Headlines of other energy stories

** The Build Back Better bill passed Friday in the House could expand tax credits on some EV models to up to $12,500 and make it easier for more people to qualify.

** The surging cost of gasoline and home-heating fuel is a political problem in itself. Energy is 7% of the typical family’s budget, and higher prices = hardship. Voters blame whoever is in charge, and it’s no surprise Biden’s approval rating has plummeted as gas prices have risen 50% year-over-year.

** The temporary shutdown of two major petroleum refineries in Ohio has the potential to disrupt Christmas deliveries and cause multistate fuel shortages at a time when consumers are already being hammered by high gasoline prices. Husky Marketing and Supply Co. in Lima and Marathon Petroleum in Ironton simultaneously shut down their refineries recently for preventative maintenance that could last about a month.

** The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday it was restoring a 2008 veto of the environmentally controversial Yazoo Pumps project, almost a year after the Trump administration had approved it. The project, which would build flood pumps in the Yazoo backwater of the south Mississippi Delta, has been waiting to be completed since 1941 and would alleviate increasingly common destructive flooding in the region.

** The City Council in Eugene, Oregon move toward banning natural gas connections in new buildings which would be a first in Oregon.

** U.S. natural gas producers will face billions of dollars in hedging losses for 2022 as the global energy crunch boosts gas prices to multi-year highs, research by consultancy Rystad Energy showed on Friday.

** Ground was broken Thursday on a project dubbed the United States’ “first commercial scale offshore wind farm.” Located in waters 15 miles off Martha’s Vineyard, near Cape Cod in Massachusetts, it’s hoped that the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind 1 facility will start sending power to the grid in 2023.

** Faster action is needed to move coal-dependent nations to less-polluting alternatives and keep global emissions reductions on track, according to U.S. climate envoy John Kerry.

** Consumer Reports says vehicles from Tesla Inc and electric sport utilities from rival brands are among the least reliable models sold in the United States. The nonprofit organization said Tesla, the world’s most valuable automaker, ranked 27th out of 28 brands, just ahead of Ford Motor Co’s Lincoln brand.

** The breathless five-day rally in Rivian Automotive Inc. came to an abrupt halt on Wednesday, wiping out over $23 billion from the newly public electric-truck maker’s valuation.

World

** Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau returned to Ottawa on Friday after failing to convince U.S. President Joe Biden to scrap proposed electric-vehicle tax credits that would favor American-based manufacturers, but said he would keep seeking a solution.

** Venezuelan petrochemicals produced by joint ventures between state-run chemical firm Pequiven and foreign partners have arrived in the United States, despite Washington’s efforts to limit trade with the OPEC oil and gas producer.

** Chile and China are currently planning to build a submarine cable running along the bottom of the ocean to export photovoltaic energy from South America to East Asia, according to the Chilean solar energy association (ACESOL).

** Vancouver, Canada’s third-largest city, is cut off from the rest of the country by land after days of storms caused flooding and mudslides that have blocked major highways and rail lines.

** Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices rose for the second straight week on robust demand from Asian buyers ahead of peak winter months and on supply concerns in Europe after delay in licensing the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

** The world’s first fully electric and self-steering container ship, owned by fertiliser maker Yara, is preparing to navigate Norway’s southern coast and play its part in the country’s plans to clean-up its industry.

** The transition to electric cars could jeopardise 60,000 jobs in Italy, one of the country’s main metal workers’ unions said on Friday and called on the government to support a sector that is “overwhelmed by changes”.

** Back in Sweden, climate activist Greta Thunberg explains why she thinks COP26 was “a failure”. The summit ended with nearly 200 nations signing a global deal to try to halt runaway global warming after two weeks of painful negotiations, but it fell short of what scientists say is needed to contain global temperature rises.