Obama, Who Vowed Rapid Action on Climate Change, Turns More Cautious
President Obama came to office promising swift and comprehensive action to combat global climate change, and the topic remains a surefire applause line in his speeches here and abroad. Yet the administration has taken a cautious and rather passive role on the issue, proclaiming broad goals while remaining aloof from details of climate legislation now in Congress.

Youth Engage Members of Congress, Local Officials in 103 Town Halls Nationwide to Build Clean Energy Future
Young leaders organized by Focus the Nation are holding an unprecedented 103 Town Halls across the country beginning [Monday] and throughout this week’s Congressional recess to engage Congressional representatives, mayors and other elected officials in accelerating America’s transition to a clean energy future. 50 members of Congress have confirmed their participation in the Nationwide Town Hall on America’s Clean Energy Future, along with dozens of city and state elected leaders.

Antarctica’s tumultuous past revealed
We know that Antarctica froze 35 million years ago, when its detachment from South America unleashed a circumpolar ocean current that isolated it from warmer parts of the world. What we do not know is whether its ice sheets have stayed frozen or melted and reformed many times since then. It is an urgent question. Understanding how Antarctica’s ice responded to past climate swings will help us to predict how it will react as temperatures rise in the coming decades. The mighty ice sheet covering West Antarctica could unleash enough water to raise sea levels by 5 metres were it to melt.

Seals and robotic subs monitor Antarctic climate change
Elephant seals equipped with electronic tags and robotic mini submarines using sonar were just two projects during the International Polar Year (IPY) that aimed to investigate the effects of global warming in polar regions.

For Alaska’s Inupiat, Climate Change and Culture Shock
For the Inupiat people of northern Alaska, whales are a way of life. These people eat the animals. They worship them. They organize their calendars around them. And on and on. It’s been that way for thousands of years. Now, however, climate change is pushing the whales further north, making it harder for the Inupiat to catch them. That environmental shift is threatening the culture’s fundamental roots.

Public Trust Doctrine Could Aid Management Of U.S. Ocean Waters
Since Congress lifted a moratorium on offshore drilling last year, federal lawmakers have grappled with the issue of how best to regulate U.S. ocean waters to allow oil, wave and wind energy development, while sustainably managing critical fisheries and marine animal habitats

Dairy industry sees less-gassy future for cows
The U.S. dairy industry wants to engineer the “cow of the future” to pass less gas, a project aimed at cutting the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020… One area to be explored is modifying the dairy cows’ feed so they produce less methane, said Rick Naczi, the leader of the initiative.

NASA experiment stirs up hope for forecasting deadliest cyclones
NASA satellite data and a new modeling approach could improve weather forecasting and save more lives when future cyclones develop. 

Wind turbines, weather radar duel over Dodge County
From an article by Pat Sims in the Wisconsin State Journal: Wind turbines and Doppler radar are silently dueling in the skies over Dodge County, meteorologists say. Butler Ridge, a new energy wind farm in east-central Dodge County, is interfering with the Weather Surveillance Doppler Radar at the Sullivan office… Visual noise from the 36 wind turbines could mask or distort severe weather taking place in the same area… That could reduce the effectiveness of storm warnings in the vicinity.

Pentagon Prioritizes Pursuit Of Alternative Fuel Sources
[T]he Pentagon, which traditionally has not made saving energy much of a priority, has launched initiatives to find alternative fuel sources. The goals include saving money, preserving dwindling natural resources and lessening U.S. dependence on foreign sources.

Browner: US needs to be world energy leader again
A top adviser to President Barack Obama is urging Congress to pass an energy bill to spur the development of renewable energy while curbing the emissions that contribute to global warming.

Kansas City plans to rebuild a neighborhood for energy efficiency
Within a couple of years, Kansas City could become a green model for turning around some of its poorest neighborhoods _ a 150-block area where every home will be weatherized, bus service wil be updgraded and other energy efficiency programs will help residents save money.

FERC approves $10B grid upgrade for wind projects
Regulatory body says OK to rate incentives for 3,000-mile, multi-state project to transport 12 GW of wind power on high voltage transmission lines.

Texas is still wind king, but Iowa breezes past California
Texas continues to blow away the competition, but Iowa can now generate more wind power than California, according to a new industry report to be released Monday.

Former Detroit Auto Workers to Build Wind Turbines
With the Big 3 automakers in Detroit running on fumes and an over abundance of former auto workers eager to get busy again, wind turbines are a growth industry for manufacturing jobs. In fact, Global Wind Systems Inc. is going to add 250 wind turbine manufacturing jobs this year with 90-percent coming from the automotive industry. The former automakers will now be building 74-ton wind turbines aided by Michigan’s state mandate for power companies to provide 10-percent renewable energy from wind and solar by 2015.

Laid-off workers bet on clean energy boom (video)

Solaren’s plan from outer space
Startup tells the Cleantech Group it is seeking “billions” to fund a solar power from space project for California utility Pacific Gas & Electric.

Solar Cooking “Kyoto Box” Reduces Pollution and Deforestation
Jon Boehmer, a Norwegian based in Kenya, developed a solar powered cooker that can reduce greenhouse gases at a large scale. The cardbox named the “Kyoto Box”, costs 5 Euro($ 6,60) to make, and is designed for the usage of 3 billion people that use firewood as a heating source for cooking.

New On Optimal Ride: GoCycle: An Innovative Folding Electric Bike
Optimal Ride has been on a bit of a hiatus during the winter, but now it’s spring and our first feature is the GoCycle — an innovative folding electric bike from the U.K.

