**The Biden-Harris administration is continuing its push to make electric vehicle ownership a reality across the country, particularly in Black and brown communities that have been most affected by climate and environmental issues and high gas prices. his week, the administration opened up applications for a $2.5 billion grant program allowing states and municipalities to begin building EV charging stations in communities and neighborhoods nationwide.
** More than two dozen conservative organizations sent a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., urging Congress to work swiftly to pass sweeping energy legislation Republicans introduced this week. The coalition of 27 groups, led by Americans for Prosperity (AFP), argued H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, would tackle inflation fueled by energy costs, characterizing it as the “biggest challenge facing families and business.”
** Republican congressmen Reps. Jeff Van Drew and Christopher Smith, of New Jersey; Andy Harris, of Maryland; and Scott Perry, of Pennsylvania, are calling for a halt to all offshore wind power projects amid a spate of whale deaths on the U.S. East Coast in what was likely the beginning of an expected investigation by the GOP-controlled House into the Biden administration’s clean energy plans.
** The Biden administration moved closer to implementing a 20-year ban on mining in a South Dakota forest area due to its proximity to cultural and natural resources. In a joint announcement Friday, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service said they would consider a 20-year withdrawal of 20,574 acres located in the Black Hills National Forest near the Pactola Reservoir and Rapid Creek Watershed.
** A proposal for an 884-megawatt wind farm in the waters off Rhode Island and Massachusetts was the only response to an offshore wind procurement mandated by the McKee administration.
** Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said he sees fighting climate change as a top priority for the Navy as the Biden administration proposes shrinking the fleet by two ships and worries grow about how the U.S. Navy stacks up to China’s.
World
** Governments gave their blessing on Sunday to a major new U.N. report on climate change, after approval was held up by a battle between rich and developing countries over emissions targets and financial aid to vulnerable nations.
** British Columbia’s decision this week to toughen emissions standards for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects creates one of the most robust climate plans in North America, but sets a high hurdle for industry even as many countries look to Canada to become a global supplier of gas.
** The majority of developing nations are set to miss out on the economic benefits of booming green technologies, slowing progress toward their climate goals and widening the inequality gap between rich and poor countries, a United Nations report warned.
** Mercedes will invest billions of dollars to modernise its plants in China, Germany and Hungary over the coming years, magazine Automobilwoche reported, as the carmaker prepares to switch to electric vehicles and cut emissions. The European Union has set a goal to halve CO2 emissions per passenger car over their life cycle by the end of this decade compared to 2020 and is seeking agreement on a 2035 deadline to end the sale of fossil fuel cars.
** Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador led a celebration in the capital’s main square on the anniversary of the country’s 1930s expropriation of the oil industry, stressing that his government was turning around the fortunes of the state oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos after years of neglect and decline.