In the news today and from the weekend…

Coal:

• E&E Greenwire and Argus report the Department of Energy will make $122 million available — on a competitive basis — to create innovation centers aimed at finding new uses for coal.
• E&E Greenwire reports the Interior Department has dropped its appeal of a federal court order requiring a tougher environmental review of a proposed coal mine expansion in Montana.
• Argus reports Colorado Springs Utilities will close its remaining coal plants by 2030 as part of its plan to cut carbon emissions.
• E&E Energywire reports two utilities in the western region announced plans Friday to close their coal stations — the latest in a series of moves by Western power companies to shutter the former workhorses of their electric fleets.

Minerals:

• Mining.com reports Energy Fuels has opened the only mill in the U.S. able to process uranium-rare earth ores.
• RealClearEnergy carries an op-ed by Dan Brouillette in which he develops a plan to tackle China on the subject of critical minerals supply.

EPA:

• Politico Pro and E&E News PM report a university study released Friday concludes that lowering the national air quality standard for particulate matter would save more than 143,000 lives over a decade in a direct rebuttal to EPA’s proposal to keep the standard as is.

Fossil Fuels:

• Financial Times reports the Trump administration has slashed amounts companies must pay for access on government-owned land.

In the news today…

COVID-19:

• WKZO reports from Reuters that the U.S. mining industry is spearheading a lobbying effort to protect a $160 billion pandemic tax break after congressional Democrats largely repealed the provisions in their recent stimulus bill.

EPA:

• E&E Greenwire reports opponents of the Trump administration’s new definition of which waterways and wetlands are protected under the Clean Water Act have lined up in court to make their grievances known.

Carbon Capture:

• Mountain Town News reports Wyoming and other mountain states are hoping for carbon capture technology to save coal communities.
• E&E Energywire reports Southern Co. said this month it is considering another carbon capture project in Kemper County, Miss. — the site of one of the most expensive cancellations of an initiative to create a near carbon-free coal plant.

Coal:

• WYMT reports coal miners can transfer into many other industries, according to a study.

Mining:

• Mesabi Daily News reports the coronavirus has taken a toll on the mining industry in Minnesota.
• Mesabi Daily News reports PolyMet Mining’s path to opening Minnesota’s first copper-nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt will take another route through the Minnesota Supreme Court, which said earlier this month that it will review a case challenging the project’s air permits.

Wind:

• The Guardian reports that at least 15 people have been bludgeoned to death with stones and cement blocks, and some bodies partly burned, in an indigenous village in southern Mexico plagued by a dispute over windpower.

In the news today…

Coal:

• NUVO reports a just transition from coal in Indiana includes supporting communities that have been disproportionately affected by coal pollution, a columnist says.
• Bristol Herald Courier reports Southwest Virginia’s coal industry felt the pandemic’s impacts as companies furloughed employees and idled production at several sites amid safety concerns and reduced demand for electricity and steel.
• Argus reports U.S. coal producer Contura Energy plans to sell its largest mine in Pennsylvania and has idled property in Central Appalachia because of adverse market conditions.
• E&E Energywire reports West Virginia lawmakers are urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to keep a struggling coal-fired power plant online.

Energy:

• Augusta Free Press carries an op-ed from House Representative Morgan Griffith in which he advocates for supporting domestic coal production to sell abroad and for the streamlining of NSR to support clean generation at home.
• S&P Global reports coal generation is disproportionally down when compared with overall generation.

Clean Water Act:

• Politico Pro reports a federal judge in San Francisco on Friday denied an 11th-hour bid by a coalition of Democratic attorneys general to halt implementation of the Trump administration’s controversial new definition of streams and wetlands that warrant federal protection.
• E&E Greenwire and Argus report the Trump administration’s rule narrowing the scope of which wetlands and waterways are protected under the Clean Water Act takes effect in most of the country.

