New York Times: The debate on global warming and energy policy accelerated on Tuesday as two senior House Democrats unveiled a far-reaching bill to cap heat-trapping gases and move the country quickly from dependence on coal and oil. But the bill leaves crucial questions unanswered and as of now has no Republican support. For those reasons, it marks the beginning, not the end, of debate in the current Congress on how to deal with two of President Obama’s top priorities, climate change and …

Business Green: Google has announced a new arm of its business, Google Ventures, a technology investment fund that will target early stage firms including clean tech start ups. The search giant said it had started Ventures as a way of opening up its own resources to new technology development, and will seek out and help start-up firms operating across a diverse range of industries. Falling with ease into the vernacular of venture capitalists, the firm said it would focus on "early stage …

Greenpeace: Presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao’s first meeting on 1 April, is a key opportunity for the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters to lead the way on tackling climate change. While Obama and Hu are meeting at a critical time in London, the first in a series of United Nations climate negotiations began in Bonn this week, which culminate with the Climate Summit in Copenhagen in December where negotiators will agree the next stage of the Kyoto Protocol. "To save the …

Reuters: The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee began debate on Tuesday on measures that would strengthen appliance efficiency standards and help U.S. manufacturers use less energy. The proposed legislation would revamp the Energy Department’s program that develops efficiency rules for household appliances by allowing individuals to petition the department to revise standards or test procedures. The department would be required to respond to these requests. The bill …

Reuters: Leading Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday offered a climate change and energy efficiency bill that would give industry up to two billion tonnes in "offsets" annually to help them meet requirements for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The legislation by top Democrats in the House Energy and Commerce Committee also would give industry "rebates" so U.S. firms can remain competitive with overseas companies. The legislation, according to the committee, would …

Guardian: 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, …

New York Times: The United States and Canada have asked the International Maritime Organization to designate their coastal regions as areas where oceangoing ships would face strict controls on emissions of sulfur, particulate matter like soot and other pollutants that endanger human health. Lisa P. Jackson, administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, announced the action Monday at a news conference in Newark. The agency said the maritime organization, the United Nations …

Reuters: A draft statement which would confirm G20 leaders’ commitment to sign a new climate pact in December and support low-carbon growth drew mixed reactions from green groups and policymakers Tuesday. Environment analysts say more was unlikely from an April 2 summit of leaders of developed and emerging countries focused on preventing global recession from becoming a depression. Think-tanks and UN agencies have urged world leaders to use the financial crisis to lay the building …

Canwest News Service: WASHINGTON - Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday unveiled draft climate change legislation to slash America’s greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020, setting the stage for a protracted and intense political debate in Washington that has potentially major consequences for Canada’s energy industry. The 648-page draft bill would establish a carbon cap-and-trade system to help industry achieve the greenhouse gas reductions, but sidesteps the politically …

LA Times: As an author of the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), I was disappointed to read recreational fisherman Dick Giuliani’s March 25 opinion piece, in which he argued that the fishing reserves proposed under the act would be disastrous for the state. I’d like to clear up a number of misconceptions and share why I believe the process of selecting marine protection areas as outlined by the MLPA is critical to our future. The MLPA, which was adopted in 1999, calls for a coherent …