Today’s Climate: June 7, 2010

Coast Guard Sees Cleanup of Spill Lasting Until the Fall (New York Times)

The Coast Guard commander in charge of the federal response to the oil spill warned on Sunday that even if the flow of crude was stopped by summer, it could take well into autumn to deal with the slick.

Dead, Oiled Birds Reported for First Time in Texas (AP)

Federal authorities responding to the oil spill say dead birds with oil on them have been reported for the first time in Texas.

Exxon Execs Warn on Curbing on Deepwater Drilling (Reuters)

ExxonMobil warned against quick reactive changes to deepwater drilling laws that damage long-term investment decisions and urged governments to take time to assess the reasons for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Many Gulf Federal Judges Have Oil Links, Complicating Assignments on Spill Lawsuits (AP)

More than half of the federal judges in districts where the bulk of the oil spill lawsuits are pending have financial connections to the oil and gas industry, complicating the task of finding judges without conflicts to hear the cases, an AP analysis shows.

Oil Spill Takes Center Stage Inland in Missouri Senate Race (The Hill)

GOP candidate Rep. Roy Blunt and Democratic candidate Robin Carnahan, the Missouri secretary of state, have engaged in a verbal tug-of-war over the spill for weeks, accusing each other of distorting the facts, being too soft on BP and cozying up to the oil industry.

BP’s Deepwater Horizon Costs Hit $1.25 Bln (Guardian)

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has now cost BP $1.25 billion, as its much-criticized chief executive vows to spend "what it takes" to fix the Deepwater Horizon disaster that has caused growing anger across America.

China Carbon Market Prospects Not Optimistic: Official (Reuters)

Although China has supplied massive volumes of carbon credits to the global market, prospects for CO2 trade within the country itself are not optimistic, a senior climate official said on Sunday.

UN Warns Climate Change Could Trigger ‘Mega-Disasters’ (AFP)

Weather-related catastrophes brought about by climate change are increasing, the top UN humanitarian official said Sunday as he warned of the possibility of "mega-disasters."

Norway PM Succeeds UK’s Brown in UN Climate Group (Reuters)

Norway’s PM Jens Stoltenberg will take over from Britain’s Gordon Brown as co-chair of a U.N. group looking at ways to raise finance to help poor nations to combat climate, Norway said on Sunday.

‘Geoengineering’ the Climate to Combat Global Warming ‘May Raise Temperatures’ (The Independent)

A controversial proposal to create artificial white clouds over the ocean in order to reflect sunlight and counter global warming could make matters worse, a team of scientists has warned.

Could Australia’s Rudd Lose Office? (Reuters)

Australian PM Kevin Rudd, runaway leader in opinion polls six months ago, now finds himself in danger of being voted out of office in an election later this year, two surveys found on Monday.

The Battle Over the Next-Gen Open Smart Grid (Earth2Tech)

Will the smart grid eventually follow the path of the Internet with truly open standards? Several companies are betting that the answer will be a resounding "yes" and now are in the process of looking to sign up utilities and customers that want to embrace the open-standards vision.