ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Ford plans to spend $4.5 billion to introduce 13 new electric car models by 2020. (Detroit Free Press)

EFFICIENCY: The federal government reduces its energy use to the lowest levels since 1975. (Climate Central)

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EMISSIONS: Pulling carbon from the air may not be a far-off concept to mitigate climate change. (Yale Environment 360)

COAL:
• A leading bond-rating agency sees no slowing or reversal in 2016 of coal’s dimming future. (Platts)
• Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, who faces up to one year in prison for a misdemeanor, is to be sentenced April 6. (Associated Press)
• Michigan researchers say carbon capture is too costly. (Michigan Radio)
• San Francisco’s employee retirement fund votes to divest its coal holdings. (Associated Press)

PIPELINES: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission wants the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to look at alternative paths through national forests in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. (Triad Business Journal)

OIL AND GAS:
• Colorado’s supreme court hears arguments over whether local governments should have the authority to ban fracking. (Colorado Independent)
• The omnibus spending bill being negotiated in Congress now is likely to include an end to a ban on U.S. oil exports. (The Hill)
• A legal debate is rekindled over whether the government is obligated to sell publicly owned minerals whose burning could exacerbate climate change. (Greenwire)

CLIMATE:
• U.S. negotiators in Paris are trying to convince other nations to not make a deal on emissions cuts subject to international law, which would require Senate approval. (Greenwire)
• As time winds down, potential for an agreement grows. (ClimateWire)

SOLAR:
• A 104 MW solar array in Utah – one of the largest in North America – went online yesterday. (Deseret News)
• A program in San Antonio lets homeowners rent their rooftops for solar power. (KSAT)
• Despite only one project being built in the first year of the program, a Minnesota utility expects the pace of community solar to pick up significantly in 2016. (Midwest Energy News)

WIND: GM says it will buy 30 MW of wind to help power a Texas assembly plant that builds large large SUVs. (Reuters)

CLEANTECH: The new CEO of the Chicago-based Clean Energy Trust explains how the organization advances the clean energy economy and how the Midwest can play a leadership role. (Midwest Energy News)

BATTERIES: Firefighters warn of the risks posed by widespread adoption of in-home energy storage. (EnergyWire)

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NUCLEAR: The U.S. nuclear industry looks to cut costs 30 percent by 2018. (Platts)

COMMENTARY: “Costly, polluting transmission lines” shouldn’t be part of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s progressive energy plan. (Huffington Post)