OFFSHORE DRILLING:
• Activists and their attorneys cheer the Obama administration’s denial of applications for seismic testing off the Mid- and South Atlantic coastlines. (The Post and Courier)
• While it may be possible, President-elect Trump will find it difficult to reverse the bans on seismic testing and offshore drilling off the Atlantic Coast. (Newsweek)
COAL:
• The TVA’s spurning of Tennessee’s demand for ground water data is central to a federal trial over coal ash set to begin in February. (Nashville Public Radio)
• As its price tag rises above $7 billion, Southern Co. says its long-delayed, over-budget Kemper “clean coal” power plant in Mississippi will be fully operating by Jan. 31. (Associated Press, Atlanta Business Chronicle)
• An international coal company says it’s hiring 50 to 75 workers to expand its mining operations in southern West Virginia. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
• Virginia streamlines certifications to help out-of-work miners get jobs. (Kingsport Times News)
• Led by shipments to China, U.S. exports of coal from Alabama, Louisiana, Virginia and other ports rose in November. (Platts)
SOLAR:
• South Carolina ranked 9th among all states for the amount of solar installed in 2016. (Palmetto Business Daily)
• The Marine based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina has yet to see the touted clean energy benefits from a solar system there built by Duke Energy. (Charlotte Business Journal / SNL Energy)
• Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky and Arkansas are four of the five worst states for solar energy, according to a new ranking. (Greentech Media)
CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• Advocates and opponents sharpen their tactics in the looming battle over whether the Clean Power Plan should be scrapped. (West Virginia MetroNews)
• If the plan is scrapped, the 2017 Annual Energy Outlook forecasts coal-fired generation to remain steady through the 2020s. (Utility Dive)
GRID: The Dept. of Energy’s Quadrennial Energy Review spotlights vulnerabilities and threats to the power grid. (The Hill)
EFFICIENCY: Two groups in Georgia propose the creation of a “Green Corridor” initiative in the middle part of the state to promote conservation and renewables. (ProudGreenBuilding.com)
COAL ASH: Duke Energy caps a pipe that was leaking water contaminated from a former ash pond in North Carolina. (Charlotte Business Journal)
VIRGINIA:
• Coal tax credits for southwest Virginia are high on the list of some key lawmakers as they prepare for their 30-day legislative session which begins Wednesday. (Bristol Herald Courier)
• Solar advocates pin their hopes on concepts behind four bills to help boost the state’s solar market. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
WEST VIRGINIA: Economists warn lawmakers they are destined to repeat challenges brought on by coal’s decline by shifting incentives to extract and process natural gas. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
COMMENTARY:
• Senior lawmakers from the region are showing a “shocking amount of neglect” for the threat that rising sea levels pose to Virginia Beach-Hampton Roads. (The Virginian-Pilots)
• Gains in Georgia, Louisiana and other states prove investments in energy efficiency pay economic and social dividends. (Natural Resources Defense Council)
• Why should Floridians risk their water and surrender their land for the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline? (Valdosta Daily Times)
• Activists should stop throwing around red herrings in their opposition to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)