SOLAR: Virginia regulators abruptly roll out major changes to how they’ll manage stormwater runoff from solar farms, catching the industry off guard. (Virginia Mercury)

ALSO: Arkansas officials break ground on a 499 kW solar facility for a school district. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: The EPA opens investigations of whether two Louisiana agencies discriminated against Black residents when they granted permits for chemical plants and a grain terminal in the “Cancer Alley” corridor. (NOLA.com, Guardian)

CARBON CAPTURE: Louisiana has seen more than $6 billion in announced carbon capture projects over the past year, due largely to federal funding, a governor focused on reducing emissions and necessary geological formations. (Lafayette Daily Advertiser)

BIOGAS: North Carolina’s utilities commission reports that poultry and swine waste-to-energy projects have failed to meet their energy targets, throwing into question the state’s planned integration of biogas into its energy mix. (Inside Climate News)

WIND: Charter boat captains and fishermen fret that development of offshore wind energy in North Carolina may ruin their business. (Wilmington StarNews)

CLIMATE:
• Houston’s construction of a $30 billion storm protection project will dwarf a similar coastal barrier in New Orleans, but may still inadequately protect against intensifying hurricanes. (NOLA.com)
• Coastal cities like Charleston, South Carolina, which faces $3 billion in climate change-related costs, consider suing fossil fuel companies to recoup their expenses. (WTOP)

COAL:
• Enforcement data and internal documents show Kentucky coal companies have racked up a growing number of surface mine violations since 2013, while state regulators have largely failed to bring them into compliance. (Inside Climate News)
• Officials in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, are moving forward with a plan to build office space and affordable housing on top of buried coal ash. (NC Policy Watch)
• An energy company announces it will build a new coal processing plant in West Virginia. (State Journal)

OIL & GAS: Leaders of oil and gas trade associations say Texas’ 417,513 miles of intrastate oil and gas pipelines won’t be sufficient for future needs. (Odessa American)

NUCLEAR: West Virginia looks to attract smaller, more modern nuclear reactors designed to generate 300 MW or less. (State Journal)

TRANSITION: Officials in a Florida city approve a deal with a contractor who will pay more than $1.2 million for scrap metal from the demolition of three decommissioned power plants. (The Ledger)

POLITICS: Former Trump EPA chief Scott Pruitt, who faced 14 separate federal ethics investigations when he resigned in 2018, files to run for U.S. Senate in Oklahoma. (Salon)

COMMENTARY:
• A new surge in activism and development of solar farms might finally pry loose coal’s grip on energy and politics in West Virginia, writes an opinion writer. (Triple Pundit)
• Houston-area businesses and nonprofits are betting on hydrogen to enable the city to retain its crown as a global energy capital even as the world shifts away from fossil fuels, writes an energy columnist. (Houston Chronicle)

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Mason has worked as a journalist since 2001, covering Appalachian communities and the issues that affect them. He compiles the Southeast Energy News digest. Mason previously worked as a wildlife biologist before moving into journalism by freelancing at Coast Weekly in Monterey, California, before taking an internship in 2001 at High Country News. He wrote for the Enterprise Mountaineer in western North Carolina and the Roanoke Times in western Virginia before going freelance in 2012. His work has appeared in Southerly, Daily Yonder, Mother Jones, Huffington Post, WVPB’s Inside Appalachia and elsewhere. Mason was born and raised in Clifton Forge, Virginia, and now lives with his family and a small herd of goats in Floyd County, Virginia.