A bimonthly digest of regional energy news
"It is the best of both worlds. We can save money and care for the environment,” said Father Jonathan Goertz, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Danville, one of the churches joining the effort.
The last of North Carolina's moratoriums on utility shutoffs expired in August. While Gov. Roy Cooper allocated $175 million in rent and utility bill assistance, consumer advocates say that it won't be nearly enough.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule allows utilities to dump coal ash into unlined pits through April 2021, and some companies may be able to do so for longer.
Critics say a plan developed by Kentucky Utilities to address groundwater pollution from an unlined coal-ash pond seeping into Herrington Lake is inadequate.
Environmental groups in Alabama are asking power companies and legislators to move coal ash into lined landfills or recycle it.
Years after mining ends, selenium pollution from mountaintop removal coal mining operations still accumulates in insects downstream.
Since March, three states have passed bills that increase punishments against people who protest oil and gas development and designate oil and gas facilities as critical infrastructure.
In recent months, federal regulators have weakened two national air pollution standards and opted not to upgrade a third.
Sick and dying workers who helped clean up the 2008 Kingston coal ash spill rejected a settlement in April, and are now looking to sue for damages.
Bankrupt coal company Murray Energy has filed several notices warning of impending mass layoffs.
Virginia regulators initiated bond forfeiture at two coal mines owned by the family of West Virginia Governor Jim Justice. The regulators cited failure to pay penalties and chronic environmental and public safety violations.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed the protection of 445 stream miles in Central Appalachia in January that serves as habitat for two at-risk aquatic species.
The president's planned changes to the National Environmental Policy Act include eliminating a requirement for agencies to review the cumulative impacts of certain infrastructure projects on climate change.
The Clean Economy Act would require Virginia to transition to 100 percent renewable energy and emit no carbon from the power sector by 2050.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency cancelled a key water quality permit for a proposed coal mine in Perry State Forest in January.
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