CLIMATE: The Rhode Island House has passed a major climate bill that will legally hold the government accountable for meeting a net-zero emissions goal in 2050, it will now be reconciled with a Senate bill passed last week. (Providence Journal)
ALSO:
• New York City plans to push $6 billion in pension fund investments toward public companies and projects fighting climate change, triple a 2018 goal. (amNewYork)
• The most recent auction of carbon allowances in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative set a record price of $7.60 per ton. (Energy Information Administration)
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OFFSHORE WIND: Maine officials say they found no violations by lobstermen who are in a dispute with an offshore wind survey vessel over a survey of an undersea transmission cable route that led to the suspension of the survey. (Maine Public)
PIPELINES: A federal appeals court overrules New York environmental officials and clears the way for a pipeline to carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to Ontario. (Buffalo News)
OIL & GAS: The Appalachian shale gas market is not likely to remain profitable, according to a new report, an author of which argues that policymakers need to make a transition plan for the local economy and environment. (Gizmodo)
GRID:
• A new study says capacity market rules adopted by grid operator PJM could cost New Jersey ratepayers an additional $300 million annually in electricity costs as federal regulators also hold a conference to discuss the rule’s future. (NJ Spotlight)
• Officials with ISO New England, New York Independent System Operator and PJM Interconnection said they are in favor of getting rid of MOPR if something else replaces it. (S&P Global Platts)
COMMENTARY:
• The director of an academic offshore wind initiative says surveys show the public is behind the energy source and that a vocal minority misrepresents its supposed impacts to discredit it. (NJ Spotlight)
• An editorial board asks Maine lobstermen to turn down the heat in a dispute with developers of a proposed floating wind turbine, saying there is room in the ocean for both fishing and energy production. (CentralMaine.com)
• The Sierra Club says while the recently created Vermont Climate Council has broad representation in its charter to create a clean energy future, it is still important for the general public to participate in its deliberations. (VT Digger)
• A clean energy advocate says the recent approval of a Long Island offshore wind transmission connection is an important milestone in an arduous process to tap into the abundant energy source. (Long Island Press)