Axios

Environmental groups just launched a campaign aimed at pressuring bitcoin miners to adopt more climate-friendly practices.

Why it matters: Verifying and recording transactions involves power-hungry computing equipment, spurring fears about growing CO2 emissions.

Several new polls show widespread concern about energy costs — and gasoline in particular — as the midterm elections draw closer.

What's new: Wednesday morning Gallup reported that U.S. worries about energy cost and availability spiked to the highest levels in a decade.

Germany initiated the first step of an emergency energy plan on Wednesday to preempt a potential disruption or halt in gas supplies from Russia, according to Reuters.

Why it matters: The unprecedented move indicates that the European Union is concerned that President Vladimir Putin's demands that Europe and the United States pay for gas exports in rubles could result in a Russian gas cut-off.

FedEx Express will soon begin testing a new short-haul air cargo system using autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft developed by Elroy Air, a California startup named for the boy in the "Jetsons."

Why it matters: Self-flying cargo planes could help FedEx Express move goods among warehouses more safely and efficiently amid the exponential growth of e-commerce.

Driving the news: The companies said they would begin flight testing in 2023 in Fort Worth, Texas, using Elroy's Chaparral autonomous aircraft.

• Like similar aircraft, Elroy's VTOL ascends and descends like a helicopter but flies like a plane.
• It can pick up a cargo pod weighing 300 to 500 pounds without human interaction, and can deliver it within a range of 300 miles.
• Unlike electric VTOLs from other manufacturers, Elroy's plane is a hybrid, so it doesn't require additional infrastructure such as airports or charging stations.

What they're saying: "When you're not limited by challenging infrastructure, traffic or airports, logistics can reach more people, faster than ever before," said Kofi Asante, Elroy Air's vice president of business development and strategy.

• "We look forward to working together to create a new future for how we get goods to people around the world."

The big picture: The self-flying air cargo system is the latest step by FedEx to find innovative technologies to handle rising delivery volumes.

• By potentially taking trucks off the road, the hybrid aircraft also helps FedEx toward its goal of carbon-neutral operations by 2040.

The Boston Red Sox on Wednesday are expected to announce that games at Fenway Park will be carbon neutral, a first for Major League Baseball, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Sports venues like Fenway Park have large carbon footprints, particularly when attendee travel is taken into account.

Activist investor Carl Icahn has nominated two directors to the board of the supermarket chain Kroger and voiced animal rights concerns over its supply chain and use of gestation crates in pork production.

Why it matters: The move extends Icahn’s animal-welfare campaign to another part of the food industry, more than a month after he launched a proxy fight with McDonald’s over the treatment of pigs used in its pork products.

House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl Grijalva (D.-Ariz.) slammed the CEOs of three major oil companies for refusing to testify at a Natural Resources Committee hearing scheduled for April 5.

Why it matters: The hearing would have examined the fossil fuel industry’s failure to help stabilize gas prices during the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, Grijalva said in a statement.

White House budget proposals arrive on Capitol Hill written in pencil at best, but the new Biden administration plan nonetheless has provisions and messages worth watching.

Driving the news: The fiscal year 2023 request unveiled Monday would boost government-wide spending on climate and clean energy programs to almost $45 billion, the White House said.

The share prices of large U.S. gas drillers have climbed over the last week as word emerged of White House plans to further increase LNG exports to Europe.

Why it matters: The share price moves show market optimism that U.S. policy is bullish for domestic production and sales.

Solar project companies are issuing strong warnings about the potential harms from a new Commerce Department probe into whether China is doing an end-run around tariffs on panel shipments to the U.S.

Why it matters: The probe could lead to tariffs of 50%-250%, per the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), an industry trade group.

A detailed new analysis puts a finer point on a troubling climate trend: Nations' policy moves are tepid compared to their ambitious emissions goals.

Driving the news: "While G20 governments made unprecedented promises in 2021, none has implemented sufficient policies to plausibly achieve deep decarbonization, though some are closer than others," the research firm BloombergNEF said in a report.

Heavy rains in eastern Australia prompted fresh evacuation orders Tuesday for thousands of people still reeling from deadly flooding earlier this month.

Driving the news: The first round of flooding killed at least 21 people and ravaged buildings across the states of New South Wales and Queensland. Already, two people have died after being swept away in floodwaters in Queensland, per state police.