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Solar opponents threaten property rights, landowners say

By Andy Balaskovitz

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SOLAR: The owners of a fourth-generation family farm in Ohio who want to lease land for a utility-scale solar project say opponents seeking to stop the development are infringing on their property rights. (Energy News Network)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

  • Michigan automakers scored some concessions in the U.S. EPA’s final vehicle emission rules, including looser compliance targets that were expanded from 2027 to 2030. (Bridge)
  • The tailpipe emission standards are also likely to create more reliance on hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the near term. (Inside Climate News)
  • Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signs bipartisan legislation aimed at making it easier to install fast-charging electric vehicle stations along state highways. (Associated Press)

STORAGE: Minnesota utilities are on the brink of rolling out utility-scale battery projects over the next six years that are expected to play a key role in supporting wind and solar generation. (Star Tribune)

PIPELINES:

  • Michigan’s attorney general will rally in Cincinnati today ahead of oral arguments before a federal appeals court on her case to shut down Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac. (WPBN)
  • An Iowa county board considers new restrictions on hazardous materials pipelines that could include 3,000-foot setbacks. (Belmond Independent)

AIR POLLUTION: A southern Wisconsin industrial city has the worst air pollution in the U.S., but most likely because a community-led project to install sensors documented the pollution there. (Wisconsin Examiner)

CLIMATE:

  • Indiana clean energy advocates say the state’s newly released climate action plan is a start but could go much further in driving emission reductions and empowering local governments. (Indiana Public Radio)
  • University of Minnesota researchers say artificial intelligence can help track carbon emissions from crops and promote better farming practices. (Star Tribune)

NUCLEAR: Michigan lawmakers introduce bipartisan legislation to jumpstart advanced nuclear reactor development through manufacturing incentives and credits for universities that train workers in the nuclear sector. (MLive)

COMMENTARY:

  • Indiana regulators are failing to require monopoly utilities to consider racial and economic equity as they prepare for more widespread electric vehicle adoption, clean energy energy and environmental justice advocates write. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
  • An Ohio editor questions whether it’s now time to start linking the state’s recent streak of rare weather events to climate change. (Ohio Capital Journal)
  • Clean energy and labor advocates say proposed permitting reforms in Minnesota will help spur faster renewable energy and transmission development. (Star Tribune)

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