FRACKING: The Illinois House approves a bill to regulate fracking, Gov. Pat Quinn says he wants the Senate to pass the bill “as soon as possible.” (Chicago Tribune)

ELECTRIC CARS: Tesla Motors announces a major expansion of its charging station network, with much of the Midwest to be covered by the end of this year. (GigaOM)

EFFICIENCY: How a grassroots community effort helped a small Iowa town achieve dramatic gains in energy efficiency. (Midwest Energy News)

MICHIGAN: In an interview with the Associated Press, Gov. Rick Snyder says he wants to increase the amount of renewable energy produced in the state. (Associated Press)

CLIMATE: In Chicago, President Obama tells donors “I don’t have much patience for people who deny climate change.” (The Hill)

TRANSMISSION: Minnesota’s Supreme Court rules landowners are entitled to relocation costs if they opt to have their property bought out when a transmission line encroaches upon it. (St. Cloud Times)

WIND: A Minnesota utility doubles its renewable energy capacity with the dedication of a North Dakota wind farm, and Xcel Energy plans to get 30 percent of its electricity in Colorado from wind. (Dickinson Press, Denver Post)

NATURAL GAS: North Dakota’s governor supports a plan for a new $650 million pipeline to transport waste natural gas from the Oil Patch to a terminal in Minnesota. (Bismarck Tribune)

OIL: Heavy spring rains complicate ongoing cleanup of the 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill. (InsideClimate News)

POLLUTION: The oil industry opposes new smog standards that are projected to save thousands of lives per year. (The Hill)

BIOENERGY: A Wisconsin-based health care organization breaks ground on a $14 million manure biodigester that will help the company achieve a portion of its energy independence goal. (LaCrosse Tribune)

COMMENTARY: Why Master Limited Partnerships are bad policy for renewable energy, and have utilities declared war on net metering? (Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Forbes)

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Ken Paulman

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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