BIOMASS: In a letter signaling their intent to sue, three environmental groups accuse a South Carolina wood pellet manufacturer of “significant, repeated, and ongoing” Clean Air Act violations. (Charlotte Observer)
ACTIVISM: Students in a virtual event and in-person rally demand that the University of North Carolina stop using its coal-fired power plant by 2023. (Daily Tar Heel)
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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• North Carolina electric cooperatives work to expand access to electric vehicle charging in rural communities with Volkswagen settlement money. (WRAL)
• A North Carolina town welcomes its first electric vehicle fast charger — and the first along a 121-mile stretch of Interstate 77. (Elkin Tribune)
BATTERIES:
• An electric vehicle battery plant northeast of Atlanta plans to hire more than 1,000 skilled workers by the end of 2021 as it prepares for production. (Green Car Congress)
• A virtual ribbon-cutting is held for an Arkansas facility that will extract lithium, a key material in batteries, from an industrial byproduct. (Talk Business)
SOLAR: A North Carolina county recently approved a permit for construction of a 950-acre solar farm. (WNCT)
CLEAN ENERGY: A recent virtual summit highlighted the potential of clean energy to be an economic driver for North Carolina. (Coastal Review Online)
UTILITIES: A Florida utility says increased costs from its investment in a nuclear power plant will be partially offset by retiring coal-fired units. (Jacksonville Daily Record)
OIL & GAS: University of Houston researchers will collaborate with Southern states to deploy carbon-reducing technologies in the oil and gas industry. (Houston Chronicle)
PIPELINES: The Permian Basin suddenly finds itself with too many pipelines and not enough oil to fill them. (Wall Street Journal, subscription)
POLITICS:
• West Texas oil and fracking billionaires are pouring money into a North Texas Senate race, campaign finance reports show. (Dallas Morning News)
• A new campaign ad for Sen. Mitch McConnell features coal miners who appeared in an ad for his Democratic opponent a year ago. (WYMT)
COMMENTARY:
• A Central Florida organization is helping traditionally underserved communities upgrade to high-efficiency air conditioners and solar panels. (Natural Resources Defense Council)
• Increasing renewable energy such as solar has far-reaching economic, consumer, and environmental benefits for South Carolina, a state senator and environmental advocates write. (Post and Courier)