Sipping from the internet firehose...
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H.E.Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
- Top Stories:Connaughton's Deke, Svalbard, Wheat Panik,
- Arctic, Antarctica, Fergus' Survey, Aerial Bacteria, La Nina Winter
- Hurricanes, GHGs, Glaciers, THC
- Impacts, US Dust, Forests, Corals, Wacky Weather
- Floods & Droughts, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
- Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration
- Journals, Misc. Science, Genetic Engineering
- Kyoto-2, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
- Politics:International, America, Britain, Europe, Switzerland, Australia, Canada
- Ecological Economics, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Courts, Betting
- Energy, Texas Brownout, Solar, Coal, Biofuel
- Nukes, Peak Oil, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Greenwashing, Insurance
- Carbon Lobby, The Usual, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
- 2008/02/07: Comics: (cartoon - McMillan) BP puts a green flower in their logo...
James Connaughton made some unlikely statements on US climate policy, unlikely that is, until one notes the if:
- 2008/02/29: DeSmogBlog: W Tries to Spin the Climate Yet Again
- 2008/02/28: NatureCF: US officials clarify climate policy - or do they?
- 2008/02/27: Yahoo: U.S. Remains Cool to Warming Pact
- 2008/02/28: OilChange: New US Climate Offer "Too Little, Too Late"
- 2008/02/27: BBC: New US climate offer 'too little'
A senior European official has described America's latest offer on climate change as far too little, far too late. [...] European climate experts are angry that the White House still refuses to set a date for halting its growth in emissions. One government official said: "This is nowhere near enough. The rest of the world only cares about tangible US emissions reductions. Until they come up with firm figures for reductions, the rest is meaningless." - 2008/02/28: Guardian(UK): US 'ready for emissions targets' - US willing to cut gas emissions if China and India agree to match the commitment
- 2008/02/27: NatureTGB: US officials clarify climate policy - or do they?
- 2008/02/27: Maribo: US to set binding emissions targets?
- 2008/02/27: KSJT: World News, Local US News : On two fronts, White House climate change policy in bulls eye
- 2008/02/27: DotEarth: White House to World: We'll Sign a Binding Climate Pact (There's a Catch)
- 2008/02/27: NYT: Binding Emissions Treaty Still a Possibility, U.S. Says
A senior White House official on Tuesday outlined a new tactic aimed at convincing a skeptical Europe that the Bush administration would support a meaningful agreement to limit global warming. The official, James L. Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the United States could accept a binding treaty if it included mandatory steps by China and other big developing countries as well - 2008/02/25: Yahoo: UN climate head: US stand a `nonstarter'
The U.N. climate chief on Monday welcomed statements by Bush administration officials that the United States would accept a binding international commitment to reduce global-warming gases. But he said their insistence that China and other developing nations do the same "is not realistic." - 2008/02/25: BBC: US to set 'binding' climate goals
The US is ready to accept "binding international obligations" on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, officials say, if other nations do the same. The comments came in a news conference in Paris given by James Connaughton and Daniel Price, environmental and economics advisers to President Bush. The US hopes the world's major economies will conclude a "leaders' declaration" before the July G8 summit. There was no indication of how much the US might be prepared to cut emissions - 2008/02/29: KSJT: NYTimes: What's with that big Arctic seed vault? (or, last out, best dressed)
- 2008/02/27: TruthOut: Doomsday Vault for World's Seeds Is Opened Under Arctic Mountain
- 2008/02/26: TerraDaily: Biodiversity 'doomsday vault' in numbers
- 2008/02/26: TerraDaily: 'Frozen garden of Eden' seed vault blooms in Arctic
- 2008/02/26: TerraDaily: Seed vault in Arctic is mankind's 'insurance policy': project leader
- 2008/02/26: NatureN: 'Doomsday vault' opens for business
- 2008/02/26: KSJT: Wires, Brit Press, etc: Svalbard's big frozen seed vault open for business
