COAL: Four states are suing the Trump administration over its decision to restart the sale of coal leases on federal lands, saying it could worsen the effects of climate change and shortchanges states for coal. (Associated Press)
ALSO:
• EPA administrator Scott Pruitt signs off on a proposal that would make North Dakota the first state to regulate underground wells used for storing carbon dioxide captured from coal-fired power plants. (Associated Press)
• A Democratic pro-coal group says rolling back regulations and ignoring climate change will do little to help the industry. (Midwest Energy News)
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OIL & GAS:
• A Louisiana parish receives a $45 million settlement from BP to cover damages from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (Associated Press)
• Environmental activists hold a rally inside Trump Tower in New York City to pressure officials to divest the city’s pension funds from fossil fuel interests. (The Guardian)
REGULATION:
• The Texas Senate passes a bill to reform the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency, but environmental groups say it’s “a very modest bill that barely counts as reform.” (Texas Tribune)
• The U.S. Senate will vote on whether to overturn an Obama-era regulation limiting harmful methane emissions from oil and gas wells on public lands on Wednesday. (The Hill)
• One of President Trump’s picks for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is a Pennsylvania regulator who said pipeline opponents are engaged in a “jihad” against natural gas. (ThinkProgress)
• President Trump’s nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission bring more uncertainty to federal policies that support clean energy. (Greentech Media)
POLICY: Clean energy advocates say several provisions in a Minnesota bill would “undermine strides in growing the clean economy and in combating climate change.” (Midwest Energy News)
BIOFUEL: Eight Democratic senators send a letter asking federal regulators to launch an investigation into Trump adviser Carl Icahn’s activities in the U.S. biofuels blending credit market. (Reuters)
SOLAR: Solar permits issued on the Hawaiian island of Oahu dropped over 60 percent in the last year, according to a recent analysis. (Pacific Business News)
WIND:
• The city council of Baltimore, Maryland, votes to urge state regulators to approve an offshore wind farm. (Baltimore Business Journal)
• The wind industry is helping struggling farmers in Comanche County, Texas, but some critics are fighting to stop turbines from going up. (Marketplace)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Volkswagen is required to spend $800 million on EV-related investments in California over the next decade, but the entire deal could be derailed if state regulators ask for too many changes. (Greentech Media)
CLIMATE: The White House press secretary says President Trump will wait until after a G7 meeting in late May to decide on whether to keep the U.S. in the Paris climate agreement. (Washington Post)
COMMENTARY:
• Repealing the Bureau of Land Management’s methane rule would be a costly and wasteful mistake, says a former oil and gas industry official who has served on the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission. (Denver Post)
• The country’s coal miners have suffered from President Obama’s policies, says Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. (Kentucky Today)