Climate bill could reward states for cutting transportation emissions

TRANSPORTATION: The House reconciliation bill includes a measure that would give states ​“very large incentives” for cutting transportation emissions. (Washington Post)

FOSSIL FUELS:
• Efforts in Congress to eliminate tax breaks for oil and gas companies could result in a new subsidy to reward companies that cut methane emissions. (E&E News)
• An Energy Department report says the U.S. will lead the world in liquified natural gas export capacity by the end of next year. (Houston Chronicle)
• Conservative groups have coined the term ​“woke capitalism” to criticize banks for refusing to fund fossil fuel projects, and are pushing legislation to force them to do so. (Gizmodo)

GRID:
• Texas regulators seek to assure residents that the grid is prepared for winter after February’s near-collapse, but energy experts remain concerned that vulnerabilities still exist. (Houston Chronicle, Spectrum News)
• The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power partners with the Navajo tribal utility to connect Navajo homes to the power grid. (Associated Press)

CLEAN ENERGY:
• Nebraska’s largest utility adopts a nonbinding decarbonization goal of net-zero emissions by 2050; the vote was years in the making as clean energy advocates sought representation on the boards of Nebraska’s three main utilities. (Grist, E&E News)
• An aging workforce means the mining industry may face a labor shortage as demand for lithium, copper and other materials needed for clean energy technology ramps up. (Reuters)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Analysts say electric vehicles are still on track to reach price parity with gasoline cars by the mid-2020s; meanwhile EVs are still a better deal than many gas cars because of lower cost of ownership. (Inside Climate News)
• General Motors forms two new partnerships with materials suppliers to help the automaker achieve its electric vehicle production goals. (Detroit News)

WIND: Efforts to create a national monument in the Mojave Desert will likely end plans for a proposed 700 acre wind farm. (E&E News)

POLITICS: Critics say Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin doesn’t have the power to withdraw the state from a regional carbon market because its participation is regulated by an air pollution control board. (Grist)

COMMENTARY:
• Advocates say Germany’s low rate of power outages shows that the U.S. can push harder on clean energy without threatening reliability. (Yale E360)
• A columnist says Elon Musks’ criticism of government subsidies is ​“bizarre and ironic” given his companies’ dependence on state and federal tax breaks. (Washington Post)
• A solar engineer and consultant says ​“extreme misinformation and distortions” helped lead a Kansas county to adopt overly restrictive zoning regulations that could shut out development. (Kansas City Star)