Energy & Fuel

"Three conservation groups accused Dominion Virginia Power Wednesday of illegally discharging coal ash waste into the Potomac River."

"Environmentalists who have tried with little success to stop the Obama administration from leasing billions of tons of coal for mining are hailing a U.S. district court ruling in Colorado last week as a game changer. At issue in Judge R. Brooke Jackson's decision that scrapped federal approval of coal-lease expansion was the impact of coal mining and burning on global warming."

"Natural gas and solar are the winners so far in 2014 in the race to move electric power generation away from coal, a new U.S. Energy Information Administration report shows. As utilities across the U.S. have added new electric power generating capacity, most of that added capacity has come from natural gas and solar. No new coal power-generating capacity has been added yet in 2014, though two small plants are expected to open this year in North Dakota and Mississippi."

"A week before major UN talks on climate change, EPA extends comment period for rule to cut carbon pollution from plants."

"Regardless of whether Duke keeps the coal turbines at Lake Julian or retires them, the legislation requires it to find a safer way to store the coal ash held in wet ponds at the plant.""

"Problems with natural gas well construction appears to be the primary cause of drinking water contamination from shale-gas extraction, according to a new study published today by researchers from five universities."

"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has brought its review of a proposed coal export terminal to an immediate halt, a blow to the Australian company that's trying to get coal from the Northern Rockies to a hungry Asian market."

"As concerns grow over aging rail infrastructure, earthquake readiness and a dramatic increase in crude oil shipments by train, state railroad regulators are scrambling to hire their first-ever railroad bridge inspectors -- two of them."

"Prominent oil lobby the American Petroleum Institute (API) said the Obama administration will likely boost the amount of biofuels refiners must blend into the nation's fuel supply to help out a Democrat in a tight Senate race."

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved an aquifer exemption for a coal gasification pilot project in Campbell County [Wyoming] this week, drawing criticism from landowners worried that the facility could contaminate a potential source of drinking water."