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COAL:
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo aims to phase out coal plants statewide by 2020. (The Hill)
• A coalition in New York is calling on Gov. Cuomo to provide transition funds for a neighboring town and school district for the next five years following a coal plant closure. (Buffalo News)
• Taxpayers could be on the hook for reclaiming coal mines due to Arch Coal’s self-bonding and bankruptcy. (Taxpayers for Common Sense)
• A U.S. civil rights panel will assess the impacts of coal ash disposal on the poor. (Environmental Health News)
SOLAR: Despite hours of pleas from solar supporters, Nevada regulators will not put a pause on controversial changes to the state’s net metering policy. (Associated Press)
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FRACKING: Oklahoma regulators order 27 operators of oil and gas wells to reduce injection volumes due to the rise in earthquakes over the past week. (Associated Press)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: New Hampshire regulators have opened an investigation into whether owners of electric vehicle charging stations should be able to resell power rather than charge hourly rates. (Utility Dive)
RENEWABLES:
• Experts say President Obama exaggerated the role of a 2009 stimulus package in driving clean-energy growth during his State of the Union speech. (New York Times)
• The significant growth in clean-energy investment is defying the crash in fossil fuel prices. (Bloomberg New Energy Finance)
NATURAL GAS: Two California lawmakers want federal officials to investigate the ongoing leak from a natural-gas storage site in California. (The Hill)
CLIMATE: Michigan researchers have developed a way to assign financial liability to greenhouse gas-emitting power plants, which could have implications for potential lawsuits against utilities. (Midwest Energy News)
EFFICIENCY:
• Despite a weakened energy efficiency law in Indiana, advocates score a victory in a recent regulatory decision against a utility’s efficiency proposal. (Midwest Energy News)
• California leads the nation in the number of net-zero buildings. (Greentech Media)
POLICY:
• President Obama’s pledge to better manage fossil fuel development on federal land will face a test in the coming days as federal officials plan to rule on opening Wyoming lands to coal mining. (Reuters)
• Lawmakers gird for President Obama’a strengthened resolve against “dirty energy.” (E&E Daily)
EMISSIONS:
• Global mercury emissions fell 30 percent between 1990 and 2010 due to decreased coal use. (Reuters)
• Improved technology is giving us a better understanding of the magnitude of methane leaks worldwide. (National Geographic)
• While state renewable standards are providing important climate change benefits, they have only “just scratched the surface” on emissions reductions. (Climate Central)
RAIL: Industry officials predict a “freight recession” coming this year as weak demand for coal and crude oil persists. (Associated Press)
CYBERSECURITY: A new book by Ted Koppel warns that U.S. emergency officials are not prepared to deal with major cyberattacks against the grid. (Energy Times)
DEMAND RESPONSE: Clean-energy advocates are hopeful that, as the U.S. Supreme Court takes more time to decide on a FERC energy conservation rule, the less likely it will be killed altogether. (Greenwire)
STATE OF THE UNION: “If you were a time traveler from 2009, you would not recognize the energy world of 2016.” (EnergyWire)
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VW SCANDAL: Volkswagen and EPA officials are keeping mum about a closed-door meeting this week between the automaker and EPA administrator Gina McCarthy. (Associated Press)
COMMENTARY: U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and a conservative clean-energy advocate say there is vast untapped potential for hydropower across the country. (New York Times)