**Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm faced criticism on social media Sunday after she said Americans being crushed by the weight of inflation can lower their energy costs by installing solar panels at a 30% discount under the Inflation Reduction Act.
** The Biden administration is expected to unveil a series of executive actions aimed at regulating emissions from power plants, oil and gas wells and tailpipes, according to senior White House officials. The move toward executive action comes after Democrats had to withdraw some ambitious climate goals and compromise on the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes $374 billion in climate and energy funding.
** The EPA ordered Manhattan, Kansas asphalt manufacturer Shilling Construction to pay a $70,000 fine for violating the federal Clean Water Act. The company failed to adequately control stormwater runoff from its Manhattan facility that led to illegal discharges of pollution into the Kansas River.
** Oil prices fell 2% Monday as traders weighed signs of progress on an Iran nuclear deal, and economic concerns lingered. US President Joe Biden spoke to European leaders about the deal at the weekend, the White House said.
** A new U.S. law excluding electric vehicles assembled outside North America from tax credits could persuade South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co to bring forward the start-date for construction of an EV and battery plant in the United States to as early as this year, Yonhap news agency reported on Monday.
** The Omaha Public Power District board unanimously voted last week to extend operations at a 645 MW coal plant until 2026, joining at least five other U.S. coal plants with similar extensions this year.
** Wyoming’s coal industry plans to appeal a court’s reinstatement of an Obama-era ban on federal leasing, saying it and another legal ruling threaten the industry’s long-term viability in the Powder River Basin.
** The world’s largest asset manager BlackRock Inc. warned the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week that its proposed rules aimed at fighting “greenwashing” by fund managers will confuse investors.
** Sen. Joe Manchin said he pays no attention to criticism or campaign donations when making decisions about what’s best for West Virginia.
World
** German Economy Minister Robert Habeck ruled out on Sunday extending the lifespan of the country’s three remaining nuclear power plants in order to save gas, saying it would save at most 2 percent of gas use.
** European benchmark gas prices have risen as much as 20% ahead of a planned shutdown of the Nord Stream gas pipeline from Russia at the end of this month.
** India’s ReNew Power said it had secured a $1 billion loan from 12 international lenders, led by Dutch-based Rabobank, in the largest external commercial borrowing for a single project in the country’s renewable sector.
** The European gas benchmark now trades at what would be an equivalent of $410 per barrel of crude oil, which highlights “the debilitating economic impact on the region,” Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank, said this week.
** A row between Israel and Lebanon over energy-exploration rights in a disputed triangle of the Mediterranean sea risks spiralling into war. Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hizbullah, the Iranian-backed Shia movement based in southern Lebanon, warned on August 9th that “any arm” reaching out to rob Lebanon of its wealth “will be cut off”.
** A new gas discovery off Cyprus’ southern coast that’s estimated to contain around 2.5 trillion cubic feet of the hydrocarbon bolsters Europe’s efforts to secure alternative energy sources, the Cypriot energy ministry said Monday, as a supply crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to trouble the continent.
** Germany plans to give coal trains priority over passenger services on its rail network as it struggles with an energy crunch that’s threatening the economy, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported, citing a draft proposal.
