CLEAN ENERGY: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson takes office with high expectations from activists to pass his citywide Green New Deal plan, which will face opposition from powerful entities. (In These Times)
ALSO:
• A nearly $11 billion federal program will help rural electric cooperatives adopt renewable energy, carbon capture and zero-emissions projects. (Associated Press)
• A northern Iowa county approves a 15-month moratorium on commercial wind, solar and storage projects as local officials craft a comprehensive development plan. (Globe Gazette)
NUCLEAR: U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm says she is hopeful that roughly $1 billion in federal loans will be made available to reopen a southwestern Michigan nuclear plant. (MLive)
AIR POLLUTION: Madison, Wisconsin, plans to use a $430,000 federal grant to install a citywide network of dozens of air quality sensors to gather real-time data on air particulate matter pollution. (Wisconsin State Journal)
POLITICS: In addition to FirstEnergy, several other corporations, labor organizations and wealthy individuals contributed to convicted former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s political machine. (Cleveland.com)
MINING: A company will start exploratory drilling this summer in a national forest in Wisconsin for metals that could be used in clean energy products. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
UTILITIES:
• Progressive groups in Milwaukee submit nearly 2,000 signatures for a petition to create a municipal utility. (Wisconsin Public Radio)
• Exelon has been paying the legal fees of former executives at its ComEd subsidiary who were recently found guilty of engaging in a bribery scheme. (WBEZ)
• Shareholders of Detroit-based utility DTE Energy reject a proposal that would have required increased transparency and annual reporting on the utility’s political spending. (Energy and Policy Institute)
SOLAR:
• Two companies are helping to make northwestern Ohio a U.S. hub for solar panel manufacturing as they prepare to scale up operations. (Spectrum News)
• A resident near Dayton, Ohio, who installed rooftop solar panels hopes to secure city permission to keep them as the panels’ alignment may violate a city ordinance. (Dayton Daily News)
BUILDINGS: Minneapolis officials will conduct an environmental review of the city’s 2040 comprehensive plan that calls for more housing density after activists won court challenges claiming that the city failed to study the environmental impacts of the plan. (Star Tribune)
OIL & GAS: Nearby residents oppose an Ohio village’s plan to rezone a 34-acre property from residential to industrial for a large natural gas plant. (Tribune Chronicle)
COMMENTARY:
• A University of Michigan professor says fossil fuel companies often engage in greenwashing by promoting their clean energy investments while also lobbying against climate policies. (The Conversation)
• A Minnesota labor leader who serves on Gov. Tim Walz’s climate advisory council says carbon capture and storage will be key to meeting the state’s emission-reduction targets. (MinnPost)
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