ACTIVISM: Climate activists find connections between Appalachia’s coal and gas industries and the Gulf Coast’s dependence on oil and gas as they develop climate and justice action plans in Louisiana, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. (Grist)
OIL & GAS:
• Texas residents organize against five planned marine desalination plants they worry will supercharge industrial development in a coastal city at the end of a massive pipeline network carrying oil and gas from the Permian Basin. (Sierra)
• A document shows how a fossil fuel-backing conservative group helped draft language in Texas legislation that imposes new costs and burdens on wind and solar projects. (Guardian)
• Tennessee will use federal funding to remediate five abandoned gas wells that were drilled in the 1980s in a federal recreation area. (WPLN)
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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: In a weekend speech to Georgia Republicans, former President Donald Trump promises to halt federal incentives that have sparked a surge in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing announcements in Georgia and the Southeast. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
GRID: Texas’ grid manager predicts a heat wave later this week will result in power demand that could break the record set last July. (KHOU)
CRYPTOCURRENCY: Kentucky regulators investigate whether it was appropriate for electric utilities to award a fossil fuel company and two other businesses deep discounts on electricity prices to mine cryptocurrency. (Kentucky Lantern)
EMISSIONS: Members of West Virginia’s congressional delegation introduce bills to block a proposed U.S. EPA rule to restrict greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing fossil fuel-fired power plants. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel)
BIOMASS: A global wood pellet manufacturer with four North Carolina plants sees its stock plunge 87% since last spring because of contract labor prices and maintenance and operational problems. (Wilmington StarNews)
TRANSITION:
• The Tennessee Valley Authority schedules two open houses about its plans to retire a Tennessee coal-fired power plant and replace it with a gas plant, solar facilities and battery energy storage. (Knoxville News-Sentinel)
• A Florida city applies for a state grant to renovate a former power plant into a museum, meeting space or brewery. (Main St. Daily News)
CLIMATE: A coastal Virginia city signs an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a $2.6 billion project to build flood protection from large storms. (WAVY)
CARBON CAPTURE: Louisiana lawmakers kill several bills related to carbon capture but pass one to share revenue from carbon stored under state land or water bottoms with local governments. (Louisiana Illuminator)
FINANCE: Texas lawmakers pass a bill to block insurers doing business in the state from considering ways to reduce their carbon footprints, though it includes no penalties for violations. (Texas Tribune)
UTILITIES: Duke Energy announces it’s selling its commercial renewables business to a renewables company for $2.8 billion so it can focus on its regulated utilities. (WFAE)
COMMENTARY:
• The forced completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in the federal debt ceiling deal could unexpectedly affect North Carolina if the pipeline’s previously abandoned Southgate extension is revived, writes an opinion editor. (Charlotte Observer)
• A Virginia industrial park’s three near-misses with electric vehicle-related factories offer insight into the political dynamics accompanying the EV industry’s development, writes an editor. (Cardinal News)
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