Energy and Environment News Roundup – 5.17.12

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.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Energy efficiency gains traction in lagging states (via Energy Central)

Opower adds utility customers, tests smart thermostats (via Greentech Media)

FedEx Express closes in on goal of 20% improvement in vehicle fleet fuel efficiency years ahead of schedule (via Green Car Congress)

TAR SANDS/KEYSTONE XL

GOP hints it’ll part with Keystone XL pipeline to finish highway bill (via The Hill)

Enbridge plans huge Canada, US pipeline expansion (via Reuters)

CLIMATE/EMISSIONS/ENVIRONMENT

Report: green taxes key to tacking European deficits (via BusinessGreen)

The past 12 months were the warmest ever recorded (via Good)

Proposed carbon limits for new power plants would avoid 123 billion pounds of pollution annually (via Climate Progress)

Wildlife in tropical regions has declined 60% since 1970 (via Yale e360)

GRID

China’s electric power is expensive, advanced but not ‘smart,’ report says (via ClimateWire)

As net metering use rises, a battle brews in California (via SmartPlanet)

NATURAL GAS/FRACKING

Natural gas consumption reflects shifting sectoral patterns (via US EIA)

State oversight helps reduce effects of fracking, study says (via Yale e360)

Ohio horizontal drilling rules approved by state senate (via Huffington Post/AP)

RENEWABLES

Solar power prices more competitive than thought: BNEF (via Bloomberg)

NREL model improves predictions of shade effects on solar PV (via Environmental Leader)

Great Lakes projects founder as political winds shift (via Greenwire)

Two big Pennsylvania wind farm projects canceled (via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

SolarCity: ditch your big utility and get a free rooftop solar system (via Forbes)

Geothermal, solar power unite in first of its kind facility (via AOL Energy)

Renewables still on the rise in Texas (via StateImpact Texas)

NJ solar farm said to be biggest east of Mississippi (via Earth Techling)

GASOLINE/OIL

Report: Obama to press G8 nations to back oil release (via The Hill)

Study finds ethanol helped lower gasoline prices by $1 (via Houston Chronicle)

What the oil industry wants – in charts (via Washington Post)

Do we know enough to ensure safe Arctic drilling? (via New Scientist)

Environmental groups challenge Shell’s Arctic drilling permits (via Houston Chronicle)

TRANSPORTATION

Siemens to test ‘e-highway’ overhead electric lines for trucks in California (via Inhabitat)

Leaked Fisker Atlantic documents reveal big production delay, specs (via Autoblog Green)

Hawaii leads US in electric car purchases (via Sustainable Business)

GEOENGINEERING

UK geoengineering experiment cancelled on patent concerns (via Yahoo! News/Reuters)

GREEN BUSINESS

What can businesses learn from Microsoft’s carbon neutrality? (via BusinessGreen)

US Airways, Shutterfly, others drop Sustainable Forestry Initiative (via Environmental Leader)

POLITICS

Merkel ditches environment minister after election rout (via Reuters)

OPINION

When it comes to natural gas, Obama can’t win (via Politico)

Don’t believe the hype: five things you should know about clean energy investments (via Grist)

What if the fossil fuel industry gets its way? A look at the year 2030 (via Climate Progress)

Peak, pause, or plummet? Shale oil costs at crossroads (via Reuters)