In the news today…
Coal:
- Indiana Public Radio reports coal production dropped by nearly 37 percent last year — more than any of the other top coal mining states.
- Charleston Gazette-Mail reports Kentucky state utility regulators have dealt a blow to plans to keep a Marshall County coal-fired generating plant operating until its planned retirement date of 2040.
- Argus reports Kentucky state regulators said American Electric Power (AEP) cannot pass on to customers costs for upgrading the Mitchell coal-fired power plant in West Virginia, putting up a hurdle to keeping the 1,560MW plant open past the end of this decade.
- Politico Pro reports Oklahoma is suing the Interior Department over its bid to take over coal mine regulations on the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation, Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) announced today.
Nuclear:
- Politico Pro reports a bipartisan group of senators reintroduced legislation this morning that would throw a financial lifeline to struggling nuclear reactors through a new EPA-led credit program.
Mining:
- Politico Pro reports environmental regulators have filed a motion to dismiss a legal case that sought to block the president of an Idaho-based company from being involved in proposed mines in northwestern Montana under a state law that punishes companies and their executives who don’t clean up mining pollution.
- S&P Global reports amid the global push to decarbonize, automakers have rushed to secure the lithium needed to make electric vehicle batteries.
Emissions:
- The New York Times reports senators introduced a plan on Monday to tax iron, steel and other imports from countries without ambitious climate laws.
- RealClearEnergy carries an op-ed by Dan Ervin, a professor of Finance in the Perdue School of Business at Salisbury University, calling for the U.S. to double down on advancing CCUS for global climate leadership.
- Inside Sources carries an op-ed from Jim Constantopoulos, professor of geology at Eastern New Mexico University, in which he argues the U.S. must deliver globally replicable emissions solutions with renewable energy and emissions-free fossil fuel technology.