IRA funding still heading to GOP districts

CLEAN ENERGY: More than three quarters of the Inflation Reduction Act’s $34 billion of announced investments have gone to congressional districts represented by Republicans who voted against it, an analysis finds. (CNN)

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ALSO: South Korean companies have invested in electric vehicle, solar panel and battery factories in Georgia that will employ the equivalent of small towns, and officials from both the U.S. and Korea are pushing for further collaboration. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, subscription)

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OIL & GAS:

• State lawmakers in California, Illinois and New York push to require that gas stoves are sold with labels warning that their indoor emissions put consumers at risk of asthma, cancers, and other illnesses. (Politico)
• Democratic Congress members from California and Alaska who’ve received oil and gas industry donations push back on the Biden administration’s moratorium on new natural gas exports. (Jacobin)

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FINANCE:

• Global leaders meet this week to discuss a European Union-led proposal to reduce financing for oil and gas projects, with the U.S. set to play a key role in securing an agreement. (E&E News)
• Congressional Democrats call on U.S. financial regulators to do more to address climate risks after a report suggests they’re blocking proposed international finance rules focused on climate. (The Hill)

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OVERSIGHT: Industry groups and clean energy advocates cheer the appointments of three new members to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that give the five-member body a full quorum. (States Newsroom)

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GRID:

• A cooler climate and access to water make the Great Lakes region increasingly attractive for data centers, bringing both risks of new fossil fuel plants and opportunities for more renewables to meet electricity demand. (Energy News Network)
• Clean energy advocates and developers support a proposed high-voltage transmission line from Montana to North Dakota that would link the Western and Midwestern grids. (Montana Free Press)

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PIPELINES:

• The Mountain Valley Pipeline begins pumping gas, completing an 11-year path from proposal to completion amid legal, regulatory and political challenges from opponents who still fear a rupture and explosion. (Roanoke Times)
• A federal circuit court denies an environmental group’s argument that federal energy regulators didn’t appropriately account for emissions or New York law when approving a pipeline expansion project in that state and Pennsylvania. (Bloomberg Law, subscription)
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is on track to issue a draft environmental analysis next spring on a proposed tunnel for Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac, as project oversight continues to face backlash. (WLUC; WDIV)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric construction vehicles are slowly catching on, but charging limitations, short battery lives, and other challenges still make them impractical for bigger jobs. (Washington Post)

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CARBON CAPTURE: North Dakota landowners unwilling to lease property for carbon storage raise concerns about health hazards, a lack of economic benefit and unfair treatment from the project developer. (North Dakota Monitor)

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