POLICY:
• A house Republican introduces legislation to scrap billions in EPA programs, including work on environmental justice, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. (The Hill)
• Some Michigan lawmakers are already looking to roll back the state’s widely praised energy reforms, which included the expansion of renewable energy and efficiency standards. (Midwest Energy News)
SOLAR:
• The Minnesota House of Representatives votes to end a solar incentive program that helps residents and businesses fund new solar systems whose equipment is manufactured in Minnesota. (Solar Industry)
• Arizona regulators approve new solar fees for Tucson Electric Power, amounting to $2.05 per month for residential solar customers. (Greentech Media)
• A 480-acre solar farm is expected to be the largest in Montana and the first on public land, but the state legislature is considering laws to weaken solar development. (Associated Press)
• New studies detail the latest findings in distributed energy resource valuation, which include relatively small rate impacts from distributed solar. (Utility Dive)
***SPONSORED LINK: Join the Midwest Energy Research Consortium (M-WERC) at the Energy Storage Conference, February 15 in Milwaukee. This conference will explore recent advances in energy storage technologies, as well as the applications and in-field examples of the role of energy storage. ***
WIND: An Oregon-based wind developer says more projects may be in the works for North Carolina. (Triangle Business Journal)
RENEWABLE ENERGY: Groups are backing legislation to pull New Hampshire out of the nine-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and repeal a statewide renewable energy requirement. (Associated Press)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Every transit bus sold in 2030 will run on electricity, predicts the CEO of electric bus manufacturer Proterra. (Greentech Media)
OIL & GAS:
• A research scholar resigns from an Exxon Mobil advisory panel, saying the company used an “aggressive attack strategy” on organizations investigating whether it covered up climate change risks. (Huffington Post)
• Weak environmental rules contributed to a 2015 explosion at an Exxon refinery that nearly resulted in a lethal gas leak near Los Angeles. (Center for Public Integrity)
PIPELINES:
• The U.S. State Department says boosting the capacity of an oil pipeline that crosses from Canada into North Dakota would not have a significant impact on the environment. (Associated Press)
• College students in Maine are urging TD Bank to stop financing the Dakota Access Pipeline. (Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel)
POLLUTION:
• An environmental group is suing a Colorado utility for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act over 3,000 times by failing to monitor emissions at one of its power plants. (KOAA)
• An oil pipeline company is fined $1 million for spilling 31,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River in 2015. (Billings Gazette)
CLIMATE:
• A federal climate change lawsuit filed by a group of kids and young adults is now being directed at President Trump. (ThinkProgress)
• The White House tells the EPA to slash the number of employees scheduled to attend a conference in Alaska focusing on climate change impacts. (Bloomberg)
COMMENTARY:
• A senior columnist at CNBC makes a case against a national carbon tax.
• “Republican elders are offering their party an opening to change the conversation” on climate change. (New York Times)