POLITICS: “We’re truly in an idea generation phase”: Senate Democrats outline potential emissions reduction policies as Sen. Joe Manchin continues to block both the Clean Electricity Performance Program and a carbon tax. (E&E News)

ALSO:
• Sen. Manchin reportedly has a plan to leave the Democratic party if he does not get his way on climate policy and other Biden proposals. (Mother Jones)
• A West Virginia labor leader says “I think the whole state is disappointed in Joe Manchin” for holding up infrastructure funds that would benefit the state. (Sierra Magazine)
• While Manchin has been transparent about his views on climate policy, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema continues to be opaque on what she will and won’t support. (E&E News)

CLIMATE:
• Analysts model whether the U.S. can still meet its emissions pledges without the reconciliation bill’s clean electricity program. (Canary Media)
• It is unclear whether the U.S. will be able to produce a plan to halve emissions by 2030 at global climate talks next month, as President Biden warns “the prestige of the United States is on the line.” (E&E News, CNN)
• The U.S. is holding up a 2009 pledge by wealthy nations to provide $100 billion a year to developing countries to fight climate change. (E&E News)
• A UN report warns that current global plans for fossil fuel production need to be cut in half if the world is to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. (New York Times)
• A top medical journal warns that “humanity faces a crucial turning point” on climate change, which is becoming the “defining narrative of human health.” (Washington Post)
• Youth climate activists hold a hunger strike in front of the White House. (The Guardian)

COAL: The Energy Information Administration projects U.S. coal consumption will increase this year for the first time since 2014, but expects coal to decline again next year. (CBS News)

GRID: Minnesota utilities are pursuing renewable energy projects near former fossil fuel plants where they can more easily connect to the transmission system and avoid long interconnection delays. (Energy News Network)

SOLAR: New Jersey regulators look to hasten the solar interconnection process to meet the state’s clean electricity goal, a plan that would likely require grid upgrades. (NJ Spotlight)

WIND: The American Bird Conservancy has become an increasingly active opponent of wind farms, at times aligning with fossil fuel interests that pose a bigger threat to wildlife. (Grist)

OVERSIGHT:
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission nominee Willie Phillips Jr. pledges a balanced approach to reliability and sustainability if he serves on the commission. (Utility Dive)
• A group formed by Texas lawmakers to address energy reliability after widespread outages in February includes all four of the oil and gas industry’s top choices who were included in a list of names the industry provided to regulators, emails show. (Texas Tribune)

OIL & GAS:
• North Dakota can continue to seek reimbursement from the federal government for millions of dollars spent policing Dakota Access pipeline protests, a federal judge rules. (Associated Press)
• The Biden administration won’t appeal a court’s rejection of approvals for a drilling project in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve; the administration initially defended the project. (Alaska Public Media)

COMMENTARY:
• A Rhode Island regulator says “there’s a lot of room for error” in developing policies to encourage electrification. (Utility Dive)
• Ohio’s regulatory body needed reforms for years as it “repeatedly rubber stamped questionable rate hikes” for FirstEnergy, long before the utility’s involvement in a scandal to bail out its uneconomic power plants, an editorial board writes. (Toledo Blade) 

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.