House rushes $2 billion infusion to Cash for Clunkers program.
The House of Representatives interrupted its final day of legislation to rush more cash into the "Cash for Clunkers" program, which aids consumers in trading in older vehicles for more fuel efficient ones.
The program's initial $1 billion was appropriated in the stimulus bill last...
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In a sign of changing times, a court in China has accepted the country's first lawsuit filed by an environmental group against a local government.
The All-China Environmental Federation filed the suit on behalf of residents against a local land resources bureau, which sold land to a drink and ice cream processing plant they allege is a threat...
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Coal mining sites around the Illinois Basin are coming back to life, reversing a 30 year decline in that regions coal production.
The reason for the resurgence is growing demand for the type of coal produced there. The higher-sulfur content coal is cheaper to purchase, but the resulting emissions don't comply with Federal...
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Russia has begun work on a major natural gas pipeline supplying its Pacific Ocean port city of Vladivostok.
The pipeline is due to be completed before Vladivostok hosts the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group in 2012.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attended the inauguration ceremony in Russia's far eastern...
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The Senate wants to prohibit companies that sell gasoline and other refined products to Iran from contracting to fill the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Platts reports the measure passed by a voice vote late Wednesday as an amendment to the Department of Energy funding...
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On the road for just four days, the federal "Cash for Clunkers" program is nearly out of gas and is reportedly getting a red light.
The Associated Press and the Detroit Free Press are reporting that so many people have taken advantage of the program, which encourages motorists to trade-in their inefficient cars, that the government is afraid it will run out of money.
Congressional sources tell The AP that the Transportation Department has called congressional offices to alert them to the decision to halt...
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The carbon market isn't good for farmers in a program to reduce greenhouse gasses.
The National Farmers Union says CO2 credits are fetching about 60 cents a ton, down from a high of about $7 a year ago on the voluntary Chicago Climate Exchange.
About 3,900 farmers and ranchers in 40 states earn credits by growing grasses and trees or using no-till farming...
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Australia's prime minister Kevin Rudd is promising to create 50,000 "green" jobs to combat climate change and unemployment.
Rudd made the announcement after new government figures predicted Australian unemployment would rise to 8.5 percent next year from the current 5.8 percent because of the global downturn.
The "green" jobs package includes...
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Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says China wants to seal a deal on a new climate treaty.
The U.N. chief says Chinese leaders told him during his recent visit to Beijing that China will play an active and constructive role in the...
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As China's economy has cooled, so has power demand -- and the government has taken the opportunity to close some of the older, more polluting coal generating plants.
China gets more than 70 percent of its electricity from coal, and officials say closing any generating capacity during the last few years of double-digit growth and urbanization was impossible.
But with growth down to an estimated 7 percent this year, central government authorities have ordered some old units totaling nearly 75-hundred...
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New Jersey is heading toward the number two spot - after California - in solar power generation with regulatory approval of a $515 million energy project.
New Jersey's largest utility, PSE&G, has been given state approval of plans to equip more than 200,000 utility poles with solar panels.
The retrofitted poles and other devices are expected to generate 80 megawatts of electricity...
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Another day of sagging earnings reports for major oil companies.
Europe's largest publicly-owned company, Royal Dutch Shell, says its net profit fell 67 percent in the second quarter to $3.82 billion dollars... Down from 11.6 billion in the same quarter of 2008.
The first major American oil company to report this quarter, Conoco Phillips, says it netted $1.3 billion dollars in the second quarter...
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A federal appeals court won't stand in the way of offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
The U.S. Court of appeals in Washington has clarified its earlier decision to block some Bush-era drilling plans.
The court said the ruling was meant only to apply to activity in Alaska.
Questions about the decision were causing...
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The Energy Department's 2010 budget is now in the hands of a House-Senate conference committee.
The panel is working out the differences between a $34.3 billion-dollar energy spending bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday and a 33.3 billion measure approved by the House earlier this month.
Both plans back up President Barack Obama's promise to end funding...
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Its makers are calling it the worlds first biodegradable race car.
Called the WorldFirst F3, this Formula One racer can hit 160 miles per hour fueled by a bio-diesel engine running off of left over fish-and-chips oil.
Created at Warwick University in England, the body is made out of recycled plastic bottles, the...
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Special to Clean Skies News
SHANGHAI: China has cut its gasoline and diesel prices by about three percent each on Wednesday, despite recent rebounds in the international crude oil markets.
The latest adjustment is the sixth fuel price change the Chinese government made since it debuted a new pricing system at the beginning of this year. The new method roughly pegs China’s gas prices to the monthly average of global...
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The nation's beaches aren't getting any cleaner.
That's the conclusion of the Natural Resources Defense Council's 19th annual report on beach water quality... out today.