MATS:

• Argus reports environmental and civil rights groups have sued the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over changes it made to the cost-benefit analysis of its mercury and air toxics standards for coal- and oil-fired power plants.
• Bloomberg Law reports California and Massachusetts are part of a coalition of 16 Democratic states and New York City that are gearing up to defend federal mercury pollution standards for power plants against a challenge mounted a month ago by a Colorado-based coal company.

Mining:

• Mining Technology reports the COVID-19 pandemic could spark an autonomous revolution in mining.
• Mining.com reports Hudbay Minerals has filed its initial brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals regarding the court decision nearly a year ago to deny the company from proceeding with construction of its Rosemont project.

Climate:

• E&E Climatewire reports the CO2 Coalition has bypassed fact-checkers on Facebook, allowing it to attack climate science and promote the use of fossil fuels.

In the news today and from the weekend…

Mining:

• The Allegheny Front reports two unions are suing the federal agency in charge of mine safety, demanding it impose emergency rules to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among coal miners.
• Inside EPA reports fishing experts are reiterating their opposition to the planned Pebble Mine in Alaska ahead of the Army Corps of Engineers’ imminent final environmental study of the project, saying now is a critical time for the public to weigh in and hoping EPA or the White House will still move to block the mine over fears about its environmental harms.

EPA:

• Politico Pro reports a coalition of 22 environmental and public health groups, joined by the NAACP, sued EPA on Friday over its revisions to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.

Minerals:

• E&E Daily reports senators this week will assess the novel coronavirus pandemic’s impact on mineral supplies and consider challenges to preventing disruptions in a Wednesday hearing.

Coal:

• La Junta Tribune-Democrat reports the Platte River Power authority will retire its last coal power plant.
• E&E Climatewire reports coal plant retirements under the Trump administration have eclipsed those that occurred during the last four years of Barack Obama’s presidency.
• Axios reports coal has global persistence even though it is receding in the U.S.
• Associated Press reports a utility that serves about 145,000 customers in southwestern Indiana plans to close three coal-fired power plants while adding solar and wind power as part of a larger proposal that environmental groups are criticizing because it would keep one coal power plant in operation.

Climate:

• The Hill reports that the Vatican is urging Catholics to divest from fossil fuels.

In the news today…

Climate:

• Bloomberg Law reports climate activists are storming Congress this week, holding online meetings with more than 400 House and Senate lawmakers to press for a carbon tax and economic relief for hard-hit coal communities.

Minerals:

• E&E Greenwire reports Pebble Partnership has rolled out plans to share revenue from its proposed copper and gold mine with year-round area residents of southwest Alaska.
• The York-News Times and the Journal Times report Pebble is not trying to pay people off with its plan to share revenues.

EPA:

• EHS Daily Advisor reports earlier this month, the EPA finalized its “Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule,” which aims to increase the transparency and efficiency of the Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 water quality certification process to promote the timely review of infrastructure projects.
• Inside EPA reports EPA for the first time is detailing to a court its legal arguments for repealing the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP) utility greenhouse gas rule and replacing it with the much narrower Affordable Clean Energy (ACE), charging that the CPP was unlawfully broad while ACE is the only way to “lawfully regulate” power plant climate emissions.

In the news today…

Mining:

• Anchorage Daily News reports the developer of the controversial proposed Pebble mine in Southwest Alaska launched a profit-sharing plan for residents from the Bristol Bay region on Tuesday.
• Mining.com reports the Minnesota Supreme Court will review a lower court ruling against PolyMet Mining regarding air permits for the company’s proposed copper-nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt.
• Casper Star Tribune reports the federal agency tasked with upholding mining and environmental laws at the nation’s surface coal mines proposed a new rule last month aimed at strengthening coordination with state regulators when responding to citizen complaints of potential mining violations.

