** A New Mexico legislative panel advanced a bill Monday that would help local governments plan in advance for climate-related threats to public health such as wildfires, flooding, extreme heat and rapid erosion. The help would be in the form of grants up to $250,000.
** Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis blocked asset managers from investing a $5.1 billion state pension pool in sustainable funds, the latest escalation in his fight against ESG.
** The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it will study whether to toughen regulation of large livestock farms that release manure and other pollutants into waterways.
** Rivian Automotive Inc.’s chief lobbyist, Jim Chen, is departing the company, the latest high-level exit as the electric-vehicle startup works to scale up operations.
** New York City Mayor Eric Adams defends gas stoves as state Republicans call Gov. Kathy Hochul a “hypocrite” for using gas appliances in her own home as the state weighs a ban on new natural gas connections; meanwhile, experts continue to advise that those who can afford it should switch to induction stoves.
** A series of storms that pummeled the U.S. West recently brought a much-needed boost to local reservoirs, but federal meteorologists warned on Tuesday that long-term drought still plagues the region.
** Democrats are continuing to make noise in opposition to a forthcoming bill from Republicans that would restrict withdrawals from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
World
** The US said it will increase pressure on China to stop buying Iranian oil, as the White House seeks to enforce sanctions aimed at curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear activities.
** Chevron’s discovery of a potentially huge offshore gas field in Egypt, according to comments last week, is due to be fast-tracked by Chevron and its partner in the site, Italy’s Eni.
** The Biden administration has granted a license to Trinidad and Tobago to develop a major gas field located in Venezuelan territorial waters, U.S. and Trinidad officials said on Tuesday, marking a further easing of some sanctions on Venezuela.
** Oil drilling has begun in a Chinese-operated field in Uganda and the East African country expects to start production by 2025, an official said Tuesday.
** Norway on Tuesday said it plans to offer a record number of gas and oil exploration blocks in the Arctic, with environmental NGOs condemning an “aggressive” promotion of fossil fuels. The Scandinavian nation — Europe’s primary natural gas supplier and a major oil producer — proposed 92 exploration blocks, including an unprecedented 78 in the Barents Sea in the far north.
