Green builders are gaining ground in North Carolina

SUSTAINABILITY:
• Green builders in Charlotte, North Carolina are earning a bigger share of new home construction. (The Charlotte Observer)
• Industry and city leaders discuss ways to expand clean energy in Augusta, Georgia. (Augusta Chronicle)

EFFICIENCY: Tennessee’s new ​“Empower” initiative is set to cut state utility bills by an estimated 28 percent with improved efficiency and renewable energy. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy blog)

TRANSPORTATION:
• The transit authority serving St. Petersburg, Florida has boosted its hybrid electric-gasoline bus fleet 30 percent to 61 vehicles. (Saint Peters Blog)
• An ambitious plan to expand Atlanta’s rail system could transform the city. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

CLIMATE: With, or without, new rules limiting mercury and carbon emissions, Kentucky’s energy landscape will change. (WFPL Public Radio, Louisville)

CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• The White House has opened the doors to eleventh-hour pleas to shape the President’s plan to reduce carbon emissions. (EnergyWire)
• A push by the governors of Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia and other states against the President’s Clean Power Plan could prompt a showdown with the federal government. (The Hill)

SOLAR:
• Dominion Virginia Power and logistics company teamed up to create the largest rooftop solar panel system in Virginia. (Leesburg Today)
• Floridians for Solar Choice has submitted about 98,000 signatures towards the 683,149 required by year-end to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the 2016 election ballot. (CBS - Miami)
• A Lexington, Virginia school district will save about $3,000 per year by powering some of its schools with solar energy. (WDBJ-TV)

POLITICS: U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi wants public schools to teach students about ​“the natural causes and cycles of climate change.” (National Journal)

OIL & GAS: Environmentalists prepare to protest over a Miami company’s plan to drill for oil in the Everglades. (Associated Press)

BP SETTLEMENT: Florida and other states have yet to settle with two of BP’s contractors over the 2010 Gulf oil spill. (Palm Beach Post)

PIPELINES:
• Opposing studies about the benefits and costs of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline raise questions about which one is more correct. (Waynesboro News Virginian)
• A pipeline rupture in West Virginia Friday needed emergency crews from three neighboring counties to douse the resulting fire. (Wheeling News-Register)

COAL ASH: The East Kentucky Power Cooperative is set to start disposing more than a half-million tons coal ash. (Lexington Herald-Leader)

COMMENTARY:
• Florida voters aren’t the ones confused about the proposed constitutional amendment to enable consumer choice for solar. (Miami Herald)
• The BP oil spill settlement is a raw deal for Louisiana. (The Lens)
• How the BP oil spill has changed nothing. (Motherboard blog)
• How Virginia can cut carbon from power generation with clean energy. (NRDC Switchboard blog)