Energy and Environment News Roundup – 10.31.12

This post was originally published on Marcacci Communications, a clean energy public relations company, 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.

Hurricane Sandy cost may hit $50 billion (via New York Daily News)

Sandy knocks out 90 New York State power lines, 13 percent of generation (via Reuters)

NASA warned New York about hurricane danger six years ago (via Mother Jones)

High-tide storm was a known risk for New York (via Bloomberg)

As contrarians argue about Sandy’s cause, businesses count the climate cost (via BusinessGreen)

TAR SANDS/KEYSTONE XL 

Keystone XL pipeline route gets initial Nebraska regulatory approval (via Omaha World-Herald)

American refineries getting ready for tar sands oil (via Mother Jones)

Enbridge has no spill-response plan for Northern Gateway pipeline (via Desmog Blog)

RENEWABLES 

Scotland increases its clean energy target to 50 percent by 2015 (via BusinessGreen)

Serbia approves plans for 1GW solar array (via Reuters)

Calls to cut Australia’s 20 percent renewable energy target rejected (via Renewable Energy World)

300MW Gobi Desert wind farm gives Asian super grid a place to start (via EarthTechling)

Copenhagen shows how cities can become clean tech leaders (via Forbes)

Government subsidies are scaring away capital from green deals, investment banker says (via AOL Energy)

Utility-scale installations lead US solar photovoltaic growth (via US EIA)

Fueled by electric utility money, opponents outspend backers of Michigan renewable energy proposal 2-to-1 (via MichiganLive)

CLIMATE/EXTREME WEATHER 

A year of extreme weather – and little climate change talk (via Washington Post)

Climate change makes ‘frankenstorms’ stronger: scientists (via Bloomberg)

US weather fatalities in one chart (via Washington Post)

Cuomo notes weather’s new reality, toll on states (via Politico)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

Are smart bulbs the next bright idea in energy efficiency? (via Midwest Energy News)

10,000 jobs in Ohio tied to energy efficiency (via Columbus Dispatch)

NATURAL GAS 

Texas natural gas value plummets by $1 billion (via Houston Chronicle)

China prioritizes use of natural gas by vehicles, ships (via Reuters)

TRANSPORTATION 

EV stations worth $1.2 billion by 2020 (via Environmental Leader)

A123 wants to access $50 million from Wanxiang (via Autoblog Green)

A wireless charging solution for the Leaf and Volt (via New York Times)

Savings from choosing mass transit = $9,934 per year (average American) (via CleanTechnica)

The lessons from New York’s flooded subways (via Time)

EMISSIONS 

Four carbon capture projects in line for £1 billion UK government funding (via BusinessGreen)

GRID 

The case for a distributed, smarter, cleaner power grid post Hurricane Sandy (via GigaOm)

IBM pushes analytics for outages and grid optimization (via Greentech Media)

ENERGY POLICY 

Japan’s power monopolies take first steps toward competition (via Reuters)

POLITICS 

Voters rank presidential candidates’ energy policies over environmental issues (via The Hill)

What changes would green car policy see under a Romney presidency? (via Autoblog Green)

OPINION 

Climate hawks vs. scolds: how ‘reverse tribalism’ affects climate communication (via Grist)

Climate change and Sandy: why we need to prepare for a warmer world (via Time)

From Superstorm Sandy to climate action (via Climate Progress)

Sandy demonstrates that the insurance industry should be wary of climate change (via Triple Pundit)

Sandy shows the US is unprepared for climate disasters (via Washington Post)

Gore: Hurricane Sandy is a global-warming warning (via Politico)

Will recovery spending be able to balance the economic damage caused by Hurricane Sandy? (via Treehugger)

OTHER NEWS 

An additional listing of clean energy and climate news is posted at Climate Progress