• The Supreme Court will allow cases from municipalities and cities that aim to hold oil and gas companies accountable for climate change to move forward in state court in Colorado, Maryland, California, Hawaii and Rhode Island, in a blow to oil and gas companies that are more likely to face damage awards in state court. Companies including BP PLC, Chevron Corp. and Shell PLC have lost in lower courts in all five cases. (NBC News)
• President Joe Biden will veto legislation to overturn his administration’s waiver on solar panel tariffs, as a measure to repeal the two-year waiver on four Southeast Asian nations is expected to come up for a full House vote as soon as this week. The House Ways and Means Committee last week voted to restore the tariffs in an effort to support domestic manufacturers who say the tariffs would help them compete with cheaper solar panels made overseas. (Reuters) 
• General Motors Co. and Samsung SDI will invest more than $3 billion to build an electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in the United States, as GM looks to diversify its supply of components. The plant is expected to start production of high-nickel prismatic and cylindrical battery cells in 2026 with an annual capacity of 30 gigawatt hours, although the companies did not disclose the location of the plant. (Reuters)
• House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will face some challenges as the GOP tries to pass its debt ceiling package this week, as the repeal of 24 clean energy and manufacturing tax credits included in the Inflation Reduction Act and the rollback of a biofuel incentive threaten the measure’s passage. Republicans like Rep. Nancy Mace (S.C.) are considering voting against the bill as she is unclear what impact the repeal of IRA tax credits will have on her state’s solar industry, while Midwestern lawmakers have raised concerns about the loss of ethanol tax credits. (E&E News)

Happening today

• The House Rules Committee will meet to consider a resolution to overturn Biden’s two-year pause on tariffs for solar panel imports from four Southeast Asian countries. 

What to watch in EPA’s power plant climate rules

Axios

Energy Industry Warns Projects in Danger if GOP Debt Bill Moves

Samantha Handler and Daniel Moore, Bloomberg Law

The bipartisan popularity of some clean energy tax credits likely will shield the billions of dollars of clean energy investment around the country as the GOP debt limit proposal threatens to jeopardize those projects, energy industry and tax experts said.

Granholm’s Mountain Valley pipeline support creates firestorm

Emma Dumain and Miranda Willson, E&E News

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s endorsement of the controversial Mountain Valley pipeline on Monday is putting environmentalists on high alert and stirring speculation about how the move will affect the project and congressional permitting negotiations.

California Democrats press for disaster recovery package to help agricultural communities

Sharon Udasin, The Hill

California Democrats called on Monday for House leaders to advance bipartisan legislation aimed at helping the state’s agricultural communities recover from a winter of devastating storms.

Many Young Voters Bitter Over Biden’s Support of Willow Oil Drilling

Lisa Friedman, The New York Times

In the past three weeks, President Biden’s administration has proposed regulations to speed the transition to electric vehicles, committed $1 billion to help poor countries fight climate change and prepared what could be the first limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

Biden plans new EPA power plant rule. Will SCOTUS kill it?

Pamela King, E&E News

Less than a year after the Supreme Court settled one battle over EPA’s climate authority, the Biden administration is teeing up round two.

Planned Senate bill would counteract Mining Law ruling

Scott Sonner, The Associated Press

A Nevada Democratic U.S. senator is looking to Congress to ensure mining companies can use established mineral claims to dump waste on neighboring federal lands as they always had before a federal appeals court adopted a stricter interpretation of a 150-year-old law.

Dems fight Inflation Reduction Act ignorance

Jael Holzman and Nick Sobczyk, Axios

As President Biden preps his re-election bid, here’s what key House Democrats said at an Axios Pro event Friday about their plans to sell voters on their party’s climate agenda.

8 times Tucker Carlson picked environmental fights

Robin Bravender, E&E News 

Fox News viewers can no longer tune into the network for Tucker Carlson’s polarizing opinions on topics like gas stoves or the Green New Deal.

Panel: Climate change, not wind prep, is threat to whales

Wayne Parry, The Associated Press

Climate change, spurred by the burning of fossil fuels, is the biggest danger to marine life including whales, a panel of Democratic officials and environmental groups said Monday.

A new front in the water wars: Your Internet use

Shannon Osaka, The Washington Post

In the American West, data centers are clashing with local communities that want to preserve water amid drought.

US Forests Are Failing to Keep Up With Climate Change

Leslie Kaufman, Bloomberg

A new study shows forests are adapting to hotter and drier conditions, but not nearly fast enough.

How a looming El Niño could fuel the spread of infectious disease

Zoya Teirstein, Grist

The oceanic phenomenon could lead to more pathogen-carrying mosquitoes, bacteria, and toxic algae.

California’s “Big Melt” set to accelerate amid heat wave

Rebecca Falconer and Andrew Freedman, Axios

California’s “Big Melt” from its historic snowpack is set to accelerate when temperatures reach as much as 20 degrees above average this week, forecasters warn.

