Daily sprout

Daily Sprout

A letter published in the journal Science and signed by 255 members of the National Academy of Sciences criticizes some politicians for “McCarthy-like threats of criminal prosecution against our colleagues on the basis of innuendo and guilt by association.” — NYT’s Dot Earth

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“Volkswagen announced the electric Golf yesterday…but for whatever reason didn’t release a pic of the car until today. Turns out it looks just like a regular Golf.” — Wired’s Autopia

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BP’s oil spill could take three months to stop, costing the company at least $2 billion and possibly more than $8 billion to cover cleanup and damages. The company earned $17 billion in net income last year. — Greenwire via NYT

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Climate Bill Next in Line: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has closed the door on the possibility of moving immigration reform before a comprehensive energy and climate bill.” — The Hill

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“Siemens Energy, a unit of German industrial giant Siemens AG (SI), said Wednesday that it has signed a $15 million contract with a unit of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. (HE) to build a “smart grid” system in Honolulu.” — Dow Jones Newswires

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Several sources say Senators John Kerry, Lindsey Graham and Joseph Lieberman will unveil their compromise climate proposal on April 26. The “definitive date shows the senators are coming close to finalizing their package.” — WaPo’s Post Carbon

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Winners of this year’s Millennium Technology Prize include the inventor of “a variety of solar cells that perform artificial photosynthesis using dyes,” meant to be “cheaper and easier to make and use than their silicon-based counterparts.” — Ars Technica

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“A document accidentally left on a European hotel computer and passed to the Guardian,” indicates U.S. negotiators intend to push the Copenhagen accord “through the UN process as a single ‘take it or leave it’ text.” — UK Guardian via Dot Earth

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Meet the Energy Geeks: Here’s a glimpse of what seven ARPA-E winners are up to. They’re some of “the nation’s most visionary energy innovators — thrill-seeking, over-achieving uber-geeks from start-up companies and universities across America.” — Grist

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Deliveries by Electric Truck: “Beginning in late May, Los Angeles will serve as the U.S. pilot for the global delivery service when FedEx adds four electric delivery trucks to its local fleet of 600 vehicles.” — LA Times’ Greenspace

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Toyota Gets Max Fine for Sticky Pedal Recall: “The government today levied the maximum fine against Toyota for its unintended acceleration recalls: $16.4 million…specifically for withholding information about sticky accelerator pedals from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.” — Consumer Reports

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Bid to Limit Pollution from Mountaintop Removal Mining:“The Environmental Protection Agency issued tough new water quality guidelines on Thursday that could curtail some of the most contentious coal mining techniques used across Appalachia.” — New York Times

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Chu on Blue-Sky Greentech: Asked what blue-sky technology he is most hopeful about, Energy Secretary Steven Chu cites photovoltaics and, “A new generation of biofuels that are direct substitutes for gasoline…using agricultural waste.” — Washington Post

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Relative Trust: According to a Washington Post-ABC poll, “Democrats hold the widest trust advantage” compared to Republicans on energy policy (17 percent), followed by health care (13 percent), Afghanistan (10 percent) and the economy (8 percent). — Grist

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Modeling Climate Change at the City Level: The “massive grid cells favored by climate models run on today’s supercomputers as useful as they…

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What Health Care Reform Means for Climate Legislation: The passage of health care reform marks, “an enormous accomplishment. But to pass a…

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Obama Signs $18B Jobs Bill: “President Obama signed an $18 billion jobs bill into law in a Rose Garden ceremony this morning,…

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BYD Backs Off Electric Car Goals: The South China Morning Post reports that Warren Buffett-backed BYD Co. has given up on plans…

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Toyota Takes on “Runaway” Prius Driver’s Claims: “Toyota Motor Sales on Monday challenged the contention of the driver of a Prius who…

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Feed-in Tariff on the Way on SoCal: The country’s largest municipal utility, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, “is poised…

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Google Maps Adds Bike Directions (Finally): Google added biking directions and information about bike trails, lanes and recommended roads today to Google…

