarely inspected oil and gas wells in the Permian Basin, spurring the growth of the natural gas industry, while both states also face the prospect of spending $335 million to plug and reclaim 7,000 abandoned wells. (Grist/Texas Observer)
• Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm says fossil fuels have a future in Pennsylvania, noting carbon capture and management technology research being conducted by her agency. (CBS Pittsburgh)
• Wall Street firms that invested in natural gas plants made millions in profits from February’s storm, partly because they took steps to manage risk and remain operational during severe weather. (Wall Street Journal)
• The U.S. added 13 new oil rigs in the last week of March, the largest one-week increase since January 2020. (Reuters)
• Royal Dutch Shell invests in a sustainable fuel company building an “alcohol-to-jet” facility in Georgia, the latest in a string of deals to gird the oil company for the clean energy transition. (Bloomberg)
EMISSIONS: The Nature Conservancy says it’s examining its sales of potentially “meaningless” carbon credits to big-name clients, who used them to claim they were reducing emissions. (Bloomberg)
BUILDINGS:
• Consumer advocates say property assessed clean energy financing, offered for residential buildings in three states, can become predatory loans for low-income homeowners. (Bloomberg)
• Replacing fossil fuel power with electricity in a majority of U.S. buildings by 2050 could reduce emissions by the equivalent of taking a quarter of the country’s cars off the road, a study suggests. (news release)
• A planned $3.6 billion redevelopment planned along Chicago’s Near South Side lakeshore focuses on equity and sustainability with a mix of affordable housing and a highly efficient pavilion. (Energy News Network)
RENEWABLES
• Tesla is on its fifth design iteration of its integrated solar roof, which is still in development five years after its introduction. (Canary Media)
• Producing hydrogen with nuclear power instead of natural gas could cut emissions and provide a lifeline for nuclear plants on the edge of retirement. (S&P Global)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Tesla delivered a record amount of new cars in 2021’s first quarter, while the whole EV sector sold 138% more cars this February than it did a year ago. (Axios)
COAL: A new analysis shows that more coal-fired power was retired under former President Trump than during President Obama’s second term, a sign of coal’s “structural decline” in the U.S, one expert says. (Gizmodo)
CLIMATE: With a major climate bill in Rhode Island expected to get final votes in both chambers today, attention shifts to Gov. Dan McKee, who has said he supports reducing emissions but worries about exposing the state to litigation. (WPRI)
***SPONSORED LINK: On April 9, join U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and climate leaders for a conversation about how Congress can pass a meaningful climate and infrastructure package that delivers good paying clean energy jobs, and provides the path to 100% clean electricity by 2035. Presented by Fresh Energy.***
MEDIA: The team behind Greentech Media, shuttered last month, launches its new publication today focused on the transition from fossil fuels. (E&E News, subscription)
COMMENTARY:
• Associates at an environmental think tank argue the federal government needs to play a “leadership role” while “scoping, funding, and coordinating a just transition” to clean energy. (Utility Dive)
• A U.S. power macrogrid could interconnect regions with strong energy resources to areas with high demand, says an Iowa State University engineering researcher. (The Conversation)