OIL & GAS: Gov. Pat McCrory demands share of proceeds from any oil and natural gas produced offshore North Carolina. (Houston Chronicle)
EFFICIENCY: How long until Virginia catches up with its Southeast neighbors in developing markets for clean energy? (Energy Efficiency Markets)
COAL ASH:
• North Carolina officials are warning more residents living near Duke Energy’s coal ash pits that it’s not safe to drink or cook with their well water after test results. (Winston-Salem Journal)
• North Carolina residents who live near the Dan River want frequent and thorough monitoring of the water quality in the wake of Duke Energy’s coal ash spill. (News & Record)
• A judge is mulling a delay to a Duke Energy shareholder lawsuit prompted by the 2014 coal ash spill into the Dan River while it tries to resolve related lawsuits and finalize settlement of a related criminal investigation. (Associated Press)
WIND: Gulf Power received approval from the Florida PSC to purchase wind energy generated in Oklahoma. (Associated Press)
CLIMATE:
• Louisiana’s U.S. Senators are asking FEMA to drop climate disaster planning as condition for federal disaster mitigation grants. (The Times-Picayune)
• West Virginia’s Attorney General tells the U.S. Senate that finalizing the Clean Power Plan would have a “devastating impact” on the Mountaineer State. (Associated Press)
• A bill by U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky would allow states to ‘opt out’ of carbon dioxide regulations. (WFPL Public Radio, Louisville)
SOLAR: Build solar or save trees? Environmental groups sue over a Mississippi theme park’s plans to cut nearly 19,000 trees to build a 90-acre solar farm. (Associated Press)
OIL & GAS PIPELINES: Duke Energy is buying a share of the Sabal Trail Pipeline which transports natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico to Florida. (Charlotte Business Journal)
COMMENTARY:
• Editorial: the ‘sinking feeling’ of a city — Hampton Roads, VA — losing ground to rising sea levels due to climate change. (The Virginian-Pilot)
• Sen. Lamar Alexander makes a plug for nuclear power as a much-needed source of base load power. (Elk Valley Times, Tennessee)