Green Options

EU energy ministers meeting in Luxembourg gave final approval to an EU-wide ban on incandescent light bulbs. The switch to energy-saving bulbs was approved in advance of a meeting of European heads of state, held next week.

Leaders of some EU countries may use the global financial crisis as an excuse to back out of climate change commitments, according to sources close to the ongoing energy negotiations.

The French government announced today that it has earmarked a massive €400 million ($549 million) in state support for the development of electric and hybrid cars.

It’s easy to declare a chunk of land belongs to your country. It’s a lot harder to put that into practice, especially when that new territory is one that’s in the center of the global warming debate. But Russia is trying to do just that, and took a new step in that direction yesterday.

On Sept. 23, President Dmitri Medvedev told his Security Council to start drafting plans for governmental policy in a huge area of the Arctic Shelf. The area is one of huge deposits of natural gas and shelf hydrocarbon. The area is also home to the Northern Sea Route, the quickest way to get from Europe to the Americas and Asia.

Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced the introduction of “a national energy plan” on Saturday, including a return to nuclear power.