CLIMATE: The EPA is likely to delay greenhouse gas emission rules from existing power plants. (Washington Post)

OIL: Enbridge is seeking State Department approval to nearly double capacity of an oil sands pipeline crossing northern Minnesota into Wisconsin. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

ALSO: The construction deadline expires for Hyperion’s proposed South Dakota refinery, which opponents now believe is “99.99 percent dead”; North Dakota’s oil industry used 5.4 billion gallons of water in 2012; and plans move forward to expand a Bakken rail terminal to ship up to 80,000 barrels of oil per day. (Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Jamestown Sun, Minneapolis Star Tribune)

***SPONSORED LINK: Join Ensia Live in Minneapolis March 27 as energy expert Peggy Liu speaks on reshaping consumerism and energy use in China – with a live performance by the Twin Cities Women’s Choir. Midwest Energy News readers enter “midwest2013” for discount tickets. ***

FRACKING: Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s support for a fracking moratorium may have been a negotiating tactic to get industry support for a tax measure, residents in southern Illinois worry about how a drilling boom will impact their quality of life, and Ohio fracking opponents call for an investigation of state regulators. (Midwest Energy News, Chicago Tribune, Youngstown Vindicator)

ETHANOL: It’s “a more somber mood” for the ethanol industry amid production surpluses and high corn prices, which have caused 10 percent of the nation’s ethanol plants to stop production in the last year. (New York Times)

WIND: A wind turbine component factory once expected to anchor an Iowa City industrial park has yet to materialize, and and Indiana newspaper explores claims that wind farms annoy neighbors and lower property values, finding mixed results. (Iowa City Press Citizen, Kokomo Tribune)

COAL: Traders expect U.S. coal consumption to increase as natural gas prices rise, and a carbon-capture project in Saskatchewan is expected to be up and running next year. (Bloomberg, ClimateWire)

SOLAR: A bill in Wisconsin would allow third-party financing of solar projects. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

FRAC SAND: A bill in Minnesota would keep frac sand permitting decisions in the hands of local governments. (Winona Daily News)

COMMENTARY: Why Bill McKibben thinks Patriot Coal is “America’s dirtiest coal company,” and what young conservatives think about climate change. (Bloomberg, Grist)

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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