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EMISSIONS:
• A Minnesota project has helped retrofit thousands of large vehicles and pieces of equipment with cleaner-burning diesel engines. (Midwest Energy News)
Clean-energy advocates speak out against shortcomings in a state plan to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions in Detroit. (Michigan Radio)

CLIMATE:
• China is expected to announce today the world’s largest cap-and-trade system, which would start in 2017. (New York Times)
Leading cities and regions around the world pledge to cut emissions that would keep temperatures from rising no more than 2 degrees Celsius. (Phys.org)
Minnesota-based Cargill is criticized for not joining other large corporations in aggressively pursuing emissions reductions and clean energy. (Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal)

***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.***

PHILANTHROPY: A $1 million gift from a Chicago firm will help develop new business models for large-scale renewable energy projects across the country. (Midwest Energy News)

OIL AND GAS:
• North Dakota regulators give the industry 10 more months to reduce the amount of natural gas burned off at wells, known as flaring. (Reuters)
Plans for a “mini-ethane” cracker plant in eastern Ohio for repurposing natural-gas components are on hold. (Columbus Business First)
BP is investigating the source of an oil leak found at its northwest Indiana refinery. (CBS Chicago)

SOLAR:
• Kansas regulators approve a rate increase for a major utility there, delaying a decision to revise special rates for customers with solar panels. (Lawrence Journal-World)
Advocates tout the benefits of going solar in Illinois. (Southern Illinoisan)

PIPELINES: Around the Straits of Mackinac Thursday, emergency crews deployed booms and practiced wildlife rehabilitation and shoreline cleanup as part of an oil-spill training exercise. (MLive)

NUCLEAR: A plant in southeast Michigan will remain shut down for maintenance and refueling. (Associated Press)

ETHANOL: A farmer-owned cooperative in southern Minnesota is considering a $146 million expansion of its ethanol plant, though some members are concerned about how to pay for it. (Rochester Post-Bulletin)

FRACKING: Advocates in Ohio are praising the state Supreme Court for placing an anti-fracking initiative back on Nov. 3 ballots. (Youngstown Vindicator)

VW POLLUTION CASE:
At least 27 state attorneys general, including six in the Midwest, are opening a multi-state investigation into the automaker over rigging technology to pass smog tests. (Associated Press)
The EPA plans sweeping changes to the way it tests for diesel emissions. (Associated Press)

COMMENTARY: A craft brewery owner in Michigan says alternatives should be found to reroute oil away from the Straits of Mackinac in order to protect water quality. (MLive)

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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