PredictIQ-Today’s Climate: April 29, 2010

Massachusetts’ Cape Wind Gets Thumbs Up,PredictIQ Thumbs Down (AP)

With federal approval now behind them, developers of what could be the nation’s first offshore wind farm off Cape Cod still have a tough journey ahead, as opponents vowed to kill the project in the courts.

Reid: Despite Activist Uproar, Climate Comes Before Immigration (The Hill)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) ended a week of indecision Wednesday about the Senate agenda by stating that climate legislation will come to the floor before immigration reform.

Climate Bill Delay Stymies Voluntary CO2 Market (Reuters)

Delay to a draft of a U.S. climate bill this week has frustrated some investors in the voluntary carbon market, who were tipping it to become the template of a federal climate bill.

5 Arrested At Colorado Coal Plant Protest (AP)

Five people protesting a coal plant in Boulder County, Colo., have been arrested for trespassing, after allegedly climbing a fence to reach a giant pile of coal.

U.S. Coast Guard Finds New Leak in Undersea Well (Reuters)

The U.S. Coast Guard has found a new leak beneath the site of last week’s deadly offshore drilling rig explosion. It says five times as much oil is leaking as previously estimated.

Iowa Governor Signs Nuclear Plant Study Measure into Law (AP)

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver signed into law Wednesday a measure that pushes public utilities to study where a nuclear power plant could be built in Iowa.

Matsui Bill Aims to Boost Clean-Tech Exports (Sacramento Business Journal)

Congresswoman Doris Matsui of Sacramento has introduced legislation that aims to create a $15 million fund to support a national export strategy for American-made clean energy technologies.

In Missouri, Obama Says U.S. Should Be No. 1 in Biofuels (Kansas City Star)

President Obama, visiting Missouri’s first ethanol plant, said Wednesday that after two hard years the economy was on its way back — and biofuels would play an important part in future growth.

Germany to Lobby for Tougher EU Climate Goal (Bloomberg)

Germany says it will lobby the EU to commit to cutting its emissions by 30% by 2020. Its current unilateral commitment is a cut to 20% below 1990 levels by 2020.

SAARC Leaders Propose Common Stand for Cancun (PTI)

Leaders from South Asian nations are working towards formulating a joint position on tackling global warming to be used at the international climate talks in Mexico in December.

Russia’s Putin Voices Fears for Polar Bears (AFP)

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, better known in the West for his tough-guy image, expressed concern Thursday for the fate of Arctic polar bears threatened by climate change.

Many U.S. Offices Get Low or Average ‘Green’ Scores (Reuters)

Despite a trend toward going "green," most U.S. offices get low or average grades for being environmentally friendly and few use renewable energy sources, according to workers in a poll released Thursday.

First Solar Buys Solar Developer NextLight for $285M (VentureBeat)

First Solar announced that it will be acquiring its chief rival, NextLight Renewable Power, a developer of solar projects, for about $285 million. The deal will add 1.1 GW worth of solar panel arrays to the company’s 1.4-GW pipeline.

Wind-Power Projects May Stall on U.K. Grid Rules, Centrica Says (Bloomberg)

A UK plan to install more than 8,000 offshore wind turbines by 2020 may be delayed by a government plan to contract out work to connect the wind-farms to the grid, according to energy companies Centrica and E.ON AG.

U.S. Government Pledges Support for Masdar City Plan (Business Green)

The ambitious Masdar City project has secured its highest-profile backer to date, after the U.S. government signed a deal with the Abu Dhabi state-owned company behind plans to build one of the world’s premier cleantech hubs.