Fracking fallout pushes West Virginians to move

OIL & GAS: West Virginia residents say Pittsburgh natural gas company EQT’s fracking operations into the state are causing environmental and health problems, pushing them to abandon their homes. (PublicSource)

‍

ALSO:

• Fossil fuel advocates push back against conservation efforts to help the  lesser prairie chicken, whose range falls into oil-and-gas producing areas in the Permian Basin and parts of Oklahoma. (Journal Record)
• Virginia officials try to reassure residents whose drinking water tested positive for petroleum, likely from three leaking underground storage tanks at a nearby house. (Roanoke Times)

‍

WIND: Florida lawmakers add a provision to ban the construction of offshore wind farms in state waters to an omnibus energy bill that would also roll back natural gas pipeline regulations and delete most references to “climate change” in state code. (Tampa Bay Times)

‍

SOLAR:

• A Virginia county board votes to approve two solar projects, with a 150 MW project set to come up next month. (Charlotte Gazette)
• A North Carolina couple complains they paid for a rooftop solar array from a company that didn’t complete the installation, but now they’re receiving help from other installers. (WTVD)

‍

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Oklahoma names 13 businesses that could receive up to $9 million in federal money to install electric vehicle chargers. (KOCO)

‍

PIPELINES: A judge removes an environmental group from a sweeping lawsuit by the Mountain Valley Pipeline against its opponents. (Roanoke Times)

‍

COAL: West Virginia lawmakers advance legislation to allow coal companies to take a deduction against severance taxes to cover road improvements, as well as a separate tax credit for production and processing facilities. (WV Metro News)

‍

OVERSIGHT: The five people on Georgia’s regulatory commission wield significant power over the state’s energy policy as the only government body with direct authority to regulate Georgia Power. (Grist/WABE)

‍

CLIMATE:

• A break in the weather and arrival of hundreds of additional firefighters help to restrain Texas’ massive wildfires and give officials some hope of controlling the blaze. (Associated Press)
• Many of the Texas residents who lost their houses during recent wildfires did not have homeowners insurance, which will likely become a significant impediment for them to financially recover from the loss. (Texas Tribune)

‍

UTILITIES: Florida-based NextEra Energy is fighting legal battles to block construction of a transmission line in New England, which critics say is an attempt by the company to retain its monopoly on clean power in the area. (Politico)

‍

POLITICS:

• North Carolina’s leading candidates for governor have sharply differing views on climate change, with the Democratic attorney general calling it a global emergency and the Republican lieutenant governor dismissing it as “junk science.” (WRAL, Inside Climate News)
• Alabama’s top regulator faces a Republican primary challenger in today’s election, with the winner facing no opposition from Democrats in the November general election. (AL.com)
• Two Texas oil billionaires spend millions to target state Republicans who tried to impeach Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, aiming to push the party farther to the right. (Austin American-Statesman)

‍

COMMENTARY: Asset managers bankrolling the Mountain Valley Pipeline are putting people’s investments and retirement savings at risk by backing a beleaguered project that’s threatening the future of residents along its path, writes a Virginia resident. (Sierra)

‍