EU Offers 95% Cut by 2050 If Deal Sealed at Copenhagen (Guardian)
Europe attempted to reassert its international leadership in the fight against global warming, offering to slash its greenhouse gas emissions 95% by 2050 and 30% by 2020 if a climate pact is sealed at Copenhagen.
China, US Leaders Push Climate Cooperation (Reuters)
A top Chinese official and senior U.S. politicians warned today that the world must deal with climate change urgently. They say if their top emitting countries work together, they could spur rapid improvements.
India PM Seeks Global Hub for Cleantech Research (Reuters)
India’s prime minister today called for a global center to coordinate research on clean-energy technology, saying innovations should be viewed as "public goods" that poorer countries could afford.
UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions Figures ‘Misleading’ (London Times)
A UK government watchdog says leaders have exaggerated Britain’s success in fighting climate change by presenting “misleading” figures on carbon emissions that count offsets as actual emissions drops.
EPA Targets Another Bush-Era Environmental Rule (Dow Jones)
The Obama administration plans to rescind a ruling on the risks posed by pollution from oil refineries, the latest repudiation of a last-minute Bush administration regulation.
Russian ‘Hot Air’ Threatens UN Climate Deal (EurActiv)
The EU is wondering what to do with billions of unused pollution credits accumulated by Russia, Ukraine and other former communist states of Eastern Europe under the Kyoto Protocol as lawmakers worry about the continuity of the carbon market beyond 2012.
Hydropower Industry Braces for Glacier-Free Future (Reuters)
From the Himalayas to the Andes, faster-melting glaciers spell short-term opportunities and long-term risks for hydroelectric power and the engineering and construction industries it drives.
Taiwan: Choosing Carbon Taxes Over Carbon Tariffs (Wall Street Journal)
Taiwan could become the first Asian country to pass a carbon tax, part of a plan to steadily reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to 2000 levels by 2025 — and avoid foreign carbon tariffs on its goods.
Energy Giant Total Warns UK on Green Taxes (Financial Times)
Total, the largest investor in the North Sea, warns the UK that carbon taxes would undermine oil and gas production. The CEO says he’s been assured that a new Conservative government would not add taxes to energy companies in the North Sea.
GE to Participate in World’s Biggest CCS Project (Greentech Media)
GE has landed a $400 million deal with the developers of a large natural gas field in Australia that hopes to push carbon capture and sequestration from theory to reality.
Cities Seize on Cheaper Hybrid Buses (New York Times)
Although the initial cost is still well above that of a conventional diesel-powered bus, hybrid buses emit less pollution and get far better fuel economy.
The Economic Case for 350ppm (Yale Environment 360)
Amid a growing call for reducing atmospheric concentrations of CO2 to 350 parts per million, a group of economists maintains that striving to meet that target is a smart investment — and the best insurance policy humanity could buy.
