Energy

The Texas legislature has passed a bill that would eliminate tax abatements for wind turbines sited within 25 miles of military bases, over concerns they pose a safety risk to bases with aviation operations. Senate Bill 277 passed the House 76-65 on Tuesday, a day after a preliminary vote; the Senate passed the measure in April. Platts reports Gov. Greg Abbott's office has not indicated if he will sign the bill.Opponents of the bill say wind turbines do not pose a threat to military bases, and that the measure is political.  [node:read-more:link]

xxonMobil lost its appeal on Tuesday to keep records held by its auditors away from the New York attorney general's climate fraud probe. The documents could afford a candid—and perhaps damaging—glimpse into Exxon's private calculations of the business risks posed by climate change. They could contain anything from a smoking gun email to plodding, yet revealing, discussions related to Exxon's posture on global warming, including whether the company was adequately calculating climate change risks for investors. [node:read-more:link]

Former Chairman of the Arizona Corporation Commission Gary Pierce and water company owner George Johnson were indicted in federal court on charges of bribery, conspiracy and fraud. The charges filed in U.S. [node:read-more:link]

The Assembly passed the measures Monday to incentivize customers to install solar energy storage systems, research possible targets for utility companies to procure energy storage systems, and make it easier for residents to put up windmills. Assembly members also agreed with a Senate amendment to a bill that supporters say will help save energy and lower bills for customers, sending that to Gov. Brian Sandoval’s desk as well. [node:read-more:link]

Ethanol shines in Nebraska -- creating jobs in communities like Cambridge, Ord, and Ravenna, while also boosting the bottom line for farmers. Nebraska produces more than two billion gallons a year, with two dozen plants, most in small communities. Ethanol, even higher blends up to 85 percent widely available in Nebraska. [node:read-more:link]

A new proposal in the Ohio House would provide a perpetual subsidy for two coal-fired power plants owned jointly by American Electric Power and just about every other major electricity utility in the state. House Bill 239 calls for the owners of Ohio Valley Electric Corp. to receive a guarantee of income at times when the market price of electricity is less than the cost to operate the power plants. [node:read-more:link]

Ethanol consumption  has been promoted at the state level. In Iowa for instance, the Iowa General Assembly authorized House File 2754 in 2006. This legislation established the goal that 25% of all petroleum used in the formulation of gasoline in Iowa be replaced by biofuels by 2020. To support this goal, several refundable tax credits were enacted for biofuel retailers. [node:read-more:link]

A for-profit utility company claims it tried to be a good neighbor to meet concerns of farmers affected by a 100-mile power line that is under construction and will cross several northern Indiana counties.But farmers who are dealing with the downsides — such as gravel roads through their crops and poles that need to be farmed around — say they feel cheated by the Northern Indiana Public Service Co."I think they're absolutely crooks," said Karl Faulstich, who runs a 330-acre farm with his father near Plymouth.The Faulstiches were among hundreds of landowners who had no choice but to sell rig [node:read-more:link]

While the situation varies from species to species and state to state, sellers of noncommodity pork, beef, and chicken agree: there simply aren't enough facilities to humanely and safely kill their animals. The numbers are stark. In 1967 there were 9,627 livestock (cattle, calf, hog and sheep) slaughtering establishments in the U.S. That same year, Congress passed the Wholesome Meat Act, requiring producers to use a USDA-inspected facility if they sell meat across state lines. A mass consolidation of the meat industry followed. Today, commodity meat is dominated by large companies. [node:read-more:link]

Wisconsin’s environmental protection agency has authorized a Georgia timber company to fill more than 16 acres of Monroe County wetlands in order to build a $65 million frac sand facility.Meteor Timber, one of the largest private landowners in Wisconsin, has proposed building a processing and loading facility along Interstate 94 near the town of Millston to dry and ship frac sand the company will mine from a nearby site it acquired in a 2014 purchase of nearly 50,000 acres.The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources on Friday granted the company a permit allowing it to fill the wetlands, [node:read-more:link]