Climate Change

"A two-judge panel of a federal appeals court has ruled that big power companies can be sued by states and land trusts for emitting carbon dioxide. The decision, issued Monday, overturns a 2005 District Court decision that the question was political, not judicial."

"The world leaders who are meeting at the United Nations to discuss climate change on Tuesday, are faced with an intricate challenge: building momentum for an international climate treaty at a time when global temperatures have been stable for a decade and may even drop in the next few years."

"On Tuesday, the U.N. is holding a day-long Climate Summit (alongside its annual, two-week General Assembly) in New York City. And on Thursday and Friday, the Group of 20 (G20) leading world economies is gathering in Pittsburgh, its third meeting of the year to deal with the global economic meltdown."

"U.S. EPA is poised to establish a national registry for heat-trapping emissions after the White House [Sept. 16] completed its review of the agency's final greenhouse gas reporting rule."

Scientists use treetop gondolas in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southeast Washington to study the effects of global warming on trees.

"Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad this summer started to walk away from its rail expansion project in the Powder River Basin, the largest source of coal in the country, citing the flagging U.S. economy and regulatory uncertainty."

"With Congress moving slowly on a measure to curb industrial greenhouse gas emissions, the United States may find itself with little sway at the coming international conference to construct a new pact aimed at easing global warming."

"Representatives of the world's 17 biggest carbon polluters kicked off a week of high-stakes talks on climate change Thursday with a discussion at the US State Department."

Worldwide sea-surface temperatures for this August and this summer were the warmest in at least 180 years, the National Climatic Data Center said. The sea-ice minimum was well behind the extraordinary retreat of 2007.