India: Watered Down Climate Declaration Likely at G8 (Reuters)
The world’s worst polluters, meeting during the G8 summit in Italy this coming week, will likely agree on a token joint declaration because President Obama will be chairing the meeting, Indian officials say. The members plan to hold talks Tuesday.
Both Parties Try to Cash In on Climate Bill Vote (CQ Politics)
Within hours of the House passing sweeping climate legislation, the party fund-raising letters were already going out. Both parties are trying to use the landmark legislation to their advantage.
China Considering New Air Quality Rules (Reuters)
China is considering new air quality regulations as it looks to build on its success clearing Beijing’s skies during the Olympics, environmental officials.
Energy Bonds Among 20 Radical Ideas for Climate Action (Guardian)
The British public could invest their savings in the UK’s renewable energy revolution with energy bonds, similar to what they’ve done in the past with war bond, and reap the financial rewards of helping to save the planet, under one of several ambitious proposals being discussed this weekend.
China, India Protest US Carbon Tariff Plan (Financial Times)
China joined a growing clamor of complaint about the U.S. climate bill’s addition of a carbon tax on imports from countries without their own emission caps, warning it could set off a global trade war.
Older Cars Fouling DC Air (Washington Post)
Vehicles in the Washington, D.C., area are an average of six months older than they were in 2005. The increase, from about 7.9 to 8.4 years, is enough to push the region perilously close to violating its limits for traffic-related pollutants, regional planners say.
Power Costs Cloud Outlook for NY Coal Plant (Buffalo News)
Environmental groups and the would-be developers of a coal-fired power plant are squaring off in Jamestown, N.Y., over what one environmentalist describes as “a completely unnecessary plant disguised as a carbon capture experiment.”
Rep. Minnick’s Climate Bill Vote May Cost Him (Idaho Statesman)
Voting with the GOP might seem like an easy political choice for Rep. Walter Minnick. The Democrat represents a conservative region. But it could become a problem when he needs clout to help Idaho.
US Climate Bill Could Make Canada Act (Montreal Gazette)
Irresistible pressure is building on Canada to bring in a serious plan to reduce our greenhouse-gas emissions, and the embarrassment factor is now in play, a Montreal Gazette editorial says.
The Cleantech Race Is on, and China Knows It (New York Times)
If the United States doesn’t want to lose the green technology race, President Obama can’t put the energy/climate bill on the back burner to focus solely on health care. They go together, Thomas Friedman writes.
USDA Organic Label Under Fire (Los Angeles Times)
Relaxed federal standards and a surge in consumer demand have made organics big business. But consumers aren’t always getting the chemical-free foods they expect. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack has pledged to protect the label despite pressure to lower standards to certify more products as organic.
Street Farmer Grows Real Food in a ‘Food Desert’ (New York Times)
Will Allen, with his 14 greenhouses crammed into a two-acre lot in a poor section of Milwaukee, is turning the inner city into the next front in the good-food movement.