The report says 7 percent of water samples nationwide violated health standards last year -- zero improvement over 2007 and 2006.
Water Program co-director Nancy Stoner says that's the result of pollution from dirty storm-water runoff...
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Nissan has unveiled its new zero-emission electric car -- sort of.
The automaker showed off a working model of its Tiida compact -- without an exterior. That will be unveiled August 2nd when the company opens its new Yokohama headquarters.
The Tiida uses a lithium-ion battery pack that is placed under the vehicle floor to allow for more cabin and luggage space. The braking system recharges the battery while the car is driving...
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While the Obama Administration has been touting its investments in clean energy and green jobs, a new report says the private sector has also been upping its investment in alternative energy.
"Ernst & Young" says, from April to June, venture capital investment in the clean-tech sector -- fields like wind, solar, and...
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A plan to give Baltimore Gas and Electric customers in Maryland smart meters is coming up against some opposition.
The Baltimore Sun is reporting some consumer and senior advocate groups like AARP are opposing BGE's request to expedite the review process by state regulators.
The company says a faster legislative-style hearing in next month would allow it to meet the October deadline to apply for federal stimulus grants for...
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Greenpeace China says that China's three largest energy suppliers emitted more greenhouse gases than all of Great Britain last year.
The three state-owned companies - China Huaneng Group, China Datang Corp. and China Guodian Corp. - have also been warned in recent years by China's environmental protection agency for having "severe violations" of environmental...
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It looks like we'll see another change of policy on those controversial Federal land leases in Utah.
The land was sold under the Bush administration, then pulled in February after President Obama took office.
Now, a 12-member review team appointed by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar...
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A report from TVA's Inspector General Richard Moore concludes the federal utility failed for more than 20 years to heed warnings that might have prevented a massive coal ash spill in East Tennessee.
The report also says the utility allowed its lawyers to stifle a $3 million study into the December disaster's cause to limit its legal...
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Scientists say the Chesapeake Bay's summer "dead zone" has grown to its usual size.
The zones are created when sewage, air pollution and fertilizer runoff spur algae growth in the water. That makes oxygen levels too low to sustain fish and shellfish.
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science says recent samples show...
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USEC Inc. says the Department of Energy has denied its application for a $2 billion loan guarantee to complete the construction of a $3.5 billion Ohio uranium enrichment plant.
USEC has spent $1.5 billion developing the plant in Piketon, Ohio. The company said in June that without the guarantee it wouldn't be able to obtain private...
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A new report says carbon emissions from transportation in the U.S. could be cut in half by mid-century, but it will take some drastic changes our driving habits.
The report from the consulting firm Cambridge Systematics says that any improvements in fuel efficiency will likely be undermined by increased travel and population.
So the nation must work...
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An inspector general's report says the Tennessee Valley Authority could have prevented last year's massive coal ash spill in Tennessee, then muzzled a report in its cause cause to limit the agency's legal liability.
The 111-page report from TVA Inspector General Richard Moore came as officials from the nation's largest public utility made a third appearance before a congressional panel since...
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BP is cutting costs in the face of more falling profits.
Europe's second-largest oil company says it has already reached its original 2009 target of $2 billion in cuts in the first half of the year... And now it wants to cut another $1 billion in the second half...
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The Senate has opened debate on an energy and water spending bill that includes $27.4 billion for the Energy Department.
Like a measure that cleared the House earlier this month... the bill ignores the Obama administration's request to end funding for hydrogen fuel cell research and development. This bill would spend $190 million on hydrogen...
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What a difference a year makes.
Just 12 months ago, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission was telling Congress it couldn't find evidence that speculation was driving the roller-coaster ride in oil prices.
Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that under new leadership, the CFTC is finding just such evidence -- that speculators played a substantial role in those severe...
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Some welcome environmental news from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - the Gulf of Mexico's "dead zone" is smaller than expected.
That zone is an area of ocean where oxygen levels drop too low to support most life near the ocean's bottom.
NOAA-supported scientists believe that the smaller dead zone is caused by oxygenation of water due to unusual weather patterns...
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Commodity exchanges are moving ahead of regulators to curb the potential for market manipulation, and they're seeing money drop out of the market before their eyes.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission held a hearing today on speculation in energy prices. But ahead of any new rules, the New York Mercantile Exchange told traders in June it would cap position limits in the last three days of...
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Former Sen. Larry Craig has opened a consulting firm and says he's focusing on energy issues.
The Los Angeles Times reports Craig formed New West Strategies with his former chief of staff, Mike Ware.
Craig says the firm has four clients, including Premier Technology, a construction...
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The government's Cash for Clunkers program is now underway.
That means consumers can now trade-in older, less-fuel efficient vehicles in exchange for credit for a new vehicle.
Among the conditions are that your old car can't get better than 18-miles per gallon, that your...
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