Solar, wind projected to dominate new capacity in 2021

RENEWABLES: Solar and wind will account for most new U.S. electricity generating capacity in 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest projections. (U.S. EIA)

EMISSIONS: U.S. greenhouse gas emissions plummeted more than 10% in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but experts expect them to bounce back unless policymakers take stronger action. (New York Times)

POLITICS:
• ​“Nobody is going to cater to the president anymore or his people”: An oil executive says the industry is unlikely to hire Trump staff or loyalists following the president’s efforts to overturn the election. (Politico)
• Two EPA officials are among the wave of political appointees stepping down from the Trump administration following last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol. (E&E News, subscription)
• Several major oil companies are pausing political donations in response to the failed insurrection; Dow Chemical says it will halt contributions to members of Congress who sought to overturn the election. (Houston Chronicle The Hill)

OVERSIGHT:
• The courts and incoming Biden administration are likely to erase ​“almost all” of Trump’s attempts to deregulate, which were either marred by sloppy work or initiated too late in his presidency, experts say. (E&E News)
• Environmental groups filed a lawsuit Monday to block the U.S. EPA from adopting a rule that would restrict the use of scientific studies that protect some data for participant’s privacy. (The Hill)

FOSSIL FUELS:
• A group of activists, policy experts and academics are promoting a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to deter nations from doubling-down on coal, oil and gas as other countries work to cut climate pollution. (Grist)
• The U.S. Supreme Court denies a petition seeking to overturn a Minnesota county’s ordinance banning frac sand mining. (Natural Gas Intelligence)

COAL: More states are considering laws that allow utilities to refinance coal plants in a way that lessons the financial loss of retiring them. (E&E News, subscription)

NUCLEAR:
• A New York law to tax storage of nuclear waste at closed power plants could be a national model for states trying to recover revenue from plants that shut down. (Bloomberg Tax)
• Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration hires an outside firm to scrutinize Exelon’s claims that some of its Illinois nuclear plants are losing money. (Crain’s Chicago Business)

PIPELINES: The U.S. Forest Service approves the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s passage through 3.5 miles of Jefferson National Forest, and environmental groups sue to appeal the decision. (Roanoke Times, WDBJ)

GRID: A report by clean energy groups says the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should overhaul its grid policies to make it easier to connect large wind and solar farms. (E&E News, subscription)

SOLAR:
• A public-private partnership involving Amazon and Dominion Energy will enable a northern Virginia county to obtain at least 80% of its municipal electricity from a solar farm. (Energy News Network)
• Illinois solar developers and advocates are united in pushing for a short-term ​“funding bridge” for the state’s depleted solar incentives during a brief lame duck session that could end tonight. (Energy News Network)

TRANSPORTATION:
• Berkeley, California is considering banning the sale of gasoline-powered cars by 2027, but the city’s mayor and other officials don’t think the proposal is realistic. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Minnesota automobile dealers and defiant Senate Republicans are building opposition against the state’s plan to adopt a zero-emission vehicle mandate. (Star Tribune)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Apple is reportedly set to agree to a partnership deal for autonomous electric cars by March and begin production around 2024, according to a South Korea media report. (Reuters)
• California-based electric vehicle startup Lucid Motors is reportedly in talks to go public. (Bloomberg)

COMMENTARY:
• An Alaska-based conservation biologist says the The Trump administration’s rush to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was a humiliating act of desperation. (Anchorage Press)
• Enbridge is ​“hell-bent on jamming through their Line 3” pipeline under small northern Minnesota towns and the homeland of the Anishinaabe, writes author and activist Winona LaDuke. (The Nation)