CLIMATE: Four tornadoes devastate western Kentucky, destroying buildings, killing dozens of people and raising questions over whether climate change is intensifying the storms. (Courier Journal, CNN)

ALSO:
• Nearly 10,000 people in Memphis, Tennessee, remained without power into the weekend, but the city’s utility projects power restoration by today. (Commercial Appeal)
• Three distinct but related Indigenous communities press for environmental justice after their Louisiana homelands took the brunt of Hurricane Ida, destroying homes and displacing thousands of people. (Al Jazeera)

PIPELINES: Hundreds of anti-pipeline protestors rally and highlight more than 300 water violations by the Mountain Valley Pipeline ahead of a pivotal decision this week whether to award the project a crucial permit to cross waterways. (Associated Press, WDBJ, Roanoke Times)

COAL:
• Coal’s accelerating demise leaves behind environmental devastation throughout the U.S., including 2,300 square miles of land scarred by mountaintop removal and other forms of surface mining. (Inside Climate News)
• FirstEnergy officials admit one of the company’s coal-fired power plants is a bad deal for West Virginia ratepayers but continue to seek more cost recovery from state regulators. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Demand for coal by the steel industry and in China drives a mining uptick in southwestern Virginia, where state officials have seen 17 applications for new mining permits and licenses. (WVTF)
• U.S. Joe Manchin was half right when he referenced the number of coal units still operating in the U.S. and cited it as a world leader in coal retirements, but glossed over significant cuts in coal-fired power made by other countries. (PolitiFact)

OIL & GAS: A Louisiana woman fights a massive build-out of industrial facilities to export natural gas that would affect her city, where nearly half the residents are Black. (Sierra)

UTILITIES: Critics voice concerns about transparency as Memphis concludes a bidding process to supply its electricity, which could mark a major step toward the Tennessee city leaving the Tennessee Valley Authority. (Commercial Appeal)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A Tennessee economic developer is shopping a 422-acre property to a company in the electric vehicle industry that’s also considering Texas and other locations for a project that could bring more than 4,000 jobs. (ClarksvilleNOW)
• An Alabama city partners with the state and private sector to install more electric vehicle chargers. (WHNT)

SOLAR:
• Kentucky regulators approve a 200 MW solar farm on a reclaimed coal mine site. (Lexington Herald-Leader)
• A team from Marshall University begins its second year of evaluating former and current coal mine land for potential solar energy sites. (Huntington Herald-Dispatch)

WIND: Virginia regulators seek public comment on Dominion Energy’s proposal to build an offshore wind facility. (Augusta Free Press)

EMISSIONS: Austin, Texas, partners with a clean air group to place devices to measure air quality in public schools. (Austin Monitor)

POLITICS: North Carolina conservationists file suit over newly redrawn legislative maps, reflecting a growing recognition that redistricting decisions now underway could set the stage for environmental and climate defeats for the next decade. (Inside Climate News)

Mason has worked as a journalist since 2001, covering Appalachian communities and the issues that affect them. He compiles the Southeast Energy News digest. Mason previously worked as a wildlife biologist before moving into journalism by freelancing at Coast Weekly in Monterey, California, before taking an internship in 2001 at High Country News. He wrote for the Enterprise Mountaineer in western North Carolina and the Roanoke Times in western Virginia before going freelance in 2012. His work has appeared in Southerly, Daily Yonder, Mother Jones, Huffington Post, WVPB’s Inside Appalachia and elsewhere. Mason was born and raised in Clifton Forge, Virginia, and now lives with his family and a small herd of goats in Floyd County, Virginia.