United Press International: British government climate change reports suggest Scotland's fisheries sector and other vital assets could be under threat, the government said. The British government in its Climate Change Risk Assessment determined that changes in water temperatures could result in a relocation of some fish stocks, a key source of revenue for Scotland. The Scottish government said the report means its "essential" for Edinburgh to fully consider the threats posed by climate change. Steps taken by the Scottish...

Calgary Herald: Environmental groups are raising concerns about possible logging on Flores Island in Clayoquot Sound. The issue surfaced after Iisaak Forest Resources Ltd. applied to the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations for heli-drop zones. Although those applications were received, as of January 25 the ministry had not received an application for a cutting permit. Environmental groups are concerned that if the permits go through, it will greatly impact the natural ecosystem....

Associated Press: FirstEnergy Corp. said Thursday that new environmental regulations led to a decision to shut down six older, coal-fired power plants in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, affecting more than 500 employees. The plants, which are in Cleveland, Ashtabula, Oregon and Eastlake in Ohio, Adrian, Pa. and Williamsport, Md., will be retired by Sept. 1. They have generated about 10 percent of the electricity produced by FirstEnergy over the last three years, the company said. In a statement James Lash,...

Toronto Star: An Arctic duck is at risk because polar bears have developed a newfound appetite for their eggs, scientists say. The eider populations in Nunavut and Nunavik, Que., are declining partly because the bears have been eating more of their eggs, which are laid on the southern coasts of Baffin Island and Southampton Island. ?The bears were essentially eating every single egg on the island(s),? said Samuel Iverson, a field researcher with Environment Canada. ?We are seeing just major nest depredation.?...

Yale Environment 360: At the Detroit Auto Show early this month, I sat down with some Nissan executives who were celebrating the sale of the 10,000th Leaf battery car in the U.S. (and 20,000th worldwide). Behind them on the company?s stand was the eNV200, a plug-in version of one of Nissan?s minivans and one of three new electric cars Nissan will have on the road by 2015. Brendan Jones, a Nissan marketing and sales strategist, told me, ?From a Leaf perspective, 2011 was a great year, and very positive for the company.?...

Yale Environment 360: A litany of environmental threats, from forest fragmentation and logging to climate change and disease, are wiping out the world?s biggest trees, according to a published report. In forest ecosystems worldwide, research shows that giant trees have become particularly vulnerable to a changing environment, ecologist and tropical forest expert William Laurance writes in New Scientist magazine. Increased fragmentation has left big trees exposed to stronger winds, while dry conditions and warming temperatures...

Christian Science Monitor: Heonseok Lee has a simple way of describing how public sentiment toward nuclear power has changed in South Korea since the disaster at Japan?s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant last March 11. ?Before 3/11, I?d post an article criticizing the nuclear power industry, and right away there?d be hundreds of really nasty comments. After 3/11, there?ll still be a few dozen. But not hundreds,? says Lee, a full-time anti-nuclear activist in one of the world?s most pro-nuclear countries. Though nuclear...

Reuters: California approved aggressive new rules on Friday to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by requiring automakers to put many more electric and hybrid vehicles on the Golden State's roads by 2025. The regulations were approved unanimously by nine members of the state's powerful air-quality regulator, the California Air Resources Board, at a meeting in Los Angeles. They are expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 34 percent and smog and soot pollutants by 75 percent by 2025, in part by putting...