CLIMATE: Florida’s banning of “climate change” and global warming” is serving as a model for climate censorship in GOP-dominated states. (InsideClimate News)
COAL ASH:
• Two conservation groups have filed a lawsuit against TVA in federal court claiming unlined coal ash ponds at its Gallatin Fossil Plant are polluting the Cumberland River in Tennessee. (News Channel 5, Nashville)
• Duke Energy received a delay in pleading guilty to environmental crimes tied to coal ash storage after warning that bureaucratic red tape could result in power being cut to military bases across North Carolina. (Associated Press)
SOLAR:
• One perspective on why Florida does not have a robust market for solar energy. (WUSF Public Radio, South Florida)
• Chatham County, Georgia residents have until April 22 to sign up for ‘Solarize Tybee/Chatham County’, a bulk purchasing cooperative that brings solar energy installations to local homes and businesses. (Savannah Morning News, Georgia)
• The ‘Solarize Fredericksburg’ bulk-purchasing cooperative offers homeowners and businesses reduced-cost access to rooftop solar energy systems. (The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Virginia)
UTILITIES: Legislation in North Carolina to challenge utility monopolies is getting traction in state House. (Triad Business Journal, North Carolina)
WIND: Georgia Power won permission to erect a weather tower and four turbines on 6 acres of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography as part of an experiment on coastal wind. (The Florida Times-Union)
OIL & GAS:
• A bill in Florida that would regulate oil and gas hydraulic fracturing was amended by a Senate Committee to place a moratorium on the activity until after a study is completed in 2016. (Saint Peters Blog, Florida)
• Attorneys for landowners near Mayflower, Arkansas contend a federal judge should vacate his order dismissing a class-action lawsuit against Exxon Mobil because the oil giant suppressed evidence after its March 2013 oil pipeline spill. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette)
• Female oil industry leaders assess how to attract and keep more early- to mid-career women around the time that many have children. (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
• Officials with the company proposing a natural gas-fired power plant for Brooke County, West Virginia said Tuesday they will submit plans for a regulatory agency’s review. (The Intelligencer, Wheeling, West Virginia)
• The Obama administration unveiled tighter regulations of blowout preventers to help avoid a repeat of the deadly 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. (McClatchy Newspapers)
• Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter is among the lawmakers in the Southeast U.S. courted by oil industry promoting drilling off the Atlantic Coast with an expense-paid tour of an offshore drilling platform. (The Peach Pundit blog, Georgia)
COAL: Birmingham, Alabama water utility officials warn that a coal-mining bill passed in the State Senate and pending in the House would reduce their ability to fight for clean water. (The Birmingham News, Alabama)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Cobb County, Georgia officials considering electric vehicles for the stadium shuttle at the Atlanta Braves’ new stadium set to open in 2017. (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
ALTERNATIVE VEHICLES: West Palm Beach, Florida is swapping out its diesel-guzzling downtown trolleys for smaller, liquid propane-sipping ones. (Palm Beach Post, Florida)
SUSTAINABILITY: Shelby County, Tennessee — which includes Memphis — is investing in energy efficiency upgrades, waste reduction and green workforce training through the Green Prisons Initiative at the Shelby County Corrections. (The Daily News, Memphis)
COMMENTARY: In the blink of one session, Georgia has gone from having one of the best programs promoting electric vehicles in the country to the absolute worst. (WABE Public Radio, Atlanta)