Green steel innovation in Massachusetts

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INDUSTRY

• A Massachusetts company is close to earning its first revenue with a technology that aims to green the steelmaking process by using electricity instead of fossil fuels to remove contaminants from iron ore. (Canary Media)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Responders work to contain a 2,000-gallon diesel fuel spill in Baltimore Harbor, caused by the overflow of a storage tank at nearby Johns Hopkins Hospital. (WBAL)

• The CEO of a company looking to build a liquefied natural gas terminal near Philadelphia visits the White House to promote the project despite local opposition. (Reuters)

• Natural gas leaks — common in states with aging infrastructure like New York — can impact pollution levels in neighboring states, new research finds. (Inside Climate News)

SOLAR

• In Pennsylvania, 74 schools that received state funding to build solar panels may not be able to go ahead with the projects if the U.S. Congress passes a budget that phases out renewable energy tax credits. (WHYY)

• Both chambers of the New Jersey state legislature approve versions of a bill that would create an automated permitting system for solar projects, speeding up a process that is currently among the slowest in the country. (PV Magazine)

• A youth organization in Trenton, New Jersey, plans to launch a solar workforce training program to prepare teens and young adults for careers in an area where 29% of young people don’t have a high school diploma. (Trentonian)

CLIMATE

• Three Maryland counties appeal circuit court dismissals of lawsuits accusing fossil fuel companies of misleading consumers about the climate impacts of their product, arguing that the lower courts bought into industry ​“mischaracterization” of their claims. (E&E News)

• A climate bill passed by the Connecticut state legislature includes net-zero emissions targets and support for solar canopies and green jobs, but receives a lukewarm reception from advocates who describe the measures as ​“better than nothing.” (CT Mirror)

• Climate advocates push Maine lawmakers to pass a bill requiring the state to get to 100% clean energy by 2040, despite federal hostility toward renewable energy. (Maine Beacon)

OFFSHORE WIND

• After losing $3.3 million in federal funding, the University of Maine scales back plans for analyzing data from its test floating wind turbine and developing strategies for commercializing the technology. (Bangor Daily News)

• Vineyard Wind extends its lease to 2026 at a marine commerce terminal where it does onshore staging for construction, as questions remain about the timeline for completing the project, originally slated to be done in 2024. (New Bedford Light)

COMMENTARY

• Maryland Gov. Wes Moore should step up and find a way to stop the development of a widely opposed transmission line through three rural counties, says an opponent of the project. (Baltimore Sun)

NEW FROM CANARY MEDIA

• California’s Demand Side Grid Support program faces $100 million in potential budget cuts that could jeopardize its long-term viability as a resource for the state’s overburdened grid, Jeff St. John reports.

• A Chicago initiative aims to illuminate dark streets with energy-efficient LED lights, while also providing residents a path to weatherization upgrades, Audrey Henderson reports.