Biden admin. approves smallest-ever Gulf of Mexico oil program

OIL & GAS: The Biden administration proposes just three oil auctions for drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico over the next five years, making it the smallest-ever offshore oil program in U.S. history. (E&E News)

ALSO: The head of a Houston-based oil and gas company says carbon capture technology ​“gives our industry a license to continue to operate for the 60, 70, 80 years” she claims are needed to transition to clean energy. (E&E News)

OVERSIGHT:

• Plaintiffs will likely appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a court ruling that could affect the racial makeup of utility commissions in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. (Georgia Recorder)
• The U.S. EPA points to a Louisiana petrochemical factory where it demanded emissions reductions as an example of what the agency says is a pattern of reinvigorated enforcement. (Associated Press)

COAL: Miner advocates are frustrated that West Virginia’s Republican Congress members won’t back legislation to make it easier for coal miners and their families to access black lung benefits. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

STORAGE: An Arkansas county considers a company’s proposal to build 200 MW and 224 MW battery storage facilities as residents express concern about safety and noise. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

TRANSITION: The U.S. Energy Department’s changing use of a national laboratory and security complex in eastern Tennessee reflects an evolving approach to nuclear projects and the clean energy transition. (Knoxville News Sentinel)

CLIMATE:

• Even as San Antonio, Texas, grows rapidly, residents are avoiding nearly a fifth of the city’s blocks due to flood risk, illustrating a national trend of hyper-local migration to avoid flooding. (Houston Chronicle)
• Norfolk, Virginia, residents and stakeholder groups at opposite ends of the political and economic hierarchy are growing frustrated with the city’s lack of transparency about its $2.7 billion storm risk plan. (Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism/​WHRO)
• A winter storm wreaks havoc on Florida communities still recovering from Hurricane Ida earlier this year, but officials say the damage is likely not intense enough to qualify for a federal disaster declaration. (Tampa Bay Times)

SOLAR:

• Tech company Meta agrees to buy 330 MW sourced from three solar projects being built in Arkansas and Illinois. (Power Technology)
• A renewables company secures equity to finance construction of a 272 MW solar project in Texas. (Renewables Now)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Panasonic announces it won’t build an electric vehicle battery plant near Tulsa, Oklahoma, despite lawmakers dangling a $698 million incentive package plus millions in site improvements. (Oklahoma Voice)
• North Carolina finishes spending the roughly $92 million it received from the Volkswagen cheat-device scandal, mostly on the transition to electric and low-emission vehicles. (Raleigh News & Observer)
• The United Auto Workers president accuses Volkswagen of union busting at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• West Virginia U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin asks a government watchdog to issue an opinion undoing President Biden’s tax subsidies for electric vehicles. (E&E News, subscription)
• A former Tesla executive unveils an electric boat built by his new Florida-based company. (St. Pete Catalyst)

UTILITIES: Nashville, Tennessee’s municipal utility uses an exemption to non-competitively award a streetlight-replacement contract that critics say would have been less expensive if put out for bid. (Tennessee Lookout)

COMMENTARY: Although Florida did not apply for federal funds to provide access to low-income communities, a coalition of nonprofits could still win up to $250 million from the program, writes the director of a solar fund. (Miami Herald/​Invading Sea)