Another Week of GW News, January 20, 2008

Sipping from the internet firehose...

(skip to bottom)

• Top Stories:West Antarctic Melt, AMS, GM
• Melting Arctic, Beaufort, Greenland, Robin White, Climate Grief, Bali
• Temperature Record, GHGs, Sea Levels, ENSO, Satellites - NEO & Solar
• Impacts, Forests, Corals, Wacky Weather, Floods & Droughts, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
• Mitigation, Transportation, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Misc. Science, THC - Rapid Watch
• Kyoto-2, Carbon Trade, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics:International, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, China, Canada
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video
• Energy, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Greenwashing
• Carbon Lobby, The Usual, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

The big story of the week has to be the West Antarctic melt:

• 2008/01/13: Nature: (ab$) Recent Antarctic ice mass loss from radar interferometry and regional climate modelling by Eric Rignot et al.
• 2008/01/14: CCurrents: Loss Of Antarctic Ice Has Soared By 75 Per Cent In Just 10 Years
• 2008/01/15: KSJT: Wash. Post on Antarctic's faster melt; Columbus Dispatch on a plane crash, & how a local university's team is listening to creaking ice
• 2008/01/14: TerraDaily: Ice loss from Antarctica is accelerating, warns study
• 2008/01/13: NatureN: Antarctic ice loss speeding up - Shrinking continent is losing ice faster today than a decade ago
• 2008/01/14: ClimateP: The Antarctic ice sheet hits the fan
• 2008/01/14: TruthOut: Escalating Ice Loss Found in Antarctica - Sheets melting in an area once thought to be unaffected by global warming
• 2008/01/14: ABC(Au): Antarctica shrinking faster: study
• 2008/01/13: PhysOrg: Antarctic Ice Loss
• 2008/01/14: TerraDaily: Antarctic Ice Loss
• 2008/01/14: ENN: Antarctica lost more ice in last 10 years: study
• 2008/01/14: Eureka: Antarctic ice loss - Increasing amounts of ice mass have been lost from West Antarctica
• 2008/01/14: TLC: Antarctica and global warming
• 2008/01/14: WaPo: Escalating Ice Loss Found in Antarctica - Sheets Melting in an Area Once Thought to Be Unaffected by Global Warming
• 2008/01/14: CSW: New research finds escalating melt of Antarctic ice sheet
• 2008/01/14: OilChange: Loss of Antarctic Ice Increased 75% in 10 years
• 2008/01/14: SciDaily: Increasing Amounts Of Ice Mass Have Been Lost From West Antarctica

  The American meteorological Scociety is holding their annual meeting:

• 2008/01/20-24: AMetSoc: 88th AMS Annual Meeting
• 2008/01/17: UCAR: NCAR Scientists to Present Latest Findings on Climate Change, Weather at New Orleans Meeting [AMS]

  GM CEO Rick Wagoner startled a few people when he declared the future was electric:

• 2008/01/14: EnergyBulletin: General [Motors] embraces electrics as oil slips away
  The world's biggest car maker, General Motors, believes the global oil supply has peaked and a switch to electric cars is inevitable. In a stunning announcement at the opening of the Detroit Motor Show yesterday, GM's chairman and chief executive officer, Rick Wagoner, said ethanol was an important interim solution to the demand for oil, until battery technology gave electric cars the range of petrol-powered cars.

The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:

• 2008/01/17: KSJT: NPR: Why Arctic ice is waning, and why 2007 is no way to understand the trend
• 2008/01/17: OCRegister: Research tracks arctic warming's correlation to 'dirty snow'
• 2008/01/16: NPR: (audio) Mix of Factors Led to Record Arctic Ice Melt in 2007
• 2008/01/15: Yahoo: Why a warmer Arctic needs new laws
• 2008/01/15: PhysOrg: Alaska glacier speed-up tied to internal plumbing issues
• 2008/01/16: TerraDaily: Alaska Glacier Speed-Up Tied To Internal Plumbing Issues
• 2008/01/15: Eureka: Alaska glacier speed-up tied to internal plumbing issues, says CU-Boulder study
  Meltwater clogging and speeding of Kennicott Glacier may help explain behavior and acceleration of glaciers in Greenland, say researchers
• 2008/01/14: TerraDaily: Older Arctic Sea Ice Replaced By Young, Thin Ice

  Beaufort sea ice is cracking up unusually:

• 2008/01/18: EC:GC: Beaufort Sea ice pack
• 2008/01/18: CanWest: Arctic meltdown 'shocking to see' - Stretches of open water in Beaufort Sea linked to retreating multi-year ice last summer
• 2008/01/15: CBC: Huge fracture in Beaufort Sea ice pack worries scientists

  The moulins of Greenland and sea level rise:

• 2008/01/16: SciDaily: Record Warm Summers Cause Extreme Ice Melt In Greenland
• 2008/01/16: OilChange: Greenland Ice Meting at Unprecedented Rate Too
• 2008/01/15: PhysOrg: Record warm summers cause extreme ice melt in Greenland [Sheffield]
• 2008/01/15: PhysOrg: Mapping of Greenland may aid understanding of sea-level mystery
• 2008/01/15: ENN: Greenland suffers from extreme ice melt
• 2008/01/15: Sheffield: Record warm summers cause extreme ice melt in Greenland

  Apparently there is Gore-lite Christian slide show playing around North America:

• 2008/01/15: CanWest: 'A Christian version of Al Gore'
  Robin White's slide show on faith and climate change isn't up for an Oscar, but it heralds a growing trend among Christians who see environmental stewardship as a sacred calling
• 2008/01/15: GAB: Ministers for, not of the Environment [A Christian version of Al Gore]

  Lysistrata redux, anyone?

• 2008/01/17: ClimateP: No Climate Policy, No Nookie

  Brer Rabett points to a Running analysis of Climate Grief:

• 2008/01/19: ERabett: Many are in the third stage but some have been left behind.
• 2007/12/27: NWN: Nobel Winner [Steve Running] Lectures on "The Five Stages of Climate Grief"

  Late comment on Bali:

• 2008/01/18: IGHIH: Bali: The Mother of All No-Deals
• 2008/01/16: Rabble: A different kind of climate politics is needed
• 2008/01/14: TreeHugger: Responding to Bali

  While in the temperature record:

• 2008/01/16: NASA:GISS: 2007 Was Tied as Earth's Second-Warmest Year
• 2008/01/17: Tamino: Down Under
• 2008/01/17: MongaBay: 2007 ties 1998 as second warmest year in past century
• 2008/01/17: Wunderground: 2007: Fifth warmest year on record
• 2008/01/17: ENN: 2007 was tied as Earth's second warmest year
• 2008/01/17: ABC(Au): 2007 second-warmest year in 100 years: NASA
• 2008/01/16: PhysOrg: 2007 was tied as Earth's second warmest year
• 2008/01/16: TreeHugger: Northeast Winters Warming "Greater than Any Other Season"
  [...] December-March temperatures across the Northeast significantly increased from 1965 to 2005 - by roughly 2.5°F
• 2008/01/16: Eureka: 2007 was tied as Earth's second warmest year
• 2008/01/14: KSJT: Columbus Dispatch: It's freezing there today, but limnologists say yep, our lakes aren't icing up like they used to
• 2008/01/14: WaPo: Last Year Among Hottest On Record, Say Scientists

  Meanwhile GHGs are still going up:

• 2008/01/16: Yahoo: Texas is biggest carbon polluter
• 2008/01/16: HeraldZeitung: Texas Is Biggest Carbon Polluter

