Coal-based liquid fuel seen promising. The United States could satisfy its energy needs for the entire 21st century with liquid fuels derived from coal, at less than $30 a barrel, energy experts at the Earth Institute at Columbia University have said. [News Source]

Easy and breezy, but not so beautiful. Environmentalists are furious, saying that, for the sake of a nice view, Senator Kennedy is opposing a clean, domestic source of power that would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. In contrast, President George W. Bush's administration has come out in support of Cape Wind, saying it is the kind of project needed to wean the country off foreign oil. [News Source]

EU says US, China open to global emissions trade. The European Union's environment chief said the United States was open to discussing a global greenhouse gas emissions market, but the U.S. government said it remained opposed to mandatory caps on emissions as called for by the Kyoto Protocol. [News Source]

Administration ‘barking up wrong tree’. The Jakarta city administration has been advised it needs to be more selective about the trees it plants, because the right species would serve as an organic sponge for various forms of pollution. [News Source]

House votes to continue offshore drill ban. Despite talk of an energy crisis and the need for independence from foreign oil, Congress seems to be in no mood to open more of the country's coastal waters to energy development. [News Source]

New Orleans levees still not good enough. In just eight months, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has done years of work on the Katrina-battered ramparts around New Orleans. But it isn't good enough. [News Source]

Automakers drop lawsuit on New York’s emissions rule. The auto industry has dropped a lawsuit against New York State over strict new regulations governing global warming emissions, but will still continue to fight the rules. [News Source]