EFFICIENCY: A new federal rule will help counter North Carolina’s weak building energy conservation code by requiring starter homes with certain federally-backed mortgages to include energy-saving features. (Energy News Network)

ALSO: Louisiana regulators award a contract to administer the state’s long-awaited energy efficiency program, more than a decade in the making. (Louisiana Illuminator)

NUCLEAR: 

PIPELINES: 

  • A fire started by a Texas pipeline explosion continued to burn for a third day, though officials said it would soon burn itself out. (Reuters)
  • Mountain Valley Pipeline opponents sound the alarm about the Texas pipeline fire, saying it’s a reminder of potential danger associated with the recently completed project. (WSLS)

POLITICS: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin joins a coalition of Republican governors advocating for “energy choice,” which climate activists say is a euphemism for continued use of fossil fuels. (Virginia Mercury)

OIL & GAS: Louisiana groups receive federal grants to investigate carbon capture, hydrogen production and other technology intended to decarbonize the state’s oil, gas, petrochemical and plastics industries. (NOLA.com)

HYDROGEN: Officials with a planned Appalachian hydrogen hub lay out a 10-year, four-phase timeline to plan, build and scale a sprawling project that would include pipelines, fueling stations and permanent carbon storage infrastructure. (State Journal)

SOLAR: 

BIOMASS: A Savannah-area mill will supply Georgia Power with 4.6 MW of power from burning bark and other wood products. (Savannah Morning News)

BIOGAS: Officials in Florida’s Miami-Dade County consider where to build a waste-to-energy incinerator after its previous one burned down in 2023. (WTVJ)

CLIMATE: An agriculture industry watchdog sues Arkansas-based Tyson Foods for misleading consumers by marketing “climate friendly” beef and pledging to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 despite the near impossibility of mass-producing beef in ways that benefit the climate. (Inside Climate News)

JOBS: Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee have seen the biggest commitments from clean energy manufacturers since the passage of the federal Inflation Reduction Act two years ago. (Governing)

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Mason has worked as a journalist since 2001, covering Appalachian communities and the issues that affect them. He compiles the Southeast Energy News digest. Mason previously worked as a wildlife biologist before moving into journalism by freelancing at Coast Weekly in Monterey, California, before taking an internship in 2001 at High Country News. He wrote for the Enterprise Mountaineer in western North Carolina and the Roanoke Times in western Virginia before going freelance in 2012. His work has appeared in Southerly, Daily Yonder, Mother Jones, Huffington Post, WVPB’s Inside Appalachia and elsewhere. Mason was born and raised in Clifton Forge, Virginia, and now lives with his family and a small herd of goats in Floyd County, Virginia.