  Yes we have feedbacks:

• 2008/01/16: NatureCC: Fine-tuning feedback

  While on the ENSO front:

• 2008/01/16: SciDaily: NASA Observes La Nina: This 'Little Girl' Makes A Big Impression

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2008/01/20: PhysOrg: Report warns of rise in Mediterranean
• 2008/01/20: DailyIndia: Report warns of rise in Mediterranean
• 2008/01/17: CBC: China says rising sea levels threaten Shanghai, other coastal cities
• 2008/01/19: BBC: Warning on rising Med Sea levels
  The level of the Mediterranean Sea is rising rapidly and could increase by up to half a metre in the next 50 years, scientists in Spain have warned. A study by the Spanish Oceanographic Institute says levels have been rising since the 1970s with the rate of increase growing in recent years. It says even a small rise could have serious consequences in coastal areas.
• 2008/01/18: Olympian: Olympia in risk zone for rise in sea level
• 2008/01/18: HeraldNet: Puget Sound a rising threat, UW study says - Water levels may rise as much as 4 feet this century, according to a climate change study.
• 2008/01/17: PhysOrg: Washington state sea levels could rise considerably by end of century
• 2008/01/16: People's Daily: Rising seas pose danger to big cities
• 2008/01/16: ChinaDaily: Rising seas pose danger to big cities

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2008/01/18: OPB: Upcoming Satellite [Orbiting Carbon Observatory] Will Track Carbon Sources And 'Sinks'

  While over by Sol:

• 2008/01/15: NatureTGB: Solar cycle update -- Ulysses visits pole

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2008/01/19: PhysOrg: Natural disasters taking greater global toll, UN report
• 2008/01/17: TerraDaily: Climate Influence On Deep Sea Populations [J.B. Company]
• 2008/01/17: TerraDaily: North American Birds Moving North As A Result Of Climate Change
• 2008/01/17: OilChange: Climate Change Having A 'Big' Impact on UK Coasts
• 2008/01/16: MongaBay: Global warming will diminish fish catch in the Bering sea
• 2008/01/16: PhysOrg: Climate influence on deep sea populations
• 2008/01/16: PhysOrg: Drought Length Influences Survival of Fish in Stream Pools
• 2008/01/16: Yahoo: Britain: Climate change threatens coasts
• 2008/01/16: BBC: 'Big climate impact' on UK coasts
  Climate change is having a major impact on Britain's coast, the seas around the coast, and the life in those seas, a government-sponsored report concludes. The Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) says seas are becoming more violent, causing coastal erosion and a higher risk of flooding. Higher CO2 levels in the atmosphere are making oceans warmer and more acidic, affecting plankton, fish and birds.
• 2008/01/14: PhysOrg: [Bark] Beetles May Wipe Out Colorado Lodgepoles
• 2008/01/14: Yahoo: The storied Mediterranean faces climate change
• 2008/01/15: Guardian(UK): Climate change threatening bird species, RSPB says
• 2008/01/14: SciDaily: Greenhouse Ocean May Downsize Fish, Risking One Of World's Most Productive Fisheries
• 2008/01/14: CBC: Shrinking glaciers threaten B.C. salmon

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2008/01/18: KSJT: Orange County Register (Series): Discovery of ancient Amazon trees worries climatologists
• 2008/01/18: TruthOut: Destruction of Rainforest Accelerates Despite Outcry
• 2008/01/18: GristMill: Plowing up the Amazon - Scientist says biofuel boom endangers world's largest rainforest
• 2008/01/16: TruthOut: World Bank Pledges to Save Trees... Then Helps Cut Down Amazon Forest
• 2008/01/15: BBC: Sierra Leone has re-imposed a timber export ban because of what it says is indiscriminate plundering of forests by Chinese and other foreign companies

  As for the corals:

• 2008/01/18: ABC(Au): Wet weather a boon for coral: scientists
• 2008/01/17: Maribo: International year of the reef, sort of
• 2008/01/16: Maribo: Rising CO2 and other reef organisms

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2008/01/18: BBC: The number of people who have died due a cold snap in Afghanistan has risen to 200, government officials say

  And speaking of floods & droughts:

• 2008/01/20: DailyIndia: Flooding ravages Southern Africa
• 2008/01/17: CBC: Scientists predict future Prairie droughts will worsen due to warmer temperatures
• 2008/01/19: ABC(Au): Rare fish threatened by drought, say conservationists
  Conservationists say the lack of rain flowing into the River Murray is now threatening an endangered fish species. The southern purple-spotted gudgeon lives in the Lower Murray wetlands. It is estimated there are less than 100 left.
• 2008/01/19: Guardian(UK): Heavy rain forecasts spark new flooding fears [in England and Wales]
• 2008/01/18: ABC(Au): Western wetlands get first flow in two years
  The internationally significant Macquarie Marshes in western New South Wales are receiving their first environmental water flow in two years. The drought has had a devastating impact on the wetlands, north of Warren.
• 2008/01/17: Xinhuanet: Flood waters kill 34 in Zimbabwe, Mozambique
• 2008/01/18: BBC: Zambia has declared the floods sweeping through the country "a national disaster"
• 2008/01/18: SMH: Yangtze drops to lowest for 142 years
• 2008/01/17: NatureTGB: Where has the Yangtze gone? Why is one of the world's greatest rivers drying up?
• 2008/01/17: ABC(Au): Water level in China's Yangtze at record low
• 2008/01/17: Eureka: California flood risks are 'disaster waiting to happen,' say University of Maryland engineers
  Engineers also report in the journal Science on country's aging water-related infrastructure; restoring ecosystem may hold key to flood prevention
• 2008/01/17: Reuters: Drought-hit Brazil maxes out thermal energy
• 2008/01/17: AllAfrica:IRIN: Zimbabwe: No Middle Ground for Crops Between Drought And Deluge
• 2008/01/17: AFP: Parts of China's Yangtze at lowest level in 140 years: report
• 2008/01/17: Guardian(UK): Dry, polluted, plagued by rats: the crisis in China's greatest river - Ships stranded as Yangtze reaches a 142-year low
• 2008/01/16: ChinaDaily: China's tropical province [Hainan] sees worsening droughts
• 2008/01/15: ABC(Au): Rainfall boosts water supplies [NSW]

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2008/01/20: TreeHugger: Costly Fuel Means Costly Calories
• 2008/01/19: ClimateP: Guess who loses the Food versus Fuel smackdown
• 2008/01/18: Yahoo: The global grain bubble
  Record prices for grain from corn to rice have ignited food riots from Jakarta to Rome. In Pakistan, troops now guard wheat stocks. China and Russia have imposed price controls. Connect the dots and there's a need for a fix to a crisis that, strangely, isn't caused by smaller harvests. No, the main reasons for a long-term bubble in grain prices lie largely in a number of dubious human actions, related to heightened competition for grain as either fuel or feed.
• 2008/01/14: Downsizer: Already paying the hidden cost of biofuels? [food vs biofuel]
• 2008/01/19: NYT: A New, Global Oil Quandary: Costly Fuel Means Costly Calories
• 2008/01/19: IR^2: The NYT on Food versus Fuel
• 2008/01/18: CSM: The global grain bubble - As prices soar, riots rise. But it's not for lack of crops. The cause? A rush to biofuel and grain-fed meat.