- 2008/02/26: DotEarth: Buried Seed Vault Opens in Arctic
- 2008/02/26: Eureka: Arctic seed vault opens doors for 100 million seeds
- 2008/02/26: BBC: Leading dignitaries have attended the official opening of a 'doomsday' seed vault built 130m (426ft) inside a mountain on a remote Arctic island
- 2008/02/26: AFP: 'Frozen garden of Eden' seed vault blooms in Arctic
- 2008/02/24: PhysOrg: Biodiversity 'doomsday vault' comes to life in Arctic
- 2008/02/25: MSNBC: Doomsday vault tunneled into Arctic mountain - Norway site protects millions of seeds from man-made, natural disasters
There is more on food & food prices below, but it is worth headlining that an incident of panic buying hit the wheat market this week:
- 2008/02/26: NQR: 'Panic' wheat buying across the US
- 2008/02/27: CSM: Wheat prices hit record high - The cost of March spring wheat hit $24 a bushel Monday, double its cost two months ago
- 2008/02/25: FTimes: Wheat prices in biggest one-day rise
Prices of top-quality wheat jumped 25 per cent to a record high on Monday in their largest one-day increase as Kazakhstan, one of the largest grain exporters, said it would impose export tariffs to curb sales. The move, which follows similar export restrictions in Russia and Argentina, is likely to put further pressure on already tight global wheat supplies, analysts said - 2008/02/26: BBC: Fresh records for price of wheat
Wheat prices have hit record levels as supplies dwindle, raising concerns about growing food inflation. Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat for delivery in March rose the maximum 90 cents allowed to $11.99 a bushel in electronic trading in Asia. High-protein spring wheat on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange rose by almost 25% to record levels on Monday. Kazakhstan has become the latest country to put export restrictions on wheat as it battles against inflation. Russia and Argentina have already imposed similar export restrictions. [Weather worries] The 25% rise in Minneapolis on Monday came after all trading restrictions were scrapped. The March futures contract closed at up $4.75 at $24 a bushel, the record price for any US wheat contract. The price of spring wheat has more than doubled since January. Reports of a drought in Northern China, where most of the country's wheat is grown, also pushed prices higher. Extreme weather has already damaged crops in other parts of the world and US wheat inventories are expected to fall to their lowest level for 60 years - 2008/02/26: Guardian(UK): Food - Hunger and high prices
A record was set on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange yesterday, when US spring wheat surged above $20 a bushel... - 2008/02/29: KSJT: National Wildlife: A long, close look at a wavering ecosystem in the warming Arctic
- 2008/02/26: BBerg: Global Warming Melts New [Arctic] Sea Lanes for Norilsk, ConocoPhillips
- 2008/02/25: NavyTimes: Ice melt means spike in CG Arctic operations
Talk of conflict over Arctic resources is back:
- 2008/02/29: BCLSB: Compared To This, Afghanistan Is A Side-Show [potential Arctic conflict]
- 2008/02/28: CanWest: Arctic debate could result in armed conflict, says former American coast guard official [Scott Borgerson]
- 2008/02/26: ChronicleHerald: China eyes Arctic riches
- 2008/02/25: KSJT: Wall St. Journal: On divvying up the seafloor, and the man whose headache it is to decide who deserves what
While in the Antarctic:
- 2008/02/29: PhysOrg: Rock studies help crack questions of glacier thinning in West Antarctica
- 2008/02/29: TerraDaily: Has The Mystery Of The Antarctic Ice Sheet Been Solved
- 2008/02/29: TerraDaily: Rock Studies Help Crack Questions Of Glacier Thinning In West Antarctica
- 2008/02/29: ENN: Antarctic boulders may point to sea level rise
- 2008/02/29: SciDaily: West Antarctic Glaciers Melting At 20 Times Former Rate, Rock Analysis Shows
- 2008/02/28: Eureka: Has the mystery of the Antarctic ice sheet been solved?
- 2008/02/25: OilChange: Antarctic Glaciers "Surge" to Ocean
An unremarkable survey of scientists is unpublishable?
- 2008/03/01: JEB: Too crap to publish or too hot to handle?
- 2008/02/28: FergusB: What do scientists think? What does it matter?
- 2008/02/24: FergusB: Is there agreement among climate scientists?
- 2008/03/01: Deltoid: Survey of climate scientists
- 2008/02/28: MTobis: Fergus, Roger Sr., and James!?!