Coal:

• KOAA reports an advisory panel recommends shutting down all of Colorado Springs’ coal-fired generation by 2030.
• Bloomberg Law reports Navajo Nation members have said that coal mines have used up all their drinking water.
• Hellenic Shipping News reports U.S. coal consumption has been declining since its peak in 2007 of 1.1 billion short tons.
• Helena Independent Record reports Montana coal production is down 3.3 million tons compared to a year earlier, according to federal energy data.
• Argus reports US-Australian coal producer Paringa Resources asked a federal bankruptcy judge to extend the deadline to file an Chapter 11 exit plan after failing to attract a buyer ahead of its auction.
• E&E Energywire reports a major Ohio utility has given up its legal fight to break free of two money-losing coal-fired plants, despite earlier claims the plants will continue to bleed red ink.

Minerals:

• Mining.com reports the copper price has recovered strongly from its COVID-19 collapse in March largely due to Chinese demand.

EPA:

• Inside EPA reports a group of Democratic-led states is urging a federal district court to apply nationwide a potential stay of the Trump administration’s WOTUS rule under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), but the Justice Department and a group of Republican-led states argue any remedy should be narrowly tailored in scope.

In the news today…

Minerals:

• Washington Examiner reports Republicans want to break U.S. reliance on China for critical minerals, used in everything from military equipment to renewable power to cellphone batteries.

Mining:

• Milwaukee Business Journal reports the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s top official visited Milwaukee Monday and toured the former Solvay Coke & Gas Co. Superfund site that will soon be transformed into Komatsu Mining Corp.’s headquarters.
• E&E Greenwire and Argus report two prominent labor unions sued the Trump administration to force mine safety officials to take steps to protect workers from contracting COVID-19.

Carbon Capture:

• DeSmog reports the Center for Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University released a report concluding that, without major new subsidies from the American public, technologies for capturing heat-trapping carbon dioxide from coal and natural gas-fired power plants will remain uneconomical.

Energy:

• Washington Examiner reports Senators of both parties on the Energy Committee are touting their sidelined sweeping energy package as a way to reinvigorate the industry.

Coal:

• The Bend Bulletin reports Oregon’s last coal-fired power plant will close this year.
• Argus reports CenterPoint Energy subsidiary Vectren may retire three coal-fired power plant units and eliminate a partnership for a fourth by the end of 2023.
• Power reports a Colorado-based electric utility owned by the four communities it serves announced it will close its remaining coal-fired plant by the end of the decade, a facility that had a planned retirement date of 2046.

Climate:

• E&E Daily reports Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden proclaimed that this year’s presidential election is “the most important election of our lifetimes” because of climate change during a virtual town hall.

In the news today…

Mining:

• Mining Technology reports mining companies around the globe are coming up with new ways to utilize mining waste.
• WKU reports the Australian-owned company with a troubled coal mine in western Kentucky is suing the U.S. Small Business Administration because it didn’t get money offered to other companies impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• E&E Greenwire reports Supreme Court justices declined to consider whether moving — but not adding — rocks, sand and other debris within a regulated waterway is subject to Clean Water Act restrictions.
• Washington Examiner reports Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue issued a memo Friday directing the U.S. Forest Service to expedite environmental reviews and permitting in natural forests and grasslands for oil and gas production, mining, and grazing.

Coal:

• The Center for Biological Diversity reports an overhaul of coal mining oversight would limit citizen and federal monitoring of state programs.
• International Banker reports we may be seeing an end to coal.
• E&E Greenwire reports environmental groups last week alleged a coal company bulldozed roads in Colorado’s Gunnison National Forest despite a federal court’s ruling to vacate construction exceptions for mining activities.
• The Durango Herald and Argus report GCC Energy has been issued the lease for its expansion of the King II coal mine in western La Plata County.
• Argus reports coal stockpiles at regulated Kentucky utilities grew by 35pc by the end of the first quarter amid reduced electricity generation going into spring as businesses shut to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Energy:

• E&E Energywire reports the electric utility serving southern Indiana’s coal country announced a plan to transition swiftly from coal to renewable energy as part of a strategy it said would save consumers more than $300 million and slash carbon emissions.
• E&E Energywire reports clean energy job losses began to level off in May, according to a new analysis, but industry advocates are pushing back against the Trump administration’s assurances that the nation is back on the road to recovery.
• E&E Energywire reports a petition before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that seeks to upend national net metering policies has spurred a whirlwind of bipartisan backlash.
• E&E Daily reports Democrats on both sides of the Capitol are stepping up pressure to see clean energy assistance included in future COVID-19 relief efforts.

