POLICY: A bipartisan group says U.S. energy policy is “like an orchestra without a conductor,” and offers a blueprint to move forward. (Midwest Energy News)
WIND: Minnesota regulators delay a decision on the Goodhue wind farm, Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission will reconsider a wind farm application today that they had rejected last month, and an Illinois county will hold a public hearing on its wind ordinance amid calls for a moratorium. (Finance & Commerce, Pierce County Herald, Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette)
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RPS CHALLENGES: Despite an appeal from anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist, Kansas legislators reject a bill that would have delayed the state’s renewable energy standard; and the Missouri House approves a bill that would allow large hydropower to count toward that state’s renewable total. (Topeka Capital-Journal, Associated Press)
OIL: U.S. oil production reaches its highest point in 20 years, a Nebraska official is criticized for appearing in ads promoting the Keystone XL pipeline, and Red Lake nation activists launch an occupation protest of an Enbridge pipeline in Minnesota. (McClatchy, Omaha World-Herald, Twin Cities Indymedia)
CLIMATE: New Antarctic ice research debunks a popular climate skeptic talking point, “sequestration” budget cuts could halt or delay climate and weather data, Nebraska lawmakers consider a long-range study of climate change impacts, while climate change remains a controversial topic in the Kansas legislature. (New York Times, ClimateWire, Omaha World-Herald, Wichita Eagle)
SOLAR: Citigroup predicts solar power will boom worldwide and soon become cost-competitive with natural gas. (ClimateWire)
COAL: A group of power suppliers plan a court challenge to a state decision allowing costs for the FutureGen plant in Illinois to be included in power purchase agreements, saying “the costs will be well above market, and the plant is not needed.” (Springfield State Journal-Register)
FRACKING: The owner of an Ohio drilling company and an employee are indicted by a grand jury for dumping 20,000 gallons of fracking wastewater in Youngstown. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
EFFICIENCY: The EPA is re-evaluating the way it assigns mileage figures for plug-in hybrid cars. (USA Today)
COMMENTARY: The era of “energy dinosaurs” is coming to an end. (Grist)