Staggering Boom in Renewables Seen in US by 2030, BNEF Predicts

Josh Saul, Bloomberg

The US will add enough solar and wind energy over the next seven years to power more than 100 million homes if challenges connecting projects to electric grids don’t get in the way, according to a forecast from research provider BloombergNEF. 

New cash for “micro-fusion” startup

Ben Geman, Axios

Fusion startup Avalanche Energy has closed a $40 million Series A round led by Lowercarbon Capital, with a suite of other backers including Founders Fund and Toyota Ventures.

A transition to clean energy was supposed to be equitable. Instead, it’s hurting Indigenous communities.

Sarah Sax, Grist

“I constantly receive information that Indigenous Peoples fear a new wave of green investments.”

Google’s latest climate plan? Skip grid backlog, mimic community solar

Jeff St. John, Canary Media

EDP Renewables and Google plan to spread a big solar buildout across 80 small projects, with 10% of revenue dedicated to environmental-justice benefits.

Top US banks face calls to wind down fossil-fuel financing

Ross Kerber, Reuters

Three large US banks face shareholder calls on Tuesday to wind down fossil fuel financing, a balancing act for them and their top investors who are also under political pressure from the other side to maintain support of the oil and gas industries.

How ESG Is Creating Weird Market Outcomes in the World of Big Oil

Tracy Alloway, Bloomberg

Climate change is a global problem with no respect for national boundaries. ESG is a regionalized industry with the potential to stoke perverse market outcomes between geographies.

Halliburton posts higher quarterly profit on strong oilfield services demand

Reuters

Halliburton Co. reported higher first-quarter profit on Tuesday, wrapping up upbeat earnings from the world’s top oilfield services providers as higher oil prices encouraged drilling activity and boosted demand for services and equipment.

Hyundai Motor bolsters US presence with $5 bln EV battery venture

Heekyong Yang and Joyce Lee, Reuters

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. said on Tuesday it had finalised a $5 billion electric vehicle (EV) battery joint venture in the U.S., boosting electrification efforts in its largest market.

GM raises full-year profit forecast, citing strong pricing, demand

Joseph White and Paul Lienert, Reuters

General Motors Co. on Tuesday lifted its full-year profit and cash flow forecasts, citing stronger-than-expected demand and higher prices, even as pre-tax profits for the first quarter fell.

Tesla’s battery-storage sales are growing way faster than EV sales

Eric Wesoff, Canary Media

Deployments of Tesla batteries surged 360% as the EV maker opened a factory for grid-scale batteries. Now it’s getting into lithium refining too.

Tesla raises 2023 spending forecast as it races to ramp up output

Reuters

Tesla Inc. raised its capital expenditure forecast for 2023 on Monday as the automaker ramps up output at its factories to take advantage of the rising interest in electric vehicles.

NRG Says It Would Build New Gas Plants If Texas Approves Payouts

Naureen S. Malik, Bloomberg

NRG Energy Inc. plans to build more natural gas-fired plants in Texas if lawmakers back a proposal to launch new payouts to generators as part of reforms to fortify its state against blackouts. 

State regulators urge PJM to speed interconnection for new generation in face of power plant retirements

Ethan Howland, Utility Dive

State utility regulators are urging the PJM Interconnection to push certain proposed generating projects through its stalled interconnection process to help replace retiring power plants.

Texas bill seeks to keeps lights on in midst of disaster

Saul Elbein, The Hill

Some Texas lawmakers want to turn rural hospitals, police stations and other critical infrastructure into backup power plants for their communities.

The U.S. Wants a Rare-Earths Supply Chain. Here’s Why It Won’t Come Easily.

Yusuf Khan, The Wall Street Journal

New tax credit bill seeks to challenge China’s dominance in the processing of critical minerals.

Experimental water release to continue Lake Mead rise

Duncan Phenix, The Hill

A large release of water from Lake Powell began Monday morning, sending water on a two-day journey through the Grand Canyon – where it will help restore sandbars and beaches while moving sediment downriver – to Nevada’s Lake Mead.

Judge to weigh limits for aerial fire retardant in wildfires

The Associated Press

A federal judge is weighing whether to severely limit the government’s use of aerial fire retardant to combat wildfires following arguments Monday by environmentalists who are concerned about water pollution.

Climate change activists claim responsibility for deflating the tires to ‘over 11,000 SUVs’

Ben Adler, Yahoo News

A group of climate change activists who deflated the tires of 43 gas guzzling SUVs in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood last Wednesday night told Yahoo News that they think their aggressive action is necessary to draw attention to carbon emissions.

Climate activists spray protests on U.S. bank offices on eve of annual meetings

Tatiana Bautzer, Reuters

Climate protesters spray painted graffiti on Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. offices in New York’s Bryant Park on Monday, accusing the banks of being “climate criminals” a day before the lenders are scheduled to hold their annual shareholder meetings.