** The world’s publicly traded independent oil producers will make record profits this year, surpassing the levels reached when crude hit an all-time high near $150 a barrel more than a decade ago, according to Rystad Energy.
** Tesla’s Model 3 tops a list of “most American-made” vehicles for 2021, marking the first time an electric vehicle led the ranking.
** A federal judge throws out a lawsuit challenging a Trump-era policy that softened environmental review requirements ahead of pipeline, drilling, and other projects.
** Unstoppable drought is rolling over California and the Western U.S. once again, as it has with little interruption since the new century began. Nearly 98% of land across 11 Western states is abnormally dry, and more than 88% is covered by some category of drought—the worst levels in the U.S. Drought Monitor’s 21-year history.
** Coal consumption refuses to disappear as quickly as climate change activists would like. As of 2019, coal-fired generation provided 36 per cent of the world’s electricity, according to the International Energy Agency.
** A Massachusetts state judge has rejected Exxon Mobil Corp’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit by state Attorney General Maura Healey accusing the oil company of misleading consumers and investors about its role in climate change.
** An International Energy Agency analysis shows that subsidies for consumers’ use of gasoline, diesel and other fuels dropped sharply last year — but are headed for a rebound.
** Enbridge Inc.’s embattled plan to build a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac for its Line 5 oil pipeline will need a more thorough review from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the latest setback for the project opposed by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
** A new analysis of Edison Electric Institute Data conducted by Morning Consult found that most of the major utility companies that reported their data reduced their emissions between 2019 and 2020.
** Duke Energy continues to expand solar power in North Carolina with construction starting on its 22.6-megawatt (MW) Stony Knoll Solar power plant. Once completed, it will be the largest solar plant in Surry County.
** The Biden administration on Wednesday ordered a ban on U.S. imports of a key solar panel material from Chinese-based Hoshine Silicon Industry Co over forced labor allegations, two sources briefed on the matter said.
** Uncertainty over the future location of the Bureau of Land Management headquarters is hampering the hiring of senior staffers and implementation of administration goals.