OIL & GAS:
• Already trying to manage rising gasoline prices, the Biden administration now faces surging natural gas prices that are raising costs for everything from heating and cooking to chemicals and electricity. (Politico)
• An analysis finds planned Permian Basin drilling projects could emit more than 44 billion metric tons of carbon during their lifetime. (Guardian)
GRID:
• Power prices in PJM Interconnection and ISO New England surged in the first quarter, driven in part, experts say, by rising natural gas prices from increased LNG exports. (Utility Dive)
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom asks lawmakers for $5 billion to fortify the grid with new power generation and storage capacity and an additional $1.2 billion to help residents pay utility bills. (Sacramento Bee)
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CLIMATE:
• A nonprofit group releases a first-of-its-kind mapping tool to show renters and homebuyers where real estate is most at risk for wildfires. (NPR)
• The war in Ukraine is delaying billions of dollars in climate funding the U.S. had pledged to help low-lying and less wealthy nations. (NPR)
• Half a year after the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, no countries have followed through on promises to improve their climate plans. (New Scientist)
• New research shows “flash droughts” that materialize quickly and with little warning are a new and growing threat to Midwest farmers. (Grist)
SOLAR:
• Advocates say Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s recent veto of a utility-backed anti-net-metering bill provides a playbook for advancing solar power in conservative states. (Energy News Network)
• Solar developers are in a conflict with Georgia Power over who should pay for grid studies before new arrays are approved. (E&E News)
OVERSIGHT:
• In an interview, an East Coast regional director for the U.S. EPA discusses the role of environmental justice in her team and across the agency. (Canary Media)
• The newest member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission sees himself as a consensus-builder despite giving Democrats a majority. (E&E News)
PIPELINES:
• The owner of a pipeline that spilled thousands of barrels of oil off the southern California coast in 2015 agrees to pay fishermen and property owners $230 million to settle a class-action lawsuit. (Associated Press)
• Indigenous citizens from the U.S., Canada and Siberia gathered in Michigan last week to mark the one-year anniversary since Enbridge first ignored an order to shut off Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac. (Michigan Advance)
HYDROGEN: Ohio and Indiana are among dozens of states pursuing federal infrastructure funding to help land major hydrogen production investments. (WVXU)
TRANSPORTATION: Republican attorneys general from 17 states sue the Biden administration for reinstating California’s power to set stricter vehicle emissions standards than the national limit. (The Hill)
WEATHERIZATION: A Philadelphia family needing to make substantial repairs to their father’s home before he would be eligible for weatherization assistance exemplifies a nationwide issue. (NPR)
COMMENTARY:
• Monopoly utilities get the John Oliver treatment in a segment criticizing utility business practices and oversight. (Last Week Tonight/YouTube)
• A Georgetown Law professor discusses the links between climate change and inflation, which is being driven in part by fossil fuel costs. (Inside Climate News)
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