• Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) introduced his latest permitting reform measure that aims to set a two-year limit on environmental reviews for major federal energy projects, reduce court delays over energy projects and calls for completing the $6.6 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline, while also directing President Joe Biden to designate and prioritize the permitting of at least 25 high-level energy projects. The Building American Energy Security Act comes after the House GOP passed its priority energy legislation at the end of March, which included provisions to boost oil and gas production and repeal some Inflation Reduction Act tax credits. (Reuters) 
• BP PLC posted an underlying replacement cost profit — a proxy for net profit — of $4.96 billion in the first quarter on robust oil and gas trading, the company said, as profit was slightly higher than the previous quarter, but not strong enough to reach 2022 first-quarter levels of $6.2 billion. (CNBC)
• A coalition of environmental groups and a Texas-based Native American tribe is suing the Federal Aviation Administration, claiming the agency failed to account for and mitigate environmental harm related to SpaceX operations in Boca Chica, Texas. The groups would like the court to rule that the agency’s approval of the SpaceX Starship plan violated the National Environmental Policy Act, including the April 20 launch that ended in an explosion over the Gulf of Mexico. (E&E News) 
• The Biden administration’s climate agenda could face some obstacles if the Supreme Court decides to overturn an almost 40-year-old precedent, known as the Chevron deference, which could derail the Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to limit carbon emissions from the electricity and transportation sectors. The Chevron doctrine holds that courts should defer to reasonable agency interpretations of ambiguous provisions in congressional statutes and that judges shouldn’t attempt to create their own reading of the laws. (Politico) 

Why gas prices tend to fall right before summer

Axios

Manchin Seeks to Repeal Parts of Inflation Law on Debt Concerns

Kevin Crowley, Bloomberg

Senator Joe Manchin said he would push to repeal parts of the Inflation Reduction Act that he claims could raise the national debt. 

Manchin’s ‘playing with fire’ — and some Democrats are tired of the drama

Josh Siegel, Politico

The West Virginia senator contends the administration is defying Congress in its rollout of last year’s climate law. Some fellow Democrats fear he’s undermining the legislation he shaped.

Biden’s push to disclose climate risks hits wall of industry resistance

Steven Mufson, The Washington Post

Big business is bucking Biden’s efforts to use SEC rules and the purchasing power of the U.S. government to reveal and reduce climate emissions.

Climate talks see pushes for global renewable energy target

Frank Jordans, The Associated Press

Germany called Tuesday for governments around the world to work on setting an ambitious target for renewable energy that would “ring in the end of the fossil fuel age” and help prevent dangerous global warming.

Jay Inslee Sees Greener Pastures Ahead

Reid J. Epstein, The New York Times

After nearly 30 years in elected office, Washington’s governor plans to shift his focus to climate solutions and clean energy, underscoring the need for “a sense of optimism and confidence.”

Google Promised to Defund Climate Lies, but the Ads Keep Coming

Nico Grant and Steven Lee Myers, The New York Times

Google said in 2021 that it would stop running ads alongside videos and other content that denied the existence and causes of climate change.

The FCC Is Supposed to Protect the Environment. It Doesn’t.

Peter Elkind, ProPublica

The agency is mandated to safeguard the environment from damage caused by communication infrastructure. But when companies want to add new cell phone towers, build on protected land or launch satellites, the agency typically does little or nothing.

Seeking sanctuary on a warming planet

Jonathan Thompson, High Country News

Scientists look to identify, map and preserve climate change refugia.

‘Toxic trail of pollution’: states step up to curb the use of ‘forever chemicals’

Tom Perkins, The Guardian

Partisanship has thwarted Congress’s attempts to limit PFAS, but a patchwork of state laws is pushing for their phase-out.

Climate change is changing public health

Kylie Mohr, High Country News

In Washington, a new team of epidemiologists is preparing for a hotter, smokier future.

Big birds are having fewer chicks as climate changes

Saul Elbein, The Hill

Smaller birds are more successful in raising chicks in a hotter world than large birds, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published Monday.

Fourth reactor at Georgia nuclear plant completes test phase

Jeff Amy, The Associated Press

A new reactor at a nuclear power plant in Georgia has completed a key testing phase, getting one step closer to generating electricity.

America’s Nuclear Waste Capital Wants More of It, Against State Wishes

Daniel Moore, Bloomberg

Burying the country’s nuclear weapons waste brought an economic lifeline to Carlsbad, New Mexico. State leaders worry it’s become a dumping ground.

Smaller, cheaper, safer: The next generation of nuclear power, explained

Umair Irfan, Vox

The nuclear industry’s big bet on going small.

Slowing demand for fuel adds to fears of looming US recession

Myles McCormick, Financial Times

Sales of diesel are down and American motorists are starting to hold back spending.

Another big Alaska fossil fuel project gets Biden team’s blessing

Ben Lefebvre, Politico

The $40 billion export project would be the second major fossil fuel initiative in the state to have stalled under the Trump administration — only to see its fortunes rise under Biden.

Chinese electric vehicle brands expand to global markets

Joe McDonald and Yuri Kageyama, The Associated Press

Sales of battery-powered vehicles and gasoline-electric hybrids in China almost doubled last year to 6.9 million vehicles, or half the global total.

GM Lays Off Hundreds From Product Development in Latest Cost-Cutting Move

Mike Colias, The Wall Street Journal

Auto maker says the cuts were to contract workers in the group that works on future car models.

Tesla raises prices in US, China, Japan and Canada

Akriti Sharma, Reuters

Tesla Inc. has raised prices in a range of up to $290 in Canada, China, Japan and the United States, its website showed on Monday, after having slashed prices on its top-selling vehicles since the start of the year.

A Hydropower Renaissance, but Where Are the Giant Dams?

Mira Rojanasakul and Max Bearak, The New York Times

For a century, hydroelectric power has been synonymous with gigantic dams — feats of engineering that provide renewable energy but displace communities and destroy ecosystems.

Jackson needs federal funds to cover repairs, appointee says

The Associated Press

The manager appointed by the U.S. Department of Justice to oversee reforms to the beleaguered water system in Mississippi’s capital city says he won’t have enough money to cover expenses until more federal funds arrive.

Crypto foes gird to stop mines from ‘spreading like cancer’

Niina H. Farah, E&E News

In the wake of a national surge in crypto mining, local activists are searching for ways to fight the energy-intensive industry’s rapid growth — and calling on Congress for backup.

FirstEnergy West Virginia coal plant purchase would lead company to retire another one, official says

Ethan Howland, Utility Dive

If FirstEnergy buys the 1,300-MW coal-fired Pleasants power plant in West Virginia as state lawmakers want, the company would likely retire one of its two other coal plants in the state, a FirstEnergy official said.

What a pending Supreme Court ruling could mean for Biden’s new clean water protections

Max Graham, Grist

The fate of millions of acres of wetlands hinges on five vague words in the Clean Water Act.

Fla. and La. must borrow millions to pay insurance claims

Thomas Frank, E&E News

The Gulf Coast insurance crisis has hit a new low as two state-chartered insurance associations are being forced to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars for the first time in three decades to pay the hurricane claims of insolvent insurers.