• The Department of Agriculture will make nearly $11 billion in funding available to electric cooperatives, renewable energy companies and electric utilities to help bring affordable clean energy to rural communities as part of the Empowering Rural America and the Powering Affordable Clean Energy programs. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the move is the largest single federal investment in rural electrification since the New Deal in 1936, which included the Rural Electrification Act. (The Associated Press) 
• The Department of Energy will purchase 3 million barrels of crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as the Biden administration aims to refill the stockpile following the sale of 180 million barrels – the largest sale ever – last year that worked to stabilize oil markets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Last year’s sale left the SPR at its lowest level since 1983. (Reuters) 
• Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) are criticizing the Biden administration’s latest guidance on clean energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act, which would allow companies to receive the “domestic content” subsidy despite using Chinese-made solar components. Manchin and Kaptur said the guidance bolsters Chinese manufacturers at the expense of domestic producers, while Wyden said the rules “do not go far enough” to help the domestic solar industry and added that he would “look for any opportunity to push these domestic content requirements further.” (The Hill) 

Happening today:

• The Washington Post will host a discussion about the role of innovation and technology in the race to net-zero emissions, featuring a talk with Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), co-chair of the Climate Solutions Caucus.

Big Money Rushes Into Carbon Capture. Can it Deliver This Time?

Bloomberg

Climate group with GOP roots a go-to for tariff push

Emma Dumain, E&E News

Four senators — two Democratic, two Republican — plan to unveil proposals in coming weeks that would slap a tariff on carbon-intensive goods coming into the United States from abroad.

Democrats bet billions on carbon capture, but the government isn’t ready

Ben Lefebvre and Zack Colman, Politico

As hundreds of companies rush to capitalize on $12 billion in new subsidies for a crucial climate technology, state and federal agencies struggle to reassure the public it will be safe.

Biden plan to sell land leases for conservation gets pushback

Matthew Brown, The Associated Press

Biden administration officials on Monday sought to dispel worries they want to exclude oil drilling, livestock grazing and other activities from vast government-owned lands, as they faced pushback from Republicans and ranchers and over a contentious proposal to put conservation on equal footing with industry.

US Lawmakers Want to Boost Ethanol’s Green Appeal as EVs Threaten Fuel Use

Kim Chipman and Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Bloomberg

US representatives from Iowa, Illinois, Texas and Oklahoma are introducing a bill that would allow corn-based ethanol to qualify as an “advanced biofuel” — a bid to boost the gasoline additive’s green credentials.

Returning to the Arab fold, Syria’s president invited to UAE-hosted COP28 climate

Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press

Syria’s embattled President Bashar Assad received an invitation to attend the upcoming COP28 climate talks in Dubai later this year, even as the yearslong war in his country over his rule grinds on.

France Presents Bill to Rival US Support for Green Industry

William Horobin, Bloomberg

The French government presented a green industry bill including tax credits and targeted bonuses for electric vehicles, seeking to rival US support for its businesses in the shift to an economy with lower-carbon emissions. 

Oil companies’ carbon led to vast wildfire damage, researchers find

Chelsea Harvey, E&E News

The world’s top corporate carbon emitters are responsible for more than a third of the area burned by wildfires in the western United States and southwestern Canada since the 1980s, a new study says.

Plastic pollution could be slashed by 80% by 2040, UN says

Damian Carrington, The Guardian

Changes needed are major but also practical and affordable, report says, and would bring trillions of dollars in benefits.

Colorado Law Will Require Homes to Be More Wildfire Resistant

Jennifer Oldham, ProPublica

The state will develop building standards for homes in high-risk areas after ProPublica’s reporting showed previous efforts to require fire-resistant housing materials had been repeatedly stymied by developers and municipalities.

A lawsuit to protect streams could take away a prime firefighting tool

Max Graham, Grist

As wildfires intensify, so does the fight over a fire retardant.

Noise, pollution, danger: how Amazon warehouses upended a sleepy New York neighborhood 

Kaveh Waddell et al., The Guardian

Residents hope traffic, emissions and noise data they are analyzing with the Guardian will help rein in the spread of e-commerce facilities.

Microsoft Inks Deal to Pay for CO2 Stored Below the Sea

Will Mathis, Bloomberg

Microsoft Corp. is buying credits for CO2 captured at two Danish power plants and then stored beneath the North Sea in a sign that corporate emission-reduction goals can help spur carbon storage technology.  

A simple way to prevent heaps of methane pollution: Composting

Max Graham, Grist

A new study says the practice could slash landfill emissions by as much as 84 percent.

