JUST TRANSITION: Illinois funding aiming to ensure a just transition from fossil fuels will help communities add mental health care services, expand workforce opportunities and restore local budgets. (Energy News Network)
COAL:
• The Iowa Supreme Court reverses a lower court ruling and orders state regulators to consider environmental groups’ cost arguments for replacing MidAmerican Energy coal plants with renewables. (Des Moines Register)
• Indiana environmental groups challenge a state permit allowing AES to dump more than 1 million gallons of water contaminated with coal ash pollutants directly into a river on a daily basis. (Indianapolis Star)
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POLITICS: Outgoing Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is among skeptics who say even potential guilty verdicts in the bribery trial involving former ComEd executives would do little to change perceptions of the state’s corrupt political environment. (Politico)
CARBON CAPTURE: Iowa lawmakers table an ethics complaint against a state lawmaker who blocked a bill that would have restricted carbon pipeline development. (KMALand)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Local officials are scheduled to vote today on a crucial rezoning that will determine the fate of a $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan. (Bridge Michigan)
• General Motors plans a $200 million electric vehicle parts plant at a former arena near Detroit. (Crain’s Detroit Business, subscription)
HYDROELECTRIC: Public meetings bring heated exchanges between supporters and opponents of a proposed hydroelectric pumped storage facility in South Dakota. (Mitchell Republic)
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE:
• Detroit environmental justice organizers call on the Biden administration to stop approving new fossil fuel projects amid new federal environmental justice initiatives. (Planet Detroit)
• A Wisconsin environmental advocate leads a nonprofit that aims to mobilize Latinos in south central Wisconsin in support of clean energy and environmental justice. (Capital Times)
SOLAR:
• A Michigan group will redraft a statewide ballot proposal that aims to block commercial solar projects on farmland. (MLive)
• Voters in a Michigan township will decide whether to approve zoning restrictions that would effectively block utility-scale solar development. (Daily Telegram)
UTILITIES: Michigan social justice advocates call on DTE Energy shareholders to curtail the utility’s political spending, which critics say has led to policy support that suppresses voter rights. (Michigan Advance)
BUILDINGS: A new $84 million facility at Winona State University would be the first net-zero energy and carbon-neutral building among Minnesota’s network of colleges and universities. (Daily News)
CLIMATE:
• Sioux Falls, South Dakota, follows state officials and will decline federal climate planning money and access to a $4.6 billion federal climate grant program, citing the program’s “numerous requirements.” (South Dakota Searchlight)
• Iowa’s three largest metro areas will seek $1 million each in the federal climate planning funding after the state declined the funds. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
COMMENTARY: A Michigan filmmaker says growing crops alongside solar projects means residents don’t have to make a false choice between growing food or clean energy. (Bridge Michigan)
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