FLYING GREEN: Air travel is a carbon-intensive industry, but airports, with Chicago’s O’Hare among the leaders, are doing what they can to reduce the impact. (Midwest Energy News)

NATURAL GAS: Environmental groups temper their stances on fracking, Michigan chemical industry leaders push for more drilling, and a Minnesota company is considering a possible $1 billion fertilizer plant in North Dakota. (Mother Jones, MLive.com, Minneapolis Star Tribune)

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RAIL: A common rail tanker car, commonly used to haul ethanol and other hazardous materials, has a design flaw — which transportation officials have known about for years — that increases the chances the tank will rupture in a derailment. (Associated Press)

TRANSPORTATION: Studies find Americans are willing to pay more for better fuel economy, and that a majority would rather see increased spending on public transit rather than more roads. (Detroit Free Press, The Hill)

WIND: The Minnesota Vikings swap energy credits with a wind producer as part of a sponsorship deal, and wind industry job figures pass an Iowa newspaper’s “smell test.” (St. Paul Pioneer Press, Cedar Rapids Gazette)

CLIMATE: Geoengineering techniques face a major challenge: How do you test them? (Climate Central)

SOLAR: A solar farm near the Rockford, Illinois airport is far from reaching its intended size, but is expected to start generating electricity soon. (Rockford Register Star)

COMMENTARY: Minnesota meteorologist Paul Douglas again implores his fellow Republicans to accept reality on climate change, Retired Navy Vice-Admiral Dennis McGinn is tired of renewable energy being vilified, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says a state lawmaker’s effort to halt wind farms would “take the state backward.” (Neorenaissance, Reuters, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

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Ken Paulman

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

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