** The city of Chicago is suing five oil and gas companies and a trade group that represents them over their role in contributing to climate change and its effects, arguing that the companies have misled the public about how the use of fossil fuels affects city residents’ well-being.
** Ray Starling, who served as chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, is speaking out about Biden administration regulations he believes are harming the farming industry and also warned about a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes he says has already been tried and failed that will deal a significant blow to tobacco farmers.
** The State of California and the Kingdom of Sweden renewed a longstanding climate partnership on Tuesday, reemphasizing and broadening their collaborative commitment to a sustainable future.
** The Biden administration will put $500 million toward combating wildfires, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Tuesday.
** U.S. investment in wind and solar power plants hit record levels last year, but even that dramatic rate of expansion fell short of the level needed to meet the nation’s climate change goals, according to an analysis published on Wednesday.
World
** Occidental Petroleum is exploring a sale of Western Midstream Partners, a U.S. natural gas-focused pipeline operator that has a market value of close to $20 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
** Guyana will delay until 2025 its biggest effort to capitalize on its energy bounty, a $1.9 billion gas-to-power project that was to start this year, using untapped gas to slash electricity costs, a Ministry of Natural Resources consultant said on Tuesday.
** Denmark’s farmers must reduce production by as much as one-fifth by 2030 if the country is to achieve its ambitious climate goals, a government-commissioned group said on Wednesday. Denmark, a major pork and dairy exporter, could become the first country in the world to levy an emissions tax on farming.
** Hundreds of farmers drove their tractors into central Madrid on Wednesday as part of ongoing protests against European Union and local farming policies and to demand measures to alleviate production cost hikes.
** The Canada Revenue Agency has agreed to Saskatchewan’s request to register the provincial government as the province’s natural gas distributor in the province instead of the government-owned SaskEnergy company, a government spokesperson said on Tuesday.
** Canada has secured the surrender of the last remaining permits for oil and gas development off its Pacific Coast, the federal natural resources minister said on Wednesday, after Chevron Canada voluntarily relinquished 23 permits this month.
