(NOT SO) GREEN RECOVERY: U.N. study finds just 2.5% of pandemic response funds committed so far will help fix the climate and environment (TIME, AP, Thomson Reuters Foundation), hall of shame: 9 countries missing the chance of a green recovery (Climate Home)
CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: US urged to cut 50% of emissions by 2030 to spur other countries to action (The Guardian), France urges common U.S.-EU green finance rules after Kerry talks (Thomson Reuters Foundation), Australia needs more climate action for EU deal, ABC says (Bloomberg $)
INTERNATIONAL: Over 20 countries found weakening environmental protection during pandemic (Thomson Reuters Foundation), China’s economic plan short on climate goals as ministries tussle (FT $)
STIMULUS: Biden’s stimulus is a big deal for public transit (The Atlantic)
AGENCIES: Biden EPA to reconsider Trump rule on lead in drinking water (AP), DOE will spend billions on electric vehicle R&D in jobs fight with China, Granholm says (Utility Dive), Pentagon announces climate working group (The Hill, Tech Crunch)
EXECUTIVE BRANCH: When it comes to clean energy, USPS delivery trucks don't yet answer the mail (NPR)
THE HILL: Bipartisan bill seeks to raise fees for public lands drilling (The Hill), federal bills creating standalone storage tax credit raise hopes for significant boost, akin to solar (Utility Dive), why the PRO act is part of a Green New Deal (Earther)
PORTER: Katie Porter scolds oil executive: 'Please don't patronize me' (The Hill, Truthout)
MANCHIN: Manchin skeptical of extending renewable tax credits (Politico Pro $), Manchin on his veto power over Biden agenda: 'It's not a good place to be' (CNN)
LAWSUITS: Lawsuits seek over $1B from Pacific Power over wildfires (AP), states’ opening attack on Biden climate agenda faces hurdles (Bloomberg Law)
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Activists press Connecticut lawmakers for equity on transportation emissions (Energy News Network), is there anything funny about climate change? (The New Yorker $)
CITIES AND STATES: Colorado AG asks federal regulators to probe traders’ “windfall” gas profits from February cold snap (The Colorado Sun), Houston area flood control effort facing $1.4B shortfall (AP), housing projects planned for wildfire zones challenged by state. But residents want them built. (San Francisco Chronicle)
IMPACTS: Hawaii’s rains, floods cited as examples of climate change (AP, Washington Post $, USA Today), the Texas storm released 3.5 million pounds of extra pollution (The Hill), extreme winter freeze that hit U.S. actually used to be common (Mashable), living with fire: what California can learn from native burns (HuffPost)
SEA LEVEL RISE: Islands, rocks and tuna: Pacific nations draw new battle lines against rising seas (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
WILDLIFE: Saving the West’s most iconic cactus from climate change (Washington Post $)
METHANE: Natural geological methane emissions appear larger than expected (Phys.org)
RENEWABLES: China leads world's biggest increase in wind power capacity (The Guardian), India to tax solar equipment imports to help local companies (Bloomberg $), new tax credits are best option to spur clean hydrogen, Resources for the Future analysis finds (Utility Dive), reluctantly, a coal state pivots to wind (New York Times $), Goldman picks 9 renewable energy stocks set to rebound after falling up to 40% (CNBC $)
STORAGE: Century-old Australia coal plant makes way for giant battery (Bloomberg $)
OIL & GAS: Argentina is torn between its shale dream and climate goals (Bloomberg $)
PIPELINES: Oil and gas companies are making old pipelines the landowner’s problem (Popular Science/Nexus Media News), a Midwest pipeline promises to return carbon dioxide to the ground (Grist), Trans Mountain wants to keep insurers secret amid pipe pushback (Bloomberg $)
COAL: Retire coal today? No problem, RMI report says (PV Magazine), China turns its back on Bangladesh BRI coal projects (FT $)
NUCLEAR: With green energy, Japanese governor wants to take Fukushima out of nuclear shadow (Thomson Reuters Foundation, FT $)
GRID: Climate change will have 'far-reaching' impacts on electric grid, watchdog says (The Hill)
EVs: Electric cars are coming. How long until they rule the road? (New York Times $)
ACTIVISM: As Australian teens launch major climate lawsuit, this 86-year-old nun stands with them (Thomson Reuters Foundation), how Indigenous people in the Amazon are using drones to protect rainforests (Yale Climate Connections)
CRYPTO: How to fix crypto art NFTs’ carbon pollution problem (Earther), the regulations that could help reduce Bitcoin’s carbon footprint (Earther)
DENIAL: Republicans' new favorite study trashes Biden's climate plans – but who's behind it? (The Guardian)
DIVESTMENT: Bill McKibben says Rutgers divesting from fossil fuels is a “big deal” (Truthout)
FINANCE: HSBC avoids revolt by investors pressing for cut in fossil fuel loan (FT $, Bloomberg $, The Guardian), climate fintech startup Atmos Financial puts savings to work for clean energy (Greentech Media), corporations could soon be forced to disclose their climate change denial funding (Jacobin), Greenpeace protests ECB’s loans for carbon-heavy industries (AP)
RICH GUYS: Who is the man Jeff Bezos chose to spend $10 billion as head of his Earth Fund? (Thomson Reuters Foundation)