A summary of today’s top climate and clean energy stories.
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Pic: flickr / an honorable german
US: As the State Department drags out the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, it is more likely President Barack Obama’s final decision on the project to help link Canada’s oil sands to U.S. refineries will slip into 2014, experts said. (Reuters)
France: The world’s largest solar-powered boat has docked on the banks of the Seine River, its final port of call after a three-month voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to study how the Gulf Stream and climate change could influence each other. (Edge)
IEA: There are policy choices for countries globally to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change without affecting their economic growth, said Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency. (China Daily)
EU: MEPs will vote today on whether to amend Europe’s biofuels legislation as part of plans to meet its 10% renewables target for transport. (RTCC)
US: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo took a first step toward launching a $1 billion “Green Bank,” asking state utility regulators to release the first $165.6 million to the bank to attract private lenders for clean energy projects, his office said on Tuesday. (Reuters)
China: Beijing municipal authorities are considering importing experience and clean technology from Finland to aid the city’s fight against air pollution. (People Daily)
Aviation: The US branch of Sir Richard’s aviation empire, Virgin America, fell below the industry average on fuel performance standards, a new study of the US domestic air industry said on Tuesday. (Guardian)
Finance: Financing for clean energy projects by the world’s development banks broke the US$ 100 billion a year barrier in 2012. (RTCC)
Research: Researchers have found evidence to suggest that climate change, rather than humans, was the main factor that drove the woolly mammoth to extinction. A DNA analysis shows that the number of creatures began to decrease much earlier than previously thought as the world’s climate changed. (BBC)
Amazon: Preliminary data released Tuesday by Brazil’s space agency suggests Amazon deforestation spiked by more than a third during the past year, reversing a steady decline in destruction of the world’s largest rainforest. (Reuters)