COAL: Bob Murray, who for years fought black lung regulations as the former president and CEO of the now-bankrupt Murray Energy, has filed an application to receive federal black lung benefits and is “near death,” according to his claim. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting/Ohio Valley Resource)

ALSO:
• Coal miners in Pennsylvania say they still support President Trump despite his failed promises to revive their industry. (Reuters)
• Vistra Energy officials blame state subsidies, declining gas prices, overbuilt generation and grid operator MISO’s “irreparably dysfunctional” market while announcing a suite of coal plant closures in Ohio and Illinois. (Utility Dive) 

EQUITY:
• Indiana NAACP organizers create a clean energy job training program to develop a “black to green” pipeline in marginalized communities. (Energy News Network)
• Massachusetts advocates try to expand participation in the state’s energy efficiency programs to lower-income residents and non-English speakers as most benefits go to wealthier households. (Energy News Network)
• EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler says President Trump’s order blocking equity training is “very appropriate” because he feels such training “marginalizes groups of people.” (E&E News)

OIL & GAS:
• A report finds the federal government used coronavirus pandemic funds to buy more than $355 million in oil industry bonds, which authors say “amounts to a massive safety net” for the industry. (Bloomberg)
• Royal Dutch Shell’s CEO says the company will cut as many as 9,000 jobs by 2022 as it makes a “dramatic change” toward reducing emissions. (Washington Examiner)

PIPELINES:
• For the second time in a month and a day before its scheduled opening, an emergency shutdown and unplanned gas release occurred at a compressor station undergoing testing outside Boston. (WBUR)
• As the Mountain Valley Pipeline prepares to bring thousands of out-of-state workers to Southwest Virginia, the developer refuses to share its COVID-19 response plan with state regulators, documents show. (Blue Virginia) 

PUBLIC LANDS: Interior Secretary David Bernhardt will lead the Bureau of Land Management after interim director William Perry Pendley was removed by a court order. (The Hill)

NUCLEAR: Ohio’s attorney general says state lawmakers should require FirstEnergy and Energy Harbor officials to testify on whether two nuclear plants set to receive a $1.3 billion bailout are profitable without the subsidy. (Cleveland.com)

UTILITIES: FirstEnergy stands to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue over the coming decade based on a decoupling provision in a state law at the center of a bribery scandal. (E&E News, subscription)

CLIMATE: Colorado Gov. Jared Polis releases a draft climate plan calling for an 80% drop in emissions from electricity generation and for most cars in the state to be electric by midcentury. (Denver Post)

SOLAR:
• Duke Energy will build its first floating solar array at a U.S. Army base in North Carolina — and the largest ever announced in the Southeast. (Greentech Media)
• General Motors signs a power purchase agreement for a 180 MW solar project to be built in Arkansas. (PV Magazine)

WIND: Virginia receives a $750,000 military grant to develop a mapping tool to help the state better coordinate with the military on wind energy siting. (CBS19)

COMMENTARY: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette endorses Pennsylvania’s entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

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.