• Some members of President Donald Trump’s National Security Council are prioritizing the creation of an Eastern Mediterranean gas forum to try to solve conflict and ease tensions in the Middle East, according to three senior administration officials, who say the administration is following a declassified map first created by the State Department under the direction of former Vice President Joe Biden. The map shows oil and gas discoveries off Egypt, Lebanon and other countries and draws possible export routes that could lead to the sale of regional gas to the European Union. (McClatchy DC)

• Media reports found uncredited text copied from other groups in the climate plan released yesterday by Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden, including phrasings lifted from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions’ Carbon Capture Coalition and the American Rivers environmental group. The former vice president’s 1988 presidential campaign had been derailed following the realization that some of his speeches plagiarized a British politician. (The Washington Post)

• The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s orders approving the Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s Broad Run Expansion Project, denying a petition on procedural grounds. Petitioners had argued that FERC’s orders ran counter to the court’s earlier findings for the Sabal Trail Transmission pipeline, whose approval environmentalists challenged for failing to consider its greenhouse gas emissions. (S&P Global Platts)

2020 hopeful Jay Inslee unveils plan to boost US role in climate future
Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill

Inslee’s plan builds upon his previous climate proposals, calling for rolling back additional types of environment-harming gasses and preparing the U.S. to take a leadership role in a climate change future in which Inslee foresees migration based on extreme changes in weather.

U.S. EPA is sued for ousting scientists from advisory committees
Jonathan Stempel, Reuters

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was sued on Monday by a nonprofit over a recent directive banning many scientists from panels that advise the agency on scientific matters.

Chatterjee rejects criticism of violating FERC’s neutrality with use of #FreedomGas
Iulia Gheorghiu, Utility Dive

Chatterjee deflected the criticism, noting that he has been outspoked on gas exports for a long time. “My message on the geopolitical and environmental importance of LNGThe biggest tenets for cities with green deals are lofty goals to reduce emissions on accelerated timelines, with a focus on buildings and transportation sectors.  exports should not be conflated with my obligations under the law as we process [individual] applications,” Chatterjee told Utility Dive in an email statement.

Democrats Try to Outdo One Another on Climate
Kathleen Hunter, Bloomberg

Democrats seeking to unseat Donald Trump see an opportunity in the U.S. president’s refusal to embrace scientific evidence that man-made climate change would have devastating effects.

The Toxic Water Crisis That 2020 Democrats Are Still Figuring Out How To Talk About
Alexander C. Kaufman and Lena Jackson, HuffPost

Today, PFOA, which is part of a family of commonly used chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, looms as the nation’s most widespread and least understood environmental health crisis.

Oil prices slide on U.S. inventory build, equity rally caps losses
Ahmad Ghaddar, Reuters

Oil prices resumed their slide on Wednesday, dragged down after an unexpected gain in U.S. inventories but with losses capped by a recovery in global equities on hopes of a U.S. Fed rate cut.

DC Circuit upholds US FERC orders in GHG case, offers ‘misgivings’ on NEPA effort
Maya Weber, S&P Global Platts

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Tuesday upheld on procedural grounds Federal Energy Regulatory Commission orders in a case testing the agency’s greenhouse gas considerations in natural gas pipeline reviews, but the court expressed “misgivings” about FERC’s “less-than-dogged” efforts to obtain information for its National Environmental Policy Act review.

Permian gas flaring hits new record highs for “widespread waste,” pollution
Jordan Blum, Houston Chronicle

The flaring of natural gas in West Texas’ booming Permian Basin has exceeded previous estimates and is now contributing to far more “widespread waste” and pollution than ever before, according to a new report.

Shell sets out oil, gas growth case despite fossil fuel qualms
Robert Perkins, S&P Global Platts

Shell pledged Tuesday to continue growing its oil and gas production over the coming decade by spending more developing its shale assets while holding output steady from deepwater and conventional upstream projects, despite escalating climate concerns over fossil fuels.

SF hires financial adviser as it considers buying PG&E power lines
J.D. Morris, San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco has retained a financial adviser to help explore the possibility of buying Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s local power lines, a sign the city is getting increasingly serious about moving toward a full-fledged municipal utility.

Are cities the Green New Deal’s most viable frontier?
Chris Teale, Utility Dive

The biggest tenets for cities with green deals are lofty goals to reduce emissions on accelerated timelines, with a focus on buildings and transportation sectors.

