STUFF ... Sun's current activity cycle weakest in century ... US cars, trucks hit record gas mileage in '12. 23.6MPG combined city/highway ... Schott shuttered thin-film solar factory in Germany ... Mexico congress approved oil bill ending 75-yr monopoly. 1 member of Congress stripped down to his underwear in objection ... Russia balances their budget at $117 oil ... DOE to give NuScale Power (OR) up to $226M to advance design of tiny submersible nuke reactors. 2nd award under $452M multi-year program to assist development of small modular reactors. 1st award to Babcock & Wilcox in '12. Already prelim agreement with TVA. Russia's 1st underwater reactors headed for '16 install ... DOI: rising temps in COlo, NM to likely result in smaller snow packs, water shortages ... DOE announced $150M tax credits to support clean energy manufacturing at 12 US comps. Also moving forward with $8B in loans for fossil fuels R&D ... Big insurers brought into talks on how to protect NYC region against future storms ... Many developed nations a century or more behind in adapting to climate change: study ... North Polar region continued warming trend in '131: NOAA ... NOAA filed inaccurate data in climate report (not necessarily one on North Pole): Commerce IG ... Calif homes with solar sell at premium ... Citigroup: solar installs to grow 20% globally in '14 ... Ex-Im Bank implemented policy to restrict loans to coal power plants ... Cal lawmakers asking Gov to declare drought emergency ... Grand jury indicted Ark man on power line sabotage charges ... Entergy shut down Ark reactor after transformer fire ... US regulators shuttered 52 unsafe bus comps ... Bayer focusing on mites, not its products, in search for bee death answers ... China urging pilots to learn how to land in smog. Latest smog episode seen from space ... Moniz says oil export ban, strategic reserve could merit "new analysis" ... Miss regulators denied transfer of Entergy Miss high volt transmission lines to ITC Holding (Mich inependent) ... Conoco-Phillips moving to reopen Alaska NG export terminal ... "Our outlook (of world energy supplies) has never been more positive": Exxon ... Chicago council mulling ban on older oil tank cars ... New jack-up vessel commissioned by Hochtief for construction of offshore wind farms. Joins 2 others ... Concentrated PV solar demand seen doubling, costs halved by '17. TransCanada has reduced Keystone XL from 32% of contracted projects 4 yrs ago to 14% now. $38B total new projects now, some solar. Had to repair southern leg (now done) at 125 different locations. Canada tar sands comps counting on north leg much more than TransCan.