Lawsuit says Trump’s ​“energy emergency” is unlawful fiction

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Northeast Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

LITIGATION

• Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont are among 15 states suing the Trump administration over its executive order declaring an ​“energy emergency,” arguing that no such crisis exists and the declaration is prodding federal agencies to unlawfully bypass proper environmental protections. (New York Times)

CRYPTO

• Cryptocurrency mines co-located with power plants in New York consume enormous amounts of energy, troubling environmental advocates and local residents who object to the increased emissions and the constant hum of the facilities. (Inside Climate News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Massachusetts startup Factorial Energy makes progress in its quest to develop a solid-state EV battery that would charge faster, weigh less, and increase range, though technological hurdles remain. (New York Times)

CLIMATE

• Pennsylvania’s U.S. Steel and power plants in the western part of the state are among the facilities asking the Trump administration for exemptions to air quality standards limiting the amount of toxic pollutants like mercury and benzene they can emit. (WESA)

• New York’s new budget includes a $1 billion ​“climate action fund” intended to support thermal energy networks, electric school buses, renewable power, and other projects, though climate advocates note that far more could be invested if the state implemented its delayed cap-and-invest program to put a price on carbon emissions. (New York Focus)

• A Massachusetts elementary school will use geothermal energy for heating and cooling and solar power for electricity, part of a nationwide trend of schools adopting geothermal with support from Biden-era clean energy tax credits. (Washington Post)

TRANSMISSION

• Maryland residents living along the proposed route of a controversial planned transmission line project face the possibility of power lines running over their pools, interfering with their medical devices, and disrupting their farming operations. (Frederick News-Post)

• Maryland utilities regulation board will allow 127 property owners, nonprofits, and local governments — an ​“extraordinary number” — to call witnesses and provide evidence as part of its deliberations over the proposed transmission line. (Baltimore Sun)

• A Pennsylvania state lawmaker raises concerns that the growth of energy-hungry data centers in northern Virginia will leave Pennsylvania residents on the hook for generating the power needed by its neighbors and building the infrastructure to deliver it. (Baltimore Sun)

FEDERAL FUNDING

• A Pennsylvania nonprofit that trains at-risk youth and formerly incarcerated people to install and work on heat pumps holds its breath as the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress considers whether to roll back the Inflation Reduction Act funding that supports its work — and the heat pump transition writ large. (Inside Climate News)

• Lawsuits by the Trump administration, business groups, and a coalition of red states against Vermont’s law asking fossil fuel companies to pay for climate damages could end up in the U.S. Supreme Court, a legal expert says. (Vermont Public)

SOLAR

• Conservation advocates push the Adirondack Park Agency to develop maps and priorities laying out where solar development is and is not appropriate to protect the region’s forests, farmland, and wildlife. (Adirondack Explorer)

• The Pennsylvania state Senate advances a bill that lays out standards for decommissioning and retiring solar arrays at the end of their lives. (NorthCentralPA.com)

OFFSHORE WIND

• Though opponents of the wind farm planned off of Maryland’s coast are vocal and headline-grabbing, many residents and local businesses still support the project. (WMAR)