Today’s Climate: June 21, 2010

Lieberman Warns Against ‘False’ Energy Bill, Sees 20 Swing Votes on Carbon Caps (The Hill)

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Sunday that he sees 20 swing votes in play for including greenhouse gas limits in energy legislation that the White House and Senate Democratic leaders hope to advance this summer.

Democrats Use Oil Spill to Push Energy Bill, Republican McConnell Says (Bloomberg)

Pres. Obama and Democratic lawmakers are trying to "seize on a crisis" to pass a "national energy tax," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said.

Nations Rethink Drilling in Wake of BP Oil Spill (AP)

Britain has doubled rig inspections. Bulgaria scrapped plans for a new oil pipeline. Chinese and French oil giants are upgrading equipment. As oil continues to gush into the Gulf, nations are ratcheting up their oversight of the petroleum industry.

Document Shows BP Estimates Spill Up to 100,000 Bpd (Reuters)

An internal BP document released on Sunday by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) shows that the company estimates that a worst-case scenario rate for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could be about 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

Egypt Oil Spill Threatens Red Sea Marine Life (AFP)

An oil spill off the Egyptian Red Sea coast of Hurghada threatening to damage marine life in the area has prompted environmental agencies to demand tighter regulation of offshore oil platforms.

British Newspaper Apologizes to Climate Scientist (New York Times)

The Sunday Times has published a correction of an article from January
that accused the IPCC of publishing a false claim that 40% of the
Amazon rainforest could be sensitive to changes in rainfall, when
indeed that figure is supported by peer-reviewed evidence. 

Yellow Sub Finds Clues to Antarctic Glacier’s Thaw (Reuters)

A yellow submarine, deployed under the ice shelf that is floating on the sea at the end of one of Antarctica’s fastest-melting glaciers, has found that ice is no longer resting on a subsea ridge that had slowed the glacier’s slide until the early 1970s.

UK: Thanet Offshore Wind Farm Nearing Completion (BBC News)

Swedish energy giant Vattenfall is gearing up to launch the world’s biggest wind farm off the UK’s Kent coast. The 100-turbine installation is expected to power 240,000 homes and be fully operational in the fall.

British Firms Paid to Shut Down Wind Farms When the Wind is Blowing (Telegraph)

Energy firms in the UK will receive thousands of pounds a day per wind farm to turn off their turbines because the National Grid cannot use the power they are producing.

EU Sees Solar Power Imported from Sahara in 5 Yrs (Reuters)

Europe will import its first solar-generated electricity from North Africa within the next five years, European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said in an interview on Sunday.

UK Campaigners Push to Keep Summer Time All Year Round (Guardian)

On the longest day of the year today, the UK Parliament will hear evidence from a Cambridge academic who claims that not putting the clocks back will save 450,000 tons of CO2 emissions each year and reduce road accidents, saving the government £200m annually.

Methane and Climate Change: From the Amazon to the Gulf of Mexico (Mongabay)

The oil gushing into the Gulf contains about 40% of methane, which is known to suffocate marine life and create vast "dead zones" where oxygen becomes so depleted that nothing is allowed to live.

China Coal Mine Blast Kills at Least 46 in Deadliest Accident This Year (Bloomberg)

A coal mine explosion has killed at least 46 workers in China’s central province of Henan, making the accident the deadliest this year.

Nanotubes Give Batteries a Jolt (MIT Technology Review)

An MIT-developed lithium-ion battery made of carbon nanotubes can deliver 10 times more power than a conventional battery and can store five times more energy than a conventional ultracapacitor, potentially extending the range of electric cars.

Chinese Turbine Makers Face ‘Tough Situation’ After Goldwind Shares Slump (Bloomberg)

Investors’ interest in Chinese wind companies may be slowing after Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology, China’s second-largest turbine maker, shelved a share sale in Hong Kong, analysts said.

5 Green Data Center Startups You Need to Know (Earth2Tech)

The GigaOm Network rounds up five companies that are using the latest computing tech to redesign, restructure and remake data centers and servers around energy efficiency.