** The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to announce the new tailpipe emissions standards, which will impact cars manufactured between 2027-2032, next week during a ceremony in Detroit, Bloomberg reported, citing officials briefed on the proposal. In a statement, the EPA confirmed the standards are designed to incentivize consumers to purchase electric vehicles (EV).
** West Virginia U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin called it “infuriating” when a federal appeals court ruled against the Mountain Valley Pipeline that would run through his state. He blamed activists “who seem hell-bent on killing any fossil energy that will make our country energy independent and secure.”
** Tesla Inc said it plans to expand the use of cheaper, iron-based batteries to a version of its Semi heavy electric trucks and an affordable electric vehicle. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has championed on the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery technology dominated by Chinese suppliers, saying in March, “the vast majority of the heavy lifting for electrification will be iron-based cells.”
** Colorado’s oil and gas industry is trying to stop Arapahoe County from placing a six-month moratorium on new well development ahead of a proposal to drill 174 wells east of Aurora. Denver-based Civitas Resources Inc. plans a large drilling project that encompasses 60 square miles of the former Lowry bombing range, uninhabited property owned by the Colorado State Land Board.
** Methane in the atmosphere had its fourth-highest annual increase in 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported, part of an overall rise in planet-warming greenhouse gases that the agency called “alarming.”
** A group of House Republicans led by Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., wrote a letter Thursday to Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, blasting him for cracking down on diesel-powered trucks. In the letter, Valadao and seven other GOP representatives from California warned Newsom that his recently-announced plan to electrify heavy vehicles would increase grid instability, especially at times of peak power demand.
World
** Toyota announced that it’s rolling out 10 new all-electric models by 2026 as it aims for 1.5 million annual electric sales by then. The auto giant is viewed as lagging behind rivals in the EV race.
** Chinese sales of petrol and diesel cars fell 20pc in absolute volume terms in February from a year earlier. Sales of plug-in electric vehicles kept rising explosively and reached a record 32pc of the market for standard passenger cars. At the current pace, EV sales in China will hit eight million this year, helped by the proliferation of battery-swapping stations.
** Shell Oil says the performance of its oil products division in the first three months is expected to be ‘significantly higher’ than in the fourth quarter of 2022.
** Climate ministers of the Group of Seven countries may make the case for new investments in natural gas supply, despite assessments that such investments would thwart globally agreed climate change goals, according to a document seen by Reuters.