Biden sets a new emissions reduction goal

CLIMATE: The Biden administration increases the country’s carbon emissions reduction goal from 50% to a 61-66% drop by 2035, though the incoming Trump administration is unlikely to follow the nonbinding target. (Grist, E&E News)

ALSO:

• City and state officials prepare to lead the way on climate action under a second Trump presidency, with some confident they’ll be able to keep pressing forward while others fear a rollback of emissions regulations. (The Hill)
• A new congressional report details the economic threat of climate change as nearly 1.9 million insurance policies were not renewed in recent years and insurance premium costs spike. (Grist)
• Montana’s Supreme Court upholds a landmark climate ruling saying the state’s fossil fuel-friendly permitting policies violate residents’ constitutional right to a clean environment. (Associated Press)

CLEAN ENERGY: President-elect Trump’s pick for U.S. agriculture secretary has blamed renewables for rising energy prices, suggesting she may derail initiatives that help rural electric co-ops adopt clean energy. (E&E News)

GRID:

• The Biden administration is reportedly working on a plan to allow construction of data centers and dedicated power plants on federal lands, with the plants likely powered byto be fueled with natural gas at first. (Washington Post)
• More than half of North America will be at risk of power shortfalls during the next five to 10 years as demand rises, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. predicts. (Utility Dive)
• Six New England states are teaming up to push the region’s grid operator to advance transmission projects throughout the region, believed to be the first collaboration of its kind in the country. (Boston Globe, subscription)

SOLAR:

• A North Carolina nonprofit educates schoolchildren and collaborates with community colleges to train a solar workforce as it aims to maximize the benefits of large solar farms in rural America. (Energy News Network)
• A small, cash-strapped Pennsylvania school district’s adoption of solar power and electric buses is an example of getting the economics right on clean energy, advocates say. (Canary Media)

COAL: The International Energy Agency finds global coal use has continued to set new records over the last few years even as U.S. consumption shrinks, but it’s on track to plateau by 2027 thanks to renewables. (Axios)

HYDROGEN: The U.S. Energy Department unveils plans to conduct environmental reviews for proposed hydrogen hubs in Appalachia, California and the Northwest. (E&E News, subscription; Oregon Capital Chronicle)

EFFICIENCY: An energy efficiency company could face nearly $1 billion in penalties for what federal regulators called a ​“manipulative scheme” that violated MISO and PJM rules for over a decade. (Utility Dive)

OIL & GAS: Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy calls on Trump to roll back the Biden administration’s restrictions on oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the National Petroleum Reserve. (Alaska Beacon)

NUCLEAR: U.S. data center operator Switch signs a non-binding 20-year agreement to offtake power from advanced nuclear reactors currently under development. (Utility Dive)