Chicago’s Blacks in Green lands $10 million in federal funding

Editor’s note: Midwest Energy News will not publish on Monday for the Juneteenth holiday. We’ll be back on Tuesday.

ADVOCACY: Chicago environmental and social justice advocacy group Blacks in Green receives $10 million in federal funding to help grow like-minded organizations across the Midwest. (Inside Climate News/​Chicago Sun-Times)

BIOGAS: Environmental groups criticize Michigan officials for approving tens of millions of dollars in low-carbon infrastructure funding for biogas production and fossil gas infrastructure. (Planet Detroit)

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SOLAR:
• Dane County, Wisconsin, joins other local governments in opposing two utilities’ plan to eliminate net metering and compensate customers less for excess solar power. (Wisconsin State Journal)
• The price of solar panels is coming down as the supply of key components rebounds, which analysts say bodes well for the clean energy transition. (Inside Climate News)
• Ohio regulators approve plans for a 300 MW solar project near Cincinnati but deny a re-hearing for a separate 300 MW project spanning hundreds of acres in two counties farther north. (WHIO, LimaOhio.com)
• A cement producer in Michigan will generate 75% of its power needs with a 25 MW onsite solar project. (PV Magazine)

CARBON CAPTURE:
• A new organization recruits a Midwest agriculture leader and a former Minnesota congressman to promote carbon pipeline projects. (AgWeek)
• A Peoria, Illinois, board approves a moratorium on considerations, agreements and requests for carbon pipelines on or near park property. (WCBU)

BATTERIES: The U.S. Army continues environmental clean up at a former Kansas ammunition plant where Panasonic plans to build an electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant. (Kansas Reflector)

UTILITIES: Missouri regulators approve a $140 million rate increase for Ameren Missouri that environmental groups say will require the utility to report avoided costs if two coal plants shut down early. (Missouri Independent)

NUCLEAR: A Michigan lawmaker proposes a 15% tax credit for companies deploying small nuclear reactor technology. (Herald-Palladium)

RENEWABLES: Four townships in an eastern Ohio county will hold public hearings this summer on whether to ban large-scale wind and solar projects. (The Review)

CLIMATE: Researchers say news stories about climate migration have the potential to trigger nativist responses from readers who develop negative attitudes toward migrants. (Grist)

COMMENTARY: Achieving clean energy targets across the Midwest will require strategies to quickly enhance the region’s transmission system, advocates say. (Natural Resources Defense Council)