** The company behind the Mountain Valley Pipeline asked the Supreme Court to intervene after a U.S. circuit court ordered a halt to construction on a segment.
** The White House was silent when asked by Fox News Digital whether it agrees with Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) John Kerry’s recent comments lamenting the Ukraine war’s carbon footprint. Spokespeople for both the White House and National Security Council failed to provide a comment about Kerry’s remarks after they were contacted multiple times by Fox News Digital.
** Air quality alerts were issued for much of Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana on Sunday because of lingering thick smoke from Canadian wildfires, the National Weather Service said. The U.S. EPA’s AirNow air quality page rated the air in Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit and Des Moines as “unhealthy” as of early Sunday afternoon. In Omaha and Cincinnati, the air quality was rated as unhealthy for sensitive groups.
** It only took about six months for the Biden administration to sell off 180 million barrels from the federal stash in the fastest withdrawal on record. But refilling it to capacity will likely take decades, if it happens at all. Experts say that a lack of funding and aging infrastructure will plague the process, even as the Energy Department has pledged to keep buying.
** New York City could face power outages during the summer of 2025, when fossil fuel-fired plants that have been trusted workhorses during heat waves are forced to shut down to serve the state’s green energy goals.
** In a recent filing, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia was notified that the parties are dismissing a 2020 lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for its failure to keep Pennsylvania accountable for water pollution.
** In an effort to reduce plastic use, New York will start fining restaurants and third-party delivery services that provide disposable utensils, soy sauce packets, and similar items without the customer requesting them.
** Sam Brinton, the embattled non-binary former senior Department of Energy (DOE) official, was traveling on a taxpayer-funded business trip at the time of a high-profile baggage theft last year, internal Biden administration documents show.
** A $300 million megayacht owned by billionaire heiress, Nancy Walton Laurie, was doused in paint on Sunday by two environmental activists. They bathed the vessel’s stern with red and white paint and held up a sign that read: “You consume, others suffer.”
World
** Two major Chinese chip equipment makers are predicting a doubling in profits after the US clamped on exports of American technology, forcing manufacturers to rely on homegrown alternatives.
** After languishing for months, crude surged above $80 a barrel in London last week as fuel demand in China and elsewhere recovers from the pandemic to reach new highs. That’s happening just as production cutbacks by Saudi Arabia and its OPEC+ allies are set to rapidly drain storage tanks around the world.
** Prices of dirtier, sludgier oil in Asia are surging, flipping the premiums usually commanded by lighter crudes and offering further evidence that Saudi Arabia’s prolonged supply cuts are tightening the market.
** Japan plans to propose a global stockpile for natural gas, similar to the emergency reserve in the oil sector, to help avoid future shortages and stabilize prices.
** Human-caused climate change is lengthening droughts in southern France, meaning the reservoirs are increasingly drained to low levels to maintain power generation and water supply to towns and cities. It’s concerning those in the tourism industry, who are working on how to keep their businesses afloat in the long term if water levels remain low or unpredictable.