April 11 News: ‘There’s A War Being Waged Against Renewable Energy,’ Says Iowa Congressman

altOur morning round-up of the latest in climate and clean energy. More links welcome.

The shadow of inexpensive natural gas hovered over the annual meeting of the Iowa Wind Energy Association in Des Moines on Tuesday. U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Ia., warned the association that “a war is being waged against renewable energy,” saying that “the oil and gas industry has enormous influence, and there is an increasingly competitive environment on energy legislation in Washington, D.C.” [DesMoines Register]

According to several leading climate scientists and public health researchers, global warming will lead to higher incidence and more intense versions of disease. The direct or indirect effects of global warming might intensify the prevalence of tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, dengue and Lyme disease, they said, but the threat of increased health risks is likely to further motivate the public to combat global warming. [Yale Daily News]

Plummeting natural-gas prices are pushing U.S. industries into virgin terrain, even beginning to dislodge cheap Western coal from its once-untouchable perch as the nation’s favorite fuel for power production. [Wall Street Journal]

A conservative political action committee is going up with a new television commercial — backed by a $1.7 million ad buy — slamming President Obama’s energy policies. [The Hill]

As horizontal drilling and the controversial extraction technique known as fracking have made domestically produced natural gas more available and sharply cheaper, that gas has been widely embraced by industry, electric utilities and trucking fleets. [New York Times]

A new lab, where technology for the next generation of ground vehicles for the U.S. military will be developed and tested, officially opens today in Warren, as the Obama administration and its Defense Department unveil new programs to promote fuel savings and alternative energy. [Detroit Free Press]

Conservative activists on Tuesday urged Gov. Rick Scott to veto an energy bill pushed by a fellow top Republican, saying the measure violates free market principles by providing tax incentives to solar, wind and biofuel companies. [Palm Beach Post News]

One of the scariest possibilities is that major ocean currents could abruptly stop entirely, plunging areas like Western Europe into an abrupt deep-freeze. It’s happened before, tens of thousands of years ago, and while climate experts doubt that it will happen again anytime soon, they haven’t had especially powerful evidence to back their optimism. But now they do, thanks to a new paper just published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Climate Central]

A European Union law that charges airlines for carbon emissions is “a deal-breaker” for global climate change talks, India’s environment minister said, hardening her stance on a scheme that has drawn fierce opposition from non-EU governments. [Reuters]

A team of researchers will begin flights over Bering Sea ice to answer a basic question about four of the region’s most important species: How many ice-dependent seals are out there? [Associated Press]