- French offset company Eco-Carbone has raised roughly $3.2 million in PE funding. The company, which traps methane from Chinese coal mines, is the latest in a line of recent carbon offsetting and trading companies to form or receive funding over the last few months. The difference between Eco-Carbone and the rest of the offsetting crowd can be found in its unassailable business model. Because, if there's one thing the Chinese are really good at, it's trapping things in mines.
- Tesla head Elon Musk is unmasked as one of the backers of Climos, the ocean seeding firm. Climos received $3.5 million in Series A funding a few weeks ago, having overcome the vast anti-algae conspiracy that plagued its rival. Musk, along with EnerNOC-backer Braemer Energy Ventures, were reportedly torn away from throwing vast sums of money down an Eco-Carbone owned coal pit long enough to take up this way more creative way of blowing wads of cash.
- The EPA is in rebellion! 19 union heads, representing nearly 10,000 EPA employees, have filed a sternly worded letter to EPA chief Steven Johnson saying he falls to his knees "whenever political direction from other federal entities or private sector interests so direct." The employees' frustration goes beyond Johnson's refusal to let California regulate its own emissions, including failure to regulate "mercury emissions from power plants" and general "abuses of our good nature and trust." Johnson could not be reached for comment yesterday, as he was speaking on a panel entitled "The Economic and Environmental Benefits of Renewable Energy" at WIREC. Don't worry - his fingers were crossed the whole time.
- The Energy Information Administration predicts the U.S. will fall 3.5 billion gallons short of the 36 billion gallon Renewable Fuel Standard target set for 2022. EIA chief Guy Caruso told the Senate Energy Committee the U.S. would need to repeal the ethanol tariff and begin importing ethanol to make up for the shortfall. Dependence on foreign oil doesn't count if it's foreign bio-oil. Ha! After their busy day, Caruso and Johnson went out for a Coke.
- And finally today... It's time to play Who's Got The Better Secret Agenda?
Greentech Media's Green Light blog covers the full-scope of the greentech world, while expanding the range of our daily news reporting with brief and insightful blog posts from our Greentech Media editors, GTM Research analysts and numerous guest bloggers.
