FRACKING: Environmentalists and health professionals say Ohio’s law protecting gas company trade secrets also makes it nearly impossible for medical personnel to get the chemical information they need in time to protect patients. (Midwest Energy News)
CLIMATE: The Doha climate talks end with an agreement to extend the Kyoto Protocol, and the new leader of the Democratic Governors Association says the group will focus heavily on climate change in coming years. (Washington Post, The Hill)
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ELECTRIC CARS: The assets of bankrupt battery maker A123 Systems are purchased by a Chinese company. (Washington Post)
CHICAGO: City officials choose Integrys as the supplier for the city’s electricity, a move they expect will save ratepayers up to $150 each through May 2015. (Chicago Tribune)
OIL: A North Dakota rancher says oil field chemicals are causing her cows’ tails to fall off, and the company hired by Nebraska to conduct an environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline has ties to TransCanada. (Fargo Forum, OnEarth Magazine)
ALSO: A University of Nebraska researcher suggests routing Keystone XL through heavily irrigated parts of the state, because the center pivots could be used to clean up contaminated water in the event of a spill. (Lincoln Journal Star)
TRANSPORTATION: Ray LaHood says the Obama administration is “not giving up on high speed rail.” (Washington Post)
FRAC SAND: Wisconsin landowners raise concerns about dust from sand mining (“This grit, I can chew it”), and a small Wisconsin town restricts truck traffic. (Huffington Post, LaCrosse Tribune)
EFFICIENCY: GM plants in Flint, Michigan are recognized by the EPA for voluntarily reducing energy use, an Ohio county uses a game format to encourage efficiency, and Duluth leaders consider LED streetlights to cut energy use and reduce light pollution. (MLive.com, Associated Press, Duluth Budgeteer News)
GREEN ECONOMY: An Ohio State study says renewable energy could have an impact as large as $1.76 billion on Cleveland’s economy. (Columbus Dispatch)
BIOFUELS: Wendy’s says the renewable fuel mandate is costing the restaurant chain $174 million a year in additional food costs. (Politic365)
COMMENTARY: How the Koch brothers fund bogus studies to discredit renewable power, and the business case for expanding transit investment in Minneapolis. (Huffington Post, Minneapolis Star Tribune)