The Big Story 

The Biden administration will put a total of $7 billion toward seven regional hubs for hydrogen energy production.

© AP

The hubs, which the administration touted as boons to both local employment and climate change mitigation, will consist of groupings of facilities in the same geographical area that produce hydrogen and related infrastructure.

The sites will include the Appalachian region, California, the Gulf Coast, the mid-Atlantic, the Midwest, the Pacific Northwest and a “Heartland” site encompassing North Dakota and Minnesota.

“With this historic investment, the Biden-Harris Administration is laying the foundation for a new, American-led industry that will propel the global clean energy transition while creating high quality jobs and delivering healthier communities in every pocket of the nation,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a written statement.  

While the administration has touted hydrogen as a major clean energy source for the manufacturing sector, climate advocates have said it would only be effective for this purpose if the production process itself is powered by renewables.

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.

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On Our Radar 

Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:

      Wednesday:

• The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold hearings to examine the implications of Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for Clean Water Act of wetlands and streams.
• The House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions will hold a hearing titled “Examining the Biden Administrations Unprecedented Obstruction of the BOEM Offshore Leasing Program.”
• The House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hold a legislative hearing on three pieces of pending legislation.

      Thursday:

• The Senate Energy Committee will hold hearings to examine the Department of Energy’s due diligence process for awarding competitive grants and loans funded through the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Department’s overall innovation investment strategy. 
• The House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Federal Lands will hold a legislative hearing on three pieces of pending legislation.

What We’re Reading 

News we’ve flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics:

• Vapes, chargers, and other “invisible” e-waste are a 9-million-ton problem (The Verge)
  
  

• 911 calls from deadly Lahaina wildfire show residents’ terror and panic in a desperate bid to escape (The Associated Press)

   

• Yemen is getting hotter, making hunger worse and threatening kids’ lives (The Washington Post)
  
  

• Black residents in rural Alabama demand sanitation equity, saying ‘it’s a right’  (NPR)

What Others are Reading 

Two key stories on The Hill right now:

Jordan clinches Speaker nomination in GOP’s second go at the gavel

House Republicans nominated Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for Speaker on Friday, the conference’s second attempt to find a candidate who can win the gavel on the House floor. Read more

DeSantis, voter have heated exchange over Gaza bombings: ‘You had my vote, but you don’t now’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a 2024 presidential candidate, had a heated exchange with a voter over Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza after Hamas militants launched… Read more

Opinions in The Hill 

Op-eds related to energy & environment submitted to The Hill: