Coal mine sweep finds 120 violations in 7 states

COAL: A nationwide sweep of coal mines targeting causes of black lung disease finds 120 violations in seven states, including Ohio and Illinois. (NPR)

25 BY ​’25: A new poll shows Michigan’s Proposal 3 trailing by 20 percentage points, a sharp turnaround from September. (Detroit Free Press)

ALSO: How Proposal 3 could lead to more community-owned energy projects. (Michigan Land Use Institute)

TECHNOLOGY: A researcher at Penn State says microbes in sewage have energy potential - as much as 17 GW nationwide. (Midwest Energy News)

EFFICIENCY: A new report says 10,000 jobs in Ohio are tied to increasing energy efficiency, with a $2.1 billion annual impact. (Columbus Dispatch)

OIL: Canadian regulators announce a safety audit of TransCanada, Illinois officials sue ExxonMobil over an oil release from a refinery earlier this month, and the oil boom helps shape North Dakota’s gubernatorial race. (Reuters, Morris Daily Herald, Fargo Forum)

TRANSMISSION: Smart meters are helping speed grid recovery in areas hit by Hurricane Sandy, and the closure of a Wisconsin nuclear plant prompts ATC to rethink a $200 million power line upgrade. (Greenwire, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

POLITICS: An overview of President Obama’s and Mitt Romney’s records on energy and climate. (USA Today)

HYDROPOWER: A $25 million hydropower upgrade in Lawrence, Kansas, could go online as early as tomorrow, with construction ironically sped along by low river levels that will leave the dam generating at a fraction of its capacity. (Lawrence Journal-World)

FRAC SAND: A public hearing on a proposed frac sand facility in a Minnesota town is rescheduled because of ​“unmanageable” crowds. (Wabasha Daily News)

COMMENTARY: Is Sandy a ​“climate Pearl Harbor” for the U.S.? Marc Gunther and Nicholas Kristof say it is. (MarcGunther.com, New York Times)