New Scientist: When the US Republican party took control of the House of Representatives last week, President Barack Obama conceded that his plans to establish a market to curb carbon emissions had no chance of being passed. With “cap and trade” dead, an emboldened Republican party has set its sights on blocking what many environmentalists view as their last and best green hope: regulating greenhouse gas emissions through the Environmental Protection Agency. On 2 January, the EPA plans to begin regulating…