• Pipeline operator Oneok Inc. will buy Magellan Midstream Partners as part of a $14 billion deal – $8.8 billion in equity and $5.1 billion in cash – the biggest U.S. energy deal announced so far this year that would form the second-largest pipeline company in the United States based on stock-market value. Magellan owns nearly 10,000 miles of pipelines spanning Texas, Oklahoma and the Midwest to North Dakota, while Oneok also has a network spanning the same regions. (The Wall Street Journal) 
• Denmark’s Topsoe A/S plans to spend $300 million to build a hydrogen electrolyzer factory in the United States, with a final investment decision on the new facility expected by the end of 2023. The move, propelled by hydrogen subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act, follows the recent announcement from Norwegian electrolyzer maker Nel ASA that it plans to build a factory in Michigan. (Bloomberg) 
• Members of the Group of Seven nations are expected to impose stricter sanctions on Russia during their summit in Japan this week to undermine the country’s future energy production, according to officials with direct knowledge of the discussions. (Reuters) 

The COVID pandemic was not an oil inflection point

Axios

Permitting in play as White House debt talks resume

Kelsey Brugger, E&E News

The White House is preparing to meet with congressional leaders early this week on debt ceiling negotiations, but time is running short to hammer out a deal.

Kerry challenges oil industry to prove its promised tech rescue for climate-wrecking emissions

Ellen Knickmeyer, The Associated Press

Oil and gas producers talk up technological breakthroughs they say will soon allow the world to drill and burn fossil fuels without worsening global warming. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry says the time is here for the industry to prove it can make the technology happen — at scale, affordably and quickly — to stave off climate disaster.

Some U.S. Solar Makers Criticize Biden’s Tax Credits as Too Lax on China

Ana Swanson et al., The New York Times

U.S.-based manufacturers of solar products say rules issued by the Biden administration on Friday will “cement China’s dominance” over the solar industry.

Biden infrastructure adviser: Speed up clean energy permits

Robin Bravender, E&E News

Count President Joe Biden’s senior infrastructure adviser Mitch Landrieu among the administration officials eager to see action to speed up the process for approving energy projects.

Youth lawsuit challenging Montana’s pro-fossil fuel policies is heading to trial

Amy Beth Hanson et al., The Associated Press

A Montana judge on Friday said a climate change lawsuit from young people challenging the state’s pro-fossil fuel policies will proceed to trial despite efforts by the state to derail the case.

Why John Kerry is confident Biden’s climate policies can survive a Republican president

Ella Nilsen, CNN

As the US barrels into a high-stakes and consequential election cycle, US climate envoy and former Secretary of State John Kerry is confident of one thing: If a Republican is elected president, they won’t be able to reverse the Biden administration’s wins on climate change and clean energy.

New US solar tax credit rules will do little to break China dependence, experts warn

Aime Williams et al., Financial Times

Treasury department unveils fresh guidance but analysts say few domestic companies could fully capitalise on the subsidy.

Biden proposal would let conservationists lease public land much as drillers and ranchers do

Matthew Brown, The Associated Press

The Biden administration wants to put conserving vast government-owned lands on equal footing with oil drilling, livestock grazing and other interests, according to a top administration official who defended the idea against criticism that it would interfere with industry.

NYC skyscrapers turning to carbon capture to lessen climate change

Cathy Bussewitz, The Associated Press

Buildings are by far the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions here, roughly two-thirds, according to the city buildings department.

Funds Sold as ‘Sustainable’ Hit by Crossborder Reality Check

Frances Schwartzkopff, Bloomberg

Hardly any sustainable funds would consistently be able to market themselves as such in the UK, the US and the European Union as watchdogs in the three jurisdictions implement divergent anti-greenwash rules, according to a fresh study based on more than 18,000 investment products.

Record early season heat wave envelopes Pacific Northwest

Rebecca Falconer, Axios

Nearly 11 million people in the Pacific Northwest were under heat advisories — as forecasters warned cities including Seattle and Portland could see more temperature records set Monday from the intense heat wave.

EPA wants iron miners in Minnesota, Michigan to slash mercury emissions

The Associated Press

Federal authorities have proposed new regulations that would force the Minnesota and Michigan iron mining industry to slash its mercury emissions.

Nuclear Plant $16 Billion Over Budget Arrives for Atomic Revival

Will Wade and Josh Saul, Bloomberg

The first newly constructed US reactors in decades will make Vogtle the biggest energy generator in the country.

Recycling ‘end-of-life’ solar panels, wind turbines, is about to be climate tech’s big waste business

Bob Woods, CNBC

As the Biden administration pushes for more wind power and solar energy, renewable energy industries will soon generate tons of waste.