Minerals:

• Mining.com reports iron and gold are doing equally well globally, but stocks in their mining companies are not.
• Bloomberg NEF reports automakers worried about materials supply for their new electric vehicle models need to take a closer look into the different lithium chemical markets.

World News:

• Hellenic Shipping News reports the Covid-19 pandemic will result in a reduction of at least 9% in global seaborne thermal coal demand this year.

In the news today…

White House:

• E&E Energywire reports President Trump’s executive order to expedite infrastructure projects is on unstable legal ground.

Coal:

• The Indianapolis Star reports IPL’s Petersburg power plant has violated its permit more than 120 times in the last three years.
• Argus reports coal miner employment in the U.S. rose in May from the multi-decade low set in April but remains below pre-Covid-19 shutdown levels.
• S&P Global reports Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities said it was declining coal delivery make-up tons from 2019 with Hartshorne Mining, the subsidiary and operator of Paringa Resources, according to state regulatory filings.

Minerals:

• Mining.com reports the price of silver soared in May, jumping more than 19% on safe haven demand as well as increased expectations of a swift economic recovery, given its many industrial applications.
• E&E Energywire reports the coronavirus pandemic could cut supplies of key metals needed to produce electric vehicle batteries, and low prices of cobalt could help stall EV projects for years, according to a new report.

In the news today and from the weekend…

Coal:

• Energy News Network reports coal is collapsing under COVID-19, calling urgency for a just transition.
• The Huntington Herald-Dispatch reports six Murray Energy Corp. subsidiaries filed mass layoff notices covering 2,453 employees in West Virginia.
• City Pages reports the Minnesota State Board of Investments passed a resolution to divest the state’s public pension funds from companies that make more than 25 percent of their revenue from thermal coal mining.

EPA:

• E&E Energywire reports EPA’s new rule aimed at speeding infrastructure projects could actually slow them down.

Mining:

• The Guardian reports mining sites in Canada, the US and around the world have become hotspots for the spread of coronavirus.
• Mining Technology reports various mining companies have contributed to COVID-19 relief efforts across the globe.

Minerals:

• Great Falls Tribune reports conservation groups want a Montana court to cancel the approval of a long-disputed copper mine that they say would pollute a tributary of one of the state’s most popular recreational rivers.
• Great Lakes Now reports on the development of mining around Minnesota lakes.

Energy:

• Politico Pro reports House Democrats are pushing for financial help for clean energy in any upcoming bills to try to aid the pandemic-ravaged sector.

In the news today…

Clean Water Act:

• Oil and Gas 360 reports the Trump administration is removing a tool some Democratic states have used to block construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure.
• E&E News PM reports a federal district court must now reexamine a Hawaii permitting battle in light of the Supreme Court’s new Clean Water Act test from its Maui decision.

Coal:

• The Detroit News (MI) carries an op-ed by Mark J. Perry, scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, in which he asserts the reliability of coal power compared with renewable energy.
• Washington Examiner reports the North American Electric Reliability Corporation drastically underestimated how much U.S. coal would retire in a 2018 assessment of grid reliability.
• E&E Greenwire reports a mining company tunneled through federal land in central Utah and took coal it had not leased.
• Pensions and Investments reports the Minnesota State Board of Investment, St. Paul, approved a resolution to divest from publicly traded companies that derive 25% or more of their revenues from the extraction and production of thermal coal within the $65.2 billion of defined benefit plan assets managed by the board.

