Federal truck rule could clear N.C. smog and supercharge EVs

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: North Carolina advocates say the Biden administration’s proposed emission rules for heavy-duty trucks could reduce pollution and boost the state’s burgeoning electric vehicle industry, but say supporting state and federal policies need to be implemented as well. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:

• Electric vehicle maker Rivian sees another drop in its market value after it reports a $1.4 billion loss in the first quarter, generating more questions about its planned Georgia factory. (Bloomberg, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Walmart begins testing a Tesla semi-truck as part of a four-week pilot program. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

EMISSIONS:

• Texas-based Occidental Petroleum promises to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, but critics dismiss its carbon capture plans as a ​“fig leaf” that grants the company a ​“license to pollute” and continue producing fossil fuels. (Grist)
• Louisiana’s attorney general attacks the Biden administration for a proposed rule to tighten emissions from chemical plants as a Congress member calls for the arrest of the U.S. EPA’s leader next time he visits the state. (WBRZ)

SOLAR: A Florida real estate developer discusses what led him to launch an 18,000-acre, fully solar community. (Business Observer)

GRID:

• An Arkansas-based grid operator that covers the central U.S. hit a renewable penetration level of more than 90% in 2022 and regularly tops 75%, with nearly all that power coming from wind. (States Newsroom)
• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s veto of a bill to pause a tax exemption for power-hungry data centers demonstrates how difficult it is to reverse established tax breaks. (Associated Press)

OIL & GAS:

• Eighteen Virginia state lawmakers call for federal regulators to block the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s request to begin service next month after it ruptured during hydrostatic testing last week. (WVTF)
• Leaders in a Virginia county appeal to Gov. Glenn Youngkin for help adding a decompression station to an existing pipeline that will allow it to access natural gas. (Cardinal News)
• The geology of the Gulf of Mexico’s ​“salt domes” helps explain why it’s home to one of the healthiest coral reefs in the world despite offshore oil platforms. (Grist/​Science Friday)

FINANCE:

• A Louisiana regulator calls on the governor and state lawmakers to eliminate the state income tax and replace it with revenue from a new tax on all foreign and offshore oil processed or refined in the state. (Louisiana Illuminator)
• An Arkansas committee votes to keep 10 financial service providers on a list of service providers they say discriminate against fossil fuels or energy companies, even though some of those firms argue they don’t. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

CARBON CAPTURE: A Texas company signs a letter of intent with an energy company to build a carbon capture and storage facility in Louisiana. (news release)

UTILITIES: A Texas residents’ experience unexpectedly having his power shut off exposes a gap in state regulations that allows people to start and stop service without proving ownership of a property. (Dallas Morning News)

CLIMATE:

• The Dallas-Fort Worth area experiences high temperatures that tie a record as the state grid operator issues a ​“weather watch.” (Dallas Morning News)
• Louisiana’s interim state climatologist warns high ocean temperatures and a lack of wind over the Atlantic Ocean could lead to an ​“extraordinarily active season” for hurricanes. (WWNO)

COMMENTARY: An Alabama lawmaker calls for better training of firefighters and emergency responders to respond to electric vehicle-related emergencies. (AL.com)