Energy and Environment News Roundup – 11.5.13
A daily roundup of the most important energy, environment, and climate news from around the world.
COAL
Coal mine spill dumps 264 million gallons of waste into Canadian waterways (via Climate Progress)
Who killed all the coal jobs? (via National Journal)
EMISSIONS
Germans swing behind EU carbon market fix (via Recharge News)
Costa Rica launches first developing country carbon trading program (via Sustainable Business)
Study shows carbon sequestration can cause earthquakes (via Climate Central)
White House revisits “social cost of carbon” metric (via The Hill)
Environmentalists look to carbon markets to slow grassland conversion (via Greenwire)
KEYSTONE XL
Gina McCarthy hints at Keystone XL approval (via National Journal)
RENEWABLES
South Africa approves $3.3 billion of renewables projects (via Bloomberg)
The official explanation for Germany’s energy transition (via Energy Collective)
Five charts that explain the great energy shift (via Grist)
Biofuels makers mount last-ditch lobby push on EPA (via Bloomberg)
US ethanol plants reopen as record corn harvest boosts margins (via Reuters)
Google and Microsoft’s newest rivalry: renewable energy (via Quartz)
Rooftop solar, smart building features raise home values (via Sustainable Business)
Report green lights Michigan to expand renewable energy standard (via Union of Concerned Scientists)
OIL
Federal appeals court to hear arguments on BP oil spill settlement (via Houston Chronicle)
TRANSPORTATION
US Navy’s new all-electric destroyer is a seagoing microgrid (via CleanTechnica)
Tesla is top seller in nation’s wealthiest enclaves (via USA Today)
CLIMATE
Carbon emissions must be cut “significantly” by 2020, says UN (via The Guardian)
Northwest governors face legislative roadblocks on climate agreement (via EarthFix)
California must adopt aggressive climate change policies, says report (via Los Angeles Times)
GRID
Asian smart meter market forecast to reach $2.3 billion by 2020 (via Renew Grid)
UK energy storage research gets £5 million boost (via BusinessGreen)
Capacity markets: Life support for fossil fuels or the next frontier for renewables? (via Greentech Media)
POLITICS
US midterm elections unlikely to change carbon pricing politics (via Energy Collective)
Obama’s climate resilience task force gets icy GOP welcome (via The Hill)
Green groups say Virginia push a preview of 2014 (via The Hill)
OPINION
Here’s why Central Appalachia’s coal industry is dying (via Washington Post)
More myths about carbon taxes (via Financial Post)
Can biofuels make your White Castle slider more expensive? (via National Journal)
How the US coal industry found itself in an economic no-man’s land (via Climate Progress)
Is an ethanol compromise on the horizon? (via Energy Collective)