Current conditions: Temperatures in Sapporo, Japan, surpassed 77 degrees Fahrenheit today, earlier than ever before • Gale-force winds are blasting Britain • The weather is looking greatfor the Boston Marathon.
THE TOP FIVE
1. Tesla reportedly lays off 10% of global workforce
Tesla has reportedly laid off “more than 10%” of its global workforce, according to Jameson Dow at Electrek. In an internal company-wide email, CEO Elon Musk said “this will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle.” The exact headcount isn’t clear but Dow calculates a 10% cut would bring the number of workers newly out of a job to about 14,000. The news wasn’t unexpected – employees had been whispering about potential layoffs for a few weeks, and their angst was fueled by the announcement last Thursday that Cybertruck production shifts at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Texas would be shortened, starting today. Dow notes the layoffs will hurt morale, “which is a shame, because we do need Tesla to keep pushing things forward, and to keep attracting the best and brightest.”
2. House Republicans pivot from appliances to Iran crisis
House Republicans canceled a plan to put forward six new bills related to household appliances and energy standards this week and will focus instead on responding to rising tensions between Iran and Israel. The bills were going to be a “coordinated legislative offensive on the Department of Energy’s efficiency standards,” reportedE&E News. It’s not clear if or when the bills will be heard.
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3. Biden administration increases fees for oil and gas drilling on public lands
In case you missed it: The Biden administration late last week moved to hike fees for drilling for oil and gas on public lands. The New York Times explained it nicely: “The nation’s largest property owner, the federal government, effectively charges rent to oil and gas companies that exploit public land for private profit.” Now it is hiking its rates. The new rules, which could take effect in 60 days, raise royalty rates, lease rents, minimum auction bids, as well as “bonding rates,” which are upfront payments “to cover the cost of plugging abandoned oil and gas wells,” Reutersreported. The new minimum lease bonds will be $150,000 per lease, up from $10,000. Royalty rates will rise from 12.5% to 16.67%. The government estimates the rules would increase costs for fossil fuel companies by about $1.5 billion through 2031. Some of the money will go toward cleaning up old abandoned oil and gas wells.
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4. Intense flooding prompts more evacuations in Russia, Kazakhstan
Flooding continues along the Russia-Kazakhstan border, where huge amounts of snowmelt from the Ural Mountains, coupled with heavy rain, overwhelmed the Ob-Irtysh river system, the world’s seventh largest. The Tobol River, which is usually frozen this time of year, rose by 9 inches in just four hours this morning. More than 125,000 people have been evacuated since the flooding began earlier this month. Flooding is common for the region in the spring, but this year has been particularly bad. Experts say the soil was already saturated before winter, and higher-than usual snowfall followed by a burst of warm weather made for ideal flood conditions. Maria Shahgedanova, a professor of climatic science at Reading University, said extreme flooding is likely to become more common because climate change is causing heavier snowfall in the area. “We’re looking at a 7% increase in (snow) precipitation where there is one degree temperature change,” she said.
5. New pilot project to test highway that charges EVs on the go
Indiana has broken ground on a pilot project that will allow electric vehicles to charge wirelessly as they drive down the highway. The technology was developed by Purdue University and is being put to the test on a quarter-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 52 in West Lafayette, Indiana, Inside Climate Newsreported. It will charge cars as they travel up to speeds of 65 miles per hour. “If you have a cellphone and you place it on a charger, there is what’s called magnetic fields that are coming up from the charger into that phone,” said Steve Pekarek, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue. “We’re doing something similar.” Cars would have to be equipped with special receivers to be compatible with the wireless charging, so even when the system is up and running next summer it won’t yet benefit existing EV drivers. “This is a simple solution,” Pekarek said. “There are complicated parts of it, and that we leave to the vehicle manufacturers.” The state’s Department of Transportation hopes the project will help in the quest to ease range anxiety for would-be EV buyers, and electrify long-haul trucking.
THE KICKER
Researchers say they’ve found a way to make the common pain-reliever acetaminophen (aka Tylenol) from compounds found in wood, instead of from chemicals derived from crude oil.
