Coal plants targeted in 4 new EPA rules

COAL: Four new federal rules aim to sharply curb pollution from U.S. coal plants within the next decade, telling plants to capture carbon emissions and slash mercury, wastewater and coal ash pollution or shut down. (E&E News)

SOLAR:

• The two biggest U.S. solar panel manufacturers and a group of suppliers petition the federal government to establish new tariffs on panels from southeast Asian countries, diverging from many solar developers who say they rely on low-cost foreign panels. (Canary Media)
• The Biden administration’s Solar for All program includes $500 million for tribal nations to expand solar power access. (ICT)

GRID: The U.S. Energy Department rolls out a streamlined federal transmission permitting program that puts the department in charge of a slew of regulatory approvals in an attempt to speed the complicated, lengthy grid permitting process. (E&E News)

EMISSIONS:

• The U.S. Energy Department unveils rules for federal buildings that will eliminate onsite fossil fuel emissions in new construction by 2030. (The Hill)
• The Biden administration sets a goal of eliminating freight shipping emissions by an unspecified date, promising funding to electrify heavy transportation and otherwise cut emissions. (The Hill)

STORAGE: More than twice as many battery storage systems were deployed around the world last year compared to the year before, but that pace needs to multiply by six to meet global clean energy targets, the International Energy Agency says. (Guardian)

PIPELINES: Despite carbon capture pipeline ruptures in Mississippi and Louisiana, fossil fuel companies lobby federal regulators to scale back safety rules so they can build projects more quickly. (The Lever)

CLEAN ENERGY: The U.S. Department of Labor releases an interactive map showing tens of thousands of jobs created by clean energy projects across the country. (Daily Reporter)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Now that a Tennessee Volkswagen factory has voted to unionize, contract bargaining begins, with experts predicting modest raises but bigger benefits. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

OFFSHORE WIND: A clean energy advocate says the collapse of a New York offshore wind project doesn’t reflect broader industry trends and that the state still has time to achieve its goal of 70% clean energy by 2030. (Politico)

COMMENTARY:

• An environmental historian makes a case for state governments to start regulating big box stores’ indirect emissions impacts. (The Conversation)
• Northwest energy experts urge utilities to build on the success of the existing Western energy imbalance market by joining and supporting the California grid operator’s day-ahead regional power initiative. (Utility Dive)