News Bites: Hurling eggs at a climate scientist, growing pains for wind power, and more

The New Republic's Bradford Plumer checked out the booth scene at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and came away with this tidbit:

“The Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow let passers-by hurl eggs at pinup photos of Al Gore and Penn State paleoclimatologist Michael Mann; I saw one girl chuck an egg so vehemently that she [had] to leap back to avoid the splatter.”

Mann’s work has long been a target of climate skeptics (Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli isn’t a fan), but multiple probes have cleared Mann and other scientists linked to the “Climategate” e-mails.

Elsewhere, The Associated Press looks at conflicts over a Dutch wind project and sees a broader trend.

“As wind turbines sprout up across Europe — and increasingly off its coastlines — tussles between energy developers and local opponents are increasingly common,” the story notes.

In China, meanwhile, officials are grappling with thorny problems in their push to scale up solar power.

“China, the world’s biggest electricity consumer, is figuring out how to capture a larger share of the solar-energy market without losing money,” Bloomberg reports.

“The government will spend at least a year studying Europe’s system of paying above-market prices for solar power before deciding if there’s a better way to spur clean-energy plants across China, said Wu Dacheng, an adviser to national power regulators. The delay has stalled projects planned on Chinese soil by developers such as First Solar Inc. of the U.S.,” the story adds.

China, by the way, dominates global supplies of rare-earth elements that are used in electric cars and other high-tech equipment. Could Afghanistan become one of the alternative supply sources?

“Amid surging demand for rare-earth minerals used in everything from cell phones to gas-saving cars, Afghans are dreaming of cashing in on vast deposits they believe lie beneath their feet,” AP reports from Kabul.

“The problem is that they are in one of the country's most dangerous spots, on the south bank of the Helmand River in southern Afghanistan, where fighting rages in a traditional Taliban stronghold.”