The Senate is expected to take up the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol sometime this week. 

What we’re watching: The chamber could ratify its first climate treaty in decades if it can get 67 senators to agree to make it U.S. law. The agreement pushes participating countries to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) from air conditioning and refrigeration appliances by 85% over 15 years. 

The heat is on Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to unveil more details about his permitting reform proposal ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline as disagreement over his proposal continues to build from both chambers and parties. 

What we’re watching: Manchin last week said he was hopeful that colleague Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) will help him push through his permitting reform plan that he said would take as many as 20 Senate Republicans to pass as part of a stopgap spending measure meant to keep the government open past Sept. 30. Capito last week introduced a permitting reform bill with 46 Republican co-sponsors because Democrats have yet to unveil their own bill, but Manchin said if his plan isn’t included in the continuing resolution, the permitting proposal would be “dead.”  

• Jackson, Miss.: Gov. Tate Reeves (R-Miss.) announced that clean water had been restored to the city of Jackson, where a boil water advisory had been in place since July. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General will also investigate the water crisis that left 150,000 people without safe drinking water late last month after heavy rain and flooding of the Pearl River overwhelmed the city’s water treatment plant. 
• Shell: Wael Sawan, the head of Shell PLC’s gas and renewables business, is set to replace Ben van Beurden as chief executive of the company, as the oil major aims to move away from fossil fuels and hit a net-zero emissions target by 2050. 
• EVs: The Biden administration approved the plans of 34 states and Puerto Rico to build out a national electric vehicle charging station network using $900 million in funding from the infrastructure law, which provides $5 billion over five years to build the network.
• Offshore drilling: The Interior Department introduced a proposal to restore 2016 Obama-era safety provisions for offshore drilling put in place after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which would tighten technical requirements of blowout prevention systems, mandate faster failure investigations and require companies to send failure data directly to the agency instead of third parties. 
• Patagonia: Yvon Chouinard — the founder of privately held outdoor clothing and gear retailer Patagonia Inc. — and his family will transfer 98% of the company’s stock to the Holdfast Collective nonprofit, which will use the company’s profits of about $100 million a year to “protect nature and biodiversity, support thriving communities and fight the environmental crisis.” 
• Climate change: Global climate change impacts are entering “uncharted territories of destruction” as climate-related disasters have increased fivefold over the last five decades, costing $200 million a day, according to a report compiled by the World Meteorological Organization. 
• USDA: The Department of Agriculture will triple its initial investment in climate-friendly farming and forestry practices to about $3 billion after receiving more than 1,000 applications asking for more than $20 billion from the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program. 

80%

The maximum number of retired or active coal power plant locations in the United States that could be converted to nuclear power sites, according to a Department of Energy report, which includes as many as 157 retired plants and 237 operating plants. The report said the switch could help the nation reach its net-zero emission goals by 2050 by hosting advanced nuclear reactors.

1) About 80% of U.S. coal plant sites suitable to host nuclear reactors -U.S. DOE report

Reuters

2) Looming rail strike sparks fear of energy chaos

Mike Lee, E&E News

3) Money approved for states to build car-charging network

Gillian Flaccus and Matthew Brown, The Associated Press

4) Climate law: What to watch at Interior, FERC and DOE

Heather Richards et al., E&E News

5) As Dems squabble, GOP floats its own permitting bill

Kelsey Brugger et al., E&E News

6) Republican wants to raise office temperatures at DOE, EPA

Jeremy Dillon, E&E News

7) Progressive opposition grows ahead of permitting bill release

George Cahlink, E&E News

8) In the first half of 2022, 24% of U.S. electricity generation came from renewable sources

U.S. Energy Information Administration

9) Five charts explaining why inflation is so high

Alyssa Fowers and Rachel Siegel, The Washington Post

10) How ESG investing got tangled up in America’s culture wars

Michael Copley, NPR News

• At 75, the Father of Environmental Justice Meets the Moment (The New York Times)
• Floods took their family homes. Many don’t know when — or if — they’ll get help (NPR News)
• California’s algae bloom is like a ‘wildfire in the water’ (High Country News)
• The farmers trying to restore life to America’s stressed soils as climate change bites (Reuters)
• For climate voters, the future is female (E&E News)
• ‘I just want my people out here’: Black-led groups in Detroit are cultivating access to nature (Grist)
• Solar Panels Floating in Space Could One Day Power Your Home (Bloomberg)