ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric vehicle maker Canoo announces it will build its company headquarters, an R&D center and a production facility for small package delivery vehicles in northwestern Arkansas. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
ALSO:
• Rivian, the electric vehicle company scouting Southeastern states to build a factory, is now the third most valuable carmaker in the world despite its lack of revenue so far. (Savannah Morning News, CNN Business)
• Five Virginia localities will buy electric school buses after receiving grants from Appalachian Power. (Roanoke Times)
COAL: An 80 MW power plant in West Virginia that buys coal gob from Sen. Joe Manchin’s company fights to stay open with a new plan to sell power for cryptocurrency mining and coal ash for concrete. (E&E News)
GRID:
• Federal regulators release a final report on February’s Winter Storm Uri that recommends electric grids strengthen winterization rules and better coordinate with the natural gas industry to prevent future blackouts. (KTRK, Reuters)
• A clean energy company announces it has delivered power into the Texas grid generated by new technology that derives zero-emissions electricity from natural gas. (Reuters)
OVERSIGHT: New Orleans residents call on EPA Administrator Michael Regan to reject carbon capture as a climate solution, increase air monitoring of heavy industry and launch a civil rights investigation into the 85-mile chemical corridor known as “Cancer Alley.” (NOLA.com)
SOLAR:
• Entergy asks Louisiana regulators to approve four new solar farms totalling 475 MW across three parishes. (KPLC)
• A North Carolina nonprofit releases a study finding the state ranks third nationally for solar development over the past decade, and 10th for renewable energy development. (Carteret County News-Times)
• The University of Arkansas Hope Texarkana begins a solar energy technology certificate program. (Texarkana Gazette)
CLIMATE:
• Armadillos increasingly appear in North Carolina and Virginia as climate change expands their range northward. (Guardian, Cardinal News)
• Five years of aggressive tree planting by a metro Florida county results in a canopy that’s “not significantly changed,” according to a new study. (WLRN)
• A journalist explains how fossil fuel advocates embed climate skepticism in K-12 education, beginning with the leader of an Arkansas oil and natural gas trade organization pitching to middle schoolers. (Slate)
POLITICS: Virginia Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin has expressed skepticism about Virginia’s clean energy law, but a Democrat-controlled Senate, Republican legislators who favor the law and broad public support will limit his ability to overturn it. (Canary Media)
COMMENTARY:
• Alabama communities face air pollution from outdated coal-fired plants but can embrace policy changes to advance climate, racial, and economic justice, write two leaders of a state nonprofit. (Energy News Network)
• An editorial board calls on West Virginia lawmakers to shift their focus from campaigns and charter schools to recruiting automakers to build battery factories. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• A Memphis-area news anchor complains about a $2 million raise for the CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority and suggests it’s fueling a local desire to break with the TVA. (WATN)