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☆ U.S. considers new land swap deal in Alaska wildlife refuge
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Interior Department will review the environmental impacts of a possible land swap deal that would allow a new road to cut through an Alaska wildlife refuge, it said on Wednesday. In a notice published in the Federal Register, Interior said it would consider an exchange that would allow for a road corridor for noncommercial use through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and the Izembek Wilderness Area. Environmentalists have said a road would destroy valuable habitat for birds along Kinzarof Lagoon, and would set a dangerous precedent for other wildlife refuges. The deal set by former President Donald Trump's administration was controversial because it left open the door to commercial use of the road. Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service will accept public comments on the analysis for 30 days.

The law is viewed as a watershed for domestic solar manufacturing, which has struggled for years to compete with a flood of cheap imports from China. Since passage of the IRA, companies have announced more than $13 billion in U.S. factory investments, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). According to Treasury's proposed guidelines, the manufactured products in a typical solar energy facility would include modules, trackers and inverters. But solar cells account for about 30% of the costs of the products that make up a solar facility, making them a large piece of the puzzle. The top solar trade group, Solar Energy Industries Association, had proposed that panels assembled in the United States should qualify for the credit regardless of where the cells inside them are produced.

☆ US conducts raids at two properties of China's Jinko Solar
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security this week raided a factory and sales office operated by one of the world's largest solar panel makers, China's Jinko Solar Holding Co Ltd (JKS.N), the agency said on Wednesday. Jinko, which is based in Shanghai, has a solar panel factory in Jacksonville, Florida, and a sales and operations office in San Francisco. The company is one of few global solar manufacturers that have set up domestic production in recent years. "Jinko Solar is committed to operating in accordance with the highest ethical standards and adhering to the laws and regulations of the countries where it operates, including the United States," the spokesperson said. Jinko shares slid 8% on Tuesday after the raid in Florida was reported by several local news outlets.

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted to repeal President Joe Biden's suspension of tariffs on solar panels from four Southeast Asian nations, a measure aimed at supporting the small domestic manufacturing industry. Biden has vowed to veto the legislation, which passed the House of Representatives last week. The House resolution that passed the Senate was introduced under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a law that allows Congress to reverse federal agency rules. Top clean energy trade groups had called on members of Congress to oppose the measure. The Solar Energy Industries Association projected that its passage would result in cancellation of 14% of the industry's planned new capacity this year and the loss of $4.2 billion in investment.

Companies U.S. House of Representatives FollowApril 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday voted to repeal President Joe Biden's suspension of tariffs on solar panels from four Southeast Asian nations, a move solar project builders say would stall clean energy development. The White House has warned that it opposes the legislation, saying in a statement that Biden would veto it. Panels from the four nations, which host manufacturing facilities owned by Chinese companies, account for about 80% of U.S. supplies. Solar project developers say tariffs will increase their costs and slow development of clean power facilities needed to combat climate change. Months later, the department issued a preliminary decision to impose tariffs on solar products Chinese companies make in those countries that match current tariffs on goods they make in China.

☆ US House to vote on repeal of Biden solar policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies U.S. House of Representatives FollowApril 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Friday on whether to repeal President Joe Biden's suspension of tariffs on solar panels from four Southeast Asian nations, a move solar project builders say would stall clean energy development. The bipartisan effort to restore tariffs on solar imports from Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam is aimed at boosting domestic solar manufacturers who say they cannot compete with cheap products made overseas, primarily by Chinese companies. Panels from the four nations, which host manufacturing facilities owned by Chinese companies, account for about 80% of U.S. supplies. Biden last year waived tariffs on solar products from the four nations as the Commerce Department was considering whether those imports were dodging duties on goods made in China and violating U.S. law. Months later, the department issued a preliminary decision to impose tariffs on solar products Chinese companies make in those countries, that match current tariffs on goods they make in China.

