** California has sued five of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, alleging that they engaged in a “decades-long campaign of deception” about climate change and the risks posed by fossil fuels that has forced the state to spend tens of billions of dollars to address environmental-related damages.
** The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule on that allows states or tribes to consider any aspect of the project with the potential to impact water quality as it weighs whether to block a project.
** The Biden administration is awarding more than $1 billion in grants as part of an effort aimed at increasing Americans’ access to trees and green spaces.
** Federal border officials are calling for urgent repairs of a Southern California facility that treats sewage from Tijuana, Mexico, after the already deteriorating facility incurred additional damage from Tropical Storm Hilary.
** A group of House Democrats penned a letter to several top Biden administration and White House officials, demanding the immediate continuance of uninterrupted offshore oil and gas leasing. The Democrats — led by Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas — called for the Department of the Interior (DOI) to immediately issue its legally mandated plan for offshore fossil fuel lease sales, which the agency has delayed for more than 12 months.
** The House voted in favor of legislation striking down environmental regulations in California mandating electric vehicle (EV) purchases. In a 222-190 vote, the House approved the Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act with 214 Republicans and eight Democrats voting in favor.
** The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments Thursday on two cases challenging Biden administration rules targeting cars and trucks. A third case was argued on Friday before a separate three-judge panel of the same court.
** The last of four men charged in a scheme to steal millions of dollars worth of crude oil in western North Dakota has been sentenced to a year in jail. The scheme involved over $2.4 million worth of crude oil in the period from November 2020 to March 2022, according to the court document.
** Republican Rep. of New York called for Congress to launch an impeachment inquiry into Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Thursday for giving false testimony to Congress about her family’s stock ownership.
World
** Workers at two LNG platforms owned by Chevron, and that account for over 5% of global supply, plan to escalate the rolling strikes they began last week after failing to resolve disputes over pay and conditions.
** Oil prices are surging again, but according to , executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the era of continuous fossil fuel growth won’t last much longer. In an op-ed published in the Financial Times, Birol projected that demand for oil, gas and coal will peak before 2030.
** The nationalist Chinese newspaper Global Times described as “excessive” Europe’s probe into cheaper Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), and said China’s superior offering are the envy of other automakers.
** U.S. and European firms are shifting investment away from China to other developing markets, a report from Rhodium Group showed, with India receiving the vast majority of this redirected foreign capital, followed by Mexico, Vietnam and Malaysia.