Minerals:

• Roll Call reports Republicans are pushing for domestic mining of critical minerals.
• Washington Examiner reports Congressman released a bicameral letter in support of critical minerals legislation.
• E&E Greenwire reports the Department of Commerce announced it has launched an investigation into vanadium imports after a pair of producers claimed the domestic industry suffers from unfair trade practices.
• The Brunswick News reports the Army Corps of Engineers has been inundated with responses to a proposed heavy minerals mine near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

Carbon Capture:

• Washington Examiner reports there are now 396 carbon capture, utilization, and storage projects around the world, with 207 of those in the U.S., according to an updated map released Tuesday by the clean energy group Third Way.
• E&E Energywire reports a project more than a decade in the making that could become the world’s largest carbon capture project in terms of transport and storage capacity is now operational.

In the news today…

Clean Water Act:

• WSKG and Phys.org report the Trump administration is removing a tool from section 401 of the CWA that some Democratic states have used to block construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure, such as oil and gas pipelines.

Coal:

• Fort Myers News Press (FL) carries an op-ed by Matthew Kandrach, president of Consumer Action for a Strong Economy (CASE), in which he advocates for affordable energy made possible by coal-fueled power plants to weather the current crisis.
• E&E Energywire reports coal industry earnings in North America could fall by more than 50% this year as coronavirus lockdowns slash electricity demand.
• Yahoo Finance reports new solar and wind farms will soon cost less than many of the world’s coal-fired power plants.
• Utility Dive reports former FERC Commissioner Suedeen Kelly says the issue of coal self-commitments will have to be resolved at the state level, while former Chair Jon Wellinghoff argues such market distortions should be addressed by FERC.
• Argus reports the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting economic weakness are putting additional weight on US coal consumption and production, ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service said this week.

Energy:

• Argus reports the average price of electricity increased in Texas last year despite a drop in natural gas prices.
• E&E Climatewire reports renewable power projects are increasingly priced competitively compared with fossil-fueled energy projects.

Minerals:

• E&E Greenwire reports environmentalists are turning up the legal heat to protect the relict dace, a minnowlike fish in the middle of a fight over a Nevada gold mine.
• E&E News PM reports a fishery conservation group is challenging a federal court’s dismissal of a lawsuit that argued against EPA’s withdrawal of water pollution restrictions on the planned Pebble mine in Alaska.
• Washington Examiner reports the fate of the clean energy transition depends on dramatically increasing the extraction, refining, and processing of critical energy minerals, the State Department’s top energy official said Tuesday.
• Mining.com reports the U.S. State Department hopes to expand a strategic minerals initiative aimed at ensuring supply chains for metals critical for batteries and wind and solar power as demand for green energy keeps growing despite the coronavirus.
• Mining.com reports the U.S. Commerce Department said on Tuesday it was opening an investigation into whether imports of vanadium, a metal used in aerospace, defense and energy applications, impair U.S. national security.
• E&E Daily reports Republican lawmakers are doubling down on their campaign to expand mining on public lands.

NEPA:

• E&E Greenwire reports the Trump administration’s controversial rewrite of regulations surrounding the National Environmental Policy Act is closer to being complete.

WOTUS:

• E&E Greenwire reports the country’s largest business groups have come to the defense of the Trump administration’s rule defining the scope of the Clean Water Act.

In the news today…

EPA:

• NPR, WBUR and EcoWatch report the Trump administration has finalized a rule concerning section 401 water permitting which will restrict states’ veto power over infrastructure projects.
• The Washington Examiner reports the Trump administration is revising water quality regulations that give states veto power over energy infrastructure.
• The Washington Post, Politico Pro, Inside EPA, E&E Greenwire, Mining.com and E&E News PM report the Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule Monday curtailing the rights of states, tribes and the public to object to federal permits for energy projects and other activities that could pollute waterways across the country.
• E&E Daily reports the finalized EPA rule on section 401 water permitting will likely face legal challenges.

