Brits: Obama May Have to Delay Copenhagen Signing (Guardian)
Officials in the Obama administration are warning their British counterparts that the president may be forced to delay signing up to a new international agreement on climate change in Copenhagen because of the scale of opposition in the U.S. Congress.
Lisa Jackson: ‘EPA Is Back on the Job’ (Aspen Times)
“The EPA is back on the job for the American people,” EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson tells the Aspen Environment Forum. Climate change and mitigating its impact are “not an academic discussion any more.”
Congress Approves Landmark Conservation Bill (Reuters)
Congress approved sweeping land and water conservation legislation that environmental groups praised as one of the most significant in U.S. history. It sets aside 2 million acres as new wilderness that is off limits to oil and gas drilling.
Chicago’s Green Power Promise Fades (Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Richard Daley promised long ago to get 20 percent of the city’s electricity from wind and other green energy, yet Chicago still gets nearly all of its power from coal, natural gas and nuclear. Taxpayers, meanwhile, are on the hook for carbon credits that do little to fight global warming.
Wind Shear: GE Gains on Vestas in Wind Market (Wall Street Journal)
The big winner last year among turbine makers was General Electric, which has almost caught up to Denmark’s Vestas as the world’s leading turbine maker. There is also explosive growth in China, where an abundance of inexpensive turbines are bringing down the costs of wind power.
Farmers: Make Carbon a Cash Crop Under Climate Law (Bloomberg)
Agricultural offsets that pay farmers to turn their land into carbon sinks may be crucial to attracting enough votes from rural lawmakers to pass climate legislation.
Coal Country Worried about EPA Mine Permit Reviews (AP)
The Obama administration’s decision to hold mountaintop mining permits to a high environmental standard has struck a note of economic fear in Appalachia.
New Hampshire Issues First Climate Action Plan (Concord Monitor)
New Hampshire’s first climate action plan lays out 67 recommendations for reducing carbon emissions but largely ignores the largest single emitters: aging coal plants.
Climate Change’s Paradoxical Effects In Coastal Wetlands (Science Daily)
The increase in CO2 that is largely responsible for global warming and rising sea levels may counterbalance some of its negative effects on one of the most valuable ecosystems—wetlands.
Scientist: Global Warming 37% to Blame for Droughts (Reuters)
An Australian scientist’s analysis finds global warming is more than a third to blame for a major drop in rainfall that includes a decade-long drought in Australia and a lengthy dry spell in the United States.
Melting Glacier Change Italy-Switzerland Border (Independent)
Global warming is dissolving Alpine glaciers so rapidly that Italy and Switzerland have decided they must redraw their border to take account of the new realities.
Video: The Global Warming Refugees (France 24)
With sea levels rising, residents of the Carteret atoll off the coast of Papau New Guinea explain what they’re facing as refugees of global warming.
