(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Fixing what highways destroyed (New York Times $), can removing highways fix America’s cities? (New York Times $)
CLIMATE LITIGATION: Guyanese citizens challenge ExxonMobil offshore drilling on climate grounds (The Guardian)
FIRST AND WORST: Digital divide: How to unmute climate voices in poorer nations (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
BIG OIL'S BIGLY BAD WEEK: What the shakeups legal losses for fossil fuel companies mean for climate change efforts (PBS NewsHour), ‘Black Wednesday’ for Big Oil as courtrooms and boardrooms turn on industry (The Guardian), Big Oil may get more climate lawsuits after Shell ruling -lawyers, activists (Reuters), big setbacks propel oil giants toward a ‘tipping point’ (New York Times $), how Exxon lost a board battle with a small hedge fund (New York Times $), investors give Exxon payback for frustrations on strategy and climate (Wall Street Journal $), the week that shook Big Oil (NPR)
RELATEDLY: Three Exxon refineries top the list of U.S. polluters (Reuters)
ELECTRIFICATION: Battle brews over banning natural gas to homes (Wall Street Journal $), emails: utilities drafted talking points against gas bans (E&E $)
JUSTICE IN A COURT OF LAW: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is personally liable for $700 million in Greensill loans (Wall Street Journal $)
PIPELINES: A year after Kinder Morgan pipeline spill, Hill Country residents still surviving on bottled water (Houston Chronicle), Mountain Valley Pipeline resumes work on steep slopes in Roanoke area (The Roanoke Times)
AGENCIES: Biden details plans for ARPA-C, slashing fossil fuel tax breaks (E&E $), FWS proposes polar bear 'take' [kill] rule for Alaska oil projects (E&E $), Biden’s Justice Department is defending a Trump-era plan to drill the Arctic (Gizmodo)
EPA: Biden EPA budget would back up massive infrastructure plan (Politico Pro $), EPA urges FERC to consider 'carbon lock-in' of gas pipelines, stranded assets (S&P Global), Biden proposal aims to rebuild depleted workforce (E&E $)
DOE: Biden budget seeks renewable spending boost for Energy Department (Politico Pro $), Democrats press Granholm for more science spending (E&E $), R&D funding, nuclear, renewables get big budget boosts (E&E $), Granholm fleshes out views on budget, fusion 'holy grail' (E&E $), US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm touts clean energy jobs in Houston (Houston Chronicle)
DOI: Biden budget seeks $2.5 billion increase for Interior Department (Politico Pro $), mine cleanup, conservation, offshore wind boosted in budget (E&E $), oil and gas leasing review to be released in ‘early summer’ -official (Reuters)
DOT: Buttigieg unveils transportation budget with big plans, and uncertainties (Washington Post $)
THE HILL: 'Momnibus': climate bill seeks fix to birth inequity (E&E $), bank CEOs stand by fossil fuels. 'We're proud of it' (E&E $), Dems offer climate risk bill as banks stand by fossil fuels (E&E $)
SENATE: ‘Real compromise’ on U.S. infrastructure bill possible - Republican senator [Shelley Moore Capito] (Reuters), Murkowski's bet on working with Biden paying off (E&E $), last-minute demands delay passage of innovation bill (E&E $), Menendez floats bill to outlaw Atlantic drilling (E&E $)
WHITE HOUSE: Kamala Harris becomes 1st woman to give commencement speech at U.S. naval academy (The Root, New York Times $, AP)
BUDGET, FEDERAL: Biden budget aims to deliver big climate boost (Politico Pro $), Biden budget aims to raise $35B from cutting fossil fuel tax benefits (The Hill, New York Times $), Biden budget envisions climate, justice mission for the Army Corps (Politico Pro $), Biden proposes slashing $100B in oil, gas tax credits (Politico Pro $), Biden’s budget goes big on spending in bid to lift middle class (Politico), Biden's $6T plan a 'whole of government' approach on climate (E&E $), Treasury details Biden's tax proposals (The Hill), what’s in Biden’s $6 trillion budget plan (Wall Street Journal $)
BUDGETS, PERSONAL: 76% of older millennials are worried about climate change—and it’s impacting how they spend their money (CNBC), add ‘climate hazards’ to your home-buyer’s checklist (New York Times $)
AMERICAN JOBS PLAN: Republicans include $4B for EVs in 2nd counteroffer to Biden infrastructure plan (Utility Dive), Biden threatens to close down talks after GOP EV offer (E&E $), Biden to Capito: 'We have to finish this really soon' (E&E $), Gillibrand says it's a 'misstep' for Democrats to wait for Republicans to negotiate infrastructure (The Hill)
POLITICS: Democrats grapple with the enemy within: what to do about the filibuster rule that could kill their agenda (Washington Post $)
ELECTIONS: Close Senate races likely to feature energy debates (E&E $), GOP attacks Biden energy agenda in bid for Haaland seat (E&E $)
CES OPPOSITION: Democrats' divisions haunt clean electricity standard (E&E $)
NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Biden’s top scientist quickly confirmed by Senate (Politico Pro $) [USDA] nominee dodges questions on carbon as commodity (E&E $)
CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Nations begin 3 weeks of grueling climate talks online (AP), UK investors urge G7 to force firms to reveal their climate change exposure (The Guardian)
CITIES AND STATES: Arizona regulators revive energy rules package, propose 100% clean energy by 2070 (Utility Dive)(AP), New Mexico imposes strict rule to prevent venting, flaring of natural gas (Yale Climate Connections)
TEXAS: Beto O'Rourke and Texas Democrats are demanding an investigation into the true death count of the winter storm (Buzzfeed), as Texas power grid reforms take shape, natural gas suppliers evade scrutiny (Houston Chronicle), Houston seethes over being frozen out of federal flood funds (AP), with the world focused on reducing methane emissions, even Texas signals a crackdown on ‘flaring’ (InsideClimate News)
FERC: Self-dealing' loophole could upend FERC pipeline reviews (E&E $)
IMPACTS: [The] Southwest's new climate peril (Axios), here’s the Arctic station that keeps satellites connected (New York Times $), lost to sea: The Ivory Coast villagers saving their ancestors from rising waves (Climate Home), Louisiana coast still hurting from storms, bracing for more (AP), buried alive in Mongolia's worst sandstorms in a decade (NPR)
WILDFIRES: Rangers urge safety to avoid more wildfires in New England (AP)
HURRICANES: Experts warn US needs to better prepare for hurricane season (The Hill), some coastal areas are more prone to devastating hurricanes – a meteorologist explains why (The Conversation), huge swathes of farm land swamped in eastern India after cyclone (Reuters)
DROUGHT: Brazil on drought alert, faces worst dry spell in 91 years (Reuters)
HEALTH: Acute malnutrition surging among Haitian children, UNICEF warns (Reuters), Seasonal affective disorder isn’t just for winter (New York Times $)
OCEANS: Struggling seabirds wave red flag about ocean health (E&E $)
RENEWABLES: Cranberry farmers look to sweeten income by pairing crop with solar panels (Energy News Network), pulling power: the green lure of Sweden's industrial far north (Reuters), the places paving the way to 100% renewable energy (The Verge), why rooftop solar and home batteries make a clean grid vastly more affordable (Canary Media)
EFFICIENCY: The butterfly effect: retrofitting low-income housing (Architect.com)
OIL & GAS: Total shareholders back strategy, including on climate, CEO says (Reuters), ‘Suezmax’ oil tankers could soon be plying the poisoned waters of Texas’ Lavaca Bay (InsideClimate News)
PLASTICS: Plastic waste from burning ship buries Sri Lanka's coastline (Gizmodo), Meet the woman turning Kenya's plastic waste problem into a building solution: Plastic bricks (CBS)
COAL: Dispute over a coal industry pits Poland against its neighbors (New York Times $)
HYDROGEN: Belgian firms and researchers join forces in "green hydrogen" push (Reuters), hydrogen 'a huge opportunity' to replace fossil fuels, says U.S. energy secretary (Reuters), KXL, oil companies hire first lobbyists for 'green' hydrogen (E&E $)
NUKES: DOE lab: Small reactors beat wind, batteries in future grid (E&E $)
EVs: Cleaning the air starts with education on school bus role (School Transportation News)
DEFORESTATION: The time has come to rein in the global scourge of palm oil (Yale Environment 360), WTO accepts Malaysia's request to examine EU palm oil rules (Reuters)
ACTIVISM: Medics march to WHO headquarters in climate campaign (Reuters)
GEOENGINEERING: Rand Corp. calls for pact to avoid 'geoengineering crisis' (E&E $)
CRYPTO & NFTs: A company wants to build a massive solar project in Montana — of course it’s for crypto (The Verge), greener cryptocurrencies in focus as Bitcoin faces environmental criticism (Washington Examiner), Iran bans crypto mining after months of Blackouts (Gizmodo)
FINANCE: Norway's largest pension company to make $245 mln 'dark green' investment (Reuters), Swiss watchdog FINMA requires banks, insurers to disclose climate risks (Reuters)
ACADEMIA: To help address the climate problem, universities must rethink the tenure and promotion system (Yale Climate Connections)
WILDLIFE: How do animals safely cross a highway? Take a look. (New York Times $)
INTERNATIONAL: [Australian] court: nation has 'duty of care' to consider climate harms (E&E $), COVID sent Australia’s carbon emissions plummeting in 2020 to lowest levels in 30 years (The Guardian), Dubai plans emissions-free public transport by 2050 (Reuters), outrage and delight as France ditches reliance on meat in climate bill (The Guardian), to slow climate change, Australia turns to its coastline (Wall Street Journal $)