CLIMATE: Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker vetoes a comprehensive climate roadmap bill, saying its efficiency requirements would have burdened the housing sector and that the bill lacked tools for localities to address environmental justice issues. (Masslive.com)
ALSO:
• Maine and two private organizations are taking preliminary steps to include small woodlot owners to use their trees to participate in carbon offset markets. (Bangor Daily News)
• A Rutgers University climate scientist says much can be done by President Biden to revive climate-friendly policies but reversing regulatory rollbacks will be difficult. (NJ Spotlight)
STORAGE: Connecticut regulators propose a home battery storage program that would help the state reach its goal of 580 MW by 2030. (Energy News Network)
ACTIVISM: Twenty defendants pleaded with a New Hampshire district court judge to allow them to have jury trials to face trespass charges stemming from blocking a train delivering coal to a power plant. (NHPR)
SOLAR: New York’s ambitious clean energy plans unveiled this week include two 20 MW solar farms in an upstate town. (Post-Star)
OFFSHORE WIND: The developer of a New Jersey offshore wind farm tells recreational fishermen they are welcome to ply the waters in and among its turbines. (Asbury Park Press)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: An electric vehicle charging station developer says it will install 20 stations at an Albany-area mall. (WRGB)
EFFICIENCY: Some Rhode Island businesses still want the state to suspend billing for energy efficiency despite a rate cut approved by regulators due to unspent funds during the pandemic. (Providence Business News)
TRANSMISSION: Hydro-Quebec says it will participate in a New York solicitation for a transmission “superhighway” from the northern part of the state and Canada to bring clean energy to New York City. (National Observer)
OIL & GAS:
• Two Maine cities rely on citizen scientists as they craft their responses to state regulators who are monitoring emissions from an oil tank storage facility. (WMTW)
• Regulators find 160 environmental violations by a western New York oil and gas driller after investigating a house explosion that turned out to be unrelated. (Olean Times Herald)
• Residents of a Pittsburgh suburb ask Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to block construction of an injection well for fracking wastewater in their community. (Pittsburgh Business Times)
COMMENTARY:
• The retiring environmental commissioner in New Jersey says the state has made significant progress in the past three years as it returns to science-based policies and regulations. (NJ.com)
• A Maryland environmental activist says state legislators must complete action on climate legislation that was interrupted last year by the pandemic. (The Daily Record)