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"The weaknesses of federal regulatory agencies have been exposed by recent high-profile accidents. Guest columnist Tom Carpenter fears the Department of Energy will reduce its oversight of cleanup at the nation's nuclear waste sites. By Tom Carpenter Special to The Times PREV of NEXT Related Millions of gallons of oil gush continue to rush unabated from BP's mile-deep well in the Gulf of Mexico, and 11 workers are dead from the massive explosion that caused the biggest oil spill in decades. Weeks before this event, the news was dominated by the preventable explosion that killed 29 West Virginia coal miners. In both cases, the not-so surprising news was that the mine and the oil rig had abysmal records of safety violations before the explosions yet were still allowed to operate by the captive regulatory agencies. Where is the government accountability? It is the government's job to assure that ultra-hazardous industries operate safely and responsibly. Is nuclear next? The Department of Energy sits on the nation's biggest nuclear nightmare. Its inventories of highly radioactive and toxic wastes defy comprehension. Washingtonians are familiar with the DOE's No. 1 accomplishment, the Hanford nuclear site, which holds the lion's share of the nation's radioactive detritus. Suffice it to say that the escape of even a small fraction of such material into the environment would constitute a Chernobyl-sized catastrophe."

Brazilian Government introduces new taxes for inefficient lamps.

Aneel's College Board of Directors has authorized Copel (Paraná \nElectric Energy Company) to implement the pilot-project which determines the \nselling of exceeding energy, derived from animal waste, produced in small rural \nproprieties in Paraná. The project, named Distributed Generation with \nEnvironmental Sanitation Project, will allow the elimination of organic matter \nresulting from the hog creation, which will stop being released over rivers and \ndeposits such as Itaipu's. Such residue will be transformed, via biodigesters, \nin biogas, a fuel used in the generation of electric energy.

The European Commission has adopted a third package of legislative proposals to ensure a real and effective choice of supplier and benefits to every single EU citizen. The Commission's proposals put consumer choice, fairer prices, cleaner energy and security of supply at the centre of its approach.

The World Future Council (WFC) announced this week the release of a new website designed to provide policy makers, regulators and advocates with comprehensive information on renewable energy adoption policies in order to speed up the procurement of clean energy around the world.