Minerals:

• The Hill reports an Energy Department official said Friday that the government is aiming to start buying mined uranium for a proposed uranium reserve “as soon as possible” as the Trump administration looks to increase its production of nuclear energy.

Coal:

• Mining.com reports earnings for North American coal miners may plunge by more than half this year as the coronavirus pandemic makes a weak market even worse, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

Renewables:

• Real Clear Energy carries an op-ed by Robert Bryce who reports that in New York and New England, siting wind energy projects is like siting land fills–nobody wants them.

In the news today…

Minerals:

• E&E Daily reports Republican lawmakers introduced a bill yesterday aimed at reducing dependence on China for critical minerals by boosting domestic mining and processing.
• Prescott eNews reports Congressmen Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) and Michael Waltz (FL-06) introduced the American Critical Mineral Exploration and Innovation Act of 2020.
• Mining.com reports from Reuters on the U.S. House bill introduced to bolster domestic mining and processing of minerals.
• Washington Examiner reports House Republican leaders introduced legislation Thursday to encourage U.S. production of critical minerals used in clean energy technologies.

Energy:

• E&E Greenwire reports the United States consumed more energy from renewable sources last year than it did from coal for the first time since before 1885.

Carbon Capture:

• E&E Energywire reports the Treasury Department issued a long-awaited rule outlining how companies can claim federal tax credits for carbon storage.

Coal:

• The Athens News reports on the post-coal future for the Ohio Appalachian region.
• The Guardian reports more than 6,000 coal miners lost their jobs in March and April as the industry suffers its biggest decline in 60 years.
• Casper Star Tribune reports nearly 100 furloughed miners returned to work at the Decker Coal Company on Tuesday.
• Argus reports Illinois basin coal production fell to an historic low in the first quarter amid an ongoing demand slump.
• Argus reports a federal appeals court has agreed that the city of Oakland, California, breached its contract with Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal (OBOT) when it banned coal and petroleum coke handling and storage in the city.

Clean Water Act:

• Inside EPA reports several federal courts are poised to become test beds for applying the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on when pollutants that travel through groundwater to navigable waters require a Clean Water Act (CWA) discharge permit.

In the news today…

Energy:

• E&E Energywire reports Southern Co. will be a net-zero emissions company by 2050, its CEO, Tom Fanning, said yesterday.
• E&E Energywire reports the IRS yesterday offered a pandemic-related extension to key requirements needed for renewable projects to qualify for a lucrative tax credit.
• E&E Energywire reports American Electric Power Co. is set to spend about $2 billion on wind generation for customers in at least three states — Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma — as it continues to navigate pushback in Texas.
• E&E Daily reports a group of congressional Democrats called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission earlier this week to reject a petition that could upend net metering policies in states across the country.

Coal:

• Utility Dive reports two Wisconsin coal plants cost Alliant Energy’s Wisconsin customers $16 million in 2019 alone, according to a report released Tuesday from the Sierra Club.
• Axios reports the new IEA report shows why, absent tougher climate policies, coal will remain a huge player in global power markets despite its much publicized declines in the U.S. and Europe.
• E&E Greenwire reports environmental groups are accusing EPA of dropping critical water protections in New England after approving a key permit for the region’s largest coal-fired power plant that doesn’t require cooling towers for water discharged into the Merrimack River.

Minerals:

• E&E Greenwire reports a uranium producer may reopen a mine near the Grand Canyon after a federal judge on Friday ruled against groups that challenged the company’s mineral rights.
• Associated Press reports a federal judge has ruled against environmental groups and a tribe in their bid to keep a uranium mine south of the Grand Canyon from operating.
• Mining.com reports Rio Tinto has developed a way to extract high-purity scandium oxide from waste at its titanium dioxide production facilities in Quebec.

