• The Environmental Protection Agency plans to grant California a waiver to impose its own tailpipe pollution regulations — which are stricter than federal requirements — that will allow for the phaseout of diesel-powered truck sales in the state, according to three people briefed on the plans. The waiver could affect six other states that have committed to following California’s tougher standards, which include more stringent pollution limits for heavy-duty vehicles that would apply to vehicles starting with the 2024 model year. (The Washington Post)
• The latest United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report is expected today after nations approved the latest update on Sunday following a weeklong meeting. The report’s approval was expected on Friday but was delayed after nations like the United States, China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and the European Union parsed through key phrases in the text, particularly on which nations would qualify for assistance through the “loss and damage” fund. (The Associated Press) 
• Big oil companies could be held criminally responsible for climate-related deaths, which could cost the industry billions of dollars, according to a new academic paper set to be published in the Harvard Environmental Law Review. As oil majors allegedly deceived the public about the dangers of burning fossil fuels, the authors argue that “there aren’t really any legal or factual barriers to prosecution” besides those that are political and cultural. (E&E News)

Coal Use Seen Peaking Next Year as India, China Determine Future

Bloomberg

US scopes projects for carbon credit scheme under heavyweight committee

Camilla Hodgson and Aime Williams, Financial Times

Plan to raise corporate funds for energy projects in poor countries might involve ‘just energy transition’ deals.

Climate-incentivizing policies a contention point in farm bill

Rachel Frazin, The Hill

Climate policies are expected to be an area of contention as Congress takes up the farm bill — particularly as lawmakers weigh whether and how to incentivize farmers to take climate-friendly approaches.

Ban hydrogen in homes? Mass. debate mirrors national quandary.

David Iaconangelo, E&E News

Plans by Massachusetts utilities to blend low-carbon hydrogen into natural gas distribution networks to feed homes and other buildings has sparked a national debate over “green” hydrogen’s reliance on renewables and what that might mean for the electric grid.

GOP hopes energy bill hits Biden, lays marker on future negotiations

Emily Brooks, The Hill

House Republicans’ new energy bill — which they’ve labeled H.R.1 and slated for a vote at the end of the month — is helping fuel the GOP’s political messaging against President Biden and giving the party a major piece of legislation to unite around.

New Mexico opts for veto power on spent nuclear fuel debate

Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press

New Mexico’s governor on Friday signed legislation aimed at keeping spent nuclear fuel produced by commercial U.S. nuclear power plants from being shipped to the state, just hours after the measure cleared its final legislative hurdle.

States cannot block hazardous waste from Ohio derailment, EPA says

David Shepardson, Reuters

U.S. states cannot block shipments of hazardous waste from a Feb. 3 Ohio train derailment to licensed disposal sites, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Friday.

Haaland criticized over ‘difficult’ choice on Willow project

Matthew Daly, The Associated Press

In early March, President Joe Biden met with members of Alaska’s bipartisan congressional delegation as they implored him to approve a contentious oil drilling project in their state. Around the same time, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland held a very different meeting on the same topic.

How pollution and climate change may have caused the Florida seaweed blob

Ben Adler, Yahoo News

A 5,000 mile-long blob of slimy, smelly seaweed is headed for Florida’s beaches on the Gulf of Mexico, and it’s partly because of human activity, including water pollution and climate change.

Ski resorts are embracing a new role: climate activist

Brittany Peterson, The Associated Press

As global warming threatens to put much of the ski industry out of business over the next several decades, resorts are beginning to embrace a role as climate activists in the halls of government.

Rising airline emissions could trigger global caps as early as 2024 -trade group

Allison Lampert and Rajesh Kumar Singh, Reuters

Rising airline traffic is expected to trigger global emissions-related requirements as early as next year according to a top airline trade group even as debate broadens on the effectiveness of that approach.

Regulators: Nuclear plant leak didn’t require public notice

Michael Phillis and Amancai Biraben, The Associated Press

Minnesota regulators knew four months ago that radioactive waste had leaked from a nuclear power plant in Monticello — but they didn’t announce anything about the leak until this week.

