OIL: Michigan’s Kalamazoo River reopens to the public two years after the most costly pipeline spill in U.S. history, but much of the heavy oil remains submerged. (InsideClimate News)
ALSO: A paperwork mixup thwarts House Republicans’ latest attempt to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. (Politico)
CLIMATE: Minnesota Public Radio meteorologist Paul Huttner lays out the evidence for a warming atmosphere’s fingerprints in the recent devastating flash floods in Duluth, meanwhile, scientists from Big Ten universities cite increasingly extreme weather in a call for action on climate change. (Minnesota Public Radio, Omaha World-Herald)
FARM BILL: The Senate passes the 2012 Farm Bill with energy-related programs still intact. (Biomass Magazine)
FRACKING: A new report says Ohio’s and Michigan’s drilling laws won’t adequately protect the Great Lakes. (Toledo Blade)
EFFICIENCY: An Iowa congressman takes aim at efficiency rules for refrigerators, and UPS has ordered 150 plastic-bodied trucks from an Indiana manufacturer that will cut fuel consumption by 40 percent. (Greenwire, New York Times)
CARBON: Demand from enhanced oil recovery and other commercial sectors could create a viable market for captured carbon dioxide, experts say. (New York Times)
NATURAL GAS: A report finds that natural gas-powered trucks could be economically viable without government incentives, with a payback of as little as three years. (The Hill)
COMMENTARY: Bloomberg editors says subsidies for fossil fuels shouldn’t be ended abruptly, but should instead be gradually replaced by stronger incentives for clean energy in order to minimize price impacts for consumers.