** The abrupt exits of Cecilia Martinez and David Kieve from the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality within days of each other have sparked alarm among environmental justice experts, who had already been frustrated by what they see as the administration’s lack of progress in fulfilling Biden’s promises to fix historic environmental and economic problems.
** A corroded pipeline spilled more than 300,000 gallons of diesel fuel near New Orleans before it was discovered late last month.
** Texas lost about 1.3 gigawatts of electrical generation in a cold snap at the start of January — about 1.5% of its winter capacity — as power-plant operators faced fuel problems tied to natural gas.
** Exxon Mobil on Wednesday plans to offer for sale shale oil and gas properties in Western Canada, a decision that could make oil sands its largest Canadian onshore production business.
** The gasoline market is painting a picture of tight supplies this summer — the last thing Joe Biden will want to see as he tries to contain high fuel prices.
** Coal is down and oil is up according to the latest projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Coal plants will account for 85 percent of power capacity being retired in the U.S. this year.
** Negotiators for the United Steelworkers union and Marathon Petroleum Corp, which is representing oil refiners and chemical makers, were scheduled to begin talks on Thursday on a new contract for 30,000 workers across the United States.
** With its landmark climate legislation in jeopardy, the Biden administration has announced a series of new executive actions to accelerate the US’s transition to a clean power grid. On Wednesday, the White House said it would allocate billions toward projects that lead to the construction of more wind, solar and geothermal energy across the country.
World
** Norway’s oil majors as well as the country’s government and oil regulator hope to get every last drop of oil out of the North Sea before global demand eventually wanes.