Maine sues oils companies over climate impacts

EMISSIONS: Maine has become the latest state to sue major oil and gas companies, alleging they withheld information about the environmental impact of fossil fuels in order to pursue profit. (New York Times)

‍

OFFSHORE WIND: A French energy company has paused its plans to build an offshore wind farm off New York and New Jersey for at least four years, citing President-elect Donald Trump’s opposition to wind as a major factor. (New York Post)

‍

NUCLEAR:

• A clean energy company accuses the owners of a New Hampshire nuclear plant of allowing its infrastructure to degrade to the point it risked a meltdown as part of a scheme to prevent a clean energy transmission line from accessing a key breaker. (InDepthNH)
• High costs, regulatory hurdles, and worries about waste are among the reasons Maine has no current plans to pursue nuclear energy, despite growing interest in the technology. (Portland Press Herald, subscription)

‍

FOSSIL FUELS

• Maryland fossil fuel lobbyists regularly fail to disclose the full extent of their work against climate-related bills, a new report by a national advocacy group finds. (Maryland Matters)
• A Pennsylvania gas company that supported Trump and senator-elect Dave McCormick is poised to make big profits and influence the country’s energy future. (Inside Climate News)

‍

CLIMATE

• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has to weigh the political risks of provoking Trump against the benefits of pushing hard for progress on the state’s ambitious climate and energy goals. (New York Times)
• Vermont Gov. Phil Scott wants to slow down climate initiatives and delay some greenhouse gas reduction targets, saying they could be too costly for residents. (Seven Days)
• More Maine municipalities are developing their own community climate plans, a trend supporters say is a testament to the ability of “regular” people to fight the climate crisis. (Portland Press Herald, subscription)

‍

TRANSMISSION:

• A proposed transmission line through three Maryland counties could endanger vulnerable forests and important watersheds, according to a regional environmental organization. (Maryland Matters)
• Observers say Maine’s major utility seems to be behind on fulfilling a requirement to conserve 50,000 acres of land as part of a project to build a transmission line connecting Canada to Massachusetts. (Bangor Daily News, subscription)

‍

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Vermont aviation company successfully completes a flight of its first electric plane, while the airport in nearby Plattsburgh, New York has been selected as the site for a test flight of the largest fully electric aircraft ever to take to the skies. (VTDigger, NBC5)

‍

GRID: Advocates ask federal regulators to require a private equity firm planning to buy four power plants in PJM territory to disclose whether it plans to sell the energy to data centers, amid concerns the purchase could lead to “unreasonable rates” for customers. (Utility Dive)

‍

COAL: Research out of Johns Hopkins confirms the presence of coal dust in a Baltimore neighborhood near a coal terminal, backing up residents claims that the particles coat their homes and cause health problems. (Baltimore Sun, subscription)

‍