** President Donald Trump is calling for an audit that could kill California’s high-speed rail proposal, which has been around for nearly two decades and has made very little progress. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy secretary wants to investigate if there were any shady business dealings tied with the rail project’s failure so far.
** Federal energy regulators have approved a controversial new plan that could reshape the future of the U.S. power grid — potentially to the detriment of clean energy. The decision grants priority access to 50 new power plants, most likely to be fueled by methane gas, over wind and solar projects when connecting to the country’s largest electric grid, according to The New York Times.
** California lawmakers introduce a bill that would levy a fee on oil and gas companies to pay for climate change-driven disasters.
** Wyoming lawmakers advance legislation that would subsidize enhanced oil recovery projects, or injecting captured carbon dioxide into aging wells to stimulate production.
** South Dakota lawmakers advance bills to create a moratorium on carbon pipelines until federal safety rules are finalized, and authorize landowners to sue pipeline companies over alleged misrepresentations or harassment.
World
** Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority chairman Osama Rabei said on Sunday that 47 ships have been rerouted from Cape of Good Hope to Suez Canal since the start of February. Iran-backed Houthi militants have attacked vessels in the Red Sea area since November 2023, disrupting global shipping by forcing vessels to avoid the nearby Suez Canal and reroute trade around Africa, raising shipping costs.
** BP’schief executive will scrap a target to increase renewable generation 20-fold by 2030, returning the focus to fossil fuels, as part of a strategy shift announced to tackle investor concerns over earnings, two sources told Reuters.