CARBON TAX:
• A White House official says the Trump administration is not considering a carbon tax, despite urgings to do so by a group of Republican elder statesmen. (Reuters)
• The debate over a carbon tax has put moderates at odds with hardline conservatives within the White House. (Politico)
POLICY:
• Democrat and Republican energy policy experts give differing opinions of what the Trump administration’s budget cuts could mean for clean energy. (Greentech Media)
• What President Trump is expected to include in his executive order targeting Barack Obama’s “stupid” climate change policies. (New York Times)
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EFFICIENCY: Dozens of companies and organizations send a letter to congressional appropriators asking them to save the Energy Star program, saying it’s voluntary and helps “save money by investing in energy efficiency.” (The Hill)
CLIMATE: The U.S. will fall short of its Paris climate pledge by more than 1 billion metric tons if President Trump succeeds in his efforts to scrap current climate rules, according to a recent analysis. (InsideClimate News)
COAL:
• Cheap renewable energy is forcing coal plants into early retirement, not Obama-era climate regulations, according to a new report. (Greentech Media)
• A bill that would eliminate almost all coal mine safety enforcement by West Virginia inspectors has been removed from consideration and alternative legislation will be released later this week. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
PIPELINES:
• Authorities confirm that portions of the Dakota Access pipeline have been vandalized in Iowa and South Dakota. (Associated Press)
• A growing number of cities are joining the movement to defund banks that support the Dakota Access pipeline. (The Nation)
• U.S. senators from New Jersey send a letter urging federal regulators to thoroughly evaluate whether a proposed 120-mile natural gas pipeline poses a risk to groundwater and endangered species. (Associated Press)
REGULATION: An effort to repeal an Obama-era regulation designed to limit methane emissions stalls in the Senate, despite support from leading Republicans and the oil and gas industry. (The Hill)
SOLAR:
• A coalition of solar advocates is petitioning Maine’s Public Utilities Commission to reconsider a decision to gradually reduce financial incentives for residential solar customers. (Portland Press Herald)
• A Nevada utility and residential solar installers are asking state regulators to give solar customers until July to opt into grandfathered net metering rates. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
WIND:
• The Spanish energy conglomerate Avangrid hasn’t offered any specifics since winning a $9.1 million bid to develop a wind farm off the coast of North Carolina. (Triangle Business Journal)
• Avangrid Renewables plans to start construction on a 404-megawatt wind project in Oregon in September, with the initial power slated to go to a non-utility mystery buyer. (Portland Business Journal)
RENEWABLE ENERGY: An oversupply of renewable energy is expected to flood into California’s grid this spring, potentially forcing power generators to stop supplying a record-breaking 8,000 megawatts. (Greentech Media)
STORAGE: A thermal-energy-storage startup in Chicago is working on a product that can quickly transfer energy to air-conditioning units, thereby reducing spikes in electricity demand. (Midwest Energy News)
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TRANSPORTATION: The adoption of natural gas powered vehicles is growing in Texas, according to tax data. (San Antonio Business Journal)
COMMENTARY:
• President Trump’s promises to restore coal jobs ignore economic realities, says a writer at Axios.
• The market is concluding that solar makes sense, but the U.S. is making it more expensive than necessary by imposing tariffs on solar products imported from China, according to two researchers at Stanford. (New York Times)