FUEL CELLS: Toyota announces plans to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles by 2050, relying on hydrogen fuel cells instead of electric vehicles. (NBC News)

EFFICIENCY: Six states are leading an effort to streamline the evaluation of efficiency investments, which could help states comply with the Clean Power Plan. (EnergyWire)

OIL AND GAS:
• Companies in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania are urged to work together on using ethane from the fracking process to make byproducts rather than burning it. (Columbus Business First)
• Texas is expected to see a $4.1 billion drop in oil and gas tax revenue over the next two years as the outlook nationwide continues to deteriorate. (Austin American-Statesman, Dallas Morning News)
• For the second month this year, natural gas surpasses coal as the country’s No. 1 source of electricity. (Washington Post)
• A top industry official says it’s a “suite” of proposed federal regulations that threaten North Dakota’s oil production, not slumping prices. (Associated Press)
• New Jersey is one of 16 states identified in a new report for over-relying on natural gas as an energy source in the future. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

DEMAND RESPONSE: U.S. Supreme Court justices raise concerns about federal regulators’ ability to reward customers for reducing energy use. (Greenwire)

MERGER: The mayor of Washington D.C. reverses course and urges local regulators to let Chicago-based Exelon take over the city’s utility. (Washington Post)

RETIREMENT: Utilities in Wisconsin and Kansas plan to retire 600 megawatts of coal, natural gas and biomass by the end of the year. (Platts)

FRACKING:
• A sharp earthquake in central Oklahoma last week raised concerns about the security of a vast oil-storage complex nearby. (New York Times)
• A new study says prenatal exposure to chemicals used for fracking could have long-term reproductive health consequences. (Huffington Post)

OIL SPILL: Federal and state officials say they will not seek an additional $92 million from Exxon Mobil for environmental cleanup needed from an Alaska spill 30 years ago. (Reuters)

POLITICS: Democrats’ embrace of climate change as an issue at the national level is a “stunning evolution.” (ClimateWire)

SOLAR: The future for utility-scale solar looks bright even if a federal tax credit is scaled back after 2016. (Solar Industry)

COMMENTARY:
• A U.S. Supreme Court decision on demand-response “could very well be the biggest energy-related Supreme Court case in decades.” (The Conversation)
• With demand and generation falling, the western coal industry “is placing a huge if misguided bet on foreign markets” with coal export schemes. (Tacoma News Tribune)
• The Democratic Party has come a long way on climate change, but CNN hasn’t. (Vox)
• Activist Bill McKibben calls Exxon Mobil’s climate change cover-up “unparalleled evil.” (The Guardian)