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Toyota Takes Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Toyota’s president presented steps today meant to restore trust in the automaker, “including installing…

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Climate Change Skeptics Seize on the Snowpocalypse: Skeptics of climate change are using record-setting snows along the East Coast to “mock those who warn…

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Toyota Troubles Made Simple: Here’s an interactive graphic showing where problems have come up in the Prius braking sequence, why the accelerators…

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Buggy Hybrids: Toyota and Ford’s problems with the electronic interface between the antilock braking system and regenerative braking system in their hybrids…

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Cash Money, Oil Money: The founders of Cash Money Records — Birdman and Ronald “Slim” Williams — have started an oil exploration…

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Phishin’ for Emissions: “Online fraudsters have targeted international carbon markets to steal emissions permits from companies and sell them illegally.” An estimated…

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Red Planet to Green Building: “Aspen Aerogels, which makes insulating material for industrial applications, has started selling its air-filled aerogel blankets to…

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Climate Spies (or Lobbyists): “Britain’s former chief science adviser says the theft of climate e-mails from the University of East Anglia in…

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Billions Awarded for High-Speed Rail: The White House has “finally announced the full list of where that $8 billion in stimulus money for…

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Climate, Energy Likely to Escape Axe in Budget Freeze: Climate change and green energy programs are expected to receive ample funding in…

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Turner Returns to Solar: Back in late 2007, billionaire Ted Turner sold his solar developer, Turner Renewable Energy, to First Solar for $34.4…

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DOE Finalizes Tesla Loan: Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced today that the Department of Energy has completed negotiations with Tesla Motors…

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Wind Expansion Feasible, Costly: “Wind could replace coal and natural gas for 20 or 30 percent of electricity supplied in the eastern two-thirds…

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Abu Dhabi Eyes Carbon Trading: Plans for the United Arab Emirates’ “eco-city,” slated for completion over the next decade, now include a…

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Small Firms Take Issue With EPA Proposal: Small business owners are claiming that the revised greenhouse gas regulations proposed recently by the Environmental Protection…

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Google China and Climate Change: “Google’s potential pullout from China over cyberattacks has climate change activists watching the scandal’s effect on U.S.-China relations that…

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Solar Chargers Gettin’ Pretty: A new generation of slick solar-powered charging systems may allure more people to juice up gadgets from the…

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Silver Lining of COP15: The merely “politically binding” accord that resulted from the UN talks in Copenhagen this month “is not the…

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Will Environmental Regulations Kill the Exxon-XTO Merger?: “Buried deeply in the 76 pages of legalese that is the Exxon Mobil-XTO $31 billion…

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Matter of Degree: Until recently, the goal of the Copenhagen climate agreement was expected to be to limit global warming to no…

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Game On for Climate Policy: The Obama administration today presented “an energetic unified front on behalf of climate change,” in Congressional testimony…

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Yes Men Take It to the Hill: The climate-minded Yes Men stunt group offered up another prank today, just a day after…

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Utilities, Startups Weigh in on Cali Car Charging Rules: As the California Public Utilities Commission drafts rules related to the integration of…

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Reid Reneging on Climate Legislation?: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, “who’s facing a potentially difficult reelection campaign and known for announcing legislative…

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Hybrid Sales Up, With Caveats: “Hybrid sales statistics are knocked cockeyed by the huge market share held by Toyota’s Pruis. When it’s…

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Chrysler EV Plan: In proposals submitted to the Department of Energy as part of a bid for matching funds, Chrysler says it…

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Kennedy Joins VC Ranks: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been an adviser for VantagePoint Venture Partners since 2007, has joined the…

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Brits Develop Carbon-Eating Cement: A new kind of cement based on magnesium silicates requires much less heating than the conventional stuff (which…

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VantagePoint Raises $435M for New Fund: VantagePoint Venture Partners, backer of cleantech poster children Better Place, Tesla Motors, and BrightSource Energy, has…

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OPEC Cuts and Prays, Market Doesn’t Buy It: After OPEC said it would cut output by 2.2 million barrels per day, oil…

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