EMISSIONS: A U.S. EPA effort to crack down on “immortal” greenhouse gases saw early success but has since stalled and is in need of reviving, say former officials who oversaw the program. (Inside Climate News)
ALSO:
• The Biden administration plans to release a roadmap in December to help governments and the private sector reduce transportation emissions. (Utility Dive)
• Duke Energy substations leak more of a potent greenhouse gas than those of any other U.S. utility, and the company has declined to participate in a voluntary EPA program to reduce those emissions. (Inside Climate News)
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PUERTO RICO:
• Hurricane Fiona’s devastation in Puerto Rico highlights inequities in the distribution of disaster relief after climate-exacerbated extreme weather, as a lack of federal funding after 2017’s Hurricane Maria left the island’s grid underprepared for this storm. (Axios, Washington Post)
• Puerto Rico residents and service providers who’ve installed solar panels and batteries say they still have power after Hurricane Fiona wiped out the island’s grid. (Canary Media, Inside Climate News)
• New York’s attorney general calls for an investigation into Puerto Rico utility LUMA Energy after the grid’s failure during the hurricane. (E&E News)
PIPELINES: West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is expected to release his energy permitting reform measure today, as he decries “revenge politics” that threaten the plan. (Reuters, E&E News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Car rental company Hertz agrees to buy 175,000 electric vehicles from General Motors, though supply chain shortages mean their delivery may take a while. (E&E News)
CLIMATE:
• Funding in the Inflation Reduction Act is meant to help coastal communities prepare for climate change-related hazards. (New York Times)
• Indigenous people protest across New York City’s streets and waters this week as the United Nations General Assembly gathers. (Grist)
• After the majority of residents in a Staten Island coastal community took advantage of a managed retreat program, the few remaining households say city services are dwindling and impairing their way of life. (Grist)
GRID:
• Republican attorneys general challenge federal regulators’ efforts to reform regional transmission planning, saying they lack congressional authority to enact the program meant to help bring renewables online. (Utility Dive)
• “Current reliability just isn’t adequate.” Michigan regulators order the state’s two largest utilities to detail plans for improving electric service reliability. (Energy News Network/Planet Detroit)
EFFICIENCY: A Virginia home weatherization program that has been hailed as a national model will lose its funding if Gov. Glenn Youngkin succeeds in removing the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. (Energy News Network)
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STORAGE: A battery fire breaks out at the 400 MW Moss Landing battery energy storage facility — the world’s largest — on the central California coast, prompting officials to shut down a highway and issue a shelter in place order for nearby residents. (CBS Bay Area)
COMMENTARY: Two journalists call for more transparency from Sens. Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer as they work out a deal to expedite pipeline and energy project approvals. (Guardian)
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