RGGI constitutes illegal tax, Pennsylvania court rules

COURTS: Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court rules the state’s governor overextended his power by signing the state up for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, calling it an illegal tax; environmentalists want the matter appealed to the state’s top court. (Spotlight PA, The Hill, Bay Journal)

OFFSHORE WIND:

• Following news that Ørsted canceled two major offshore wind farms, investors drive the company’s stock down 25%, plunging the price to a six-year low. (Quartz)
• The demise of the Ocean Wind I and II farms throws into question whether millions of dollars spent on New Jersey offshore wind workforce and infrastructure development will be wasted. (Asbury Park Press)
• Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind says it has no plans to end development of a 1.51 GW offshore wind farm off the coast of New Jersey. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Calling the 704 MW offshore wind farm an ​“attractive” project, Ørsted and Eversource announce a final decision to invest in Revolution Wind, a move cheered on by Connecticut’s governor. (Providence Journal, news release)
• Several pro-fossil fuel interests have helped turn New Jersey residents’ sentiments against offshore wind by emphasizing whale deaths, despite lacking evidence to tie the two together. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

PIPELINES: Pennsylvania’s attorney general criminally charges Equitrans for failing to investigate and repair a known natural gas leak that led to a 2018 house explosion. (Trib Live)

TRANSIT:

• As New York City’s transit agency works to get a traffic congestion tolling program underway, the mayor of nearby Fort Lee, New Jersey, files a federal lawsuit claiming the plan would increase his state’s air pollution. (Gothamist)
• As Boston’s South Coast suburbs watch construction develop a long-awaited commuter rail line to bring them downtown, some question if the project will benefit the existing local communities. (WBUR)
• Officials in New York City look to the waterways to transport goods between the islands to help decongest and mitigate pollution along its busy highways. (City Limits)

FOSSIL FUELS: In Philadelphia’s southwest suburbs, a majority Black city already overburdened with pollution fights back against plans to build a $6 billion liquefied natural gas terminal on its waterfront. (Environmental Health News)

HYDROPOWER: FirstLight Power signs a contract with a municipal Massachusetts utility to provide roughly a third of the output of a 42.6 MW hydroelectric station in Connecticut. (news release)

BUILDINGS: To help decarbonize its campus, the University of Maine at Orono proposes upgrading its on-site steam plant to run on ​“eco-friendly liquid and gas fuels.” (Mainebiz)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: In New York City, officials celebrate the opening of a new electric vehicle charging station with 14 fast plugs in a Queens neighborhood. (QNS)