** Lawyers for Chevron, Texaco, and Exxon Mobil argue before the U.S. Supreme Court that localities’ lawsuits against oil companies over climate change and rising seas should be heard in federal and not state courts after a jury awarded two Louisiana parish governments $744.6 million in damages from Chevron.
** The Trump administration violated the Fifth Amendment when it canceled clean energy grants last year based on whether the projects were located in states that voted for the president in 2024, a federal court judge ruled on Monday.
** The first hearing in Dominion Energy’s suit against the Trump administration in its efforts to restart construction of its offshore wind farm will take place in Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday.
** The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently issued a final rule on nitrogen oxide standards for new gas-fired power plants and other stationary turbines. The standards are significantly more lenient than a proposal issued in November 2024 during the Biden administration reported Utility Dive.
** A report by Blaze Media contends Canada’s self-inflicted pipeline paralysis is eroding its position in the U.S. market just as alternatives like Venezuelan oil come back online. Nowhere is that risk clearer than in Alberta, home to the vast majority of Canada’s oil production, where years of stalled pipeline projects have left the country’s most valuable energy asset effectively landlocked.
** Developers choose a predominantly Black community in South Carolina for a proposed data center complex after failing to win approval to build in a largely white Georgia community, demonstrating how Black neighborhoods are routinely targeted for such development.
World
** Oil prices rose to a two-month high on Wednesday as traders priced in a heightened risk premium on Iran, where protests have been raging, and President Trump said the country’s ruling regime would “pay a big price.” International pricing benchmark Brent crude and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate have both gained more than 10% over the past five trading sessions to trade above $66.10 and $61.80 per barrel, respectively, for the first time since October as geopolitical tensions have roiled global energy markets.
** The only places where Venezuela’s oil becomes unappealing to American oil companies is at refineries not designed for Venezuela’s heavy, sour barrels.
** Hundreds of new wind turbines are to be built around Britain’s coastline after Ed Miliband awarded yearly subsidies of up to £1.8bn to green energy developers. The Energy Secretary has approved plans for six new offshore wind farms following an auction of renewables contracts known as Allocation Round Seven.
** The Trump administration has filed court warrants in an effort to seize more ships linked to Venezuela’s oil trade, according to media reports. So far, five vessels have been seized by the U.S. military and Coast Guard in recent weeks in international waters.