Puerto Rico waits for coal ash accountability

COAL ASH: Residents of Puerto Rico feel impatient for meaningful action to clean up toxic and radioactive coal ash spread across the island after a Virginia-based power company sold it as a cheap material for road construction. (Energy News Network/​Rural News Network)

OIL & GAS:

• As federal courts decide to hear states’ and cities’ lawsuits seeking to hold fossil fuel companies liable for climate change damages, oil and gas giants look to get the cases thrown out. (E&E News)

• Offshore drilling permits have reached a record low under the Biden administration, though experts credit economic realities more than government action for the decrease. (E&E News)

CLIMATE:

• Global warming that reaches the higher extent of scientists’ projections could bring ​“potentially lethal combinations of heat and humidity” to the Midwest and other parts of the globe. (Axios)

• The world’s richest countries aren’t following through on promises to fund climate adaptation in developing countries as flooding, heat waves and other disasters kill thousands of people. (Washington Post)

• Catastrophe models developed after Hurricane Andrew struck Florida in 1992 marked the beginning of insurance industry shifts now resulting in soaring premiums and company withdrawals in climate-vulnerable areas. (Grist)

• Public health experts work to develop plans for community clinics to respond to a rising number of heat-related illnesses. (Grist)

SOLAR: At least 22 states have passed legislation encouraging independent community solar projects, which often fill up quickly with subscribers but are poised for major growth. (Washington Post)

EMISSIONS: In Maryland, a new report from several nonprofits finds fossil fuel-fired appliances in homes and businesses may have a bigger negative impact on air quality than all of the state’s power plants. (Maryland Matters)

GRID:

• A Vermont utility asks state regulators to let it provide ratepayers with at-home batteries and to underground power lines to eliminate outages as it aims to improve grid reliability. (New York Times)

• After signups slowed for Xcel Energy demand response programs, some advocates say Minnesota should allow more use of third-party aggregators to boost participation in peak shaving and load shifting programs. (Energy News Network)

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a bill aimed at expediting interconnection to the grid, with a goal of helping customers electrify vehicles and buildings. (Utility Dive)

TRANSITION: A New Mexico county’s officials say proactive economic diversification and state energy transition funds have helped the community weather last year’s San Juan coal plant and mine closure better than expected. (Farmington Daily Times, subscription)

HYDROGEN: Florida Power & Light begins operations at a ​“green hydrogen” plant even as opponents warn that scaling up the approach will be wasteful and ineffective. (Canary Media)