CARBON: The White House is preparing new limits on carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, officials said Wednesday. The president’s climate policy iniatives are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. (The New York Times)
WIND: An alliance of wind developers and conservation groups is developing a database of bird fatality data from wind farm studies. Meanwhile, Xcel Energy has filed a lawsuit to get out of a power purchase agreement with a Minnesota wind farm that’s been delayed by wildlife impact questions. (Midwest Energy News, Minnesota Public Radio)
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EFFICIENCY: U.S. businesses that cut carbon emissions by 3 percent annually through 2020 could reap up to $190 billion from lower energy bills, increased productivity and innovation, according to a new study from the World Wildlife Fund and CDP. (E&E Publishing)
SOLAR: There’s finger-pointing in Jackson, Mich., after city officials passed on a private developer’s proposal to build a solar array at the municipal wastewater treatment plant. Harvest Energy Solutions says the lease would have netted the city nearly $700,000, but Mayor Martin Griffin said the plan was too vague and risky. (MLive.com)
KEYSTONE XL: In a field east of Scranton, N.D., row after row of aqua-green pipe owned by TransCanada sits waiting for the pipeline’s approval by the Obama administration. (Nebraska Watchdog)
NATURAL GAS: Low prices and stagnant demand are squeezing the natural gas industry today, but panelists at an Energy Information Administration conference Wednesday see better times ahead as coal-fired power plants retire and exports become a reality. (E&E Publishing)
COAL: As the Indiana Supreme Court considers the fate of a controversial $2.8 billion coal-gas plant, questions are being raised about a justice’s ties to the developers and whether he should recuse himself from the case. (Indianapolis Star)
FRACKING: A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study on the threat of fracking to drinking water won’t be completed until 2016, an EPA official said this week at an Ohio shale gas conference. (Akron Beacon Journal)
BIOFUELS: Motorcyclists rallied in Washington, D.C., against E15 ethanol, which they said could damage motorcycle and ATV engines. An ethanol trade group, Growth Energy, called it “political theater” and noted that E15 is only approved for use in cars and light duty trucks built since 2000. (The Des Moines Register)