TRANSPORTATION: California regulators today are expected to set a 2035 deadline for all new cars, trucks and SUVs sold in the state to be powered by electricity or hydrogen. (Associated Press)
ALSO:
• Boston Mayor Michelle Wu explains her support for free public transportation on a national podcast. (Boston.com)
• Taxi drivers push back on a New York City congestion pricing plan, as public hearings on the proposal begin today. (The City, NJ Spotlight)
Sponsored Link
Fresh Energy is hiring
Fresh Energy, a Minnesota-based clean energy nonprofit, is hiring a Managing Director of Industry to join the Energy Transition team. This role will shape and drive Fresh Energy’s work reducing carbon emissions and spurring an equitable energy transition across Minnesota’s industry and agriculture sectors.
COAL ASH:
• Environmental groups sue the U.S. EPA to close a major loophole that has left tons of coal ash unregulated at almost 300 sites on the Great Lakes and coast to coast. (Energy News Network/Chicago Investigative Project)
• A former coal plant in western New York owned by a cryptocurrency operation still has 2 million tons of toxic ash on site, and neighbors want answers about how it will be cleaned up. (Energy News Network)
CITIES:
• Kansas City officials advance a sweeping climate action plan that aims for carbon neutrality by 2040 and that has drawn opposition from the region’s large electric and gas utilities. (Kansas City Star)
• San Diego’s new climate plan commits the city to creating 700 acres of marshland to suck carbon dioxide from the air and buffer against sea level rise. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
OIL & GAS:
• Texas bans 10 banks and 348 investment funds from doing business with the state under a 2021 law because its comptroller says that they don’t support the oil and gas industry. (Texas Tribune, S&P Global)
• A Republican congresswoman from New Mexico fights a proposal to protect the lesser prairie chicken, saying it would stymie Permian Basin oil and gas production. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• Pennsylvania faces numerous obstacles in its effort to plug thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells, despite a recent infusion of federal funds. (Bay Journal)
PIPELINES: Federal regulators’ four-year extension for the Mountain Valley Pipeline to complete construction sparks outrage from Appalachian and Indigenous activists and residents who have been fighting it for eight years. (Roanoke Times, Washington Post)
GRID:
• Electrification is poised to turn school buses into revenue-generating grid assets, providing backup power during times of peak demand. (TechCrunch)
• Increasing wait times to connect renewable energy projects to the grid is costing developers money and slowing the clean energy transition. (Utility Dive)
AGRIVOLTAICS: A California project covering irrigation canals with solar panels aimed at generating power while reducing evaporation is set to launch in October. (Reuters)
POLITICS:
• The Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act is expected to send billions of dollars to red states and districts, but political observers don’t predict the spending influx will change many minds in the Republican Party. (E&E News)
• Sen. Joe Manchin’s biggest donor — a Houston pipeline company that also employs his son-in-law — says carbon capture incentives that the West Virginia senator negotiated into the Inflation Reduction Act could be a “game changer” for its business. (The Lever)
CLIMATE:
• Economists underestimated the impact of climate change, forcing them to reevaluate their models, assumptions and proposed solutions. (New York Times)
• A lack of tree cover and other factors in urban neighborhoods can cause temperatures that are 15 to 20 degrees hotter in some areas. (CBS News)
BUILDINGS: A nonpartisan research group’s report warns that U.S. building sector emissions are rising and threaten 2050 net-zero aspirations. (Utility Dive)
OHIO: State regulators will defer to federal authorities and pause their investigations into the FirstEnergy bribery scandal for at least six months to avoid interfering with a DOJ investigation. (Ohio Capital Journal)
COMMENTARY: Utilities and fossil fuel interests are exploiting Americans’ trust in local media by publishing deceptive, fake news sites used to push agendas and discredit political opponents, journalist Emily Atkin writes. (Heated)
More from the Energy News Network: Midwest | Southeast | Northeast | West