Axios

Two new studies offer a rough one-two punch on climate change — showing the lagging efforts to meet the Paris Agreement's targets and the health effects of the world's current fossil-heavy energy system.

Driving the news: An analysis in the journal Communications Earth & Environment sheds light on what it would take to hold global temperature rise under 2°C above preindustrial levels.

House Democrats' COVID-19 relief package unveiled last night includes $100 million for EPA to address "health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic," per House Energy and Commerce Committee bill text.

How it works: The proposed funding would provide $50 million for grants, contracts and other activities, and another $50 million for EPA-funded air quality monitoring and related efforts, panel Democrats said.

U.S. coal production is still slated for a bounce-back from the pandemic lows, but it may be smaller than federal analysts previously thought.

Driving the news: The latest Energy Information Administration estimates show U.S. production rising 9% this year, down from their prior guess of 12%.

Officials appointed by former President Trump interfered to overrule career scientists in a safety assessment for a toxic chemical linked to health issues at the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA said Tuesday.

Why it matters: EPA career scientists found in a review that conclusions made by the officials in regards to the chemical, PFBS, "were compromised by political interference as well as infringement of authorship and the scientific independence of the authors' conclusions," according to a statement by President Biden's EPA.

Alternative vehicles have become the new biotechs, often racing into the public markets with little to no revenue.

Driving the news: Hyzon Motors, a hydrogen fuel cell truck and bus startup, is going public via SPAC at a $2.7 billion valuation. Its technology is commercialized, unlike Nikola, but says it plans to have only 5,000 vehicles delivered by the end of 2023.

Hyzon Motors, the hydrogen fuel cell truck and bus startup, is going public via reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

Driving the news: Hyzon is merging with Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp. in a deal that values the New York-based startup at $2.7 billion.

India is projected to see the biggest increase in energy demand of any country over the next 20 years, a new International Energy Agency report finds.

Why it matters: It's already the third-largest energy-consuming nation, even as per-capita energy use, car ownership and other metrics are far below the global average.

The huge multinational oil-and-gas company Total on Tuesday unveiled new information about its diversification efforts — and the company's changing its name too.

Driving the news: Total said over 20% of its expected $12.1 billion in net spending in 2021 will be devoted to renewables and other electricity-related investments.