Judge denies effort to halt fracking leases on Ohio public lands

OIL & GAS: An Ohio judge dismisses environmental groups’ request to halt a state commission’s plan to start accepting bids for oil and gas drilling under state park and wildlife areas. (Energy News Network)

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AIR POLLUTION: Chicago environmental justice advocates score a “significant” victory as the U.S. EPA directs Illinois to make sweeping changes to its permitting process for polluting industries in neighborhoods. (Grist)

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PIPELINES:

• Former North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple says federal bureaucracy cost the state $38 million in Dakota Access pipeline policing costs as U.S. attorneys dispute the expenses. (North Dakota Monitor)
• South Dakota lawmakers are now considering 10 bills related to a proposed carbon pipeline as some landowners remain fiercely opposed to the use of eminent domain for the project. (South Dakota News Watch)
• The Sierra Club claims carbon pipeline developer Summit Carbon Solutions owes nearly $60,000 for site prep work to several Iowa counties. (Globe Gazette)

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UTILITIES: In seeking to ban campaign contributions from utilities, a Michigan lawmaker says it’s much cheaper for companies to buy political influence than invest in grid reliability. (Michigan Advance)

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CLEAN ENERGY: Michigan regulators will hold a public hearing next week in Detroit to gather input on carrying out sweeping new clean energy laws. (MLive)

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SOLAR: A $2.4 million solar installation coming to a Twin Cities-area corrections facility is part of a broader clean energy plan for Minnesota’s most populous county. (Star Tribune)

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CLIMATE: An Indiana researcher says localized actions and advocacy to help curb climate change could help prevent forecasted damages to local ecosystems and rising precipitation. (Indianapolis Star)

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RENEWABLES:

• Former Ohio regulator Sam Randazzo, who’s been indicted for his alleged role in a utility corruption scheme, also previously aligned with a known anti-renewable advocate in the region. (Checks and Balances Project)
• Detroit-based DTE Energy is seeking proposals to develop 1,075 MW of renewable energy projects to support its long-term clean energy plan. (North American Windpower)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A nascent movement of moms across the country is pushing for schools to transition to electric buses amid mounting evidence on the health harms of childrens’ exposure to diesel buses. (Associated Press)

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GRID:

• Ameren Missouri says in a new report that recent grid infrastructure upgrades prevented outages for roughly 66,000 customers in 2023. (KFVS)
• Grid operators MISO and Southwest Power Pool agree to conduct another shared grid study this year even though the past five studies have failed to produce an interregional transmission project. (RTO Insider, subscription)

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