** The Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday it has filed a complaint challenging a proposed joint coal mining venture by two of the world’s biggest coal producers, both based in St. Louis, who said they plan to continue to pursue the deal. Peabody Energy and Arch Coal announced in June that they had agreed to combine their assets in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin (PRB) and in Colorado for a joint venture to be operated by Peabody, which would own 66.5% of the business, with 33.5% owned by Arch.
** Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg tweets his opposition to the Line 5 pipeline in Michigan which earns praise from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
** Cedar Rapids, Iowa, officials pass a resolution committing to a series of community-wide climate change goals, including net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
** Warren Buffett says Iowa wind energy has helped Berkshire Hathaway Energy reduce costs by selling excess power back to utilities that supplants the need for fossil fuels at certain times.
** A valve leak causes 105,000 gallons of treated produced water to spill in northwestern North Dakota.
** Despite numerous concessions, Oregon House Republicans join their Senate colleagues in a walkout over climate legislation, with one Democratic leader saying “nothing will ever be enough for them.”
** PG&E’s $13.5 billion settlement with California wildfire victims has many worried that they will be the lowest priority in the payout.
** A Wyoming House committee advanced legislation that would allow utilities to recover the cost for construction of carbon capture equipment on coal facilities from ratepayers.
** An Arizona bill that would require solar panels to be recycled has passed a House committee.
** New Mexico Democratic Congresswoman Xochitl Torres Small wants to ensure that a “sound and robust” scientific review guides federal regulators’ decision on a nuclear storage facility in the state.
