Energy and Environment News Roundup – 9.9.13
A daily roundup of the most important energy, environment, and climate news from around the world.
KEYSTONE XL/TAR SANDS
Canada formally offers to limit emissions if US approves Keystone XL (via Climate Progress)
Keystone pipeline foe Steyer launches $1 million ad push (via The Hill)
Dilbit in Exxon’s Pegasus pipeline may have contributed to rupture (via InsideClimate News)
EMISSIONS
US, China agree to work on phasing out hydrofluorocarbons (via Washington Post)
Abbott government begins process to repeal carbon tax (via ABC)
Regulatory scholars want feds to review carbon cost estimate (via The Hill)
EPA to hold conference calls with stakeholders on carbon standards for power plants (via Bloomberg BNA)
Trees write air pollution record in wood (via Scientific American)
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Shaheen-Portman bill: 172,000 green jobs, huge energy efficiency gains (via CleanTechnica)
RENEWABLES
Chinese solar cheaper to manufacture because of industry scale, not cheaper labor (via CleanTechnica)
Australian renewable energy industry braces for Abbott (via Recharge)
UK urged to back EU biofuels cap (via The Guardian)
Finland looks to ease wind permitting in developed areas (via Recharge)
Dutch set 4.4GW offshore wind goal (via Recharge)
China idles fewer wind farms as grid connections smoothed (via Bloomberg)
US solar will generate as much as today’s nuclear plants, or 20% of US power, by 2026 (via Facts of the Day)
Pilot program launched to make solar more economical for electric cooperatives (via Renew Grid)
Could US solar demand bring PV manufacturing back? (via Solar Industry Magazine)
US Navy triples funding for clean energy in Hawaii (via CleanTechnica)
Renewable energy entrepreneur is China’s latest billionaire (via Forbes)
NATURAL GAS/FRACKING
House to take aim at fracking regulations (via The Hill)
US Forest Service set to decide on fracking in George Washington National Forest (via Washington Post)
FracFocus straining under heavy use as BLM weighs disclosure regulation (via EnergyWire)
CLIMATE
Arab Summer: Warming-fueled drought helped spark Syria’s civil war (via Climate Progress)
Poland outlines ambition for 2013 UN climate summit (via RTCC)
Scientists studying solar radiation management as a way to cool planet (via Washington Post)
Ice melting faster in Greenland and Antarctica, show leaked UN documents (via Bloomberg)
Bloomberg, Steyer to launch big climate push (via The Hill)
Drones find new purpose studying Arctic ice melt (via Climate Central)
ENERGY POLICY
China looks west as it bolsters energy ties (via New York Times)
Surprising trends in summer energy use across US (via Inhabitat)
GREEN BUSINESS
FIFA sets green goal for 2014 Brazil World Cup (via BusinessGreen)
AASHE updates college sustainability rating system (via Environmental Leader)
Executives want sustainable products, but will they walk the talk? (via GreenBiz)
Seeking investments that are profitable and green (via New York Times)
NUCLEAR
South Korea nuclear issues, tower protests raise blackout risks (via Reuters)
Radiation levels spike at Fukushima disaster site (via CleanTechnica)
Study supports nuclear waste disposal near Great Lakes (via Midwest Energy News)
TRANSPORTATION
Tesla worries about battery supply as it increases vehicle production (via New York Times)
Is $35,000 or less the threshold price for volume EVs? (via Green Car Reports)
US gasoline rises to $3.58 a gallon (via Houston Chronicle)
ENVIRONMENT
X Prize unveils $2 million award to prevent ocean acidification (via USA Today)
Rim Fire is third-largest wildfire in California’s history (via NPR)
In South Florida, a polluted water bubble ready to burst (via New York Times)
OPINION
3 big takeaways from the new global commitment to phase down HFCs (via WRI Insights)
The president and the pipeline (via New Yorker)
Net metering polices helping to spur solar growth (via Huffington Post)
How big business can save the climate (via Council on Foreign Relations)