** Jobs in the renewable energy sector grew at twice the rate of overall U.S. jobs last year, the Energy Department said Wednesday in its annual U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER).
** An internal watchdog criticized the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) top air official for participating in the development of a rule that regulates an industry in which he reportedly had financial holdings.
** California is kicking off the academic year by directing $500 million to school districts in a push to swap out aging buses with zero-emission models.
** Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened to call a special session this fall as Democratic lawmakers wobbled on a package of energy bills that he wants to pass this week before the Legislature adjourns for the year, according to sources involved in the negotiations at the Capitol.
** This year’s Climate Week NYC, which kicks off in just a few weeks, is making headlines after an announcement that Prince Harry will be attending various sessions during the series. Two of those events will have a connection to his late mother, Princess Diana, Vanity Fair reported.
** Colorado’s wildfire risk is so high, the Durango fire department struggled to find insurance to build a new firehouse.
World
** Last year’s Canadian wildfires, which blanketed much of the eastern U.S. in smog, released more carbon emissions than all but three countries worldwide, according to research published Wednesday.
** About 200 South Korean youth are anticipating a Thursday ruling that they believe could steer their nation’s future climate change policies. The activists, who filed their case in 2020, argued that the government is violating its citizens’ rights by not effectively combatting climate change, according to Reuters.
** Chinese tech giant Huawei said Thursday that sales surged in the first half of the year, even as it struggles under the weight of sanctions that have deprived it of technology from the United States.