National (U.S.)

Public relations operatives for a gas company posed as neighbors to convince Californians to stick with gas stoves.

"Systems are designed to handle spikes in demand, but the wild and unpredictable weather linked to global warming will very likely push grids beyond their limits."

"Some of the climate impacts of a grocery store trip are obvious, like the fuel it takes to get there and the electricity that keeps its lights glowing, conveyor belts moving and scanners beeping. But then there are the invisible gases seeping out into the atmosphere when you reach for your ice cream of choice."

"A new paper argues that returning to estimates for the cost of carbon dioxide used in the Obama era would leave the U.S. far behind its Paris Agreement goals."

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded three contracts for the clean-up of more than 50 abandoned uranium mine sites on the Navajo Nation, worth up to $220 million over the next five years."

"A rare deep freeze in Texas that raised demand for power forced the state’s electric grid operator on Monday to impose rotating blackouts, leaving 4 million customers without power even as temperatures dipped to teeth-chattering levels."

"Darlene Jenkins couldn’t understand why her gas and electric bills were so high. Then she met an advocate in a North Baltimore parking lot."

"In early January, Darlene Jenkins took her power shutoff notice to the Fuel Fund of Maryland, a nonprofit organization that helps residents navigate utility crises. She owed a little over $2,500—more than a quarter of her yearly income.

"President Biden plans to nominate David Turk, a former Obama administration official, as his deputy energy secretary."

"The Environmental Protection Agency asked courts on Friday to partially freeze a mandate that was issued when judges scrapped the Affordable Clean Energy rule last month."

"The Interior Department is postponing auctions of oil and gas leases in four Western states and revoking the authorization for a planned March sale of drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sales in coming months of tracts in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming are being postponed by the Bureau of Land Management “to confirm the adequacy of underlying environmental analysis,” according to an emailed Interior statement.