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Chicago joins wave of climate lawsuits

By Andy Balaskovitz

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CLIMATE: Chicago files a lawsuit accusing six oil companies and a major industry group of waging a campaign to discredit climate science and misleading the public about the dangers of fossil fuels. (E&E News)

UTILITIES: Public policy experts say the hundreds of millions of dollars in rate increases approved for Ohio utilities in recent years are effectively tax increases that disproportionately harm low-income residents. (Ohio Capital Journal)

OIL & GAS: Ohio environmental groups seek to halt a state oil and gas commission meeting next week that they argue would expedite the bidding process to drill on state park and other public lands. (Cleveland.com)

GRID:

  • A 226-mile Nebraska transmission line first proposed in 2012 has failed to advance amid intense opposition from environmental groups, conservative lawmakers, ranchers and tribes. (Flatwater Free Press)
  • Illinois lawmakers are revisiting legislation that Gov. J.B. Pritzker vetoed last year that would give utilities in the state first rights to build transmission projects. (Capital News Illinois)

PIPELINES:

  • A federal court of appeals may decide the fate of multiple Iowa county ordinances that seek to place local restrictions on carbon pipelines. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
  • A Nebraska county board denies a developer’s request to permit an 8.5-mile stretch of a multi-state carbon pipeline. (News Channel Nebraska)

EMISSIONS: Achieving strong zero-emission vehicle and energy targets in the coming 15 years could prevent nearly 2.8 million asthma attacks among children, according to a new American Lung Association report. (E&E News) 

BIOFUELS: A new South Dakota law provides a 5-cent per gallon tax credit for ethanol retailers through 2029 to boost sales and replace old infrastructure. (Mitchell Republic)

EFFICIENCY: An Iowa county opens a free home energy audit program for owners and renters in an effort to improve energy efficiency. (Daily Iowan)

BIOGAS: Neighbors raise concerns about the potential for a proposed renewable natural gas plant at a southwestern Michigan landfill to lower property values. (ABC 57)

COMMENTARY:

  • A federal tax credit tucked into the Inflation Reduction Act could provide hundreds of billions of dollars to help the U.S. steel industry cut climate emissions by more than 90%, a clean industry advocate writes. (Energy News Network)
  • An Iowa clean energy advocate says lawmakers should require integrated resource planning from large utilities to analyze system needs and protect ratepayers. (Des Moines Register)

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