West Virginia governor wants environmental regulators to stop saying ​‘no’ to coal industry

COAL: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice says he wants the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, already under fire for lax oversight, to be more amenable to the coal industry. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

ALSO:
• Multiple challenges still face the Kemper ​“clean coal” plant in Mississippi. (Mississippi Watchdog)
• Coal veterans in Kentucky have guarded expectations about their industry being revived. (Marketplace)

CLIMATE:
• How Florida and North Carolina have already paid a price because of efforts in those states to suppress information on climate change. (Scientific American)
• Florida Sen. Bill Nelson says ​“any attempt to intimidate or muzzle scientists must be stopped.” (SaintPetersBlog)
• A carbon tax proposal promoted by prominent Republicans would strip the EPA of emissions oversight in exchange. (InsideClimate News)
• Scientists at the University of Mississippi speak out against the Trump administration’s denial of climate science. (Daily Mississippian)

PIPELINES:
• Virginia gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello says he opposes two natural gas pipelines proposed in the state. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• A Georgia advocate explains how the state’s regulatory process and a unique approach to coalition-building helped stop a major pipeline there. (Southeast Energy News)
• Advocates plan to protest a proposed natural gas pipeline that would run under the Potomac River between West Virginia and Pennsylvania. (Associated Press)

SOLAR:
• At the unveiling of a Georgia solar project, former President Jimmy Carter urges Republicans to ​“remember the tremendous potential of creating millions of jobs in America just from renewable energy sources.” (Associated Press)
• Texas-based NRG Energy completes its first solar project in Florida. (Solar Industry Magazine)

OVERSIGHT:
• Arkansas’ attorney general seeks to halt implementation of a federal haze reduction plan in her state. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette)
• The Natural Resources Defense Council sues to block President Trump’s executive order requiring two regulations be repealed for every new one implemented. (Greenwire)

NUCLEAR:
• President Trump’s advisers recommend freezing the federal program that guaranteed loans for the Plant Vogtle expansion in Georgia. (Bloomberg)
• A judge dismisses part of South Carolina’s lawsuit against the Energy Department over a controversial plutonium processing facility. (Aiken Standard)

OIL AND GAS: No injuries are reported in a fire at a Louisiana refinery. (New Orleans Times Picayune)

COMMENTARY: Former U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu says despite environmental concerns, the Bayou Bridge pipeline should be approved. (Baton Rouge Advocate)