Climate:

• E&E Daily reports Joe Biden would likely have to rely on executive actions to pursue his green initiatives should he win the election.

In the news today…

Environment:

• Alternet claims that the Trump administration’s “gutting” of environmental protections will lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Coal:

• Energy News Network reports facing the closure of a coal-burning plant that had been its main source of power for decades, a southern Minnesota utility recently unveiled an aggressive plan to develop renewable energy over the next decade.
• Politico Pro and E&E News PM report the city of Oakland, Calif., unlawfully passed an ordinance barring coal from being transported through a rail-to-ship terminal, a split panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for 9th Circuit in San Francisco ruled on Tuesday.
• E&E Climatewire reports there are 13 coal plant closures scheduled for 2020.
• Power Magazine reports coal is still king worldwide, thanks to Asia.

Minerals:

• Mining.com reports the electric vehicle revolution has slowed due to the coronavirus pandemic, slowing lithium production as well.
• Mining.com reports USA Rare Earth, the funding and development partner of the Round Top Heavy Rare Earth project in West Texas, together with Texas Mineral Resources, announced Tuesday that it has successfully completed its Phase I bench scale testing at Inventure Renewables laboratory in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

EPA:

• Inside EPA reports environmentalists, public health advocates and former EPA scientists are clashing with major industry groups over EPA’s plan to retain its suite of particulate matter (PM) ambient air limits.
• E&E Greenwire reports Colorado is suing the Trump administration over its changes to the Clean Water Rule.

Utilities:

• Utility Dive reports the chief operating officer of ComEd says the utility has taken several steps to ensure worker safety during the pandemic.

In the news today and from the weekend…

Coal:

• Associated Press and Montana Public Radio report a judge threw out a lawsuit Friday from a coalition of states, environmental groups and American Indians seeking to revive an Obama-era moratorium against U.S. government coal sales on public lands in the West.
• Politico Pro reports a federal judge on Friday said he’ll not second-guess the Interior Department’s justification for resuming coal leasing on federal lands, but noted the challengers still have another option.
• Casper Star Tribune reports coal firm Navajo Transitional Energy Company announced Thursday it will furlough 93 hourly workers and lay off eight salaried employees at its Antelope coal mine near Wright in response to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Biomass Magazine reports DOE plans to offer funding for new projects that gasify a mix of coal and biomass to generate electric power and a carbon-free hydrogen co-product.
• S&P Global reports weekly U.S. coal production was estimated at approximately 8.2 million st in the week ended May 16, down 1.6% from the previous week.
• E&E Climatewire reports coking coal remains strong globally during the coronavirus pandemic.
• E&E Energywire reports Wisconsin’s second largest electric utility on Friday said it will shut down its Edgewater coal-fired power plant on Lake Michigan by the end of 2022 as it continues a transition to cleaner energy.

Energy:

• Inside EPA reports the COVID-19 pandemic is driving a sudden “paradigm shift” in how utilities plan for resiliency to avoid power outages, boosting interest in microgrid and other technologies to stabilize renewables when large coal and gas plants shutter.
• Inside EPA reports investor groups, lawmakers and others are ramping up a fight over whether pending COVID-19 recovery legislation should support fossil fuels or zero-emission sustainable clean energy, creating a significant hurdle for Congress to overcome before advancing any bill.
• The Hill reports Republicans are pushing for assistance from the Trump administration for both the renewable energy and fossil fuel industries.

Minerals:

• E&E News PM and Mining.com report the Army Corps of Engineers has chosen its preferred plan for the proposed Pebble copper and gold mine.
• E&E Climatewire reports a shortage of mined minerals may provide a push for ocean mining.

MATS:

• Washington Examiner reports Westmoreland Mining is bringing the Trump administration to court over its revisions to the Obama-era mercury and air toxics standards.

Clean Water Act:

• E&E Daily reports top Republicans on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee are backing a Clean Water Act exemption for trains hauling coal and other polluting materials over the nation’s waters.