Climate News and Resources

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to build two plants in Japan to produce batteries for environmentally friendly gas-electric hybrid vehicles, a news report said Friday.

By Yuri Kageyame of The Associated Press, courtesy of the Washington Post

Prices fell back in the course of the day, closing at $130.81 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down $2.36 from Wednesday’s close. But in a week that has seen the oil price rise by $4, the economic consequences of high fuel costs continued to mount.

By Graham Bowley and David Jolly, courtesy of the New York Times

The state of Alaska will sue to challenge the recent listing of polar bears as a threatened species, Gov. Sarah Palin announced Wednesday.

From the AP, courtesy of the New York Times

Chain saws scream in a northern Michigan forest, but it's not the familiar sound of lumberjacks. This time the tree killers are environmental researchers. They hope that years from now the aspens they remove will be replaced with a healthy mix of maples, oaks, beeches and pines -- which should soak up more carbon dioxide from an ever warmer world.

From the AP, courtesy of the New York Times

A coalition of conservative evangelical leaders wants to enlist 1 million Christians to sign a statement questioning whether human-caused global warming is a real threat and arguing that restrictive environmental policies harm poor people.

From the AP, courtesy of the New York Times

An analyst who heard scoffing when he predicted $100-a-barrel oil now expects the price to reach $200.

By Louise Story, courtesy of the New York Times

Many crops that could be used to make biofuels without driving up food prices are invasive species, scientists say.

By Elisabeth Rosenthal, courtesy of the New York Times

Conservation groups returned to court to challenge Bush administration efforts to help save the polar bear, saying federal officials' refusal to include steps against global warming violates the Endangered Species Act.

From the AP, courtesy of the New York Times

A climate bill will inch closer to the Senate floor tomorrow when Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) will propose changes including $800 billion in tax cuts through 2050 as well as an additional $911 billion through 2050 to protect consumers from utility bill increases by promoting energy efficiency and giving out rebates.

Courtesy of the Washington Post

The Energy Department reports that carbon dioxide emissions increased by 1.6 percent last year with most coming from residential and commercial energy use. Emissions from transportation and industrial sources were essentially flat, compared to 2006.

By H. Josef Hebert of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson favored giving California some authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks last year before he consulted with the White House and reversed course, congressional investigators said yesterday.

By Juliet Eilperin, courtesy of the Washington Post

Global warming isn't to blame for the recent jump in hurricanes in the Atlantic, concludes a study by a prominent federal scientist whose position has shifted on the subject.

By Seth Borenstein of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

A decision on whether carbon dioxide endangers public health as a greenhouse gas will probably be made by the next administration, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday.

By H. Josef Hebert, courtesy of the Washington Post

Over the weekend, a pair of very different climate studies — one physical, one social — illustrated two uncomfortable, and related, realities confronting society as it grapples with possible responses to human-driven global warming.

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of the New York Times

Conservationists swoon at the possibility of it all. Here in Alaska, where melting arctic ice and eroding coastlines have made global warming an urgent threat, this little city has cut its electricity use by more than 30 percent in a matter of weeks, instantly establishing itself as a role model for how to go green, and fast.

By William Yardley, courtesy of the New York Times

The polar bear, whose summertime Arctic hunting grounds have been greatly reduced by a warming climate, will be placed under the protection of the Endangered Species Act, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced on Wednesday.

By Felicity Barringer, courtesy of the New York Times

John McCain has been engaged in the fight against global warming for years, even at the expense of breaking with Republican orthodoxy and with President Bush on the issue.

The planet is nearing a tipping point on climate change, and it gets much
worse, fast.

By Bill McKibben, courtesy of the Los Angeles Times

John McCain broke with the Bush administration and Republican Party orthodoxy Monday as he not only declared global warming real, but reached out to Democrats and independents with a free-market solution that includes capping carbon-fuel emissions.

By Glen Johnson of the AP

With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more commuters are abandoning their cars and taking the train or bus instead.

By Clifford Krauss, courtesy of the New York Times

This just in from Climate Counts, the nonprofit group that scores consumer products companies on their green track records: consumer companies are getting greener, but they are still a pretty carbon-intensive lot.

By Claudia Deutsch, courtesy of the New York Times

Linked to global warming, these areas of the Pacific and Atlantic cannot sustain most marine life, a new study warns. Oxygen-starved waters are expanding in the Pacific and Atlantic as ocean temperatures increase with global warming, threatening fisheries and other marine life, a study published today concludes.

By Kenneth R. Weiss ~ Los Angeles Times Staff Writer