** The mayor of a Texas city resigns after harshly telling residents seeking assistance during the power outage that “no one owes you or your family anything.”
** Chemicals giant DuPont decided to sell a plant in south Louisiana that emits a likely cancer causing pollutant, citing “major concerns” that government agencies would regulate its emissions to protect the community living nearby, internal documents seen by the Guardian reveal.
** The Biden EPA said Tuesday it will overhaul the process it uses to sift through scientific studies to determine the health risks posed by toxic chemicals following criticism from the National Academies of Sciences over the Trump administration’s contentious approach.
** Germany is in closecommunication with Russia about the potential of “green”hydrogen production and transport, Economy Minister PeterAltmaier said at a Russian-German conference.
** This week, the five Republicans serving on the Washington State House Environment and Energy Committee spoke out against a bill that would prohibit the use of natural gas in newly-constructed homes and buildings, according to a news release.
** The Interior Department on Tuesday approved the first lease for an experimental offshore energy research project that would use ocean waves to generate electricity.
** Canadian natural gas producers are bouncing back faster from the COVID-19 pandemic than battered U.S. shale firms, putting them in position to boost net gas exports to the United States for the first time in five years.
** More than 165,000 ratepayers of Oregon’s two largest utilities remain without electricity and heat due to the state’s “catastrophic” winter storms.
** The Bureau of Land Management postpones a Wyoming oil and gas lease sale planned for March.
** A case in Minnesota pits Xcel Energy against environmental groups in a debate about the role of natural gas in the utility’s transition to net-zero emissions.
** FedEx and General Motors are among major companies that temporarily shut operations as cold weather caused power outages and gas shortages.
** Fifteen states on Tuesday sued the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over a late-Trump rule (Reg. 2127-AM32) delaying a hike in CAFE penalties for automakers until model year 2022, echoing a lawsuit filed last month by environmental groups according to POLITICO.
