Business Green: Fresh from banning energy-efficient light bulbs, legislators in Brussels are considering imposing a ban on all light bulbs. According to sources at the European Parliament, MEPs have become so frustrated with the extent to which even energy-saving light bulbs are left on unnecessarily that they are considering legislative action to tackle the problem. "Banning incandescent bulbs has worked very effectively, so why not ban those bulbs that are being left on all the time wasting …

Guardian: BP is to axe 620 jobs from its solar power business – more than a quarter of that workforce – in a move it said was part of the long-term strategy to "reduce the cost of solar power to that of conventional electricity." Two cell manufacture and module assembly plants near Madrid, will be shut with the loss of 480 posts while module assembly will also be phased out at its Frederick facility in Maryland, US, with a further 140 redundancies. BP blamed the cutbacks on the credit …

Business Green: Political leaders may have spent much of this week downplaying expectations of a meaningful climate change deal at tomorrow’s G20 summit, but that did not stop over 50 of the world’s largest businesses joining forces yesterday to call for a larger chunk of proposed global stimulus packages to be earmarked for low carbon initiatives. In an open letter to Gordon Brown and the G20 leaders gathered in London this week, the new World Economic Forum low carbon prosperity task force calls on …

Business Green: The team in charge of London’s bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase recycling and biodiversity is to be cut in half in a major shake-up that calls into question the commitment to the environment of the mayor, Boris Johnson. Leaked documents seen by The Guardian show that the Greater London Authority plans to reduce the total number of 40 staff working on environmental issues in the capital to 20. The cuts will reduce the climate change and energy team from 10 to three, …

Guardian: Tesco is to encourage customers to discard unwanted and excessive packaging near the tills, in an experiment along the lines of a similar "take-back" scheme in Germany. The supermarket chain has already cut back on what it regards as "wasteful" packaging, such as bulky dog food bags and unnecessary plastic wrapping on food. A regional trial will now try to find out which kinds of packaging consumers are prepared to do without. Common customer gripes include the amount of plastic, …

Boston Globe: A groundbreaking climate change bill unveiled yesterday by leading House Democrats takes some inspiration from a pact among 10 Northeastern states that was the first in the United States to place a mandatory cap on carbon emissions and begin trading pollution allowances. The bill would set strict new limits on greenhouse gases, cutting emissions by 20 percent by 2020 and by 85 percent by 2050. Pollution credits would be given or auctioned off to utilities and businesses, and would …

Agence France-Presse: A city in northern China notorious for its pollution and deadly mining accidents is having trouble finding willing candidates for mayor and Communist Party chief, state media reported Wednesday. The two top posts have been vacant since September in Linfen, regularly cited as one of China’s most polluted cities, when their former occupants were sacked over a mining disaster that killed 270 people, the China Daily said. The paper quoted political experts as saying the posts were …

Time Magazine: The House produced a long-awaited bill to regulate 85% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, anteing up for what promises to be long, high-stakes negotiations with the Senate and business groups alarmed at the $1 trillion price tag that some estimate such an effort could entail. The effects of the already-intense lobbying around the issue were being felt across the Capitol, where the Senate the same afternoon passed by an overwhelming margin an amendment resolving that any energy legislation …

San Francisco Chronicle: House Democrats opened the congressional debate on climate change Tuesday by unveiling an ambitious plan to boost renewable energy and simultaneously slash domestic greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent over the next decade. And California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer is poised to lead the fight in the Senate. But the new focus on climate change in the nation’s capital has been accompanied by another kind of change: an explosion of lobbyists trying to influence the final shape of …

Business Green: There is a clear correlation between those buildings that boast a high Energy Star rating and those commanding rental premiums, according to a new study of US commercial properties that backs up anecdotal evidence suggesting firms are willing to pay more for energy efficient properties. The study, commissioned by Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and carried out by researchers from Maastricht University and the University of California, Berkeley, is thought to be the …