OIL: On the two-year anniversary of the Enbridge oil spill into Michigan’s Kalamazoo river, protesters invoke still-existing contamination to condemn the tar sands industry. (Midwest Energy News)
CLIMATE: A new study finds stronger thunderstorms fueled by a warming atmosphere pose a threat to the ozone layer, as extreme heat wreaks havoc on energy and transportation infrastructure. (New York Times)
NATURAL GAS: An Associated Press investigation finds an inexpensive safety valve could have prevented or mitigated at least 270 natural gas explosions since 1968.
WIND: A consulting firm’s report says worldwide orders for wind turbines fell 30 percent in the first half of this year, but could rebound in 2013; and turbine blade truckers make practice runs in the streets of Muskegon, Michigan. (Reuters, Muskegon Chronicle)
OHIO: Duke Energy disputes a report in a trade magazine that it’s planning to sell its Midwest power plants. (Charlotte Business Journal)
FRACKING: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launches its ad campaign in support of shale oil and gas development, and a western Wisconsin county extends its frac sand mining moratorium another three months. (Reuters, WTAQ)
NORTH DAKOTA: The mother of a worker killed by hydrocarbon fumes at a North Dakota oil drilling operation has filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging negligence. (Associated Press)
ETHANOL: Despite drought crippling their home state’s livestock industry, Nebraska’s U.S. senators say they will not support a rollback of federal ethanol mandates to ease corn prices. (Lincoln Journal Star)
WASTE-TO-ENERGY: A 4.8 MW landfill gas power plant is near completion in Ohio. (Youngstown Vindicator)
COMMENTARY: Steve Thompson, president of an Iowa-based company that provides support to the wind industry, says extending the production tax credit “is not a Republican or Democratic issue: This is an American manufacturing jobs issue.” (Des Moines Register)