** A newly found memo shows the Biden administration was really attempting to ban gas cooking stoves in homes, even though the White House denied it. The memo from Biden Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. proves it. The memo, which the Biden admin tried to keep top secret, concludes: “There is sufficient information available for CPSC to issue an NPR in FY 2023 proposing to ban gas stoves in homes.”
** The Biden-Harris Administration, through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), announced the availability of $750 million for research, development, and demonstration efforts to dramatically reduce the cost of clean hydrogen.
** West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is looking to sell his family’s debt-ridden coal business as he considers a 2024 challenge to U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin.
** The appointment of two members to Virginia’s three-member regulatory board has become gridlocked in partisan politics that may not be resolved until after November’s elections for the state legislature.
** The community solar industry says it can weather the Silicon Valley Bank collapse even though the institution financed about 62% of early projects.
** When Exxon Mobil Corp.’s newest addition to its southeast Texas refinery ramps up to full production in the next few weeks, it’ll be the first major expansion of US fuel-making capacity in at least a decade.
** Sen. Ted Cruz is demanding information from left-wing advocacy group Rewiring America – which just hired Stacey Abrams – and the Rocky Mountain Institute on what role they played in the administration’s efforts to impose a de facto ban on gas stoves.
** A train carrying hazardous materials derailed in northern Arizona late Wednesday evening, according to local officials. The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said the train derailed at the Topock Bridge near Interstate 40, but there was no indication that the potentially dangerous chemicals spilled.
World
** China will again cut annual crude steel production in 2023, according to a person familiar with the decision, marking the third year in a row that the government has mandated reduced output in order to rein in carbon emissions from the heavily polluting sector.
** The European Union presented plans Thursday to fundamentally revamp its policies on dealing with critical raw materials, imposing limits on imports from countries like China while unleashing subsidies and other financial incentives to ramp up home production. The plans by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, are essential in moving toward a climate neutral economy, while also increasing its strategic independence in a shifting world of geopolitical alliances.
** Chevron Corp. is urging Venezuela to clean up Lake Maracaibo in the hope of almost doubling the amount of oil that can be loaded on its ships, which currently risk running aground because of an accumulation of sediment.
** China’s integrated circuit (IC) output dropped 17 per cent in the first two months of 2023, as the country’s semiconductor industry grappled with economic headwinds and escalating US trade sanctions.