Philly-area county sues fossil fuel giants over climate

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CLIMATE: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, sues top fossil fuel producers, alleging they’ve known for decades that their products were driving climate change. (NBC Philadelphia)

UTILITIES:

• A new Maine law will block utilities from shutting off customers’ power during extreme heat and other severe weather, adding to a winter shutoff ban already in place. (Maine Public)
• Power outages linger after Maine’s weekend storm, raising questions about the reliability of the state’s aging electrical grid. (News Center Maine)

OFFSHORE WIND:

• New London, Connecticut, residents welcome federal incentives for offshore wind facilities, saying the first wave of wind workers are already boosting local businesses. (WTNH)
• New Jersey announces $3.7 billion for studying offshore wind’s impacts on sealife, birds and bats. (news release)

LITHIUM: Advocates want to see more environmental considerations in Maine’s proposed rules that would allow mining in a recently discovered lithium deposit. (Portland Press Herald)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Burlington, Vermont, prepares to install fast electric chargers mounted on electric poles in neighborhoods where most residents live in apartments without off-street parking and charging access. (WCAX)
• An environmental leader says a New Jersey bill that would require new electric vehicle owners to pay $1,060 in registration fees could create a sales boom before the new fee takes effect in July. (NJ Advance Media)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• New York set hourly generation records for solar and wind this month, the state’s grid operator says. (Times Union)
• A northern New York Kraft Heinz plant will get $22 million in U.S. Energy Department funding to install solar panels, thermal energy storage, and other efficient improvements. (WWNY)
• Shaftsbury, Vermont, plans a public hearing for its proposed Enhanced Energy plan as it looks to adopt more locally produced renewable energy. (Bennington Banner)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Maryland environmental justice communities say a proposed state bill doesn’t cover some of the biggest sources of air pollution affecting their neighborhoods. (Baltimore Sun)

FOSSIL FUELS: Small oil and gas drillers say Pennsylvania’s proposed hike in bond costs, meant to ensure companies don’t abandon wells, could drive them out of business. (Tribune-Democrat)

SOLAR:

• Connecticut lawmakers strip from a bill a provision that would have had the state Green Bank conduct solar feasibility studies before schools can receive state funding to build arrays. (Connecticut Inside Investigator)
• A western New York town approves a decommissioning plan for a 2.2 MW solar farm set to be constructed. (Observer)
• Residents of a central New York town raise concerns about a proposed solar farm’s environmental effects and aesthetics at a hearing. (WKTV)

EMISSIONS: An Israeli company looks to build a trash-to-plastic plant in Massachusetts, which it says would help reduce landfill methane emissions. (Boston Globe)