Not backing down: The first major attempt to mitigate the global warming effects of air travel is encountering turbulence. The European Union wants airlines using EU airports pay for the greenhouse gas emissions generated by their planes, but China has basically banned its airlines from complying. In the U.S., House and Senate bills are also in the works to prevent airlines from paying. New York Times
Electric highway: If range is your concern about buying an electric car, fear not: someday you might arrive at your destination with more juice than you had when you left. Stanford researchers have a plan for an electrified highway that will charge cars as they pass over it. California Watch
Green IT: Greenpeace's Cool IT rankings place Google at the top of 21 tech companies in terms of green energy use. Cisco, Ericsson, and Fujitsu round out the top four, with Apple the most prominent absence from the list. Still, no one scored above an F- on a 100-point scale. GreenBiz
Korean cap and trade: South Korean legislators voted to impose carbon emission limits on 500 of the nation's biggest companies, despite substantial industry opposition. It seems chambers of commerce everywhere fight against environmental protections. Bloomberg
Ethanol up in the air: A House of Representatives panel has approved a bill that would block the EPA's approval of E15 ethanol blends in cars built after 2000. Ethanol advocates are reeling these days, after the end of a $6 billion subsidy in December. Detroit News
Crisis in the Maldives: President Nasheed of the Maldives (pictured above at his underwater cabinet meeting, which was designed to bring attention to the threat sea level rise poses to his country) was apparently forced out at gunpoint in a coup, and possibly injured in subsequent protests. Bill McKibben's 350.org is calling for help for the country's first democratically elected leader, who has been "a global voice for action to address the climate crisis." 350.org
Comic climate: "You've reached myFacts." Leave it to Garry Trudeau and Doonesbury to illuminate where climate change deniers get all those pesky (and easily debunked) fake facts. Doonesbury
Tips: @OnEarthMag (tag it #greenreads)
Image: Presidency Maldives/Flickr
