CLIMATE: Arkansas and Mississippi get the lowest grade while North Carolina and Virginia get high grades for climate change preparedness in a new report. (Clean Technica)
ALSO: The Navy becomes the first military branch to require vendors to report their progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (Associated Press)
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NUCLEAR: The industry launches a campaign to stress its role in reducing carbon emissions while meeting growing demand for power in states such as Georgia. (Bloomberg, Case Energy Coalition)
GENERATION: Southern Co. CEO Tom Fanning squares off against an advocate of solar and other sources of local, cleaner energy. (Wall Street Journal)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Mercedes-Benz’s USA chief tells a gathering at the Atlanta Press Club the threat of electric vehicles to his market is “more than a decade away.” (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
SOLAR:
• Residents of a south Florida community speak out against a utility’s newly-approved plan to build a 3,000-acre solar farm there. (WINK-TV)
• Duke Energy turns on a 5 megawatt solar array near Walt Disney World. (Orlando Business Journal)
• Utilities backing a Florida ballot measure say it is intended to protect consumers. (SaintPetersBlog)
• A University of Central Florida team pioneers a floating solar farm. (Central Florida Future)
WIND: Competitive costs are increasingly why companies such as Google and Walmart are buying wind power. (Washington Post)
COAL: Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good talks about the feasibility of coal-fired generation and casts doubts about carbon sequestration. (Wall Street Journal)
COAL ASH: Some North Carolina residents persist in challenging the safety of their well water near coal ash sites. (WRAL-TV)
LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS: Exports through terminals in Louisiana and other ports face a growing global glut of LNG. (Houston Chronicle)
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2010 BP OIL SPILL: New research blames the spill for the deaths of juvenile and stillborn dolphins. (New Orleans Times Picayune)
COMMENTARY:
• North Carolina needs to move more proactively to deal with the state’s mounting coal ash challenges. (Winston-Salem Journal)
• Questions mount as Kentuckians await a response to challenges about imported fracking waste. (Lexington Herald-Leader)
• The longer it takes coastal planners in North Carolina and Virginia to deal with rising sea levels, the bigger the challenges become. (The Virginian-Pilot)
• Here are perspectives on the solar amendment on Florida’s ballot this November. (Florida Weekly)
• Why doesn’t the safety of coal miners in West Virginia matter more? (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting)