The forgotten fight against ​‘immortal’ greenhouse gases

EMISSIONS: A U.S. EPA effort to crack down on ​“immortal” greenhouse gases saw early success but has since stalled and is in need of reviving, say former officials who oversaw the program. (Inside Climate News)

ALSO:
• The Biden administration plans to release a roadmap in December to help governments and the private sector reduce transportation emissions. (Utility Dive)
• Duke Energy substations leak more of a potent greenhouse gas than those of any other U.S. utility, and the company has declined to participate in a voluntary EPA program to reduce those emissions. (Inside Climate News)

PUERTO RICO:
• Hurricane Fiona’s devastation in Puerto Rico highlights inequities in the distribution of disaster relief after climate-exacerbated extreme weather, as a lack of federal funding after 2017’s Hurricane Maria left the island’s grid underprepared for this storm. (Axios, Washington Post)
• Puerto Rico residents and service providers who’ve installed solar panels and batteries say they still have power after Hurricane Fiona wiped out the island’s grid. (Canary Media, Inside Climate News)
• New York’s attorney general calls for an investigation into Puerto Rico utility LUMA Energy after the grid’s failure during the hurricane. (E&E News)

PIPELINES: West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is expected to release his energy permitting reform measure today, as he decries ​“revenge politics” that threaten the plan. (Reuters, E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Car rental company Hertz agrees to buy 175,000 electric vehicles from General Motors, though supply chain shortages mean their delivery may take a while. (E&E News)
CLIMATE:
• Funding in the Inflation Reduction Act is meant to help coastal communities prepare for climate change-related hazards. (New York Times)
• Indigenous people protest across New York City’s streets and waters this week as the United Nations General Assembly gathers. (Grist)
• After the majority of residents in a Staten Island coastal community took advantage of a managed retreat program, the few remaining households say city services are dwindling and impairing their way of life. (Grist)

GRID:
• Republican attorneys general challenge federal regulators’ efforts to reform regional transmission planning, saying they lack congressional authority to enact the program meant to help bring renewables online. (Utility Dive)
• ​“Current reliability just isn’t adequate.” Michigan regulators order the state’s two largest utilities to detail plans for improving electric service reliability. (Energy News Network/​Planet Detroit)

EFFICIENCY: A Virginia home weatherization program that has been hailed as a national model will lose its funding if Gov. Glenn Youngkin succeeds in removing the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. (Energy News Network)

STORAGE: A battery fire breaks out at the 400 MW Moss Landing battery energy storage facility — the world’s largest — on the central California coast, prompting officials to shut down a highway and issue a shelter in place order for nearby residents. (CBS Bay Area)

COMMENTARY: Two journalists call for more transparency from Sens. Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer as they work out a deal to expedite pipeline and energy project approvals. (Guardian)