• More than 1.3 million customers in Puerto Rico are without power after Hurricane Fiona slammed into the island over the weekend as a Category 1 storm, bringing heavy rains and flooding that led to evacuations and rescues. (The New York Times) Meanwhile, Alaska is reeling from the worst storm in a half century after Typhoon Merbok hit the western part of the state on Saturday, causing widespread flooding and damage across 1,000 miles of the Alaskan coastline. (The Associated Press)
• A global database for oil and gas reserves, production and emissions data spanning 50,000 fields launched today, making previously hard-to-access data more publicly available. Carbon Tracker and Global Energy Monitor say the registry is the first of its kind and contains data from 89 countries and covers 75% of global production. (Reuters)
• Utility customers may face even higher bills this winter as rising natural gas prices are set to make it more expensive to heat homes in the coming months. A global natural gas supply shortage exacerbated by the war in Ukraine has led prices to more than double this year, and prices are expected to remain elevated for months. (The Wall Street Journal)

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• 9 a.m. Kickoff for Climate Week NYC

More natural gas rigs are now operating in the United States than before the pandemic

U.S. Energy Information Administration

Permitting overhaul in peril as funding deadline looms

Timothy Cama et al., E&E News

The Democrats’ permitting overhaul plans hangs in the balance this week as lawmakers inch toward the Sept. 30 deadline to pass a government funding bill to prevent a shutdown.

This Hurricane-Ravaged Town Has Waited Years for Long-Term Aid. It Could Happen Again.

Mike Smith, The Times Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate

Homes and businesses still sit in ruins in a small Louisiana city, left behind by the government’s convoluted and unpredictable system for rebuilding communities devastated by natural disasters.

Tensions rise amid frustration over mystery Manchin deal

Aris Folley and Rachel Frazin, The Hill

Lawmakers are frustrated about being kept in the dark as Democratic leaders strategize how to jimmy an energy deal struck with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) behind closed doors through Congress — while also averting a government shutdown.

As farmers split from the GOP on climate change, they’re getting billions to fight it

Scott Neuman, NPR News

If you ask Iowa farmer Robb Ewoldt about the federal dollars he’s received over the last few years to help make his land more sustainable, it’s clear he’s a big fan.

The U.S. safety net was built for cold winters. Hot summers threaten it.

Dino Grandoni and Anna Phillips, The Washington Post

For decades, the federal government has helped the poor with energy costs during chilly winters. Now sweltering summers are straining the social safety net.

Carbon capture startups received a record $882 million in VC investments

Michella Ma, Protocol

New PitchBook data reveals that carbon capture and removal companies hauled in record funding in the second quarter of this year.

Calif. governor signs 40 climate-related measures

Anne C. Mulkern, E&E News

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed 40 climate-related measures, including one mandating a 3,200-foot buffer between new oil wells and homes.

FERC’s murky leadership future could derail U.S. climate goals

Catherine Morehouse, Politico

Chair Richard Glick has spent the past two years pushing the adoption of policies he advocated as a minority voice on the commission.

Big Fashion’s Sustainability Push Has a Huge Hole

Zahra Hirji, Bloomberg

No one in Big Fashion has figured out how to align climate goals with retail’s current business model.

Minnesota governor rolls out plan to fight climate change

Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz on Friday rolled out a framework for fighting climate change that shows his proposed direction on the environment if he wins a second term, a sweeping plan that would slash carbon emissions and speed the switchover to electric vehicles.

Climate law spurs CCS at new West Virginia gas plant

Carlos Anchondo, E&E News

Competitive Power Ventures Inc. announced plans Friday to build a multibillion-dollar natural gas power plant in West Virginia with carbon capture technology, saying the project would not be possible without the new climate and energy law.

Virginia judge dismisses youth climate change lawsuit

Denise Lavoie, The Associated Press

A Virginia judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of 13 young people who claim that the state’s permitting of fossil fuel projects is exacerbating climate change and violating their constitutional rights.

The US solar industry has a supply problem

Matt Blois, Chemical and Engineering News

China’s control of solar manufacturing puts the sector at risk of disruption.

Private Drillers Are Hitting Their Limits

Collin Eaton and Benoit Morenne, The Wall Street Journal

Smaller producers in the hottest U.S. oil patch are pulling back, after harvesting many of their best locations.

