Can hydrogen revive western Pennsylvania?

OFFSHORE WIND: Federal officials say offshore wind lease sales are on track to be held next year for parcels in the central Atlantic and Gulf of Maine. (Reuters)

HYDROGEN: As states wait to hear to which of the country’s ​“hydrogen hubs” will receive federal funds, critics call the technology a ​“half measure” that won’t spur economic revival or emissions reduction in western Pennsylvania. (Inside Climate News)

TRANSIT:

• New York City’s mayor proposes ending parking requirements for new developments to reduce congestion, pollution, building costs and reasons not to use the public transit system. (Streetsblog NYC)
• Maryland’s capital city launches a pilot using a six-seat electric trolley to shuttle people to a popular but parking-challenged shopping center. (Baltimore Sun)
• New York City transit officials walk away from plans to speed up the second busiest bus route in the city, despite high resident enthusiasm for bus lane improvement and the city’s own policies. (Gothamist)

AFFORDABILITY: Pennsylvania regulators tell Philadelphia Gas Works to alter its weather-normalization adjustment, a practice under fire for charging ratepayers for more gas than they use as average temperatures rise. (WHYY)

EQUITY: In New York City, residents of southeast Queens say the state should have included at least some parts of their community — with a nearby airport and frequent flooding — in its map of environmentally disadvantaged, climate-priority neighborhoods. (City Limits)

FLOODS: Almost a dozen people drowned in New York City’s illegal basement apartments during Hurricane Ida, but efforts to make such flood-prone living arrangements safer have led to no meaningful new protections. (Gothamist)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• New Hampshire officials will soon begin holding listening sessions to help develop its electric vehicle charging infrastructure plan as it waits for a federal decision on a deployment grant. (New Hampshire Bulletin)
• At a public hearing, New Jersey climate advocates argue for adopting a clean car standard to improve human health, while fossil fuel-reliant industries criticized the policy over EV affordability, charger availability and how quickly the state wants to achieve the goal. (NJ Advance Media)

SOLAR: A Boston household struggles to find someone to repair its solar panels years after its original installer stopped operations. (NBC Boston)

BUILDINGS: National Grid financially helps a cheese maker in the Buffalo, New York, area make efficiency and clean power upgrades at their energy intensive facility. (Olean Times Herald)

UTILITIES: Public power experts suggest what benefits Maine might see if the state opts for a consumer-owned utility. (Maine Morning Star)