NATURAL GAS: A new natural-gas combined cycle plant will help expand a West Michigan city’s rare snowmelt system. (Midwest Energy News)
PIPELINES:
• Landowners say in a new lawsuit that the Iowa Utilities Board does not have the authority to allow a company access to private property to build a pipeline. (Associated Press)
• Members of Minnesota’s White Earth tribe protest a proposed Enbridge pipeline project: “Eventually something is going to go wrong.” (Minnesota Public Radio)
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FRAC SAND:
• A frac sand company agrees to pay a Wisconsin county nearly $500,000 to settle a lawsuit related to road damages, a fear shared by many communities with such mining operations. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• Advocates in a southeastern Minnesota county seek to ban large-scale frac sand mining. (LaCrosse Tribune)
PRAIRIE STATE: A federal judge dismisses a lawsuit brought on by ratepayers against consultants who advised city officials to buy into the controversial Illinois coal project. (Daily Herald)
METHANE:
• The EPA announced new rules Tuesday to curb methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by up to 45 percent over the next 10 years. (Climate Central)
• Natural-gas gathering facilities lose about eight times more cubic feet of natural gas a year than that estimated by the EPA, new research shows. (New York Times)
• North Dakota’s U.S. senators say the industry needs support from the federal government, not more regulation. (Bismarck Tribune)
• Industry officials call the proposed rules “unnecessary and unproductive.” (San Antonio Business Journal)
FRACKING: The myths surrounding a provision in a 2005 energy law exempting fracking from parts of the Safe Drinking Water Act, known as the “Halliburton loophole,” continue to grow. (EnergyWire)
SOLAR:
• Researchers say community solar is a middle ground between utilities and rooftop installers in the battle over net metering. (Washington Post)
• A Michigan bill could impact existing solar customers. (MLive)
CLIMATE CHANGE: A group of Islamic officials issue an eight-page declaration calling on the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims to help fight climate change. (Reuters)
OIL AND GAS: With a drilling slowdown, North Dakota diesel supplies are expected to be adequate for this fall’s agriculture harvest. (Bismarck Tribune)
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POLITICS: Why Hillary Clinton’s opposition to drilling in the Arctic is more important than her indecision over Keystone XL. (New Republic)
COMMENTARY:
• The sky is not falling with the Clean Power Plan, and Wisconsin has a head start on compliance. (Racine Journal Times)
• An Ohio coal industry official says the Clean Power Plan will weaken the U.S. electric grid. (Columbus Dispatch)
• Wind power will be key in lowering Wisconsin electric rates over the long term. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• An Indiana faith-based group says the Clean Power Plan “aligns with and affirms” convictions about protecting the planet. (Northwest Indiana Times)