Clean Power Plan includes ​‘safety valve’ for reliability

CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• Why natural gas plays a minor role in the final Clean Power Plan. (ClimateWire)
• The plan includes a ​“safety valve” in case reliability issues arise. (EnergyWire)
• The EPA says it will impose an enforceable carbon trading program on states refusing to comply with their emissions cuts under the plan. (ClimateWire)
• A chart from InsideClimate News shows who got what they wanted in negotiations over the final rule.

SOLAR:
• A new Texas law will limit the ability of neighborhood associations to ban or regulate solar panels. (Texas Tribune)
• FirstSolar is seeing strong growth, and is currently sold out of modules into 2016. (Greentech Media)
• Arizona regulators recommend dismissal of a utility’s request to raise access fees for solar customers. (Phoenix Business Journal)
• Proposed rate changes by California utilities could significantly alter the economics of solar in the state. (Greentech Media)
• A Nevada lawmaker says the solar industry is trying to ​“circumvent the legislative process” in fighting changes to net metering. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

FRACKING:
• Oklahoma regulators order limits on wastewater disposal in an area that has seen a rash of earthquakes. (New York Times)
• Geologists say the reduction in drilling activity in Kansas has resulted in fewer earthquakes. (Associated Press)

OIL BY RAIL:
• The EPA says a permit should be withheld for a proposed oil terminal near Portland, Oregon until it complies with the Clean Water Act. (Vancouver Columbian)
• A company has suspended plans for a Wisconsin oil terminal that would shipped North Dakota crude oil on the Great Lakes. (Sault This Week)

KEYSTONE XL: TransCanada says it has already spent $2.4 billion on the Keystone XL pipeline, and may sue the U.S. to recover that money if the project is not approved. (Omaha World-Herald)

NATURAL GAS: Has burning natural gas instead of coal helped the U.S. economy decarbonize? It’s complicated. (Scientific American)

ELECTRIC CARS:
• A California regulator is pushing the state away from gasoline-powered cars: ​“we’ve got to get people used to a zero-emissions world.” (Bloomberg Business)
• Analysts say automakers are failing to educate the public about electric vehicles. (Green Car Reports)

VIDEO: ​“Al Gore is a cuss word” – residents of Woodward County, Oklahoma weigh in on climate change. (CNN)

COMMENTARY:
• Why the Clean Power Plan will be good for business. (New York Times)
• President Obama didn’t kill coal, the market did. (Bloomberg)