New Orleans braces for climate change as nation looks on

RESILIENCY: A new resiliency strategy for New Orleans includes solar panels for City Hall and a hub to develop strategies for locales across the nation. (WVUE-TV, New Orleans)

CLIMATE: A Catholic Bishop told an audience in Norfolk that people must learn about climate and to ​“protect God’s handiwork.” (The Virginian-Pilot)

EFFICIENCY:
• The TVA has increased the ​“Smart Communities” grant funding from the $7 million announced in April to $15 million to help make low-income homes more energy efficient. (Knoxville News Sentinel)
• A new report says ​“demand flexibility” -- homeowners taking more control of their energy use -- could have a as much impact on the grid as home-based batteries. (Washington Post)

SOLAR:
• The Santee Cooper co-op in South Carolina draws criticism for its plan to buy back solar-generated power from customers at a rate far less than the retail rate they pay. (The Post and Courier)
• A Virginia entrepreneur is finding ways for tax-exempt organizations to go solar by navigating around utility monopoly rules. (The Energy Fix blog)
• Entergy is constructing a pilot project to test how a modest solar system backed up with equipment to store its power will function in the humid and often cloudy Gulf Coast region. (WDSU-TV, New Orleans)

POWER LINES: A debate over the benefits and costs of burying power lines in southern Louisiana resurfaces 10 years after Hurricane Katrina. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

KENTUCKY: Both major party candidates for governor say they’re ignoring the Clean Power Plan for the state as the Sept. 6 deadline for submitting a compliance plan approaches. (Western Kentucky University Public Radio)

POLLUTION: A new digital tool called ​“Share My Air” is designed to help consumers understand the health impacts of pollution where they live by converting real-time air quality data into measures such as an equivalent number of cigarettes. (The Atlantic)

OIL & GAS: Encana is selling its northern Louisiana natural gas assets for $850 million. (The Wall Street Journal)

COMMENTARY: The Wall Street Journal claims President Obama is is waging a war of regulatory attrition to raise drilling costs and reduce the competitive advantage of natural gas over wind and solar power.