Inter Press Service: A controversial hydroelectricity expansion project in Quebec has drawn sharp criticism from aboriginal and environmental organisations on both sides of the Canadian-U.S. border. Hydro Quebec’s main purpose for diverting the Rupert River in Northern Quebec is for hydro production in order to sell power to the northeastern United States. U.S. environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defence Council, International Rivers Network, Friends of the Earth USA, the Sierra Club …

International Herald Tribune: Backed by the White House, corn-state governors and solid blocks on both sides of Congress’ partisan divide, the politics of biofuels could hardly look sunnier. The economics of the American drive to increase ethanol in the energy supply are more discouraging. American corn-based ethanol is expensive. And while it can help cut oil imports and provide modest reductions in greenhouse gases compared with conventional gasoline, corn ethanol also carries considerable risks. Even now as …

Business Week: After years of playing second fiddle to mainstream power sources, Europe’s renewable energy sector is now going from strength to strength. Lucrative government subsidies, an EU-wide goal to reduce CO2 emissions 20% by 2020, and growing public support for the fight against climate change have turned this new industry into a force to be reckoned with. Wind power is leading the push into renewables, helping to place Europe ahead of other regions (BusinessWeek, 8/3/07) in the race to …

Christian Science Monitor: Can Californians cope with a court-ordered drought on top of a natural one? They’ll soon find out as they’re forced to reduce their water use for the sake of a three-inch silvery fish, the delta smelt. A federal judge ruled last month that the state must reduce its water draw on the West’s largest delta by up to 37 percent. This is to save the delta’s smelt, which was declared endangered in 1993. It can’t outswim the pumps that export trillions of gallons of water from the Sacramento …

Washington Post: What has gone missing here is almost as spectacular as the 8,000 acres of swampy wilderness that remain. And that makes it Chesapeake Bay’s best place to watch climate change in action. Visitors can see ospreys gliding overhead, egrets wading in the channels and Delmarva fox squirrels making their unhurried commutes between pine trees. But then the road turns a corner, and Blackwater’s marsh yields to a vast expanse of open water. This is what’s missing: There used to be …

San Francisco Chronicle: As dark clouds approached, Guillaume Craig packed up his tools, climbed into a rickety boat and sped off from a small fishing village, hoping to make the three-hour commute downriver before nightfall. The boat wasn’t quite fast enough, so the former Oakland resident used a flashlight to guide his way back through endless miles of tropical forest. "That was actually our easiest site to reach," said Craig, whose San Francisco-based Blue Energy foundation is delivering …

Agence France-Presse: Some water restrictions introduced in Australia’s most populous state because of a long-running drought will become permanent because of the threat of global warming, officials said Sunday. Banned forever will be the practice of hosing pathways and the daytime use of sprinklers to water lawns and gardens. The New South Wales government said the restrictions would remain in place even when the drought is over and dam levels are at capacity. "We know that climate …

Observer: The Arctic’s sea covering has shrunk so much that the Northwest Passage, the fabled sea route that connects Europe and Asia, has opened up for the first time since records began. The discovery, revealed through satellite images provided by the European Space Agency (Esa), shows how bad the consequences of global warming are becoming in northerly latitudes. This summer there was a reduction of a million square kilometres in the Arctic’s ice covering compared with 2006, scientists have …

New York Times: IN the debate over global climate change, there is a yawning gap that needs to be bridged. The gap is not between environmentalists and industrialists, or between Democrats and Republicans. It is between policy wonks and political consultants. Among policy wonks like me, there is a broad consensus. The scientists tell us that world temperatures are rising because humans are emitting carbon into the atmosphere. Basic economics tells us that when you tax something, you normally get less …

Oregonian: Now that Oregonians are good at recycling, state officials are edging toward a far tougher Step 2: Stop buying so much stuff in the first place. People are buying and throwing out more than ever — roughly a ton and a half for every Oregonian each year — and even Oregon’s much touted recycling rates can’t keep up. Add the state’s expanding population, and you get a pileup. And you get potential failure to meet Oregon’s freshly minted goals for curbing greenhouse gases. …