Today’s Climate: June 5-6, 2010

Gulf Containment Cap Closely Watched in 2nd Day (AP)

A containment cap that sucked about 420,000 gallons of crude from a blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico over the last 24 hours offered a small sign of progress for the nation’s worst oil spill.

BP Chief Vows to Stay (Reuters)

BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said he did not plan to quit over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as the energy giant’s bid to contain the crude appeared to reach a turning point.

Panel Recommends Continued Use of Oil Dispersant (AP)

A federal panel of about 50 experts is recommending the continued use of chemical dispersants to break up the oil gushing in the Gulf, despite its harm to plankton, larvae and fish.

BP Chief Tony Hayward Sold Shares Weeks Before Oil Spill (Telegraph)

Tony Hayward cashed in about a third of his holdings in the company one month before the Deepwater Horizon rig burst. His decision means he avoided losing more than £423,000 when BP’s share price plunged after the spill.

TVA May Have Weakened EPA’s Coal Ash Stance (The Tennessean)

TVA may have weakened the EPA’s stance on regulating coal ash when it was allowed to comment before the public on the issue, a government watchdog group says.

Will the Midwest Turn Its Back on Addressing Climate Change? (ClimateWire)

The Great Lakes region is facing a potential 180-degree turn on energy and climate, with the governor’s races in Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois ranked as tossups or "lean Republican" by analysts.

Vermont Gov. Signs Renewable Energy Policy (Rutland Herald)

Vermont is the first state in the country to declare large-scale hydroelectric power as a renewable energy resource, a move that clears the way for a new power contract with the province of Quebec.

NYPA Reviews N.Y. Great Lakes Wind Power Proposals (Reuters)

The New York Power Authority on Friday said it has started reviewing five proposals for wind power projects in state waters on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

Carly Fiorina Calls Climate Change the "Weather" (USA Today)

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, now the front-running GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate in California, calls climate change "the weather" in a TV campaign ad.

Glaciers’ Wane Not all Down to Humans (Nature)

According to a recent study, about half of the glacier loss in the Swiss Alps is due to natural climate variability — a result likely to be true for glaciers around the world.

Medvedev Urges Global Eco-Disaster Fund (AFP)

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday called for a global fund to fight ecological catastrophes like the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as he sought to burnish his credentials as a green leader.

Gas, Fluids Spew For Hours from Blown-Out Pa. Well (AP)

A blowout at a natural-gas well in a remote area in Pennsylvania shot explosive gas and polluted water as high as 75 feet into the air before crews were able to tame it more than half a day later, officials said Friday.

Suntech to Add 1GW Shanghai Capacity as Demand Jumps (Reuters)

Suntech Power, China’s largest solar panel marker, plans to invest $393 million to build 1 GW in additional production capacity in Shanghai over the next three years as it rushes to meet surging demand.