Climate Progress » Should Obama push a climate bill in 2009 or 2010? Part I, Does a serious bill need action from China?

The international negotiation process that led to the Kyoto Protocol and that is supposed to culminate in another deal in Copenhagen at the end of this year is for all intents and purposes in a deep coma, even if most of the participants don’t realize that (see “Obama can’t get a global climate treaty ratified, so what should he do instead? Part 1“). Indeed, the only thing that could possibly revive it is China agreeing to a cap by no later than 2020. That alone means Obama’s top international priority this year must not be Copenhagen, but rather China. Whether or not Obama needs some action by China to get a U.S. bill passed, his entire presidency and the fate of the planet rest on whether he can in fact get a China deal (see “What will make Obama a great president, Part 2: A climate deal with China“).
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Based on my conversations with Hill staffers and others — and the not-so-subtle tea leaves being published in the media — I doubt there will be a US climate bill passed in 2009. Personally, I now think 2010 may be a better idea anyway, but only if the Obama administration takes a variety of specific actions in 2009.

If I ever get outta here, I'm going to Katmandu: Nepal turns back on hydropower

Just when switching over to clean energy to fight climate change has become a global mantra, water-rich Nepal appears to be heading in the opposite direction, changing from renewable to dirty energy.

To deal with crippling power cuts that last two thirds of a day, the government has declared a national power crisis, and announced a plan to install a series of generators of up to 200 megawatts (MW).

They will run on diesel, a fossil fuel that emits the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
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However, the nation - until now - has stuck to hydropower over the years, maintaining a clean energy track record.

In 2007, it won the prestigious Ashden Award for replacing diesel powered mills with water-powered ones.

Two years earlier, it won another Ashden Award for a scheme that used cow dung to generate electricity.

The bio-gas project had even been able to sell surplus carbon credits to the World Bank under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the UN's Kyoto Protocol.

Toronto | Cold snap wreaking frosty havoc

Cold "snap" is an appropriate term: when the temperature dips this low, things tend to break.

Take, for instance, Toronto's water mains. As of noon yesterday, at least eight had burst in North York and Scarborough alone.

Massive Blackout Hits Toronto During One Of Coldest Nights Of The Year | AHN | January 16, 2009

Toronto, Ottawa (AHN) - A broken water main inundated a power station of Toronto Hydro, which caused massive brownouts in Toronto on Thursday night. The power outage hit the city at about 10 p.m. during one of the coldest nights of the year.