Six of the nation's 10 largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions are coal-fired power plants in the South, but year after year Southern lawmakers balk at pushing utilities toward cleaner renewable energy. Last month, Republican senators from the South provided about half the votes that defeated federal legislation to require power companies to get 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Nationally, almost half the states have adopted their own renewable mandates, but only one, Texas, is in the South. Southern lawmakers -- responding to heavy lobbying from local utilities -- argue their region isn't conducive to solar or wind power like the sun-baked Southwest or the open plains of the West.

Though more consistent than such sources as wind energy and solar power, the Haw River hydroelectric project would produce full power only about 50 percent of the time, depending on the amount of water available.

MONTPELIER -- Democrats came up 12 votes short of overriding the governor's veto of an energy bill in the House on Wednesday, then couldn't quite pull off an effort to resurrect the bulk of the bill. Together with a failed veto override of a campaign finance bill it meant two political victories for Republican Gov. Jim Douglas over the Democratic-controlled Legislature. Democrats weren't casting it that way. "It's a huge loss for Vermonters," said Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin, D-Windham. He said legislators succeeded in raising awareness about global warming and that the veto proved Douglas is out of touch with Vermonters on the issue. Douglas disagreed. "Some of the rhetoric has been noisy but devoid of fact," he said. His work on establishing tough auto and greenhouse gas emission standards shows his dedication to the issue, he said. Douglas also said he would meet today with his cabinet to begin implementing parts of the bill.

With the odd weather bringing speculation that global warming is showing its ugly effects, environmental awareness is on the up.So should we be welcoming proposals for wind turbines? Not according to artist Christine Lovelock. She said: "Wind power on an industrial scale is not as clean and ‘green' as it is made out to be. There are other, far better ways to do it." Last May Christine undertook a month long walk around Devon and painted various locations of the unspoilt landscapes.

A fight over renewable energy and biofuels led to a temporary shutdown of Pennsylvania's state government and, despite a compromise being reached, the opponents will resume battle in September. At issue is Governor Edward Rendell's energy independence strategy to promote renewables, energy conservation and biofuels. The Democratic governor hoped to fund an $850 million effort through a surcharge of 0.05 cents/kWh on utility bills, but Republican Senate leaders who oppose taxes resisted the idea. They also objected to measures requiring utilities to opt for conservation and renewables when customer load grows. And they opposed requiring utilities to install 'smart' meters that allow customers to see time-of-day prices and cut usage accordingly.

IF THE Democrats fail to overhaul America's energy policy, it will not be for lack of ideas, both good and bad. Last month the Senate approved a bill that would force carmakers to produce less fuel-hungry vehicles and fuel-makers to produce more ethanol, among other things. The House of Representatives, for its part, has passed legislation that would raise taxes on oil companies. Different committees have given the nod to various other measures, including a requirement to increase power generation from renewable sources such as wind and sunshine. The Democratic majority in both chambers has promised to stitch some of these proposals together into a single energy bill this summer. But there is little consensus on what to include and what to drop

After a six month pre-Assembly election moratorium on development, as many as 22 applications for new windfarms are now pending in Powys and anti-windfarm activists are organising themselves to oppose them. Famous TV naturalist Professor David Bellamy visited Mid Wales to give his support to anti-windfarm campaigners in Powys this weekend.

Increasing commodity costs, the weakening U.S. dollar and government mandates spurring demand all have driven up construction costs of wind farms, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council was told Tuesday. Costs for other kinds of power plants also increased, said Jeff King, a senior resource analyst for the council. In addition, representatives from two Northwest utilities and the Bonneville Power Administration reported that Northwest dams don't have enough flexibility remaining to supplement and smooth the intermittent power supplies generated by new wind farms.

Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell and the Republican-controlled Senate reached an agreement last night on a $27.3 billion state budget, ending a partial state shutdown that idled 25,000 government employees. Speaking after 11 p.m. local time, the second-term Democrat said he and Republicans agreed on a deal that left intact the budget outline he presented in February. Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said Rendell agreed to forgo a planned annual surcharge on energy bills to fund clean energy programs that became the main sticking point and said he would seek another source of money for the project.

Florida will adopt California's car-pollution standards -- the toughest in the nation -- and become the first state in the Southeast to enact targets for reducing greenhouse gases, under executive orders Gov. Charlie Crist plans to sign Friday in Miami. Drafts of the orders released Tuesday would require the state Secretary of Environmental Protection to immediately adopt rules to limit pollution-causing emissions for cars, diesel engines and electric companies. The orders also impose tough new energy conservation goals for state agencies, demand better fuel efficiency from state-owned vehicles and require state cars to ``use ethanol and biodiesel fuels when locally available.'' But the most optimistic step in Crist's green agenda is the requirement to lower the amount of carbon dioxide in the air to 1990 levels by 2025, and reduce those levels by 80 percent by 2050, in spite of what is expected to be a near doubling of the state's population.

SOME people call them windfarms, others describe them as ‘power stations in inappropriate locations', but all agree that one alternative energy source is an issue dividing communities in Northumberland. Alastair Gilmour reports in the first of five features this week looking at the controversial windfarm issue.

AMHERST - The developer of a proposed wind farm in northwestern Nova Scotia says singer Anne Murray's opposition to the project isn't helpful and will only inflame the situation. Charles Demond of Atlantic Wind Power reacted Monday to Murray's highly publicized comments last week about the company's plans to build between 20 and 27 wind turbines in the Gulf Shore area, where Murray has a summer home. "It's not helpful at all for the business of our company and wind farms at large to have someone like Anne Murray saying this is going to be a catastrophe for the area," Demond said. "We don't accept that and it's categorically not true.

Conservation and environmental pressure groups have banded together to fight against proposed changes in the planning laws. They say the reforms will take away the right to protest against major new developments such as nuclear power stations and airport extensions.

The proposed settlement, now being finalized for submission to the utilities commission, allows the utilities a discount for wind power, calculated to reflect that "integration" cost. That includes the cost to come up with other power sources when the wind simply doesn't blow.

If local town supervisors had their way, a state Assembly bill that would give the state discretion over the siting of wind farms would be gone with the wind. The bill in question, A08697, says "[A08697] would reauthorize Article X of the Public Service Law, with changes, to provide statutory provisions for the siting of major electric generating facilities. The bill would require an analysis of health impacts, the cumulative impacts of emissions in affected areas, and that environmental justice issues be taken into account by the Siting Board in its decision-making process. The bill would also require local appointees of the Board to be named by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Chief Executive Officer representing the municipality in which the facility is proposed."

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- Multiple reports and studies, especially those published in the last year, suggest the United States, specifically the East Coast, has great potential for offshore wind. The politicized debate over whether to develop wind power offshore has dragged on since the late 1990s, when the first project was proposed in Cape Cod, Mass., off the Nantucket Sound. Since then there have been several other proposals, none of which has been completely approved.

Renewable energy projects including wind and biomass are springing up in Schuylkill County, and state utilities will be required to increase their purchase of power generated by these and similar sources over the next 13 years. Although reports suggest customers should not experience much increase in cost and, in some cases, could see savings as these new sources become more prevalent, experts say other factors must also be considered. "There is no magic bullet as far as getting us off fossil fuels right now," said Joel Morrison, a research associate at Penn State University and fund manager for the West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund.

As California takes its first baby steps toward implementing the most aggressive climate-change policy in the country, experts debate the economic feasibility of attaining the state`s goals. Its overarching policy lies in the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which requires greenhouse gas emissions in the state to fall back to 1990 levels by 2020. One of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger`s executive orders, S-3-25, addresses long-term goals by aiming at an 80 percent emissions reduction below 1990 levels by 2050. The state`s ability to reach these goals holds implications not only for Californians, but the rest of the nation`s climate-change policy as well, Samuel Thernstrom, director of the American Enterprise Institute`s program on culture and freedom, said at a panel discussion last week.

WASHINGTON, July 6 - A powerful House Democrat said on Friday that he planned to propose a steep new "carbon tax" that would raise the cost of burning oil, gas and coal, in a move that could shake up the political debate on global warming. The proposal came from Representative John D. Dingell of Michigan, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and it runs directly counter to the view of most Democrats that any tax on energy would be a politically disastrous approach to slowing global warming.

ONE of the country’s leading authorities on renewable energy called yesterday for countryside wind farms to be abandoned as a viable power source for Northumberland. John Constable, director of policy and research at the Renewable Energy Foundation, said there were a range of better options for the county than the 71 turbines planned around Alnwick and Berwick.