That story on rain causing aerial bacteria caught a wave:
- 2008/03/02: BCLSB: Stick That In Your Climate Model...[bacteria]
- 2008/02/29: KSJT: Wires, Telegraph, etc: Chalk up another one for Gaia. Snowflakes' core may be alive
- 2008/02/29: NewScientist: Airborne bugs may trigger rain to get home
- 2008/02/29: TerraDaily: LSU Scientist Finds Evidence Of Rain-Making Bacteria
- 2008/02/28: NatureN: 'Rain-making' bacteria found around the world - Some microbes are frequent flyers in clouds
- 2008/02/28: Eureka: LSU scientist finds evidence of 'rain-making' bacteria - Could have implications for climate and understanding dissemination of agricultural pathogens
A lot of people are commenting on our La Nina winter:
- 2008/03/01: DotEarth: Reconciling Cold Weather and a Warming Climate
- 2008/02/29: WSJ:EnvCap: Little Ice Age? Cold Snap Sparks Cooling Debate
- 2008/02/29: SciAm:SC: Despite Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, we are not experiencing Global Cooling
- 2008/02/27: C411: Did Global Warming Stop in January?
- 2008/02/24: JFleck: Global Cooling: The Underlying Problem
While the north is warm?
- 2008/02/28: STT: Finnish Met says winter is warmest on record
- 2008/02/29: People's Daily: Winter temperature in Finland hits record high
- 2008/02/28: ENN: Record-warm winter in Finland may boost crops
Tamino has a new moniker:
- 2008/02/28: Tamino: Hansen's Bulldog
David drops a lump of salt in this soup:
- 2008/03/01: QuarkSoup: Daylight Savings Time
- 2008/02/28: ClimateP: Daylight Saving Wastes Energy, Study Says
Late comment on ZIFs:
- 2008/02/26: ERabett: Another CO2 roach motel?
No hurricanes, but lots of recovery:
- 2008/03/01: SciDaily: Increased Hurricane Losses Due To More People, Wealth Along Coastlines, Not Stronger Storms [pielke]
- 2008/02/27: UN: Madagascar: UN food agency begins providing aid to cyclone [Ivan] victims
- 2008/02/26: ENN: Death toll from Madagascar cyclone [Ivan] hits 60
- 2008/02/25: BBC: Madagascar cyclone toll doubled - Nearly 145,000 people have been left homeless by a cyclone that tore through Madagascar, killing 44 people.
As for GHGs:
- 2008/02/28: NewsWeek: The CO2 State - Texas produces more carbon emissions than most countries, but the state government and business community don't seem too concerned
- 2008/02/25: ClimateP: EU-27 Emissions down 8% since 1990
Glaciers are melting:
- 2008/02/29: SwissInfo: Glaciers seen through the eyes of Old Masters
- 2008/02/28: Hindu: Stronger evidence of global warming
Area of [Himalayan] glaciers reduced from 3,391 to 2,721 sq. km. between 1962-2004 -- By 2050, negative mass balance of glaciers will be 90 per cent - 2008/02/25: SciDaily: Has An Ocean Circulation Collapse Been Triggered?
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2008/02/28: ENN: Climate change and urban sprawl alter Iditarod race
- 2008/02/27: ClimateP: The Dead Zone [oceanic]
- 2008/02/27: PhysOrg: Earlier plantings underlie yield gains in northern corn belt
- 2008/02/27: NewScientist: Global warming twice as lethal as previously assumed
- 2008/02/27: DailyIndia: Study: CO2 can cause air pollution deaths
- 2008/02/26: Wunderground: Are tornadoes getting stronger and more frequent?
