Greenwire http://www.greenwire.com The Premier Information Source for Professionals Who Track Environmental and Energy Policy. en-us Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 President-elect Barack Obama says he will support an expansion of nuclear energy in the United States if it is safe and if there is a solution to the waste issue. But much of the rest of the world is already moving forward with plans for new reactors, including many countries that previously had none. "The growth of interest in nuclear power exists, and there is nothing the U.S. can do to turn it off," said Laura Holgate, vice president for Russia and new independent states at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. SPOTLIGHT Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/1 SAN FRANCISCO -- A final chapter in the Bush administration's legal tussle with California is expected to play out tomorrow in Washington when a federal judge considers whether the ports… Top Stories Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/2 The Bureau of Land Management will keep a regulation allowing the agency to withdraw land from development on an emergency basis but will cut back on congressional authority to make… Top Stories Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/3 The chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee wants President-elect Barack Obama to appoint Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) as Interior secretary, joining a push by Hispanic and parks organizations. Rep.… Top Stories Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/4 Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) will convene a hearing Wednesday to gather ideas that will help inform the massive economic stimulus bill that Democratic leaders and… Politics Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/5 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he would not support any Energy Secretary who favors building a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, saying that under an Obama administration,… Politics Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/6 Two major coal companies and one of the Midwest's largest utilities are collaborating with Washington University in St. Louis to make the city the nation's center for clean coal research… Energy Policy & Markets Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/7 Nippon Oil, Japan's largest refiner, agreed today to merge with its rival Nippon Mining. Together, the companies distribute one-third of the country's petrol and other oil products and combined are… Energy Policy & Markets Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/8 The Energy Department's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and IDT Corp. inked an agreement yesterday to develop carbon dioxide storage technologies in oil shale, a sedimentary rock that is rich in… Business, Finance & Technology Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/9 An unauthorized strain of genetically modified cotton that is unapproved for feed use was accidentally mixed in with other harvested cotton in Texas last month and fed to cattle, but… Business, Finance & Technology Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/10 The heads of Detroit's Big Three today took a humbler tone as they resumed efforts to convince skeptical lawmakers to provide billions of dollars to the cash-strapped automakers. "We made… Business, Finance & Technology Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/11 General Motors Corp. launched the Saturn company two decades ago to great fanfare, promising the new brand would be smaller, sleeker and fuel-efficient enough to compete with top foreign brands.… Business, Finance & Technology Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/12 Concerned about their jobs and the warning that failure of a major automaker could lead to a depression, leaders of the United Auto Workers union yesterday voted overwhelmingly to make… Business, Finance & Technology Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/13 In the cow and pig pastures of the environmentally conscious Netherlands, a research farm project is a rare example of fledgling efforts to offset heavy emissions from livestock. The trillions… Air, Water & Climate Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/14 A United Nations panel has approved the first greenhouse gas cuts made by an eastern European clean energy project registered under the Kyoto Protocol. The Joint Implementation Supervisory Committee yesterday… Air, Water & Climate Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/15 The Alliance for the Wild Rockies filed a lawsuit in Missoula, Montana's district court to halt herbicide spraying on the Kootenai National Forest, but the U.S. Forest Service says the… Wastes & Hazardous Substances Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/16 U.S. EPA needs to make significant changes to the agency's risk assessment process for hazardous chemicals, according to a report released by the National Research Council yesterday. The risk assessment… Wastes & Hazardous Substances Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/17 A new material can clean chemical agents such as mustard gas on contact, giving soldiers a safe, efficient way to deal with battlefield toxins, developers say. Fibertect, developed by chemical… Wastes & Hazardous Substances Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/18 SAN FRANCISCO -- Most of California's housing growth in the past five years has taken place where forests border urban and suburban development, suggesting forest managers will face even more… Natural Resources Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/19 A conservation group that helped ensure polar bears were added to the nation's threatened list is now going to court to force the federal government to consider the same protection… Natural Resources Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/20 The noises whales and dolphins use to communicate are being drowned out by interference from commercial shipping, new military sonar and climate change, altering the mammals' behavior as they become… Natural Resources Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/21 The slump in steel demand and subsequent production cuts are likely to halve the price of steel-making coking coal next year, according to an investment bank research note. Citigroup Global… Natural Resources Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/22 (All cites Dec. 3 unless noted.) FLORIDA: The state's Environmental Regulation Commission this week rejected arguments of automakers, car dealers and agriculture interests, siding with Gov. Charlie Crist (R)'s administration… States Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/23 (All cites Dec. 3.) BRAZIL: The government plans to boost funding levels and programs aimed at slowing the rate of destruction of the Amazon rain forest by 2017 in an… International Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/24 As Detroit's Big Three defend their bailout requests before Congress, many industry insiders and lawmakers believe a key opportunity exists within the bailout to create cleaner, more efficient vehicle fleets.… E&ETV's Event Coverage Thu Dec 04 12:01:00 EST 2008 http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/rss/2008/12/04/25