AAP: LABOR says the coalition’s climate change credibility has been "shredded" by revelations Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull recently failed to convince cabinet to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Mr Turnbull and Prime Minister John Howard today repeatedly refused to contradict a newspaper report the minister told cabinet just six weeks ago the Government would gain kudos and lose nothing by ratifying the international climate change agreement. Cabinet reportedly decided …

CTV: Millions of residents in the southeastern United States are being crippled by an epic drought the region has not experienced since officials began keeping records in the late 1800s. According to data released by the U.S. Drought Monitor on Oct.25, 50 per cent of the southeastern U.S. is experiencing "extreme" drought conditions with 31 per cent of the area reeling from "exceptional" conditions. "We started keeping records in 1895 and this is far worse …

Xinhua: The terms of the international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions that will follow the Kyoto Protocol will be even stricter, economist Mohan Munasinghe, vice president of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said here Friday. According to Munasinghe, who was participating in a seminar here to discuss the application of the IPCC recommendations locally, stronger international consensus has now been reached on the need for stricter measures. The new rules that …

Sydney Morning Herald: THE Coalition yesterday committed $75 million to new renewable energy technologies in a bid to gain credibility with a voting public sceptical of its performance on climate change. Green groups described John Howard’s grants program for companies developing new forms of green energy as "shadow boxing" and said the Labor Opposition had also failed to deliver any significant climate change policies. On the same day the Opposition pledged $489 million for solar panels on …

Associated Press: U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe, who has called global warming a hoax, says he will block a bipartisan Senate bill that would limit greenhouse gas emissions. Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, is Congress’ most vocal skeptic of the idea that human activity is responsible for global warming. Yesterday, during a lengthy speech on the Senate floor, he said the media, environmental groups and "Hollywood" liberals, among others, have exaggerated the causes and effects of global …

Livenews: Labor claims the Howard Government is lost in the past following revelations it again decided not to sign the Kyoto protocol on climate change. It’s emerged that Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull asked Cabinet six weeks ago for Australia to reverse its decision not to ratify the agreement, but the move was vetoed. Labor Leader Kevin Rudd says the Coalition doesn’t take global warming seriously. "The rest of the world is embracing the future on climate change and …

San Jose Mercury News: If the Bay Area is to make a real contribution to the fight against global warming, it will require an aggressive program to discourage solo vehicle commuting, along with improvements in fuel economy and a new development paradigm that puts people near jobs and public transit, Bay Area leaders were told Friday. Those ideas, which include a pricing package that increases the per-mile cost of driving during peak hours were contained in a proposed framework for a regional transportation …

Press Trust India: Seeking a five-year moratorium on use of bio-fuels, an independent United Nations human rights expert has warned that the effect of converting staple foods into fuels would be "absolutely catastrophic" for the poor nations which import food. The argument for bio-fuels is legitimate in terms of energy efficiency and combating climate change but such a course would result in increase in the prices of wheat, maize, sugar, land and water, putting food out of the reach of the …

Livenews: Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull is refusing to admit he urged federal Cabinet to sign and ratify the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. There’re reports Mr Turnbull urged cabinet to adopt Kyoto at a cabinet meeting six-weeks ago but was vetoed. The Environment Minister has sidestepped questions on exactly what happened in that meeting. He’s told Sky News Kyoto is a useless agreement. "It would not change what we are doing because we are already permitted to …

Des Moines Register: Take elephant dung and wheat straw, and a century-old Dutch distiller thinks it could have the motor fuel of the future. Royal Nedalco wants to make alcohol for fuel out of plant cellulose, the cheap and plentiful stuff that makes up crop residue, as well as wheat straw, wood and grasses. Nedalco officials say they’ve found a key to fermenting the sugar found in cellulose cheaply and effectively by using a yeast taken from elephant dung. The European Union needs projects like this …