Feds project decline in U.S. coal production under Clean Power Plan

COAL: Federal officials project U.S. coal production will decline 25 percent under the Clean Power Plan. (Wyoming Public Media)

ALSO:
• The cleanup of Alpha Natural Resources’ mining operations hinges on its now approved plan to emerge from bankruptcy. (Washington Post)
• Nearly all U.S. coal plants are in compliance with the U.S. EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standard, ​“another sign” that pollution goals ​“may be more easily achievable than opponents claim.” (Forbes)
• A small Colorado school district gets a state bailout after a coal company fails to make tax payments. (Associated Press)

UTILITIES:
• A new report ranks U.S. utilities according to their commitments to clean energy. (Huffington Post)
• Why Germany’s clean energy transition makes U.S. utilities nervous. (ClimateWire)

SOLAR:
• Cheap natural gas and a lack of state incentives hold back solar development in Texas. (Houston Chronicle)
• Vermont is ​“in transition now” as the state seeks a new path forward on net metering. (Brattleboro Reformer)
• The nation’s largest rooftop solar array – with enough capacity to power more than 1,300 homes – was completed last week in Las Vegas. (Christian Science Monitor)
• The firing of an outspoken net metering advocate could change the tone of solar advocacy moving forward. (Greentech Media)
• North Carolina’s green push helps it land more than half the money in a federal rural loan program. (Greensboro News & Record)

WIND:
• Hawaii sees offshore wind as key to reaching its 100 percent renewable energy goal. (InsideClimate News)
• How a simple concrete structure led Maine researchers to a breakthrough in offshore wind technology. (Portland Press Herald)

FRACKING:
• Researchers retract a study claiming high levels of pollution around Ohio wells. (InsideClimate News)
• It’s unclear what, exactly, a ​“fracking ban” would mean if it’s included in the Democratic Party’s platform this year. (EnergyWire)

OIL AND GAS: A judge finalizes an agreement between industry and environmental groups over greenhouse gas emissions from wells on federal land. (Associated Press)

TRANSPORTATION:
• In Chattanooga, Tennessee – once dubbed the ​“dirtiest city in America,” – clean transportation is thriving. (Southeast Energy News)
• The Big Three U.S. automakers and the U.S. Department of Energy are working with an Illinois startup company to develop light, energy-dense batteries needed to help accelerate the spread of electric vehicles. (Midwest Energy News)

COMMENTARY: The federal government should get out of the coal business. (Bloomberg)