CLIMATE: President Obama plans to sidestep the Senate with a “politically binding” international climate agreement, and a draft UN report warns of “severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts” from climate change in coming decades. (New York Times)

SOLAR: The Minnesota National Guard announces plans for a 10 MW solar array — the largest in the state — that will also help a utility meet a new state solar mandate. (Forum News Service)

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NUCLEAR: Xcel Energy defends having ratepayers cover massive cost overruns for upgrades to a Minnesota nuclear plant, the NRC finalizes a rule allowing ongoing storage of nuclear waste at power plant sites, and why a Michigan nuclear plant turned out to be a financial gamble. (Minneapolis Star Tribune, Greenwire, Kalamazoo Gazette)

EPA: Attorneys general from 13 states say the EPA violated the law in finalizing a proposed carbon rule. (International Business Times)

WIND: Ohio regulators approve a new wind farm while two other projects are granted extensions, and a wind farm currently under construction will help a Michigan utility meet the state’s renewable energy standard by the end of this year. (Columbus Business First, Farmers’ Advance)

POLLUTION: Wisconsin’s DNR denies a pollution exemption for a coal plant, and cleanup of a diesel spill from a power plant into the Ohio River is nearly complete. (WXPR, Columbus Dispatch)

OIL: North Dakota regulators will add three new pipeline inspectors. (Associated Press)

FRACKING: A Michigan city council will discuss a proposed fracking ban tonight. (Detroit Free Press)

EFFICIENCY: A Michigan community college expects to save around $60,000 a year with a new combined heating, power and cooling system. (MLive)

HYDRO: A Wisconsin dam will mark 100 years of operation in September. (Sauk Prairie Eagle)

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TRANSPORTATION: General Motors implements bike-sharing to cut down on car traffic at its sprawling tech campus. (CBS Detroit)

COMMENTARY: Failure to act on climate change will leave Wisconsin “in very vulnerable economic position.” (Green Bay Press-Gazette)