TRANSPORTATION: Connecticut can’t achieve its climate targets unless residents start driving less, but local zoning policies prohibiting dense residential development impede the state’s work. (Energy News Network)

ALSO: The county executive of Onondaga County, New York, wants federal funds to study whether a light rail system or bus rapid transit program makes sense for the area. (Central Current)

OIL & GAS:
• Shell agrees to pay $10 million in penalties for air pollution violations at a Pittsburgh-area facility that began operating in November, but local environmentalists point out the fine is less than one-tenth of 1% of the company’s profits. (Inside Climate News, Pittsburgh Business Times)
• Pennsylvania Democrats want to restore the ability of a state board to raise bond prices on drillers to regulate abandoned oil and gas wells, a power the legislature took from them last year. (Spotlight PA)
• Two CSX trains collide in Baltimore’s industrial Curtis Bay neighborhood and cause a diesel fuel spill in the rail yard, but the amount spilled has yet to be released. (Baltimore Brew)

SOLAR:
• Maryland’s governor signs a bill making the state’s community solar program permanent. (WMDT)
• A Swiss investment fund acquires a controlling interest in solar and energy storage developer Encore Renewable Energy, based in Burlington, Vermont. (news release)
• Olean, New York’s city council unanimously votes for a one-year moratorium on accepting permits for large-scale solar projects as it works to codify new policies for such developments. (Olean Times Herald)
• A Massachusetts town weighs the pros and cons of owning a school rooftop solar array or signing a power purchase agreement. (Daily Times Chronicle)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: NJ Transit may have a tough time installing the infrastructure needed to transition to a zero-emissions bus fleet because of ongoing agency funding issues. (NorthJersey.com)

OFFSHORE WIND: The developers of a proposed offshore wind turbine assembly facility in New York City’s Staten Island borough release a request for construction proposals. (SI Live)

GRID: Maine lawmakers grapple with a bill that seeks to define what type of utilities can own battery storage systems. (Energy Storage News)

CLIMATE:
• A new report finds that by 2050, Philadelphia’s Delaware River may rise a foot higher, and that the city will see temperatures six degrees Fahrenheit hotter. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• As sea urchin fisheries continue to shrink in Maine because of climate change and invasive species, some Mainers consider solutions to rebuild both the population and the industry. (News Center Maine)
• An endangered butterfly species in New Hampshire has suffered under climate change and land development, but state and federal officials have restored a 26-acre field to create a refuge. (NHPR)

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Bridget is a freelance reporter and newsletter writer based in the Washington, D.C., area. She compiles the Northeast Energy News digest. Bridget primarily writes about energy, conservation and the environment. Originally from Philadelphia, she graduated from Emerson College in 2015 with a degree in journalism and a minor in environmental studies. When she isn’t working on a story, she’s normally on a northern Maine lake or traveling abroad to practice her Spanish language skills.