The independent energy market consultancy Cornwall Energy
has challenged Labour’s claims that the Big Six energy firms
overcharged customers by £4 billion, reports the
Telegraph.

MPs have called on environment secretary, Owen Patterson, to
clarify whether the axe will fall on flooding defences after a £500
million drop in the budget for the Department for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs – with £300 million more to come by
2016. The Guardianalso has the
story.

Alongside the news that Australia had its hottest year on
record last year, senior advisor to the Prime Minister Tony Abbott
has accused the scientific establishment of “dishonesty and
deceit”, branding climate change predictions “scientific delusion”.
Graham Readfearn has more on Newman’s commentsin the
Guardian.

Scottish Power has become the fourth energy supplier to
announce a cut in its tariffs, following government changes to
green levies. The Telegraph also coversthe story.

As a chinese ice-breaker sent to rescue the trapped Russian
icebreaker in the Antarctic gets lodged in the ice, Grist explains
the strandings are down to a collision in 2010 between an iceberg
and the edge of a glacier.

Far from indicating a reversal in global warming trends, the
cold snap gripping the United States could be a counter-intuitive
example of global warming in action, scientists tell Climate
Central.

A critical look at statistics released by The Daily Climate
last week, which suggested media coverage of climate change
increased by 30 per cent on 2012 levels. Social scientists disagree
there’s been a rebound, the article reports.

The UK’s heavy wind and rain recently isn’t bad news for
everyone everywhere, suggests John Vidal. As well as the UK wind
industry having its best-ever period, the wild weather is a “good
stick for environment groups and scientists to beat government
with” over climate change policy, Vidal argues.

Whereas evidence shows global warming has had a noticeable
effect on heatwaves worldwide, Tom Chivers argues the storm
battering Britain is not part of a wider trend, it’s just a
storm.

Brad Plumer on why freezing temperatures across the midwest
United States don’t tell us much about global warming. “A cold snap
in the U.S. can’t disprove global warming any more than you can get
rid of a fever by sticking your hand in ice water”, Plumer
explains.

“Scientists engaged in climate modelling activities have become
accustomed to the specificities of their field and hence less
conscious of aspects that may be perplexing to outsiders” – a new
review discusses some of the thorniest issues.