** A major environmental group has sued to challenge new rules issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requiring public companies to report climate-related risks, arguing they do not go far enough to protect investors. The Sierra Club and the Sierra Club Foundation filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
** New York’s assembly advances a bill to ban drilling and fracking natural gas and oil with carbon dioxide, a process some fracking firms are had considered in the state.
** An analysis finds Texas has experienced 263 power outages since 2019, the most of any state in the country, indicating its power grid is struggling under demand and extreme weather.
** Pennsylvania’s governor promotes the plugging of the 200th abandoned oil well since he took office, but there’s a long road ahead to plug the estimated 350,000 undocumented ones remaining across the state.
** Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp responds to Rivian’s announcement it will at least delay construction of an electric vehicle plant in the state, saying the state will hold the company to its plans since it put up $1.5 billion in incentives.
** South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signs a bill into law that updates legal language and allows the state to potentially enter into agreements for nuclear power projects.
World
** BP and an oil company owned by the United Arab Emirates have shelved talks to buy a 50% stake in Israel’s leading natural gas producer, judging the $2 billion deal too risky as the war in Gaza rages.
** Britain will build new gas power stations, Rishi Sunak has said, as he vows not to risk blackouts to achieve net zero. The country will need gas as a back-up when there is not enough wind or sun to create renewable energy, the Prime Minister says in an article for The Telegraph.
** Exxon Mobil Corporation’s XOM Port Jerome-Gravenchon petroleum refinery in northern France witnessed a fire on Monday. The incident occurred at approximately 3:30 p.m., originating from a gasoline distillation unit. The company’s internal firefighting team was prompt enough to successfully bring the blaze under control, according to reports from the Seine-Maritime prefecture.
** Germany’s largest energy supplier, E.ON, plans to invest €42 billion ($46 billion) in the energy transition across Europe starting this year until 2028, with a focus on expanding the electricity grid, the company reported on Wednesday.
** Mexico’s state oil company is promising to slash greenhouse gas emissions to reach net zero by 2050, an ambitious goal for the indebted oil producer as it struggles to turn around flagging production and reduce its massive debt burden.