SOLAR: Efforts to streamline solar permitting in Iowa will continue despite the loss of a $1 million federal grant, and Walmart announces plans to double its solar power by 2020. (Midwest Energy News, Forbes)
COAL: Kansas considers a revised permit for a controversial coal plant, and residents of Bowling Green, Ohio want the state’s attorney general to investigate the city’s deal with the Prairie State Energy Campus. (Kansas City Star, Toledo Blade)
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OIL AND GAS: A report finds federal regulators failed to inspect thousands of oil and gas wells considered at risk for water contamination, and the EPA begins taking public comment on potential fracking regulations. (Associated Press, Reuters)
EPA: An appeals court rejects an industry challenge to EPA soot rules. (Greenwire)
NUCLEAR: Five U.S. senators oppose a proposal to lower emergency response requirements at a retired Wisconsin nuclear plant, Ohio’s Davis-Besse plant is returning to full power after repairs, and a small oil leak is reported at a Michigan nuclear plant. (Green Bay Press-Gazette, Toledo Blade, MLive)
CLIMATE: Democrats call on Michigan Rep. Fred Upton to hold a hearing on the National Climate Assessment. (MLive)
ELECTRIC CARS: Tesla calls a last-minute legislative effort to ban its retail outlets in Missouri a “sneak attack.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
EFFICIENCY: A Minnesota county launches a PACE program for commercial properties, and an Indiana indoor farm cuts costs with LED grow lights. (St. Cloud Times, Cleantechnica)
NATURAL GAS: Dayton, Ohio approves a lease for a fueling station as part of its plant to convert its garbage trucks to run on natural gas. (Dayton Business Journal)
TRANSMISSION: FERC grants approval for the Grain Belt Express wind-energy transmission line to enter power contracts. (St. Joseph News-Press)
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TRANSPORTATION: Census data show more Chicagoans are walking and biking to work. (CBS Chicago)
COMMENTARY: An effort to dismantle Ohio’s energy laws “disregards the true costs of carbon-based energy” and “would shove Ohio backward“; and a Minnesotan’s guide to climate change. (Columbus Dispatch, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Minneapolis Star Tribune)