In the news today…
Coal:
- E&E News PM reports coal, oil and gas companies have six months to recalculate several years of royalties they owe the federal government after the Obama-era accounting standards were restored.
- WSAZ reports a West Virginia company has decided to build a coal to liquids facility in Mason County that will turn coal and natural gas into fuel that burns cleaner than petroleum-based fuel.
- The Energy and Policy Institute says that American Electric Power wants to use customer money to fund a clean coal group involved in misleading attacks on wind and solar power.
- E&E Daily reports a new hearing on black lung entitled “Breathless and Betrayed” stems from a spike in the number of black lung cases which has fired up House Democrats.
- Argus reports coal producer Contura Energy has completed refinancing its term loan for a new $561.8 million five-year secured loan.
ACE Rule:
- Inside EPA reports OMB and EPA took a flurry of last minute meetings in recent weeks concerning the ACE rule, but the rule is expected to be finalized imminently.
- Inside EPA reports state air regulators are warning that EPA’s ACE rule will leave them vulnerable to lawsuits from regulated utilities, their competitors and environmentalists because it does not set a GHG reduction target against which their plans would be assessed.
- E&E Energywire reports the ACE rule, a Trump administration lifeline to coal plants, may not help save coal in the long run.
Minerals:
- Politico Pro and E&E Greenwire report the Supreme Court upheld Virginia’s 37-year-old ban on uranium mining, ruling that state mining laws are not preempted by the federal Atomic Energy Act.
- E&E Greenwire goes into depth on the Supreme Court decision to uphold Virginia’s uranium mining ban.
- Politico Pro reports the Supreme Court decision to uphold a Virginia mining ban on uranium is good news for Western uranium miners, who also seek tariffs on foreign imports to boost the domestic uranium industry.
- The Washington Times carries an op-ed in which the author argues that the “Green Energy Revolution” is impossible without mining, and therefore environmentalists should rethink their anti-mining stance and support domestic mining.
- Bloomberg reports mining lithium and copper for electric vehicles is causing ecological damage in Chile.
- The Albuquerque Journal reports Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich have requested a hearing on the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act, which would require hardrock mining companies to pay royalties.
Carbon Capture:
- Utility Dive reports the Carbon Capture Improvement Act of 2019 would authorize the use of tax-exempt private activity bonds to finance the purchase of carbon capture equipment for power plants and industrial facilities.