"The Norwegian Parliament voted on Tuesday to authorize the opening of parts of the Norwegian Sea to seabed mining exploration, a move that reflects rising international demand for the metals needed to build batteries for electric vehicles worldwide."

"Iowa Republicans scored a big win in their yearslong battle with animal rights group as a federal appeals court reversed prior decisions striking down two state laws aimed at activists who target livestock feedlots and other agribusinesses to expose alleged animal abuses."

"The Supreme Court has rebuffed a plea by the state of Alaska to revisit a federal veto of a massive mine, an attempt by oil companies to extract themselves from a climate lawsuit and a petition from West Coast farmers seeking more water from the Klamath River Basin."

"On Tuesday, a federal appeals court decided not to revisit its earlier decision to strike down Berkeley, California’s first-in-the-nation gas ban in new buildings. The ruling dealt a blow to the city of Berkeley, which requested a rehearing after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ initial decision in April, and casts uncertainty over similar policies to electrify buildings in dozens of other cities."

"The Department of Energy is racing this year to finalize clean energy regulations and disburse billions of dollars in grants and loans as President Joe Biden’s prospects for securing a second term hang in the balance."

"Several companies registered in Latin American countries claiming to have U.N. endorsement have persuaded Indigenous communities to hand over the economic rights to their forests for decades to come, a Mongabay investigation has found. The companies share commercial interests across various jurisdictions, and have not been able to demonstrate experience in sustainable finance projects."

"Congressional Republicans are putting President Joe Biden’s $400 billion green bank in their crosshairs, seeking a repeat of the political victory they scored in 2011 with the scandal over collapsed solar company Solyndra."

"Interior Department officials enter a thicket this year overgrown with tough choices, evergreen litigation and plenty of political heat no matter which direction they go."

"Study after study has found the country can’t build renewable energy at the pace needed to rapidly decarbonize the power grid without also building a massive amount of new power lines, fast. But over the past half-decade, grid growth has slowed, not accelerated, bogged down by conflicts over siting, permitting and paying for new transmission capacity."