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News Summary
Week of February 1, 2010
WHAT'S HOT
In their element
Financial Times
Get Mark Smith talking about his company's biggest asset and the feeling is one of being transported back to a high-school chemistry class. Cerium, lanthanum, praseodymium, neodymium . . . The mine described by the head of the Denver-based Molycorp Minerals contains deposits featuring some of the more esoteric reaches of the periodic table. Read More...
White House budget proposal gives ax to fossil fuel tax breaks, some Interior programs
New York Times/Greenwire
President Obama will roll out a sweeping federal budget proposal today that would eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels, invest more money in clean energy projects and cut funding for 120 federal programs, including some at the Interior Department. Read More...
Tailoring rule could harm gas industry, association officials warn
Oil & Gas Journal
The presidents of three large natural gas trade associations expressed concern with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's tailoring rule under the agency's proposed greenhouse gas emission regulations. Read More...
Mystery surrounds fate of sage grouse
Twin Falls Times-News
A federal listing of the sage grouse would have a heavy impact on energy projects, traditional land uses and economic growth in southern Idaho. Read More...
UN climate panel shamed by bogus rainforest claim
The Sunday Times
A startling report by the United Nations climate watchdog that global warming might wipe out 40% of the Amazon rainforest was based on an unsubstantiated claim by green campaigners who had little scientific expertise. Read More...
Courts as battlefields in climate fights
New York Times
A look at lawsuits filed by environmental groups, private lawyers and state officials around the nation against big producers of heat-trapping gases. Read More...
It's green against green in Mojave Desert solar battle
Yale Environment 360
As enviros push plans to turn the desert into a center for renewable energy, some green groups - concerned about spoiling this iconic Western landscape - are standing up to oppose them. Read More...
CLIMATE NEWS
Climate change study was 'misused'
The Sunday Times
A report on climate change, which underpins UK government policy, has come under fire from a disaster analyst who says the research he contributed was misused. Read More...
U.N.'s global warming report under fresh attack for rainforest claims
FOXNews.com
A United Nations report on climate change that has been lambasted for its faulty research is under new attack for yet another instance of what critics say is sloppy science -- guiding global warming policy based on a study of forest fires. Read More...
SEC issues guidance on climate change risk disclosure
TriplePundit.com
The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to issue interpretative guidance on what public companies must disclose to investors concerning climate change risks. Read More...
Chinese scientists: UN IPCC "may have overstated the link between global temps and CO2"
China Daily
Several Chinese scientists who have gone over the IPCC report believe that the IPCC may have overstated the link between global temperature and CO2 in the atmosphere. Read More...
Harsh winter a sign of disruptive climate change, report says
Washington Post
This winter's extreme weather is in fact a sign of how climate change disrupts long-standing patterns, according to a new report by the National Wildlife Federation. Read More...
U.S. government to reduce its emissions 28 pct by 2020
Reuters Africa
President Barack Obama said on Friday the U.S. government would reduce greenhouse gas emissions 28 percent by 2020 as the result of an executive order he issued to set the example on fighting climate change. Read More...
Researchers find estimates of CO2 produced by U.S. fires too high
ClimateWire
Estimates of carbon dioxide emissions from wildfires may be significantly overestimated, a recent Oregon State University study indicates. Read More...
Slowdown in warming linked to water vapor
Wall Street Journal
Climatologists have puzzled over why global average temperatures have stayed roughly flat in the past decade, despite a long-term warming trend. New research suggests that lower levels of water vapor in the stratosphere may partly explain the anomaly. Read More...
ENERGY SECURITY
Interior touts fast-tracking of 13 solar projects
E&E News
The Interior Department aims to approve permits for 13 commercial-scale solar projects by December, allowing construction to begin on plants that will generate the energy equivalent of 15 midsize coal-fired plants. Read More...
Three companies seek oil-shale leases
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
The Bureau of Land Management received two applications in Colorado and one in Utah in its second offering of oil shale research and development leases. Read More...
Feds drowning in demand for nuclear power licenses
Tri-City Herald
By the end of this year, the Energy Department expects to have applications for 31 new reactors. Read More...
Wind power grows 39% for the year
New York Times
Despite a crippling recession and tight credit markets, the American wind power industry grew at a blistering pace in 2009, adding 39 percent more capacity. The country is close to the point where 2 percent of its electricity will come from wind turbines. Read More...
Plans include 4 major power lines to export electricity from Montana
Missoulian
At least four major power lines to export electricity from Montana are on the drawing board. Here is the status of the projects: Read More...
Spanish firm to build huge solar plant in NM
New Mexico Business Weekly
Spanish renewable energy company GA-Solar plans to build a 300-megawatt solar photovoltaic generating plant in eastern New Mexico. Read More...
Government plans cautious moves on Atlantic drilling
Houston Chronicle
The federal government is set this week to begin a process that could clear the way for energy companies to do seismic research aimed at locating pockets of oil and natural gas along the Atlantic Coast, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters Monday. Read More...
Endangered Species Act: Too controversial to change
Twin Falls Times-News
Westerners who gripe about the Endangered Species Act often have very clear ideas about how they'd change it. But actually making those changes is another matter entirely. The ESA is the very definition of a political hot potato, and there may not be much anyone can do to alter it anytime soon. Read More...
