Overnight Energy:  Senate climate advocates start digging in on infrastructure goals | Judge rebuffs Noem’s bid for July 4th fireworks at Mount Rushmore | Climate advocate wins third seat on Exxon board

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Yesterday’s Overnight Energy did not go out due to a technical glitch. If you are itching to read yesterday’s news, feel free to check out that edition of the newsletter on our website. 

Today we’re looking at senators throwing down for climate’s inclusion in infrastructure, a judge’s rebuff of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s attempt to get fireworks at Mount Rushmore, and climate advocates seemingly winning a third seat on Exxon’s board. 

CLIMING INTO THE INFRASTRUCTURE PACKAGE: Senate climate advocates start digging in on infrastructure goals

Climate advocates in the Senate are worried about missing what they see as a once-in-a-generation chance to shift the nation’s spending priorities to clean energy, warning they’re prepared to hold up any infrastructure package that doesn’t deliver on that front.

Several Senate Democrats say they are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure significant climate change legislation gets across the finish line.

“I think there is a significant group of senators in the Democratic caucus who are going to insist that our climate measures be robust and real and point toward 1.5 degrees Celsius, and we will do what’s necessary to accomplish that goal,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), referring to a United Nations report that warming of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels would lead to significantly more drought, flooding, extreme heat waves and drastic temperature drops at higher latitudes. 

Whitehouse says Senate Democrats are not yet close to that goal on infrastructure.

“We don’t even have a clear enough bill to measure against that goal,” he said.

Meanwhile… President Biden and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), the lead Republican negotiator on infrastructure talks, met for about an hour at the White House on Wednesday and made plans to speak again Friday as the two sides discuss a potential bipartisan agreement. 

Read more about what some of the climate hawks had to say here and read about the Biden/Capito meeting here.

SAYING NO TO NOEM: Judge rebuffs Noem’s bid for July 4th fireworks at Mount Rushmore

A federal judge in South Dakota on Wednesday denied a bid by the state’s Republican Gov. Kristi Noem to hold a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore to celebrate Independence Day after her request for a permit was denied by the Biden administration.

In a 36-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Roberto Lange declined to enter a preliminary judgment in Noem’s favor, finding that her suit against federal officials was unlikely to ultimately prevail.

“This Court fully understands the State’s position and why this suit was brought,” wrote Lange, an Obama nominee. “But under governing law, the State is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its claims and has not met the requirements” for interim legal relief.

Noem, who is seen as a potential Republican presidential candidate, had asked the court to temporarily halt a decision by the Biden administration to reject the state’s request for the fireworks display.

The governor said in a statement that she’d appeal the ruling. 

Read more about the court’s decision and rejection of the request here.

ENGINE NO. 3: Climate advocate wins third seat on Exxon board

A third climate advocate has secured a seat on the board of Exxon Mobil Corp.

Alexander Karsner, a private equity investor from Engine No. 1, won a seat on ExxonMobil’s board, according to preliminary results for Exxon’s election of directors, which were released by the company on Wednesday.

Engine No. 1, a new investment firm that has called for the company to make more significant investments in clean energy, will now control three seats on the company’s 12-member board. The remaining nine slots will be filled by Exxon nominees, according to the company.

The preliminary results, however, still have to be certified by the independent inspector of election.

Read more about the results here.

NEW MEXICO STANS THE DEMOCRAT: Democrat Stansbury wins special election for Haaland’s House seat

New Mexico state Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D) on Tuesday defeated New Mexico state Sen. Mark Moores (R) in the special election to fill the House seat formerly held by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.

The special election in New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District was seen as an early test of both parties’ strengths ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

Stansbury, an environmental consultant who was elected to the state House in 2018, leaned heavily on her science background to cast herself as a champion for New Mexico’s natural resources.

But the race also spotlighted an issue that Democrats fear could emerge as a weak point for them next year: crime. Throughout the race, Moores repeatedly painted Stansbury as unsupportive of law enforcement and campaigned against surging crime rates, including the rising homicide rate in Albuquerque.

Read more about Stansbury’s win here.

WHAT WE’RE READING:

Can Biden’s Justice40 plan deliver a fairer environment for people of color? The Guardian reports 

Wyoming selected as site of new nuclear power plant in partnership with Bill Gates’ TerraPower, The Casper Star-Tribune reports

There’s a ticking climate time bomb in West Texas, Vox reports

ICYMI…Stories from Wednesday (and Tuesday night)

Democrat predicts ‘big fight’ over carbon pricing in the Senate

US partners with four other countries to advance marine areas as climate solution

Climate advocate wins third seat on Exxon board

Judge rebuffs Noem’s bid for July 4th fireworks at Mount Rushmore

Senate climate advocates start digging in on infrastructure goals

Democrat Stansbury wins special election for Haaland’s House seat

FROM THE HILL’S OPINION PAGES:

Let’s not put all our cars in the EV basket, writes  Bernard Weinstein,  an emeritus professor of applied economics at the University of North Texas

Biden’s budget tackles climate crisis across nearly every federal agency, writes Kirin Kennedy,  the Sierra Club’s deputy legislative director for budget and appropriations

TODAY’S NON-POLICY CLICK: Watch Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm help raise a Progress Pride Flag outside DOE.