OIL & GAS: A Texas lawsuit alleging Chevron and other oil companies failed to properly plug oil wells raises the question of a “colossal liability” that could fall to companies or taxpayers. (Inside Climate News)

ALSO:

GRID: 

SOLAR: A Tennessee public housing authority installs solar panels on a property to house a community of veterans at risk of being homeless. (WBIR)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Oklahoma transportation officials collect public input on the state’s draft plan to build electric vehicle chargers and other infrastructure. (KSWO)

PIPELINES: Opponents of the Mountain Valley Pipeline praise a provision in federal legislation to create a national office of public engagement to better communicate details about the transport of natural gas. (WFDD)

UTILITIES: 

CLIMATE: 

  • Heat-related deaths during the power outages in Houston that followed Hurricane Beryl put a spotlight on the need for air conditioning, and a wave of new state laws prohibiting utilities from disconnecting customers for non-payment during heat waves. (Wall Street Journal, subscription)
  • Virginia unveils new draft septic regulations to account for more intense rainfall and rising sea and groundwater levels driven by climate change. (Virginia Mercury)

COMMENTARY: 

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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.