After climate bill passage, WVa natural gas plant unveiled

John Raby, The Associated Press

A Maryland company announced Friday it will build a natural gas power plant designed to capture climate-changing carbon in West Virginia. Officials said it was made possible by a recently signed law embraced by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin that gives tax breaks for alternative energy projects.

Interior: ‘NEPA no longer applies to Lease Sale 257’

Niina H. Farah, E&E News

The Biden administration Friday urged a federal appeals court to end litigation over a massive lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico after the sale was reinstated under the Inflation Reduction Act.

OPEC+ falls short of oil output target by 3.583 mln bpd in August -document

Reuters

OPEC+ fell short of its oil production target by 3.583 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, an internal document showed, having missed target by 2.892 million bpd in July.

Delta Air Lines readies refinery to process biofuels

Laura Sanicola and Laila Kearney, Reuters

Delta Air Lines Inc. plans to start receiving shipments of renewable fuel feedstocks at its Trainer, Pennsylvania, refinery as part of a strategy that could reduce its environmental liabilities by hundreds of millions of dollars, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Tellurian Investor Demands Sale of LNG Developer, Claiming Nepotism

Jill R. Shah, Bloomberg

A Tellurian Inc. investor is urging the would-be US energy exporter to put itself up for sale, saying poor governance, nepotism and “misleading communications” have doomed the company’s $12.8 billion aspiration to ship shale gas overseas.  

US Senate passes bill to maximize EV battery recycling for federal fleet vehicles

Megan Quinn, Utility Dive

Sponsors of the bipartisan bill say the federal government needs a plan to bolster recycling and reuse of EV batteries, to lessen U.S. dependence on international markets for battery components.

The Affordable Electric Vehicle Is Still Mostly Fantasy

Kyle Stock, Bloomberg

With battery supplies tight and customers eager, car companies are only cranking out expensive EVs.

Why EVs won’t break the grid

Andres Picon, E&E News

A searing heat wave was pushing California’s electric grid to the brink of blacking out earlier this month when, in a frantic bid to keep the lights on, officials implored electric car owners to wait a few hours before plugging in their vehicles.

Lithium Resumes Insane Gains to Add Pressure on Automakers

Annie Lee, Bloomberg

Prices of the key raw material for EV batteries have started to rise again in a new complication for global supply chains.

Grid nightmare haunts Texas governor’s race

Jason Plautz, E&E News

In his bid to turn the Texas governor’s mansion blue, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke has seized on the state’s beleaguered power grid as a reason to oust Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

Torn apart

Amal Ahmed, Grist

In Houston, a generations-deep community is being dismantled by mandatory buyouts.

Fla. insurance crisis deepens as rates soar, companies fall

Thomas Frank, E&E News

Long known as the nation’s most hurricane-prone state, Florida has achieved a new status that is aggravating hurricane anxieties and threatening real-estate values. Florida has the worst property-insurance market.

Alaska Democrat’s arrival signals change in fisheries debate

Rob Hotakainen, E&E News

As the first Alaska native elected to Congress, Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola will bring a new twist to a long-running fisheries debate when the House Natural Resources Committee votes on a proposed overhaul of the nation’s premier fishing law this week.

With Colorado “getting strange,” Michigan may be the place to be as climate changes

Aldo Svaldi, The Denver Post

Southeast and West are at higher risk of disruptions due to changing weather patterns, futurist says.

Minnesota PUC approves Xcel Energy’s 460-MW solar project to replace Sherco coal-fired generation

Ethan Howland, Utility Dive

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved Xcel Energy’s plan to build and own 460 MW of solar next to its roughly 1,780-MW coal-fired Sherco power plant, which is being retired in phases this decade.

Businesses No Longer See Climate Action as Driving Job Losses

Gina McCarthy, The New York Times

This week, as the world’s leaders gather in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, the United States will deliver a message many thought was not possible: We are going to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, and zero them out by 2050.

How Playing Whack-a-Mole With Dirty Power Can Help the World Reach Net Zero

Eric Roston, Bloomberg

Understanding the real-time mix of power sources in electricity grids could be a win-win for companies and the planet.