Lawsuit Targeting Shell Board Over Climate Failures Thrown Out

Will Mathis, Bloomberg

A London judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing Shell Plc’s board members of failing to manage climate change risks.

Exxon Goes Lean With End of ‘God Pod’ Era

Collin Eaton, The Wall Street Journal

Top executives to inhabit simpler office suite near Houston after move from Dallas area.

US weekly natgas rig count falls by most since 2016 -Baker Hughes

Scott Disavino, Reuters

The U.S. oil and natural gas rig count fell this week to its lowest in nearly a year, as gas rigs slumped by the most in a week since February 2016, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co. said in its closely followed report on Friday.

The New EV Gold-Rush: Automakers Scramble to Get Into Mining

Mike Colias and Scott Patterson, The Wall Street Journal

A scarcity of EV battery materials pushes car companies and miners to work closer together; for both, there is a learning curve.

Flush With Federal Money, Strings Attached, a Deep South Factory Votes to Unionize

Jonathan Weisman, The New York Times

Friday’s victory by the United Steelworkers at a factory building electric school buses was a test for Democratic hopes that clean-energy funding from Washington could bolster organized labor.

Tesla’s new car-making process stokes debate among industry experts

Norihiko Shirouzu et al., Reuters

Tesla Inc’s new vehicle-assembly system, which created instant buzz when it was unveiled in March, ignited a debate among auto manufacturing experts on whether CEO Elon Musk’s so-called unboxed process is radical, revisionist or derivative – or all of the above.

Automakers find a tax credit loophole to increase EV leasing and boost sales

Michael Wayland, CNBC

Most EVs for sale today do not qualify for the full federal tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act because of where the vehicles or components are built.

A transportation ‘revolution’? How the infrastructure law is fueling freeways.

Mike Lee, E&E News

The Biden administration is supporting a nearly $10 billion highway expansion in Houston that ignited a yearlong debate about its climate effects and the demolition of almost 1,000 homes.

Tesla owners sue over impact of software update on EV batteries

David Shepardson, Reuters

A group of U.S. Tesla Model S and Model X owners filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the electric vehicle maker in California Friday over automatic software updates that reportedly decreased driving range or cause battery failures.

Post-Covid, post-bankruptcy Hertz is all-in on electric, with big implications for the EV, auto and rideshare market

Tim Mullaney, CNBC

The world’s third-biggest car-rental firm is pushing to have a quarter of its fleet be electric by the end of next year as capital from the billions it raised after emerging post-Covid from bankruptcy is invested in Tesla, GM and Polestar EVs.

Why Does Musk Keep Raising and Lowering Tesla Prices? Four Reasons

Craig Trudell et al., Bloomberg

The maker of the Model 3 and Model Y has a floating-price strategy unique among car companies. It’s being put to the test by rising interest rates and reduced demand.

Largest US public utility switching from coal to gas, despite proposed EPA carbon pollution limits

Travis Loller, The Associated Press

The nation’s largest public utility released plans Friday to build a new natural gas plant in Tennessee, largely dismissing renewable energy alternatives one day after the Biden administration proposed strict new limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

Biden’s Power-Plant Climate Plan Gives Utilities Time to Clean Up Their Act

Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Mark Chediak, Bloomberg

The Biden administration’s latest plan to slash planet-warming pollution gives electric utilities years to clean up US coal and natural gas plants — but it would still force them to pick up their current pace.

Is carbon capture viable? In a new rule, the EPA is asking power plants to prove it.

Joseph Winters, Grist

“The EPA is calling the bluff on the power industry.”

Power outages hit some communities harder and more often, study says

Erin Blakemore, The Washington Post

When extreme weather rolls through an area, a power outage may be on its heels. And some U.S. communities are at particular risk from power grid failures, research suggests — especially as human-caused climate change progresses.

North Carolina Appraiser Pleads Guilty in $1.3 Billion Green Tax Fraud Case

David Voreacos, Bloomberg

A North Carolina real estate appraiser pleaded guilty Friday over his role in a tax shelter that prosecutors say helped enable the sale of $1.3 billion in fraudulent deductions.

Biden is scrambling for minerals. This U.S. cobalt mine just closed.

Hannah Northey, E&E News

White House clean energy adviser John Podesta this week touted a cobalt mine in Idaho as just one example of a new domestic critical mineral project getting permits and coming online to support a booming electric vehicle industry.

NYC Pension Funds Are Sued for Cutting Fossil-Fuel Stakes

Saijel Kishan and Martin Z. Braun, Bloomberg

In a new attack against ESG investing, three New York City pension funds were sued for allegedly breaching their fiduciary duty by selling billions of dollars of fossil-fuel assets.