Environmental Law

In The News (October 23)

By Dennis Pfaff and Kevin Livingston, Editors

• Huge areas of federal land in the West would be open to geothermal energy development under a plan released by the U.S. Interior Department, which identifies acreage nearly twice the size of California for potential development, according to the Los Angeles Times. Find the department's press release and links to official documents, as well as recent Climate Law Update coverage of the government's assessment of the nation's "vast" geothermal potential.
• A big proposed merger in the energy industry -- Exelon’s bid for power plant operator NRG Energy -- could be the start of a new wave of consolidation in the power plant business, even though the deal is not a sure thing, according to the Houston Chronicle.
• From across the pond comes word regarding the growing importance of wind power, including statistics showing that in Scotland, onshore wind projects are now generating more electricity than all the country's hydro plants combined, according to Glasgow's The Herald.
• China is committed to seeking a climate change pact at key talks next year, at least according to Denmark's prime minister, who urged countries not to use the planet's financial turmoil to delay a deal, reports Reuters. 
• Maybe some of the things they said were terrifying? At any rate, three climate change activists, advocates for such scary things as wind and solar power, were listed as terrorists for more than a year by police, according to this posting from The New York Times' Dot Earth.
• Political pressure is keeping corn-based ethanol alive, despite the ongoing controversy over the fuel -- and differences among the presidential candidates -- as reported by the Financial Times.
• Anyone who wants to know what lawmakers in California were up to this past year regarding the subject of air quality can find it online, courtesy of the California Air Resources Board.  

Full post as published by Climate Law Update on October 23, 2008 (boomark / email).