UTILITIES: The Inflation Reduction Act is a potential game changer for rural electric cooperatives, giving them access for the first time to clean energy tax credits and providing nearly $10 billion in debt relief to help the member-owned utilities transition from coal. (New Republic)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• The shift to electric vehicles could ramp up lithium mining in North Carolina, spurring a debate over whether clean technology is truly clean for everyone. (Grist)
• Toyota says it will spend $5.6 billion to build electric vehicle battery plants in Japan and the U.S. while continuing investments in hydrogen fuel cell cars. (CNN)
• Hyundai stands to lose out on new federal criteria that limit subsidies for electric vehicles made outside North America, even as it moves to build a factory in Georgia. (Reuters)
NUCLEAR: California lawmakers pass a bill to lend Pacific Gas & Electric $1.4 billion and otherwise support the utility’s bid to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant running beyond its planned 2025 retirement date. (Los Angeles Times)
GRID:
• A judge rules that Texas can’t stop NextEra from building a transmission project that links to an external grid, potentially boosting upgrades in MISO and Southwest Power Pool territories. (S&P Global)
• A startup company is working to make real-time emissions data from grid operators publicly accessible, which could help with reaching 24/7 clean energy pledges. (Canary Media)
OIL & GAS:
• California lawmakers pass a bill banning new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of houses, schools or other “sensitive receptors,” while requiring emissions monitoring of existing wells in the buffer zone. (Los Angeles Times)
• The Biden administration asks a federal court to review its ban on new oil and gas permitting off the coast of California, after a court previously blocked the ban. (Reuters)
SOLAR: Mounting solar panels among wild blueberry patches has potential to help protect farmland and boost the industry, but preliminary research in Maine suggests plants could produce fewer berries. (Energy News Network)
TRANSPORTATION: California lawmakers pass a bill that would offer a $1,000 tax credit to lower-income households that don’t own a car. (Bloomberg)
CLIMATE:
• The flash drought across much of the Northeast looks different from western droughts but still has major ecological and human impacts. (Grist)
• Schools without air conditioning are increasingly cancelling classes and risk losing students’ focus as temperatures warm. (Grist)
OVERSIGHT:
• An Ohio environmental attorney notes that the Inflation Reduction Act includes language giving the U.S. EPA clear authority to regulate greenhouse gasses under the Clean Air Act. (Statehouse News Bureau)
• Three House Democrats call on federal regulators to strengthen standards for voluntary carbon offset programs. (The Hill)
COAL: Hawaii’s only coal plant shuts down, forcing utilities to rely on oil-fired power until solar and wind facilities delayed by supply chain constraints come online. (Los Angeles Times)
COMMENTARY:
• The Inflation Reduction Act boosts the United States’ climate credibility, but experts say it falls short on helping other countries decarbonize. (Atlantic)
• Clean electricity advocates outline how utilities and states can use Inflation Reduction Act tax credits to accelerate their transitions to clean energy. (Utility Dive)
• Congress needs to enact sweeping permitting reforms if it hopes to meaningfully boost clean energy deployment, a former environmental regulator writes. (Wall Street Journal)
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