CLIMATE:
• New York’s attorney general sues Exxon Mobil, saying the company defrauded shareholders by downplaying the risks of climate change. (New York Times)
• The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey — which oversees a bus terminal, rail system, six airports and other transportation infrastructure — says it will join the Paris climate agreement and cut emissions 35 percent below 2006 levels by 2025. (ThinkProgress)
POLITICS: Pennsylvania is the third largest carbon emitter in the country, but the state’s gubernatorial candidates aren’t making climate change a priority. (WESA)
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EFFICIENCY: Ski resorts in Vermont are cutting emissions by switching from diesel-powered snow machines to electric versions. (NECN)
SOLAR:
• Connecticut residents are more likely to install solar panels if neighbors tout the benefits of their own systems, versus pitches from outside solar companies, according to a new study. (The News-Times)
• A farm in central Connecticut installed 735 solar panels with the help of a federal grant and is saving 40 percent on its electric bills. (Greenhouse Grower)
MICROGRIDS: A Maryland county outside Washington, D.C., activates solar-powered microgrids at two public facilities. (Power Engineering)
NATURAL GAS:
• At a shale gas conference in Pittsburgh, acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler says the formula for successful energy production is to “incentivize innovation, not stifle it with regulation.” (Tribune-Review)
• Environmental activists marched through downtown Pittsburgh to protest the conference. (Pittsburgh’s Action News 4)
NUCLEAR: New Jersey’s three nuclear power plants do not need subsidies to remain open, according to briefs filed by critics. (NJ Spotlight)
TRANSMISSION:
• Members of snowmobiling and hunting groups in Maine are speaking out against a proposed hydropower transmission line from Canada to Massachusetts. (Maine Public)
• The total cost of the project could exceed $1.1 billion with interest, according to an order issued by federal regulators. (Bangor Daily News)
COMMENTARY:
• Pennsylvania lawmakers should act to keep the Three Mile Island nuclear plant open because its closure would have a devastating impact on the local community, says a member of the Clean Jobs for Pennsylvania coalition. (Press & Journal)
• The economic and environmental benefits Maine would receive from a proposed hydropower transmission line from Canada to Massachusetts “are simply too good to pass up,” says a Maine lawmaker. (centralmaine.com)