Starwood Commits $500 Million to Commercial Energy Projects
Brian Eckhouse, Bloomberg

CleanFund, based in Sausalito, California, provides financing using a model called PACE — or property assessed clean energy — to help building owners upgrade insulation, install high-efficiency lighting and take other conservation measures.

Costco Stays with Dominion, Va. Commission Rules
Staff, RTO Insider

In a ruling that highlights growing rifts in Virginia’s electricity sector, the State Corporation Commission rejected Costco’s bid to buy power from utilities across state lines.

Anheuser-Busch partners with solar farm to meet energy goals
Dee-Ann Durbin, The Associated Press

The company said it is partnering with San Francisco-based solar developer Recurrent Energy, which will build and maintain a 2,000-acre solar farm in Pecos County, Texas.

Innogy eyes partnerships in potential U.S. offshore wind push
Tom Käckenhoff, Reuters

Energy firm Innogy, in the process of being broken up by parent RWE and rival E.ON, could team up with oil majors to build offshore wind farms in the booming U.S. market, one of its board members said.

California has too much solar power. That might be good for ratepayers
Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times

California set two renewable energy records last week: the most solar power ever flowing on the state’s main electric grid, and the most solar power ever taken offline because it wasn’t needed.

Will pogo sticks be the next scooters?
Jason Plautz, Utility Dive

Swedish startup Cangoroo has announced plans to deploy shared pogo sticks as a micromobility option in the Swedish cities of Malmö and Stockholm this month, with plans to expand to San Francisco and London as part of “aggressive growth goals.”

Lawmakers respond to Duke University study that warned of repeated coal ash spills at Sutton Lake
Kailey Tracy, WECT News

Lawmakers responded Tuesday to findings from researchers at Duke University that coal ash spilled several times into a lake, and has gone unnoticed. The researchers said this most recently occurred after Hurricane Florence.

Experts dispute nuclear plants’ profitability
Jim Provance, The Toledo Blade

One “expert” told Ohio senators Tuesday that the two nuclear power plants on the shore of Lake Erie are profitable and will not have to close prematurely even if consumers aren’t forced to bail them out. Another “expert” countered that this study cherry-picked its data but argued that, either way, Ohio can’t afford to lose the Davis-Besse plant east of Toledo, and the Perry, Ohio, plant east of Cleveland as other states prop up their own plants.

Judges Give Both Sides a Grilling in Youth Climate Case Against the Government
John Schwartz, The New York Times

Three federal judges heard arguments Tuesday about whether young people have a constitutional right to be protected from climate change. In the lively, hourlong hearing, the judges, from the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, pushed skeptically on the arguments of both sides.

Trump, pressed on the environment in U.K. visit, says climate change goes ‘both ways’
Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Washington Post

The president left a 90-minute meeting this week with Charles, Prince of Wales, unconvinced that the climate is warming, which it is, according to overwhelming scientific consensus.

Wind, Solar and Storage Are Powering U.S. Economy
Isak Kvam, Morning Consult

The U.S. economy revved its engine in 2018, and renewable energy is powering alongside.

Remaining vigilant against EPA’s clean water rollbacks
Bob Wendelgass, The Hill

With the start of summer, America’s kids will be swimming, fishing and enjoying the great outdoors. An important federal rule ensures the safety of those local lakes that kids swim in and the nearby streams their drinking water comes from: the Clean Water Rule.

Joe Biden Wants a Mini Green New Deal
Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic

This week, Joe Biden joined their ranks, releasing a lengthy climate plan on his website. Though Reuters teased his policy last month as a “middle ground” approach more moderate than the Green New Deal, the proposal looks pretty aggressive and sounds almost Sanders-esque in its ambition.

Fear-Based Climate Appeals Can Be Counterproductive
Tom Jacobs, Pacific Standard

Scaring people is a time-honored way of trying to convince people to change their minds. But new research suggests that, when it comes to climate change, that strategy might be backfiring.

The Next Generation of Federal Clean Electricity Tax Credits
Varun Sivaram and Noah Kaufman, Columbia University

The federal tax incentive for wind energy expires at the end of 2019, and the incentive for solar energy will begin phasing out in 2020. Over multiple decades, these policies have succeeded in promoting the development and deployment of wind and solar technology, which today are rapidly gaining market share in the US electricity sector.