In final days of Texas session, anti-renewable energy measures mostly fail

CLEAN ENERGY: The just-concluded Texas legislative session could have been much, much worse for clean energy, observers say, as a coalition of industry, business, and environmental groups helped defeat the most expensive and extreme proposals in last-minute negotiations. (Canary Media)

ALSO:
• A new study predicts that ​“red” states such as Texas and Oklahoma will gain hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs, mostly offsetting the loss of fossil fuel jobs, as the country transitions to a net-zero economy. (Carbon Brief)
• Virginia Beach joins a statewide Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy program to help finance energy efficiency projects. (WAVY)

LAND-USE: A Richmond, Virginia, city councilor explains how eliminating parking space requirements for developers is expected to help slow sprawl, lower transportation emissions, and boost affordable housing. (Energy News Network)

STORAGE:
• Texas’ electric grid problems are attracting an investment boom from utility-scale battery storage developers, who describe a rush to take advantage of high returns in areas where the grid is strapped. (Reuters)
• Form Energy holds a ceremonial groundbreaking for its planned factory in West Virginia, where it will manufacture a new long-duration, iron-air battery capable of storing 100 hours of energy. (News and Sentinel)

MINING: North Carolina regulators ask a company for more information on its plan to build one of North America’s largest lithium mines, which would supply Tesla with materials for its electric vehicle batteries. (Reuters)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Electric vehicle startup Canoo is running out of cash and risks losing $7.5 million in state incentives if it doesn’t buy a factory site in Oklahoma City that it is currently leasing before an August 20 deadline. (The Frontier)
• A new report says Louisiana is among the states with the fewest electric vehicle charging ports per capita. (Daily Advertiser)

EMISSIONS: A consumer class-action lawsuit accuses Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines of falsely claiming to be the world’s ​“first carbon-neutral airline,” saying the benefits of its carbon offsets have been exaggerated. (Associated Press)

COAL:
• Alabama-based coal miner Drummond says it plans to reduce and offset emissions from its operations to reach ​“carbon neutrality” by 2050. (Reuters)
• U.S. coal mine employment has grown steadily since 2021, primarily in the eastern U.S., even as production has stayed relatively flat. (S&P Global)

GEOTHERMAL: West Virginia University begins drilling in Morgantown to assess the potential for a combined geothermal energy and carbon capture project. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

UTILITIES: Virginia regulators this summer will begin reviewing Appalachian Power’s rates and earnings every two years following legislation intended to give the utility and its customers a smoother path than triennial reviews. (Virginia Mercury)

POLITICS:
• The inclusion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Congress’ debt ceiling deal after a week of behind-the-scenes negotiating came as a shock to several lawmakers, aides and lobbyists. (Washington Post)
• Environmental groups called the deal ​“a disaster for people and the planet” and a ​“surrender to Big Oil and Republican hostage-takers.” (Grist)

COMMENTARY:
• Instead of addressing underlying electric grid problems, Texas Republicans deceitfully shifted blame to clean energy to justify massive new subsidies for donors in the fossil fuel industry, a columnist writes. (Houston Chronicle)
• Columnist Paul Krugman argues that Texas Republicans’ hostility toward clean energy has less to do with corporate greed than it does anti-woke posturing, as wind and solar have been sucked back into the culture wars. (New York Times)
• An Alabama medical doctor says parents, school boards, and state officials need to prioritize electric school buses, as diesel fumes are not only bad for climate but also children’s health. (AL.com)