TRANSMISSION: A $1 billion transmission upgrade will help improve reliability in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, but critics say the newly revived mining industry is the main beneficiary and should pick up the cost. (Midwest Energy News)
WIND: Aides for Mitt Romney confirm the GOP candidate’s opposition to extending the wind production tax credit, an issue that President Obama’s campaign hopes will deliver votes in states with strong renewable energy industries, like Iowa. (Des Moines Register)
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PIPELINES: Enbridge says repairs to a Wisconsin pipeline that spilled more than 1,000 barrels of oil last week will be completed today, though it’s unknown when the line will restart. (Reuters)
ALSO: Landowner opposition to Keystone XL is igniting an emotional debate over eminent domain in rural South Dakota. (Washington Post)
CLIMATE: In a scathing floor speech, Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sen. James Inhofe, and much of the Republican party, is “dangerously wrong” on climate change, and that “it is time for Congress to get serious about global warming, and to work to transform our energy system”; meanwhile, work on climate policy continues outside the public fray. (The Hill, E&E Daily)
OIL AND GAS: The industry continues to actively oppose a proposal by Ohio Gov. John Kasich to increase taxes on drilling; scarce water is increasing tensions between farmers and drillers in drought-stricken areas of the U.S.; and natural gas prices for heating are expected to rise this winter, in part because more gas is being used to generate electricity. (Mansfield News Journal, EnergyWire, Cleveland Plain Dealer)
SOLAR: One upshot of the dry summer – increased production from an Ohio solar farm. (Toledo Blade)
FRAC SAND: A Wisconsin county rejects a frac sand processing facility that would have been built less than a quarter-mile from a school in the Mississippi River town of Fountain City. (Winona News)
HIGH SPEED RAIL: A final round of public hearings is scheduled to help determine the route of high-speed trains through Springfield, Illinois. (Springfield State Journal-Register)
COMMENTARY: Jason Sabenow says so-called “game-changing” climate studies should be disregarded until they’ve been peer reviewed, the New York Times says the question of climate impact needs to be addressed in the approval process for Keystone XL, and Colin Carter and Henry Miller say “misguided energy policies are magnifying the effects” of the drought on food prices. (Washington Post, New York Times)