** The Biden administration has made a precedent-setting arrest related to anti-climate change activities this fiscal year, highlighted in a new report that shows a ramped-up enforcement effort against environmental offenses. The AIM Act led to the arrest of Michael Hart, of San Diego, in March on charges related to “smuggling potent greenhouse gases,” highlighted in the EPA report. The charges marked the first-ever greenhouse gas-related arrest issued under the AIM Act, but according to an EPA press release from earlier this year, “it will not be the last.”
** Chevron will reduce capital expenditures in the Permian Basin to between $4.5 billion and $5 billion in 2025, a drop of as much as 10%, the company said in a statement. Globally, the oil explorer expects to spend about $17 billion compared to $19 billion this year in the first budget cut since 2021.
** Honda’s first all-electric SUV, the Honda Prologue, was the fifth-best-selling electric vehicle in the United States during the third quarter of 2024, Electrek reported.
** The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said that Boeing has not yet resumed producing 737 MAX airplanes following a machinists strike, but plans to begin later this month.
** Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo urges the federal Bureau of Land Management to cancel its Western solar plan, saying it would “overwhelm local land-use plans,” disrupt economies and harm desert tortoises and sage grouse.
** Utah Gov. Spencer Cox proposes spending $20 million on nuclear power “site preparation,” saying building new reactors is the only way to fully decarbonize the electricity sector.
** A federal judge approves North Dakota’s request to intervene as a co-defendant in the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s lawsuit accusing the Army Corps of Engineers of allowing the Dakota Access Pipeline to operate unlawfully.
** A Republican Georgia Congress member whose district is home to Hyundai’s new electric vehicle plant is among several GOP members speaking out against the party’s plans to roll back a $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit and other clean energy incentives next year.
World
** The expansion of thousands of wind turbines in Sweden over the past two decades means there’s so much power around that electricity prices are increasingly dipping below zero, both for whole days and individual hours, and are expected to remain very low for years.
** Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume clashed with his workers in a heated meeting as the embattled boss continued his painful struggle to roll out pay cuts and close factories in Germany. The head of Germany’s largest private employer addressed 20,000 Volkswagen workers at its headquarters in Wolfsburg on Wednesday, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. They booed him.
** Polestar has just started delivering its brand new model, the Polestar 3, to customers in the U.S. and Canada. The latest Polestar EV is the first to be manufactured on the continent.
** The Russian rouble rebounded past 100 to the U.S. dollar, trading at 99.50 on Friday, after a decree by President Vladimir Putin which opened new payment options for European buyers of Russian gas, allowing foreign currency flows to resume.
** BP (BP) is seeking buyers for a stake in its U.S. natural gas pipeline network, four people with knowledge of the matter said. The British energy company could raise up to $3 billion from the sale, two of the people said, with one of them adding that BP may sell up to a 49% stake in the business.