CLIMATE: Four months after pledging to take action, President Obama’s climate change agenda has yet to materialize. (Politico)
SOLAR: Utilities and industries brace for changes from Minnesota’s new solar law, solar panels will be installed on 80 buildings in Kansas City, and an Iowa Mennonite school sees justification for its new solar project in its energy bills, and scripture. (Minneapolis Star Tribune, Kansas City Star, Iowa City Press-Citizen)
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EFFICIENCY:
• Cincinnati is on track to become the second city in Ohio with a PACE financing program. (Midwest Energy News)
• Ohio environmental groups say results of a PJM capacity auction show the state’s efficiency law is helping to lower utility rates. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
• A coalition of business and consumer groups defend Ohio’s efficiency law. (Associated Press)
• A Wisconsin firm helps hotels save money on energy. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• Ohio’s EPA recognizes facilities owned by GM and Marathon Petroleum for their environmental practices. (Toledo Blade)
• An Ohio utility offers a prize for the oldest working refrigerator in the state. (Columbus Dispatch)
OIL: The State Department’s inspector general is investigating possible conflicts of interest in the Keystone XL review process. (The Hill)
ALSO: A report finds the public overestimates the amount of violent crime in North Dakota’s Oil Patch, but drug- and alcohol-related incidents are a significant problem (driving home the point, the researcher’s car was hit by a drunk driver while she was conducting an interview.) (Forum News Service)
FRACKING: As a regulatory bill returns to life in the state legislature, residents of southern Illinois prepare for a drilling boom. (Chicago Tribune)
COAL: Students at more than 200 colleges and universities are pushing for fossil fuel divestment programs. (Associated Press)
BIOMASS: A Wisconsin tribe will receive technical assistance from the Department of Energy for a waste-to-energy plant it is planning. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
COMMENTARY: A Wisconsin state lawmaker says his opposition to wind power is “primarily a public health issue,” and can we stop climate change through carbon capture alone? (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Energy Collective)