GOP attorneys general group rakes in fossil fuel money

POLITICS: A group of Republican attorneys general whose members have fought federal climate policies has accepted about $5.8 million from fossil fuel companies and lobbying groups since President Biden took office. (The Guardian)

ALSO:

• U.S. climate advocates say Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s measured and bureaucratic approach to clean energy programs, and success in attracting federal funding, will lead to policy gains at the federal level. (E&E News)
• Democrats’ newly released party platform calls for reaching net-zero agriculture emissions by 2050 with the help of climate-smart initiatives and other projects. (Successful Farming)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates developers will build 62.8 GW of new power generation capacity this year, with solar and storage leading the way. (Utility Dive)
• The Inflation Reduction Act’s labor standards for clean energy development could create as many as 3.9 million jobs across 6,285 burgeoning projects, a labor advocacy group says. (Utility Dive)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Improving electric vehicles’ efficiency could reduce grid stress, cut charging costs, and mean cars need smaller, less costly batteries, an energy efficiency group finds. (Utility Dive)

COAL: Republican-led states and coal companies ask the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the Biden administration’s crackdown on mercury and other toxic emissions from power plants, arguing it will lead to grid problems if they decide to shut down. (The Hill)

CARBON CAPTURE: A company drops a plan to build a carbon capture facility alongside its $18.4 billion Texas liquified natural gas facility, which is already under construction but which recently hit a legal snag. (DeSmog)

GRID:

• The pair of 1950s-era coal plants bailed out under Ohio’s House Bill 6 law are likely to remain unprofitable even after record-high payments for generators in PJM’s latest capacity auction, experts say. (Energy News Network)
• Critics say the capacity prices are the result of poor planning, market design failures and governance problems at PJM. (States Newsroom)
• Texas’ grid regulator credits new battery, solar wind power for boosting the state grid and preventing conservation alerts this summer. (KVUE, KDFW)
• New England public advocates say they’re concerned with the structure and cost of Eversource’s proposed $384 million transmission line upgrade project. (NHPR)

PIPELINES: Greenpeace is attempting to use a new European legal strategy to counter SLAPP suits as the organization defends against the Dakota Access pipeline owner’s claims that it incited protests against the project nearly eight years ago. (New York Times)

WIND: The U.S. Energy Department issues a request for information related to offshore wind transmission development along the West Coast. (Renewable Energy Magazine)

CLIMATE: Washington state awards 41 tribal nations and other organizations $14 million from its carbon cap-and-invest program to fund climate change mitigation projects. (NBC Right Now)