Energy & Fuel

"Dry weather in southwestern China has crippled huge hydroelectric dams, forcing cities to impose rolling blackouts and driving up the country’s use of coal."

"HONG KONG — Car assembly plants and electronics factories in southwestern China have closed for lack of power. Owners of electric cars are waiting overnight at charging stations to recharge their vehicles. Rivers are so low there that ships can no longer carry supplies.

"As Europe's energy costs skyrocket, Russia is burning off large amounts of natural gas, according to analysis shared with BBC News."

"The Department of the Interior on Thursday announced a $560 million grant to 24 states to start plugging up and reclaiming abandoned oil and gas wells."

"For years, as California has moved ahead with ambitious clean-air regulations, the state has had to prod the auto industry to go along. Now, in the push to electrify the nation’s car fleet, it is California that is keeping up with automakers."

"US and UK financial institutions have been among the leading investors in Russian “carbon bomb” fossil fuel projects, according to a new database of holdings from recent years."

"Floods devastated Eastern Kentucky in July. Now, a community wants to hold Blackhawk Mining accountable for its possible role in the disaster."

"Levels of the gas are growing at a record rate and natural sources like wetlands are the cause, but scientists don’t know how to curb it."

"Environmental advocates are asking the Biden administration for a federal ban on new natural gas-powered heating appliances in homes and commercial buildings."

"The decision, to take effect by 2035, will very likely speed a wider transition to electric vehicles because many other states follow California’s standards."

"California regulators on Thursday will vote to put in place a sweeping plan to restrict and ultimately ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars, state officials said, a move that the state’s governor described as the beginning of the end for the internal combustion engine.

"Toyota Motor Corp. agreed to recognize California’s authority to set its own auto emission standards, ending a standoff stretching back to the Trump administration."