COAL: Public, business and environmental leaders strive to develop an entrepreneurial economy to offset lost coal jobs in Kentucky. (New York Times)
ALSO:
• What the backlash against coal feels like to a West Virginia miner. (The Atlantic)
• Thirty-two former miners and others graduate from a West Virginia community college program with new skills. (Beckley Herald-Register)
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SOLAR:
• A Republican lawmaker seeks momentum for solar in South Carolina. (Southeast Energy News)
• Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announces a 20-megawatt solar farm to be built on the state’s Eastern Shore by Hecate Energy. (Associated Press)
• Support appears strong for Florida’s solar Amendment 4 on the Aug. 30 primary ballot. (News 13 Orlando)
• Vance County, North Carolina extends its wait for the 250-plus jobs that solar panel innovator Semprius promised five years ago. (Triangle Business Journal)
CLIMATE:
• Are the Louisiana floods bad luck or a wake-up call? (Greenwire)
• As global warming worsens, scientists say heavy rainfalls like Louisiana’s are expected to become more intense and frequent in the Southeast. (InsideClimate News)
EFFICIENCY: An electric cooperative in North Carolina sets a novel example for pay-as-you-save energy efficiency financing. (Utility Dive)
UTILITIES: Southern Company’s current offering document to raise $1.6 billion from new stock includes a cautionary note about uncertainties facing its Kemper “clean coal” power plant under construction in Mississippi. (SunHerald)
BIOMASS:
• The Department of Energy awards a North Carolina research lab $2 million to develop biomass-to-hydrocarbon fuel conversion pathways. (RTI International)
• Raleigh’s efforts to create fuel from biodegradable materials gets a boost from North Carolina. (Raleigh News & Observer)
• Activists and industry are at odds over a wood pellet plant in South Carolina. (Index-Journal)
HYDROPOWER: Federal regulators issue a new 30-year license for a Duke Energy pumped storage power plant in upstate South Carolina. (Charlotte Business Journal)
PIPELINES:
• Environmental groups petition to block construction of a pipeline aimed at sending natural gas through Alabama, Georgia and Florida to a Florida Power & Light power plant. (Palm Beach Post)
• A water commission in Arkansas approves a plan to protect well water from possible breaks in a proposed a crude oil pipeline planned to stretch across the state. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
NATURAL GAS:
• A gas-fired power plant in Memphis planned by the TVA will replace a coal plant and is designed to recycle 99% of the water it uses. (WREG)
• Two exporters in Louisiana apply to boost the amount of liquefied natural gas they can ship to overseas markets. (LNG Industry)
2010 BP OIL SPILL: The Alabama House approves and sends to the Senate use of a portion of its settlement funds to pay down the state’s debt. (Anniston Star)
COMMENTARY:
• The politicization of science in the coal ash debate is a damaging trend in North Carolina. (Raleigh News & Observer)
• A mother shares her story about the challenges of raising a family amid dwindling public funds tied to coal’s decline in West Virginia. (World Socialist Web Site)
• A new study assesses Florida Power & Light’s environmental stewardship and water quality problems at its Turkey Point nuclear plant. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)
• Making sense of solar amendments on Florida’s Aug. 30 and Nov. 8 ballots. (Creative Loafing)