PIPELINES: Mountain Valley Pipeline construction is back off again after a federal court placed a stay on the project crossing streams in Virginia and West Virginia. (Roanoke Times)
ALSO:
• The Appalachia Regional Commission helps fund construction of a natural gas pipeline to an industrial park in southern Virginia. (Greensboro News & Record)
• A state-commissioned study launched in the wake of Virginia’s approval of a pipeline compressor station calls for a “cultural shift” toward environmental justice among state regulators. (Virginia Mercury)
CLIMATE:
• A Louisiana company plans to store up to 80 million tons of greenhouse gases from industrial plants in an underground repository. (New Orleans Advocate)
• Southeast Texas power plants rank among the nation’s worst for unauthorized pollution, according to a recently released report. (Beaumont Enterprise)
OIL & GAS:
• Texas regulators approve construction of a $163.8 million, gas-fired generator at an El Paso power plant over the objections of the city and environmentalists. (El Paso Times)
• Several planned petrochemical projects in Texas, West Virginia and elsewhere are being delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. (WMRA)
• A first-term Oklahoma congresswoman in a tough re-election race is emphasizing her support for the oil and gas industry while defending votes to limit exploration on public lands. (Oklahoman)
SOLAR:
• A Georgia county commission discusses a resident’s suggestion that they encourage Georgia Power to develop a solar farm. (Rome News-Tribune)
• Georgia deputies respond on consecutive days to reports of fighting and vandalism at a planned solar farm. (Moultrie Observer)
WIND: A Virginia college will be the first in the state to offer training for wind-energy technicians. (Martinsville Bulletin)
TRANSPORTATION: A Nashville startup wants to establish a rideshare program using electric vehicles. (WSMV)
COAL: A federal judge denies the University of North Carolina’s efforts to dismiss claims in a lawsuit that alleges a campus coal-fired power plant violates federal law. (The Daily Tar Heel)
COAL ASH:
• A newly finalized federal rule loosens restrictions to allow coal operators to store coal ash in ponds without a plastic liner if they can show there’s no effect on groundwater. (Engineering News-Record)
• Duke Energy launches a 15-day public input session on coal-ash remediation at its Crystal River Energy Complex in Florida. (Citrus County Chronicle)
HYDROELECTRIC: The gates on West Virginia’s largest hydropower project were opened last month to drain a 3-mile tunnel for the first time since it was built in 1936. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
COMMENTARY:
• The U.S. Secretary of Energy says southwestern Virginia’s coal industry may get new life as a hub for carbon-capture research and petrochemicals. (Bristol Herald Courier)
• A retired teacher debunks the myth that former President Barack Obama is responsible for the coal industry’s decline. (Courier Journal)
• The director of the Arkansas Sierra Club calls for the closure of a coal-fired power plant. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)