News bites: China's green energy plan in ‘disarray,’ the battle over coal, and more

The New York Times reports from Beijing that China’s aggressive push to dominate global wind and solar markets is in “disarray.”

The paper reports that China has knocked foreign rivals out of business but now faces big internal problems. From the story:

Though worldwide demand for solar panels and wind turbines has grown rapidly over the last five years, China’s manufacturing capacity has soared even faster, creating enormous oversupply and a ferocious price war.

The result is a looming financial disaster, not only for manufacturers but for state-owned banks that financed factories with approximately $18 billion in low-rate loans and for municipal and provincial governments that provided loan guarantees and sold manufacturers valuable land at deeply discounted prices. 

The International Energy Agency’s top economist says oil prices will remain high for a long time, Bloomberg reports.

The power company that owns a troubled California nuclear plant is seeking federal permission to restart part of the facility, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Journal also looks at political battles over coal.

The BBC reports on a study showing that electric cars aren’t less polluting if coal-fired power is charging their batteries.