REGULATION: A federal appeals court says the EPA must enforce Obama-era regulations on methane emissions from oil and gas operations. (New York Times)

POLICY:
• President Trump makes a speech vowing to “unleash American energy,” but his plans exclude renewables. (Washington Post, ThinkProgress)
• A House subcommittee approves a bill that would slash funding for renewable and efficiency programs, while completely eliminating the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). (ThinkProgress)

CAP-AND-TRADE:
• California’s Supreme Court refuses to hear a challenge to the state’s cap-and-trade law, handing a victory to environmentalists. (Reuters, Greentech Media)
• California’s governor is under pressure to reach a deal this week to extend the state’s cap-and-trade program. (Associated Press)

RENEWABLES: Six energy experts explain how the U.S. can transition away from fossil fuels. (Grist)

CLEAN TECH: Clean energy pioneer Jigar Shah discusses why his new company is interested in re-opening a shuttered food waste-to-energy facility in west Michigan. (Midwest Energy News)

STORAGE: Massachusetts releases an energy storage procurement target of 200 megawatt-hours by 2020. (Greentech Media)

SOLAR:
• Washington state lawmakers pass a bill to extend incentives for solar energy beyond 2020. (Seattle Times)
• The outcome of Suniva’s trade dispute could upend the U.S. solar industry, and the final decision may be in President Trump’s hands. (New York Times)
• Oregon regulators finalize rules for a community solar program that would give utility customers the option to buy solar power, potentially adding 160 megawatts of solar in the state. (Portland Business Journal)

WIND:
• North Carolina lawmakers pass a renewable energy bill that restores solar compromise provisions and reduces a wind moratorium to 18 months. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• Rocky Mountain Power says it plans to spend $3.5 billion on wind power and related infrastructure in Wyoming, Utah and Idaho over the next three years. (Associated Press)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Volvo announces that all of its cars will be electric or hybrids after 2019. (New York Times)
Tesla starts production on its first mass market electric car, the Model 3, which will sell for around $35,000. (New York Times)
• Following complaints, Volkswagen says it will expand efforts to build electric car infrastructure in poorer California communities. (Reuters)

CLIMATE:
• EPA administrator Scott Pruitt tells coal industry executives that his agency is planning to reevaluate the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change. (New York Times)
• By the time President Trump’s term is over, it could be too late to act on climate change, according to a new commentary in Nature magazine from renowned climate experts. (ThinkProgress)
• A new International Energy Agency report says governments should take a more integrated approach with — and increase investment in — clean energy technologies in order to meet climate goals. (Midwest Energy News)

NUCLEAR: California’s shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant is home to 1,800 tons of unwanted radioactive waste that has nowhere to go. (Los Angeles Times)

COAL:
• Developers of a troubled “clean coal” plant in Mississippi say the project will now use natural gas instead of coal. (New York Times)
• A law that cuts down on mine safety inspections goes into effect in Kentucky, as coal producing states seek to reduce industry oversight. (Associated Press)
• The EPA should not have to assess how its air regulations affect coal industry jobs, according to a federal appeals court ruling, but the agency says it will do it anyway. (Reuters, Associated Press)
• An NPR investigation has identified nearly 2,000 cases of black lung disease in Appalachia that have been diagnosed since 2010. (NPR)

OIL & GAS:
• Crews are working to clean up 40,000 gallons of crude oil that spilled during a train derailment south of Chicago. (Associated Press)
• New Jersey lawmakers push to keep the Atlantic Coast off limits to oil drilling. (NJ.com)

PIPELINES: Texas-based Enbridge suspends planning for a $3.2 billion natural gas pipeline project in New England. (Boston Business Journal)

COMMENTARY:
• Carbon capture technology won’t be a savior for coal-fired power plants, according to a Bloomberg editorial.
• Despite its progress on climate change, California is failing to combat local pollution, according to the Los Angeles Times editorial board.
• President Trump’s executive order on offshore drilling is risky, say the co-chairmen of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.  (New York Times)

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.