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)