  And the troubling matter of falling food production is not going away:

• 2008/01/20: Guardian(UK): Is this the end of cheap food?
• 2008/01/18: FPB: Global food-riot watch
• 2008/01/17: Guardian(UK): Should we be eating insects?
• 2008/01/16: WorldChanging: High Food Prices: Challenges and Solutions
• 2008/01/18: AfterGutenberg: Energy Intensive v Bio-intensive Farming
• 2008/01/18: TMoS: West Africa's Food Crisis
• 2007/01/16: FoodFirst: Shattering Myths: Can sustainable agriculture feed the world?
• 2008/01/16: UN: UN agency [WFP] seeks $22 million to feed cyclone-hit Bangladeshis
• 2008/01/15: WorldChanging: Making More Food With Less
• 2008/01/14: DNfA: Rising food prices push two million into food-insecurity - WFP
• 2008/01/14: UN: Over 1 million Afghans face food shortage due to rising prices - UN agency
• 2008/01/14: BBC: Pakistan army guards scarce grain
  The authorities in Pakistan have deployed paramilitary troops to guard wheat supplies around the country amid fears of a massive shortfall. The government has blamed hoarders and smugglers for the problem. Wheat is a staple food in Pakistan and shortages have led to large scale rioting in the past.

Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2008/01/19: ENN: Adjustments to Agriculture May Help Mitigate Global Warming
• 2008/01/04: Time: Plan B - How to Stop Global Warming
• 2008/01/16: DeSmogBlog: Eat less meat to fight climate change, IPCC chief says
• 2008/01/15: PhysOrg: Lifestyle changes can curb climate change: IPCC chief
• 2008/01/14: GristMill: No joke - Land-use policy is not a laughing matter
• 2008/01/14: NEN: Carbon guide for forest & farm

  As for transportation & GHG production:

• 2008/01/14: DotEarth: Jumbo Jet to Fly (Partly) on Biofuel
• 2008/01/14: SF Gate: To beat climate change, breaking the mold isn't enough

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2008/01/18: TreeHugger: New York Looks to Old Natural Gas Wells for Sequestration
• 2008/01/16: NatureN: Europe to capture carbon - New power stations could be forced to store greenhouse-gas emissions
• 2008/01/16: KSJT: Albany Times Union: Holy moly and something else too - New York hunting for a carbon repository
• 2008/01/14: MSNBC: How to handle carbon dioxide? Lock it in rock - Underground storage could provide solution to keep gas from atmosphere

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2008/01/14: Intersection:CCM: Geoengineering as Planetary Emergency Response?

  While on the adaptation front:

• 2008/01/13: PhysOrg: Greek volunteers replant fire-ravaged forest

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2008/01/18: ACP: Simple measures of ozone depletion in the polar stratosphere by R. M?ller et al.
• 2008/01/18: ACP: Retrieving global aerosol sources from satellites using inverse modeling by O. Dubovik et al.
• 2008/01/18: ACPD: Factor analytical modeling of C2-C7 hydrocarbon sources at an urban background site in Zurich (Switzerland): changes between 1993-1994 and 2005-2006 by V. A. Lanz et al.
• 2007/12/: UKCIP: (58k pdf) Climate Digest for December 2007
• 2007/12/18: GRL: Internal waves across the Pacific by M. H. Alford et al.
• 2008/01/16: PLoS One: Climate Influence on Deep Sea Populations by Joan B. Company et al.
• 2008/01/15: ACP: Modeling the impact of sub-grid scale emission variability on upper-air concentration by S. Galmarini et al.
• 2008/01/14: ACP: Weekly periodicities of Aerosol Optical Thickness over Central Europe - evidence of an anthropogenic direct aerosol effect by D. B?umer et al.
• 2008/01/14: ACP: Growth rates of stratospheric HCFC-22 by D. P. Moore & J. J. Remedios
• 2008/01/15: PNAS: Difficulties in tracking the long-term global trend in tropical forest area by Alan Grainger
• 2008/01/15: PNAS: Net energy of cellulosic ethanol from switchgrass by M. R. Schmer et al.
• 2008/01/15: PNAS: Climate forcing from the transport sectors by Jan Fuglestvedt et al.
• 2008/01/15: PNAS: The impact of Miocene atmospheric carbon dioxide fluctuations on climate and the evolution of terrestrial ecosystems by Wolfram M. Kürschner et al.
• 2008/01/15: PNAS: Linkages between CO2, climate, and evolution in deep time by Dana L. Royer
• 2008/01/13: Nature: (ab$) Recent Antarctic ice mass loss from radar interferometry and regional climate modelling by Eric Rignot et al.
• 2008/01/14: RoyalSoc: (pdf 788k) Sustainable biofuels: prospects and challenges

  Before we get into politics, there was some science done:

• 2008/01/19: SMH: Icy work may hold key to a brighter future
  The temperature is well below freezing, and it is as bleak as it is remote. But data collected from drilling into centuries-old ice reveals a crucial history...
• 2008/01/18: Atmoz: Stratocumulus Sensitivity to Aerosols and Dynamics
• 2008/01/17: SciDaily: Internal Waves Moving Across The Pacific Ocean Affect Global Climate System
• 2008/01/17: Eureka: 'Nonlinear' ecosystem response points to environmental solutions
  ...a better understanding...could help lead the way out of environmental-versus-economic gridlock
• 2008/01/17: Eureka: Paired microbes eliminate methane using sulfur pathway
  Anaerobic microbes in the Earth's oceans consume 90 percent of the methane produced by methane hydrates -- methane trapped in ice -- preventing large amounts of methane from reaching the atmosphere. Researchers now have evidence that the two microbes that accomplish this feat do not simply reverse the way methane-producing microbes work, but use a sulfur compound instead.
• 2008/01/15: Eureka: Exploration of lake [Ellsworth] hidden beneath Antarctica's ice sheet begins
• 2008/01/15: inel: HECToR to run climate models (60 Tflops tops)

  Meanwhile on the THC front:

• 2008/01/20: Guardian(UK): Ocean floor sensors will warn of failing Gulf Stream
  An armada of robot submarines and marine sensors are to be deployed across the Atlantic, from Florida to the Canary Islands, to provide early warning that the Gulf Stream might be failing, an event that would trigger cataclysmic freezing in Britain for decades. The 16m pound system, called Rapid Watch, will use the latest underwater monitoring techniques to check whether cold water pouring south from melting Arctic ice sheets is diverting the current's warm waters away from Britain.

Meanwhile on the Kyoto-2 front:

• 2008/01/18: ENN: U.S. key factor in new climate deal: Danish minister

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2008/01/18: ENN: Global carbon trade rose 80 pct last year [to $60 billion in 2007]: group [Point Carbon]
• 2008/01/17: ENN: Climate Registry nears 1st U.S. emissions reporting
  Aiming to get a jump on what they see as inevitable mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, 58 companies, cities and organizations have volunteered to report emissions to the Climate Registry, the nonprofit organization said on Thursday.
• 2008/01/16: CNN: For sale: Greenhouse gases by the ton
  A number of small but well-backed companies are looking to make money selling carbon dioxide, but federal law seems needed to jumpstart sales.

