Eastern EU states unite for overhaul of CO2 curbs. The European Union geared up on Friday for deep cuts in greenhouse gases as eight ex-communist states sought help in overhauling their infrastructure for a low-carbon future. [News Source]

Act now or face disaster, Garnaut report warns. Petrol should be included in Australia's carbon emissions trading scheme, but low-income households should be compensated for higher power and fuel bills, the nation's top climate change expert has warned. [News Source]

Getting the monkey off our backs. Australia is about to wean itself off the big smoke. Not the tobacco variety, which does enough harm, but the even riskier addiction to coal-fired power and petrol-driven transport. [News Source]

Panel details energy action plan. South Carolina emissions could be brought back to 1990 levels by 2020, and 10 percent of energy could come from renewable sources and new efficiency standards. [News Source]

South Asian countries unite to combat climate change. Eight South Asian nations have adopted an environmental action plan to mitigate against the impact of climate change in the region and to promote programs for mass awareness of a "low-carbon society". [News Source]

Poll shows ignorance over rainforest role. Most people are ignorant of the crucial role the rainforests play in keeping the global climate stable, with more than 60 per cent of people questioned thinking air travel and home heating produces more greenhouse gases than forest destruction. [News Source]

Counting cost of carbon emission. Dairy farming is the worst specialty for intensive greenhouse gas emissions. Beef production comes next, according to a new league table. [News Source]

County tallies its greenhouse gas emissions. In a sign of growing attention to a warming planet, Mecklenburg County has finished its first greenhouse-gas inventory of county government operations. [News Source]

India is second largest carbon emitter from fuel. Amid the rising demand for crude oil and coal, India is likely to overtake the US as the second largest emitter of carbon from energy use by 2050 after China, a latest study said. [News Source]

Protests ahead of Japan G8 summit. Farmers and activists concerned about soaring food prices and global warming are gathering for a demonstration in Hokkaido's main city of Sapporo. [News Source]

Balm to help ease way to climate change deal before G8? Experts under the leadership of former UK prime minister Tony Blair have prepared a report described as a "useful balm applied at the right moment to tense muscles" in an attempt to crack a global deal on climate change in international talks ahead of the upcoming G8 summit in Japan. [News Source]