Economy & Business

"House Republicans, overriding their top leaders, voted on Monday to significantly curtail the power of an independent ethics office set up in 2008 in the aftermath of corruption scandals that sent three members of Congress to jail."

"The Colorado River is like a giant bank account for seven different states. Now it's running short. For decades, the river has fed growing cities from Denver to Los Angeles. A lot of the produce in supermarkets across the country was grown with Colorado River water. But with climate change, and severe drought, the river is reaching a crisis point, and communities at each end of it are reacting very differently."

"The Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, held annually in the first week of January in Las Vegas, is becoming the place to unveil exciting electric cars, upstaging the Detroit Auto Show held a week later, the usual venue for automakers to reveal new models."

The transition from coal to renewables for electric power is so deeply rooted in free market forces that president-elect Donald Trump will have a hard time stopping it.

"The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) has voted to restore favorable rates for residential solar customers in NV Energy’s Sierra Pacific Power Company’s service territory -- exactly one year after the commission passed a controversial fee increase that brought the state’s residential solar market to a halt."

"Low oil prices that caused project cancellations, as well as new climate policies, have activists seeing the beginning of the end in Canada's oil patch."

"Businesses might not find bargains by turning to fossil fuels in 2017, according to a new report. Solar and wind power costs have dropped, bearing price tags that are the same as or cheaper than fossil fuels in more than 30 nations as of the end of this year, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report published last week."

"A dusty village on the outskirts of Ningde, a third-tier city in China's southeast, seems an unlikely place for the headquarters of a potential global leader in future automotive technology."

"Desperate towns have turned to private equity firms to manage their waterworks. The deals bring much-needed upgrades, but can carry hefty price tags."