WORKFORCE: Massachusetts needs almost 30,000 people to become full-time clean energy industry workers to hit its greenhouse gas emissions targets by 2030, a state economic development agency estimates. (WBUR)
FLOODING: Vermont Sen. Peter Welch calls the devastating floods that struck his state last week “all about climate change,” describing climate deniers as filled with “desperation” to resist the clean energy transition. (VT Digger)
CLEAN ENERGY: Federal infrastructure funds are driving Republican-led states like New Hampshire to reexamine their climate mitigation strategies — or develop a plan in the first place. (E&E News)
OFFSHORE WIND:
• A federal court rejects a lawsuit seeking to stop onshore interconnection of the South Fork Wind farm on New York’s Long Island over PFAS contamination concerns, saying the residents lacked standing to bring the case. (Bloomberg Law, subscription)
• Federal ocean energy officials finish a draft environmental assessment for a pending offshore wind research lease in the Gulf of Maine and are seeking public comment. (news release)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: New York announces a $15 million boost to install more electric vehicle charging infrastructure at workplaces, multifamily buildings and public facilities, as well as $14 million for more consumer electric vehicle rebates. (news release)
TRANSIT:
• Maryland’s long-delayed Purple Line light rail project, which will connect several suburban cities where car use is the norm, is stalled another seven months, with the total cost rising another $148 million. (Daily Record)
• A federal investigation finds that Maryland’s paratransit program doesn’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act because the service doesn’t pick up or drop off on time and call center waits are long. (Maryland Matters)
WILDFIRES: With almost 30% more reported wildfires in New Jersey so far this year compared to last, firefighters and other officials in the state question what can be done to mitigate the problem. (Asbury Park Press)
COAL: In Burlington, Vermont, plans are underway to connect a difficult-to-access canal that hosts a capped coal tar pit with newly public park land, but some officials note there are legal and health risks to opening the area to the public. (Seven Days)
GRID:
• Dozens of northern Maine farmers protest a planned transmission line — the Aroostook Renewable Gateway Project — that would connect the county to the region’s grid over fear it would destroy generational farms and fertile land. (Morning Sentinel)
• Rhode Island receives $6.6 million in federal dollars for grid resilience projects and to boost equitable access to sustainable energy. (PBN)
SOLAR: Niagara, New York, and a developer agree to a payment-in-lieu-of-tax plan for a planned 5 MW solar farm at a landfill. (Niagara Gazette)
CLIMATE: Vermont’s wildlife agency increases the number of issued moose hunting permits this year as an uptick in winter ticks continues to harm the population, a problem attributed to climate change. (WCAX)
COMMENTARY: An editorial board calls efforts to slow or stop offshore wind along the New Jersey shore “a shortsighted blunder” as sea level rise threatens the coast. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
More from the Energy News Network: Midwest | Southeast | Northeast | West