Federal money helping to repurpose Virginia coal sites

COAL: Unprecedented federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is helping Southwest Virginia diversify its economy through redevelopment of abandoned mine land sites. (Virginia Mercury)

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CLIMATE: Austin, Texas’ city council considers asking voters to approve a climate bond to help pay for projects related to the city’s climate goals, but the mayor wants to delay the process until 2026. (KXAN)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Rivian reports that it sold more electric vehicles than it manufactured in the last quarter, during which the company also reiterated its plans to build a factory in Georgia. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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SOLAR:

• A solar developer withdraws its application to build a large solar farm and says it will come back with a smaller proposal after a Virginia county planning commission denied a permit. (Cardinal News)
• The developers of a planned Alabama solar farm hold an open house to answer questions for local residents, not all of whom are happy about the project. (Moulton Advertiser)

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OIL & GAS: Texas oil and gas regulators ask the state’s attorney general to sue the U.S. EPA over its decision to list the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered. (E&E News, subscription)  

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UTILITIES: Entergy New Orleans promotes a new vice president of regulatory and public affairs who will lead the company’s engagement with the New Orleans City Council. (news release)

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POLITICS: Florida Congressmember Anna Paulina Luna has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into a political donor’s oil and gas company. (Tampa Bay Times)

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COMMENTARY:

• Move over Michigan: Georgia is “quietly but confidently emerging as the undisputed national leader in the electrifying auto sector,” writes a clean transportation advocate. (Georgia Recorder)
• As North Carolina’s electric vehicle industry takes off, the oil industry is airing misleading ads to stoke fear about the opportunities EVs offer the state, writes an environmental advocate. (WRAL)

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