FRACKING: Injection wells continue to divide residents in southeast Ohio over the potential health implications of the disposal practice. (The Post Athens)
COAL:
• Minnesota’s second-largest utility sees a diminishing role for coal in its portfolio as the market shifts toward wind and natural gas. (Midwest Energy News)
• A federal judge orders the U.S. EPA to determine whether actions taken under the Obama administration directly resulted in coal industry job losses. (The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register)
• Illinois coal production was down in 2016, but industry officials say it is trending upward in 2017. (Platts)
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PIPELINES:
• State and regional businesses form the Great Lakes Business Network to lobby lawmakers to close Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac. (MLive)
• Enbridge may be set up for a “bruising legal battle” in Wisconsin after a Native American tribe voted against renewing land use agreements for the Line 5 pipeline there. (Reuters)
• Dakota Access activists are pushing for a patchwork of pipeline protests across the country. (Associated Press)
• A group of landowners file a federal lawsuit claiming the Dakota Access developer deceived them into accepting an unfair price for pipeline easements. (Forum News Service)
• Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is also President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for energy secretary, has resigned from the boards of two energy companies developing the Dakota Access pipeline. (Associated Press)
SOLAR:
• Electric cooperatives across Ohio are turning to solar projects to help members access the energy source at minimal cost. (Marietta Times)
• A developer considers building a 1-megawatt solar project on five acres of land in northwest Michigan. (Traverse City Record-Eagle)
• An Illinois school district expects to save $10 million over the next 25 years by installing solar panels on the roofs of five of its schools. (Bugle Newspapers)
EFFICIENCY: Advocates look to make Property Assessed Clean Energy financing more readily available throughout Wisconsin. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
FRAC SAND: More than a dozen acres of pristine wetland forest in Wisconsin are at stake as a company looks to build a new frac sand terminal. (LaCrosse Tribune)
OIL AND GAS: Groups representing North Dakota landowners are opposing a state bill that would reduce the number of spills the oil industry reports. (Forum News Service)
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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: One startup company at the Detroit auto show is showcasing a way to recycle and reuse electric vehicle batteries. (WXYZ-TV)
CLIMATE: Secretary of State nominee and ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson says climate change is happening and should be dealt with, but dodges questions about his company’s role in sowing doubts about science. (Washington Post)