CLIMATE: A prominent social scientist in Michigan explains how a recent executive order from President Obama will make it easier for people to help fight climate change. (Midwest Energy News)

NATURAL GAS: Though barriers remain, Great Lakes ships may turn to Liquified Natural Gas instead of petroleum for fuel, which could significantly cut the industry’s emissions. (Great Lakes Echo)

***SPONSORED LINK: Hear top executives from the area’s RTOs, utilities, transmission developers, and state regulatory agencies discuss and debate critical issues at EUCI’s Transmission Expansion in the Midwest conference November 9-10 in Indianapolis.***

SOLAR:
• A utility breaks ground on a $7 million, 2.6 MW solar project in northern Indiana. (WNDU-TV)
A municipal utility has not yet disclosed plans for two solar projects in mid-Michigan. (WLNS-TV)

CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• As opponents line up to challenge the new federal rules in court, the EPA is helping states buy time on complying with the plan. (ClimateWire)
Congressional Republicans plan for the little-used Congressional Review Act to try to block the executive action, though it has rarely been successful. (Associated Press)

OIL AND GAS:
• Amid low oil prices, two Bakken-area companies file for bankruptcy and plan to sell off assets to pay back what is owed. (Bismarck Tribune)
Over the past year, investors have lost $20 billion in oil and gas drilling partnerships as the “once-hot business” for brokers and banks “comes to a messy end.” (Associated Press)
The falling price of oil is negatively impacting Wisconsin’s local economy as frac-sand jobs disappear. (Badger Herald)
Counties in rural Kansas face financial hardships amid low oil and gas prices. (Associated Press)

COAL:
An Illinois town is trying again to sue over its contract with the Prairie State Energy campus after its first lawsuit was rejected. (SNL)
AEP expects Ohio regulators to make a decision on the utility’s income-guarantee request for some of its coal plants by the end of the year. (SNL)

BATTERIES: An advanced-battery manufacturer in Michigan announces it is laying off roughly one-third of its workforce. (MLive)

***SPONSORED LINK: Join the nation’s most successful women leaders in energy as they share their industry knowledge, strategies and experiences at the Leadership Conference for Women in Energy, December 7-8 in Newport Beach, California.***

POLITICS: A national organization of parents and grandparents is joining with Iowa groups asking presidential candidates to back clean energy. (Radio Iowa)

COMMENTARY:
• By opposing stronger renewable and efficiency standards, some Michigan lawmakers “appear indifferent to what history has taught us when it comes to energy policy.” (Crain’s Detroit Business)
The latest deal by Chicago-based Exelon to take over D.C.-based Pepco still isn’t good enough for local residents. (Washington Post)
Oil-industry influence inside the Beltway is making the Renewable Fuel Standard a political punching bag. (Des Moines Register)
Gov. John Kasich must forcefully “press his point” with Ohio’s GOP-led legislature to reinstate the state’s clean-energy standards. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Andy compiles the Midwest Energy News digest and was a journalism fellow for Midwest Energy News from 2014-2020. He is managing editor of MiBiz in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was formerly a reporter and editor at City Pulse, Lansing’s alternative newsweekly.

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