** On Wednesday, Rep. (R-Ohio), the head of the GOP-controlled House Judiciary Committee, demanded documents from the climate group As You Sow as part of a broader investigation into climate-conscious investing. Jordan accused the group of an illegal conspiracy in the name of advancing a left-wing political agenda.
** The State Department on Wednesday announced a partnership with the nonprofit SAFE on the development of critical mineral supply chains.
** Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and 22 other Democratic senators sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan on Wednesday demanding an investigation of two major proposed oil industry mergers and warning that the consolidations could hurt consumers.
** More than a year after President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law, the Commerce Department is pushing to get billions of dollars in semiconductor manufacturing and research incentives out the door.
** Republicans are cheering the cancellation of two offshore wind farms that would have been built off the coast of New Jersey.
** Pennsylvania cannot enforce a regulation to make power plant owners pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, a state court ruled Wednesday, dealing another setback to the centerpiece of former Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to fight global warming.
World
** The European Union is weighing a new round of restrictions that would hit some €5 billion ($5.3 billion) in trade with Russia as part of a sanctions package targeting Moscow for its war against Ukraine.
** The Emirati oil boss preparing to take the helm of UN climate talks said he is stunned to hear that environmentalists suspect him of duplicity on climate change. Sultan Al Jaber, the United Arab Emirates climate envoy, minister of industry and advanced technology and CEO of the state-owned oil firm ADNOC, will lead the COP28 talks starting in Dubai in November.
** Chevron is negotiating contracts to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) into Europe for up to 15 years as buyers expect the region to rely on imports for longer than previously thought, an executive at the U.S. oil and gas company said.
** With war roiling energy markets, Europe has aimed to swap gas delivered by Russian pipeline for liquefied natural gas (LNG) delivered by ship, largely from the U.S. and Qatar. From the beginning of last year, Europe has added six new LNG terminals, expanded an existing terminal, and restored a dormant terminal.
** The tsunami-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant began its third release of treated and diluted radioactive wastewater into the sea Thursday after Japanese officials said the two earlier releases ended smoothly.