Oil giant BP will provide $48 million for seafood marketing and testing and $140 million for coastal restoration work under a deal with Louisiana officials unveiled Monday.

The funding announced in New Orleans includes, according to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s (R) office, $18 million over three years for gauging the effects of oil, dispersants and “other spill-related impacts" on seafood.

Meanwhile, $30 million over three years will be provided to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation for the marketing of Louisiana’s seafood, his office said. The commitments also include $140 million for sand berm and barrier-island restoration, Jindal’s office said, alongside $30 million to market Louisiana as a tourist destination.

Former White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Jim Nussle has begun work as president and chief operating officer of Growth Energy, the upstart ethanol trade group that has become an aggressive presence in Washington, D.C.

His lobbying and consulting shop, the Nussle Group, had already begun representing Growth Energy last year. The Iowa Republican served eight terms in the House and chaired the Budget Committee before heading OMB under President George W. Bush.

Nussle will not be lobbying for Growth Energy, a spokeswoman for the trade group said. He will be “responsible for Growth Energy’s day-to-day operations, including revenue growth, budget, expenses, communications, and other non-lobbying associated activity,” the group said in a statement.

Ever since the 193-nation Copenhagen climate talks melted down last year, several experts have suggested that progress toward emissions cuts is possible in other, less sprawling multilateral forums.

This month’s G-20 summit in South Korea might provide a test case.

A White House official said Monday the administration wants to bolster G-20 efforts launched at its Pittsburgh summit last year to phase out fossil-fuel subsidies.

“This is good fiscal policy. It's good health policy. It's good energy policy. It's good climate policy. And, in fact, it may be the most important thing the G-20 does in addressing climate change. We've made some progress in this area, and we'll continue to work along those lines,” said Mike Froman, the deputy National Security Adviser for International Economic Affairs.

With voters headed to the ballot box Tuesday, here is a quick snapshot of a few races E2 is watching.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is a favorite among unmarried women voters by a whopping 32 points.

China dominates global supply of the materials that are used in wind turbines, hybrid cars and various hi-tech and defense applications.

Our Ballot Box bloggers are all over the campaign trail. Shane D’Aprile caught up with House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) on the stump. He’s in a tough battle against Republican Eliot “Spike” Maynard.

Shane's piece looks at how coal is playing in the race:

In their final debate of the contest earlier this week, Maynard accused Obama and Washington Democrats of waging "a war on coal," which he said Rahall is a party to, accusing the incumbent of standing by while the EPA works to limit surface mining in the state.  

Rahall has targeted Maynard's ties to coal mining CEO Don Blankenship, with whom the Republican has a past that was part of his costing him his seat on the state's Supreme Court.

President Obama Friday evening praised embattled freshman Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) as having the “political courage” to side with his administration and take tough votes that may cost him a second two-year congressional term.
 
Obama’s presence at the Perriello rally in Charlottesville, Va., is the only one he is doing for a House member this final weekend before Election Day. It is aimed at helping an unabashed Democratic supporter of last year’s House cap-and-trade bill in a district that voted for Republican presidential candidates in at least the past three election cycles.
 
“The reason I am here is because in this day and age, let’s face it, political courage is hard to come by,” Obama told the crowd. “The easiest thing to do, especially when you’re a first-term congressman, … is make your decisions based on the polls. You put your fingers up to the wind, you check which way the political wind is blowing before you cast every vote. That's how a lot of folks think they should do their jobs in Washington.”

The wind power industry’s main trade group said Friday that growth has slowed to its lowest level in years — data the group called proof Congress should approve a nationwide renewable power standard.

“The U.S. industry added just 395 megawatts (MW) of wind-powered electric generating capacity in the third quarter of 2010, making it the lowest quarter since 2007,” the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said.

“Year-to-date installations stood at 1,634 MW, down 72 percent versus 2009, and the lowest level since 2006. In 2010, wind projects in the U.S. are being installed at half the rate as in Europe, and a third of the rate as in China,” AWEA said.