SUSTAINABILITY: An elementary school in Boca Raton becomes the first school to earn LEED Platinum status in Florida. (The Boca Raton Tribune / Boynton Beach School District)
NORTH CAROLINA LEGISLATURE:
• The House has approved and sent to the Senate a “regulatory reform” bill that would freeze the state’s RPS and, clean energy advocates assert, discourage solar energy development. (Associated Press)
• Renewable-energy advocates are scrambling to undo a provision of a compromise bill which could push existing solar and other renewable projects into bankruptcy. (Charlotte Business Journal)
CLIMATE: Dominion’s shareholders meeting draws protests against its plans for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and choices for future power generation. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
OFFSHORE DRILLING: With Columbia and Charleston County, the tally grows to 23 communities in the Carolinas on record opposing the exploration of oil and natural gas off the states’ coasts. (Associated Press)
OIL & GAS:
• A lawsuit in West Virginia alleges Chesapeake Appalachia committed fraud and trespassed by drawing natural gas and oil from property owned by the non-profit groups without a legal lease agreement. (Wheeling News-Register)
• A parish council in Louisiana is weighing whether it can use use local zoning regulations to block a controversial proposed oil drilling and fracking project. (The Times-Picayune)
NUCLEAR: The U.S. military appears to be backing off plans to produce plutonium fuel derived from America’s nuclear arsenal which can be used to fuel TVA’s nuclear power plants. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
BIOFUELS: BP will lay off 56 Louisiana workers over the next two months as it shuts down a biofuels demonstration plant in Jennings, LA. (The Times-Picayune)
COMMENTARY:
• Are South Carolina officials listening to the growing opposition to proposed drilling off its coast? (The Post & Courier)
• Virginia Gov. McAuliffe vetoes coal subsidy bills, but Republicans vow to keep the ‘welfare’ flowing for fossil fuels-based companies. (Power for the People VA blog)