China puts more pressure on U.S. battery makers

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: China establishes new export rules on graphite, an essential component in electric vehicle batteries, potentially creating sourcing issues for U.S. manufacturers and increasing the urgency to develop recycling processes. (Grist)

ALSO: The federal government publishes a list of electric vehicles that qualify for $7,500 and $3,750 incentives. (Inside Climate News)

OIL & GAS:

• A federal appeals court reaffirms its decision to strike down Berkeley, California’s gas ban in new buildings, invalidating other local gas bans in the 9th Circuit’s territory of 11 Western states. (Grist)
• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham proposes spending part of an oil and gas-generated budget surplus on affordable housing, public education and electric vehicle and low-emission truck incentives. (Associated Press)

COAL:

• Global coal-fired power generation may have reached its peak in 2023, analysts say. (Canary Media)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority threatens to delay closing a 2,470 MW coal-fired power plant in Tennessee if federal regulators don’t promptly approve a 32-mile pipeline to a planned natural gas plant. (Utility Dive)
• Xcel Energy on New Year’s Eve shut down the first unit of a major Minnesota coal plant that will later be a key clean energy site hosting solar and battery storage. (KNSI)

SOLAR: A pair of U.S. solar manufacturers challenge the Biden administration’s decision to block tariffs on components imported from some southeast Asian countries. (Bloomberg, subscription)

CLEAN ENERGY: The Port of Virginia becomes the East Coast’s first seaport to run entirely on clean energy due to its investments in electrification and power purchase agreement with Dominion Energy. (Maritime Executive)

CLIMATE:

• Environmental lawyers worry the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority will strike down a youth climate lawsuit, blocking similar cases from making it to courts. (E&E News)
• A federal report finds the waters off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands registered the warmest winter temperatures in over a century, making the ecosystem a ​“bellwether for climate change.” (Alaska Beacon)
• More than half of Minnesota mental health professionals in a 2022 survey reported seeing climate-related anxiety, depression and chronic psychological issues in patients, including adolescents expressing hopelessness about the future. (Minnesota Reformer)

UTILITIES: A West Virginia auditor finds evidence FirstEnergy subsidiaries in the state adjusted their budgets for costs related to an Ohio bribery scandal, but has not been able to get a full picture of how they’re all connected. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel)

EMISSIONS:

• Democratic federal lawmakers from Arizona and Montana urge the Biden administration to back off on plans to limit power plant greenhouse gas emissions that could lead to coal facility closures. (Billings Gazette)
• Decarbonizing more than 150 city-owned buildings is a key piece of St. Paul, Minnesota’s climate action plan and also a way to lead by example, officials say. (Energy News Network)