CHICAGO: Activists in Chicago’s Southeast Side, once the proposed home of a controversial coal-to-gas project, say the area is ripe for other energy opportunities, and they’re offering tours to highlight it. (Midwest Energy News)
CLIMATE: While U.S. political leaders remain quiet about climate change, many corporations are stepping up and cutting emissions – and saving money in the process; and some policy experts say a string of court victories for the EPA may make cap-and-trade legislation more likely in Congress. (InsideClimate News, The Hill)
POLITICS: Asked whether he supports fracking, President Obama says he is “a big promoter of natural gas”; and North Dakota gubernatorial candidates debate the state’s handling of the oil boom. (Canton Repository, Associated Press)
NATURAL GAS: A new 800 MW natural gas power plant is proposed just outside Toledo; an Egyptian firm seeking to take advantage of low natural gas prices plans a $1.4 billion fertilizer plant in southeast Iowa; a Cleveland suburb considers an amendment banning new oil and gas drilling; and Colorado farmers compete with the drilling industry for water. (Toledo Blade, Dow Jones Newswires, Cleveland Plain Dealer, New York Times)
OIL SANDS: TransCanada changes 210 miles of the Keystone XL pipeline’s route through Nebraska to avoid environmentally sensitive areas., and Shell announces it will proceed with a major carbon capture project in a Canadian oil field. (Lincoln Journal Star, New York Times)
COAL: Cleveland Public Power’s stake in Prairie State Energy Campus marks the second time in recent years the utility has been burned on a coal investment, and Peabody Energy announces it’s shutting down an Indiana mine. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Associated Press)
ETHANOL: Bankers say cutting ethanol mandates may do as much harm to the agriculture industry as good. (Reuters)
NUCLEAR: The NRC plans an 11-day supplemental inspection of the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan. (MLive.com)
COMMENTARY: Where Obama and Romney stand on climate, and is the energy boom a mirage? (Washington Post, New York Times)