Electric cars could help coal in some states

In coal country, electric cars are often derided as an impractical symbol of renewable energy, but the notion has an ally that might seem odd but isn't: the coal industry. 

In North Dakota, one of the nation's largest coal-producing states, "The thinking is straightforward: More electric cars would mean more of a market for the lignite coal that produces most of North Dakota’s electricity, and if a long-shot project to store carbon emissions in deep underground wells works out, it might even result in cleaner air as well," Will Englund reports for The Washington Post. "As many parts of the country attempt to shift their energy production away from fossil fuels and toward solar, wind and other renewables, what’s happening here shows how the electric car revolution might play out in parts of the country far less friendly to either clean cars or clean energy." Read more here.