Home energy rebates wait on federal approval

CLEAN ENERGY: The Inflation Reduction Act included $8.8 billion in home energy rebates to help households install heat pumps and make efficient improvements, but the U.S. Energy Department hasn’t approved most states’ plans for rolling out the funding. (Canary Media)

CLIMATE: More than 10,000 survivors of hurricanes, wildfires, flooding and other extreme weather demand the U.S. Justice Department launch an investigation into the fossil fuel industry’s ​“climate crimes.” (The Guardian)

POLITICS:

• Aides to Vice President Kamala Harris say she’s employing ​“strategic ambiguity” around controversial energy issues as she campaigns, avoiding fracking and fossil fuels while repeatedly rallying for climate action. (Reuters)
• A Minnesota copper-nickel mine serves as an example of a delicate political balance Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has to strike as he campaigns for vice president, as labor and environmental interests take opposing positions. (E&E News)

OIL & GAS:

• Air pollution from liquefied natural gas export terminals in the U.S. is responsible for an estimated 60 premature deaths and $957 million in health costs each year, environmental groups find. (The Guardian)
• Donald Trump vows to increase domestic oil and gas production, but Texas is already producing record amounts of fossil fuels — including so much natural gas that producers are losing money. (Texas Tribune)

WIND:

• Federal officials designate Equinor the provisional winner of a 2 GW offshore wind energy lease auction off the Delaware coast. (Maryland Matters)
• Dominion Energy picks up a third offshore wind lease in the Mid-Atlantic, just east of the area near Virginia where it’s building a 2,600 MW, 176-turbine wind farm. (Virginia Mercury)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Swedish electric vehicle maker Polestar starts production at its South Carolina plant, helping it avoid U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made cars. (Reuters)
• California officials call on the U.S. EPA to approve the state’s rule aimed at replacing diesel big rigs and other heavy trucks with electric or hydrogen vehicles. (CalMatters)

SOLAR: The impending construction of a solar panel factory shows how the industry is bringing jobs and investment to Virginia, even as nearly a third of all counties in the state have passed regulations restricting solar project development. (WVTF)