TOP STORY

In Close Vote, House Passes Climate Bill

"The House narrowly passed an ambitious climate bill [Friday] that would establish national limits on greenhouse gases, create a complex trading system for emission permits and provide incentives to alter how individuals and corporations use energy. The bill passed 219 to 212 after a furious lobbying push by the White House and party leaders won over farm-state Democrats who had complained that it was too costly, and liberals who wondered if it was too watered down to work. Even after that effort, 44 Democrats voted against the legislation." [Washington Post]

Related:

• "How did your rep vote on the House climate and energy bill?" [Grist]
• "One hurdle down for climate bill, 60 more to go" [Grist]

RECOMMENDED READING

Algae Farm Aims to Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel

"Dow Chemical and Algenol Biofuels, a start-up company, are set to announce Monday that they will build a demonstration plant that, if successful, would use algae to turn carbon dioxide into ethanol as a vehicle fuel or an ingredient in plastics...The process also produces oxygen, which could be used to burn coal in a power plant cleanly, said Paul Woods, chief executive of Algenol, which is based in Bonita Springs, Fla. The exhaust from such a plant would be mostly carbon dioxide, which could be reused to make more algae." [Green, Inc. - New York Times]

Campaigners Fight Solar Project

"The world’s biggest concentrating solar power (CSP) project has run into unexpected opposition — from environmentalists...Basin and Range Watch, a group of volunteers dedicated to preserving the deserts of California and Nevada, is one of several environmental organisations campaigning against BrightSource Energy’s... solar project on 4,000 acres of public land near Death Valley, in the Mojave Desert."  [The National] 

Farming for 9 Billion People

"How will the world meet the growing energy and food demands of a population projected to approach nine billion in 2050? And how can it do so in a sustainable manner, despite the prospect of climate change?  Two frequently cited solutions — raising productivity through large investment in fertilizers, irrigation and mechanization, and extending farming to degraded, abandoned or pasture lands — would still leave food and energy supplies falling short of demand, according to a study released on Thursday by the climate change advice division of Deutsche Bank." [Green, Inc. - New York Times]

AUDIO

Calculating Coal's Toll

"Coal supporters like to point to the jobs and economic activity that coal mining brings to communities. But a new study argues the human costs of coal mining in Appalachia far outweighs its benefits." [Living on Earth - NPR]