RENEWABLE ENERGY: Clean energy companies in Illinois say their industry will continue to grow despite the threat of cuts to the EPA. (Chicago Tribune)
OIL AND GAS: An attorney warns an oil and gas conference in Ohio that massive cuts to EPA staff could actually harm their industry; attendees are otherwise optimistic about the Trump administration. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Columbus Dispatch)
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PIPELINES: Michigan’s attorney general, along with other state officials, seek answers from Enbridge on whether oil pipelines under the Straits of Mackinac are losing their protective coating; a new report further questions the safety of the pipelines. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Michigan Radio)
ALSO:
• Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is recusing himself from review of the Keystone XL pipeline. (Politico)
• Keystone XL opponents push South Dakota to withdraw its authorization of the project. (Associated Press)
• A closer look at the evolution of President Trump’s claim that Keystone XL and Dakota Access would be built with American steel. (Associated Press)
EFFICIENCY:
• A new resources center in Kansas City aims to help improve efficiency in large buildings. (Midwest Energy News)
• A state board rules Duke Energy owes Cincinnati nearly $300,000 in rebates for energy efficiency improvements in 2014. (Cincinnati Business Courier)
SOLAR:
• Indiana schools push to be exempted from a bill reducing incentives for solar power. (Lebanon Reporter)
• A recently completed solar project in a building in Monmouth, Illinois is expected to cut energy bills by 99 percent. (GateHouse Media)
NUCLEAR:
• A PJM Interconnection monitor says subsidizing unprofitable power plants poses a “very real threat” to wholesale markets. (RTO Insider)
• An Illinois legislative committee approves a bill that would lift the state’s moratorium on new construction at existing nuclear plants. (Dispatch-Argus)
• Michigan lawmakers advance a resolution calling for the federal government to establish facilities to reprocess spent nuclear fuel. (The Peninsula)
NATURAL GAS: A proposed $1 billion natural gas plant in Illinois still faces numerous hurdles. (Springfield State Journal-Register)
TRANSMISSION: Missouri regulators will hold another round of hearings on the proposed Grain Belt Express transmission line later this month. (Salt River Journal)
COMMENTARY: EPA administrator Scott Pruitt is a climate denier – not a skeptic – who refuses to accept the consensus of scientists, says the Washington Post editorial board.