Ion Drive Comes to Life
We’re one step closer to Star Trek, with NASA successfully testing an experimental Ion Drive in Earth orbit… [It] uses electrical acceleration. An electric field is used to strip the Xenon of electrons, rendering it positively charged, then accelerate them out of the engine. This gives a tiny amount of gas a much larger momentum, and by Newton’s laws, an equal but opposite change in momentum is imparted to the spacecraft. The resulting acceleration is tiny, but constant, and can be maintained entirely under solar power – in other words, running the engines is now free.

Bioethanol’s Impact On Water Supply Three Times Higher Than Once Thought
At a time when water supplies are scarce in many areas of the United States, scientists in Minnesota are reporting that production of bioethanol — often regarded as the clean-burning energy source of the future — may consume up to three times more water than previously thought.

Organic Dairy Farming Avoided 40M Pounds of Fertilizer in 2008: Report
A Colorado-based nonprofit has created a calculator that estimates the amount of chemicals avoided through organic dairy farming in the U.S.

Carbon-Intensive Mutual Funds to Become Big Losers: Report
Carbon-intensive mutual funds will become big losers in a carbon-constrained economy because a price on emissions will increase the cost of doing business for the companies in their portfolios, according to Trucost, which ranked the country’s largest funds based on their carbon footprints.

Utilities, Retailers and Manufacturers Partner for Efficient Electronics Push
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District will work with Best Buy, Sears, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and Lenovo to develop and market TVs, desktop computers and monitors that meet or exceed Energy Star efficiency standards.

DOE Forms Commercial Real Estate Energy Alliance
The Department of Energy and 19 commercial real estate companies launched the Commercial Real Estate Energy Alliance Thursday to link building owners with the latest efficiency research and technologies from the agency’s laboratories.

IBM Wants to Help You Find and Keep Green Suppliers
IBM is expanding its consulting services to include a Sustainable Procurement offering, which can help companies launch or maintain environmentally and ethically friendly supply chains.

Marriott Hotels Cuts Back on Free Newspapers to Reduce Waste
By not choosing to receive (and subsequently not reading) the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, or the local paper at your hotel, you are helping to save thousands of tons of paper waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

Los Angeles Building Retrofit Designed to Boost Green Jobs
The city’s new “Green Building Retrofit Ordinance” will bring all city-owned buildings that are 30 years old or older up to LEED Silver levels, and will give priority to projects that bring jobs to the surrounding community.

Companies Develop Green Products to Differentiate and Lead: Survey
New research from Forrester looks at environmentally and socially responsible products and services, asking consumer product strategists what factors – both inside and outside of companies – are driving greener products.

How to Climb (or Get On) the Green Corporate Ladder
While many of the so-called green jobs being touted by the president and environmental groups may be of the blue-green variety — more labor than management — there also will be opportunities for college grads and mid-career professionals to make green career moves.

U.K. Recycles Two-Thirds of All Packaging: Report
New figures from the British government shows that the U.K. has exceeded E.U. targets for recycling, but campaigners claim supermarkets should do more to combat the problem.

Cell phone recycling: delete, then dispose
Renewed efforts by government and private industry are underway to get cell phone users to recycle their phones, with only about 10 percent of 140 million phones recycled in 2007, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Renewable Furniture Finish Made From Sugars and Vegetable Oils
When the petroleum runs out, renewable sources of raw materials will have to be found to replace petrochemical feedstocks. In the case of furniture varnishes, Fraunhofer researchers … have already developed an alternative product in which the majority of petrochemical components have been substituted. Their water-soluble furniture varnish is based on vegetable oils and sugars and has identical properties to the conventional varnishes on sale today. It is hard-wearing, scratch-proof and resistant to chemical attack.

Jackson: EPA Seeks Clarity in Rules, May Regulate Animal Waste
Lisa Jackson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, asserted at a forum for the PBS Frontline documentary Poisoned Waters that new legislation is needed to strengthen EPA’s authority to control pollution and protect local rivers, streams, and wetlands. Jackson, speaking at the National Press Club, said that court decisions had left “murkiness” about EPA’s authority to enforce some mandates of the Clean Water Act. She said EPA would seek new legislation to “clarify” its authority to take action on smaller waterways.

Stimulus Money Flows to Reduce Diesel Emissions, Prop Up Water Infrastructure
Some $6 billion in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will be distributed to states to strengthen water quality and wastewater and drinking water infrastructure. Meanwhile, another $88.2 million was divided evenly and released to all 50 states and the District of Columbia to help reduce emissions from diesel engines.

Florida lake dispute: water for farms and cities, or river and fish?
Lake Okeechobee sits at the center of a conflict over the dwindling regional water supply, one that might be broadly summed up as “farms vs. fish.”

Pavement Sealcoat A Source Of Toxins In Stormwater Runoff
Driveways and parking lots may look better with a layer of sealcoat applied to the pavement, but the water running off the surface into nearby streams will be carrying more than just oxygen and hydrogen molecules. New research conducted at the University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center (UNHSC) indicates that sealcoat may contribute to increasingly significant amounts of polyaromatic hydrocarbons entering waterways from stormwater runoff.

Japan’s Antarctic whale catch short
Japan’s controversial whaling fleet returns to port this week with a smaller-than-expected haul, blaming harassment from militant activists in the Antarctic, the fisheries agency said.

New orangutan population found in Indonesia
Conservationists have discovered a new population of orangutans in a remote, mountainous corner of Indonesia— perhaps as many as 2,000 — giving a rare boost to one of the world’s most endangered great apes. A team surveying forests nestled between jagged, limestone cliffs on the eastern edge of Borneo island counted 219 orangutan nests, indicating a “substantial” number of the animals, said Erik Meijaard, a senior ecologist at the U.S.-based The Nature Conservancy. “We can’t say for sure how many,” he said, but even the most cautious estimate would indicate “several hundred at least, maybe 1,000 or 2,000 even.”