COAL: In a quarterly earnings call this morning, Arch Resources announces it will begin shutting down its Coal Creek mine in Wyoming next year and reduce production at the nearby Black Thunder mine; the company had previously signaled the move but had not set a timeline. (news release, WyoFile)

ALSO:
• Court records show another Powder River Basin mine in Montana ceased production last month as its owner files for bankruptcy. (Casper Star Tribune)
• Ohio geologists are exploring the possibility of using flooded, abandoned coal mines for geothermal energy projects. (Energy News Network)

CLIMATE:
• A new study finds countries would have to increase their Paris Agreement commitments by 80% in order to keep global warming under 2 degrees Celsius. (Washington Post)
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urges countries to accelerate their net-zero pledges ahead of a November climate summit. (Associated Press)

CABINET:
• If Michael Regan is confirmed to lead the EPA, he faces multiple challenges in rebuilding morale and credibility at the agency. (Vox)
• Montana Sen. Steve Daines says U.S. Rep. Deb Halaand is “too radical” to lead the Interior Department, but he expressed no such concern over former acting BLM leader William Perry Pendley, who has a history of ridiculing Native Americans. (HuffPost)

TRANSPORTATION:
• A federal court pauses litigation over a Trump administration rule limiting California’s authority to set vehicle emissions standards as the Biden administration seeks to change course. (The Hill)
• A new report credits Florida policies for creating a successful market for electric vehicles, with roughly 60,000 already on state roads and that number projected to double within a decade. (WUFT)
• Researchers find that electric cars in California are driven about half as much as their gasoline counterparts, with range limitations being a possible explanation. (E&E News)

UTILITIES:
• Virginia lawmakers advance a bill that would allow clean energy firms to compete with utilities to sell renewable energy plans to customers, but it still faces a difficult road to passage. (Energy News Network, Virginia Mercury)
• A Republican state lawmaker reintroduces a bill to repeal the state’s power plant subsidy law at the heart of a $60 million bribery scandal. (Associated Press)

SOLAR:
• Maine Gov. Janet Mills asks state regulators to investigate why the state’s largest utility told solar developers projects, including some already built, will cost tens of millions more to connect to the transmission grid. (Portland Press Herald)
• Clean energy groups say Ameren’s proposed plan for compensating solar customers who send power back to the grid is “overly complex and opaque, flawed, and too narrowly focused.” (Solar Power World)

OIL & GAS: While Texas leaders have denounced President Biden’s energy policies, experts note the state’s oil industry would benefit from less competition with producers on public lands. (Texas Tribune)

PIPELINES:
• A federal judge says Enbridge can proceed with construction on the Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota, a week after a state appeals court issued a similar ruling in a challenge from environmental groups and tribes. (MPR News)
• Fact-checkers examine the claim that rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline resulted in the loss of 11,000 jobs. (Snopes)

COMMENTARY:
• Advocates say a federal-state partnership is critical to decarbonizing the grid. (Utility Dive)
• A climate writer notes that GM’s push to position itself as an electric vehicle leader follows years of opposition to climate efforts. (Heated)
• The director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network calls out an automotive manufacturing trade group for its resistance to legislation to establish a clean cars standard in Virginia. (Energy News Network)

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.