TOP STORY
Dingell, Buried
Henry Waxman's takeover of House energy committee signals congressional shift on climate policy
House Democrats have unceremoniously dethroned John Dingell (D-Mich.) as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, installing Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) in his stead -- a move that will have resounding implications for climate and energy policy going forward. Kate Sheppard has the analysis.
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new in Grist: Dingell, buried
Vote for Grist in the MySpace Impact Awards
Help Grist win 10,000 big one$ by voting for us in the MySpace Impact Awards for Environmentalism this month. (Think of all the organic booze tree-free pencils we could buy!) Vote early, vote often! You, and all your friends, can vote once per day till voting closes Friday, Nov. 21.
TODAY'S NEWS
Holding Down the Beaufort
Shell Oil can't drill in Alaska's Beaufort Sea, says appeals court
Shell Oil's plans to drill in Alaska's Beaufort Sea have been shot down by a federal appeals court. The Minerals Management Service failed to take a "hard look" at the impact of drilling on whales and subsistence hunters, the court ruled, and there remain "substantial questions as to whether [the plan] may cause significant harm to the people and wildlife of the ... region." MMS must start from scratch with a new environmental review before the project can move forward.
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sources: Alaska Dispatch, Reuters, Bloomberg News
Do You Know the Way to San Jose?
Electric-car infrastructure coming to California's Bay Area
California's Bay Area will enjoy an electric-car infrastructure by 2012, startup Better Place announced Thursday. The mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose signed on for the plan, which will cover the region with charging and battery-exchange stations at an estimated cost of $1 billion.
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sources: The Mercury News, Associated Press, Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal
see also, in Grist: Better Place will bring electric-car infrastructure to Australia
Well Blow Me Down
Wal-Mart to purchase a lotta wind power in Texas
Retail behemoth Wal-Mart announced Thursday it will soon purchase up to 226 million kilowatt-hours of wind power each year from a nearly completed wind farm in Notrees, Texas. That will provide about 15 percent of the energy needed to power 360 of its stores and distribution centers in the state.
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source: The Washington Post
Less Power to Ya
Big drop in U.S. electricity consumption confounds utilities
Big drops in electricity consumption across a range of U.S. markets have utilities sweating, scratching their heads, and rethinking their business plans. U.S. electricity consumption, especially household consumption, has typically grown by some 1 to 2 percent a year, but in markets from Colorado to Minnesota, household energy use has dropped anywhere from 3 to 9 percent this year, which has some utility execs downright spooked.
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source: The Wall Street Journal
And ... Auction!
Cash from U.K. carbon auction may not go toward fixing climate
The United Kingdom held the E.U.'s first carbon-permit auction this week, raising some $80 million -- but has angered environmentalists by socking away the funds into general coffers instead of promising to put the money toward tackling climate change.
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sources: Financial Times, Guardian
Is it better for the earth (and your baby's bum) to choose cloth or disposable? With the help of some wee friends, advice maven Umbra Fisk delivers the straight poop on this perplexing topic. Watch now.
GRIST COLUMNS AND FEATURES
Checkout Line: In biodynamics, veritas?
The dirt on biodynamic and 'authentic' wine
For the trend-conscious, the latest must-have wine displays a "biodynamic" label on the bottle. Going beyond organic, biodynamic grape growers not only avoid synthetic chemicals, but also farm according to astrologic dictates and utilize weird stuff like manure-filled ram horns. A terse reader asks: What the hell -- are biodynamic wines worth seeking out? Grist food sleuth Lou Bendrick skips through the vineyards to find answers, a quest which leads her to yet another wine trend: "natural" (also known as "authentic") wines.
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new in Grist: In biodynamics, veritas?
Coming Monday: Advice columnist Umbra Fisk on the gift of rainforest protection
Grist: Environmental News and Commentary
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