Another Supreme Court blow to climate

COURTS: The U.S. Supreme Court overturns the 40-year-old Chevron deference, restoring stronger judicial power over federal agencies and likely curbing their ability to institute sweeping environmental and energy actions. (Grist, E&E News)

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ALSO:

• In her dissent on Chevron, Justice Elena Kagan calls out the court’s majority for substituting “its own judgment on climate change for that of the Environmental Protection Agency.” (The Hill)
• The Biden administration anticipated Chevron’s reversal years ago, and gave the U.S. EPA more power to enact climate regulations as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. (New York Times)

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CLIMATE:

• Donald Trump’s campaign says he would once again remove the U.S. from the Paris Agreement if he wins the election. (Politico)
• A new report shows how grid decarbonization and other emissions-reducing technologies can shrink the aluminum industry’s climate impact, even as demand for the metal grows to serve clean energy and electric vehicle deployment. (Canary Media)

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GRID:

• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says it may create a regulatory framework for dynamic line ratings that could increase power flow on existing transmission lines, among other updates at its Thursday meeting. (Utility Dive)
• New England’s grid operator says in a report that electrification will increase power demand by roughly 23% in the next ten years, with some offset from distributed residential solar and efficiency projects. (VT Digger)

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OFFSHORE WIND: The federal government announces an offshore wind energy lease sale that will include areas off the coast of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. (WRDE)

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POLICY: Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has unilaterally disregarded multiple state climate laws passed by the Democratically controlled legislature, creating a legal crisis that could delay implementation for years. (E&E News)

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OIL & GAS:

• The EU’s new regulations requiring fossil fuel companies to monitor and report their methane emissions will affect the U.S., as it’s the bloc’s top liquefied natural gas supplier. (Forbes)
• Native Alaska communities sue the Biden administration over its oil and gas drilling ban on 10.6 million acres in a national petroleum reserve, saying it violates federal laws. (Bloomberg Law)
• Environmental groups appeal Michigan regulators’ approval of  Enbridge’s plan to tunnel the Line 5 pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac, arguing they failed to properly consider alternatives. (Associated Press)

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CO2 STORAGE: As Texas opens more offshore areas for carbon sequestration projects, experts foresee the Gulf Coast becoming a global hub for underground disposal of greenhouse gases. (Inside Climate News)

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ELECTRIFICATION: A fossil fuel trade group plans to file a lawsuit seeking to block Denver, Colorado’s building codes restricting natural gas appliances in commercial and multifamily buildings. (CPR)

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OVERSIGHT: Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted continues to deny knowledge of FirstEnergy’s scheme to secure a $1 billion bailout for its unprofitable power plants as text messages show he led the push to pass the 2019 law. (Ohio Capital Journal)

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