PIPELINES: More than 4,200 workers hustle to complete construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline before the end of the year, but still face frequent protests and hundreds of water crossings. (Roanoke Times)
ALSO: A judge declines to issue an injunction against a Virginia Tech professor described as a leading opponent against the Mountain Valley Pipeline. (Roanoke Times)
COAL:
- Austin, Texas, officials try to close the city’s remaining coal-fired power plant to attain decarbonization goals, but have been delayed by legal, economic, technological and market obstacles. (Texas Tribune)
- After West Virginia regulators approved environmental upgrades to keep three coal-fired power plants running, the agency was billed hundreds of thousands of dollars for a review finding the plants should have burned more coal. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
SOLAR:
- Officials in a Virginia city consider building a solar farm atop a problematic landfill. (Bristol Herald-Courier)
- A solar company partners with the Tennessee Valley Authority to begin construction on 200 MW, 150 MW and 200 MW solar projects in Mississippi, each with 50 MW battery storage. (PV Magazine)
OIL & GAS:
- Louisiana has plugged nearly 500 of its roughly 4,500 abandoned oil and gas wells using federal money, although new requirements to calculate methane emissions reduced may complicate the process moving forward. (Louisiana Illuminator)
- Production in the Permian Basin drives U.S. oil production to hit an all-time, marking a full recovery from the COVID pandemic. (CNBC)
- Oklahoma oil producers say activity has declined over the last quarter but they expect production to pick back up again once oil prices rise. (Journal Record)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Texas, Florida and six other states mostly led by Republicans are charging electric vehicle drivers $200-plus annual registration fees in what opponents say are an effort to depress EV sales. (Washington Post)
HYDROGEN: Appalachian elected officials celebrate the announcement of federal money for a hydrogen hub, but critics still claim it’s a costly endeavor more likely to prop up natural gas than to justify its cost. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel, States Newsroom)
GRID: Texans prepare to vote on a ballot proposition to create a state fund to incentivize construction of more natural gas-fired power plants. (KBTX)
BIOMASS: Virginia officials try to determine the carbon footprint of biomass in the state, but Dominion Energy has been reluctant to provide information because it’s “market sensitive.” (Virginia Mercury)
OVERSIGHT: An appeals court considers arguments that federal regulators should extend their oversight to include certain aspects of natural gas export facilities. (E&E News)
CLIMATE: Climate change has resulted in warming winters and dwindling snow in North Carolina, which is creating more allergy-related problems for residents. (Winston-Salem Journal)
UTILITIES: An Oklahoma utility is one of only two in the U.S. to receive an “A” in a new Sierra Club report on decarbonization, while Duke Energy, Dominion Energy and Southern Company rank among the worst performers. (Canary Media)
COMMENTARY: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin should stop pushing the construction of small nuclear reactors in the state’s southwest corner and instead embrace solar energy, writes a member of the Appalachian Peace Education Center. (Cardinal News)
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