CLIMATE: The White House plans to unveil a strategy to curb methane emissions later this month, and a report finds Minnesota’s renewable energy standard cut 3.2 million tons of CO2 in 2012. (Washington Post, MinnPost)

GREEN ECONOMY: A new study finds nearly 100,000 Illinois workers are employed in clean energy jobs. (Midwest Energy News)

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COAL: The future of an Upper Peninsula coal plant is uncertain after no one submits a bid to purchase it, and an Indiana court upholds a 16 percent rate increase to pay for Duke Energy’s coal-to-gas plant. (Marquette Mining Journal, Indianapolis Star)

OIL: Crews work to clean up an oil spill at a nature preserve in Ohio after a pipeline rupture, the 40th oil release on the line since 2006. (Associated Press, Environmental News Service)

ALSO: Cleanup is nearly complete at the site of a December oil train explosion in North Dakota, Michigan lawmakers approve tax cuts for oil drilling using CO2 injection, and the mayors of Duluth and Superior endorse pipeline expansion plans. (Associated Press, Detroit Free Press, Minnesota Public Radio)

EFFICIENCY: A Minnesota oil refinery will install a combined heat and power system to generate about half of its electricity, and LED bulb prices are expected to match CFLs by 2020. (Minneapolis Star Tribune, Columbus Business First)

SOLAR: An Ohio solar manufacturer sets a PV efficiency record, and a Wisconsin company plans a community solar garden in Minnesota. (Toledo Blade, Pierce County Herald)

WIND: Kansas begins to live up to its wind energy potential, environmental groups endorse a plan to build wind turbines in Lake Erie, and a Minnesota VA hospital is “embarrassed” by a $2.3 million wind turbine that remains inoperable. (Hutchinson News, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Minnesota Watchdog)

BIOENERGY: A Michigan utility announces plans to buy 2.4 MW of electricity from anaerobic digesters. (Associated Press)

KANSAS: Americans for Prosperity pushes for repeal of Kansas’ renewable energy standard, with a series of ads that one Republican lawmaker calls “provably false.” (Topeka Capital-Journal)

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TRANSPORTATION: Electric cars have a dirty little secret. (InsideClimate News)

FRACKING: Six reasons why fracking has flopped overseas. (Forbes)

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Ken Paulman

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

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