COAL: Federal officials project U.S. coal production will decline 25 percent under the Clean Power Plan. (Wyoming Public Media)
ALSO:
• The cleanup of Alpha Natural Resources’ mining operations hinges on its now approved plan to emerge from bankruptcy. (Washington Post)
• Nearly all U.S. coal plants are in compliance with the U.S. EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standard, “another sign” that pollution goals “may be more easily achievable than opponents claim.” (Forbes)
• A small Colorado school district gets a state bailout after a coal company fails to make tax payments. (Associated Press)
UTILITIES:
• A new report ranks U.S. utilities according to their commitments to clean energy. (Huffington Post)
• Why Germany’s clean energy transition makes U.S. utilities nervous. (ClimateWire)
SOLAR:
• Cheap natural gas and a lack of state incentives hold back solar development in Texas. (Houston Chronicle)
• Vermont is “in transition now” as the state seeks a new path forward on net metering. (Brattleboro Reformer)
• The nation’s largest rooftop solar array – with enough capacity to power more than 1,300 homes – was completed last week in Las Vegas. (Christian Science Monitor)
• The firing of an outspoken net metering advocate could change the tone of solar advocacy moving forward. (Greentech Media)
• North Carolina’s green push helps it land more than half the money in a federal rural loan program. (Greensboro News & Record)
WIND:
• Hawaii sees offshore wind as key to reaching its 100 percent renewable energy goal. (InsideClimate News)
• How a simple concrete structure led Maine researchers to a breakthrough in offshore wind technology. (Portland Press Herald)
FRACKING:
• Researchers retract a study claiming high levels of pollution around Ohio wells. (InsideClimate News)
• It’s unclear what, exactly, a “fracking ban” would mean if it’s included in the Democratic Party’s platform this year. (EnergyWire)
OIL AND GAS: A judge finalizes an agreement between industry and environmental groups over greenhouse gas emissions from wells on federal land. (Associated Press)
TRANSPORTATION:
• In Chattanooga, Tennessee – once dubbed the “dirtiest city in America,” – clean transportation is thriving. (Southeast Energy News)
• The Big Three U.S. automakers and the U.S. Department of Energy are working with an Illinois startup company to develop light, energy-dense batteries needed to help accelerate the spread of electric vehicles. (Midwest Energy News)
COMMENTARY: The federal government should get out of the coal business. (Bloomberg)