Europe's New Coal Plants Trigger Alarm

Some nations could fall back on fossil fuel

(NEWSER) - Just as global warming initiatives were gaining serious momentum around the world, the financial crisis looks like it's undermining both the political will and the math that support them, the New York Times reports. With gas prices plummeting, US automakers may be scaling back investment in new technology. In Europe, "industry is saying we can’t deal with financial crisis and reduce emissions at the same time," a UN official said. More»

Blame industry as well as ideology if US shirks Copenhagen

(NEWSER) - As the world turns to Copenhagen this December, the US, which never ratified the Kyoto Protocol, may once again fail to sign up to save the world from serious climate change. Ideology plays a part, Jeffrey Sachs notes, as many Republican senators are "intent on derailing any Obama initiative." But the bigger problem is economic: No fewer than 25 states produce coal, and the odds of winning even Democratic senators' votes from those states are daunting. More»

He's also creating advisory group for policy-makers

(NEWSER) - George Soros is putting his vast resources—or at least $1 billion of them—behind his passion for the environment. Soros plans to invest that amount into developing technology to create clean energy. He's also starting an organization called the Climate Policy Initiative, which will be based in San Francisco, to help policy makers figure out programs to fight climate change. “We will be part advisory service, part policy developer, and part watchdog,” says a Stanford professor who will run it. More»

(NEWSER) - China's inefficient power plants and heavy reliance on coal are dragging down global efforts to curb climate change, a Greenpeace report warned yesterday. The report found that major Chinese power companies are responsible for a huge amount of the country's coal use and emissions, with the top three producers alone creating more carbon dioxide emissions than the total for all of Britain, the Guardian reports. More»

Country's dire, polluted situation is forcing it to innovate

(NEWSER) - How do you say “clean your clock” in Chinese? asks Thomas Friedman in the New York Times. Americans may soon find out, because China could outmaneuver us in the next great global industry: clean power technologies, warns Friedman. China’s been forced to go green in a hurry because often, “its people can’t breathe, fish, swim, drive, or even see because of pollution and climate change.” More»