POLICY: In a debate that was filmed for an upcoming documentary on climate change, Kansas lawmakers vote to table a bill that would repeal the state’s renewable energy standard, likely killing it for the year. (Wichita Eagle)

NUCLEAR: The future of a Michigan nuclear plant lies in the hands of Indiana regulators, and the NRC votes to require upgrades to U.S. reactors that share the same design as the Fukushima Daiichi plant. (Midwest Energy News, New York Times)

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WIND: Xcel sets an Upper Midwest record for wind generation, getting nearly a third of its energy from wind farms on Feb. 17; and massive new turbines are expected to cut the cost of offshore wind by 40 percent over the next 7 years. (Minneapolis Star Tribune, ClimateWire)

OIL AND GAS:
• A Cleveland State University study finds that employment in Ohio counties with fracking grew only 0.1 percentage point more than counties where no drilling is taking place. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
• Enbridge plans to revive an idled 60-year-old pipeline to ship crude oil in Michigan. (AnnArbor.com)
• Drilling encroaches on Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. (Grand Forks Herald)
• A North Dakota tribe shuts down construction of an oil waste landfill. (Bismarck Tribune)
• A company seeks permission to drill oil and gas wells in South Dakota. (Mitchell Daily Republic)
• Fracking is the topic of a contentious town hall meeting in Michigan. (MLive.com)

FRAC SAND: As Minnesota weighs new restrictions on frac sand mining, the industry says the state already has tougher rules than Wisconsin. (Minnesota Public Radio)

ETHANOL: A renewable fuels group says the oil industry is trying to keep biofuels out of the marketplace, and calls for an investigation of what it dubs “highly discriminatory and unlawful conduct”; and a Purdue study finds mitigating the impact of harvesting corn stover for biofuels can raise production costs. (Des Moines Register, PhyOrg.com)

EPA: The National Association of Manufacturers sues to block EPA particulate regulations. (The Hill)

CLIMATE: Secretary of State John Kerry says “the science is screaming at us” to deal with climate change. (The Hill)

COMMENTARY: Will Republicans support the Energy Security Trust? (The Energy Collective)