OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Lieberman, Graham eye revival of energy talks - The Hill's E2-Wire

Graham, however, said he hopes to be a player on energy again in the new Congress, and Lieberman said he sees a chance for collaboration.

While cap-and-trade is dead, Lieberman said areas including a “clean energy standard” for utilities (which Graham is pushing), natural gas and nuclear power are on the table. “It is not going to be as big or comprehensive as the American Power Act,” Lieberman said, referring to the unsuccessful emissions-capping and energy bill he unveiled with Kerry. “But we can do something here.”

Global Cooling Puts Green Jobs On Ice -- InformationWeek

With much of Europe buried under six-foot snow drifts, businesses and consumers aren't in the mood to spend big dollars on technologies that will make their lives even colder.

3% of Earth’s landmass is now urbanized | Watts Up With That?

This study, from 2005, is nor one I’ve covered here before, but I thought it was relevant to have a look at as a logical followup to the recent announcement from NASA at AGU that satellites have identified strong UHI signatures in cities. The vast majority of the world’s surface weather stations used to monitor climate are in urban areas, many in the GHCN for example are at urban airports. h/t to Joe and Pete. – Anthony

U.S. Department of Energy - Tracking Santa -- An Interview with the Head Researcher | DOE Blog

Every year since 1998, the Department of Energy's Los Alamos lab has been using state of the art technology to track Santa Claus as he circles the globe the night before Christmas. You'll be able to start monitoring St. Nick's journey here starting at 6 AM ET on Christmas Eve.

An insight into Hacker-land « JoNova

Pointman argues the case for the emails being leaked from inside. Part I of his thesis is that an expert hack takes a lot of money, patience and a rare personality. (And after reading his article I believe him.) In Part II Pointman suggests that there is not a lot of money or inclination to pay such an expert. Call me unconvinced on this second clause. Even though I’ve seen no evidence of big dollars at work in the skeptic case* I can imagine in any market worth 130 odd billion per annum that there would be players with handy shorts-ready-to-place who might like to pull some strings.

That said, the fact that the police investigation into the leak or hack has failed to find any answers combined with the obvious motivation for any half honest civil servant with a modicum of altruistic honor to act as a whistle-blower, means I find the whistle-blowing theory much more believable.