TRANSITION: The United Mine Workers of America said it would endorse Democrats’ plan to shift away from coal and fossil fuels in return for thousands of clean energy jobs and spending on clean coal technology. (Associated Press)

ALSO:
• Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm discuss how a clean energy transition can take shape in places like Appalachia that depend on fossil-fuel jobs, outlining how a split between labor and energy advocates could hinder President Joe Biden’s clean-energy agenda. (Roll Call; E&E News, subscription)
• Manchin announces his support for federal legislation that would strengthen unions and reform labor law, which advocates say is critical for transitioning from Appalachia’s economic reliance on fossil fuels. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Houston’s purchase of enough renewable energy to power the city’s municipal operations signals a significant step toward its carbon-neutrality pledge. (Houston Chronicle)

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EMISSIONS:
• ExxonMobil pitches a $100 billion carbon-capture project near Houston as a way to meet the rapid emissions reductions President Biden is expected to soon announce, provided the company receives tax breaks and other aid to build it. (Politico)
• Texas energy company NextDecade partners with a company to evaluate the greenhouse-gas intensity of its gas infrastructure as it pursues an aggressive carbon-capture project. (S&P Global)
• Dominion Energy launches a pilot program to blend hydrogen into its natural gas distribution systems to lower carbon dioxide and methane emissions. (S&P Global)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Electric vehicle manufacturing added 12,000 jobs in Georgia last year even as most of the state’s clean energy industry shrank during the pandemic. (Georgia Public Broadcasting)
• Florida Power & Light announces completion of an electric vehicle station with six fast chargers as part of a pilot program. (Sarasota Magazine)

GRID: Texas lawmakers advance a bill that designates priority electricity service needs for extreme weather events, as well as other legislation intended to avoid another massive power failure. (Texas Tribune)

COAL: About 1,100 coal miners continue to strike in Alabama after the union rejects a tentative deal with Warrior Met Coal. (Alabama Public Radio)

OIL & GAS:
• A federal auditor reports oil and gas companies have littered the Gulf of Mexico with more than 18,000 miles of abandoned pipelines since the 1960s. (E&E News, subscription)
• The search for survivors from a capsized oil industry liftboat off Louisiana’s coast ends, leaving five people known dead and eight still missing. (Associated Press)

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PIPELINES:
• Neighbors and state lawmakers respond to a North Carolina pipeline’s spill of more than one million gallons of gasoline that went unnoticed until found by two teenagers. (WCNC)
• A central Virginia county approves a letter to federal officials pushing to release landowners from easements they signed with the now-canceled Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (Daily Progress)

UTILITIES:
• Louisville officials announce a settlement with Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities for a reduced rate increase for the two energy companies. (Courier Journal)
• Dominion Energy cancels its plan to construct a high-rise building in Virginia because its workforce has been working remotely during the pandemic. (WRIC)

Mason has worked as a journalist since 2001, covering Appalachian communities and the issues that affect them. He compiles the Southeast Energy News digest. Mason previously worked as a wildlife biologist before moving into journalism by freelancing at Coast Weekly in Monterey, California, before taking an internship in 2001 at High Country News. He wrote for the Enterprise Mountaineer in western North Carolina and the Roanoke Times in western Virginia before going freelance in 2012. His work has appeared in Southerly, Daily Yonder, Mother Jones, Huffington Post, WVPB’s Inside Appalachia and elsewhere. Mason was born and raised in Clifton Forge, Virginia, and now lives with his family and a small herd of goats in Floyd County, Virginia.