Media Alert:
- Thanks to the Grand Forks Herald (N.D.) for carrying my new op-ed on how the underused coal fleet is a strategic asset we need to tap.
Grid:
- Ohio Capital Journal reports that Ohio lawmakers are negotiating differences in the House and Senate versions of a major energy bill that would reform the ratemaking process and incentivize new power plants.
- South Dakota News Watch reports that a shift in federal energy priorities to focus more on fossil fuels renews friction between GOP-led South Dakota, which says fossil fuels are crucial for maintaining grid reliability, and Minnesota, where the state’s largest utility is closing its coal plants by 2030.
Coal:
- E&E Greenwire reports President Donald Trump’s aggressive barrage of policies — from cutting federal staffing to shuttering offices and imposing fees on Chinese ships — has sent shock waves through an industry he’s repeatedly signaled he wants to revive: coal.
- Reuters reports the Trump administration on Tuesday took a key step toward leasing new areas to a North Dakota coal mine that is proposing to operate through 2045.
- Argus reports the co-owners of the Colstrip coal-fired power plant in Montana have requested a two-year presidential exemption from complying with the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rules.
- Mining.com reports the dirtiest coal-fired power plant in the US is asking Donald Trump for a waiver from pollution mandates, taking up the administration on an offer to email for a chance to get a presidential exemption.
Minerals:
- Mining.com reports carved into a mountain range in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, where temperatures often reach 118F (48C), a vast mining complex more than a century old is on the front lines of a race to unlock millions of tons of copper.