The Senate Tuesday passed a package of energy reform bills that would set in motion a variety of electricity generation projects — from solar to nuclear to natural gas — start long-term energy-supply planning efforts and give ratepayers a slight rebate.
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More DMV News
Dominion Energy Asks Loudoun County School Board to Approve Transmission Lines by Schools
ABC-7 News
A number of Loudoun County residents have spoken at Loudoun County School Board meetings and Board of Supervisors meetings to raise concerns about newly proposed high-voltage transmission lines.
Virginia Governor Signs Some Environmental Bills, Deems Others Unnecessary
The Bay Journal
Renewable energy was also a hot topic this year. Youngkin ended up vetoing bills that would have created a multi-family shared solar program, established workforce training programs for the solar and offshore wind industries, and prioritized solar installations on parking lots and schools.
DC Councilmember Pushes for Solar Canopies to Expand Renewable Energy and Provide Shade
WUSA-9 News
Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen calls for a major expansion of solar canopies in the District, arguing that the technology offers a sustainable way to generate electricity while providing much-needed shade in public spaces.
Newly-Approved State Study Aims to Codify Virginia’s Coastal Resilience Funding
Virginia Mercury
State policy, fund dedicated to projects gives localities confidence as their capital improvement budgets evolve to include infrastructure storm risk projects, requiring millions.
National and International News
A Stunning Number of Electric Vehicle, Battery Factories are Being Canceled
Washington Post
Over the past few years, electric vehicle manufacturing facilities producing lithium batteries, car parts and critical minerals sprang up all over the United States. Drawing on cash and tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act, these factories promised to provide jobs — largely in Republican areas — and to set the nation on a path to making homegrown EVs.
Trump Takes Aim At the People Who Protect National Parks from Climate Change
Grist
The last few months have been a tumultuous time for National Park Service employees. After President Donald Trump took office, the federal agency laid off roughly 1,000 employees in a purge dubbed the Valentine’s Day massacre. Then, after two judges ruled that the layoffs were unlawful, they were rehired. Now, as the Department of Government Efficiency begins executing an official and much larger plan to slash the federal workforce, many employees anxiously await the next round of cuts. The White House has reportedly directed the agency to reduce its workforce by as much as 30 percent in the coming months.
Trump Promised to Slash Energy Prices. How’s That Going?
E&E News
Analysts say the president’s vow to lower Americans’ gasoline and electricity is imperiled by his tariffs and on-and-off funding for federal energy programs.
American Farmers and the USDA Had Finally Embraced Their Role in the Climate Crisis. Then Came the Federal Funding Freeze
Inside Climate News
Critics say the Trump administration’s halt to billions in conservation spending could cause long-term damage and slow hard-won progress.
EPA Cuts Could Leave Small Rural Towns Choking in Smoke
Washington Post
When wildfire smoke drifts into the Methow Valley, it tends to stay, settling in the folds of the Cascade foothills like a choking fog. Recent summers have brought weeks-long binges of unhealthy air to one of Washington state’s poorest counties, rivaling some of the most polluted cities in the world.