PIPELINES: LaDonna Tamakawastewin Allard, a Standing Rock Sioux historian and “matriarch” of the tribe’s fight against the Dakota Access pipeline, dies from brain cancer. (Native News Online, InForum)
ALSO:
• Critics say Enbridge’s use of a video featuring a traditional Ojibwe pipe ceremony was an unseemly attempt to suggest broad support from the Native community for the Line 3 pipeline. (Indian Country Today)
• The Dakota Access pipeline’s developer asks a federal appeals court to reconsider its decision to pull a key permit for the project. (Bloomberg Law)
• The developer of the Keystone XL pipeline continues to pursue land rights, including through eminent domain, despite President Biden’s executive order rescinding its permit to cross the U.S.-Canadian border. (NET News)
***SPONSORED LINK: Join Renew Missouri for its webinar “The Deep Freeze: SPP, Texas, and What to Do (and Not Do) in the Future” with Kevin Gunn of Paladin Energy on April 26th at 1:30pm. Only $75 with an hour of Missouri CLE credit. (KS pending. Others by request.) Sign up today! ***
NATURAL GAS: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signs a bill banning cities and counties from regulating the sale of natural gas, while Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly allows a similar bill to become law in that state. (Iowa Capital Dispatch, Topeka Capital-Journal)
WIND: Researchers say vibrations from a planned wind farm in southern Illinois are likely to interfere with a burrowing frog species’ ability to detect and eat prey underground. (Earth Island Journal)
SOLAR:
• A solar farm installed next to an Indiana county jail is expected to lower energy costs and improve comfort for inmates and staff. (Inside Indiana Business)
• A Michigan township plans to move its May meeting outdoors, anticipating high interest in a solar company’s land-use permit application. (Daily Telegram)
• An educational event at an Indiana elementary school will give the public a chance to learn about its decision to install two solar arrays in 2019. (WFYI)
UTILITIES:
• A utility shutoff moratorium in Wisconsin is set to expire Thursday with more than 90,000 customers facing disconnection this month. (Spectrum News)
• Minnesota regulators will host virtual public hearings today and tomorrow for Otter Tail Power’s proposed rate increase. (Bemidji Pioneer)
CLIMATE:
• At a University of Iowa forum introducing a finalist for the school’s president, students stress the importance of climate goals and transitioning from coal. (KWWL)
• Missouri U.S. Rep. Cori Bush calls for urgent racial and climate justice at a university forum: “Failing to act urgently is unreasonable.” (Student Life)
• A panel of Wisconsin medical professionals discuss how climate change is affecting public health, including asthma and pre-term birth rates. (WXPR)
BUILDINGS:
• A geothermal heating and cooling system at Michigan’s state Capitol is mostly complete and should cut the building’s utility bill by 30%. (Lansing State Journal)
• A suburban Madison home is the city’s first LEED platinum home, featuring solar panels and geothermal heating and cooling. (Herald-Independent)
BIOFUELS: A Missouri bill to require all diesel to be blended with soybean oil is pitting farmers and agriculture groups against truckers and retailers. (Post-Dispatch)
***SPONSORED LINK: The Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition via Fresh Energy is hiring for a Manager of Building Policy and Technology contractor to play a lead role in developing strategy and resources in support of local, state, and regional advocates. Learn more.***
OIL & GAS: Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to speak at a three-day oil conference next month in North Dakota. (InForum)
COMMENTARY: The president and CEO of the Missouri Bankers Association says state lawmakers must pass a bill to provide better consumer protection against deceptive residential property assessed clean energy lenders. (Missouri Times)