Japan’s first cap-and-trade rules head for cabinet approval.
Bloomberg News 12 Mar
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Energy
Other NewsEditorialsCap and tax.The chosen solution for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, a combination of energy taxes and carbon controls, is politically inexpedient. That means that the Senate's Green Three will have to buy the votes they need, sweetening the deal with special favors and parochial giveaways. National Public Radio 12 Mar Global warming challenge.The possibility of suspending California's Global Warming Solutions Act, a law unlikely to change temperatures but certain to wreak economic havoc, appears to have increased dramatically. Orange County Register 12 Mar Going green vs. going broke.Will cutting carbon kill jobs in California? Republicans say California can't afford its global warming law. But the real question should be: Can we afford not to cut pollution? Los Angeles Times 11 Mar Climate of fear.The integrity of climate research has taken a very public battering in recent months. Scientists must now emphasize the science, while acknowledging that they are in a street fight. Nature 11 Mar In climate change hot seat: Van Schalkwyk may be able to make a difference.Does Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk have what it takes to bring together a deeply divided world long enough to agree to a legally binding global climate accord in two short years? Johannesburg Business Day 11 Mar Obama's energy 'deal'.President Obama used his January State of the Union speech to promise "a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants" and "new offshore areas for oil and gas development." Judging by its recent decisions, we'd say his Cabinet hasn't received the memo. Wall Street Journal 11 Mar The electorate will decide climate law.Cap-and-trade legislation has failed to advance, and in what some see as an effort to get it moving, the Environmental Protection Agency has threatened to act against stationary sources of pollution itself. Charleston Daily Mail 10 Mar AB32 plays on economic fears.Petitions are being circulated for a November ballot initiative that would undercut California's landmark legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Please, don't sign their petitions. San Francisco Chronicle 10 Mar OpinionNoel Kempff project is 'saving the forest' by forcing destruction elsewhere.One-off carbon offsetting projects do not deliver real benefits to the atmosphere unless governments undertake much wider efforts to curb deforestation. London Guardian 12 Mar Climate surprise and empty desert vistas.Climate change requires us to respond by building large numbers of renewable energy facilities in lieu of burning carbon-based fuels. That is the only direct route to resolving our overarching environmental challenge: to directly reduce CO2 emissions. San Diego Daily Transcript 12 Mar Why are climate scientists losing the American public?Even as predictions about the possible effects of climate change get more troubling each day, Americans are increasingly skeptical of the science. This is depressing news for those who have spent years building the case for public concern. Washington Post 12 Mar Copenhagen Accord: What future for the climate?As the dust settles after what appeared to be a failed climate change convention in Copenhagen, leaders, delegates and experts have gone back to the drawing board to look at what went wrong and how to avert such in the future. Abuja Daily Trust 12 Mar Only a carbon tax and nuclear power can save us.What the world needs is a nation that will set an example, stop pandering to special interests, do what is necessary for the people and the rest of the life on the planet. Is it possible that Australia could provide that example, that moral leadership? Sydney Australian 11 Mar The new world order.Cleo Paskal, a London-based journalist and a scholar at the think tank Chatham House, presents a fascinating geopolitical chessboard, on which the United States and the European Union face off against China and Russia as climate change takes hold. Nature 11 Mar Climate change "quagmire."That it should be left to a politician from a developing country to make that point - while his counterparts in the West push for Rube Goldberg solutions to a "crisis" that may not even exist - goes far toward explaining the state of the climate debate today. Wall Street Journal 11 Mar The odd couple.The phrase "strange bedfellows" doesn't even begin to describe the relationship between Sen. Kerry and T. Boone Pickens. But earlier this month reporters were surprised by the revelation that the two had formed an alliance of sorts to push an energy bill through the Senate this year. Newsweek 10 Mar |
More Americans say global warming exaggerated - poll.A growing number of Americans, nearly half the country, think global warming worries are exaggerated, as more people also doubt that scientific warnings of severe environmental fallout will ever occur, according to a new Gallup poll. Reuters 12 Mar Battle over climate science spreads to US schoolrooms.Efforts in the past have been thwarted when courts ruled them unconstitutional, but those advocating the teaching of sound science may find it harder to fight misrepresentations concerning climate change. New Scientist 12 Mar Political ads: Weapon in climate change war?Since the U.S. Supreme Court in January ruled that corporations have the same right as individuals to free political speech, big business is now free to blitz the airwaves to attack politicians who support action against climate change. Reuters 12 Mar More funds needed to fight deforestation: Sarkozy.Rich nations must contribute more to a climate change fund and help fight deforestation, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at a 64- nation conference Thursday on saving the world's forests - a key defense against global warming. Associated Press 12 Mar Climate activists say businesses are buying their way out of costly greenhouse gas cuts.Major European polluters are buying their way out of making big cuts to greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing carbon offsets that pay for environmental programs in developing nations, a nonprofit group said Friday. Associated Press 12 Mar U.N. climate panel is all male.A new group overseeing financing for a United Nations climate effort has 19 