Transportation

"The Senate on Monday confirmed Chris Wright, the CEO of fracking company Liberty Energy, to lead the Energy Department. The vote was 59-38."

"A federal appeals court on Thursday restored a U.S. agency rule restricting lobster and Jonah crab fishing off the Massachusetts coast to protect endangered whales, rejecting a claim that the agency did not deserve deference under a recent landmark Supreme Court case."

"New York's congestion pricing has led to 1 million total fewer vehicles entering the busiest part of Manhattan and cut commuting times since the program began on Jan. 5, a transit agency said on Wednesday."

"Shipments of uranium ore from a revived mining operation just south of the Grand Canyon are expected to resume in February after the Navajo Nation reached a settlement with the mining company, clearing the way for trucks to transport the ore across the largest Native American reservation in the U.S."

"Hours after being sworn in as the new U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy took aim at the main way the federal government regulates miles per gallon for cars and pickup trucks — also a principal way that it regulates air pollution and addresses climate change. Duffy ordered the federal agency in charge of fuel economy standards to reverse them as soon as possible. The standards have been in place since the 1970s energy crisis and were intended to conserve fuel and save consumers money at the gas pump."

"Automakers and even some Republicans may fight to preserve funds, and environmental activists will likely sue, but some experts said that some changes may not survive legal challenges."

"President Donald Trump ordered his administration to consider eliminating subsidies and other policies that favor electric vehicles, laying the groundwork for moves that risk slowing adoption of cleaner cars in the US."

"The Trump administration has ordered federal agencies to ​“immediately pause the disbursement of funds” under the landmark federal climate and energy laws passed during the Biden administration, a move that will throw tens of billions of dollars of lawfully designated federal funding into limbo — and one that is likely to be challenged in court."

"The Biden administration on Thursday withdrew a proposal to expand protections for an endangered whale species. The rules would have required some ships along the Eastern Seaboard to slow down." "The proposed rules would have slowed more ships to prevent collisions with endangered North Atlantic right whales."

"Toyota’s heavy-duty trucking unit was fined $1.6 billion on Wednesday over fraudulent emissions testing and other violations."