NuScale must triple subscription level for small modular reactor in Idaho by early 2024, company says

Stephen Singer, Utility Dive

NuScale Power says it will need to reach an 80% subscription level by February 2024, up from the current 25%, for its plans for a small modular reactor, or SMR, plant in Idaho. 

Big oil firms touted algae as climate solution. Now all have pulled funding

Amy Westervelt, The Guardian

Insiders aren’t surprised as ExxonMobil, the last remaining proponent of green algae biofuel, ends research.

US and Other G7 Members Oppose Japan’s Push For Fossil Fuel Investment

Shoko Oda et al., Bloomberg

Group of Seven nations are pushing back against Japan’s proposal to use its presidency of the bloc to advocate for natural gas investment and the deployment of technologies to support the use of fossil fuels for power generation.

State and US officials tout spending to plug ‘orphan wells’

Gerald Herbert and Kevin McGill, The Associated Press

Stacks of valves, networks of pipes and hulking, two-story-tall tanks litter parts of the swampy landscape of Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin, rusting relics of sites where oil wells were drilled in the 1970s, an unwanted legacy of the energy industry that has long helped drive the Louisiana economy.

Falling Lithium Prices Are Making Electric Cars More Affordable

Jack Ewing and Clifford Krauss, The New York Times

An unexpected decline in the price of an essential battery material, along with those of other commodities, is good news for buyers. But experts disagree on how long low prices will last.

Tesla’s Vision of EVs Without Rare Earths Will Spur Magnet Race

Annie Lee, Bloomberg

Automaker’s ambition to eliminate use of the materials in future models is focusing attention on the field of potential alternatives.

Scratched EV battery? Your insurer may have to junk the whole car

Nick Carey, Paul Lienert and Sarah Mcfarlane, Reuters

For many electric vehicles, there is no way to repair or assess even slightly damaged battery packs after accidents, forcing insurance companies to write off cars with few miles – leading to higher premiums and undercutting gains from going electric.

Escalating Demand for Soybean Oil Hits Possible Slowdown

Bob Henderson, The Wall Street Journal

EPA regulations could limit the use of the legume byproduct in biofuel.

Why is it so hard to charge electric vehicles on the road?

Umair Irfan, Vox

Electric car owners are finding out how hard it can be to charge EVs at public charging stations.

Biden ‘EV revolution’ delayed as utilities, carmakers await critical IRS guidance on Inflation Reduction Act

Herman K. Trabish, Utility Dive

The Inflation Reduction Act’s EV ecosystem rules need clarity for customers, charger builders and global supply chain providers, analysts said.

US utility firms spent big preparing power grid for storms – and still failed

Kristi E. Swartz, Floodlight

Electric utilities spent billions after 2014’s polar vortex to ensure power plants and the grid could handle extreme cold, but this winter it still wasn’t enough.

Texas Court Ruling Casts Uncertainty Over ‘21 Blackout Costs

Naureen S. Malik and Mark Chediak, Bloomberg

A Texas appeals court has reignited a fight over soaring power prices during the deadly 2021 winter storm that crippled the state’s electric grid. 

‘They keep coming back’: a Black town in Arizona battles power expansion plans again

Nina Lakhani, The Guardian

Residents in industry-choked Randolph renew efforts to block the power company’s plans near their fragile town.

Broken furnace? In the Bay Area, soon you’ll have to replace it with a heat pump

Siri Chilukuri, Grist

Regulators ban the sale of gas-powered furnaces and water heaters, starting in 2027.

A government program hopes to find critical minerals right beneath our feet

Maddie Stone, Grist

Federal scientists are using recon flights and field research to track down metals that are key to the energy transition.

Corporate Climate Targets Get Lift Under Rosier U.S. Government Emissions Outlook

Dieter Holger, The Wall Street Journal

Brighter projection is good news for companies struggling to cut emissions from energy purchases.