Daily Roundup: March 4, 2010

Gold Star for Homestar: Obama announced a new program, called Homestar, in which consumers will be eligible for rebates on various energy-saving investments, spurring savings and creating jobs in the languishing construction industry. SustainableBusiness.com

Tainted Milkmen: Three Shanghai dairy executives were sentenced to prison for their role in China’s 2008 milk-safety scandal, in which melamine contamination killed three children, sickened 300, and led to an overhaul of the nation’s dairy industry. CNBC

Spotting the Spotted: A colony of about 100 yellow-spotted bell frogs, a species believed to have been extinct for 30 years, was found in rural Australia. NPR

Unrefined Refineries: Valero and Tesoro, two Texas-based oil refineries, have pledged $2 million to fund signature-gathering for a ballot initiative to suspend California’s global-warming law until California’s unemployment level drops to 5.5 percent (it's now more than 12 percent). Los Angeles Times

Forever Everglades: Officials are considering designating 100,000 acres of the the Northern Everglades as a national wildlife refuge to help staunch pollution flows into headwaters and to protect the animals driven north by the effects of climate change. Palm Beach Post News

--Wendy Becktold