China is still committed to the Paris Agreement on climate change, reports Reuters, covering comments from the country’s Foreign Ministry, despite US president Donald Trump’s order, signed this week, which aims to dismantle Obama-era climate rules. The Chinese pledge comes despite the Trump order likely crippling Washington’s ability to meet its own climate commitment under Paris, reports the Financial Times. The Associated Press also has the story. A state-run Chinese tabloid has lambasted the Trump order, reports the Guardian, criticising “Washington’s political selfishness”. The EU says it, along with China, must now show joint leadership on climate, reports Reuters. The EU “regrets” Trump’s climate reversal,, reports another Associated Press article. In a Financial Times “Big Read”, Ed Crooks explains “why US coal jobs are not coming back”, despite Trump’s efforts. With his efforts, he has set the stage for a power market fight, says Bloomberg. A second Bloomberg article says Trump will reverse Obama-era policies on climate adaptation. The Associated Press says environmental groups have already filed a lawsuit over Trump’s climate actions, vowing to fight his rollback efforts. Separately, a Montana tribe and conservation groups are fighting the Trump administration’s move to end a coal lease moratorium, says Reuters. Meanwhile Politico reports the the Energy Department climate office has banned the use of the phrase “climate change”. Companies have also challenged Trump’s move, reports the Guardian

Green groups have called for strong safeguards to uphold environmental standards during the Brexit process, reports BusinessGreen, following the triggering of Article 50 yesterday. In a separate article, BusinessGreen reports on a leaked Article 50 response from the European Parliament, which says any future EU-UK deal should be conditional on the UK upholding EU environmental rules. The cost of Brexit for energy and environment schemes could amount to billions, says DeSmog UK. Meanwhile, the government plans to use “Henry VIII powers” to change EU laws, reports Politico, in a preview of the so-called Great Repeal Bill. It says the use of these powers, which allow the government to change laws without full parliamentary oversight, is due to be set out in a white paper on the bill later today, adding that the move is “likely to spark fierce parliamentary opposition”. In further articles BusinessGreen says the UK has confirmed plans to pull out the the Euratom treaty, while another article covers reactions to Article 50 from the green economy.

Nuclear reactor maker Westinghouse has been placed under bankruptcy protection, deepening the uncertainty over a proposed new power station at Moorside in Cumbria, reports the Financial Times. The Office for Nuclear Regulation is due to approve Westinghouse’s reactor design for use in the UK, but with the Moorside scheme expected to seek new finance from Korean firm Kepco, which has its own reactor design, this approval could be rendered moot. The UK government is being urged to give reassurances on the scheme, reports the Press Association. Westinghouse has technology in about half the world’s reactors, adds the Guardian. The Telegraph and the Daily Mail also have the story. Bloomberg looks at how “an American tech icon bet on nuclear power – and lost”, while Ars Technica says Westinghouse moved into bankruptcy protection after costs “skyrocketed”. The firm faces a “tough negotiation” over incomplete work at two new nuclear plants in the US, says a second Financial Times story. The boss of US utility firm Southern Co, which owns one of these schemes, flew to Tokyo to “look [the] Toshiba CEO in the eye”, reports Bloomberg. Toshiba is the owner of Westinghouse, as well as majority shareholder in the Moorside venture. In a comment for the Financial Times, Nick Butler looks at Toshiba’s “nuclear challenge”, saying: “the Japanese government…must now decide whether it wants the country to remain a significant player in the business of civil nuclear power”. Separately, a Japanese court has denied an injunction against the restart, last August, of the Ikata 3 nuclear reactor, reports Reuters. In other nuclear news, another Reuters article says a long-delayed nuclear plant in Slovakia will cost an extra €800m, while a third article from Reuters says EDF’s plan to build a new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset will “not face any impact” from the investigation into manufacturing irregularities at Areva, which is supplying reactor parts.

Things got a little heated at a hearing yesterday on the scientific method and climate change held by the US House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, reports Bloomberg. The hearing started cordially enough but rapidly descended into an “increasingly tense back and forth” between Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann and the three other invited panellist, known for their views that contradict the mainstream science. The panelists begrudgingly agreed on the basic statements that the world is warming and that human influence plays some role, but the hearing was peppered with what Bloomberg calls “rhetorical pyrotechnics”, as each panellist described the personal and political attacks they’ve suffered in the past. DeSmog UK, among others, highlight the skewness of the panel, pitting “a trio of fringe scientists” against a single climate scientist. AP quotes retired Admiral David Titley, a Penn State meteorology professor, calling for scientists to boycott House hearings because they are a “charade” that perpetuates the myth that there is a legitimate scientific debate on the issue. The Hill and Ars Technica also cover the hearing, with the latter focusing on chairman Lamar Smith’s unsupported claims that climate scientists aren’t following the scientific method.

British energy policy has lost its way and investors are confused about the government’s plans, claims Scottish Power boss Keith Anderson, according to the Times. Long-term plans are needed for companies to invest in the sector, Anderson says. Scottish Power has unsuccessfully bid for capacity market subsidies for large new gas plants, the Times notes, with smaller schemes winning out. The Times adds: “Ministers have said that they are happy with the outcome of the scheme.”

The Indian government wants the country’s cars, scooters and motorbikes to be 100% electric by 2030, reports Climate Home. India’s oil majors are eyeing up the lithium-ion battery market as they try to avoid being left behind by an electric vehicle boom, it adds. Separately, an Indian court has banned the sale of older, more polluting vehicles from 1 April, reports Reuters. Meanwhile German car giant Daimler is accelerating its electric car programme, reports Reuters.

US oil firm ConocoPhillips has become the third company this month to sell its oil sands assets in Canada, reports the Financial Times. The $13.3bn sale to Canadian oil-sands specialist Cenovus Energy will help ConocoPhillips pay off debt, the paper says. Shell and Marathon Oil announced oil sand asset sales worth $7.3bn and $2.5bn earlier this month, with both deals involving international firms selling operations to specialist Canadian operators.

A Times editorial “profoundly disagree[s]” with a House of Commons science and technology committee report, which suggests media reporting of scientific issues should be regulated. This would be an intrusion on press independence, the editorial says. A separate Times news article covers the committee report, which argues media should face redress, possibly including fines, for “inaccurate or outlandish” coverage of science. Giving evidence to the committee, the science editor of climate sceptic thinktank the Global Warming Policy Foundation had argued for freedom to make “factually inaccurate” statements on science, reports DeSmog UK. The committee’s report did not agree.

The increasing role of the United States’ financial sector in the 1980s and 1990s impaired the country’s emerging solar industry, a new study says. The US solar industry grew rapidly in the 1970s, as large financial conglomerates acquired independent firms, the study notes. But as the financial sector grew in size and influence (“financialization”), less money was orientated toward investing in improving the technology, and many conglomerates were dismantled and solar divisions were pared back or sold off to foreign firms. As a result, between 1978 and 2005 the US share of the global solar market dropped from 95% to about 9%, the author says.

The recent thinning of Arctic sea ice is driving massive blooms of tiny oceanic plants known as phytoplankton underneath the ice, according to new research. As little as 20 years ago, the ice would have been too thick to allow enough light to penetrate but now as much as 30% of the Arctic Ocean in July experiences conditions ripe for blooming, say the authors.