The Durban climate talks are over, and many are celebrating. After repeatedly reaching the brink of collapse, the summit produced agreements on several counts. The Associated Press reported that it approved a “landmark deal” that was “meant to set a new course for the global fight against climate change for the coming decades”. Christina Figueres, head of the system that oversees the talks, heralded the arrival of a “remarkable new phase in [the] climate regime”.
Environment
A Misplaced Climate Celebration in Durban
The Durban climate talks are over, and many are celebrating. After repeatedly reaching the brink of collapse, the summit produced agreements on several counts. The Associated Press reported that it approved a “landmark deal” that was “meant to set a new course for the global fight against climate change for the coming decades”. Christina Figueres, head of the system that oversees the talks, heralded the arrival of a “remarkable new phase in [the] climate regime”.
Pro-Nuclear Candidate Wins Japan Poll
HIGASHIDORI, Japan—A gubernatorial candidate promoting more nuclear reactors beat a rival who wanted to freeze them in a quake-hit northern prefecture Sunday, as Japan's troubled nuclear-energy industry faced its first major ballot-box test since the Fukushima Daiichi accident.
Energy Efficiency: Smart but not Sexy
Marie C.DONNELLY, DG Energy, reported that the EU is “unlikely to achieve a 20% reduction on the current set of policies” 1 by 2020. According to her, based on a modelling exercise, the estimate of energy savings “would be somewhere between 9 and 11% on current policies” in spite of the contribution of the economic crisis to decreasing the EU primary energy consumption.
Dutch Lawmakers Question Shell on Oil Pollution in Nigeria
Royal Dutch Shell officials faced tough questions from Dutch lawmakers on Wednesday over pollution from its oil operations in Nigeria at a conference convened in the Netherlands to shed light on the oil giant’s dealings in the West African country.
Geen Bootleggers and Baptists
NEW YORK – In May, the United Nations’ International Panel on Climate Change made media waves with a new report on renewable energy. As in the past, the IPCC first issued a short summary; only later would it reveal all of the data. So it was left up to the IPCC’s spin-doctors to present the take-home message for journalists.
Pools of Danger
WASHINGTON, DC – The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis in Japan has underscored the dangers of storing highly radioactive spent fuel in pools of water that are susceptible to breaches from natural disasters and hydrogen explosions from accidents. The crisis should serve as a wake-up call for governments and industry to take action to reduce the risks of spent-fuel storage.
What Have Climate Activists Learned?
COPENHAGEN – Advocates of drastic cuts in carbon-dioxide emissions now speak a lot less than they once did about climate change. Climate campaigners changed their approach after the collapse of the Copenhagen climate-change summit last December and the revelation of mistakes in the United Nations climate panel’s work – as well as in response to growing public skepticism and declining interest.
America's Green Innovation Problem
As clean energy technology has globalized, innovation has followed. Government officials need to pay attention
EU considers general carbon tax
The European Commission is planning an EU-wide minimum tax on carbon as part of the EU's green energy agenda - but the UK opposes such a move.
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