** More than a dozen House Republicans wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday asking him not to axe clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) if the GOP maintains or expands its House majority next year.
** The reaction to selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be running mate to Kamala Harris? “Horrible for Wyoming, horrible for America,” said Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, a trade group that represents mining companies in the state like bentonite, coal, rare earths, trona and uranium.
** The Biden administration deals out a second round of funding for energy efficient heating systems, again using its wartime authority in the fight against climate change. he Department of Energy is putting $85 million to accelerate the production of heat pumps under the Defense Production Act, it first told The Hill.
** House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) has requested an interview with White House official John Podesta as part of a probe into Podesta’s role as the nation’s top climate diplomat.
** Occidental Petroleum on Wednesday beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit by 34%, in the first results since it closed the $12 billion acquisition of Permian-based producer CrownRock last week. The Houston-based oil and gas firm benefited from higher oil production in Colorado and a rise in crude prices.
World
** China has announced that it is expanding the world’s first fourth-generation nuclear power plant, Interesting Engineering reported. The Shidaowan nuclear power plant in eastern China’s Shandong province — a joint development from China Huaneng Group, Tsinghua University, and China National Nuclear Corporation — features the world’s first high-temperature gas-cooled reactor and started commercial operation in December, per the news report.
** The world is falling well short of a promise made at global climate talks last year to triple the amount of wind power, according to a report by an energy think tank released Thursday. Last December, countries at the U.N. COP28 climate conference committed to tripling all renewable electricity by 2030. Wind power specifically must triple to achieve that, according to the International Energy Agency and others, reported the Associated Press.
** South Korea’s environment ministry said on Thursday it plans to hold an emergency meeting next week to discuss fires involving electric vehicles (EVs), including a blaze that caused extensive damage, and draw up measures to prevent such incidents.
** Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo on Wednesday inaugurated a plant built by China’s BTR New Material Group and Singapore’s Stellar Investment that will produce anode materials for EV batteries.