GRID AND BEAR IT: Renewable energy has become a hot topic in recent months, but the chore of getting the energy from remote sources to the cities that need it has hamstrung U.S. efforts. On top of that, many states are aghast at the idea of hosting interstate transmission lines. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told attendees at a high-profile clean-energy conference in Washington today he has a plan: Do it anyway. Just as the federal government took a central role in building the country's sprawling interstate railroad and highway systems, Reid said, Uncle Sam will need to spearhead development of a new electric transmission grid — and he said he'll announce major legislation this week to spark such reform. "If this is going to succeed, we're going to have to accept that's how we've always done things," he said, referring to the more prominent role of feds than states in such huge national projects. (Sources: Wall Street Journal, CNET News)

 

POWER BEHIND THE DRONE: The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration decided that conditions would make sending a crew to study Greenland's melting ice too dangerous, so instead it's sending 6-foot-long, 45-pound airborne drones called Mantas. Unfortunately, the drones are gas-powered, meaning they'll emit CO2 as they're flying around, heating things up even more. Discover offers an interactive graphic explaining how the Mantas work. (Source: Discover)

 

MORE AUSTRALIAN FIRES: Several wildfires either broke out anew or strengthened in Australia today, just 16 days after the catastrophic inferno swept across the continent's southeast corner, killing more than 200 people. The flames threatened forests around Melbourne and burned one suburban home, but had waned by this afternoon. Still, they served as an unnecessary reminder of the drought-stricken region's vulnerability to fire. (Source: Associated Press)

 

SLIDESHOW NO-SHOW: Al Gore has removed a controversial slide from his Oscar-winning but always-evolving slideshow on global warming. The slide in question may have been a bit sensational, according to one political scientist, for implying that a rise in natural disasters can be linked to climate change. (Source: New York Times)

 

PYRENEES ON THEIR KNEES: Spain's Pyrenees Mountains have lost almost 90 percent of their glacier ice cover during the last 100 years, according to scientists, and could lose the rest within a few decades. The scientists have ruled out the idea that such large-scale melting is part of normal, long-term fluctuations, saying it's "without precedent in history." (Source: The Guardian)

 

— Russell McLendon