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)

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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