CLIMATE: According to a survey, the Paris climate change agreement is more popular than President Trump and the Republican senators urging him to withdraw from it, even in conservative states like Kentucky and Mississippi. (McClatchy)

ALSO:
• Republican and Democratic lawmakers from Florida voiced more opposition Wednesday over the U.S.’s possible exit from the Paris climate accord. (SaintPetersBlog)
• Although EPA head Scott Pruitt canceled his Lexington, Kentucky, appearance, protesters still gathered to voice their opposition to the Trump administration’s environmental policies. (Herald-Leader)
• A Republican-led panel of lawmakers voted on Wednesday for a nonpartisan board to look into the costs of Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s proposal to regulate carbon emissions in Virginia. (NBC29)
• No one from McAuliffe’s office attended an emergency hearing on the plan called by a Republican candidate for governor. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

PIPELINES:
• A report released today by a public accountability non-profit details the political and financial relationships surrounding Dominion Resources as it seeks approval of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (Southeast Energy News)
• Resistance to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project continues to grow in the race for Virginia’s governor. (Natural Gas Intelligence)

OIL AND GAS: West Virginia’s Supreme Court ruled that approval of royalty rights to Marcellus Shale natural gas isn’t required for pooling agreements. (Associated Press)

NUCLEAR: Dominion will receive a license from federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its proposed third nuclear reactor at a plant in Virginia, though it is unclear if the reactor will be built. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

RENEWABLE ENERGY: The mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, is helping lead an effort on behalf of 29 of the country’s mayors to formally support the goal of 100 percent renewable energy. (Curbed)

SOLAR:
• Georgia-based Suniva’s recent call for import tariffs on solar panel components could add risks to jobs and the environment that will be assessed by the U.S. International Trade Commission. (Environmental Leader)
• Georgia’s Trojan Battery Co. launched a new line of solar batteries. (Solar Industry)

UTILITIES: Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning defends the regulated utility model while a former FERC official says the Kemper and Vogtle plants are “way out of economic reason” for ratepayers. (E&E News)

COMMENTARY:
• An editor drives the new Chevrolet Bolt and says if the U.S. “stalls on electric vehicles, we not only hurt ourselves environmentally, but economically.” (Miami Herald)
• A guest columnist says West Virginia and other coal-producing states “must plan for a future where coal is not dominant.” (Herald-Dispatch)
• An editorial board calls on President Trump to listen to the people of South Florida, who represent “Ground Zero” for sea level rise, when considering whether to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. (Sun Sentinel)