Stuff.co.nz - Earth Hour 2009 - the countdown begins

Tomorrow night, New Zealanders will be the first in the world to turn off their lights at the start of an extraordinary act of global solidarity and co-operation, involving nearly 3000 towns and cities and a billion people around the world.

NZ Herald - Brian Fallow: Staying in tune on climate won't be easy

Australia and New Zealand are to explore the harmonisation of their respective emissions trading schemes.

Two views are possible about the New Zealand Government's motives in this. The generous view is that it wants to improve the local scheme and further the cause of a Single Economic Market with Australia.

The cynical view is that it wants to dilute and delay the scheme.

ABC - Forum focuses on climate change agricultural impact

A major conference is being held in Perth this week to address the impact of global warming on Western Australia's agricultural industry.

ABC - Financial crisis, policy change threatens biotechnology companies

Biotech's role in the 21st century is actually looking at ways of solving a lot of our 21st century challenges; energy, improving our agricultural yield with our agricultural land, animal health care, getting better yields out of livestock, and also environmental industrial processing.

Voxy - Next Round Of UN Climate Change Negotiations To Begin In Bonn

New Zealand will join the next round of United Nations negotiations on a future international climate change agreement in Bonn, Germany, from 29 March to 8 April, says Minister for Climate Change Issues, Nick Smith and Associate Minister for Climate Change Issues, Tim Groser.

Gisborne Herald - Less fuel, great for parking

Over 70 motorcyclists were treated to a free breakfast for the first annual Ride to Work Day today.

Event organiser Paul Corrin said it was "very, very successful".

The idea of the day was to promote the use of motorcycles as a cheap form of transportation that could solve many issues around Gisborne.

Courier Mail - Report tips coal-fired electricity costs to double

THE cost of Australia's coal-fired electricity could more than double if health and environment impacts are included in energy prices, research shows.

ABC - Greens say coal study proves need to move to cleaner enegy

The Greens say coal mining communities in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria must shift to renewable energy technology to avoid massive unemployment.

Stuff.co.nz - Oil hits four month high

Oil prices touched a four month high over US$54 a barrel this morning tracking Wall Street as better-than-expected economic data improved investor sentiment.

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The gains were limited, however, by rising US oil stockpiles and continued weak demand that some analysts said could eventually threaten another pullback in energy markets.

The Australian - Energy use soars, despite era of green awareness

WE might be more environmentally astute, but Australian households are consuming almost 50 per cent more energy today than 20 years ago.

An Australian Bureau of Statistics social trends snapshot, released yesterday, found residential energy consumption has grown by 49 per cent since 1987.

ABC - Greens cautious about $10 billion Darwin fuel plant proposal

The Northern Territory Government could be putting its economy at risk in the long-term by signing up for more heavy industry developments, a Federal Greens senator says.

The Territory-based company Cogen says it wants to build a $10 billion fuel processing plant in Darwin.

But Senator Rachel Siewert says the Government should diversify its economy to also include "green collar jobs".