CARBON: EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy says the agency will “provide significant flexibility to the states” in enforcing carbon regulations, and Bloomberg launches a tool to help investors calculate the risk of “stranded” fossil fuel reserves. (The Hill, InsideClimate News)
WIND: A new transmission line will provide a key link as a Minnesota utility seeks its “holy grail” of wind energy backed by Canadian hydropower, and neighbors in a Wisconsin county are divided over a proposed wind farm plan. (Midwest Energy News, Eau Claire Leader-Telegram)
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GRID: Why our current electrical infrastructure “was not built for renewables.” (Los Angeles Times)
ELECTRIC CARS: As Tesla seeks to open its first sales outlet in Ohio, a proposal in the legislature, backed by auto dealers, would ban its business model of selling directly to consumers. (Columbus Dispatch)
OIL: The EPA denies a request by Enbridge to extend its deadline for dredging the Kalamazoo River, North Dakota plans to launch a website this week to report pipeline spills, and drillers may have struck oil on land seized by a Michigan county from an anti-government activist who refused to pay taxes. (Associated Press, MLive)
‘PETKOCH’: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel launches a campaign calling on residents to report pollution from petroleum coke dust. (Chicago Tribune)
COAL: Dynegy closes a deal to take over five Illinois coal plants from Ameren after state regulators grant an extension for installing pollution controls. (Associated Press)
MISSOURI: The state seeks dismissal of a lawsuit contending it isn’t meeting its obligations under a voter-approved renewable energy law. (Springfield News-Leader)
FRACKING: A report finds the oil and gas industry has added nearly 2,000 jobs in Ohio since 2011. (Columbus Business First)
FRAC SAND: A Wisconsin frac sand mine is moving forward despite a county moratorium; Winona, Minnesota approves a plan to install air pollution monitors; and a University of Iowa team will study air quality around frac sand mines in Wisconsin. (Madison Capital Times, Winona Daily News, Radio Iowa)
EFFICIENCY: Iowa regulators approve a plan by Alliant Energy to lower its energy-efficiency goals. (Associated Press)
ETHANOL: How the biofuel boom is encroaching on prime hunting ground in the Great Plains. (Associated Press)
COMMENTARY: Why climate denial is becoming a political liability, how Minnesota can regain leadership on climate issues, and why the “utility death spiral” is a myth. (Grist, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Forbes)