EMISSIONS: A new report finds Texas regulators often shut down sensitive air monitoring equipment before storms and therefore miss industrial pollution emitted from refineries and chemical plants immediately after severe weather events when emissions often spike. (Texas Tribune)

WIND: A new report finds building two offshore wind farms near the Gulf Coast could create between 7,300 and 14,700 jobs during construction and 2,800 permanent operations and maintenance positions. (NOLA.com)

UTILITIES: Georgia Power will soon unveil a long-range plan that is expected to include a significant shift from coal to solar and other sources of renewable energy. (Capitol Beat News Service)

SOLAR:
• A New Orleans startup relies on tax credits and energy efficiency improvements to offer leases on solar panels to low-income homeowners. (Fast Company)
• A county board approves a 90 MW solar facility in Virginia after its builder pared back its proposal. (Martinsville Bulletin)
• An energy company builds a 256 kW solar array for a manufacturer in Tennessee. (Solar Power World)
• Entergy Arkansas announces completion of its first solar plant to include battery storage. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

OIL & GAS:
• A judge’s decision to halt oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico from a recent auction raises questions about the future of drilling on public lands. (Reuters)
• Seismologists say the injection of saltwater produced during fracking operations is likely responsible for recent earthquakes in the Permian Basin and other parts of Texas. (Dallas Morning News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A company that makes rare-earth magnets for use in electric vehicle motors and other applications announces it will build a factory in Louisville, Kentucky. (Associated Press)

NUCLEAR: Manufacturers, business leaders and climate advocates speak at a public hearing in favor of legislation to lift West Virginia’s ban on nuclear plant construction, while coal interests, a citizens action group and the NAACP oppose it. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

CLIMATE:
• A Louisiana task force created a plan for the state to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, but it’s unclear whether the state’s likely Republican future governors will stick to it. (The Advocate)
• A Florida lawmaker introduces legislation to expand the state’s climate resiliency plan and funding for projects to mitigate rising sea levels. (Florida Politics)

GRID: A Virginia electric cooperative uses a helicopter and cutting device to trim trees around power lines. (Northern Virginia Daily)

COMMENTARY:
• West Virginia residents should oppose lawmakers’ efforts to lift a ban on nuclear plant construction and instead focus on renewable microgrids, writes an environmentalist. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• A federal court’s decision will further slow and threaten completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline as it scrambles to obtain new permits to cross federal land, writes an editorial board. (Roanoke Times)
• The CEO and general manager of Orlando, Florida’s municipal utility defends its coal ash storage and touts a recent announcement to end its use of coal by 2027 and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. (Orlando Sentinel)

Mason has worked as a journalist since 2001, covering Appalachian communities and the issues that affect them. He compiles the Southeast Energy News digest. Mason previously worked as a wildlife biologist before moving into journalism by freelancing at Coast Weekly in Monterey, California, before taking an internship in 2001 at High Country News. He wrote for the Enterprise Mountaineer in western North Carolina and the Roanoke Times in western Virginia before going freelance in 2012. His work has appeared in Southerly, Daily Yonder, Mother Jones, Huffington Post, WVPB’s Inside Appalachia and elsewhere. Mason was born and raised in Clifton Forge, Virginia, and now lives with his family and a small herd of goats in Floyd County, Virginia.