POLITICS: “War on coal” ads target Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a climate group calls on President Obama to pull a pro-coal campaign ad, and a roundup of energy-related fact checks from last night’s vice presidential debate. (The Hill, Grist)
COAL: Controversy over the Edwardsport coal-to-gas plant prompts efforts toward greater transparency in utility planning in Indiana, and the Sierra Club calls on DTE to stop burning coal at its River Rouge power plant in Michigan. (Midwest Energy News, Detroit Free Press)
SOLAR: China calls for the repeal of U.S. solar tariffs, saying they mean “the door is closed for exporting to the United States. (Associated Press)
OIL: The Interior Department approves an oil refinery planned for the Fort Berthold Reservation, which would be the first new U.S. refinery in 30 years. (Jamestown Sun)
FRAC SAND: A 191-acre silica sand mine is proposed along a protected waterway in Wisconsin. (Madison Capital Times)
NATURAL GAS: An Ohio gas company wants the state to deregulate pricing, which would make it one of only two states in the U.S. to do so. (Toledo Blade)
BIOFUELS: The EPA will decide early next month whether to suspend ethanol mandates in response to high corn prices, and works to retool a renewable fuel credit program that has been marred by fraud. (Detroit News, New York Times)
TRANSPORTATION: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will join Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn next week for the inaugural run of “high-speed” rail between Joliet and Normal. (Bloomington Pantagraph)
MICHIGAN: The Detroit Free Press will host a live chat on Proposal 3, which would expand Michigan’s renewable energy standard, today at 11 a.m. EDT (10 a.m. CDT).
COMMENTARY: Is natural gas killing solar and/or the future of cars? And why the wind production tax credit will likely continue regardless of who is president. (AOL Energy, Christian Science Monitor, Forbes)