- 2008/02/26: OilChange: UN: Fish Stocks Could Collapse
- 2008/02/24: ChicoER: Biologist tells how climate change affects agriculture
Nobel Prize-winning biologist Jeff Price explained how climate change affects agriculture during the keynote speech of the California Nut Festival Saturday night - 2008/02/26: Guardian(UK): It's time for a body count
Climate change is killing us. So why are we still so reluctant to quantify the deaths it has caused? - 2008/02/25: NatureTGB: Dead in the water [UN report _In Dead Water_]
There was no fuss about this story, but it seems monumental to me in terms of erosion and particulate effects:
- 2008/02/24: PhysOrg: Dust in West up 500 percent in past two centuries
- 2008/02/25: Eureka: Dust in West up 500 percent in past 2 centuries, says CU-Boulder study
Railroads, ranching and livestock brought West its own 'Dust Bowl' in 1800s - 2008/02/29: EUO: EU environment chief [Stavros Dimas] concerned by deforestation in Brazil
- 2008/02/29: SciDaily: Destruction Of Sumatra Forests Driving Global Climate Change And Species Extinction
- 2008/02/28: SMH: Troops move in to stop Amazon's illegal loggers
- 2008/02/27: MongaBay: Half the Amazon rainforest will be lost within 20 years
- 2008/02/27: MongaBay: Greenhouse gas emissions have already caused the Amazon to dry
- 2008/02/27: MongaBay: Small fires a big threat to Amazon rainforest biodiversity
- 2008/02/27: TruthOut: Sumatran Deforestation Driving Climate Change and Species Extinction, Report Warns
- 2008/02/27: ABC(Au): Indonesia deforestation harming climate, endangered species: WWF
- 2008/02/27: PhysOrg: Destruction of Sumatra forests driving global climate change and species extinction
- 2008/02/27: TerraDaily: Destruction Of Sumatran Forests Driving Global Climate Change And Species Extinction
- 2008/02/26: TerraDaily: Brazilian police in huge crackdown on Amazon deforestation
- 2008/02/27: TreeHugger: For Rent: Pristine Tropical Rainforest. Any Takers?
- 2008/02/27: Guardian(UK): Sumatran deforestation driving climate change and species extinction, report warns
- 2008/02/25: MongaBay: Deforestation a greater threat to the Amazon than global warming
- 2008/02/26: WSJ:EnvCap: Pulp Friction: Indonesia's Carbon-Rich Forests
- 2008/02/25: AfterGutenberg: Brazil's Green Reserve
- 2008/02/26: BBC: Troops sent to stem Amazon loss
Some 160 Brazilian troops have been sent to the Amazon to join hundreds of police officers involved in efforts to tackle illegal deforestation. The move follows clashes last week when local people and sawmill workers forced environmental officials out of the town of Tailandia in the state of Para. Officials say they do not want more confrontations but the operation against illegal logging will go on. Deforestation in the Amazon jungle rose sharply in the second half of 2007 - 2008/02/29: Maribo: Lessons from the coral reefs of the Line Islands
- 2008/02/26: TruthOut: Coral Reefs and What Ruins Them
- 2008/02/26: PhysOrg: Scripps expedition provides new baseline for coral reef conservation
Yes we have no wacky weather, except:
- 2008/03/01: ENN: High winds kill 6 in Austria, Czech Republic
- 2008/03/01: ENN: High winds kill eight and cut power in central Europe
- 2008/02/28: CSM: Tajikistan weather crisis could worsen, aid workers warn
And speaking of floods & droughts:
- 2008/03/02: PhysOrg: Australian drought easing but not over: experts
- 2008/03/01: McClatchyDC: High snows in Sierra good news for Calif. farmers
- 2008/02/29: UN: Deepening drought in central Somalia alarms UN aid agencies
- 2008/02/28: TerraDaily: Flooding, landslides leave 45 dead in Philippines: govt
- 2008/02/29: EEO: The Day China Runs Dry
- 2008/02/25: TheAge: Drought in [northern] China leaves millions thirsty
- 2008/02/27: JFleck: Water in the Desert: Tempe Edition
- 2008/02/27: MTobis: NYT Op-Ed: There WIll be Floods
- 2008/02/25: UN: UN appeals for $18 million to help Bolivian flood victims
- 2008/02/26: GristMill: No country for thirsty men - In North Carolina's Triangle, a severe drought has leaders stumped
- 2008/02/25: JFleck: Drought in Chile
- 2008/02/25: JFleck: Drought in China
The conflict between biofuel and food persists:
- 2008/02/29: DailyNexus: Ethanol Fuels Intense Food Debate - It's an Ear-responsible Use of Farmland
