CNN repports here: With just over a week to go until the start of the Beijing Olympic Games, Chinese officials announce emergency measures including factory closures and further limits on car use in a bid to curb the city’s persistent pollution. Doctors warn that athletes’ performances could be affected by poor air quality.
Beijing cuts cars by half as Olympics near, AP reports here at CNN: BEIJING, China - Beijing started its drastic traffic control plan Sunday in a last-minute push to clear the capital’s pollution-choked skies in time for the August Olympics.
CNN reports here: WASHINGTON - The United States should be making all of its electricity with renewable and carbon-free energy in 10 years, former Vice President Al Gore said Thursday.
AP reports here at Yahoo News: WASHINGTON - Seeking to play down the effects of global warming, Vice President Dick Cheney’s office pushed to delete from congressional testimony references about the consequences of climate change on public health, a former senior EPA official claimed Tuesday.
CNN reports here: A call from leaders of the leading industrialized nations to halve greenhouse gas emissions worldwide by 2050 is criticized by environmentalists. “At this rate, by 2050 the world will be cooked and the G-8 leaders will be long forgotten,” said Oxfam.
AP reports here at Yahoo News: HONOLULU - With a heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels, Hawaii has become the first state to require solar water heaters in new homes, pleasing environmentalists but leading opponents to note the island chain’s already high home prices.
UK plans big wind power expansion, BBC News reports here: Thousands of new wind turbines could be built across the UK over the coming decade as part of a £100bn plan to boost renewable energy.
The Guardian reports here on its website: James Hansen, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, will today call for the chief executives of large fossil fuel companies to be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature, accusing them of actively spreading doubt about global warming in the same way that tobacco [...]
Spiegel Online reports here: According to reports, the European Union is planning to implement a phase-out of energy-wasting, climate-killing incandescent lightbulbs, starting next year. They will be replaced by energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs, which last 10 times longer.