‘Climate change legislation has been dying in the Senate for months now, but Harry Reid’s decision to finally admit as much — in the midst of an endless East Coast heat wave, no less — has supporters of cap-and-trade casting about for somebody to blame.’

via Op-Ed Columnist – The Right and the Climate – NYTimes.com.

‘The 20th century ended on Friday, at least in relation to the discourse over what to do about global warming. The end came with the failure of a seven-year effort in the Senate to pass a climate bill centered on a cap-and-trade system for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Such a system had worked effectively for easily measured, and mitigated, emissions of conventional pollutants from power plants and other industrial sources. But carbon dioxide, the most important human-generated greenhouse gas, poses an entirely different set of challenges.’

via Next Steps on Climate and Energy – Dot Earth Blog – NYTimes.com.

Incredible pictures – see the link below

‘Five days ago, in the northeastern port city of Dalian, China, two oil pipelines exploded, sending flames hundreds of feet into the air and burning for over 15 hours, destroying several structures – the cause of the explosion is under investigation. The damaged pipes released thousands of gallons of oil, which flowed into the nearby harbor and the Yellow Sea.’

via Oil spill in Dalian, China – The Big Picture – Boston.com.

‘July 20 Bloomberg — China, the world’s biggest polluter, may spend about 5 trillion yuan $738 billion in the next decade developing cleaner sources of energy to reduce emissions from burning oil and coal, a government official said.’

via China May Spend $738 Billion on Clean Energy Projects – BusinessWeek.

‘Reuters – Republicans “are happy” to consider legislation tied to the BP Plc oil spill but will not support a U.S. energy bill that includes climate regulations, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday.’

via Republicans oppose broad U.S. energy bill: McConnell | Reuters.

‘(Reuters) – The world is enduring the hottest year on record, according to a U.S. national weather analysis, causing droughts worldwide and a concern for U.S. farmers counting on another bumper year.’

via World simmers in hottest year so far | Reuters.

See the video here: Tipping Point Ahead

“It turns out that the way we have been calculating the future impacts of climate change up to now has been missing a really important piece of the picture. It seems we are now dangerously close to the tipping point in the world’s climate system; this is the point of no return, after which truly catastrophic changes become inevitable.”

‘NEW ORLEANS — After a new setback because of a hydraulic leak, BP prepared Thursday to pick up where it left off the day before: with a crucial test that could stop the rush of oil from its well in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since the disaster began three months ago.’

via BP Says Cap Is Repaired and Oil Cutoff Test Can Proceed – NYTimes.com.

‘The U.S. Departments of Energy and the Interior have picked a former nuclear site in Nevada to be transformed into a zone for testing “cutting-edge” solar energy technologies.’

via U.S. to Test ‘Cutting-Edge’ Solar Energy at Former Nuclear Site – Bloomberg.