01/17/12 10:00am

Article By: energyNOW News Roundup

energyNOW! publishes a daily roundup of top news and opinion on energy and the environment. Inclusion of articles does not mean endorsement.

POLITICS

Keystone, Solyndra and drilling on the menu as Congress returns from break (via The Hill)

CLIMATE/ENVIRONMENT/EMISSIONS

Canadian city curious about effects of climate change on water system (via Star Phoenix)

One company behind US’s top three biggest greenhouse gas emitters (via Mongabay)

Growing doubts in Europe on future of carbon storage (via New York Times)

Polluted air “puts Olympic athletes at risk” (via The Independent)

New model finds climate change could expose North America to costly hurricane damage (via Physorg.com)

OIL

US urges South Korea to cut Iranian oil imports (via Yahoo! News/Associated Press)

NATURAL GAS/FRACKING

Financial chiefs plan increased spending on shale in 2012 (via Houston Chronicle)

Electric plants shift from coal to natural gas (via Houston Chronicle)

Couple blame Range for methane in water (via Star-Telegram)

Japan utility gas usage hits record in December (via Reuters)

RENEWABLES

US government arranged most loans for clean energy in 2011 (via Bloomberg)

US Department of Defense could generate 7GW of solar power on four bases in California desert (via Green Car Congress)

China urges hydropower developers to heed environment (via Reuters)

IEA warns of tough climate for renewables investment (via BusinessGreen)

Firm set to move forward on NJ offshore wind farm (via Associated Press)

OIL SANDS/KEYSTONE XL

Pipeline foes press Congress with upcoming protest (via The Hill)

GOP lawmakers ready pipeline options (via Omaha World-Herald)

GRID

Utilities to spend nearly $8.7 billion on improvements in Texas: ERCOT (via Platts)

CLEAN TECH

Nobel laureate develops world’s cheapest and most effective CO2 sponge (via Inhabitat)

Home energy management takes center stage at CES 2012 (via GreenBiz)

OPINION

US shale gas development may be tough to copy (via AOL Energy)

Climate and the culture war (via Washington Post)

Bloomberg New Energy Finance names top deal-makers of 2011 (via Bloomberg New Energy Finance)

The three things standing in the way of sustainability (via Greenbang)

Note: energyNOW!'s initial support comes from the American Clean Skies Foundation, which is funded in part by Chesapeake Energy. energyNOW! is editorially independent – neither the foundation nor its backers control what we say or do.

These are just some of the stories we're following today. Be sure to check our Twitter & Facebook feeds for any breaking news or stories that aren't on this list.