members - none women. New York Times 12 Mar China unsure on warming cause, to stick with CO2 cuts.China's top climate negotiator said on Wednesday that the cause of global warming was still not clear but the problems it was creating were so serious that the world must anyway act to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Reuters 12 Mar Bulgaria drops CO2 claim, hopes for plan approval.Bulgaria has dropped its claim for extra pollution allowances for 2007 in a bid to persuade Brussels to speed up the approval of its long-delayed 2008-12 national plan for carbon credits, officials said on Friday. Reuters 12 Mar The IMF in Africa: Going green.Dominique Strass-Kahn, the head of the IMF, believes that we urgently need the Green Fund. Africans will be hit first and hardest by climate change - and they will need a reliable system in place. Economist 12 Mar Japan's Cabinet adopts draft bill for 25% emissions cut by 2020.The Japanese government formally approved a bill Friday to fight global warming by aiming to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 on condition that all major emitters set similarly ambitious targets. Kyodo News 12 Mar Meeting on deforestation boosts morale, budget,A conference bringing together more than 60 nations Thursday added $1 billion to the fight against deforestation and boosted the morale of those hoping to save the world’s forests – a key defense against global warming. Associated Press 12 Mar The stakes of carbon trading are losing their sizzle.Global carbon dioxide emissions offsetting markets are fast losing their luster in the minds of investors, both in the United States and abroad. ClimateWire 12 Mar Canada lags far behind U.S. in spending on energy efficiency plan.The Obama administration is spending eight times more per person on new renewable energy, public transit and energy efficiency measures than Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, a new analysis concludes. Canwest News Service 12 Mar Sarkozy to press G20 on climate funding.France will push the Group of 20 countries to impose a tax on financial transactions to raise billions of dollars to help developing nations fight climate change, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday. Reuters 12 Mar BBC defends journalist over climate email claims.The BBC says ABC chairman Maurice Newman was wrong to criticise BBC climate journalist Paul Hudson, who Mr Newman alleged sat on emails related to the so-called Climategate affair. Sydney Australian 12 Mar Danish leader seeks speedy delivery of climate aid to poor nations.Visiting Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen called Tuesday for the early implementation of financial aid worth $30 billion pledged by rich countries to help poor nations grapple with the impact of climate change. Japan Times 12 Mar Independent review of IPCC and its global warming reports: An answer to critics.The political fight over the science of global warming took another turn when the United Nations announced Wednesday that it was initiating an investigation into the practices of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Christian Science Monitor 12 Mar House aides mull plans to overhaul, codify NOAA.Aides from the two House committees with jurisdiction over the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are working together to draft legislation to overhaul and authorize the agency for the first time, according to House Science Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.). Greenwire 12 Mar GOP moves to limit EPA's authority over CO2.A resolution that could block EPA from using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions was introduced by 85 Republican members of the House of Representatives last week. Chemical & Engineering News 12 Mar Scientists urge Senate action on global warming.Two thousand US economists and climate scientists, including eight Nobel laureates, sent a letter Thursday to the Senate urging lawmakers to require immediate nationwide cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions tied to global warming. Christian Science Monitor 12 Mar Herseth Sandlin, Thune push for stronger EPA blockade than Johnson.In December, the EPA announced that greenhouse gases endanger human health and are thought to contribute to global warming. The EPA will use its authority to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions, unless Congress prevents it from doing so. Mitchell Daily Republic 12 Mar Obama adviser pushes multi-pronged energy policy.Top White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers stressed President Barack Obama's commitment to comprehensive energy legislation that includes investments in renewable energy, nuclear power and fossil fuels, and a price on carbon emissions. Houston Chronicle 12 Mar Nearly half of Americans believe climate change threat is exaggerated.Nearly half of Americans – 48 percent – now believe the threat of global warming has been exaggerated, the highest level since polling began 13 years ago, a poll published Thursday by Gallup found. London Guardian 12 Mar Schwarzenegger wants more drilling, less greenhouse gas.Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday simultaneously defended the state's greenhouse gas reduction law and repeated his support of expanded oil drilling off the Santa Barbara coast. Sacramento Bee 12 Mar Lawmakers debate green electricity,As the Hydro-Quebec power agreement was being completed in Quebec City, 250 miles to the south legislators were hearing the potential benefits and pitfalls of declaring that electricity to be renewable. Barre-Montpelier Times Argus 12 Mar Fight splits backers of ballot initiative to suspend state's global warming law.Ted Costa says his group, People's Advocate, has been shut out of efforts to suspend AB 32, which would force oil companies to slash emissions of greenhouse gases. Los Angeles Times 12 Mar Japan fudges plans for emissions cap-and-trade.As widely expected the Japanese government today effectively delayed a decision on how to structure its proposed emissions trading scheme until after this summer's election. London Business Green 12 Mar Japan faces rocky path to emissions trading system.Japan faces a rocky path to launching an emissions trading system after the government approved legislation on Friday that was vague on how the scheme would set limits on emissions. Reuters 12 Mar |