CARBON CAPTURE: Residents of a Mississippi town warn against the expansion of carbon capture projects after a 2020 mass poisoning from a carbon dioxide pipeline rupture that hospitalized at least 45 people. (NPR)
PIPELINES: The Mountain Valley Pipeline gains momentum toward its long-delayed completion with the award of a federal permit to cross National Forest and outspoken backing by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. (E&E News)
SOLAR:
• A Texas nonprofit raises money to build community solar gardens for low-income areas in Texarkana, Texas. (KTBS)
• A Florida city board says it favors solar power but declines to take a position on a plan to clearcut 36 acres near an airport for a 5 MW solar farm and airport hangars. (Fernandina Observer)
OIL & GAS:
• A judge orders an oil company to cease production in a Texas community where residents have complained that oil is seeping into their drainage system, damaging their properties, and making them sick. (KPRC)
• Records from January show 14% of Richmond, Virginia’s natural gas escaped through leaky pipes. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
OVERSIGHT: A Virginia coalition of corporations and ratepayer advocates calls on the governor and the General Assembly to break a political stalemate and fill two vacancies on the state’s three-member regulatory board. (Virginia Mercury)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: North Carolina transportation officials say they’re making progress on a plan to build electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the state. (WBTW)
EMISSIONS:
• A study finds Georgia’s greenhouse gas emissions fell 5% between 2017 and 2021 as Georgia Power shifted from coal, although critics say much deeper cuts are needed. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• West Virginia officials and representatives of its coal and natural gas industries vow to fight the U.S. EPA’s proposed rules to drastically reduce or capture carbon emissions from power plants. (State Journal)
BIOMASS: Advocates and opponents of a proposed biomass plant in Florida argue over a Massachusetts study that suggested biomass gives off more greenhouse gases than coal. (Gainesville Sun)
CLIMATE:
• Louisiana lawmakers advance a $50 billion plan to restore and protect its coast, which has lost more than 2,000 square miles of land since the 1930s. (WWNO)
• North Carolina officials struggle to find an affordable solution for rising seas now imperiling beach houses that are crumbling into the ocean. (Washington Post)
POLITICS:
• Texas lawmakers debate the renewal of an economic incentive plan that gives property tax breaks to large companies, but without wind, solar and battery power storage projects that were included in the previous version. (Texas Tribune)
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leans into Republican energy stances, such as restricting environmentally conscious investing and pushing tax breaks for gas stoves, as he gears up for a presidential campaign. (WKRN)
• A Louisiana Congress member known for a deep knowledge of energy issues is leading GOP negotiations with the White House over raising the debt limit. (E&E News)COMMENTARY:
• A Sierra Club representative criticizes a Florida municipal utility’s plan to build a natural gas plant and continue to run coal-fired generating units even though switching to renewables would be less expensive. (Florida Times-Union)
• Federal officials’ plans to ship nuclear waste to a repository in the Permian Basin conflicts with growing oil and gas production in the region, writes a former oil engineer. (Forbes)
• Instead of spending billions to incentivize construction of new gas plants, Texas should boost grid reliability by implementing more energy efficiency measures and large-scale efforts to reduce demand, writes an energy columnist. (Houston Chronicle)
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