Environmental Law

In The News (October 27)

By Dennis Pfaff and Kevin Livingston, Editors

• British scientists report the Arctic ice cap is now shrinking at record rates in the winter as well as summer, adding to evidence of disastrous melting, reports The Times of London.
• It would cost trillions of dollars, but the world could eliminate fossil fuel use by 2090 by turning to renewable energy, according to a new report from renewable energy advocates and environmentalists, according to this Reuters dispatch.
• But the risks of not taking action on climate change far outweigh the turmoil of the global financial crisis, says a leading climate change expert cited in this separate Reuters story.
• New Jersey officials plan to look at various tactics, ranging from higher electricity prices during peak hours to cash incentives to turn off air conditioners, as the state acts on the goals set out by its governor's new master energy plan, reports the Bergen Record.
• A settlement has been reached between homeowners and the developer of an Illinois wind farm, opening the door to construction of the controversial project, according to the Bloomington Pantagraph.
• After three decades without starting a single new plant, the American nuclear power may be resurgent, with 21 companies seeking permission to build more than 30 facilities, as calculated by the International Herald Tribune.
• In more news with an international flavor, the UK's government-funded grant provider Carbon Trust has launched a project to fund research and development into algae-based biofuel, according to New Energy Finance, via Clean Edge News.
• The United Nations has launched what it calls its Green Economic Initiative, a $4 million attempt to shift the global economy toward environmentally friendly investments in order to create jobs and address climate change, according to GreenBiz.com. 
• Feeling guilty for driving? Auto-bound commuters between New York and New Jersey can do something about it by buying credits from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to offset their vehicles’ carbon emissions, reports The New York Times.
• The next president could jump-start efforts to combat global warming by relying on a venerable law, the Clean Air Act -- and it looks like a path a President Obama might pursue, according to this commentary in Yale Environment 360. 
•  Apparently, there's still lots of demand for coal, as evidenced by the rush to build a new rail line to a Montana coal mine, the state's largest railroad project in decades, the Billings Gazette reports.
• Maybe we should look into this climate change thing a little more -- or so seems to say the federal government, with the announcement that officials selected four proposals with a total funding of $7 million, to conduct climate research field studies in 2010, from a statement from the U.S. Department of Energy. 
• A planned coal-to-liquid-fuel plant in West Virginia has been shelved, apparently the casualty of the credit crunch, and possibly other reasons, reports the Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital.

Full post as published by Climate Law Update on October 27, 2008 (boomark / email).