COAL: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice says he wants the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, already under fire for lax oversight, to be more amenable to the coal industry. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

ALSO:
• Multiple challenges still face the Kemper “clean coal” plant in Mississippi. (Mississippi Watchdog)
• Coal veterans in Kentucky have guarded expectations about their industry being revived. (Marketplace)

CLIMATE:
• How Florida and North Carolina have already paid a price because of efforts in those states to suppress information on climate change. (Scientific American)
• Florida Sen. Bill Nelson says “any attempt to intimidate or muzzle scientists must be stopped.” (SaintPetersBlog)
• A carbon tax proposal promoted by prominent Republicans would strip the EPA of emissions oversight in exchange. (InsideClimate News)
• Scientists at the University of Mississippi speak out against the Trump administration’s denial of climate science. (Daily Mississippian)

PIPELINES:
• Virginia gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello says he opposes two natural gas pipelines proposed in the state. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• A Georgia advocate explains how the state’s regulatory process and a unique approach to coalition-building helped stop a major pipeline there. (Southeast Energy News)
• Advocates plan to protest a proposed natural gas pipeline that would run under the Potomac River between West Virginia and Pennsylvania. (Associated Press)

SOLAR:
• At the unveiling of a Georgia solar project, former President Jimmy Carter urges Republicans to “remember the tremendous potential of creating millions of jobs in America just from renewable energy sources.” (Associated Press)
• Texas-based NRG Energy completes its first solar project in Florida. (Solar Industry Magazine)

OVERSIGHT:
• Arkansas’ attorney general seeks to halt implementation of a federal haze reduction plan in her state. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette)
• The Natural Resources Defense Council sues to block President Trump’s executive order requiring two regulations be repealed for every new one implemented. (Greenwire)

NUCLEAR:
• President Trump’s advisers recommend freezing the federal program that guaranteed loans for the Plant Vogtle expansion in Georgia. (Bloomberg)
• A judge dismisses part of South Carolina’s lawsuit against the Energy Department over a controversial plutonium processing facility. (Aiken Standard)

OIL AND GAS: No injuries are reported in a fire at a Louisiana refinery. (New Orleans Times Picayune)

COMMENTARY: Former U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu says despite environmental concerns, the Bayou Bridge pipeline should be approved. (Baton Rouge Advocate)

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Ken Paulman

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.