French PM signals end to carbon tax plan -lawmakers | Markets | Reuters

PARIS, March 23 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Francois Fillon signalled an end to France's drive to introduce a domestic tax on carbon dioxide emissions, telling lawmakers on Tuesday French companies would suffer if the government tried to go it alone.

Speaking at a closed-door meeting with parliamentarians from his UMP party, Fillon was quoted as saying the tax should come into force across the European Union to avoid denting the competitiveness of French firms.

"I believe that the carbon tax won't fly," Marie-Anne Montchamp told reporters as she came out of the meeting.

The Stockholm Water Prize Won by an American | TopNews United States

At a gathering in Stockholm, Prof. Colwell was honored for being the first to study the effects of climate change on the extension of diseases.

Claim for $12m over bungled energy scheme | The Australian

CONTRACTORS in the $175 million green loans program are demanding more than $12m in taxpayer-funded compensation for lost work, as the Rudd government yesterday refused to quantify how many Australian households missed out on the scheme because of bureaucratic bungling.

After health care, a climate bill push - Lisa Lerer - POLITICO.com

Disagreement among Senate Democrats is slowing progress on the climate bill – even as supporters push to move forward with a proposal this week.

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) have been working overtime to move a draft of their climate bill forward before the Senate leaves for recess at the end of the week

But at the same time, Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman and Democratic Policy Committee chair Byron Dorgan have been fiercely lobbying Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to take up the energy-only bill approved by the energy committee last June. The two met with Reid last week to argue for their legislation, which includes no cap on greenhouse gas emissions.

Has Global Warming Slowed?: Scientific American

Hansen and other co-authors could not be reached for comment. The analysis has not been subjected to a peer review, though Hansen, in an email sent discussing the paper, said he intended to revise it for submission to a journal "within a month or so."

Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, called the analysis solid.

"Essentially he's just pointing out that we've come out of this short-term, relatively cool period," Mann said. "The globe clearly continues to warm."
...
Mann said many claims of global cooling are spurious and "intellectually dishonest."

"The question becomes can you confront those who are choosing to be intellectually dishonest with more facts and hope they become more honest? Unfortunately, that's not the case," he said.
...
The Goddard analysis challenges in particular a respected and widely quoted study by climatologist Susan Solomon and colleagues at the National Center for Atmospheric Research that states the trend in global surface temperatures "has been nearly flat since the 1990s."