The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:

• 2008/01/16: TreeHugger: Terrapass Unveils the Carbon Balanced Business
• 2008/01/16: NEN: FTC will investigate emissions offsets

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2008/01/20: Yahoo: Japan to offer environmental technology to Africa, Asia: report [G8 Summit on Hokkaido, July 7-9]
• 2008/01/15: PortlandTrib: Group [WCI] gets busy with carbon plan
• 2008/01/18: TreeHugger: Ohio Prods Ontario To Act On Great Lakes Wind Power

  UK PM Gordon Brown has been traipsing around China & India:

• 2008/01/20: AFP: British PM visits India in trade and climate change push
• 2008/01/19: Guardian(UK): Climate blame for India as Brown praises Chinese role
• 2008/01/19: AFP: Britain, China boost links on tackling climate change
• 2008/01/19: Guardian(UK): Climate blame for India as Brown praises Chinese role - Environment minister [Phil Woolas] says Delhi not yet 'putting shoulder to wheel' on emissions

  GWB is prepping his upcoming major economies conference:

• 2008/01/18: GristMill: Act two - Second 'major economies meeting' this month in Hawaii
• 2008/01/16: Yahoo: US calls January 30-31 climate talks
• 2008/01/16: Google:AFP: US calls January 30-31 climate talks
  US President George W. Bush has called major world economies to a second round of climate change talks on January 30-31 in Hawaii, the White House's Council on Environmental Quality announced. [...] Bush has invited Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea and the United Nations to send representatives.

And on the American political front:

• 2008/01/18: GristMill: Dingell: Climate legislation 'impossible' this year - House energy committee not primed to rush through climate bill
• 2008/01/17: IGHIH: What Can a New President do from Day One on Global Warming?
• 2008/01/18: ClimateP: Dingell: Climate bill's chances in 2008 "verge on impossible"
• 2008/01/18: Intersection:CCM: For a Global Warming Bill, Wait Til 2009
• 2008/01/14: Grist: Charlie Crist Superstar - An interview with Florida's governor, a Republican climate crusader
• 2008/01/17: GristMill: Should I wait or should I go now? Is it important to push climate legislation through this year?
• 2008/01/17: HillHeat: Polluters Believe This May Be the Best Year for Climate Legislation
• 2008/01/17: HillHeat: At the Auto Show: Dingell Supports EPA's Denial of California Waiver
• 2008/01/17: WickedLocal: [State Senator Richard] Tisei (R-Wakefield): Senate offers a 'GREEN' solution to energy crisis [An Act to Generate Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now]
• 2008/01/17: Columbian: [Washington state] Lawmakers told to prepare state for worst-case climate scenarios
• 2008/01/16: WarmingLaw: Stop Hatin' and Start Debatin'
• 2008/01/15: ClimateP: Kansas may be torn but it should trust Gov. Sebelius
• 2008/01/14: CSW: "The US Global Change Research Program --- What do we want from the next administration?"
• 2008/01/15: ENN: House's Dingell hopes to draft climate bill soon
  The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, Democrat John Dingell of Michigan, said on Tuesday he hoped to draft climate change legislation as soon as possible. Speaking to reporters at the North American International Auto Show, Dingell said he would like a fair "cap and trade provision" in the legislation and that he continued to weigh the possibility of a carbon tax on industry. In addition, Dingell said a California proposal to dramatically cut automobile tailpipe emissions would "threaten the existence" of U.S. automakers if it is approved and imposed by all states.
• 2008/01/15: Courant: Big Push Against Warming [Focus the Nation]
  A Grass-Roots Teaching Effort Has Snowballed Across The U.S. Into A Massive Program About Climate Change At Month's End
• 2008/01/15: STimes: Gregoire wants gas emissions tallied, tracked
• 2008/01/15: SeattlePI: Gregoire urges fast action on climate change measure
  On the first day of the 2008 legislative session, Gov. Chris Gregoire announced a multifaceted climate change bill that could dramatically reshape the state's economy. The legislation proposed Monday would lay the groundwork for concrete limits on greenhouse gas emissions beginning in 2012. It would give the state Department of Ecology the authority to regulate those emissions. It would require big polluters to track their carbon dioxide releases beginning next year, with annual emissions reports starting in 2010. And it would establish a clean jobs training fund that would start handing out money beginning next year to prepare the work force for employment in the renewable energy sector, biofuels production and other areas of green power.
• 2008/01/16: CSM: New test for developers in Maine: climate change

  Big Coal is funding politicians left, right & centre:

• 2008/01/19: GristMill: Coal agit-prop heats up - Coal front group pouring millions into targeted disinformation campaign
• 2008/01/18: PRWatch: "Clean Coal" for the Candidates
• 2008/01/18: DeSmogBlog: Big Coal Spending $35 Million to Gut Candidates' Climate Positions
• 2008/01/18: AfterGutenberg: The 2008 Election Largely About Coal
• 2008/01/18: WaPo: Coal Industry Plugs Into the Campaign [2008]
• 2008/01/14: TreeHugger: As Goes Nevada, So Goes The Planet: Three Lumps Of Coal On The Slots Machine

  It looks like the EPA vs. California waiver story is growing legs:

• 2008/01/18: WarmingLaw: TGIF Roundup: EPA Strategy, Bali Lies, and More
• 2008/01/19: Yahoo: EPA turns over limited documents
  Invoking executive privilege, the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday refused to provide lawmakers with a full explanation of why it rejected California's greenhouse gas regulations
• 2008/01/15: DeSmogBlog: Bush Administration's Position on EPA Waiver is All Spin
• 2008/01/14: TruthOut: Waxman Blasts EPA for Missing Deadline
• 2008/01/15: GristMill: Waxman vs. EPA - What will the House Oversight Committee chairman turn up next?
• 2008/01/14: HillHeat: Waxman Presses EPA on California Waiver
• 2008/01/14: ThinkP: [House Oversight Committee chairman, Rep. Henry] Waxman (D-CA) pressures EPA after agency misses deadline
• 2008/01/14: WarmingLaw: Good News From Minnesota [Calif-EPA suit]

  They're still fighting about Arctic oil & polar bears:

• 2008/01/18: TruthOut: Interior Withholding Key Documents on Arctic Drilling
• 2008/01/18: OilChange: US Government: "Drilling Won't Hurt Polar Bears"
• 2008/01/18: ADN: Polar bear status won't halt drilling leases
• 2008/01/17: McClatchyDC: Bush administration defends oil leases in polar bear habitat
• 2008/01/17: NatureTGB: Congress criticizes delay of polar bear decision
• 2008/01/17: HillHeat: Rep. Markey Introduces Bill to Block Alaska Drilling Pending Polar Bear Decision
• 2008/01/16: CSW: House global warming committee hearing on administration's delayed decision on polar bear protection

  How to pay for decaying infrastructure?

• 2008/01/16: GristMill: Can we tax for transit? New transportation proposals to ease energy dependence
• 2008/01/16: TheHill: Transportation study recommends gas tax hike, other fixes to meet growing infrastructure demand
• 2008/01/15: OilDrum: Now We're Talkin'...(or, "Transit Panel Urges Federal Gas Tax Increase")

  A Montana school board invited, then un-invited Dr. Steve Running:

• 2008/01/18: DeSmogBlog: Straight Talk Has Montana School Running Scared
• 2008/01/17: Maribo: The generation that will "solve the problem"
• 2008/01/17: NYT: Climate Talk's Cancellation Splits a Town
  Choteau, Montana - School authorities' cancellation of a talk that a Nobel laureate climate researcher was to have given to high school students has deeply divided this small farming and ranching town at the base of the east side of the Rocky Mountains. The scholar, Steven W. Running, a professor of ecology at the University of Montana, was scheduled to speak to about 130 students here last Thursday about his career and the global changes occurring because of the earth's warming.

