CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• The EPA says it will impose an enforceable carbon trading program on states refusing to comply with their emissions cuts under the plan. (ClimateWire)
• The governors of Kentucky and West Virginia are facing growing pressure to reject the plan’s carbon emissions targets. (Greenwire)
• By making states’ targets in the plan more workable and more stringent, the EPA may have strengthened its legal foundation. (InsideClimate News)
NATURAL GAS: The once-expected role for gas as the bridge to cleaner energy is no longer a key tenet of the Clean Power Plan. (The Hill)
NORTH CAROLINA:
• The Clean Power Plan gains support from companies with North Carolina ties. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• North Carolina will have to reduce carbon emissions from power plants by 36 percent under the Clean Power Plan. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• Power generators are well positioned to meet the state’s emissions targets under the Clean Power Plan. (Greensboro News & Record)
GEORGIA: Both of the state’s U.S. senators blasted the Clean Power Plan. (Albany Herald)
WEST VIRGINIA: Reaching the Clean Power Plan carbon emissions reduction of 37 percent in the Mountaineer state will be tough but not impossible, a West Virginia University professor asserts. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
NUCLEAR:
• The Clean Power Plan enables new reactors to count more toward meeting federal emissions limits. (Bloomberg Business)
• Duke Energy’s spending on its proposed Lee nuclear plant remains slow, raising questions about whether it will ever build it. (Charlotte Business Journal)
CLIMATE: Has burning natural gas instead of coal helped the U.S. economy decarbonize? It’s complicated. (Scientific American)
SOLAR:
• Tampa Electric said it will build a 25 megawatt solar system at its Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach. (Saint Peters Blog)
• Isle of Wright County in Virginia is considering hosting a large solar system and selling the power to Dominion Virginia Power. (The Daily Press)
PIPELINES: The U.S. Forest Service has lodged hundreds of concerns about the proposed route of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline through national forests in Virginia and West Virginia. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
COAL:
• More than 1,000 Patriot Coal workers in West Virginia and elsewwhere have been informed they may lose their jobs. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• An archival project examines the history and culture of coal mining communities in eastern Kentucky. (Western North Carolina Public Radio)
UTILITIES: Entergy is moving to boost earnings by better serving Gulf Coast industrial customers with an expanded power grid. (The Times-Picayune)
COMMENTARY:
• New offshore energy production is important for Florida’s economy. (Sun Sentinel)
• The Clean Energy Plan could be a bright day for solar in Virginia. (Public News Service)