Crude oil futures fell below $80 a barrel after Chinese banking rules raise fears the country might slam the brakes on growth. The Chinese decision doesnt affect physical oil demand, but it does affect sentiment, and thats the most important thing for driving prices, an analyst tells Bloomberg.
In Washington, the fate of energy and climate legislation hangs in the balance. The question: Is it wiser to try to pass stand-alone energy legislation, without all the controversial climate-change bits, or push for the whole enchilada? In Politico and Green Wire.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerces position is clear: Climate legislation now would strangle U.S. businesses still struggling with the recession, also in Green Wire. NASAs James Hansen also hates cap-and-trade, and plans more acts of civil disobedience, in The Guardian.
So what about geo-engineering? Scientists will convene a conference this March to study emergency options for checking temperature increases, also in The Guardian.
More fallout post-Copenhagen: Chinas Janus-faced approach to international affairs reveals a dragon in sheeps clothing, says a NYT op-ed: As Copenhagen revealed, China is not the self-touted rising superpower but a scheming power that uses poor states as a front to obstruct progress through procedural wrangling.
Either way, China and other developing countries will meet later this month to detail their voluntary actions on climate change, part of the follow-up to the much-attacked Copenhagen Accord, in Reuters.
The NYTs Room for Debate looks at green civil war, or the battle between preservation and the development of new clean-energy sources.
T. Boone Pickens gets colder feet: The oilman-cum-wind maven halves his wind-turbine order and now says plans for a big Texas wind farm are shelved, in the Dallas Morning News.
From the Detroit Auto Show, General Motors has a recipe for success: Build more trucks. Chinas BYD has electric cars, but isnt sure yet how to attack the U.S. market. And more video on Teslas electric roadster, all in the WSJ.
Finally, Venezuela may be oil-rich, but its energy-poor. The country will start five months of rolling blackouts to deal with electricity shortages, in Bloomberg.