POLITICS: Advocates say the U.S. presidential election will have global ramifications in the fight against climate change: “every succeeding election becomes more and more urgent.” (CNN)

ALSO:
• Advocates are hopeful that a change in Senate control will open the door to more aggressive climate policy, though a Biden administration would still have options even if that isn’t the outcome. (InsideClimate News, Gizmodo)
• Experts say Biden’s proposed ban on oil and gas leasing on federal land would be particularly damaging for Wyoming’s industry. (Casper Star-Tribune)
• Union leaders have trepidation about Joe Biden’s climate plan, noting that clean energy jobs still pay less than work in the fossil fuel industry. (Reuters)
• President Trump formally orders the Energy Department to study the impact a fracking ban would have on the economy, while continuing to falsely claim his opponent supports one. (E&E News, subscription required)
• Duke Energy gives more than twice as much money to Republicans as Democrats in North Carolina state legislative races, rewarding candidates who voted with it on a controversial ratemaking bill. (Energy News Network)

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PIPELINES:
• U.S. Forest Service officials decided to defer to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rather than take a conflicting position on the environmental impacts of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, according to newly surfaced emails that one former official called “shocking and eye-opening.” (Roanoke Times)
• The first three years of the Trump presidency coincided with a pipeline construction boom, fueling significant job gains for workers without college degrees in West Virginia and the Ohio River Valley before the pandemic hit. (Washington Post)
• A Massachusetts town drops its lawsuits against a compressor station in exchange for a $10 million host community agreement that is panned by project opponents. (State House News Service)
• A Pennsylvania regulator says trusting the developer of the Mariner East pipeline has “come back to bite us” as the company continues to rack up numerous violations at construction worksites. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• The Keystone XL developer awards $1.6 billion in contracts to six U.S. firms to work on pipeline construction next year. (Pierre Capital Journal)

COAL: “We are not victims”: officials in Craig, Colorado start to confront a future without coal. Read more about Craig here and here. (Colorado Sun, Energy News Network archive)

HYDROGEN: Salt caverns in Utah could become the world’s largest energy storage facility, potentially storing enough renewable hydrogen to provide 1,000 MW of backup power. (CNBC)

SOLAR: Developers are planning a 20 MW solar project atop former coal ash landfills in Pennsylvania. (Lancaster Online)

TRANSPORTATION:
• A Massachusetts startup is partnering with school districts to help them manage the high up-front costs of adopting electric buses. (Energy News Network)
• Fiat Chrysler expects to pay nearly $259 million to settle allegations involving cheating on diesel emissions tests. (Detroit News)

EFFICIENCY: Energy efficiency advocates urge Virginia to update state building codes to more closely follow an international standard that the state currently lags by two 3-year cycles. (Virginia Mercury)

COMMENTARY:
• U.S.United States Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette says a thriving oil and natural gas industry is necessary for the nation’s energy future. (The Hill)
• Advocates say voter suppression efforts targeting people of color are a climate justice issue. (Grist)
• Hydrogen has potential for transportation, heating buildings and generating electricity, and “may prove to be key in humanity’s next energy transition,” an Ohio editorial board says. (Toledo Blade)

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.