ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The U.S. EPA will reportedly grant California a waiver to enforce tailpipe emissions rules that are stricter than the federal government’s, paving the way for six other states to follow its lead. (Washington Post)

ALSO:
• Advocates say more clarity is needed from the IRS on recent federal electric vehicle incentives so that overly complicated rules don’t deter automakers or their customers. (Utility Dive)
• The price of lithium has dropped nearly 20% since January, confounding analysts and allowing electric vehicle makers to drop their prices. (New York Times)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers say new power plants shouldn’t be needed to support mass electric vehicle charging if enough people charge at work during the day to take advantage of excess solar power. (WPRI)

CLIMATE: A new academic paper makes the case that fossil fuel giants can be held criminally accountable for “climate homicide” — deaths related to pollution and climate change’s effects. (E&E News)

OIL & GAS:
• Gas industry leaders look to once again sell natural gas as a “bridge fuel” between coal and renewables, forecasting a “golden age” for the fuel if they can convince consumers that it’s “clean.” (Inside Climate News)
• Records show oil and gas companies in New Mexico continued to vent and flare methane at least 39,000 times during the last year despite 2021 rules banning the practice except in emergencies. (Capital & Main)
• Massachusetts utilities’ plans to blend low-carbon hydrogen into distributed gas could be a model across gas-reliant New England, but observers debate the grid impact of “green hydrogen.” (E&E News)

CLEAN ENERGY:
• While land-rich states generate a lot of wind and solar power, some smaller areas like Rhode Island and Washington, D.C., still lead the way on power generated per square mile of land. (Inside Climate News)
• A Minnesota agency restructures a division to help implement the state’s new 100% clean energy law and also capitalize on federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. (Energy News Network)

WIND: As a spate of whale deaths in the Northeast is wrongly blamed on offshore wind development, Dominion Energy follows a safety checklist to build its 2.6 GW wind farm off Virginia’s coast without harming the sea creatures. (Energy News Network)

GRID:
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff is working “feverishly” on new rules governing transmission planning and generator interconnection, FERC Chair Willie Phillips says. (Utility Dive)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority and Duke Energy implemented historic rolling blackouts when natural gas and coal facilities froze during the Christmas cold snap, despite investing billions to shore up the grid after 2014’s polar vortex. (Floodlight/Guardian)

NUCLEAR: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signs legislation banning high-level nuclear waste storage without state consent, potentially blocking a proposed interim reactor fuel repository. (NM Political Report)

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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.