CLIMATE: Florida announces a goal to run on 100% renewable energy by 2050, but getting there will require enforcement by the state Public Service Commission, which has a track record of utility-friendly policies. (Associated Press, Tampa Bay Times)

ALSO:
• A Florida professor teaches students to deal with “eco-anxiety” that can affect the mental health of people worried over climate change. (Tampa Bay Times)
• A Georgia professor uses Earth Day to call for the state to lead on climate change policies. (WXIA)

SOLAR: One Virginia county planning board votes to defer action on an 800 MW solar farm after its consultant recommends delay, while a different county planning board recommends approval for a 47 MW solar facility. (South Boston News & Record)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY:
• A northern Virginia faith community worked with a developer to build a more eco-friendly church and a 113-unit apartment building, while an Atlanta church is converting to provide affordable housing for seniors. (KATC)
• A sustainability expert points to a Virginia school that uses solar and geothermal heating as a possible model as the federal government launches a multibillion-dollar federal push to renovate public schools. (NPR)

EMISSIONS:
• Two large pipeline companies partner with universities to study greenhouse gas emissions along natural gas pipelines in Louisiana and across the U.S. (The Advocate)
• Nearly two dozen people were hospitalized in Louisiana after a fire led to a chlorine gas leak outside the Dow Hydrocarbons complex. (The Advocate)
• Federal highway officials announce $6.4 billion for states to reduce emissions, including up to $86.9 million for Arkansas. (KUAR)

OIL & GAS:
• A chemical maker announces it will close its Houston crude oil refinery next year after two failed attempts to sell it. (Reuters)
• Shipping manifests show Texas terminals exported large quantities of liquified natural gas during last year’s winter storm even as stateside shortages led to blackouts. (Austin Bulldog)
• This week marked the 12th anniversary of the BP oil spill, which killed 11 people and devastated the Gulf of Mexico. (WGNO)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Southeastern states have largely used money from the six-year-old Volkswagen emissions settlement to jumpstart their electric vehicle charging infrastructure and replace older vehicles in transit fleets. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)

STORAGE: An eastern Tennessee cleantech company promotes a new building cooling technology using ice thermal energy storage. (Oak Ridger)

POLITICS: Top oil and gas companies spent significantly more on lobbying in the first months of 2022 than a year earlier, with Texas-based Occidental Petroleum leading the way. (Center for Responsive Politics)

COMMENTARY: Virginia’s rural areas are seeing more solar energy development due to a law backed largely by lawmakers from metro communities, writes the editor of a nonprofit news site. (Cardinal News)

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Mason has worked as a journalist since 2001, covering Appalachian communities and the issues that affect them. He compiles the Southeast Energy News digest. Mason previously worked as a wildlife biologist before moving into journalism by freelancing at Coast Weekly in Monterey, California, before taking an internship in 2001 at High Country News. He wrote for the Enterprise Mountaineer in western North Carolina and the Roanoke Times in western Virginia before going freelance in 2012. His work has appeared in Southerly, Daily Yonder, Mother Jones, Huffington Post, WVPB’s Inside Appalachia and elsewhere. Mason was born and raised in Clifton Forge, Virginia, and now lives with his family and a small herd of goats in Floyd County, Virginia.