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COAL: President Obama is expected to announce today a moratorium on new coal-mining leases on public land as the administration seeks to overhaul the program. (New York Times)
ALSO:
• Environmental groups hope Arch Coal’s bankruptcy will finally settle a decades-long debate over the need for a mining facility and rail expansion in Montana. (Greenwire)
• The Republican majority in the West Virginia legislature has few options to aid the state’s embattled coal industry. (SNL)
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NUCLEAR: As the threat of cyberattacks grows, a watchdog group says 20 nations around the world don’t have regulations requiring minimal protection of nuclear power plant facilities. (New York Times)
NATURAL GAS:
• The utility responsible for the ongoing leak from a natural-gas storage site in California has been understating the amount of a cancer-causing chemical being released. Experts say long-term health impacts to residents are still unclear. (Associated Press)
• Elevated methane levels are now being detected as far as 8 miles from the source of the leak. (InsideClimate News)
• Experts say continued attempts to plug the ongoing leak in California are creating significant risk for a blowout and further environmental damage. (Los Angeles Times)
SOLAR:
• Minnesota residents are quickly buying up shares in the first community solar projects being developed there, showing early signs of high demand for the statewide program. (Midwest Energy News)
• A new industry report seeks to explain state and regional solar price variations among different customer classes, which could be valuable to utilities. (Utility Dive)
• Defying the jobs vs. the environment narrative, “solar is emerging as a significant job creator in a shifting energy economy.” (Christian Science Monitor)
RENEWABLES: Environmental and community groups celebrate a decision by San Francisco regulators to create a program that offers renewable energy at lower rates to commercial and residential customers throughout the city. (San Francisco Bay View)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Southern California utility will develop a $22 million pilot program to expand the number of electric-vehicle charging stations. (Los Angeles Times)
EFFICIENCY: An ordinance in Chicago that requires some building owners to report efficiency data saw a five-fold increase in participants in its second year. (Sustainable Chicago)
OIL AND GAS: The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts the oil and gas industry is unlikely to recover until well into 2017. (EnergyWire)
POLICY: Environmental and industry groups alike are speculating what President Obama’s next directives on fossil fuels will be following his State of the Union speech. (ClimateWire)
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BIOFUELS: The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers will intervene in the biofuel industry’s lawsuit against the U.S. EPA’s decision to lower renewable fuel standards. (Biofuels Digest)
COMMENTARY:
• Following wins in Paris and on tax credit extensions, solar advocates should now turn their attention to national carbon pricing. (Greentech Media)
• Independent power producers, following a tough year for business due to low wholesale power prices, may find new ways to shift costs onto ratepayers. (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis)