Today's Climate: September 23, 2009

Nations Headed Toward Independent Climate Goals (Washington Post)

The vision President Obama and others outlined at the United Nations climate summit — in which countries offered a series of individual commitments — suggests that a potential deal may look much different from what its backers originally envisioned.

Developing Countries Look for Climate Cash at G20 (AFP)

A week of climate talks comes to a head tomorrow at the two-day G20 summit in Pittsburgh, where emerging powers will press rich nations for major funding to combat global warming and its impact.

German Nuclear Plants’ Future at Stake in Election Fight (Financial Times)

When Germans vote on Sunday, the fate of the country’s nuclear power industry will be hanging in the balance. Angela Merkel is campaigning to reverse a decision to phase out nuclear energy by 2021 if her favored center-right coalition takes power.

India’s Actions Provide More Hope for Copenhagen (NRDC)

India recently announced it would quantify the emissions cuts it will make under its ambitious National Action Plan on Climate Change, and it plans to create a National Environmental Protection Authority.

PG&E Ditches Chamber of Commerce Over Anti-Climate Efforts (GreenBiz)

Another high-profile company is washing its hands of a major trade group over its opposition to a climate change bill working its way through Congress.

Indonesia Tackles Illegal Palm Oil — with Chainsaws (Reuters)

Indonesia is taking action to stop the lucrative crop's march into protected lands, with a chainsaw-wielding alliance led by the Aceh Conservation Agency, NGOs and police sweeping tens of thousands of hectares of illegal palm from the Leuser Ecosystem.

US Ability to Deliver Climate-Change Measure Questioned (Bloomberg)

President Obama, who challenged world leaders to overcome “doubts and difficulties” and reach a global accord on climate change, faces skepticism over whether he can deliver legislation in his own country.

Gore: Storing CO2 in Soil Should Be on UN Agenda (Reuters)

Developing emissions markets to encourage farmers in poor countries to store more carbon dioxide in soil should be a key topic on the U.N. climate talks agenda, Al Gore told reporters at the UN climate conference.

EPA Finalizes Greenhouse Gas Registry Rules (OMB Watch)

With the changes and industry concessions made in the final rule, the agency says "an estimated 85 percent of the total U.S. GHG emissions, from approximately 10,000 facilities, are covered.”

EPA: Kentucky Must Re-evaluate Power Plant Plans (Herald-Leader)

The EPA ordered state regulators to take another look at the permit they granted for a new unit at a coal-fired power plant and whether the state, relying on a court-rejected Bush-era rule, failed to require that the plant use the best available pollution controls.