CLIMATE: Last month was the hottest April on record, the latest in a string of shattered global temperature records. (The Guardian)

ALSO:
• Federal officials might deny a public land lease to a climate activist who pledges not to tap oil and gas resources on the land. (Palm Springs Desert Sun)
• Protests over the weekend target the Aliso Canyon natural gas facility, a Chicago-area refinery, a New York oil hub, and a railway in Washington state. (Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Associated Press)
• The Union of Concerned Scientists warns that suing oil companies over their grasp of climate change would not be legally sound. (Washington Free Beacon)

CARBON CAPTURE: The Energy Department suspends funding for a Texas carbon capture project. (InsideClimate News)

SOLAR:
• The debate over Maine’s solar legislation pitted large companies against local installers. (Portland Press Herald)
• An Arizona utility backs away from plans for a demand charge for solar customers. (Arizona Daily Star)
• A Nevada utility’s claim that solar customers are subsidized draws skepticism from fact-checkers. (Politifact)
• Solar is slow to catch on in sun-baked southwest Colorado. (Durango Herald)
• A former rural airstrip in Maine becomes a community solar farm. (Portland Press Herald)
• Albuquerque’s city council will consider a resolution today to get 25 percent of the city’s electricity from solar. (Associated Press)

WIND:
• A Colorado utility proposes a $1 billion wind project, the state’s largest. (Denver Business Journal)
• An Ohio utility seeks proposals for 500 MW of new wind energy. (Columbus Business First)

PIPELINES: A spill from an oil pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan could cost as much as $1 billion to clean up, according to state documents. (MLive)

OIL AND GAS:
• A drilling proposal in New York could bypass the state’s fracking ban. (Politico)
• The West Virginia Attorney General takes aim at the Obama administration’s new rules to reduce methane emissions. (The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register)
Health officials say metals, including barium, in emissions from a southern California natural gas leak may be causing illness. (KPCC)
• Railroad officials say a worst-case-scenario oil spill in Washington state could cost $775 million to clean up. (Spokane Spokesman-Review)
• Producers grow impatient with pipeline delays. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

COAL: 
• Coal mining states prepare to challenge Obama administration stream protection rules. (Greenwire)
• A Virginia environmentalist could be the top buyer for Alpha Natural Resources’ mines. (Casper Star Tribune)
• Colorado mining towns reel from the coal industry’s decline. (Denver Post)

CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• Coal burning in Arkansas declined so much in 2015 that carbon emissions are below the level that would be required if the Clean Power Plan survives court challenges. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
• Environmental groups prepare to defend the Clean Power Plan from coal industry challenges. (Public News Service)
• Republicans say the EPA is violating the Supreme Court’s order to stop enforcing the rule. (The Hill)

HYDRO: A bill in Massachusetts would encourage repowering small dams for hydropower. (Boston Globe)

BIOFUELS: A biodiesel plant in Hawaii is the first in the U.S. to be certified as sustainable. (New York Times)

POLITICS: A loophole for LLCs in Indiana’s campaign finance law enabled a firm tied to an Ohio coal company to donate $95,000 to Gov. Mike Pence. (Associated Press)

COMMENTARY: How clean energy can help family farms. (Rochester Democrat-Chronicle)

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

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