OIL & GAS: President Biden cancels all seven remaining oil and gas drilling leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, saying the action is necessary to “meet the urgency of the climate crisis.” (Associated Press)
ALSO: A federal court rejects environmentalists’ attempt to block a liquified natural gas terminal and pipeline in Louisiana. (Associated Press)
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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• As electric vehicles drive up electricity consumption, utilities begin working with automakers to plan grid upgrades, renewable purchases and other grid management strategies. (Utility Dive)
• The Southeast lags the rest of the country in electric vehicle sales and charging station deployment, despite attracting a disproportionate share of electric vehicle manufacturing investments, a clean energy group’s report concludes. (news release)
• As “EVs have gone mainstream,” California will end its 13-year-old electric vehicle rebate program this year and focus on expanding subsidies for lower-income buyers. (CalMatters)
CLIMATE:
• Private equity firms are increasingly profiting from cleanup after climate change-fueled extreme weather, while they continue to invest in fossil fuels that worsen global warming. (Guardian)
• U.S. farmers received a record $19 billion in insurance payments last year, suggesting climate change-driven extreme weather could soon make the cost of insuring the agricultural industry unsustainable. (Inside Climate News)
EMISSIONS:
• Democrats call on the Biden administration to set emissions restrictions for heavy-duty vehicles that go beyond the U.S. EPA’s proposed rules. (The Hill)
• The U.S. EPA fights to preserve its “good neighbor” smog rule as states and business interests fight the regulation that holds states accountable for air pollution that drifts into other states. (E&E News)
OFFSHORE WIND: Ørsted reports supply chain and inflation issues may force it to cancel some projects, but plans to build Ocean Wind 1 are still on the table despite construction delays. (KYW)
RENEWABLES: Decommissioning regulations will become increasingly important to avoid blight as more renewable projects come online, experts say. (Bloomberg Law)
PIPELINES: South Dakota regulators reject Navigator CO2’s carbon pipeline permit, saying the developer failed to adequately disclose safety risks or provide timely notifications to landowners. (South Dakota Searchlight)
COAL: The closure of Shenango Coke Works near Pittsburgh led to significant health benefits, leaving activists to wonder how residents would benefit if the nearby Clairton Coke Works shuttered. (NEXT Pittsburgh)
GRID: The U.S. Energy Department announces $125 million for grid modernization projects in states and tribal nations. (Utility Dive)
UTILITIES: In its pursuit of a North Carolina rate hike, Duke Energy strikes a side deal with clean energy advocates to give a $42 monthly discount to tens of thousands of lower-income ratepayers while funding efficiency investments with shareholder dollars. (Energy News Network)
OVERSIGHT: Sen. Joe Manchin reportedly asks the Biden administration to nominate a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staffer to fill a vacancy on the panel. (E&E News)
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