OVERSIGHT: The U.S. EPA’s longstanding budget shortfalls have complicated President Biden’s promise to boost the agency’s regulatory power, as Congress has yet to pass the funding increases Biden has asked for. (Washington Post)
ALSO: The U.S. Security and Exchange Commission proposes a new rule to combat investment funds misleadingly labeled as environmentally conscious. (The Hill)
Sponsored Link
“My grandma had purple hair and big SUVs. I’m trying to convert her to electric vehicles. Maybe a purple one?” Read more and connect in person with Ashley Horvat, Schneider Electric’s VP of eMobility, at EPRI’s Electrification 2022, June 28-30.
CLEAN ENERGY:
• Wind and solar accounted for 100% of new capacity brought online across the U.S. in March, an analysis finds. (news release)
• A Biden administration proposal to open 30 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for offshore wind development comes as the oil and gas industry eyes carbon emission reductions and alternative energy sources. (Politico)
• Two Democratic U.S. senators signal support for the Commerce Department’s solar panel imports probe, which faces opposition from other senators and many solar developers. (The Hill)
• North Carolina lawmakers consider five clean energy-related bills to lower utility costs, expand access to rooftop solar and energy efficiency, and boost electric vehicles. (Energy News Network)
STORAGE: An MIT report calls for more electro-chemical energy storage built with widely available and recycled materials to hold clean energy, as well as federal funding to back up storage deployment. (Utility Dive)
CLIMATE: U.S. environmental performance has fallen far behind other countries’ in a new report due to a lack of action under former President Trump, though most nations still aren’t on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. (New York Times)
MINING:
• A Republican commissioner on a federal mine safety agency reportedly consulted outside advisers, including a coal industry executive, on personnel matters, sparking an ethics investigation. (Politico)
• A mining executive says U.S. steel producers will play a major role in the transition to build electric vehicles. (S&P Global)
• An Australian mining company encounters opposition in North Carolina as it buys up land to develop a large lithium pit mine. (Financial Times)
HYDROGEN: Scientists warn hydrogen that leaks into the atmosphere can worsen climate change much like the carbon and methane fuels it replaces. (Bloomberg)
PIPELINES: The Biden administration plans new safety regulations for carbon pipelines after a 2020 incident in Mississippi became a rallying cry for opponents of multiple projects proposed through the Midwest. (E&E News)
NUCLEAR: Small nuclear reactors are seen as a low-cost alternative to larger plants, but still face waste disposal issues, a study finds. (Bloomberg)
ELECTRIFICATION: Los Angeles’ city council votes to ban most natural gas appliances in new construction and require new buildings to be emissions-free, but does not set a timeline for the rules to take effect. (Los Angeles Times)
GRID:
• The New England grid operator’s much-derided minimum offer price rule will stay in effect for two more years, federal officials decide. (WBUR)
• Nevada conservationists and the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe urge federal officials to reroute the proposed GreenlinkWest transmission line to avoid disturbing public land and cultural resources. (Associated Press)
More from the Energy News Network: Midwest | Southeast | Northeast | West