E2 Round-up: Big sugar wins big in Everglades deal, conservatives keep Gore in the crosshairs, and more on Avatar’s green dividend

The New York Times looks deeply into a much-heralded Everglades restoration deal – and finds a clear win for big sugar while the eco-payoff is uncertain.

Gov. Charlie Crist (R) announced plans in 2008 for a massive buyout of United States Sugar in order to restore the unique but badly damaged ecosystem.

“Nearly two years later, the governor’s ambitious plan to reclaim the river of grass, as the famed wetlands are known, is instead on track to rescue the fortunes of United States Sugar,” the story finds. It says the company was in the driver’s seat from the start, and that state officials made deals that ran counter to the immediate needs of the Everglades.

“Efforts to restore the Everglades have picked up urgency in the last decade: the sprawling subtropical wetland, the only ecosystem of its kind, is dying for lack of clean water. Many environmentalists remain convinced that Mr. Crist’s deal with United States Sugar, even in its downsized form, offers the Everglades its best hope. But documents and interviews suggest that the price tag and terms of the deal could set back Everglades restoration for years, or even decades,” the Times alleges.

Preventing the plundering of ecosystems is a major theme of the movie smash “Avatar.” It didn’t win best picture at Sunday’s Oscar ceremonies, but environmentalists see it as the best chance in years to use a pop culture juggernaut for green ends.

Time magazine's Bryan Walsh examines efforts by environmental groups to link Avatar to issues like oil sands development in Canada. Avatar’s green tint has also received plenty of attention on environmental blogs like Climate Progress.

Director James Cameron himself has strongly emphasized the film’s eco-themes and called for stepped-up efforts on climate change. Both Cameron and Al Gore are slated to appear at the International Sustainability Forum in Brazil later this month.

Speaking of Gore, he’s illustrated on the cover (not in a flattering way) of the current issues of two conservative magazines: The Weekly Standard and the National Review, which both have pieces that go after the climate movement.

The Standard’s Steven Hayward explores what he calls “body blows to the climate campaign” inflicted by the hacked climate science emails and problems with the landmark 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In France, meanwhile, President Nicolas Sarkozy is calling for international development banks to finance nuclear power projects in developing countries, Reuters reports.

“Sarkozy said the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other such institutions should make a ‘wholehearted commitment’ to fund civilian nuclear energy programmes,” their story states.

“It is a scandal that international organisations today do not finance nuclear projects,” he said at a nuclear energy conference. “The current situation means that countries are condemned to rely on more costly energy that causes greater pollution.”