ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Ohio advocates say the clean energy transition needs to address systemic racism in rural and urban areas, while federal infrastructure grants should come with conditions to ensure everyone benefits equally. (Energy News Network)
COAL:
• Local officials in Northwest Indiana ask utility NIPSCO to remove all coal ash from a coal plant site when it closes by 2028. (Times of Northwest Indiana)
• Officials with an Illinois municipal utility say a coal ash release this week was caused by an employee error. (WICS)
NUCLEAR: Efforts to pass a sweeping clean energy bill in Illinois are still in limbo as lawmakers disagree over coal plant closure dates. (RTO Insider, subscription)
GRID: DTE Energy says it will spend an additional $70 million to trim trees and ensure reliability after coming under pressure from recent widespread outages. (Associated Press)
PIPELINES:
• Environmental activists gathered in Michigan yesterday to call on the Canadian government to withdraw its support for the Line 5 pipeline. (Michigan Radio)
• Enbridge is preparing to transport more crude oil through the Line 3 pipeline as an expansion project through northern Minnesota wraps up. (Bloomberg)
EMISSIONS: A federal judge finds that a group of Republican attorneys general lacked the standing to sue the Biden administration for taking steps to consider the social cost of carbon in federal regulations. (Missouri Independent)
SOLAR:
• County officials in Ohio take a wait-and-see approach to a new state law giving local governments greater ability over siting wind and solar projects. (LimaOhio.com)
• A national grant program is helping to cover the costs of installing solar at various nonprofit and faith-based facilities in southeastern Michigan. (Concentrate)
OIL & GAS: Missouri regulators tell a natural gas pipeline operator to prepare contingency plans as the fate of a St. Louis gas pipeline remains in flux. (Missouri Times)
CLIMATE: Iowa officials see an opportunity to invest in renewable energy and carbon-reduction strategies with pandemic relief funding and the upcoming farm bill. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
COMMENTARY: Appalachia union leaders say “actively addressing climate change must go hand-in-hand with economic and environmental revitalization.” (The Times)
CORRECTION: A study highlighted in yesterday’s newsletter was about barriers to upgrading electrical service panels in homes, not solar panels.