Energy and Environment News Roundup – 5.19.14
A daily roundup of the most important energy, environment, and climate news from around the world.
EMISSIONS
Obama greenhouse gas cuts split power, coal industries (via Bloomberg)
Obama’s big carbon crackdown readies for launch (via Politico)
California air board urges doubling of emission cut targets after 2020 (via San Francisco Chronicle)
Governor Brown says University of California coal divestment is a possibility (via Los Angeles Times)
NATURAL GAS/FRACKING
Russia-China natural gas deal preparations in “final phase” says Putin (via Reuters)
Support for fracking in United Kingdom falls below 50% (via The Guardian)
A fracking boom where there is no fracking (via National Journal)
North Carolina bill would make fracking chemical disclosure a felony (via EnergyWire)
RENEWABLES
India’s new government plans to use solar to bring power to every home by 2019 (via Bloomberg)
Saudi Arabia in policy shift seeking solar through Aramco (via Bloomberg)
Solar versus the grid: Map shows where PV makes the most sense (via Greentech Media)
Renewable energy wins in Colorado and Iowa, loses in Ohio (via Sustainable Business)
Texas renewable energy production increases 12% in 2013 (via Houston Chronicle)
Georgia Power plan would install 90MW in solar arrays on three Army bases (via EnergyWire)
Maryland Governor O’Malley vetoes wind turbine moratorium (via EnviroPolitics)
COAL
Pipeline collapse in China coal mine kills 11 (via ABC News/AP)
The coal plant to end all coal plants? (via Washington Post)
Michigan seeks to expand coal ash use, but at what cost? (via Midwest Energy News)
CLIMATE
Greenland glaciers more susceptible to melt than thought (via Climate Central)
Rift widening between energy, insurance industries over climate change (via Forbes)
California governor links wildfire increase to climate change (via The Guardian)
TRANSPORTATION
China’s push for better fuel economy has a bigger purpose (via Autoblog Green)
Tesla edges out Toyota as California’s top auto employer (via Bloomberg)
ENVIRONMENT
Coral reefs protect shorelines by reducing wave energy 97% (via Climate Progress)
Rate of US honeybee deaths “to high for long-term survival” (via The Guardian)
Drought worse than Dust Bowl in New Mexico, Colorado, Texas (via Forbes)
US wildfire season starts 75 days early (via New York Times)
California drought conditions to persist through summer (via Bloomberg)
Louisiana lawsuits seek oil and gas industry money to restore coastline (via Los Angeles Times)
Project bringing 15,000 trees to vacant lots in Detroit (via AP)
KEYSTONE XL
Jane Kleeb versus the Keystone Pipeline (via New York Times)
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
In California, a real-world proving ground for energy efficient buildings (via SmartPlanet)
Latest generation video game consoles waste energy even when you’re not playing (via NRDC Switchboard)
NUCLEAR
U.S. ends nuclear waste fee collections with $31 billion on hand and no disposal option in sight (via Greenwire)
GRID
Germany’s residential battery storage subsidy sees 4,000 new systems in 1st year (via CleanTechnica)
POLITICS
Efforts to make climate deniers pay a political price may finally be getting somewhere (via National Journal)
Senate blocks $85 billion tax cut bill because it would have helped wind energy (via Climate Progress)
Miami will likely be underwater before Congress acts on climate change (via National Journal)
OPINION
What’s exceptional about the current drought, and what isn’t (via Washington Post)
Is climate change too risky for business? (via The Hill)
Obama’s FERC problem isn’t going away (via The Hill)
Clean tech investments are sexy again, here’s why (via SmartPlanet)