Scientists are complaining about political interference:

• 2008/01/17: WaPo: Scientists Take Complaints About Interference to Hill
• 2008/01/17: TruthOut: Scientists Take Complaints About Interference to Hill

  The 2008 campaign is still not making much climate news:

• 2008/01/16: SacBee: Schwarzenegger bummed that candidates aren't addressing climate change
• 2008/01/18: GristMill: Sebelius as VP? Can the Kansas governor show toughness under assault from Big Coal?
• 2008/01/16: GristMill: Coal is the enemy of the human race: Edwards in the debate edition - Edwards puts the coal issue into the Dem debate
• 2008/01/16: DeSmogBlog: John Edwards Calls for a Moratorium on Coal-fired Power
• 2008/01/16: Atmoz: Barack Obama: Energy Efficiency in the 21st Century
• 2008/01/16: WarmingLaw: Waivering on the Record: Some Advice
• 2008/01/16: Intersection:CCM: Science, Global Warming, and Michigan
• 2008/01/15: DeSmogBlog: Global Warming Has Finally Come Up in Michigan -- but don't get too excited yet
• 2008/01/15 ClimateP: Romney crushes McCain in Michigan, a blow to climate
• 2008/01/13: GristMill: What Al Gore could do - There's a need for someone to draw contrasts among candidates on climate
• 2008/01/14: WarmingLaw: Demanding Real EPA Accountability: Grading the Candidates
• 2008/01/14: SacBee: Race for '08: Voters split on global warming cost - Some fear businesses will be hobbled

  Looks like Romney is bucking for a 'Darth':

• 2008/01/15: ClimateP: Pro-warming Romney has sham slam on McCain
• 2008/01/15: DeSmogBlog: Romney Tied to Global Warming Denier Group
• 2008/01/15: ThinkP: Romney Uses Sham Front Group To Slam McCain For Confronting Global Warming

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2008/01/18: TreeHugger: Climate Crusaders Reunite: Inside Al Gore's Climate Project (Part II)
• 2008/01/17: TreeHugger: Climate Crusaders Reunite: Inside Al Gore's Climate Project (Part I)

  In the UK, energy policy is front and centre:

• 2008/01/20: Telegraph(UK): Eco homes: Sun setting on solar power?
  There are fewer solar panels in the UK than anywhere else in Europe - and no one's blaming the weather.
• 2008/01/20: TreeHugger: Sun Setting on UK Solar?
• 2008/01/20: Guardian(UK): Why green power has left us all in the dark - The high hopes for eco-energy tariffs have dimmed into doubt and confusion...
• 2008/01/19: Guardian(UK): Inquiry demand after third energy price rise
• 2008/01/14: PRWatch: Britain's Nuclear Option Draws Heat
• 2008/01/18: BBC: British Gas, the UK's biggest power provider, is to raise the amount it charges for gas and electricity by 15%
• 2008/01/17: EnvFin: UK power firms hit as regulator proposes carbon windfall tax
• 2008/01/18: BBC: The EU is expected to tell the UK that 15% of energy needs must be met from renewable sources by 2020 [next week]
• 2008/01/14: TreeHugger: Sunday Times Exposes Energy Rip-Off Scam

  First they have an inquiry, then the government does what it was going to do all along:

• 2008/01/18: inel: Aviation and Climate Change: Public Opinion and the Scope for Action [Heathrow]
• 2008/01/17: inel: The 2M Group and RBWM on Heathrow Expansion - 20 questions for Ruth Kelly
• 2008/01/17: Guardian(UK): Pledge to make UK landings and take-offs more fuel efficient - Drive to cut emissions in British skies by 10%
• 2008/01/15: inel: BA reprimanded over claim that new runway will reduce CO2 emissions
• 2008/01/14: inel: Adding emissions at Heathrow Airport

  Later in the saga of contradictory desires:

• 2008/01/15: Guardian(UK): 'Cavalier' [Whitehall] construction undermining government's green message

  While in Europe:

• 2008/01/19: ENN: EU demands action from Germany on climate goals
• 2008/01/18: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Green industries are the way for Europe
• 2008/01/16: EnergyDaily: Bulgaria wants EU approval to reopen nuclear reactors: minister
• 2008/01/16: TerraDaily: Slovakia halts EU legal challenge over CO2 emissions [after a compromise was reached]

  Forthcoming EU policy initiatives have raised a storm:

• 2008/01/20: AutoBG: The European Parliament would trade high CO2 figures for safety
• 2008/01/17: EUPolitix: EU under fire for unrealistic energy package
  Spain and Germany are leading a campaign against the EU package on renewable energy, to be unveiled on 23 January
• 2008/01/17: EUO: France and Germany push ahead with own energy liberalisation plans
• 2008/01/16: EUO: Commission stands tough in face of emissions criticism
• 2008/01/16: EUO: Germany, Spain, France complain about renewables package
• 2008/01/15: ClimateArk: France: Sarkozy attacks EU carbon targets
• 2008/01/18: MSNBC: Germany attacks green energy scheme
  Plans for a European system for trading renewable energy came under attack from Germany on Thursday, just days before Brussels unveils proposals to fight climate change. Sigmar Gabriel, the environment minister, hit out at the scheme, which aims to boost green energy, arguing that it would "endanger" his country's "successful" approach to promoting solar and wind power.
• 2008/01/17: DeutscheWelle: Germany Reiterates Climate Goals, Challenges EU to Act
• 2008/01/18: BBC: EU climate policy 'too negative'
  Green groups have accused the European Union of planning for failure in global climate change negotiations. Europe's leaders promised last year to cut greenhouse gases by 20% by the end of the next decade, or by 30% if other big polluters made similar efforts. But a draft document seen by BBC News shows that the European Commission is asking member states to just plan for the lower figure for the time being. Campaigners say the lower target could harm the EU's leadership on the issue. The EU Spring Council last year resolved that for Europe to play its part in avoiding dangerous climate change the EU needed to reduce greenhouse gases by 30% from 1990 levels before the end of the next decade. But it didn't want to put European businesses at a disadvantage; so the council insisted that the US, Canada and Japan had to prove they were willing to do the same.
• 2008/01/16: EnergyDaily: EU threatens 50,000 jobs with CO2 plan: German steelmakers
• 2008/01/16: EnergyDaily: EU wants Germany to double clean energy output: report
• 2008/01/17: ENN: EU's Barroso hits back at critics of climate plan
  European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso hit back on Wednesday at criticism from member states and industry of planned radical proposals to fight climate change and save energy. A week before the European Union executive unveils a fiercely contested package of proposals to cut greenhouse gas emissions, boost renewable energy sources and promote biofuels, Barroso said the EU must "put our money where our mouth is."
• 2008/01/16: Yahoo: EU commission refuses to compromise on greenhouse plan
  European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso refused Wednesday to compromise on a plan for the 27-nation to cut emissions of the gases responsible for global warming.
• 2008/01/15: EUPolitix: EU parliament gives carmakers extra time to implement CO2 cuts
  MEPs recommended an average target for carmakers of 125g/km of CO2 emissions by 2015, a less restrictive figure than the European commission's original proposal of 120g/km by 2012
• 2008/01/16: BBC: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso says there will be no compromise on plans for EU countries to cut carbon emissions
• 2008/01/15: BBC: Climate plans spark EU job fears - Trade unions and business leaders say EU plans to cut carbon emissions could harm European jobs and industry.
• 2008/01/15: EUO: Brussels accused of ignoring social concerns in climate bill
• 2008/01/14: Yahoo: EU members braced for emissions targets [due next week]

  Biofuel policy is under attack:

