Washington Examiner: The Decline and Fall of Coal
Towns like Logan, West Virginia are in free fall as heightened environmental regulations, prompted by fears about climate change, are accelerating a long-term decline in demand for coal.
At the same time, emerging economies such as China are trying to use less coal to reduce air pollution. Cleaner fuels such as natural gas and solar power (which is getting cheaper by the day) also divert buyers away from coal. And markets and financial institutions, seeing the spread of regulations internationally, are starting to give coal the thumbs-down.
EcoWatch: House Approves Keystone XL Pipeline, Senate to Vote on Tuesday
The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives approved the Keystone XL pipeline Friday. The U.S. Senate will vote on the bill tomorrow, Tuesday. Last week, President Obama strongly suggested that if the Senate also approves the Keystone XL pipeline, the legislation won’t get past his desk.
The controversial Keystone XL in the lame-duck session is being driven by embattled Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D), who edged out her Republican opponent Bill Cassidy on Election Day. Landrieu called for the vote less than 24 hours after President Obama announced a historic agreement with China to limit carbon emissions.
Guardian: G20 Climate Change Statement's Evolution Reveals Backroom Battle
The U.S. and the EU succeeded in including a paragraph on climate change in the first draft of the G20 communique. Initially, Australia didn’t want climate change in the G20 communique at all. Documents reveal its negotiators then spent weeks fighting to keep the language vague.
WSJ: Obama to Offer $3 Billion for Green Climate Fund
President Barack Obama is set to offer $3 billion over several years for an international fund that supports reduced emissions and climate preparedness in poorer countries, an administration official said.
BetaWired: Facebook Embraces Renewable Energy to Power Its New Data Center
Facebook’s new data farm in Altoona, Iowa boasts cutting-edge uses of renewable energy. The center is 100 percent cooled by outside air and is powered exclusively by renewable energy, in large part from a new wind project in the close-by town of Wellsburg, Iowa that provides 140 megawatts of new renewable energy to the energy grid -- much more than the data center will need to operate both now and in the future.
San Francisco Business Times: Uber Nears $2B in Revenue, Partners With Spotify
Car-hailing app Uber is expected to announce a deal today with music-streaming service Spotify that will allow passengers to pick their own music while they ride.
The San Francisco-based company is expected to hit an annual gross revenue run rate of $10 billion by the end of next year.