Share your favorite lesser-known communities, please! I’m always looking for more to join

I’m not a software developer, but I like to use Python to help speed up some of my office work. One of my regular tasks is to print a stack of ~40 sheets of paper, highlight key information for each entry (about 3 entries per page), and fill out a spreadsheet with that information that then gets loaded into our software.

This is time-consuming, and I’d like to write a program that can scan the OCR-ed PDFs and pull the relevant information into a CSV.

I’m confident I could handle it from there, but I know that PDFs are tricky files to work with. Are there any Python modules that might be a good fit for the approach I’m hoping to take here? Thanks!

Proposed utility-scale solar-plus-storage projects would add enough capacity to power approximately 4 million households.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public comment on a proposal as it evaluates the impacts of seven large-scale solar-plus-storage projects called Esmeralda 7.

The seven solar installations are to be located near Tonopah in central Nevada and are expected to generate a total of up to 5.3 GW of electricity, or enough to power approximately 4 million households. In a state that currently has just over 5 GW of solar energy installations, these seven sites would move it far closer to achieving its renewable portfolio standard goal of 50% by 2030.

According to the project description, the location provides a large, flat portion of land suitable for solar development near the proposed NV Energy GreenLink Transmission Line as well as the Esmeralda substation. Using the BLM Solar Energy Environmental Mapper, the land is identified as available solar variance land with strong solar potential. The project description includes decommissioning plans and states that it will will have minimal impact on residents as it is located in a rural area more than 24 miles from the nearest population center in Tonopah and approximately 13 miles from the town of Silver Peak.

The Energy Act of 2020 aims to deploy 25 GW of solar, wind, and geothermal on public lands no later than 2025, as such deployment is integral to meeting the nation’s goal of a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035, as well as Congress’ direction in the Energy Act of 2020 to permit 25 gigawatts of solar.

“The effort is a high priority for BLM Nevada and will be a significant source of renewable energy in support of reaching the country’s clean energy goals,” said Doug Furtado, district manager of Battle Mountain. “I am very proud of the work each of these companies have done working together with my staff to ensure a timely and efficient permitting process for the E7 Solar Projects and we look forward to hearing public comment on the proposal.”

The seven projects are:

Esmeralda Energy Center Project, proposed by Boulevard Associates LLC; Gold Dust Solar Project, proposed by Gold Dust Solar LLC; Lone Mountain Solar Project, proposed by Lone Mountain Solar LLC; Nivloc Energy Project, proposed by Nivloc Solar LLC; Red Ridge 1 Project, proposed by 335ES 8me LLC; Red Ridge 2 Project, proposed by 336SP 8me LLC; and Smoky Valley Solar Project, proposed by CG Western Renewables III LLC.

The Proposed Project is intended to be constructed in a single phase, although it may be developed in multiple phases depending on power purchase agreements. If constructed all at once, it is expected to take 24 months. A Notice of Intent is expected to be published in the Federal Register next week to open a 30-day public comment period. More information, including maps, planning documents, how to register for virtual public scoping meetings, and instructions on how to submit scoping comments are available at the BLM National NEPA Register.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, with potential to make significant contributions to the nation’s renewable energy portfolio. To promote development of these energy sources, BLM provides sites for environmentally sound development of clean energy on public lands

Michigan lawmakers approved a slate of bills Wednesday night that are set to transform the energy systems at the heart of America’s heavy industry, putting the major manufacturing state on a course to generate all its electricity from carbon-free sources within just 17 years.

The Great Lake State gets nearly 57% of its power from plants burning coal and natural gas, while nuclear reactors produce another 30% and renewables account for just 13%.

By 2034, at least 60% of the energy mix will instead need to come from sources like solar and wind. By 2040, the rest of the electricity supply will have to come from atomic stations; plants burning “biomass,” such as wood; hydrogen fuel; or fossil fuels equipped with technology to capture carbon dioxide in smokestacks before it enters the atmosphere.

To pull off a fivefold increase in renewables, other bills in the package will tweak zoning rules, grant the state’s utility regulators more power to engage in long-term planning, and give the state control over locating most clean-energy plants capable of pumping out over 100 megawatts of electricity, diminishing local governments’ ability to block wind, solar, battery and transmission projects. Other measures will establish a statewide office to work with labor unions to make sure fossil fuel workers are not left behind in the transition and will mandate that utilities cut back on wasted energy.

“With passage of these game-changing bills, Michigan will become a national leader on clean energy,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said in a statement Wednesday night. “People want to know that they can start a family, career, or business in a state that will provide them with strong economic opportunities and fight for their children’s future. Today we are protecting everything we know and love about pure Michigan.”

Whitmer threw her weight behind legislative push nearly four months ago. The bill marks her first major climate policy effort and the latest legislative victory since the second-term governor passed landmark laws to expand abortion and voting rights.

While 22 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have adopted targets for 100% clean energy mixes, Michigan would be only the 14th state to enshrine the goal into law.

The only major neighboring state with a similar policy on the books is Minnesota. But Michigan’s laws will offer fewer loopholes for polluters to offset emissions by buying credits in carbon markets and will allow utilities to build new nuclear reactors to meet the clean-electricity goals.

Rather than frame the effort in the save-the-planet talking points usually favored by environmentalists, Whitmer pitched the overhaul of the state’s power system as a pathway to more reliable electricity and better-managed freshwater supplies, burnishing her reputation among some national Democrats as a soothsayer able to reach Midwestern voters drawn in past elections to former President Donald Trump’s populist rhetoric.

“This means all the energy we produce will be from wind, solar, or other common sense sources,” she said in a speech in August. “It means clean air for our kids to breathe and safe water for them to drink. And it means protecting our lakes for generations to come.”

Her statewide speech came just days after storms downed parts of Michigan’s aging grid and left more than 400,000 people without power to run air conditioners or breathing equipment, even as the summer heat climbed past 90 degrees Fahrenheit and wildfires in Canada laced the air with toxic smoke. It was the latest in a series of blackouts that grew in frequency this year, in a state whose utilities a recent independent study pegged as among the nation’s least reliable despite charging some of the highest rates in the Great Lakes region.

As the final versions of the legislation made their way through the state House and Senate in the final week of October, Michigan’s AFL-CIO labor union offered its support, saying the proposals aligned with efforts by autoworkers to secure fair contracts for building electric vehicles.

Some environmental groups criticized measures allowing power plants burning gas collected from landfills and agricultural waste to remain part of the mix. They also accused the legislators of offering too many carve-outs for trash-incinerator facilities that until recently have plagued the air quality in largely Black neighborhoods of Detroit.

Republicans fiercely opposed the legislative package, echoing complaints from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, a business lobby that has historically played down the need to cut emissions, that the goals set in the bill are “unrealistic” and risk raising the cost of living in a state already struggling with inflation. GOP lawmakers told the Michigan Advance that the speed with which Democrats passed the legislation was “irresponsible.”

But climate policy groups like Evergreen Action said swift passage of the legislation was key to netting up to $1 billion in federal funding for decarbonization infrastructure made available under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

“Today, Michigan led the industrial heartland and the country towards a clean and prosperous economy,” Courtney Bourgoin, Evergreen’s Midwest senior policy and advocacy manager, said in a statement. “This package will create quality jobs by having the strongest labor standards included in a climate package nationwide — showing that clean energy investment and good-paying jobs go hand-in-hand.”