NEW YORK: Gov. Andrew Cuomo orders a state agency to “design and enact” regulations mandating 50 percent renewables by 2030. (Huffington Post)

OIL BY RAIL:
• Maine will no longer disclose details to the public about oil shipments by rail through the state. (Reuters)
New York’s attorney general calls for tighter federal restrictions on the volatility of oil that can be transported by rail. (The Hill)

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BUSINESS: The CEO of major energy company NRG is stepping down, effective immediately. (SNL)

COAL:
• “Clean coal” technology continues to falter in the U.S. and fails to gain traction at the Paris climate talks. (Associated Press)
• Officials from around the world are seeing signs of a long-term decline for the industry. (New York Times)
• A new study shows that coal is king among all sources of pollution as a cause of heart disease. (The Washington Post)

INVESTING: Responding to investor concerns about climate change, State Street launches its first fossil-fuel free exchange-traded fund. (Reuters)

CLIMATE CHANGE:
 Officials abroad say Congress’ vote to undermine a domestic carbon-reduction plan isn’t gaining traction in Paris. (Greenwire)
President Obama says in Paris that he favors a carbon tax over regulations like the Clean Power Plan to reduce emissions. (ClimateWire)

BIOFUELS: The oil industry may pay close to $1 billion this year to comply with federal renewable fuel standards, which could be passed on to consumers. (Reuters)

CLEAN POWER PLAN: While partisan politics cloud the direction of the Clean Power Plan, engineers see the rules as an opportunity to reinvent the power grid. (EnergyWire)

OIL AND GAS:
The grid operator in the Northeast says constraints on the region’s natural-gas pipelines could cause reliability problems this winter. (Transmission & Distribution World)
• Despite committing to do so earlier, Exxon Mobil refuses to disclose its U.S. taxpaying information to a global transparency group. (Associated Press)
• A bill that would lift the crude oil export ban and speed up pipeline permitting moves forward in Congress. (E&E Daily)

SOLAR:
• Amid the push for more renewables nationwide, it has become “mission critical” to commercially deploy grid storage technology. (Greentech Media)
The industry will lobby Congress hard in the next two weeks to extend a 30 percent tax credit on installations. (Reuters)
• One Minnesota community embraces community primarily as a way to save money on electricity. (Midwest Energy News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: One reason electric-car ownership hasn’t taken off is because car dealers are reluctant to sell them. (New York Times)

2010 GULF OIL SPILL: A judge drops manslaughter charges against the last two of four BP supervisors involved in the litigation. (Associated Press)

Andy compiles the Midwest Energy News digest and was a journalism fellow for Midwest Energy News from 2014-2020. He is managing editor of MiBiz in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was formerly a reporter and editor at City Pulse, Lansing’s alternative newsweekly.

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