COAL ASH:
• At a public hearing, residents in a North Carolina community push back against proposed permits that would allow increased discharges from coal ash sites into waterways. (Southeast Energy News)
• As an October 17 deadline approaches, coal burners prepare to decide whether to store ash in place or dispose of it elsewhere. (Bacon’s Rebellion)
SOLAR:
• A solar industry group in Georgia calls on regulators to order Georgia Power to have contracted for 100 megawatts of solar by year’s end. (Utility Dive / SNL Financial)
• The CEO of Florida Power & Light denies there is “anything sinister or nefarious” about the state’s Amendment 1 on the Nov. 8 ballot. (Orlando Weekly)
• Finance agreements tied to a residential solar tax credit in Louisiana draw a second class action lawsuit. (KSLA)
• A public-private partnership led by Tennessee-based Silicon Ranch Corp. is developing what is to become the largest solar system in the state. (Memphis Daily News)
• A solar farm planned for 161 acres in Gaston County, North Carolina is the subject of a public hearing Tuesday night. (Gaston Gazette)
• The Valdosta, Georgia city council approves solar systems for the city’s wastewater treatment plants. (Valdosta Daily Times)
NATURAL GAS:
• A public working group moves to map new gas pipelines in rural Mississippi. (Mississippi Today)
• A Texas company begins construction of a liquefaction plant in Port Allen, Louisiana. (Baton Rouge Advocate)
COAL:
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, vows to continue fighting environmental regulations during the next president’s term. (The Hill)
• About 12,500 union miner retirees and their dependents are receiving letters warning they’ll lose their health benefits Dec. 31 without congressional action. (Associated Press)
FRACKING: A county in northwest Georgia delays a vote on whether to authorize fracking until after Oct. 24. (Northwest Georgia News)
CLIMATE:
• The first question many buyers of coastal properties in southeast Florida ask: “Will it flood?” (Scientific American)
• The National Disaster Resilience Competition selects a Louisiana community to spotlight the need to move towns away from rising sea levels. (Bloomberg View)
PIPELINES:
• The West Virginia Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday concerning access to private property by developers. (The Register-Herald)
• An 83-year-old widow articulates how many land owners in Virginia feel about surveys of their land for pipelines. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
POLICY: A proposal to lift a cap in the tax code on sequestering carbon known as “45Q” is backed by myriad energy interests. (West Virginia Metro News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Tesla tries to overcome a Virginia hearing officer’s recommendation against allowing the company to sell its vehicles directly to consumers. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
NUCLEAR: A federal grant is to pay for partial cleanup of a reactor test site in Arkansas. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
RENEWABLES: Whether a tangible personal property tax exemption for manufacturers in Georgia applies to wind and solar projects is a tricky question. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)
COMMENTARY:
• “Clean coal” is a moonshot. (The Roanoke Times)
• Voters shouldn’t believe politicians who claim they can revive coal jobs. (Kentucky Forward)
• Regulators need to heed studies showing the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines are not needed. (The Roanoke Times)
• Here are major milestones in the evolution of the U.S. coal industry. (Environmental Health News)