CLEAN ENERGY: The just-concluded Texas legislative session could have been much, much worse for clean energy, observers say, as a coalition of industry, business, and environmental groups helped defeat the most expensive and extreme proposals in last-minute negotiations. (Canary Media)
ALSO:
• A new study predicts that “red” states such as Texas and Oklahoma will gain hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs, mostly offsetting the loss of fossil fuel jobs, as the country transitions to a net-zero economy. (Carbon Brief)
• Virginia Beach joins a statewide Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy program to help finance energy efficiency projects. (WAVY)
LAND-USE: A Richmond, Virginia, city councilor explains how eliminating parking space requirements for developers is expected to help slow sprawl, lower transportation emissions, and boost affordable housing. (Energy News Network)
STORAGE:
• Texas’ electric grid problems are attracting an investment boom from utility-scale battery storage developers, who describe a rush to take advantage of high returns in areas where the grid is strapped. (Reuters)
• Form Energy holds a ceremonial groundbreaking for its planned factory in West Virginia, where it will manufacture a new long-duration, iron-air battery capable of storing 100 hours of energy. (News and Sentinel)
MINING: North Carolina regulators ask a company for more information on its plan to build one of North America’s largest lithium mines, which would supply Tesla with materials for its electric vehicle batteries. (Reuters)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Electric vehicle startup Canoo is running out of cash and risks losing $7.5 million in state incentives if it doesn’t buy a factory site in Oklahoma City that it is currently leasing before an August 20 deadline. (The Frontier)
• A new report says Louisiana is among the states with the fewest electric vehicle charging ports per capita. (Daily Advertiser)
EMISSIONS: A consumer class-action lawsuit accuses Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines of falsely claiming to be the world’s “first carbon-neutral airline,” saying the benefits of its carbon offsets have been exaggerated. (Associated Press)
COAL:
• Alabama-based coal miner Drummond says it plans to reduce and offset emissions from its operations to reach “carbon neutrality” by 2050. (Reuters)
• U.S. coal mine employment has grown steadily since 2021, primarily in the eastern U.S., even as production has stayed relatively flat. (S&P Global)
GEOTHERMAL: West Virginia University begins drilling in Morgantown to assess the potential for a combined geothermal energy and carbon capture project. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
UTILITIES: Virginia regulators this summer will begin reviewing Appalachian Power’s rates and earnings every two years following legislation intended to give the utility and its customers a smoother path than triennial reviews. (Virginia Mercury)
POLITICS:
• The inclusion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Congress’ debt ceiling deal after a week of behind-the-scenes negotiating came as a shock to several lawmakers, aides and lobbyists. (Washington Post)
• Environmental groups called the deal “a disaster for people and the planet” and a “surrender to Big Oil and Republican hostage-takers.” (Grist)
COMMENTARY:
• Instead of addressing underlying electric grid problems, Texas Republicans deceitfully shifted blame to clean energy to justify massive new subsidies for donors in the fossil fuel industry, a columnist writes. (Houston Chronicle)
• Columnist Paul Krugman argues that Texas Republicans’ hostility toward clean energy has less to do with corporate greed than it does anti-woke posturing, as wind and solar have been sucked back into the culture wars. (New York Times)
• An Alabama medical doctor says parents, school boards, and state officials need to prioritize electric school buses, as diesel fumes are not only bad for climate but also children’s health. (AL.com)
More from the Energy News Network: Midwest | Southeast | Northeast | West