ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: In an agency-wide email, EPA head Michael Regan highlights how Indigenous people and communities of color face “disproportionately high pollution levels” and directs employees to use their “full array of policy and legal tools” to address that injustice. (The Hill; E&E News, subscription)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• The White House’s infrastructure bill proposes $100 billion in new EV consumer rebates and $15 billion for building 500,000 new charging stations, as part of $571 billion earmarked for transportation spending. (Reuters, Bloomberg)
• Industry experts warn no matter how much money the Biden administration directs toward EVs, widespread adoption and investments needed to start “yesterday” to effectively combat climate change. (E&E News, subscription)
• Few states and utilities are ensuring that low-income customers and communities of color will benefit under electric vehicle transition plans, according to a clean energy group’s new report. (Utility Dive)
• General Motors is testing new technologies and manufacturing processes aimed at reducing the cost of electric vehicle batteries and dependence on price-sensitive metals. (Reuters)
***SPONSORED LINK: 2021 IPF Registration is now open! This year, IPF will be both in-person and virtual. IPF Together will be held August 24-26 in Richmond, VA (space is limited due to COVID guidelines). IPF Virtual will be taking place April 22, May 13, and June 17. Learn more and register today!***
FOSSIL FUELS:
• Eliminating fossil fuel subsidies is among the Treasury Department’s proposals for paying for the White House’s infrastructure bill, with a department estimate suggesting it could bring in more than $35 billion over the next decade. (Reuters)
• Four family-owned businesses with roots in southwestern Virginia’s coal economy turn toward storage and renewable energy with state grant funding. (Energy News Network)
EMISSIONS:
• Carbon and methane emissions shot up in 2020 despite COVID-19 shutdowns, an NOAA report shows, with methane’s increase accounting for the highest one-year surge on record. (The Hill)
• Four Pacific Northwest port agencies unveil a voluntary joint plan to phase out emissions by 2050 through investments in new fuels, equipment and port infrastructure. (Puget Sound Business Journal)
JOBS:
• Energy industry careers pay a higher median wage than the national median and are more likely to provide health care and retirement benefits than other jobs, a new study shows. (Axios)
• A new online tool explores careers in building energy efficiency, including skilled jobs that don’t require a college degree, to help boost interest in the field. (Utility Dive)
PIPELINES:
• New Jersey gets a boost from 19 states in its Supreme Court fight against PennEast’s attempts to seize land for a natural gas line into Pennsylvania. (E&E News, subscription)
• Massachusetts politicians and activists call for the closure of the Weymouth gas compressor station after its third unplanned natural gas release in under a year. (Boston Globe)
• Michigan’s governor and attorney general argue that a case involving a shutdown notice for Line 5 should be in state, not federal, court. (Michigan Advance)
UTILITIES: Duke Energy’s fossil fuel holdings and slow tilt toward renewables make it a target for activists and more than 20 local governments in North Carolina that have made zero-carbon-footprint pledges. (New Republic)
SOLAR:
• Residential solar customers in most of the U.S. are “grossly undercompensated” for the excess power they send back to the grid, according to a new study from Michigan researchers. (E&E News, subscription)
• The Navajo Nation moves forward with plans for two more large solar plants that are expected to generate missions in revenue for the tribe. (Associated Press)
***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.***
WIND: An offshore wind developer reaches a deal with a Maine labor union to hire hundreds of skilled workers for construction jobs, though tensions remain with the state’s fishing industry. (Portland Press Herald)
COMMENTARY:
• The CEO of a social development-focused philanthropy calls on business leaders to go beyond basic climate pledges and ensure their goals “have a strong and enduring ground wire into communities of color.” (Fast Company)
• The U.S. “cannot dig out of the climate hole” just by improving buildings’ efficiency, and instead needs to “shift our buildings to all-electric, powered by an increasingly clean grid,” an electrification policy expert writes. (Utility Dive)