PIPELINES: A federal judge orders the Trump administration to conduct further environmental reviews of the Dakota Access pipeline, but stopped short of halting oil-pumping operations. (Washington Post)
WIND:
• Advocates are pressing Ohio lawmakers this week to include a provision in a budget bill that eases setback restrictions for turbines. (Columbus Dispatch)
• As Geronimo Energy develops wind projects across the Midwest, the company’s CEO says he wants to “make certain the farms are taken care of.” (KEYC)
• Officials are investigating the cause of a wind turbine’s collapse in southeast Nebraska. (Lincoln Journal Star)
NUCLEAR: With the glut of cheap natural gas putting pressure on nuclear plants and the inability of wind and solar to replace the generation, longtime anti-nuclear environmental groups are rethinking their position. (New York Times)
OIL AND GAS: A countywide economic development agency is partnering with universities in North Dakota to hedge against the boom-and-bust cycle of oil patch jobs. (Associated Press)
CLEAN TECH: A Minneapolis company partners with the University of Minnesota on new technology that takes carbon-based material and turns it into a gas that can be used for energy. (Minnesota Daily)
EMISSIONS: A switch in software has led to glitches in testing vehicle emissions for drivers and garage operators in the St. Louis area. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
WASTE-TO-ENERGY: A landfill gas operation in Dane County, Wisconsin is considering a plan to turn the methane the trash produces into compressed natural gas and possibly pipe it to California. (Isthmus)
COAL: More than 100 teachers from the Upper Midwest tour coal-mining facilities in North Dakota through a seminar sponsored by an industry group. (Bismarck Tribune)
DEMAND RESPONSE: Energy efficiency and demand response efforts are getting an early test this year in keeping prices low and demand stable as high temperatures hit the Midwest. (Utility Dive)
BIOFUELS: Developers of a $240 million soybean processing plant in North Dakota seek more investors. (Associated Press)
COMMENTARY:
• An editorial says the latest attempt to ban fracking in Youngstown, Ohio “is just as foolhardy today as it was when it was first placed on the ballot.” (Youngstown Vindicator)
• A newspaper says southern Minnesota needs updated transmission infrastructure as more wind and solar comes online. (Mankato Free Press)
• A Chicago Tribune editorial says cutting funding for clean energy research is short-sighted.