OIL: Comparing the company’s response to the Keystone Cops, the National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday that neglect and inaction by Enbridge are to blame for the 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill in Michigan. (Associated Press)
KEYSTONE XL: Landowners in ecologically fragile areas along the new Keystone XL route in Nebraska say that although the pipeline doesn’t technically cross the Sandhills, it’s a distinction without a difference. (Greenwire)
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FRACKING: Ohio Gov. John Kasich signs an executive order severely restricting injection wells for fracking wastewater, and is expected to sign another order banning drilling in Lake Erie today. Other state agencies are preparing for an influx of large worker camps, or “man camps.” (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Toledo Blade)
MEANWHILE: A South Dakota legislative committee hears concerns from farmers and ranchers about oil and gas activity. (Rapid City Journal)
COAL: The Ohio Valley Coal Company will pay $1 million in fines for two slurry spills that polluted rivers in 2008 and 2010. (Columbus Dispatch)
NUCLEAR: An Associated Press analysis finds costs for America’s first new nuclear plants in a decade are ballooning by billions of dollars.
BIOFUELS: The biofuel industry faces off with House Republicans, who seek to cut as much as $800 million in federal incentives from the Farm Bill. (The Hill)
CLIMATE: A new study connects recent heat waves to climate change; and a South Carolina Republican, who lost his seat in the House in large part because of his concern about global warming, launches an initiative to seek conservative solutions to climate change. (New York Times, The Hill)
SOLAR: Grand Rapids, Michigan, unveils the “first of many” solar installations on city buildings, and the Milwaukee Public Museum considers solar panels to replace part of the building’s deteriorating marble facade. (MLive.com, Milwaukee Business Journal)
GREEN ECONOMY: Groups in Ohio and Iowa seek to expand job opportunities in renewable and advanced energy fields. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Iowa City Press-Citizen)
COMMENTARY: The Detroit Free Press says after a “damning” report on the 2010 oil spill, Michigan should take a regional lead in pipeline safety and oversight.