Western producers to Obama: Punitive tax hikes will cost jobs and limit economic growth
IPAMS
President's tax hikes would raise costs to consumers, threaten 260,000 western jobs. Read More...
MINERAL SECURITY
Colorado proposed rules on uranium mining go public
Denver Post
Colorado mining officials have released draft regulations aimed at tightening oversight of uranium mining operations in the state. Read More...
Montana mine survives metals downturn
Missoulian
Workers and owners save Troy Mine from closure. Read More...
Utah: New silver zones found in Eureka mine
Deseret News
Core drilling has discovered three new high-grade silver ore zones above the main body of silver in the historic Burgin Extension mine. Read More...
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Clean coal plants await their fate
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
After years of planning and politicking, two next-generation power plants planned for central Illinois face their respective days of reckoning. Read More...
A hydrogen highway for the East Coast
Wired
A Connecticut company has plans for a "hydrogen highway" that will extend from Portland, Maine, to southern Florida. Read More...
Wyo. gas plant sets high bar for CO2 sequestration
Land Letter
Federal regulators are nearing approval of a natural gas development project in southwest Wyoming that would serve as a testing ground for new mineral extraction technology while becoming one of the largest carbon sequestration projects in the world. Read More...
Oregon coal-burning power plant may have a future after all: biomass
The Oregonian
PGE is trying to decide whether to close its coal-fired power plant near Boardman, in Eastern Oregon, or convert it to burn biomass. Read More...
Exelon backs FutureGen coal plant
MSN Money
Exelon Corp. has thrown its support and funding behind FutureGen, a multibillion-dollar low-emissions coal plant planned for Mattoon, Ill. Read More...
Shell in $12bn Brazilian ethanol partnership
Financial Times
Royal Dutch Shell has outlined plans for a biofuel venture that could dominate Brazil's market for ethanol and provide a platform for its worldwide export. Read More...
Biobutanol firm aims to compete with ethanol in 4 years
New York Times/ClimateWire
California startup Cobalt Technologies is the latest in a growing number of biofuel ventures banking on biobutanol as an attractive ethanol alternative. Read More...
Potatoes and algae may replace oil in plastics
telegraph.co.uk
Frederic Scheer is biding his time, convinced that by 2013 the price of oil will be so high that his bio-plastics, made from vegetables and plants, will be highly marketable. Read More...
Exxon Mobil lauds algae-based biofuels
UPI
A solution to expand the options for renewable energy resources is through the use of biofuels produced by algae, Exxon Mobil executives said in Abu Dhabi. Read More...
Entrepreneur seeks algae-to-fuel conversion key
Austin American-Statesman
A look at a new startup company researching economically feasible methods for turning algae into biodiesel as an alternative to fossil fuel. Read More...
Novozymes to launch ethanol product
Reuters
Danish biotech company Novozymes will launch in the first quarter this year a new enzyme to produce transport fuel from agricultural waste. Read More...
NEWS FROM THE STATES
Alaska gas pipeline could cost $41 billion
Houston Chronicle/AP
The company holding an exclusive license with the state of Alaska to develop a major natural gas pipeline estimates the project will cost $20 billion to $41 billion, depending on the route. Read More...
Colorado: Governor prods for action on water plan
Durango Herald
Gov. Bill Ritter wants water experts to have some ideas in place to address Colorado's water future by the time he leaves office in 11 months. Read More...
Montana: Rep. Rehberg touts wilderness 'phase in'
The Montana Standard
U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., said he will only support designating more wilderness in the state if it's phased in over 10 years and tied to getting more logging and restoration work done on the ground. Read More...
Nevada: State high court deals setback to pipeline proposal
Las Vegas Review-Journal
A state Supreme Court ruling issued Thursday could seriously delay or halt a multibillion-dollar plan to supply Las Vegas with groundwater from across eastern Nevada. Read More...
Montana: New power lines' effect on residents hard to predict
Billings Gazette
As huge power line projects in Montana are pitched as the catalyst for a new wave of wind power development here, Public Service Commissioner Brad Molnar, R-Laurel, is asking whether the lines might end up harming Montana electricity consumers. Read More...
Nevada: Proposal would eliminate funding for Yucca Mountain
Las Vegas Review-Journal
President Barack Obama will propose eliminating funding for the Yucca Mountain Project in a new budget he will submit to Congress, said Nevada lawmakers who were notified over the weekend. Read More...
Texas: Permian Basin makes return as oil prices show resilience
Houston Chronicle
Texas' famed Permian Basin, the graying grand dame of the state's oil business, is looking more attractive to some now that crude oil prices are showing signs of stabilizing at higher levels. Read More...
Utah: Green River nuclear power proposal sparks big questions
Salt Lake Tribune
A fledgling company's plan to build a 3,000 megawatt nuclear power plant near the Green River in eastern Utah is generating more questions than answers. Read More...
KUDO OF THE WEEK
Cement plant looks to sun
Pueblo Chieftain
Holcim's Portland cement plant is the first in the United States to use solar panels to help provide power to the plant, company officials say. Read More...
OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK
UN climate change panel based claims on student dissertation and magazine article
telegraph.co.uk
The United Nations' expert panel on climate change based claims about ice disappearing from the world's mountain tops on a student's dissertation and an article in a mountaineering magazine. Read More...
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