COAL: The decline of coal-burning power plants — and the air pollution that comes with them — has directly correlated with increased soybean and corn yields in states like Kentucky, two recent studies show. (Anthropocene)
TRANSPORTATION:
• After years of fighting their own policy battles, ethanol and electric vehicle advocates in Minnesota are tentatively banding together against a shared adversary: fossil fuels. (Energy News Network)
• Massachusetts offers $1.4 million in grants to test innovative solutions to advance transportation electrification. (Energy News Network)
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CLIMATE:
• A Trump administration official is inserting misleading language and debunked claims about climate change into federal scientific reports. (New York Times)
• A new report finds California’s “ocean economy,” including offshore oil and gas extraction, faces serious threats from climate change. (Los Angeles Daily News)
OFFSHORE WIND: Ørsted launches an offshore wind innovation hub today in Rhode Island that it hopes will accelerate the industry. (Associated Press)
HYDROPOWER: A federal report says Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposal to remove four hydroelectric dams on the Snake River to boost salmon populations would destabilize the power grid. (Associated Press)
OIL & GAS:
• Organizers of a major global energy conference in Houston cancel the gathering because of concerns about spreading coronavirus. (Reuters)
• A new study indicates Colorado has probably underestimated emissions from wells along the state’s Front Range. (Denver Post)
GRID:
• Michigan officials explore the potential of importing more electricity to maintain reliability and resilience as coal plants close and more distributed resources are added to the grid. (Energy News Network)
• The head of New York’s electric grid says recent orders by federal regulators don’t appear to be as bad for renewables as initially feared. (Utility Dive)
EMISSIONS:
• Utility CenterPoint Energy says it will cut emissions from operations 70% by 2035 and from customer gas usage 20% to 30% by 2040. (Reuters)
• The Trump administration’s repeal of rules on climate super-pollutants will add emissions equivalent to 625,000 new cars. (InsideClimate News)
• Colorado’s complicated tax policy is making it harder for the state to crack down on greenhouse gas and toxic air emissions. (Colorado Independent)
• The U.S. EPA says New York’s lawsuit against it for failure to enforce regulations of upwind emissions is too vague. (Bloomberg, subscription required)
POWER PLANTS:
• A proposed constitutional amendment in Ohio to ban foreign ownership of power plants and other “critical infrastructure” threatens further renewable energy development in the state, critics say. (Energy News Network)
• Maintaining Minnesota’s three aging nuclear reactors may be a key feature of Xcel Energy’s long-term emissions-reduction targets. (Star Tribune)
PIPELINES:
• The debate over the Line 3 pipeline is dividing Minnesota Democrats between those who worry about spills and climate change and those more concerned about maintaining rural construction jobs. (New York Times)
• Weak oil demand and cheaper alternatives mean economics may be the biggest obstacle for the Keystone XL pipeline, experts say. (Omaha World-Herald)
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POLITICS:
• Presidential candidates with plans to eliminate the oil and gas economy try to reassure workers they will have alternative career paths. (Houston Chronicle)
• Billionaire Michael Bloomberg unveils a public lands proposal that includes a ban on new fossil fuel leases on federal lands and offshore waters. (Grist)
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren says as president she would direct financial regulators to evaluate the climate-related liabilities of U.S. financial institutions. (E&E News)
COMMENTARY: Oregon Republicans are subverting democracy again by running away to prevent a vote on a climate change bill, David Roberts writes. (Vox)