Obama rebukes Florida climate deniers on their home turf

CLIMATE: In an implicit rebuke to Gov. Rick Scott and other elected officials in Florida, President Obama accused those who deny the man-made causes of climate change of sticking their heads in the sand during an Earth Day visit to the Everglades. (Saint Peters Blog)

CLEAN ENERGY JOBS: Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe signing into law six measures designed to help advance solar energy and energy efficiency in the state and extend a tax credit for green jobs. (Daily Press)

UTILITIES:
• The Florida House unanimously backed imposing term limits on future state utility regulators while some lawmakers called for far-reaching reforms to better oversee investor-owned utilities. (News Service of Florida)
• Charlotte-based Duke Energy is among utilities that profit -- and boost customers’ bills -- by expanding regulator-imposed earnings caps. (The Wall Street Journal)
• Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities win higher fixed charges in rate settlement. (Western Kentucky Public Radio)

SOLAR:
• A North Carolina House committee has killed the latest effort to curtail the state’s renewable-energy requirements. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• Duke Energy Progress expects to have 900 workers on the job during peak construction this summer at three solar farms it is building in North Carolina. (Triad Business Journal)
• Solar panels in Columbus County, North Carolina are expected to generate more power than the county’s 58,000 residents use, according to a local economic developer. (WECT-TV, Whiteville)
• Virginia’s Attorney General affirms a new state law that limits prohibitions homeowners associations can impose on solar energy systems. (Power for the People VA blog)

COAL ASH: Residents of Gaston County, NC are demanding answers about the safety of their drinking water near a coal ash pond after a state health advisory warned them to avoid it. (WSOC-TV, Charlotte)

OIL & GAS: After several previous violations, Trans Energy of West Virginia has admitted to three additional criminal violations of the federal Clean Water Act and fined $600,000. (The Charleston Gazette)

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY: Advocates assert it would be a mistake for North Carolina to step back from efforts to expand its bioenergy market. (Triad Business Journal)

NUCLEAR: Federal regulators proposed an $11,200 fine Tuesday against Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. because its workers covered up the faulty handling of materials for the V.C. Summer nuclear power plant in South Carolina. (Associated Press)