☆ U.S. Sen. Manchin joins effort to repeal Biden solar tariff waiver
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Senator Joe Manchin on Wednesday threw his support behind a legislative effort to repeal President Joe Biden's suspension of tariffs on solar panel imports from four Southeast Asian nations that are the industry's primary suppliers. He is the first Democrat to co-sponsor a resolution introduced by Senator Rick Scott, a Republican, in February. The effort would need a two-thirds majority in the Senate to overturn a presidential veto, and Democrats have just a narrow majority. A conservative Democrat from the coal mining state of West Virginia, Manchin has regularly clashed with his party on energy policy. The resolution mirrors a bipartisan measure that is scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives on Friday.

[1/2] Hywind Tampen floating wind farm structures are being assembled at the Wergeland Base in Gulen, Norway, June 7, 2022. But by 2035, the LCOE for floating wind is expected to fall to about 60 euros/MWh. It plans to set a specific target for floating wind this year. Britain aims to have 5 GW of floating wind installed by 2030 but a report by the UK Floating Wind Offshore Wind Taskforce, said 34 GW could be installed by 2040 if ports were upgraded. "South Korea will be commercial the quickest," said Cole at Corio Generation, which has 1.5 GW of floating wind under development there.

☆ Is this solar panel American? Companies eyeing US subsidy await rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Solar panels are set up in the solar farm at the University of California, Merced, in Merced, California, U.S. August 17, 2022. Their main question: will solar panels qualify if they are assembled in the United States using components made overseas? In February, top U.S. solar manufacturer First Solar Inc (FSLR.O) said it would delay further expansion decisions until Treasury releases its guidelines. A manufacturing group, Solar Energy Manufacturers for America (SEMA), said both manufacturers and developers want clear rules that will fuel growth. A potential approach could be to allow the bonus credit to apply to domestically available goods, with that standard changing over a set timeline.

☆ US House committee votes to repeal Biden solar panel policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Solar panels are set up in the solar farm at the University of California, Merced, in Merced, California, U.S. August 17, 2022. Biden suspended tariffs last June as part of a key pillar of his clean energy policy. The resolution passed the House Ways and Means committee 26 to 13. "The Ways and Means Committee just took a hammer to business certainty and American energy independence," Solar Energy Industries Association President Abigail Ross Hopper said in a statement. Months later, Commerce issued a preliminary decision to extend existing tariffs on Chinese solar products to goods from those nations.

[1/3] U.S. President Joe Biden attends the groundbreaking of the new Intel semiconductor manufacturing facility in New Albany, Ohio, U.S., September 9, 2022. But all that new construction has a real estate problem. That would be a problem for the Biden administration, which has pushed through legislation to fuel the developments. A White House official said it was a "high-class problem" to have, adding: "Folks are finding places to build. The governors of South Carolina, Virginia and North Carolina have each proposed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on readying industrial sites in the coming years.

☆ U.S. judge blocks Biden clean water rule in 24 states
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 12 (Reuters) - A federal judge in North Dakota on Wednesday temporarily blocked implementation of a Biden administration rule establishing protections for seasonal streams and wetlands in 24 states, according to court documents. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland granted the states' request for a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of the Environmental Protection Agency's Waters of the United States rule, which was finalized in December. In the order, Hovland said the states would "expend unrecoverable resources complying with a rule unlikely to withstand judicial scrutiny." An EPA spokesperson said the agency is reviewing Wednesday’s ruling and called the Biden administration rule “the best interpretation” of the Clean Water Act. In Congress, Republicans led an effort to repeal the water rule last month, with limited support from across the aisle including four Senate Democrats and independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

