HYDROGEN:
• Major utilities are increasingly considering how hydrogen will fit into their future, with some exploring its potential for energy storage, electricity generation, and as a zero-carbon fuel. (Utility Dive)
• The head of a U.K. hydrogen and fuel cell association resigns, saying he can no longer advocate in good faith for “blue” hydrogen made using fossil fuel gas with carbon capture. (Business Green) 

OIL & GAS:
• A federal agency is undercounting the number of offshore worker deaths in the Gulf of Mexico due to inconsistent and missing data, as well as loopholes that allow some fatalities to go unreported. (Southerly/Drilled News/WWNO)
• A federal judge reverses the Trump administration’s approval of a major oil and gas drilling project in Alaska, saying the federal government failed to consider the Willow project’s environmental impacts. (Alaska Public Media)
• U.S. EPA Administrator Michael Regan today will visit an oil rig-studded Los Angeles suburb activists say is a “profound example of how a community is disproportionately impacted by pollution from fossil fuel.” (E&E News)
• Permian Basin gas producers frequently burn off excess gas, known as flaring, without required Texas state permits, according to a report from an environmental group. (Reuters)

PIPELINES: The Biden administration is under increasing pressure from Democrats to pull permits for the Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota. (HuffPost)

EMISSIONS:
• The Biden administration is considering jacking up penalties for car manufacturers that failed to comply with fuel economy standards for model years 2019 through 2021. (E&E News)
• Public schools across the U.S. are implementing HVAC improvements, installing solar panels and taking other steps to reduce their energy usage and emissions. (Guardian)

EFFICIENCY: The Energy Department is looking to reverse a Trump administration rule that was set to make it harder to regulate inefficient furnaces and water heaters off the market. (The Hill)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A pair of Ford engineers powered a friend’s wedding reception with their hybrid F-150 last week after the electricity went out in the middle of the party, giving a viral marketing boost to the truck’s capabilities as a power source. (Detroit Free Press)
• Battery breakthroughs have allowed startups to begin rolling out electrified heavy machinery, including farm equipment. (Bloomberg)
• New York City sanitation workers rave about the driveability and quietness of their electric garbage trucks, but the department needs the manufacturer to find how they can “pull double-duty” to plow snow. (Popular Science)

COAL: After failing to attract investors, the developers of a proposed carbon capture project at a soon-to-retire New Mexico coal-fired power plant lobbied for more federal and state subsidies, according to internal documents obtained by environmental groups. (Energy & Policy Institute)

COMMENTARY:
• U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders calls Democrats’ $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill an “unprecedented” step toward addressing climate change that advances “economic, racial, social and environmental justice.” (Guardian)
• Congress has a chance to fix the “valley of death” keeping climate-focused technologies from reaching mass production by establishing a national industrial finance bank, a climate reporter writes. (Atlantic)

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn brings her extensive editorial background to the Energy News Network team, where she oversees the early-morning production of ENN’s five email digest newsletters as well as distribution of ENN’s original journalism with other media outlets. From documenting chronic illness’ effect on college students to following the inner workings of Congress, Kathryn has built a broad experience in her more than five years working at major publications including The Week Magazine. Kathryn holds a Bachelor of Science in magazine journalism and information management and technology from Syracuse University.