Jeff Merkley. Photo: Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Here’s a rundown of the stories we've been watching over recess …
🚦Manchin’s moves: Remember when we told you Sen. Joe Manchin threatened to sue the Biden administration over its plan for the IRA’s expanded EV tax credit?
- Well, E&E News’ Hannah Northey and Tim Cama report he probably can’t do that.
🚗 Leasing love: Axios’ What’s Next took a look at how leasing might become the easiest way electric car consumers can benefit from the IRA.
- A diminishing number of EVs will be eligible for the full $7,500 tax credit but leasing offers a workaround, per Jael’s deep dive from last week.
🧪 Chem concerns: Sen. Jeff Merkley wants to know why EPA approved a plant to produce plastic-based alternative fuels with toxic pollution potential. (The Guardian)
💧River watch: The snowy winter out West took pressure off states in the Colorado River basin just as they’re in the middle of heated water use negotiations. (CNN)
- The Supreme Court is also reviewing Navajo Nation water rights in the Colorado River. Here’s a first-person look at that fight from Atmos, a climate-centric mag.
- And today, the Interior Department unveiled a draft plan for water cuts for the river. (NYT)
⚡️Charged up: Axios’ Peter Allen Clark reports lawmakers across the U.S. are starting to push for tighter standards on lithium-ion battery safety.
- This includes New York politicians who are responding after a spate of local fires, like a recent blaze in NYC that killed a 7-year-old boy and a teenager. (NBC News)
💨 CO2 school: WaPo’s Maxine Joselow has an eerily funny feature on children’s books sneaking climate denial into schools.