** The EPA has released its final rules on reduced NOx and particulate emissions for heavy-duty vehicles such as semi-trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles. They’re the first new rules in more than 20 years according to the organization. The rules apply to engines starting with the 2027 model year, and the EPA expects significant emissions improvements.
** The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed six long-waiting nominees by President Joe Biden to the board of the nation’s largest public utility, establishing a new majority with Biden’s picks.
** The Biden administration funded a foreign “reporting tour” last year, sponsoring several overseas journalists who cover climate change, internal State Department emails showed.
** New York’s landmark climate law cleared another hurdle Monday with a final plan to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century. The Climate Action Council, a state body, passed its final scoping plan to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.
** Freeport LNG’s long-shut liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Texas was on track to receive natural gas on Tuesday, according to data from Refinitiv, a possible sign the plant might meet the company’s projected end-of-the-year return date.
** Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc., once one of the largest public Bitcoin miners in the US, warned that it may seek bankruptcy protection while entering into debt restructuring talks with lender New York Digital Investment Group.
** New England will get another load of much-needed liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the winter heating season in coming days from a vessel full of the supercooled fuel that is on its way to Boston Harbor. That would be the second LNG cargo from Trinidad and Tobago to go to the Northeastern U.S. region this winter.
** The Democratically controlled US Congress is poised to undercut President Joe Biden’s promise of $11.4 billion in annual international climate finance to help countries deal with the ravages of global warming. In a massive government spending bill unveiled early on Tuesday, lawmakers laid out plans to pony up less than a tenth of the amount he pledged: $1.057 billion.
World
** European natural gas prices fell for a fifth day as temperatures are forecast to stay mild into the new year while supplies remain plentiful. Benchmark futures declined as much as 7%, after closing at the lowest level since mid-June on Wednesday.
** Africa has the potential to produce €1 trillion ($1.06 trillion) worth of green hydrogen a year by 2035, allowing it to export the fuel and boost local industry, according to a study backed by the European Investment Bank.
** Germany is set to boost its reliance on coal as it battles an unprecedented energy crisis — even at the expense of its ambitious climate goals.
** The global renewable energy sector saw unprecedented growth in 2022, largely due to the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The agency’s Renewables 2022 report on the sector states that total capacity growth will double in the next five years and overtake coal as the largest source of electricity generation by early 2025.
** Saudi Arabia’s revenue from exports of crude oil and products such as diesel fell to $25.5 billion in October, the kingdom’s statistics office said on Thursday. It’s the lowest figure since February, reflecting how a weakening global economy and high inflation have hit the oil market.