CLIMATE: More than 300 companies and investors urge President-elect Trump not to back out of the Paris climate agreement, saying “failure to build a low-carbon economy puts American prosperity at risk.” (New York Times)

ALSO: 
• How top Trump adviser Stephen Bannon drove climate conspiracies on the Breitbart News website. (InsideClimate News)
• At the Marrakech climate summit, U.S. officials unveil a plan to cut emissions 80 percent by 2050, emphasizing it is a “long-term vision.” (InsideClimate News)
• Climate advocacy groups report a spike in online donations following the election of Donald Trump. (Climate Central)

OIL AND GAS:
• The Interior Department cancels oil and gas leases on sacred Blackfeet land in Montana. (Washington Post)
• The U.S. Geological Survey estimates 20 billion barrels of oil are locked in a West Texas shale formation. (Dallas Morning News)
• Oil production in North Dakota continues to drop. (Bismarck Tribune)
• Insiders predict the oil and gas industry will benefit from lax EPA enforcement under a Trump administration. (Greenwire)

BIOFUELS: Oil industry executives push to keep ethanol targets below 10 percent. (Houston Chronicle)

SOLAR:
• Utility and solar groups praise a new set of guidelines for distributed energy on the grid. (Daily Energy Insider)
• A Utah lawmaker says the state’s solar tax credit is diverting $20 million from schools this year. (Deseret News)
• Officials in a Washington county reject a challenge to what will be the state’s largest solar farm. (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• While experiencing a spurt of development, large solar systems in Virginia face an uncertain future without policies to sustain growth. (Southeast Energy News)

WIND: General Motors announces a 50 MW deal with a Texas wind farm, its largest clean energy purchase to date. (Dallas Business Journal)

COAL:
• Maryland officials ask the U.S. EPA to crack down on 19 coal plants from five states whose emissions lead to air pollution farther east. (Baltimore Sun)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority says it will continue moving away from coal regardless of what happens to the Clean Power Plan. (Nashville Public Radio)

NUCLEAR: New York regulators are expected to decide today on a sale that could keep an upstate nuclear plant operating. (WBFO)

UTILITIES: At a utility regulator conference, attendees speculate on what a Trump administration means for the industry: “Right now, ain’t nobody knows nothing.” (Utility Dive)

EFFICIENCY:
• Securitization of property assessed clean energy financing deals have topped $400 million this month. (Greentech Media)
• Federal research grants aim to use self-driving technology to make cars more efficient. (Midwest Energy News)

COMMENTARY:
• A Utah Republican urges state regulators to not let utilities “snuff out the rooftop solar industry.” (Deseret News)
• Even if the Clean Power Plan is repealed, its carbon reduction cuts are already on track to be met. (The Conversation)
• “It is maddening and tragic to see these people put so much hope in one person, particularly when that person is clearly so unequipped to deliver on his promises.” (High Country News)
• Clean energy ballot measures fared well in the 2016 election. (Vox)

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

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