25 Dead in Coal Mine Explosion (AP)
A huge underground explosion at a Massey Energy mine in West Virginia killed 25 coal miners in the worst U.S. mining disaster in more than two decades.
U.S. Sued Over Nuclear Waste Fees (New York Times)
Sixteen utilities and a trade association sued the Energy Department to halt the government’s collection of nuclear waste disposal fees, arguing that the country no longer has a disposal plan.
Industry Groups Challenge EPA’s Reconsideration of ‘Johnson Memo’ (Greenwire)
A coalition of industry groups has asked a federal appeals court to review U.S. EPA’s policy for when it plans to begin regulating greenhouse gases from stationary sources.
After Copenhagen Setback, UN Seeks Way Forward on Climate (AFP)
World leaders will gather this weekend in the hope of restoring faith in the battered UN process for combating climate change. Their first job will be stocktaking: to see what place climate change now has on the world political agenda.
U.S. Natural Gas Output Overestimated, Shale Blamed (Reuters)
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is revamping the way it calculates domestic natural gas production after it overestimated output from key producer states Texas and Louisiana.
Maryland Measure Would Hastens Adoption of Solar (Baltimore Sun)
A plan working through the Maryland General Assembly would push energy suppliers such as Baltimore Gas and Electric to rely on a higher percentage of solar power in the next few years than mandated by current law.
With Creative Business Model, Georgia Solar Farms Hooks to Grid (Savannah Morning News)
The owners expect to install more than 100 pole-mounted arrays on the first 1.25 acres for their own company. Then they’ll start leasing the remaining acreage to stay within Georgia’s power purchase rules while still drawing premium payouts.
Entergy Scraps Nuclear Spinoff Amid New York Opposition (Reuters)
Entergy Corp scrapped a planned spinoff of several of its nuclear power plants after New York regulators blocked the move.
Kentucky Senate Candidates Pledge Allegiance to Coal (AP)
Republicans Rand Paul and Trey Grayson pledged allegiance to the coal mining industry and promised to rein in the Environmental Protection Agency if elected to the U.S. Senate as Jim Bunning’s replacement.
Transportation Secretary on Biking, Walking and ‘What Americans Want’ (New York Times)
“I think that livable and sustainable communities is a game changer … because people do want to get out of congestion, they want to get out of their cars,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says in an interview.
Up in the Air with the Weathermen (New Yorker)
No one has ever offered a plausible account of why thousands of scientists at hundreds of universities in dozens of countries would bother to engineer a climate hoax. Nor has anyone been able to explain why Mother Nature would keep playing along.
