ARCTIC DRILLING: The Obama administration is expected this week to give the go-ahead to a controversial plan by Shell to restart drilling for oil in the Arctic. (Guardian)
ALSO: A Washington state judge says a lawsuit challenging the Port of Seattle’s decision to lease one of its terminals as a home port for Shell’s Arctic oil-drilling fleet can go forward. (Associated Press)
SOLAR:
• Shanghai-based Solar Power is joining with Aqua Clean Energy to develop floating solar projects on platforms in reservoirs, quarry lakes, irrigation canals and tailing ponds in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico. (Bloomberg)
• Texas ranks 10th in the U.S. for solar capacity after adding 129 megawatts of solar power in 2014, mostly in utility-scale installations. (Fuel Fix)
• Disputes arising over solar panel leases are becoming an increasing problem for home sellers and buyers. (Los Angeles Times)
• A study of 87 utilities in 16 states found that the average time from application to connecting a new solar array to the grid is 53 business days, but in Colorado it takes 60. (The Denver Post)
HYDRO: California is staring at a massive decline in hydropower as the state enters its fourth consecutive year of drought. (Uncover California)
COAL:
• As coal markets have deteriorated across the board, BB&T Capital Markets analyst Mark Levin says the sector has bifurcated into the “haves” and “have-nots” when it comes to the ability to access capital. (SNL Financial)
• Vice News will focus on the effects of coal mining and power generation on the Navajo Nation in a new investigative series. (Indian Country Today Media Network)
FRACKING: An hour after the Obama administration released new rules for hydraulic fracturing on public lands, the oil-and-gas industry filed a lawsuit claiming they were based on “unsubstantiated concerns” that lack any scientific basis. (The Hill)
CARBON:
• A senior White House official said Senator Mitch McConnell’s plea to governors to ignore the EPA’s rule on emissions from coal-fired power plants is “way outside the bounds of the position that he was elected to.” (The Christian Science Monitor)
• Experts at the University of Michigan and a Lansing-based energy consulting firm have released a model to help states calculate the most cost-effective and least risky ways to comply with impending carbon regulations. (Midwest Energy News)
• Researchers are experimenting with caviar-sized polymer bubbles filled with baking soda that absorb carbon dioxide as a climate solution. (Bloomberg)
POLITICS: Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who declared his run for president on Monday, is “absolutely unfit” to run for the office because of his views on climate change, according to Democrat California Governor Jerry Brown. (The Hill)
FLORIDA: Florida’s state employees are preparing for climate change even though their governor reportedly bans use of the term. (New Republic)