CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• Why natural gas plays a minor role in the final Clean Power Plan. (ClimateWire)
• The plan includes a “safety valve” in case reliability issues arise. (EnergyWire)
• The EPA says it will impose an enforceable carbon trading program on states refusing to comply with their emissions cuts under the plan. (ClimateWire)
• A chart from InsideClimate News shows who got what they wanted in negotiations over the final rule.

SOLAR:
• A new Texas law will limit the ability of neighborhood associations to ban or regulate solar panels. (Texas Tribune)
• FirstSolar is seeing strong growth, and is currently sold out of modules into 2016. (Greentech Media)
• Arizona regulators recommend dismissal of a utility’s request to raise access fees for solar customers. (Phoenix Business Journal)
• Proposed rate changes by California utilities could significantly alter the economics of solar in the state. (Greentech Media)
• A Nevada lawmaker says the solar industry is trying to “circumvent the legislative process” in fighting changes to net metering. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

FRACKING:
• Oklahoma regulators order limits on wastewater disposal in an area that has seen a rash of earthquakes. (New York Times)
• Geologists say the reduction in drilling activity in Kansas has resulted in fewer earthquakes. (Associated Press)

OIL BY RAIL:
• The EPA says a permit should be withheld for a proposed oil terminal near Portland, Oregon until it complies with the Clean Water Act. (Vancouver Columbian)
• A company has suspended plans for a Wisconsin oil terminal that would shipped North Dakota crude oil on the Great Lakes. (Sault This Week)

KEYSTONE XL: TransCanada says it has already spent $2.4 billion on the Keystone XL pipeline, and may sue the U.S. to recover that money if the project is not approved. (Omaha World-Herald)

NATURAL GAS: Has burning natural gas instead of coal helped the U.S. economy decarbonize? It’s complicated. (Scientific American)

ELECTRIC CARS:
• A California regulator is pushing the state away from gasoline-powered cars: “we’ve got to get people used to a zero-emissions world.” (Bloomberg Business)
• Analysts say automakers are failing to educate the public about electric vehicles. (Green Car Reports)

VIDEO: “Al Gore is a cuss word” – residents of Woodward County, Oklahoma weigh in on climate change. (CNN)

COMMENTARY:
• Why the Clean Power Plan will be good for business. (New York Times)
• President Obama didn’t kill coal, the market did. (Bloomberg)

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

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