Energy

A wide variety of interested groups have reached consensus that a group of 11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states should impose a regional carbon price to cut transportation greenhouse gases, which is similar to how the region limits utility emissions through a cap-and-trade program, though the states have not said they are ready to move on the concept.

EPA and New Mexico have released a draft white paper aimed at facilitating the use of produced water from oil and gas drilling in the state by identifying regulatory or policy gaps, but the state's ability to make any changes outlined in the paper could be limited by EPA's pending decision on how to manage wastewater from onshore oil and gas extraction.

Environmentalists and the power sector are waging an 11th-hour effort calling on the White House and EPA to preserve the Obama-era mercury emissions rule for utilities, with environmentalists aiming to keep the rule intact while utilities that have invested millions of dollars to comply want it retained with changes to ease some requirements.