Governors' Biofuels Coalition

Across the United States, residents of neighborhoods abutting refineries, chemical plants and other major industrial sources can generally be sure of two facts: Those facilities emits tons of dangerous pollutants and EPA rarely requires monitoring for their presence in local air. Meanwhile, after a Norfolk Southern Corp. freight train spectacularly derailed in northeast Ohio last month, the agency rushed to protect residents with around-the-clock air tracking for dozens of contaminants. While the Clean Air Act classifies 188 pollutants as hazardous, for example, EPA mandates routine fence-line monitoring for only one: benzene. And that comes with further limitations: Monitoring is required only around refineries, not other sources.

“I think they’re going to try to screw me on this,” Manchin said of the Treasury Department’s forthcoming guidance on the tax credit’s changes in the Inflation Reduction Act, the law he wrote last year with the goal of boosting U.S. energy security. “And I’m willing to go to court. I’m willing to stop it all, because that’s not the intent,” he said.

A House bill that would restrict the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines — an idea favored by a strong majority of Iowans — won’t receive a Senate hearing ahead of a key legislative deadline, meaning the bill is effectively dead for the session. The bill represented the most serious legislative effort this year to address the concerns of farmers and other landowners who fear they could be forced to sell access to their land to companies seeking to build pipelines across the state.

House Republicans are expected to pass legislation Thursday that would increase oil drilling and mining on public lands and waters, defying President Biden’s climate agenda and fulfilling a campaign promise to focus on lowering gasoline prices ahead of the 2024 election. The sprawling 175-page package, known as the Lower Energy Costs Act, would slash some environmental regulations and reinstate suspended oil and gas leases. It also would repeal parts of the Democrats’ landmark climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act.

A tiny Pacific island nation has pulled off the kind of diplomatic win that can elude global superpowers. On Wednesday, Vanuatu, population 300,000, rallied countries to ask the world’s highest court to weigh in on a high-stakes question: Can countries be sued under international law for failing to slow down climate change? The measure passed by consensus, meaning none of the 193 member states requested a vote. The General Assembly Hall erupted in applause.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Railroad Administration are investigating the derailment Thursday of a freight train carrying ethanol near a small town in Minnesota that prompted the evacuation of some residents. The BNSF Railway-operated train derailed at 1:02 a.m. (0602 GMT) and caught fire, forcing some residents to evacuate in the small town of Raymond, Minnesota, about 110 miles (180 km) west of Minneapolis. No injuries have been reported.

Federal and state officials are investigating an ethanol train derailment and fire in the southwest Minnesota town of Raymond, and according to law enforcement, town residents within one-half mile of the derailment have been evacuated. The derailment occurred around 1 a.m. CDT on Thursday, according to information from the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office, and officials say travel should be avoided to the town of about 800 residents about 90 miles west of Minneapolis/St. Paul.

As the Biden administration and Congress consider taking action to allow continued sales of lower-cost E15 this summer, a new poll shows overwhelming support among voters for ensuring the popular fuel blend remains available year-round and nationwide.

House Republicans are going after the Democrats’ landmark climate change law, but they’re picking a handful of provisions to target instead of a broad assault. Still, a senior Republican said the anti-Inflation Reduction Act campaign is only beginning. With the energy and permitting bill on the floor this week, the GOP is choosing not to go headfirst against the Inflation Reduction Act, despite the party’s united opposition to the law that put $369 billion toward energy and fighting climate change.

The problems are experienced by those who use fast chargers on the go and who aren’t driving Teslas. Studies and innumerable anecdotes describe the strange stumbles they encounter: a blank screen, a broken plug, a credit card payment that fails, sessions that abort without warning, electric current that flows fast this moment and slowly the next.