Top companies fight climate action behind the scenes

CLIMATE: Car manufacturer Stellantis and oil giant ExxonMobil are among companies publicly touting emissions reduction goals while lobbying against climate action behind the scenes, an environmental group finds. (Sludge)

ALSO: While a new climate agreement between the U.S. and China lacks specific goals, concrete promises from the two nations could encourage further action at this year’s COP28 climate summit. (Inside Climate News)

GRID:

• A U.S. Energy Department study highlights the country’s biggest transmission needs but leaves uncertainty about how to fulfill them. (E&E News)
• A shortage of high-voltage transformers needed to connect clean energy and battery storage projects to the grid is challenging the energy transition. (Reuters)

POLITICS:

• House Republicans take aim at the U.S. EPA’s proposed power plant emissions rules, saying they would require use of unproven carbon capture technology, undermine states’ authority and threaten grid reliability. (Utility Dive)
• Life sentences possible under federal guidelines, while unlikely, show the seriousness of upcoming sentences for former ComEd officials and political insiders involved in an Illinois bribery scheme. (Chicago Sun-Times)

EMISSIONS: Greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere hit a record high last year, and ​“there is no end in sight to the rising trend,” the World Meteorological Organization finds. (Guardian)

TRANSITION: A company that promoted indoor greenhouses to replace Kentucky’s dwindling coal industry attracted widespread acclaim and coverage but fell short of its promises to deliver high-quality produce and rural employment. (Grist/​Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting)

COAL:

• The owner of a 205 MW coal-fired power plant in Maryland announces the facility will no longer generate electricity starting June 2024. (Baltimore Sun)
• Utah lawmakers consider seizing control of the Intermountain power plant as a way to continue burning coal at some of the facility’s units after it’s largely converted to run on natural gas and hydrogen. (Salt Lake Tribune)

CLEAN ENERGY: Green Bay, Wisconsin, officials unveil the city’s first clean energy plan that calls for renewable energy and electric vehicles to help reach a net zero carbon target by 2050. (Press Gazette)

BUILDINGS: As Maine drafts plans to use its Inflation Reduction Act funds, state officials hope the money will get heat pumps to more people, especially in multifamily housing. (Energy News Network)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• As some automakers pull back on their electric vehicle transitions, Hyundai barrels forward with a new plant in South Korea and its $5.44 billion vehicle and battery factory under construction in Georgia. (The Street)
• Electric vehicle maker Canoo begins operations at its new Oklahoma factory by producing one vehicle per day. (Journal Record)
• Oregon’s first electric garbage truck takes to the streets, and provides an example of how to decarbonize heavy-duty vehicles. (Canary Media)

SOLAR: A proposed agrivoltaic facility on private land in Oregon that would combine solar panels with crops and livestock grazing runs up against residents’ opposition and antiquated land use laws. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

LITHIUM: An industry group looks to establish a ​“lithium loop” supply chain in Nevada — from mineral extraction to battery making — but environmentalists worry about impacts to the state’s delicate ecosystems and dwindling water supplies. (KNPR)