Energy and Environment News Roundup – 4.2.12

This post was originally published on Marcacci Communications, which provides a daily roundup of energy and climate news and opinion. Inclusion of articles does not mean endorsement. Client relationships are disclosed where applicable.

OIL

Shell marches toward Arctic drilling as EPA permits upheld (via The Hill)

Government auditors warn of arctic drilling risks (via Houston Chronicle)

BP says US withholding evidence of oil spill extent (via Bloomberg)

Obama finds oil in markets is sufficient to sideline Iran (via New York Times)

NUCLEAR

Regulators approve construction of nuclear reactors in South Carolina (via The Hill)

RENEWABLES

Obama administration, 5 states reach deal to quicken approval of Great Lakes wind farms (via Washington Post/Associated Press)

Denmark to double wind power by 2020, be fossil fuel-free by 2050 (via Forbes)

Study: Cape Wind will reduce regional electricity prices by $7.2 billion (via Energy Central)

Connecticut lags in renewable energy goals (via Connecticut Post)

New Jersey losing ground in race for first offshore wind farm (via Atlantic City Press)

NStar agrees to Cape Wind power deal (via Boston Globe)

NATURAL GAS/FRACKING

Flare on Total’s Elgin platform extinguished (via Reuters)

Total to get go-ahead to kill leaking North Sea gas well (via Reuters)

Natural gas prices slide to 10-year low (via Wall Street Journal)

EPA backpedals on fracking contamination findings (via Wall Street Journal)

New study links earthquakes to drilling injection wells (via StateImpact)

California officials ask energy firms to disclose fracking sites (via Los Angeles Times)

ENVIRONMENT/CLIMATE

New York, Chicago post warmest March as record month ends (via Bloomberg)

America’s top 10 most polluted waterways (via Mother Jones)

Public skeptical of media’s climate coverage (via The Hill)

Making sense of the wacky weather (via New York Times)

GM to stop funding climate-change denying Heartland Institute (via TreeHugger)

As climate warms, risk of fires becoming unusually, unseasonably high (via Burlington Free Press)

Even a wet winter hasn’t broken the great Texas drought (via StateImpact)

Scientists unlock mystery of where CO2 was hidden during ice ages (via Yale e360)

GRID

Phasor measurement units can improve electric power system efficiency and reliability (via US EIA)

UK startup to bring energy management to the masses with free software (via BusinessGreen)

Will China do to metering what it did to solar panels? (via AOL Energy)

Solving the green energy storage problem (via TriplePundit)

COAL

Calculator: how much does using coal really cost? (via Mother Jones)

Why is it so hard to clean up coal? (via Mother Jones)

RARE EARTHS

Japan, US, EU discuss rare earth supply security (via Yahoo! News/Associated Press)

EFFICIENCY

Energy use in US manufacturing down 10% in four years (via Environmental Leader)

LEED commercial certifications: 12,000 served (via Earth Techling)

TRANSPORTATION

Qantas to operate Australia’s first commercial biofuel flights (via Green Car Congress)

Illinois launches largest US EV fast-charging network (via Green Car Congress)

OPINION

A better wind bill (via Baltimore Sun)

The EPA’s (very small) step on carbon emissions (via Washington Post)

Does EPA’s carbon rule make it easier or harder for utilities to plan? (via Platts)