** House Democrats’ sweeping measure aims to harness the world’s oceans to address climate change. The 324-page bill, introduced Tuesday by Natural Resources Chair Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), would boost offshore wind energy production and bar new offshore oil and gas drilling.
** Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) and California Rep. Mike Levin (D) introduced legislation Tuesday to end the sale of new U.S. gasoline-powered vehicles in 15 years.
** NASA made history on Tuesday with the first-ever attempt to collect a sample from an asteroid in space to return it to Earth for study. Asteroids are among the leftover debris from the solar system’s formation some four and a half billion years ago.
** Alaska Wilderness League Action launched a digital ad campaign in Maine on Tuesday targeting GOP Sen. Susan Collins for her 2017 vote to allow oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as part of the tax bill.
** General Motors announced its Spring Hill, Tenn., assembly plant will transition to producing electric vehicles — making the plant the company’s third electric-vehicle manufacturing site. The company also confirmed investments in five Michigan plants for future EV crossover and full-size pickup production.
** At the end of September, loans to fossil fuels through the Federal Reserve’s Main Street Lending Program more than tripled to $265.1 million, according to new analysis released Wednesday by the left-leaning BailoutWatch, Public Citizen and the Friends of the Earth.
** Brazil’s Federal Police (PF) on Tuesday raided Petrobras officials offices and homes in Rio de Janeiro for alleged bribery crime. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, it is suspected that employees and former executives were bribed R$12 million (a bit more than US$ 2 millions) in foreign diesel and aviation kerosene operations.
** A coalition of five environmental groups, represented by ACLU of Oregon, sued the federal government Tuesday over what they allege are violations of the National Environmental Policy Act stemming from the use of “an unprecedented amount of dangerous chemical weapons” in Portland.
** Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, is reportedly a top contender to lead the EPA if Joe Biden is elected president.
** Experts say Tesla’s domination of the renewable energy credits market is the key to the company’s success.
** The 2020 presidential race could be a deciding factor in the West Coast’s long-standing battle over offshore wind, experts say.
** GM publicly unveils the 2022 electric Hummer model, which the company calls the “world’s first supertruck.”