How Harris’ energy record compares to Biden’s

POLITICS: Climate advocates step behind Vice President Kamala Harris after President Biden departs the presidential race, with political observers noting her anti-fracking stance, support of the Green New Deal, and criticism of fossil fuel giants put her to the left of Biden on many energy issues. (Grist, E&E News)

ALSO: Conservative clean energy advocates dismiss Donald Trump’s attacks on clean energy, and say they’re focused on emphasizing its job creation potential and market benefits to Congress and state leaders. (Energy News Network)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• The U.S. EPA announces $4.3 billion for states, cities and territories to form climate action plans, make home energy efficiency upgrades, and take on other clean energy projects. (Washington Post)
• The EPA is racing to disburse $27 billion from a clean energy and efficiency fund before the election, though the speedy rollout and a lack of oversight risks mistakes. (Politico)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The shift to electric vehicles exposes a divide between U.S. automakers and the oil industry, which had previously worked together to block environmental regulations. (Inside Climate News)

UTILITIES:

• A growing number of Georgia companies with climate goals are frustrated that less than half of Georgia Power’s electricity is carbon-free, and although the utility plans to build more solar, it’s still adding new gas turbines and delaying closure of its coal plants. (Grist/​WABE)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority faces blowback over its plans to build a natural gas-fired power plant in a Tennessee community, and greater scrutiny from federal officials as it develops its plan to meet growing power demand and attain net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. (Tennessee Lookout, Knoxville News Sentinel)

COAL: A federal appeals court rejects Western Republican-led states’ bid to block Biden administration rules aimed at reducing coal plants’ greenhouse gas emissions. (Associated Press)

CLIMATE: Houston’s experience with Hurricane Beryl — a hurricane that knocks out power, followed by a dangerous heat wave — represents the kind of compound disaster that researchers say will become more common with climate change. (E&E News)

SOLAR:

• In Maine, community solar projects are being bundled and sold to large global investment firms, but a lack of ownership data makes it hard to see where ratepayers’ dollars are going. (Maine Monitor)
• A rural northwestern New Mexico school district calls on the state’s largest utility to develop more solar facilities within its boundaries to replace generation and tax revenues lost when the San Juan coal plant retired in 2022. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

WIND: California regulators propose buying 7,600 MW of offshore wind energy over the next decade, boosting planned developments off the state’s central and northern coasts. (E&E News, subscription)