MIT study questions climate benefits of natural gas

NATURAL GAS: A new MIT study questions the climate benefits of natural gas, finding methane leaks have been underestimated. (The Hill)

OHIO: The state Supreme Court says American Electric Power does not have to refund ratepayers $368 million in invalidated charges. (Columbus Dispatch)

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PETCOKE: As officials from a BP refinery in Whiting, Indiana met with neighbors to roll out a new pollution monitoring program, they got an earful about petcoke and other issues instead. (Midwest Energy News)

COAL: High natural gas prices boost the coal industry, and an Energy Department official says carbon capture could raise energy prices by 80 percent. (Bloomberg)

COAL ASH: Federal prosecutors open a criminal probe of Duke Energy’s role in the Feb. 2 coal ash spill in North Carolina. (Reuters)

SOLAR: Kansas lawmakers table a bill that would have ended net metering in the state, but a committee chairman says it could return. (Topeka Capital Journal)

MEANWHILE: A Kansas legislative committee debates a nonbinding resolution rejecting climate science. (Topeka Capital Journal)

ETHANOL: Lower corn prices and higher demands are making the ethanol industry profitable again. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

FRACKING: Ohio’s oil and gas industry is not happy with the state’s revised drilling tax plan. (Columbus Business First)

WIND: The CEO of Nebraska’s largest utility says ​“there’s a lot of hype around renewables right now” at a forum on wind energy. (KNOP-TV)

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EFFICIENCY: Iowa researchers receive a $500,000 grant to improve energy efficiency at National Guard facilities. (Des Moines Register)

COMMENTARY: Why it’s time for southern Illinois to ​“get beyond the old coal wars,” how Wisconsin law prevents energy freedom, and why rail isn’t necessarily an alternative to the Keystone XL pipeline. (Carbondale Southern, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Slate)