** Federal lawmakers introduce a swath of cybersecurity and pipeline bills in response to Colonial Pipeline hack.
** At least 74 Biden administration officials and nominations disclosed some stake in the fossil fuel industry, according to a review of disclosure documents by Forbes Magazine and the Brown Institute for Media Innovation.
** A coalition of conservation groups are suing the Bureau of Land Management over a plan to allow fracking on 35,000 acres in Colorado, saying the agency failed to consider climate impacts.
** A proposed $1.5 billion wind, solar, and pumped-storage project near Boise is expected to begin operations in 2026, but developers still need key federal and state permits.
** An Upper Midwestern oil pipeline continued operating Wednesday, despite a shutdown demand from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that the operator warned could lead to fuel disruptions similar to those resulting from a cyberattack on an East Coast system.
** America’s biggest public utility, The Tennessee Valley Authority this week has initiated the process of shutting down its largest coal power plant as the first step toward phasing out all of its remaining coal-fired generation by 2035.
** In a dire new report released Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency says there are several climate indicators signaling that global warming is intensifying.
** Louisiana lawmakers advance a bill to incentivize oil production from abandoned wells by exempting that production from the state severance tax.
** The Energy Information Administration reported the nation’s electric power sector received 428 million short tons of coal in 2020, the lowest annual level for that sector since 2007.
** Colorado Springs Utilities announces it will join the Southwest Power Pool, giving the city more access to renewable energy.