Energy and Environment News Roundup – 1.30.13
A daily roundup of the most important energy, environment, and climate news from around the world.
CLIMATE
Report finds climate change a threat to wildlife (via USA Today)
Spring may come 17 days earlier for North American forests (via Phys.org)
Redrawn New York City FEMA flood zone map contains twice as many structures (via New York Times)
Why San Francisco can lead the way on resiliency planning (via GreenBiz)
COAL
China consumes nearly as much coal as the rest of the world combined (via US EIA)
TAR SANDS/KEYSTONE XL
EU maintains plan to label Canadian tar sands oil as highly polluting (via Reuters)
US State Department’s Keystone XL review will face EPA scrutiny a third time (via InsideClimate News)
Keystone XL decision may loom large for red state Democrats in 2014 midterms (via The Hill)
House GOP, citing North African turmoil, boosts Keystone pipeline pressure (via The Hill)
RENEWABLES
Germany adds 2.4GW of wind in 2012 (via Recharge)
Denmark announces 1.5GW offshore wind tender (via Recharge)
German wind market may defy global slump to grow 43% this year (via Bloomberg)
9 in 10 French favor renewables but perceive high costs (via Renewable Energy World)
The rapid rise of UK offshore wind (via Greentech Media)
Chinese company sues to void blocked US wind farm purchase (via Bloomberg)
Top solar states vs top solar countries (via CleanTechnica)
Scaling solar and wind: a hard look at innovation priorities (via Energy Collective)
Oil-and-gas lobby might take ethanol fight to Supreme Court (via The Hill)
EPA reveals 100% green power users list (via Environmental Leader)
Can wind developers halt “the march of the buffer zones’? (via BusinessGreen)
Solar industry gets burned in Arizona (via Energy Manager Today)
Solar with energy storage coming to California, at a cost (via EarthTechling)
EMISSIONS
Russia exploring plans for domestic carbon market (via RTCC)
Scotland pledges to decarbonize power sector by 2030 (via BusinessGreen)
Australian businesses counting carbon tax (via Sydney Morning Herald)
Missoula city council passes plan to be carbon neutral by 2025 (via Missoulian)
NATURAL GAS/FRACKING
Pipeline explosion rattles natural gas industry (via Forbes)
Can natural gas undo nuclear power? (via Wall Street Journal)
Chesapeake chief McClendon quits, cites “philosophical differences” (via Houston Chronicle)
McClendon out at Chesapeake – is a takeover next? (via Forbes)
Departure of Chesapeake CEO McClendon signals new era in natural gas (via Christian Science Monitor)
Congressmen supporting LNG exports received $11.5 million from Big Oil, electric utilities (via DeSmog Blog)
GRID
German grid operators coping with power supply swings (via Reuters)
Survey to utilities: stress smart grid benefits to win over consumers (via Energy Manager Today)
Silver Spring Networks could finally go public within a month (via GigaOm)
TRANSPORTATION
Hybrids outsell many market segments in 2012 but still struggling (via Autoblog)
Wanxiang wins US approval to buy battery maker A123 (via Bloomberg)
Boeing Dreamliner battery was a concern before failure (via New York Times)
Nissan “almost” sold out of 2012 Leafs (via Autoblog Green)
OIL
Judge accepts BP’s $4 billion criminal settlement over Gulf oil spill (via New York Times)
Texas oil output hits highest level in two decades (via Houston Chronicle)
ENVIRONMENT
Recapping a year of weather extremes (via C2ES)
Colorado wildfire air pollution rivaled worst days in Mexico City, Los Angeles (via Phys.org)
Stretches of upper Mississippi River near record-low levels (via US EIA)
POLITICS
Yale poll finds climate change action is a political winner (via Climate Progress)
John Kerry’s Secretary of State confirmation delights climate campaigners (via The Guardian)
Kerry likely to face great green expectations at State Department (via E&E Daily)
Al Gore faces “The Future” with optimism (via The Hill)
LaHood to step down as head of US Transportation Department (via The Hill)
Top Ohio utility regulator tied to group pushing repeal of state renewable energy targets (via Columbus Republic)