Environmental Law

In The News (September 22)

By Dennis Pfaff and Kevin Livingston, Editors

• The Amish are tapping into "God's grid," embracing solar power, in this intriguing look at the phenomenon, from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• Mountain top removal coal mining, a particularly controversial way of getting at the fossil fuel, has made its way into the presidential campaign, with both major candidates saying they think the practice should be halted, reports The Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette. 
• But of course, the candidates don't agree on everything, as noted in this helpful point-by-point comparison of the positions taken by Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain on climate change and what should be done about it, from Environmental Capital.
• The food versus fuel debate, a byproduct of the United States' push to boost the amount of crops like corn going into gas tanks, rages on, as reported by Reuters. 
• Capturing and burying carbon dioxide from power plants could become viable without public funding by 2030, according to a consultant's a report, as related in this Reuters dispatch.
• West Coast cities rule when it comes to "sustainability," with Portland, Oregon, coming it at the top of a new list, followed by San Francisco and Seattle, according to Dot Earth, the environmental blog from The New York Times.  
• A bit of encouraging news from scientists studying the permafrost in the Yukon: not all of it might melt as a result of global warming, says a report cited by The New York Times.
• Once again, no one ever said this stuff was simple; a massive tree cut in California sparks debates about ecological restoration, climate change and futility, in this report from the Sacramento Bee.
• And in an entirely different part of the country, scientists and researchers agree that the forests in the Ozarks will be different as a result of climate change, according to the Joplin Globe.   
• In a case that is not strictly about climate-changing emissions, but raises similar issues, a federal judge in California has turned down a challenge brought by home builders against regulators' attempts to curb air pollution from new development projects; from the ruling. Environmentalists cheered the decision, saying the rule encourages developers to minimize traffic-related impacts by doing such things as building near public transit.
• The federal government has decided to fund 15 projects, at a cost of $67.6 million, for developing lower-cost energy storage for concentrating solar power, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Energy. 

Full post as published by Climate Law Update on September 22, 2008 (boomark / email).