• 2008/01/20: TreeHugger: Secret Report Threatens European BioFuels Strategy
• 2008/01/18: EUO: Commission's own scientists [JRC] question biofuels
• 2008/01/18: EUPolitix: EU says 'no U-turn' on biofuels
  EU agriculture chief Mariann Fischer Boel has responded to criticism of the EU's biofuels policy, saying there will be no U-turn.
• 2008/01/14: EUO: EU admits biofuel target problems
• 2008/01/15: AutoBG: The EU is going to rethink its biofuel policy
• 2008/01/14: Guardian(UK): EU to reconsider biofuels targets
• 2008/01/14: ABC(Au): EU didn't foresee biofuel problems, environment chief [Stavros Dimas] admits
• 2008/01/14: BBC: EU rethinks biofuels guidelines
  Europe's environment chief has admitted that the EU did not foresee the problems raised by its policy to get 10% of Europe's road fuels from plants. Recent reports have warned of rising food prices and rainforest destruction from increased biofuel production. The EU has promised new guidelines to ensure that its target is not damaging. EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said it would be better to miss the target than achieve it by harming the poor or damaging the environment.
• 2008/01/14: FPB: Europe glances askance at biofuels

  It will be interesting to see if they actually do this:

• 2008/01/16: AutoBG: The EU ready to ban imports of certain biofuels
• 2008/01/16: TreeHugger: European Union to Ban Imports of some Biofuel Crops
• 2008/01/16: BioEnergyBiz: EU ambassador hits out at US subsidy for biodiesel exports
• 2008/01/15: TruthOut: Europe May Ban Imports of Some Biofuel Crops

  Richard Tol had some sharp comments about EU aircraft emissions:

• 2008/01/18: FTimes: Europe sticks a green label on airline subsidies
• 2008/01/20: BCLSB: Richard Tol On Aircraft Emissions

  Norway is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2030:

• 2008/01/18: TreeHugger: Norway: Carbon Neutral by 2030
• 2008/01/17: PhysOrg: Norway aims to be carbon neutral by 2030
• 2008/01/17: ENN: Norway says aims to go carbon neutral by 2030

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2008/01/19: ABC(Au): Greenhouse emissions to increase with ACT airport expansion: report
• 2008/01/15: ABC(Au): Govt to review EU biofuels policy
• 2008/01/15: TreeHugger: Zero Carbon Hot Rock Energy for Tasmania. Maybe.
• 2008/01/15: ABC(Au): Tasmania behind on climate change response: CSIRO
• 2008/01/14: ABC(Au): Tas government under fire over climate change

  While in China:

• 2008/01/19: ChinaDaily: Thermal [coal] plants urged to increase desulfurization efforts
• 2008/01/15: TerraDaily: China to plant 2.5 billion trees: report

  In Canada, BC announced a C$14 billion transit plan:

• 2008/01/18: Maribo: Funding and new transit announcements
• 2008/01/15: CanWest: Deja vu all over again in nutty world of politics - We've heard them before and who's to pay? -- You, of course
• 2008/01/14: CanWest: $14-billion boost for B.C.'s transit - Premier, transportation minister announce province-wide plan today; Lower Mainland to get bulk of project, but Victoria, Kelowna eyed for high-speed bus lanes

  Who says the Tories have no sense of humour? They came up with a "Made In Canada" policy just like the American policy...

• 2008/01/19: AutoBG: Canada wants to join the 35mpg by 2020 club
• 2008/01/18: RecreatingEden: More Horsepower, Less Horse Sense: Why We Need Tough Auto Fuel Efficiency Standards
• 2008/01/18: TStar: New fuel rules face roadblocks - Ottawa proposal to phase in tougher rules by 2020 called timid by activists, unrealistic by automakers
• 2008/01/18: ROB: Expect to pay thousands more for cars
• 2008/01/18: PhysOrg: Canada plans to reduce car fuel consumption in 2011
• 2008/01/18: DeSmogBlog: Spin Resumes as Canada Eyes Emission Standards
• 2008/01/17: SeanInSask: Canada, Fuel Efficiency Standards, Following the US Lead Again...
• 2008/01/17: CBC: Ottawa to introduce 'made-in-Canada' fuel economy standards
  Ottawa on Thursday announced plans to create "made-in-Canada" fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks, noting they would be at least as stringent as regulations recently introduced in the U.S.
• 2008/01/17: G&M: Ottawa moves to emulate U.S. on new fuel mileage standards
  Canada's auto makers as well as consumers are keen to see new fuel economy standards applied on a national basis, says federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon. "Industry and the average Canadian, they all want to have a national standard," Mr. Cannon said this morning at the unveiling of a 60-day consultation process aimed at developing a fuel-economy target by 2020. The goal is a target that "achieves at a minimum" recently enacted legislation in the U.S. Congress calling for auto makers' fleets to average 35 miles per gallon, or 6.7 litres per 100 kilometres, by the year 2020. Mr. Cannon conceded that some provinces have struck out with their own fuel-economy programs but said he believes a common standard can be worked out in the talks.

And just to prove it wasn't a fluke:

• 2008/01/15: RunesmithsCC: Monkey See, Flaherty Do
• 2008/01/14: CTV: Canada needs common carbon tax rules: Flaherty

  The recently passed US energy bill has a provision that _may_ sideline tar sand oil, which triggered an rapid reaction from Alberta Premier, Ed Stelmach:

• 2008/01/19: TMoS: The Stupidest Man in Canada
• 2008/01/18: CBC: Alberta premier confident U.S. will remain major energy customer
  Alberta's premier said he is confident the province will continue to export oil and gas to the United States despite more stringent environmental laws there, after a meeting on Friday with U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney
• 2008/01/18: CanWest: Stelmach dismisses U.S. oilsands critics - Premier says fuel will meet green standards
  Premier Ed Stelmach predicted Thursday that Alberta's oilsands will be clean enough for any green-fuel standards that California, Washington or other U.S. governments impose. U.S. activists and even policy-makers grow increasingly wary of the Alberta resource's massive environmental footprint.
• 2008/01/17: GristMill: Myth me? Alberta premier heads to D.C. to preach the virtues of tar sands
• 2008/01/16: DeSmogBlog: Alberta Premier's "Mythical" Tar Sands Tour Attacked By Polar Bear - and a few facts
• 2008/01/17: OilChange: Oil Change 'Bears' Witness to Canada's Tar Sands Insanity [Stelmach in Washington]
• 2008/01/17: TIJTS: Mr. Stelmach goes to Washington
• 2008/01/16: CBC: [Alberta Premier, Ed] Stelmach to defend oilsands in Washington
• 2008/01/15: OilChange: US Congress says no to tar sands (quietly)
  Here's one that somebody missed. Apparently Section 526 of the Energy Bill signed into law by Bush less than a month ago stated that the U.S. government would not purchase transportation fuel from nonconventional petroleum sources that have higher life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions from production and combustion than equivalent conventional fuel. That means that the US military (the #1 consumer of oil in the US), the postal service, government fleets, all of it - can't use tar sands oil. Or oil shale. Or coal to liquids.
• 2008/01/15: G&M: Alberta crude may be too dirty, U.S. law says
  Alberta's oil sands are taking a hit from new U.S. energy legislation passed last month that has an unusual wrinkle suggesting that Canadian crude might be too dirty for the U.S. government. The legislation won't allow any U.S. federal agencies to buy vehicle fuel derived from non-conventional sources unless the life cycle of its greenhouse-gas emissions is the same or less than that of conventional petroleum.

