COAL COMFORT: President Obama is hosting Republican governors from coal-producing states at the White House today, part of an effort to ramp up support for combating climate change and to boost his bipartisan credentials. In addition to discussing the future of "clean coal" technology with Govs. Jim Douglas of Vermont, Bob Riley of Alabama and Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Obama will announce new plans to raise the national profile of biofuels, the AP reports, and will release a report about how the country can better invest in green technologies. The focus on biofuels such as corn-based ethanol may help woo some skeptical senators toward supporting a climate bill, since many coal-reliant states are also rich in corn, but Obama also said on Tuesday that the Senate may go for a politically safer energy bill this year instead of renewing its battle over cap-and-trade. Taken with his new emphasis on nuclear energy — including $54.5 billion in proposed loan guarantees for building new reactors — this suggests Obama is trying to allay GOP worries about short-term energy prices and availability. "I think [clean energy] is going to be the driver of our economy over the long term," Obama said in a YouTube forum this week. "In the meantime, though, unfortunately, no matter how fast we ramp up those energy sources, we're still going to have enormous energy needs that will be unmet by alternative energy. And the question then is, Where will that come from?" (Sources: Associated Press, New York Times)

 

BRAKING NEWS: Already plagued by global uproar over faulty accelerator pedals in some of its best-selling models, Toyota Motor Corp. is now facing a new controversy over its popular Prius hybrid: More than 100 customers in the United States and Japan have complained about Prius brakes that either fail or work sluggishly, resulting in at least two crashes with injuries. Toyota has already suffered dramatic sales drops and launched worldwide recalls over problems with its accelerator pedals — which MNN's Jim Motavalli reports may be caused by electronic interference — and this latest issue with the Prius has further dented its once-spotless reputation for quality. The Japanese transport ministry has ordered the company to investigate the new complaints, and Toyota shares dropped 5.7 percent to $38 on Tuesday. "Investors were worried the latest trouble involving the Prius could get bigger," a market analyst explains to the AP. "The problem could pose a bigger question on Toyota's quality and safety." (Source: AP)

 

CHICKS RAISING CHICKS: A pair of lesbian albatrosses in New Zealand have successfully incubated a chick, reports London's Independent newspaper, and are raising it together now that the father has left them. Homosexuality has been observed in many animals species, including seabirds, but this is only the second time in 70 years that two female royal albatrosses have mated at the Taiaroa Head Royal Albatross Center, and apparently the first time any have actually hatched a live chick. This most recent lesbian couple has tried nesting with a male for the past two seasons to no avail, but this year the male disappeared soon after impregnating one of them, and they took turns sitting on the egg. The male hasn't been seen since, for which the albatross center's manager offers a possible explanation: "My personal view would be having to live with two women might be just a bit demanding." (Source: Independent)

 

HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLVERINE: Wolverines are fading away across North America, warns a new study in the journal Population Ecology, and the most likely culprit seems to be climate change. If so, the study would be the first to show that any species of land animal worldwide is declining due to melting snowpack. North American wolverines live mainly in Canada, and researchers from the University of Montana and Penn State found a strong correlation between shrinking wolverine populations and vanishing snowpack across five Canadian provinces. This could be because deep snow often exhausts and kills hoofed mammals like elk, moose and caribou, and shallower snow would mean fewer dead carcasses for wolverines to scavenge. Less snow also can reduce rodent populations — giving them less buffer against the cold sub-Arctic air — which are another major food source for wolverines. To help wolverines survive, the study's authors suggest scaling back fur trapping and logging in their habitats. "As climate change worsens, we should reduce trapping levels and also disturbance to boreal forest habitats," one researcher tells the BBC. "Reducing the impact of these anthropogenic stressors could help 'offset' the impacts of climate change on wolverines." (Source: BBC News) 

 

FRIED EGGS: Sea turtles already face an array of threats due to humans, from bright beach lights to free-floating fish nets, but the ancient animals' greatest long-term problem is hot sand, according to a new study published in Global Change Biology. While sea-level rise poses the most immediate danger to sea turtles by immersing their coastal breeding grounds, the group of Australian researchers warn that by 2070, the sand on many beaches will have become so hot that turtle eggs can't survive. Sand temperature controls the sex of unhatched turtles, meaning hot beaches will produce more females, and can also lead to birth defects; above 91 degrees Fahrenheit, the eggs die. The researchers say replacing vegetation on beaches or creating more shade could help, adding that while sea turtles are normally excellent at adapting to new problems, they may already be under too much duress this time. "Sea turtles have been around for so long, and they have adapted to past climate change," says the study's lead author. "We think they have the biological capacity to adapt. But they are a lot less resilient than before because their population is reduced and the nesting areas that they have available are reduced. It is a lot harder for them to adapt than it was in the past." (Source: Discovery News)

 

— Russell McLendon