POLITICS: While some participants at the Republican National Convention push for a conservative clean-energy approach, the party’s platform would undo decades of climate and energy policy. (Midwest Energy News, New York Times)

ALSO:
• A group that fights pollution rules on behalf of utilities remains shrouded in secrecy. (SNL Energy)
• An oil executive says the industry does better under Democratic presidents. (Forbes)

EFFICIENCY: Overturning a major obstacle to clean energy financing for homeowners, federal housing agencies will now allow PACE financing on homes with federally backed mortgages. (Bloomberg)

POLLUTION:
• Attorneys general in three states file lawsuits accusing Volkswagen executives of knowingly participating for years in schemes to thwart pollution tests. (New York Times)
• A federal court delays implementation of an EPA regional haze rule for Texas. (Bloomberg BNA)

CLEAN POWER PLAN: “You have to prepare not to win”: States fighting the Clean Power Plan are also quietly working on compliance options. (New York Times)

SOLAR:
• A new White House initiative aims for 1 GW of solar on low-income homes by 2020. (Bloomberg)
• Amid its bankruptcy, buyers are interested in portions of SunEdison’s business, but no one wants the whole company. (Bloomberg)
• Iowa regulators rule that the state’s two major utilities must expand the cap on net metering and make the option available to more customers. (Midwest Energy News)

WIND: A proposed Montana wind farm is in question after regulators set rates too low for the project to be profitable. (Billings Gazette)

GRID: A new report highlights states where the economics of energy storage are working. (Greentech Media)

COAL:
• The number of lawsuits around the country is growing over workers’ exposure to cleaning up toxic coal ash. (Center for Public Integrity)
• Duke Energy asks a judge to block release of a North Carolina state scientist’s testimony in a lawsuit over water safety near ash basins. (Raleigh News & Observer)
• A federal court upholds the EPA’s veto of a permit to remove a mountaintop for a proposed coal mining project in West Virginia. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

OIL AND GAS:
• Maine regulators approve a plan for electric ratepayers to underwrite new pipeline construction. (Portland Press Herald)
• Gas wells are common in low-income residential neighborhoods in Oklahoma. (Oklahoma Watch)
• The city of Vancouver, Washington votes to prohibit new or expanded crude oil storage facilities. (Associated Press)
• A proposed ordinance in Spokane, Washington would impose fines for shipping crude oil through the city. (Spokane Spokesman-Review)

COMMENTARY:
• How community solar contributes to Colorado’s leadership on clean energy. (Denver Business Journal)
• Some climate advocates are raising concerns about the limitations of renewable energy. (New York Times) 
• Republicans don’t have a solution to save the coal industry. (Vox)

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

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