Today's Climate: March 3, 2010

Sen. Graham Calls Cap-and-Trade Plan Dead (Reuters)

The idea of imposing a broad cap-and-trade system to cut America's greenhouse gas emissions is dead and will be replaced with a new approach, Lindsey Graham, an influential Republican senator, said.

Senators Seek to Block Stimulus Money for Overseas (AP)

A group of four Democratic senators is urging the Obama administration to suspend an economic stimulus program aimed at financing renewable energy, complaining that money is going to projects that are creating jobs in foreign countries.

EPA Chief to Testify on Hill as Dissent Over Carbon Rules Grows (Bloomberg)

Lisa Jackson, head of the EPA, will testify before Congress a day after Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller called for a two-year delay on greenhouse-gas regulations and top House Republicans demanded they be stopped altogether.

House Republicans Join Fight to Block EPA (The Hill)

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Joe Barton (R-Texas), along with 84 other Republicans, signed on to a "resolution of disapproval" to prevent EPA from using the Clean Air Act to curb emissions.

In Vermont, Unease Over Aging, Leaky Nuke Plant (AP)

Voters in Waitsfield and 15 other Vermont towns used their annual town meetings on Tuesday to weigh-in on the continued operation of a nuclear power plant leaking a radioactive substance.

ARPA-E: $100 MIllion for Buildings, Energy Storage, Dispatchable Energy (Greentech Media)

ARPA-E, the advanced projects division inside the Department of Energy, will hand out $100 million to accelerate research to promote energy efficiency technologies for buildings, as part of a second round of grants.

Japan's Draft Climate Bill Omits Mandatory Limit on Emissions (Bloomberg)

Draft legislation for a new Japanese climate bill omits mention of a limit on emissions by industry, a sign Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government may retreat from an earlier promise to start a cap-and-trade system.

Institute of Physics Forced to Clarify Submission to Climate Emails Inquiry (Guardian)

The UK Institute of Physics has been forced to clarify its strongly worded submission to a parliamentary inquiry into the hacked climate emails, after skeptics used it to show that the problem of global warming is exaggerated.

Sweden to Build 2,000 New Wind Turbines: Minister (AFP)

Sweden will build 2,000 new wind turbines over the next decade as part of a bid to dramatically increase its production of renewable energy, Energy Minister Maud Olofsson announced.

Coal-Fired Power to Win Carbon Capture Grants (Financial Times)

Two coal-fired power plants, including Eon’s controversial Kingsnorth project, are to be given UK government support that could be worth tens of millions of pounds to develop technology for storing CO2 emissions.