June 28-29, 2008

Tax-Free Financing for Coal Power Plants Under Attack (Reuters)

Green groups and others are opening a new frontier in the fight against new coal plants in America by questioning the use of tax-exempt bonds to help fund such projects.

Senators Ask for Congress-White House Energy Summit (Reuters)

US Senators have asked for a national summit between Congress and Pres. Bush to end a partisan stalemate and develop a plan for solving America's ongoing energy crisis.

Army Base Tracks Its Carbon 'Bootprint'  (Los Angeles Times)

Ft. Carson, Colo., has become the first army base in the US to implement a system for monitoring its greenhouse gas emissions. The findings: 200,000 tons last year. The next step: reducing that by nearly a third.

Spanish PM Firm on Phasing Out Nuclear Power (AFP)

Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has announced that he will not extend the life of Spain's ageing nuclear power plants, echoing his government's commitment to a total nuclear power phase-out.

G8 May Invest $10 Bln/Year in Technology to Cut CO2 (Reuters)

The G8 nations are looking to invest more than $10 billion a year in technologies to cut carbon pollution, and also to set country-by-country medium-term goals to slash emissions by 2020-2030, a Japanese daily has reported.

Global Warming Expert Calls on CA to Do More to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Los Angeles Times)

Rajendra K. Pachauri, head of the UN's IPCC, has praised California's blueprint for addressing climate change but reminded the state's public officials that Europe is moving far more quickly to address the issue.

Emission Curbs Could Close New Coal Plants (Guardian)

Fresh doubts have been raised over plans for new coal plants in the UK after the environment regulator said it expects that those not fitted with carbon capture and storage (CCS) equipment will have to close.

Geothermal-Rich SE Asia Struggles to Tap Earth's Power (Reuters)

Faced with looming energy crises in their developing economies, Indonesia and the Philippines are looking to tap the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area peppered with volcanoes and home to the world's biggest reservoir of geothermal power.