Climate change

• Heads of state of the European Union said they reached a deal to target net-zero emissions by 2050, despite a lack of buy-in from Poland, whose objections are to be discussed at a special meeting in June.

• The New York State Supreme Court handed Exxon Mobil Corp. a victory in a lawsuit alleging that the company defrauded investors out of as much as $1.6 billion by misleading them about the impacts of climate change on its business. Justice Barry Ostrager said the New York state attorney general’s lawsuit did not provide evidence to back its claims against the oil giant.

Oil and gas

• Chevron Corp. cut its projections for future commodity prices and announced a write-down of a combined $10 billion to $11 billion through a reduction of the value of several holdings, including its U.S. shale assets.

• Chevron also made a final investment decision on the offshore Anchor project off the coastline of Louisiana, which will cost an initial $5.7 billion and will be the first deepwater high-pressure project in the Gulf to move forward.

• In each of its first two days of trading, the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. hit the 10 percent maximum increase, taking Aramco’s valuation past $2 trillion.

• Global oil supply could increase by 700,000 barrels per day in the first quarter of 2020, even if the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries makes good on its intended cuts of 2.1 million bpd, according to the International Energy Agency’s monthly oil market report.

Interior Department

• Douglas W. Domenech, an Interior Department assistant secretary with jurisdiction over U.S. oceans and coastlines, violated federal ethics regulations by meeting with his former employer, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, about loosening Endangered Species Act protections, according to an inspector general report obtained by a media outlet. The findings of a separate inquiry said Interior Secretary David Bernhardt did not seek to delay the release of a report on pesticides and imperiled species.

• In a 52-39 vote, the Senate confirmed Aurelia Skipwith to direct the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

• Up to 80 percent of the 159 Bureau of Land Management employees in Washington, D.C., intend to reject their reassignment orders and either find federal employment elsewhere or retire, according to several sources.

• House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said the Government Accountability Office will investigate Interior’s planning behind the relocation of BLM headquarters to Colorado. 

Companies

• Oklo Inc. announced it is the first non-light water power reactor to receive a site use permit from the Energy Department, for the construction of its 1.5-megawatt compact fast reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory.

• Environment and Climate Change Canada, a federal agency, said that Volkswagen AG was charged with violating the Canadian Environmental Protection Act by shipping almost 128,000 vehicles into the country that did not comply with emission standards.

PG&E Corp.

• PG&E Corp. announced in a securities filing it will log a pretax charge of $4.9 billion for the fourth quarter on the $13.5 billion settlement with wildfire victims that was recently announced.

• The utility submitted an amended reorganization proposal, which it said it can fund completely through existing capital and have finalized prior to its June 2020 deadline to end its bankruptcy. 

• The House and Senate are in session this week.

• The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee set a hearing for Tuesday at 10 a.m. on the nomination of Lanny Erdos to be the director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.

• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission holds its open meeting on Thursday at 10 a.m.

1) It’s a Vast, Invisible Climate Menace. We Made It Visible.
Jonah M. Kessel and Hiroko Tabuchi, The New York Times

2) Exxon Mobil scores win in New York climate change lawsuit
Brendan Pierson, Reuters

3) How a closed-door meeting shows farmers are waking up on climate change
Helena Bottemiller Evich, Politico

4) Carbon Capture Advocates: Tech Is Being Revitalized, but More Support Needed 
Jacqueline Toth, Morning Consult

5) Advanced Reactor Developer Oklo Receives Site Use Permit From Energy Department
Jacqueline Toth, Morning Consult

6) America blows past the world in oil and natural gas
Amy Harder, Axios

7) Northern California Power Outages Could Soar If Aging Lines Aren’t Replaced, PG&E Study Finds
Rebecca Smith, The Wall Street Journal

8) Chevron, Facing Fossil Fuels Glut, Takes $10 Billion Charge
Christopher M. Matthews and Rebecca Elliott, The Wall Street Journal

9) Kavanaugh opens door to carbon rule challenge
Niina H. Farah, E&E News

10) Aurelia Skipwith Confirmed to Run U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Dean Scott, Bloomberg Environment