Reuters: Tesla Says in Talks With BMW Over Car Batteries, Parts

U.S. electric carmaker Tesla Motors is in talks with Germany's BMW over a possible alliance in batteries and lightweight components, Tesla's Chief Executive Elon Musk told German weekly Der Spiegel.

In an interview published on Sunday, Musk described BMW's production of carbon fiber-reinforced car body parts as "interesting" and "relatively cost efficient."

New York Times: Solar and Wind Energy Start to Win on Price vs. Conventional Fuels

For the solar and wind industries in the United States, it has been a long-held dream: to produce energy at a cost equal to conventional sources like coal and natural gas.

That day appears to be dawning.

The cost of providing electricity from wind and solar power plants has plummeted over the last five years, so much so that in some markets renewable generation is now cheaper than coal or natural gas.

Bloomberg: U.S. Rejects Proposal for Solar Project in California Desert

The U.S. Interior Department rejected a proposal to build a 200-megawatt solar farm in Southern California.

It’s the first time the agency’s Bureau of Land Management has denied a permit for a solar plant outside certain zones that have been designated as preferred locations for solar power, the administration said yesterday in a statement.

Iberdrola SA (IBE)’s plan to build the photovoltaic power plant in California’s Silurian Valley would have had negative impacts on wildlife and recreational activity that “could not be mitigated,” according to the statement.

LaCrosse Tribune: Not All Republicans Run From Clean Energy

This is a tale of two states, Iowa and Wisconsin. These states border each other, and they have many similarities.

Both are milk producers and corn producers. Both are composed of people with solid Midwestern values. Both have Republican governors, at least one Republican U.S. senator and at least one part of the state legislature controlled by Republicans. But there are big differences in their approach to renewable energy.

Roll Call: Will Republicans Need a New Message on Climate Change in 2016?

Senate Republicans were swept into power vowing to fight the White House’s “war on coal,” but at least one says they need a broader message than “no” in 2016.

“I think there will be a political problem for the Republican Party going into 2016 if we don’t define what we are for on the environment,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said. “I don’t know what the environmental policy of the Republican Party is.”

Graham, who worked on a climate change proposal in 2010 with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., suggested that what worked in the midterms might not work the next time around.