The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:

• 2008/01/14: CTB: Is Environmentalism Compatible with Capitalism?
• 2008/01/15: ClimateP: The High Costs of Doing Nothing, Part III
• 2008/01/13: GristMill: Modestly right, not interestingly wrong - The right way to interpret Shellenberger & Nordhaus

  IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:

• 2008/01/18: NVR: Overpopulation and peak oil: The perfect storm

  Apocalypso anyone?

• 2008/01/14: OilDrum: Death Rates and Food Prices
• 2008/01/14: CCurrents: Economic Collapse And Global Ecology

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2008/01/09: CSICOP: Moving Beyond Gore's Message: A Look Back (and Ahead) at Climate Change Communications [framing]
• 2008/01/16: DeSmogBlog: TV Reporters Burying Global Warming [2,679 questions, 3 about climate change]
• 2008/01/15: CJR: CJR Launches The Observatory - A new department to critique the coverage of science and the environment
• 2008/01/13: Atmoz: United States television news coverage of anthropogenic climate change

  Here is something for your library:

• 2008/01/18: FGuide: [Book Plug] _Climate Solutions: A Citizen's Guide: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why_ by Peter Barnes
• 2008/01/: EPI: [ebook] _Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization_ by Lester R. Brown
• 2008/01/16: Wunderground: [Book Review] _Extreme Weather: A Guide and Record Book_ by Chris Burt
• 2008/01/14: TreeHugger: [Book Review] _Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World_ by Gary Braasch

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2008/01/17: CSW: CBS News to re-air "Rewriting the Science" and other 60 Minutes climate change stories on Jan. 20

  Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:

• 2008/01/18: TreeHugger: Windy Payback Time: Wind Turbines and their Life Cycle Impacts
• 2008/01/19: TEB: Raser Technologies, Merrill Lynch Agree to a 155 MW Geothermal Financing Program
• 2008/01/18: EnergyDaily: GE Unit Boosts 2010 Renewable Energy Investing Target, Announces Its Largest Wind Deal
• 2008/01/18: EnergyDaily: Babcock And Brown Acquires Seven US Wind Farms Under Development
• 2008/01/18: BostonGlobe: Soaring electricity prices leave state's manufacturers struggling - Higher power bills contribute to plant closings
• 2008/01/17: TEB: Silicon Nanowires Convert Waste Heat to Electricity [thermoelectric materials]
• 2008/01/17: EnvFin: US wind generating capacity leaps 45% in 2007
• 2008/01/17: CfAF: Fossil Fuel CEOs On Their Heels
• 2008/01/17: Eureka: Unconventional natural gas reservoir in Pennsylvania [coal field gas] poised to dramatically increase US Production
• 2008/01/17: NEN: GE aims for $6 billion in new energy
• 2008/01/16: NewWest: Geothermal Power Production Set To Double Out West
• 2008/01/16: WorldChanging: Making Fuel Consumption Visible
• 2008/01/16: NEN: China, India & energy demand
• 2008/01/16: PeakEnergy: Deep Down And Dirty?
• 2008/01/15: PhysOrg: Advanced Energy Consortium will develop micro and nanosensors to boost energy production
  The Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences announces the Advanced Energy Consortium (AEC), a multimillion-dollar research consortium dedicated to the development of micro and nanotechnology applications to increase oil and gas production.
• 2008/01/15: GristMill: A smarter, thriftier grid - Field test documents big consumer savings
• 2008/01/15: NEN: Colorado looking to new energy
• 2008/01/14: EnergyDaily: General Cable Announces First Offshore Windfarm Contract Award
• 2008/01/14: EnergyDaily: Enel And GE Soar To New Heights At Texas Wind Farm With Tallest Turbine Towers In US
• 2008/01/15: BCLSB: Wind Power From The Great Lakes

  Meanwhile among the solar afficionados:

• 2008/01/14: REA: A National Solar PV Incentive Needed
• 2008/01/17: SolveC: Breakthrough: Concentrated Solar Power All Over Southwest US
• 2008/01/18: NEN: The Solar Century

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2008/01/19: TreeHugger: More than 50 Proposed Coal-Fired Power Plants are Now on the Back Burner
• 2008/01/18: TruthOut: As New Coal-Power Plants Boom, Environmentalists Launch Legal Assault to Stop Projects
• 2008/01/18: GristMill: Coal is the enemy of the human race: Goliath, meet David edition - Google invests in solar thermal company eSolar
• 2008/01/18: Scitizen: The Coal Question Revisited
• 2008/01/18: LA Times: Coal is no longer on front burner - The rush to build power plants slows as worries grow over global warming, building costs and transportation
• 2008/01/17: GristMill: Damage control - The widening war between activists and coal
• 2008/01/16: NEN: "Clean" coal costs
• 2008/01/15: MenaFN: China's coal imports surge 34% in 2007
• 2008/01/13: Missoulian: State board refuses CO2 rules for coal-fired power plant
  Despite some impassioned words about the need to address global warming, a state board Friday declined to impose new carbon-dioxide regulations on a coal-fired power plant proposed near Great Falls. On a 5-1 vote, the Montana Board of Environmental Review said state regulators acted properly when they approved an air-quality permit without carbon-dioxide limits for the Highwood Generating Station.
• 2008/01/14: GristMill: Coal is not cheap, part XVXIV

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2008/01/19: AutoBG: Making bacteria work to produce biofuels
• 2008/01/18: AfterGutenberg: Sustainability Criteria for Biofuel
• 2008/01/18: AfterGutenberg: The Global Sugar Ethanol Market
• 2008/01/19: CBC: Change crops for greener biofuels, scientist says
• 2008/01/18: TEB: 30 mgy Algal Biodiesel Refinery to be Built in Arizona
• 2008/01/17: ClimateP: A pragmatic view of cellulosic biofuels or why VC Khosla is very wrong
• 2008/01/17: PhysOrg: ISU scientist researches ways to squeeze two fuels from one kernel of corn [ethanol & oil]
• 2008/01/17: GristMill: Cellusic ethanol: It might be a bust - Thus spake Chairman Peterson of the House Ag Committee
• 2008/01/17: NEN: GM buys into biofuels
• 2008/01/17: AfterGutenberg: Protecting the Environment While Producing Sustainable Biofuel
• 2008/01/17: CSM: New research raises concern on biofuel safety
  Even as some states are mandating ethanol as part of the fuel mix, new research suggests that some biofuels are less ecofriendly than they seem
• 2008/01/17: PeakEnergy: Algae Biofuel Plant In Arizona
• 2008/01/15: AfterGutenberg: Royal Society Call for Coherent Policy on Biofuel Sustainability
• 2008/01/15: ABC(Au): Concerns grow over biofuel eco impact
• 2008/01/15: PhysOrg: MSU researcher finds renewed interest in turning algae into fuel
• 2008/01/15: PhysOrg: New techniques create butanol -- biofuel superior to ethanol
• 2008/01/15: OilChange: Biofuels "No Silver Bullet"
• 2008/01/15: AutoBG: Switchgrass-based ethanol may yield 540 percent more energy than needed to grow and produce
• 2008/01/14: Guardian(UK): Biofuels may not deliver CO2 cuts, scientists warn
• 2008/01/14: NatureCF: Making biofuels sustainable
• 2008/01/14: SciDaily: Biofuel: Major Net Energy Gain From Switchgrass-based Ethanol
• 2008/01/14: USAToday: General Motors finances ethanol maker Coskata
• 2008/01/14: Inquirer: Rethink biofuel, says Nobel laureate [Dr. Hartmut Michel, 1998 Chemistry]
• 2008/01/14: AfterGutenberg: The COB Crowd Gets a Warning from the Ecological Society of America [biofuel]
• 2008/01/14: RoyalSoc: Government needs to drive biofuels in right direction warns Royal Society
• 2008/01/14: BBC: Biofuels 'are not a magic bullet'
  Biofuels may play a role in curbing climate change, says Britain's Royal Society, but may create environmental problems unless implemented with care. In a new report, the Society suggests current EU and UK policies are not guaranteed to reduce emissions.
• 2008/01/14: AFP: GM to make biofuel out of garbage

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2008/01/17: CSM: Atomic power regains its glow - Governments must take a gimlet-eyed look. Nuclear's drawbacks haven't gone away.

