NORTH CAROLINA: A dispute over appointments to a coal ash commission laid the groundwork for lawmakers’ bid to seize back certain powers before Governor-elect Roy Cooper takes office Jan. 1. (WRAL, Washington Post)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: More than 200 new charging stations are to be installed across North Carolina under a new $1 million Duke Energy project. (Charlotte Observer)
COAL:
• Advanced black lung cases are surging in Appalachia, more than 10 times what federal regulators have reported. (National Public Radio)
• Democratic senators from Virginia and Ohio join Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV, to strengthen the push to help coal-dependent communities diversify. (news release)
• A judge signs a consent decree invoking a $900,000 penalty and requiring pollution reductions at Appalachian coal mines owned by West Virginia governor-elect Jim Justice. (Associated Press)
CLEAN POWER PLAN: Led by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a 24-state coalition maps a four-point plan to withdraw the Clean Power Plan. (West Virginia Record)
SOLAR: Suniva completes a 250-megawatt capacity expansion at its module manufacturing plant near Atlanta. (PV-Tech)
CLIMATE: The Republican mayor of Coral Gables, Florida is among those across the country vowing to mitigate the impacts of climate change regardless of policies to come from President-elect Trump. (New York Times)
PIPELINES: Hinting that a “mammoth” project depends on it, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe ramps up his support for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
OFFSHORE DRILLING: Federal regulators move to protect a 38,000-square-mile swath of deep-sea coral canyons off the Mid-Atlantic coast, from New York to North Carolina. (Daily Press)
NUCLEAR: Federal regulators deny a citizens’ group’s challenge to higher temperatures allowed for cooling Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point plant. (Palm Beach Post)
COAL ASH: The TVA and environmentalists are at odds over what the utility should do with ash piling up at its largest fossil plant. (Nashville Public Radio)
EFFICIENCY:
• The University of Georgia is making measurable progress achieving its energy conservation and sustainability goals. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)
• Chattanooga moves to slash electricity consumption 40% at its public library as part of the nationwide Better Buildings Challenge. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
FRACKING: Environmental groups in Florida launch a campaign to educate the public about the dangers they see in hydraulic fracturing. (WTXL)
UTILITIES:
• A green group protests Florida Power & Light’s monopoly. (Miami New Times)
• Duke Energy yields to a land conservancy donation and agrees not to build a power substation near Asheville, North Carolina. (GoUpstate.com)
COMMENTARY:
• Memo to Rick Perry: revive nuclear waste storage and speed up approval of natural gas exports. (he Wall Street Journal)
• Retired coal miners deserve a permanent solution for health benefits and pensions due them. (Weirton Daily Times)