Today’s Climate: September 22, 2010

Big Economies Don’t See Climate Pact This Year: U.S. (Reuters)

World powers are not aiming for a legally binding pact to fight global warming at a U.N. meeting in Mexico this year and are trying to stop backsliding from a 2009 agreement, the U.S. said on Tuesday.

U.S. Plans to Try Again on HFC With The ‘Biggest Climate Deal’ This Year (Bloomberg)

The U.S. plans a second stab at a greenhouse gas proposal through the Montreal Protocol, arguing that carbon trading isn’t the best way to eliminate HFC-23, which traps 11,700 times as much heat as CO2.

Oil Sands Emissions 6% Above Other Oil: Study (Reuters)

Emissions from Canada’s oil sands, from crude production to end use, are 6% higher than from other oil imported into the United States, a study by energy think tank IHS CERA said on Tuesday.

Environmentalists Get Hearings into Proposed Total Oil Sands Mine Halted (Candian Press)

Environmental groups got their way Tuesday when a public hearing into a proposed oil sands mine in northern Alberta was abruptly adjourned.to review treaty rights and environmental issues.

Murkowski to Lose Senate Energy Committee Spot (New York Times)

Republicans intend to meet on Wednesday and vote to strip her of her position as the senior Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Sen. Tom Carper’s Power Plant Bill Dies (Politico)

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) has scrapped plans to move a bipartisan bill this year that would curb harmful power plant emissions through amendments to the Clean Air Act.

GOP May Rebrand House Enviro Committees (Greenwire)

If Republicans win control of the House in November, panels like the Natural Resources Committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming might undergo some rebranding.

Whitman Would ‘Probably’ Veto Global Warming Law if She Were California Governor Today (Mercury News)

Meg Whitman said that had she been governor in 2006, she would have signed the state’s landmark global warming bill — but, she added, if it were on her desk as governor today, she’d "probably" veto it.

Judge Rejects Massey Disaster-Probe Complaints (Charleston Gazette)

An administrative law judge has rejected Massey Energy’s legal challenge to the procedures being used by federal regulators to investigate the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster.complaints.

Massey Chief Accuses Feds of Lying in W.Va. Probe (AP)

The embattled chief executive of Massey Energy accused federal regulators Tuesday of not making a genuine effort to investigate the explosion that killed 29 miners and injured two at the company’s Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia.

Australia May Introduce ‘Hybrid’ Policy on Curbing Carbon, Citigroup Says (Bloomberg)

Australia is likely to impose a price on carbon emissions in the next three years, replacing a previous plan with a blend of initiatives, including a trading system or a tax as well as regulation, Citigroup said.

Not Many Takers for BP Gulf Rig Worker Fund (AP)

Fewer people than expected have applied for money from a $100 million fund BP set up to help deepwater rig workers after a federal moratorium on drilling prompted by the massive oil spill.

Clinton Unveils U.S. Funds for Clean Cookstove Push (Reuters)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced on Tuesday a U.S. contribution of some $50 million toward providing clean cooking stoves in developing countries to reduce deaths from smoke inhalation and fight climate change.

Canada’s Forests, Once Huge Help on Greenhouse Gases, Now Contribute to Climate Change (Chicago Tribune)

In an alarming yet little-noticed series of recent studies, scientists have concluded that Canada’s forests, stressed from global warming, insect infestations and persistent fires, are now pumping out more climate-changing CO2 than they are sequestering.

GM Eyeing Ways to Reuse Chevy Volt Batteries (CNET News)

Joining forces with power grid supplier ABB Group, GM will study whether it can reuse batteries that formerly powered Volt electric cars to store energy created by wind and solar power generators.

Does Ocean Power Have Electrifying Effects on Fish? (Earth2Tech)

A project headed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington State is looking into the potential effects of electromagnetic fields on marine wildlife, a study that can become a key reference for any environmental impact review of any ocean power project in the U.S.

Old, Pressed Flowers Give Climate Clues: Study (Reuters)

Flowers picked up to 150 years ago in Victorian England show that old collections of pressed plants around the world can help the study of climate change, scientists said on Wednesday.