PIPELINES: The company that built the Dakota Access pipeline is suing Greenpeace and other environmental groups for damages upwards of $1 billion, claiming the groups disseminated false information about the project. (Associated Press)
EFFICIENCY: A team of Midwestern researchers is studying energy use patterns in hopes of devising home energy management systems with what their users really want. (Midwest Energy News)
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OIL AND GAS:
• A new study shows Ohio and Kansas rank near the top of states with the highest percentage of residents living within one mile of an active oil or gas well. (Daily Climate)
• Consumers Energy begins construction on a $610 million natural gas pipeline replacement project in southeast Michigan. (NBC 25)
SOLAR: A public meeting in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula gauges interest in potentially building a community solar project. (WLUC)
EMISSIONS: The Trump administration is giving few details over how it plans to enforce restrictions on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. (E&E News)
COAL:
• Backed by $5 million from the state, the University of North Dakota will lead a 14-month study on storing carbon emissions from coal plants and whether CO2 can be used to boost the state’s oil output. (Associated Press)
• Environmental groups are concerned about the amount of coal ash that would be left behind at a southern Indiana coal plant set to close within five years. (WDRB)
• An analysis says Murray Energy’s failure to shift policy with the Trump administration’s use of an emergency order to protect coal plants raises questions about the limits of business leaders to circumvent government bureaucracy. (Politico)
RENEWABLES: U.S. Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota is impressed by the renewable energy development on a reservation in the northern part of the state. (FOX 21)
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CLIMATE: New research shows attitudes toward climate change are driven by politics and that those with the most polarizing beliefs are often the most educated and informed. (E&E News)
GRID: An Ohio community could be the first in the state to see a new high-capacity power line made of metal poles instead of wood as American Electric Power aims to improve reliability. (Columbus Dispatch)