CLIMATE: The U.S. is not on track to meet its climate goals for 2020, House Republicans rebuff calls for hearings on climate change impacts, and a USDA report warns warming temperatures will have a drastic impact on agriculture. (Washington Post, The Hill, USA Today)

ALSO: State legislators seek to delay renewable energy benchmarks in Kansas; and a bill in Minnesota would repeal that state’s mandate completely, but is unlikely to pass. (Lawrence Journal-World, Bluestem Prairie)

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FRACKING: New EPA data finds significant emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from oil and gas drilling. (ClimateWire)

COAL ASH: Illinois’ attorney general files a complaint against Ameren, saying the utility illegally dumped 180,000 tons of coal ash at a Peoria power plant; and student activists call on Michigan State University to close its coal plant and dispose of tons of ash stored on campus. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Lansing State Journal)

TRANSPORTATION: Rail shipments of coal decline, with oil largely making up the difference. (ClimateWire)

INDIANA: A bill that would require developers of a proposed Indiana coal-to-gas plant to pay back the state for its losses could kill the project, and is rapidly gaining support from lawmakers and outside groups. (Indianapolis Star)

ETHANOL: The ethanol industry launches a campaign to defend the renewable fuel mandate. (Des Moines Register)

WIND: Nebraska’s public utility seeks to expand its use of renewable energy. (Scottsbluff Star Herald)

HYDRO: We Energies plans to spend $64 million to replace an aging hydropower facility in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

COMMENTARY: The supposedly “dying” electric vehicle industry continues to grow. (Forbes)