ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: The White House releases draft guidance detailing how federal programs and agencies will work to ensure 40% of energy and environmental spending benefits disadvantaged communities. (E&E News)
ALSO: Mounting voting rights restrictions in several states disproportionately target communities of color and could jeopardize their abilities to fight environmental injustice and boost clean energy-focused candidates and policies. (Politico)
PIPELINES:
• The TSA issues new rules directing pipeline operators to boost their cybercrime defenses, while the U.S. House also passes five bipartisan measures focused on cybersecurity. (Washington Post, The Hill)
• An ongoing fight over how air pollutants affect low-income and Black residents near a proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline compressor station could influence how pipeline emissions are measured in Virginia and beyond. (E&E News)
• Native American organizers from North Carolina travel to Washington, D.C., to lobby against the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate extension and other projects that threaten sacred lands and burial grounds. (WXII)
CLIMATE:
• Congressional Democrats map their plans to launch a Civilian Climate Corps, which would create clean energy and climate jobs with living wages and prioritize hiring of residents from environmental justice communities. (The Hill)
• Federal and state officials say the drought gripping the Western U.S. is worse than the Dust Bowl and is not going away. (E&E News)
• A California wildfire that may have been sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment has burned through 61,000 acres and is only 15% contained. (Los Angeles Times)
GRID:
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Richard Glick predicts allocating costs among regional transmission organizations will be a major hurdle as the Biden administration looks to inteconnect the U.S. grid. (Utility Dive)
• Environmentalists and Indigenous activists oppose a plan to run a transmission line under the Columbia River to carry clean power from Eastern Oregon to Portland and beyond. (Investigate West)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A study finds electric vehicles are better for the environment than gas cars in the global regions where most EVs are used, including the U.S., despite the dominance of fossil fuel power in some places. (E&E News)
• Millions of dollars were available in Connecticut for electric vehicle rebates last year, but relatively few residents took advantage of them — and this year looks no better so far. (Connecticut Public Radio)
CARBON CAPTURE: Environmental groups raise concerns that building out a network of pipelines to move carbon emissions to storage sites would extend the life of fossil fuel plants in the Upper Midwest. (Energy News Network)
OIL & GAS:
• Oil and gas trade associations representing the Permian Basin fret over President Joe Biden’s energy plans and potentially higher taxes on fossil fuels to pay for a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package. (Carlsbad Current Argus)
• As of early July, at least 19 states have policies prohibiting bans on new natural gas connections as reports continue to show a need for building electrification to meet climate targets. (S&P Global)
• A new Minnesota law encourages natural gas utilities to file “innovation plans” to decarbonize their operations, which could include expanding renewable natural gas and energy efficiency. (Energy News Network)
BIOFUELS:
• A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduce a bill that would eliminate the national mandate implementing ethanol blend standards for oil refiners. (Reuters)
• The Biden administration has reportedly delayed the annual process to determine how much biofuel oil refiners need to blend in their fuel each year. (Reuters)