Energy & Fuel

"The California Public Utilities Commission opened a formal investigation into Pacific Gas & Electric Co. on Thursday, alleging that the utility may have violated safety standards and falsified gas records."

"Today’s black lung rates are higher than 50 years ago, affecting men as young as their 30s, and in Kentucky their right to decent healthcare is being curtailed".

"Eleven of Georgia’s 12 coal-powered plants are leaking chemicals into the groundwater, according to a study by a group of environmentalists that was released Thursday."

"LANSING – Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation Wednesday to create a new authority to oversee a proposed Line 5 tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac and named a top aide, an academic and a labor leader as its three members."

"The Trump administration's proposal for limiting Clean Water Act oversight of some wetlands and waterways is open for edits."

"Federal officials improperly granted forest-crossing permits to developers of the Atlantic Coast pipeline, a panel of appellate court judges found today.

The Forest Service violated the National Forest Management Act and the National Environmental Policy Act when it authorized construction of the 600-mile natural gas pipeline through two national forests and across parts of the Appalachian Trail, Judge Stephanie Thacker for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in a 60-page opinion issued this morning.

"When the Trump administration laid out a plan this year that would eventually allow cars to emit more pollution, automakers, the obvious winners from the proposal, balked. The changes, they said, went too far even for them. But it turns out that there was a hidden beneficiary of the plan that was pushing for the changes all along: the nation’s oil industry."

Microgrid advocates have long touted the systems’ potential to help customers withstand extreme weather, a selling point that’s been stronger outside the Midwest in hurricane-prone areas along the East Coast."