NOTE TO READERS: U.S. Energy News is taking a break for Independence Day. The email digest will return on Monday, July 6.
NUCLEAR: A chorus from industry and think tanks is calling for a nuclear energy renaissance to meet demand and goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. (ClimateWire)
ALSO: A new Pew survey shows most young Americans oppose nuclear power and offshore drilling. (Associated Press)
EPA: The Supreme Court’s ruling this week on the EPA’s toxic emissions rule for power plants has reignited debate about the agency using health “co-benefits” to justify the economic impacts of its regulations. (Greenwire)
CLEAN POWER PLAN: Oklahoma’s attorney general filed a lawsuit Wednesday to stop the EPA’s impending greenhouse gas emissions limits for power plants. (The Hill)
FRACKING: Naturally occurring radioactive materials found in liquid wastes from fracking are an emerging environmental health concern. (Environmental Health Perspectives)
PIPELINE LEAKS: Federal regulators said Wednesday they want operators of pipelines to notify federal officials within an hour after breaches and leaks. (The Hill)
GULF DRILLING: Shell announced it will build a new deep-water platform in the Gulf of Mexico, with an estimated start date around 2020. (FuelFix)
SOLAR:
• NBA basketball champion Bill Walton now devotes much of his life to spreading the gospel of solar power. (Huffington Post)
• Solar-energy industry executives are questioning the cost shift that Hawaiian Electric Co. is proposing for new residential rooftop installations. (Pacific Business News)
• Maine lawmakers on Tuesday directed state regulators to create a new way to reimburse homeowners and businesses that generate a portion of their electricity from solar. (Bangor Daily News)
STORAGE: The operator of Hawaii’s only coal-fired power plant is proposing to develop a large energy storage facility. (Pacific Business News)
JOBS:
• Stable $60-a-barrel oil gave the U.S. energy sector a break from mass layoffs in May and June, but the sector still announced 60,500 job cuts between January and June. (FuelFix)
• California created nearly 2,000 clean energy and clean transportation jobs in the first quarter of 2015, to rank second in the nation behind Georgia. (San Francisco Business Times)
WIND: Colorado employs about one-tenth of all U.S. wind industry workers, has 22 wind-energy manufacturing plants and is home to 29 wind farms. (Denver Business Journal)
PROTEST: An energy summit organized by the New Mexico Business Coalition drew noisy protests from environmental and clean energy advocates on Wednesday. (Albuquerque Journal)
COAL: The formation of a new company to run Montana’s largest power plant has raised questions about how long it can operate, as pollution-control costs rise and the market for coal-fired power declines. (Casper Star Tribune)