Today’s Climate: May 1, 2009

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Florida Renewable Energy Plan Goes Down to the Wire (Herald-Tribune)

Florida’s clean energy future is on the line today as Gov. Charlie Crist’s push to make the state a leader in the rapidly growing renewable energy industry comes down to the final hours of the regular legislative session.

White House Finishes Review of Ethanol Draft Rule (Reuters)

The proposed rule aims to cut emissions from renewable fuels by ranking biofuels by the amount of pollution they emit over their lifetime – from being produced on land to being burned in engines.

GOP Releases Talking Points on Waxman-Markey (DeSmogBlog)

The GOP’s “Talking Points on the Democrat National Energy Tax” are an effort to get all Republicans under the same tent in their ad hominem attacks on the climate bill.

New Bill from Markey, Waxman Takes Aim At Cyberspies (Wall Street Journal)

Taking on the energy threat du jour, the vulnerability of the power grid to hackers, should shine a bigger light on the potential of the so-called “smart grid” to overhaul both the way electricity is moved around in the U.S.

DOE Lab Develops ‘Smart Charging’ for Electric Cars (CNet)

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory just announced the development of a smart charger controller designed specifically for charging cars at off-peak times to get the lowest price and ease strain on the grid.

Bankruptcy Might Finally Force Fuel Efficiency at Chrysler (Wired)

The smallest and weakest of the Big Three is filing for bankruptcy and hitching its wagon to Italian automotive giant Fiat. At long last we might finally see some small, fuel-efficient cars. Chrysler has the know-how, it just needs to use it.

HSBC Sees Growing Interest in the Climate Change Dividend (Reuters)

A two-year old Climate Change Market Index developed in Britain is getting attention from one of the biggest U.S. pension funds, signaling to U.S. manufacturers that positioning themselves to take advantage of a green economy is a good bet.

No Time for Pessimism, Say Small Islands ( Nature)

Countries in the Alliance of Small Island States know their continued existence is on the line in this year’s climate negotiations. AOSIS chair Dessima Williams of Grenada explains.

100 Days of Coal (Huffington Post)

Sierra Club’s Bruce Nilles offers a status report on what the Bush administration has done to end the use of coal and the destructive practice of mountaintop mining.

‘Junk Economics’ in Climate Debate as Bad as Junk Science (New York Times)

It’s important to understand that just as denials that climate change is happening are junk science, predictions of economic disaster if we try to do anything about climate change are junk economics, Paul Krugman writes.

Who Are These Guys Behind the Anti-Climate Action Ads? (NRDC)

There’s a new anti-climate action front-group running around D.C., backed by some old gunslingers who’ve been packing heat for polluters for years.

Exxon on Avaaz Spoof: ‘We Don’t Understand’ (Huffington Post)

This week, Avaaz has been running an advertisement on Washington DC television spoofing ExxonMobil’s hypnotically disingenuous ad campaign. Watch the ad here and see what you think.

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