CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• A federal court on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by the nation’s largest coal companies and 14 coal-producing states to block the EPA’s proposed rule to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. (The New York Times)
• By 2020, the Clean Power Plan will create nearly 100,000 more jobs than are lost, according to a new report from a non-partisan think tank. (ThinkProgress)
• Secretive donors gave climate denial groups $125 million over three years to lobby against President Obama’s climate bill and undermine rules to reduce carbon emissions, tax records show. (Guardian)
SOLAR: Shattering previous records, the U.S. residential solar market grew 76 percent over the first quarter of 2014, installing 437 megawatts of photovoltaics in the first three months of 2015—nearly one-fourth without any state incentives. (GreenTech Media; Yale Environment 360)
SHALE OIL: U.S. shale oil production are expected to fall in July by 93,000 barrels a day, as OPEC members preserve their market share and let falling prices force other producers to cut back. (Bloomberg)
ETHANOL: The EPA’s complete proposed ethanol blending standards will be published today in the Federal Register, after which the public, industry, lobbyists and lawmakers can submit formal comments through July 27. (The Hill)
OIL TRANSPORT: Santa Barbara County has rejected a proposal by ExxonMobil to ferry oil on a fleet of trucks making as many as 192 daily trips while the pipeline the company normally uses is out of commission after last month’s oil spill. (Los Angeles Times)
GAS DRILLING: A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments today over whether a Louisiana company should be allowed to drill for natural gas in Montana near Glacier National Park on land considered sacred to the Blackfeet Indians. (Billings Gazette)
STORAGE: The co-founders of Tesla Motors on Monday invited executives of the nation’s dominant utilities to partner in boosting battery storage capacity across the U.S. power grid, taking “things to a whole new level.” (EnergyWire)
100% RENEWABLE:
• A team of researchers led by Stanford University has created a plan to run the U.S. 100 percent on renewable energy by 2050, based on a state-by-state analysis of current energy use. (Discovery News)
• Hawaii made history on Monday when its governor signed into law a mandate for the state’s utilities to generate 100 percent of their electricity sales from renewable energy resources by 2045. (North American Wind Power)
REFINING: The Port of Longview, Washington, could become the site of the first oil refinery on the West Coast in 25 years, thanks in part to efforts of a governor who also is promoting a tax on carbon. (Oregon Public Radio)
ARCTIC DRILLING:
• The Port of Seattle said mooring Shell Oil’s Arctic drilling rigs would create 461jobs, but nearly half are either Shell workers who will head north with the rigs or people who were already on the payroll of the oil company. (The Seattle Times)
• Five elderly members of the Seattle activist group the “Raging Grannies” were arrested by police Tuesday morning during a protest against Shell’s offshore oil rig, which is in port being prepared for Arctic drilling this summer. (The Seattle Times)
COGENERATION: A cogeneration plant built by a utility at a Wisconsin paper mill has so far generated very little electricity—and almost no return for the ratepayers that covered most of the cost. (Midwest Energy News)