Communities of color disproportionately exposed to PFAS in drinking water, study says

Jacob Knutson, Axios

People living in Hispanic and Black communities in the U.S. are disproportionately exposed to toxic “forever chemicals” pollution in drinking water systems, according to a new public study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology on Monday.

Wisconsin environmental regulators settle wastewater lawsuit with large dairy farm

Todd Richmond, The Associated Press

One of Wisconsin’s largest dairy operations has reached a settlement with state environmental regulators that calls for the company to eventually stop spreading liquid manure in exchange for avoiding groundwater monitoring requirements.

As the wind power industry looks to super-sized turbines, disruptors are betting on radical designs

Anmar Frangoul, CNBC

In recent years, major economies like the U.S. have laid out goals to ramp up floating wind installations.

Fire breaks out at Marathon refinery in Texas; 1 worker dead

The Associated Press

A fire at a Marathon Petroleum refinery near Houston on Monday caused visible flames and left at least one worker dead, the company said.

IEA says oil price downturn ignores looming supply crunch

Noah Browning, Reuters

Weeks of declining oil prices due to concerns over a possible recession clash with the outlook for scarce supply and robust demand later in the year, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday.

World’s Biggest Plant for Ethanol Jet Fuel Expected to Open in 2025

Tarso Veloso Ribeiro and Kim Chipman, Bloomberg

Honeywell International Inc. and Summit Agricultural Group are partnering to build the world’s largest plant making ethanol-based aviation fuel — a project that’s likely to become a $1 billion facility and expected to open in 2025. 

U.S. shale production set to rise to highest on record in June -EIA

Laura Sanicola and Stephanie Kelly, Reuters

U.S. oil output from the seven biggest shale basins is due to rise in June to the highest on record, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Monday.

Russian oil exports hit post-invasion high

Tom Wilson, Financial Times

Almost 80% of country’s crude shipments flow to China and India, says IEA.

China’s Demand for Oil Hits Record as IEA Raises Global Forecasts

Will Horner, The Wall Street Journal

Outlook highlights widening divide between booming demand in the developing world and lackluster requirements in Europe and North America.

Iraq does not expect OPEC+ to make further cuts at June meeting

Aref Mohammed, Reuters

Iraq does not expect OPEC+ to make further cuts to oil output at its next meeting in June, its oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said, in the first indication from an OPEC minister about a potential decision as oil prices slide.

Tesla applies to expand Shanghai plant, add pouch battery cell output

Reuters

Tesla Inc. has applied for regulatory clearance to expand its Shanghai plant and to begin producing for the first time pouch-type battery cells, albeit in small numbers.

NERC recommends including cyberattack scenarios now absent in most transmission planning assessments

Robert Walton, Utility Dive

The North American Electric Reliability Corp. and the six regional reliability entities have published a white paper introducing a “cyber-informed transmission planning framework” to help integrate cybersecurity efforts into bulk power system, or BPS, planning activities.

Elliott pushes for NRG Energy overhaul after disclosing position

David French and Mrinalika Roy, Reuters

Activist investor Elliott Investment Management LP is calling for a boardroom overhaul and strategic changes at NRG Energy after taking a position in the U.S. power company for the second time in six years.

Anovion, maker of graphite for electric batteries, plans $800 million factory in southwest Georgia

The Associated Press

A company that’s trying to become a major American-based supplier of graphite for electric batteries announced Monday it will invest $800 million to build a factory in southwest Georgia, hiring 400 workers.

The Green Energy Transition Has a Chilean Copper Problem

James Attwood and Valentina Fuentes, Bloomberg

Codelco is struggling to lift output amid the worldwide push toward electrification.

Texas House approves bills to spend up to $1 billion to buy more state parkland

Alejandra Martinez, The Texas Tribune

The Texas House paved the way for a billion-dollar investment in state parks, which one advocate said would create “a new golden age” for the park system. Texas now ranks 35th nationally in state park acreage per capita.

EPA looks to toss ‘deceptive’ plastics recycling symbol

Ellie Borst, E&E News

EPA is urging the Federal Trade Commission to ditch the iconic chasing arrows recycling symbol for plastics, a move the environmental agency says will help prevent more plastic material from entering landfills and incinerators.

A net negative: Haddock, a staple Atlantic fish, is in decline off New England, regulators say

Patrick Whittle, The Associated Press

A staple seafood species caught by East Coast fishers for centuries is experiencing overfishing, and regulators have cut catch quotas by more than 80% to prevent the fish’s population from collapse.