POLICY: The new climate law explicitly authorizes the U.S. EPA to regulate greenhouse gases and push for clean energy adoption, countering the recent Supreme Court ruling that stripped the EPA’s power plant oversight because Congress had never approved it. (New York Times)
ALSO:
• The Inflation Reduction Act’s carbon capture and storage incentives draw criticism from climate and environmental justice groups who say the technology prolongs the life of fossil fuel infrastructure. (Grist)
• Three recently passed federal spending packages will direct a combined $500 billion to climate technology and clean energy development over the next decade, an analysis finds. (Reuters)
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WIND: Researchers develop a new kind of wind turbine blade that can be recycled into gummy bears and other sweets and sports drinks. (Guardian)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Experts warn the White House is going to have “a tough few years” coaxing Americans into electric vehicles, saying incentives aren’t big enough and public chargers aren’t widespread enough to encourage rapid growth. (Washington Post)
• Michigan launches a public-private partnership to deploy electric vehicle chargers in metro Detroit to ensure charging equipment is “more accessible and equitable for all.” (Detroit News)
• Analysts say a California rule allowing utilities to offer electric vehicle-specific electricity rates will save customers money and stabilize the grid by incentivizing off-peak charging. (Canary Media)
GRID: A booming northern Virginia county tries to cut greenhouse gas emissions while grabbing a piece of the region’s booming but energy-intensive data center industry, which Dominion Energy is accommodating with a grid buildout while activists push to preserve green space. (Energy News Network)
POLITICS:
• U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin warns House Democrats not to vote down legislation to streamline permitting for projects such as the Mountain Valley Pipeline, claiming doing so would slow renewables as well. (Washington Times)
• A proposed constitutional amendment in Pennsylvania would allow lawmakers to roll back climate mitigation policies without facing a potential veto from the governor, environmental advocates warn. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
COAL: The top 10 carbon emitting-power plants in the U.S. accounted for 9% of power-sector emissions last year, representing large outliers in a power system that is shifting to natural gas and renewables. (E&E News)
OIL & GAS:
• Environmental and public health groups call on the U.S. EPA to regulate consumer appliances that burn natural gas and oil in homes and other buildings. (Grist)
• Oregon, California and Washington state file a motion to block the proposed expansion of a natural gas pipeline that would run from Canada to California, saying it would violate state climate laws and increase greenhouse gas emissions. (Spokesman-Review)
HYDROGEN: Utilities, power plant owners and hydrogen fuel cell companies in New York wait to see whether the state’s power production emissions standards will boost their plans to produce green hydrogen. (Times Union)
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