Biz leaders urge Blair to act on climate A dozen of Britain's top business chieftains have sent a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair urging him to get on the ball in the fight against climate change. The heads of BP, Shell, HSBC Bank, and other major companies say global warming is a massive problem that demands aggressive business investment, but they want to know how government policies on climate will shake out before they firm up their plans to tackle the challenge. Meanwhile, Blair is on the road pitching his agenda for the G8 summit that his government will …

The climate-change debate is beginning to move forward inside the Beltway -- at a glacial pace relative to the rest of the industrialized world, of course, but these days even glaciers are moving at a discernable clip. Heat is on in Senate as climate starts getting more attention. As the energy bill goes through the markup process in the Senate and security hawks and enviros turn up the heat on the climate issue, four senators are hatching plans to offer climate-change initiatives as amendments to the bill, which is tentatively scheduled to go to the Senate floor in late June. …

Bipartisan efforts to revamp the Endangered Species Act begin A hearing of the Senate fisheries, wildlife, and water subcommittee last week kicked off what is likely to be an extended process of revising and updating the Endangered Species Act. There is bipartisan agreement on several measures, including providing grants and incentives to private landowners to protect species on their land, and developing formal scientific recovery plans prior to designating critical habitat off-limits to development. But opinions vary widely outside that consensus. Some congressfolk view the act as a failure because less than 1 percent of protected species have recovered. In …

Could a mall mogul's dream project give a big boost to renewables? Image: DestiNY USA. As the Senate deliberates over the Bush-backed energy bill and enviros send out another round of distress signals over America's obdurate fossil-fuel dependency, who would believe that the next big thing in renewable energy is being driven by a tenacious commercial developer with strong GOP affiliations and 25 mega-malls under his belt? Picture a gargantuan shopping complex in upstate New York -- a so-called "retail city" big enough to make Mall of America look like a five-and-dime -- with thousands of shops plus restaurants, theaters, …

House blocks attempt to lift ban on coastal drilling; more to come An attempt to weaken the U.S. moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling -- established by Congress in 1982 and renewed every year since -- was blocked yesterday in the House by a 262-157 vote. However, drilling opponents view it as just the first and easiest battle in what is likely to be an extended war. An upcoming bipartisan Senate measure may be more difficult to thwart: It would offer individual states potentially billions of dollars in oil and gas leasing revenues as incentive to lift the ban. …

States sue EPA over new mercury rules and the "hot spots" they'll create A coalition of 11 states filed suit against the U.S. EPA in federal court yesterday, charging that the agency's recently issued mercury emissions rules, which establish a "cap and trade" system whereby coal-fired power plants can trade pollution credits, pose an unacceptable threat to public health. Led by New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey, the states charge that allowing plants to trade credits rather than mandating that they reduce emissions will lead to mercury "hot spots" around polluting plants. The lawsuit follows on the heels of …

On April 21, Congress stepped back in geologic time when the House of Representatives passed an energy policy of the dinosaurs, by the dinosaurs, and for the dinosaurs. This energy bill is truly a "Jurassic" piece of legislation that relies on a limited energy source derived from creatures and plants that died millions of years ago. In fact, 93 percent of the $8 billion in tax incentives in the bill go to oil, gas, and other traditional energy industries. A patriotic sight. Photo: Tennessee Valley Infrastructure Group Inc. c/o NREL. Shortly before the House debate, one national leader said, "I …

Bush touts biofuels and his energy bill With his approval ratings plunging due in part to high gas prices, President Bush is fighting back by ... sniffing a hanky. Let us explain. Yesterday, Bush visited a biodiesel refinery in West Point, Va., to tout the alternative-fuel subsidies in his energy bill, which the Senate will begin considering this week. He praised biodiesel as a clean-burning fuel, even going so far as to closely inspect a handkerchief that had been held over a biodiesel exhaust pipe, noting that it "remained white." He said dependence on foreign oil is "like a foreign …

Saudi-owned company set to profit from proposed MTBE liability shield OK, kids, follow the bouncing red ball: The Republican energy bill, pending in the Senate, is advertised as a way to gain independence from Saudi Arabian oil (boing!). Part of the energy bill, included at the insistence of Texas Rep. Tom DeLay (R), is a provision shielding makers of groundwater-polluting, potentially cancer-causing gas additive MTBE from liability lawsuits, despite projected costs of $8 billion to $29 billion to clean up MTBE contamination (boing!). One of the major companies that produces MTBE and would benefit from the liability shield is SABIC …

Nuke subsidies being added to McCain-Lieberman climate bill The latest draft of the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act proposes hundreds of millions of dollars in new subsidies for the nuclear power industry, in the form of a cost-splitting arrangement that would have the feds shoulder half the expense of developing and getting regulatory approval for three new nuke-plant designs. The proposal (not yet finalized) is reportedly a bargaining chip to win conservative support for caps on greenhouse-gas emissions. One might expect the idea to run into a brick wall of opposition from environmental groups, but that wall shows signs of cracking. …