CLEAN POWER PLAN: The White House is teaming up with three labor unions to promote job creation under the Clean Power Plan. (The Hill)

UTILITIES:
• Saying it has capacity to spare, a Wisconsin utility wants the state to block other utilities from building new power plants. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• Investors continue to question NRG’s business model as the company announces support for the Clean Power Plan. (EnergyWire)

SOLAR:
• A survey finds nearly 60 percent of utilities are reviewing their net metering policies. (Greentech Media)
• Utah’s governor tours the state’s first utility-scale solar farm, which is expected to go online in December. (Deseret News)
• Solar farms encroach on oil country in Texas. (Midland Reporter-Telegram)

OIL AND GAS:
• A decline in drilling has corresponded with fewer earthquakes in Kansas. (Wichita Eagle)
• Developers of an Ohio natural gas pipeline sue 91 landowners to gain access to their properties. (Akron Beacon Journal)
• Environmental groups push federal regulators to inspect more than 200 miles of undersea pipelines off California’s coast. (Reuters)
• “Frack now, pay later”: major oilfield players try new tactics to ride out the drilling downturn. (Reuters)

COAL:
•  Market forces are more responsible for coal’s decline than tougher emissions regulations, and the failure thus far of “clean coal” isn’t helping. (New York Times)
• Dependence on low-quality lignite coal in Texas is one reason the state is opposing the Clean Power Plan. (Marketplace)
• Arch Coal will pay $2 million to settle alleged Clean Water Act violations. (The Hill)

TRANSPORTATION: An electric and hybrid car-sharing program will target lower-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles. (Huffington Post)

HYDRO: New residential lofts in Minneapolis will be powered mostly by hydropower that once fed an historic mill built in the 1880s. (Midwest Energy News)

POLITICS:
• Coal billionaire Chris Cline explains why he donated $1 million to support Jeb Bush. (Bloomberg)
• The pope’s climate appeal falls on deaf ears in Texas. (Texas Tribune)
• Young conservatives push GOP candidates on clean energy. (New York Times)

CLIMATE: A chart from the World Resources Institute breaks down state-by-state emissions. (Grist)

COMMENTARY: Cutting carbon emissions “will create wrenching change across America. In the end, though, we will be the better for it.” (Buffalo News)

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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