Opinion:
¶ “California AG Subpoenas Exxon Over False Plastics Recycling Claims” • The Attorney General of California has launched an investigation into plastics and Big Oil. Exxon is one of the biggest contributors to the global plastics pandemic. It is also the poster child for everything that is wrong with capitalism as it has evolved over the past 50 years. [CleanTechnica]
Rubbish washed up on a beach (Antoine GIRET, Unsplash)
¶ “Outdated Zoning Laws Are Holding Renewable Energy Back” • The cost of renewable energy has plummeted in the past ten years, but it faces legal barriers. One of the reasons there isn’t more solar and wind is that there are costs associated with installing them that haven’t decreased so significantly. Experts refer to them as “soft costs.” [Popular Science]
Science and Technology:
¶ “How Phantom Forests Are Used For Greenwashing” • Drawing down carbon by increasing forest cover has become central to the fight against climate change. But sometimes the forests exist on paper only, because promises have not been kept, or because planted trees have died or even been harvested. A new effort will now be made to track success and failure. [BBC]
Planting volunteer (Mikhail Nilov, Pexels)
World:
¶ “India And Pakistan Heatwave Is ‘Testing The Limits Of Human Survivability,’ Expert Says” • Temperatures in parts of India and Pakistan have reached record levels, putting the lives of millions at risk as the effects of the climate crisis are felt across the subcontinent. The average maximum temperature in central India in April was 37.78°C (100°F). [CNN]
¶ “Germany Will Support An EU Oil Embargo On Russia” • Germany is ready to support a European ban on imports of Russian oil, and won’t be “blackmailed” by Moscow into paying for natural gas in rubles. Finance minister Christian Lindner said Germany would agree any new sanctions on Russia with its partners in the EU. [CNN]
Pumpjack (Jeremy Morris, Unsplash)
¶ “France Plugin EV Share 21.1% In April, New Bestseller” • In France, plugin EVs took 21.1% of the auto market in April, up from 14.8% year-on-year. Full battery electrics continued to dominate over plugin hybrids. The overall passenger auto market was down 22.6% YOY, and down 44.2% compared to pre-pandemic April 2019. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “BP Profits Soar As Calls For Windfall Tax Grow” • BP’s profits for the first three months of this year have more than doubled after oil and gas prices soared. The energy giant reported an underlying profit of $6.2 billion (£4.9 billion) compared to $2.6 billion in the same period last year. Rising profits have prompted calls for a one-off windfall tax. [BBC]
Thunder Horse platform (Andyminicooper, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “Danish Giant Reveals Details Of Giga-Scale Renewable Hydrogen Plans In Murchison” • Details have emerged of the Murchison Hydrogen Renewables project proposed for Western Australia. It includes over 5 GW of wind and solar, a big battery, a 3-GW electrolyser, and production of about 2 million tonnes a year of green ammonia. [Renew Economy]
US:
¶ “Biden Administration Making $3 Billion Investment In Lithium Ion Battery Production” • President Joe Biden is building on his EV goal with a $3 billion investment aimed at boosting the US supply of lithium ion batteries. The move is aimed at fighting climate change, but also to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. [CNN]
Tesla (Matt Weissinger, Pexels)
¶ “Electric Vehicle Manufacturers Mobilize Behind Charging Cybersecurity At NREL” • With more EVs in use, vehicle security is drawing more interest. Members of the EV industry gathered at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to evaluate enhanced cybersecurity for the connections between EVs and charging infrastructure. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Ford F-150 Lightning Home Integration System Priced At $3,895” • Ford chose Sunrun as its partner to install the Home Integration System needed to take advantage of the vehicle-to-home capability of the F-150 Lightning. Now, Matthew Stover, the director of charging and energy services at Ford, has revealed a price of $3,895. [CleanTechnica]
‘Home of the Future’ with a Ford F-150 Lightning (Sunrun image)
¶ “US Offshore Wind Says The Quiet Part Out Loud: Fossil Fuel Is Toast” • The technical electricity generation potential for wind turbines located in US waters is more than 2,000 GW, but almost none of it has been tapped as yet. But the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has laid the groundwork for growth. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Climate Change Is Coming For New England’s Highest Peak” • Mount Washington in New Hampshire is famous for some of the world’s worst weather. But Mount Washington’s weather is starting to shift significantly because of climate change. A study from the Appalachian Mountain Club found areas on and near Mount Washington warming. [NHPR]
View from Mount Washington (Kelly Sikkema, Unsplash)
¶ “Avangrid Unleashes 200-MW Oregon Wind Farm” • Avangrid Renewables has achieved commercial operation at its 200-MW Golden Hills wind farm in Oregon. Golden Hills features 41 Vestas V150 4.3-MW turbines and 10 GE 116 2.5-MW turbines. The new wind farm increases PSE’s owned and contracted wind fleet to over 1,150 MW. [reNews]
¶ “Counterfeit Parts Found In US Nuke Plants: Here Is What NRC Is Doing About It” • In response to an audit report that found three instances of counterfeit, fraudulent, and suspect items in the nation’s nuclear power plants, the NRC will implement eight improvements to guard against such component problems in the future. [Seacoastonline.com]
Have fundamentally enchanting day.
geoharvey 
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