ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Georgia or Louisiana are two of four states under consideration for a $1 billion, electric car manufacturing plant planned by a California startup. (Baton Rouge Advocate)
OFFSHORE DRILLING:
• Environmental activists hope to make opposition to offshore oil drilling a central theme of the 2016 elections in Florida. (Fort Myers News-Press)
• The governors of North Carolina and Virginia want to know why efforts to determine whether oil or gas deposits exist off their coasts are stalled. (Associated Press)
COAL:
• Blackhawk Mining is reclaiming parts of the land of its Pine Branch mining operations in Kentucky. (SNL)
• Federal safety and health officials cite Murray Energy for 29 “significant safety hazards” at five West Virginia coal mines. (The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register)
• Senior creditors of Walter Energy in Alabama are set to acquire the coal-mining company. (Tuscaloosa News)
CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• A study shows how compliance with the Clean Power Plan may affect the power grid that includes parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Kentucky. (EnergyWire)
• A North Carolina panel backs a limited approach to reducing greenhouse gases that counts on parts of the Clean Power Plan being declared illegal. (Raleigh News & Observer)
PIPELINES: Four congressmen say the route proposed for the Sabal Trail pipeline through Georgia raises serious environmental justice concerns. (Grist)
BLANKENSHIP TRIAL: Attorneys for Massey Energy allege federal regulators destroyed a document key to coal baron’s defense. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
COMMENTARY:
• BP’s oil spill settlement with Alabama is not good enough. (Alabama Media Group)
• What North Carolina-based Cree and other LED bulb makers can learn from the solar industry. (Greentech Media)
• A leading environmental non-profit lauds North Carolina’s push for cleaner energy. (Environmental Defense Fund)