Senate Climate Update: Meetings and Meetings But No Text in Sight (The Hill)

Senate meetings on planned climate legislation continued at a fast clip Wednesday but the bill’s architects are not far along enough to release a long-awaited draft before the Spring recess that begins Monday.

California: Climate Change Law Won’t Hurt Economy (Reuters)

California’s economy will not be damaged by the state’s 2006 climate law, a state agency said in a report that counters the business community’s arguments that the economically troubled state will lose more jobs and businesses.

Europe ‘Committed’ to Global Carbon Market, Eyes U.S. Link (Bloomberg)

The EU is "very committed" to see its market linked with carbon-trading programs in other countries by 2015, a senior official at the bloc’s executive arm said.

Global Deforestation Slowed Over Last Decade: UN (Reuters)

Deforestation slowed in the last decade, in the first sign that global conservation efforts are bearing fruit, but an area the size of Costa Rica is still being destroyed each year, the UN said on Thursday.

Climate Change Puts Australian Reef on ‘Knife Edge’ (AFP)

The world’s southernmost coral reef is on a "knife-edge" after warmer seas blamed on climate change bleached large parts of it for the first time, an Australian scientist warned.

GE Says to Invest $453 Mln in Offshore Wind (Reuters)

GE will invest $453 million in offshore wind technology in Europe until 2020, the company said on Thursday.

Report: Free Allocations for Coal, Incentives for Renewables Seen Depressing U.S. Gas Demand (Greenwire)

Despite the promise of significant new domestic supplies of "shale" natural gas, incentives for renewable energy and free emission allocations for coal in climate legislation will likely reduce gas demand, according to a report by an international energy consultant.

Lawmakers Seek to Keep Yucca Nuclear Waste Dump (Reuters)

The U.S. Energy Department’s push to scrap a long-planned national nuclear waste dump in Nevada has run into stiff opposition as lawmakers on Wednesday questioned the Obama administration’s decision.

UK Must Help Homes Adapt to Climate Change, MPs Say (Guardian)

A UK program to "retrofit" homes with measures to make them more energy and water efficient and resilient to flooding is needed to help households cope with climate change, MPs said today.

Regional U.S. Cap-Trade Proceeds Fund Efficiency (Reuters)

As three U.S. senators try to resuscitate a climate change bill this year, a regional cap-and-trade market on CO2 in the Northeast is showing the system can generate revenues to fund energy efficiency.

Nuclear Power Beats Coal, Gas When Lending Costs Low, IEA Says (Bloomberg)

The International Energy Agency said it expects nuclear power to be a more competitive energy source than coal or natural gas when borrowing costs are low.

V-Vehicle: DOE Decides Against Loan for Stealthy Car Startup (Earth2Tech)

V-Vehicle, the stealthy auto start-up backed by T. Boone Pickens and Kleiner Perkins that aims to build low-cost, highly efficient, gas-powered cars, announced late Wednesday that it’s game over for the company’s bid to secure $321.1 million in federal loans.

Minister Says EU Was Behind Oil Sands Opposition (Reuters)

Alberta’s energy minister said that the EU is the organization he referred to when he asserted that some international groups were using the environment as a guise to erect trade barriers.

Island Claimed by India and Bangladesh Sinks Below Waves (Guardian)

For nearly 30 years, India and Bangladesh have argued over control of a tiny rock island in the Bay of Bengal. Now rising sea levels have resolved the dispute for them: the island has gone.