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2008/01/18: G&M: CERA v. peak oil
• 2008/01/16: EurActiv: EU energy chief [Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs] warns about 'peak oil'
• 2008/01/15: CO: Global Oil shortage is looming large...

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2008/01/17: TEB: Brighter LED Lights Could Replace Household Light Bulbs Within Three Years

  Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:

• 2008/01/16: FuturePundit: Ford Expects Hybrids To Start Turning Profit [by the end of 2008]
• 2008/01/18: PhysOrg: Green car sales soar 49 percent in Sweden: agency
• 2008/01/18: ABC(Au): Climate change forces car manufacturing rethink
• 2008/01/17: PhysOrg: UltraBattery sets new standard for HEVs
  The UltraBattery combines a supercapacitor and a lead acid battery in a single unit, creating a hybrid car battery that lasts longer, costs less and is more powerful than current technologies used in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs)
• 2008/01/17: AutoBG: Toyota still apprehensive about lithium ion in spite of PHEV plans
• 2008/01/17: AutoBG: Update on teen's all-electric 1988 Mazda pickup truck
• 2008/01/16: PhysOrg: Green-car market battle lines drawn at Detroit Motor Show
• 2008/01/16: SMH: The mean machine just turned green
• 2008/01/15: PeakEnergy: General Motors embraces electrics as oil slips away
• 2008/01/15: AutoBG: Elettrica already on sale in the UK, in lead-acid or li-ion
• 2008/01/14: KSJT: CNN, Reuters, a few others: A car that runs on air? Rates 100 miles per gallon
• 2008/01/14: OilChange: A 'Green Hummer' - you are having a laugh?
• 2008/01/14: BellinghamHerald: Zero-emissions car [Miles ZX40S] turns heads - 35 mph vehicle gets charged in standard outlet
• 2008/01/14: Guardian(UK): Any colour so long as it's green at US car show

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2008/01/17: EnvFin: Investors raise questions over climate change adaptation risks
• 2008/01/17: EnvFin: Investors to quiz Chinese companies over climate risk
• 2008/01/17: PhysOrg: Google philanthropy targets global warming, poverty, and disease
• 2008/01/16: OilChange: Business Plays the Job Card - Instead of seeing climate change as a business opportunity, employers and trade unions see it as a threat
• 2008/01/15: GristMill: Business-y news I should write more about, but probably won't

  Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:

• 2008/01/18: ABC(Au): ACCC takes legal action over Saab ads
  The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleges car manufacturer GM Holden has breached the Trade Practices Act by claiming that one of its products is carbon-friendly

The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2008/01/18: Deltoid: Tim Ball and Archimedes principle
• 2008/01/18: DeSmogBlog: Beligerent Tim Ball Harasses a New Academic
• 2008/01/17: ERabett: 1988 and all that - As soon as the nonsense about global temperature not changing in a decade started...
• 2008/01/17: Deltoid: Steve McIntyre defends Pat Michaels' fraud
• 2008/01/17: Stoat: Jumping the shark? [Singer]
• 2008/01/17: DeSmogBlog: Coal Kings Set Up 2nd Phoney Front to Fight Kansas Power Decision
• 2008/01/17: DeSmogBlog: Phony "Peer Review" tries to Undermine Climate Action in North Carolina
• 2008/01/16: ClimateP: More on the laughable, padded "Ihofe 400"
• 2008/01/15: GristMill: [Dessler] The 'Inhofe 400' Skeptic of the Day - Today: George Waldenberger
• 2008/01/16: MTobis: Inhofe 399
• 2008/01/15: JEB: Corbynwatch
• 2008/01/14: ERabett: The Golden Rat

  Then there was the usual news and commentary:

• 2008/01/20: Guardian(UK): Only science can save us from climate catastrophe
• 2008/01/19: CPunch: Big Green Fiddles As the World Burns - Dodging Ecocide
• 2008/01/18: PhysOrg: Human activities contribute to California's global warming
• 2008/01/18: GristMill: Can the environmental economy dodge a recession? As economic indicators trend downward, the clean-tech sector is still looking up
• 2008/01/15: BBC: Bypassing the blockage of nations
  Solving the world's environmental ills may mean re-thinking the role of nations and national governments, says our environment correspondent Richard Black in this week's Green Room. The current system, he argues, is a recipe for stasis.
• 2008/01/16: Stoat: Why is climate modelling stuck?
• 2008/01/16: CasaubonsBook: The Climate Bad News - and How to be a Hero
• 2008/01/16: HillHeat: Vision of a Green DC
• 2008/01/15: MTobis: Nice Flipped Question Presentation
• 2008/01/16: BCLSB: Pretty Pretty Global Warming Graph
• 2008/01/16: TerraDaily: Wildlife Conservation Society Measures Its Carbon Footprint
• 2008/01/14: CCurrents: Enemies From Within: Big Enviro Groups Holding Back Anti-Warming Movement
• 2008/01/15: Atmoz: The North American Monsoon
• 2008/01/15: HillHeat: Around the Web: DNI, Biofuels, China, Coal Corruption
• 2008/01/14: DailyKos: Blast from the Past -- James Hansen, 1988
• 2008/01/15: ENN: Climate Change 2007: Credible Science, Tipping Points, Feedback, and the Great North
• 2008/01/15: Tyee: BC's Eco-Activist 'Rock Star' - Tzep Berman on celebrity and getting things done. A 'Trees and Us' podcast.
• 2008/01/15: Guardian(UK): A green lining
  The fact that the US economy is nearing a recession means that efforts to introduce environmentally friendly policies may get some traction
• 2008/01/13: DotEarth: A Starting Point for Productive Climate Discourse
• 2008/01/14: DeSmogBlog: It's already later than we realize in the struggle to arrest climate change

  And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:

• SolveClimate - Chronicle for a New America
• Environmental Graffiti
• Climate and Capitalism
• DOE: Fuel Economy
• Canadian Ice Service
• NASA:GISS: Research News
• Campaign for America's Future
• 2008/01/20-24: AMetSoc: 88th AMS Annual Meeting
• CJR: The Observatory
• Discover - Environment
• Science at Stake
• Mark Lynas (blog)
• Stop Global Warming
• NASA: CloudSat
• CICERO: Center for International Climate and Environmental Research - Oslo
• EU Carbon Trading - Kyoto Protocol - Community Transaction Log
• Dr. James E. Hansen homepage

My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.

P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.

"Wherever the plants go, the animals follow." -William Stein, paleobotanist at Binghamton University

• Global Warming Links
• Global Warming News Archive
• Energy
• Energy News
• Environmental Issues
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• H.E. Taylor (homepage)