☆ Federal judge blocks Biden clean water rule in 24 states
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 12 (Reuters) - A federal judge in North Dakota on Wednesday temporarily blocked implementation of a Biden administration rule establishing protections for seasonal streams and wetlands in 24 states, according to court documents. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland granted the states' request for a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of the Environmental Protection Agency's Waters of the United States rule, which was finalized in December. In the order, Hovland said the states would "expend unrecoverable resources complying with a rule unlikely to withstand judicial scrutiny." West Virginia and 23 other Republican-led states sued the EPA in February, alleging the rule violates the U.S. Constitution and sows confusion for landowners. Reporting by Clark Mindock and Nichola Groom; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ US gives final nod to huge power line from Wyoming to Nevada
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 11 (Reuters) - U.S. officials on Tuesday gave final approval for a company owned by billionaire Philip Anschutz to begin building a massive transmission line that will deliver wind energy from blustery Wyoming to power-hungry California. The "notice to proceed" from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management allows TransWest Express LLC to break ground on its $3 billion line after more than 15 years of development. A separate Anschutz firm owns the 600-turbine Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind farm in Wyoming, which is being built, that will send power through TransWest Express. TransWest Express construction will start later this year and the first stage will be completed in 2027, the company said. The line will run from south central Wyoming, through Colorado, Utah and Nevada to a substation outside of Las Vegas.

☆ US home solar installers brace for slowdown as California reform looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

California boasts 38% of the nation's residential solar capacity, buttressing the U.S. market's 40% surge in 2022, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association trade group. More than 1.5 million Golden State homes have solar, state data show. They and others have noted a spike in California installations this year as consumers scrambled to get systems connected before the policy change on April 15. California Solar & Storage Association Executive Director Bernadette Del Chiaro called the transition difficult. Residential solar installers are already grappling with higher interest rates that cut into the value of financed systems, and tighter available credit.

☆ The High Seas Treaty, Explained
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Haphazard Authority On Ocean Resources | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

Global News Changing Tides The first international agreement to protect the world's oceans aims to create “international parks” in the high seas. The high seas represent 95% of the world’s total habitat by volume, but the nautical world remains largely unexplored. “A sentiment we often encountered was that there’s not much in terms of biodiversity out there in the high seas,” he said. MPAs that already exist mostly occupy exclusive economic zones and only make up about 3% of the high seas. A 2016 Pew study on mapping governance in the high seas showed 19 governing bodies with a high seas mandate.

☆ U.S. Treasury to release EV battery sourcing rules next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Phil Noble/File PhotoMarch 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday said it will release guidance next week on sourcing requirements for electric vehicle battery tax subsidies under President Joe Biden's climate change law, the first in a string of highly anticipated rules to determine how broadly the credits can be used. It will also issue guidance on selling tax credits and making them refundable, which allows entities without tax liability to use them. The IRA specifices, for instance, that a $7,500 EV tax credit is only available to North American-assembled vehicles that meet certain local battery production and mineral extraction processing standards. In December, Treasury decided not to issue proposed guidance on battery sourcing rules until March, effectively giving some EVs not meeting new requirements a few months of eligibility in 2023 before battery rules take effect. The other half requires manufacturing or assembly of at least 50% of battery components in North America.

☆ Biden creates two new national monuments in Nevada and Texas
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at Harry Reid International Airport, for a visit to a reception for the Democratic National Committee in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., March 14, 2023. REUTERS/Leah MillisWASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden created two new national monuments, in Nevada and Texas, on Tuesday and launched an effort to consider expanding protections for all waters around remote Pacific islands southwest of Hawaii. The other new national monument is Castner Range in El Paso, Texas. Biden directed Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to consider initiating a new marine sanctuary designation for all U.S. waters around the Pacific Remote Islands. The designation would expand on the existing Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument established by President George W. Bush in 2009 and expanded by President Barack Obama in 2014.

☆ San Francisco Bay area to phase out natural gas heating appliances
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Carlos BarriaMarch 16 (Reuters) - The San Francisco Bay area will phase out natural gas-powered furnaces and water heaters beginning in 2027 to improve local air quality and public health. It is the latest move by local officials in the United States to eliminate natural gas, a fossil fuel, from heating homes and buildings. Eliminating natural gas appliances would mean transitioning to electric equipment such as heat pumps. Currently about two thirds of Bay Area households use natural gas appliances, according to the regulator. They will apply to water heaters in single-family homes in 2027, furnaces in 2029, and multifamily and commercial water heaters in 2031.

