COAL ASH: The U.S. EPA says it is getting serious about enforcing federal coal ash rules, but massive challenges remain, including recalcitrant state regulators, environmental justice issues, and ballooning costs for ratepayers. (Energy News Network)
BUILDINGS:
• More than two dozen environmental and public health groups file a petition asking the U.S. EPA to use its authority to crack down on fossil fuel-burning appliances in homes and businesses. (Grist)
• Most New York City building owners should be able to meet 2024 emissions standards with relative ease, but achieving the 2030 target will require much more effort to avoid paying fines. (New York Times)
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OIL & GAS:
• Climate policy experts say the Inflation Reduction Act could cause U.S. fossil fuel demand to peak as soon as 2025, blunting the impact of compromise provisions in the law that support new oil and gas drilling. (E&E News)
• The U.S. Interior Department denies ignoring climate impacts when it approved more than 3,500 oil and gas drilling permits, calling a conservation group’s allegations “vague and ambiguous.” (Reuters)
CLEAN ENERGY:
• U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland plans to visit northern New Mexico this weekend to tout Inflation Reduction Act funding for clean energy and abandoned mine and oil and gas well cleanup. (Albuquerque Journal)
• A $27 billion national green bank created by the Inflation Reduction Act will bolster the lending capacity of state and local green banks. (Canary Media)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Software changes could allow electric car batteries to get a 90% charge in 10 minutes while protecting the battery’s long-term health. (New Scientist)
• Some drivers could receive discounts on electric Ford F-150 Lightning trucks as Duke Energy studies adapting their battery packs to support the grid in North Carolina and Florida. (Canary Media)
SOLAR:
• Solar-covered parking lots are a win for drivers and climate, but higher costs and incentive designs pose financial barriers for the concept. (CNET)
• Tesla home battery owners sent 16.5 MW of solar power to California’s grid last week during a virtual power plant pilot program’s first activation. (Utility Dive)
WIND: A Denver fossil fuel magnate proposes a 600-turbine wind farm in Wyoming with a 732-mile transmission line to carry the power to California’s strained grid, but the project faces environmental and landowner opposition. (Los Angeles Times)
CLIMATE:
• The U.S. has experienced five 1,000-year rain events in five weeks as the West suffers under devastating drought — an example of “feast or famine” precipitation trends more common because of climate change. (Washington Post)
• A new study says nearly every marine species could face extinction by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions are not curbed. (CBS News)
UTILITIES: Dozens of Detroit residents attend a first-of-its-kind public hearing on a DTE Energy rate case, hoping state regulators avoid “rubber stamping” another increase for the utility. (Energy News Network / Planet Detroit)
COMMENTARY:
• The Inflation Reduction Act is a big first step, but now comes the hard part of building out infrastructure and a workforce to support its ambitions, a Rice University engineering professor writes. (The Conversation)
• U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna tells Bill McKibben that a progressive mutiny could tank Sen. Joe Manchin’s reported side deal on fossil fuel permitting. (Crucial Years)
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