COAL: West Virginia lawmakers advance a bill allowing more pollution into streams despite strong opposition at a public hearing. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
ALSO:
• The Interior Department removes from its website a controversial claim that repealing the federal stream protection prevented the loss of “7,000 clean coal jobs in 22 states.” (Greenwire)
• A worker is killed at a West Virginia facility owned by Gov. Jim Justice. (WSAZ)
COAL ASH:
• More evidence emerges pointing to widespread pollution from a Kentucky coal ash site as state lawmakers and regulators seek to weaken oversight. (WFPL)
• New results showing that contamination from a North Carolina plant could flow toward drinking water wells has Duke Energy downplaying the importance of computer modeling it once emphasized. (Progressive Pulse)
PIPELINES: On Norman Bay’s last day as FERC commissioner, he made recommendations that pipeline project watchdogs have pitched for years. (Roanoke Times)
SOLAR:
• The Kentucky Solar Industries Association said lawmakers are considering unnecessary regulations that would hurt “a fledgling industry that has the potential for tremendous growth.” (The Lane Report)
• Officials in a South Carolina county approve a 40-year tax deal for five solar farms. (Hampton County Guardian)
• A school in North Carolina that is generating more electricity than it uses has become part of students’ curriculum on energy use. (WRAL)
• A Florida Steel Fabricator says its solar project is an example of a heavy industrial operation moving away from a carbon-based fuel system. (Solar Industry)
• An Arkansas rural co-op plans a 1 MW solar array. (Arkansas Business)
NUCLEAR: Duke Energy says its Carolina nuclear plants set a record for generation last year. (Daily Energy Insider)
COMMENTARY:
• An editorial compares North Carolina’s first wind farm with the Wright Brothers’ historic flight. (Raleigh News & Observer)
• A South Carolina Republican and former congressman urges state lawmakers not to tax solar installations. (The State)
• A Kentucky solar installer says proposed legislation is an assault on personal freedom. (Louisville Courier-Journal)
• A representative of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance says Tennessee’s senators can kill “a reckless and unreasonable regulation on America’s oil and gas industry.” (Knoxville News Sentinel)
• In West Virginia, “life after coal is going to be hard, but not impossible.” (Beckley Register-Herald)