☆ US releases a third of electronics detained under China forced labor law, data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. customs officials have released more than a third of the electronic equipment, including solar panels, detained since last year under a new law meant to weed out products made with forced labor, according to data released on Tuesday. According to the data, CBP has released 552 electronics shipments worth $345 million out of a total of 1,627 industry shipments valued at $841 million that were held for examination. While it was unknown what percentage of those shipments are solar equipment, Reuters reported last year that as of late October, CBP had detained more than 1,000 shipments of solar energy equipment. Just 17 electronics shipments, worth $7 million, have been denied entry into the U.S. market. The data also shows detainments peaked in the federal government's fiscal fourth quarter that ended in September and have steadily declined since then.

☆ U.S. withdraws Trump-era land deal in Alaska wildlife refuge
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland addresses the Tribal Nations Summit from an auditorium on the White House campus in Washington, D.C., U.S. November 15, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstMarch 14 (Reuters) - The Biden administration said on Tuesday it rescinded a land swap deal struck by former President Donald Trump's interior secretary that would have allowed a new road to cut through an Alaska wildlife refuge. In a statement, the Interior Department said Secretary Deb Haaland withdrew the 2019 land exchange deal between the agency and the Alaska native King Cove Corporation, but would be open to examining other proposals to replace it. Environmentalists have said a road would destroy valuable habitat for birds along Kinzarof Lagoon, and would set a dangerous precedent for other wildlife refuges. The deal set by Trump's Interior Secretary David Bernhardt in 2019 was particularly controversial because it left open the door to commercial use of the road.

Companies Conocophillips FollowWASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - The oil industry on Monday cheered the U.S. government's greenlighting of ConocoPhillips' multibillion-dollar oil drilling project in Alaska's Arctic, but court challenges could mire the plans in further delays. President Joe Biden's administration approved a trimmed-down version of the $7 billion Willow project on federal lands in a pristine area on Alaska's north coast. Kristen Monsell, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, another group involved in the previous suits, said Monday's approval for the Willow project is "still inadequate in numerous respects." Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, told reporters the state's lawmakers are prepared to defend the decision against "frivolous" legal challenges. Even if Interior could beat back the oil company's challenge, it would probably only mean another delay for Willow, he said.

☆ Indians erupt in celebration after two films win at Oscars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Indians had won Oscars previously, but no Indian film had won an Academy Award before Sunday night in Los Angles. "The popularity of 'Naatu Naatu' is global. They have brought India to the world stage," singer Prudhvi Chandra, one of the singers of "Naatu Naatu," told the India Today news channel. In the film, made in the South Indian language of Telugu, and directed by S.S. Rajamouli, "Naatu Naatu" begins when the two leads, played by Ram Charan and N.T. When a young British man aims racist insults at the leads, they decide to educate him using the song "Naatu Naatu."

☆ Michelle Yeoh wins best actress Oscar for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

By Nichola GroomLOS ANGELES, March 12 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Michelle Yeoh won the Academy Award on Sunday for best lead actress for her role as a Chinese American laundromat owner dealing with family turmoil in "Everything Everywhere All at Once", becoming the first Asian woman to win in the category. Yeoh, 60, was widely regarded as the front-runner for the award after claiming a Screen Actors Guild honor and a Golden Globe award for the role. In "Everything Everywhere," Yeoh's character, Evelyn Wang, is struggling to finish her taxes when she is swept into alternate universes. The science-fiction film was a critical and commercial success and is vying for the best picture Oscar. (Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)((nichola.groom@thomsonreuters.com))Keywords: AWARDS OSCARS/ACTRESSOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Alaska's elected officials say the project will create hundreds of jobs and bring billions of dollars in revenue to state and federal coffers. The state relies heavily on revenue from oil production, but output there has declined dramatically from its peak in the 1980s. "I feel the people of Alaska have been heard," U.S. Representative Mary Peltola, a Democrat from Alaska, said on a call with reporters. The Interior Department approved the project with three drill pads after saying last month it was concerned about the greenhouse gas impacts of Willow. "This was the right decision for Alaska and our nation," ConocoPhillips Chief Executive Ryan Lance said in a statement.

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