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UAW vows to fight on after Alabama unionization vote falls short

By Mason Adams

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Employees at two Mercedes battery and assembly plants in Alabama vote 56% against joining the United Auto Workers, but the union vows to continue its efforts to organize there and across the Southeast. (Associated Press)

ALSO: Austin, Texas’ city council approves a new zoning category for electric vehicle charging along with other changes to allow for increased housing density. (Austin Monitor)

SOLAR:

  • A North Carolina nonprofit proposes a ​“shared solar” program to expand rooftop solar paired with on-site storage, arguing Duke Energy’s plan to limit carbon emissions relies too much on natural gas and not enough on renewables. (Port City Daily)
  • A government group pushes to unwind Puerto Rico’s net-metering program, which solar advocates say threatens a mass buildout of rooftop solar and backup batteries as the island has been plagued by extreme weather and power outages. (Canary Media)

CLIMATE: Scientists say climate change generates conditions favorable to the creation of more severe storms like those that crashed into Houston last week. (New York Times)

OIL & GAS: Federal officials add a lizard found only in the Permian Basin to the endangered species list, specifically citing oil and gas development as a threat. (Associated Press)

COAL: A railroad company announces it’s expanded its capacity at a Virginia coal-loading facility after the March collapse of a Maryland bridge shifted more coal loads south to Virginia. (WAVY)

BIOGAS: Officials with a company pursuing a swine gas-to-energy facility in North Carolina say the project faces higher-than-expected costs and a longer timeframe to connect to the grid unless state regulators approve changes. (Sampson Independent)

BIOMASS: Researchers investigate the lung health of Mississippi residents who live near a wood pellet factory. (Gulf States Newsroom)

PIPELINES:

  • Two Virginia counties will receive $100,000 each to study the economic development benefits of tapping into a natural gas pipeline for industrial use. (Cardinal News)
  • Mountain Valley Pipeline officials argue a rupture during hydrostatic testing earlier this month doesn’t indicate the need to delay its in-service date but instead shows the process is ​“working as designed and intended.” (WV News)

GRID: Texas’ grid operator plans to use a variety of warnings and action alerts to let the public and power suppliers know of grid conditions through a summer that’s expected to test its capacity. (Houston Chronicle)

EMISSIONS: Appalachian Power and parent company American Electric Power challenge the U.S. EPA’s new rule to significantly decrease emissions from coal- and new gas-fired power plants, even as they pursue their own climate goals. (Huntington Herald-Dispatch)

POLITICS:

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