- 2008/02/27: TerraDaily: Growing Food Crisis As Bio Fuel Subsidies Undermine Free Markets
- 2008/02/27: RedJenny: I Hate to say I Told You So... [biofuels vs food]
And the troubling matter of falling food production is not going away:
- 2008/03/02: Independent(UK): Rising prices threaten millions with starvation, despite bumper crops
- 2008/03/01: NYT: My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables)
If you've stood in line at a farmers' market recently, you know that the local food movement is thriving, to the point that small farmers are having a tough time keeping up with the demand. But consumers who would like to be able to buy local fruits and vegetables not just at farmers' markets, but also in the produce aisle of their supermarket, will be dismayed to learn that the federal government works deliberately and forcefully to prevent the local food movement from expanding. And the barriers that the United States Department of Agriculture has put in place will be extended when the farm bill that House and Senate negotiators are working on now goes into effect - 2008/03/01: WaPo: Soaring Food Prices Putting U.S. Emergency Aid in Peril - Supplies and Recipients Likely to Be Reduced
- 2008/02/26: FAO: Global fertilizer supply expected to outstrip demand - New FAO fertilizer outlook to 2011/12 published
- 2008/02/28: TruthOut: Food and the Spectre of Malthus
- 2008/02/28: EEO: Food Security: Moving Towards the Precipice?
- 2008/02/27: Time: The World's Growing Food-Price Crisis
- 2008/02/27: Time: Food Price Hikes Roil Pakistan
- 2008/02/26: TerraDaily: Food inflation hits Cambodia's poor, threatens hunger
- 2008/02/26: FTimes: Food and the spectre of Malthus
- 2008/02/27: CCurrents: Feed The World? We Are Fighting A Losing Battle, UN Admits
- 2008/02/22: MOracle: Experts: Global Food Shortages Could "Continue for Decades"
Global inventories of grains are nearing historic lows, while twenty percent of the U.S. corn crop this coming year will be used for ethanol production. Meanwhile wheat, rice and soybean prices have reached all-time highs and corn prices have jumped to a 12-year high - 2008/02/27: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Local solution to global food crisis
- 2008/02/26: UN: World now rich in fertilizer supply, UN agricultural agency says
- 2008/02/26: UN: Surging food prices could lead to nutritional crisis for Central Americans - UN
- 2008/02/26: TerraDaily: Rising prices could force UN to cut food aid: WFP chief
- 2008/02/26: IPSNews: Economy-China: Staring At Grain Imports
With global food prices on an upward spiral, China is facing renewed fears that its growing demand for grain to feed the world's largest population may lead to imports from international markets, driving prices higher and spurring further food inflation - 2008/02/26: Guardian(UK): Promised green revolution still seems a long way off
Climate change will have a profound impact on agriculture in the coming decades, either directly or indirectly. An increase in extreme weather will lead to poor harvests - a trend that has already started - and demand for biofuel will take land away from food production. Other factors such as urbanisation and increased demand for meat and dairy products in developing countries will also increase demands for food. - 2008/02/26: Guardian(UK): Feed the world? We are fighting a losing battle, UN admits
Huge budget deficit means millions more face starvation - The United Nations warned yesterday that it no longer has enough money to keep global malnutrition at bay this year in the face of a dramatic upward surge in world commodity prices, which have created a "new face of hunger" - 2008/02/24: SAstyk: How Expensive is Food, Really?
- 2008/02/25: BBC: UN warns over food aid rationing
[Josette Sheeran] The director of the UN's World Food Programme has said it is considering plans to ration food aid because of rising prices and a shortage of funds - 2008/02/29: NewScientist: Only zero emissions can prevent a warmer planet
- 2008/02/27: BSD: Grass-fed versus irrigated-pasture cattle
- 2008/02/28: GRL: (ab$) Stabilizing climate requires near-zero emissions by H. Damon Matthews & Ken Caldeira
- 2008/02/28: ClimateP: "Stabilizing climate requires near-zero emissions"
- 2008/02/25: SwissInfo: Experts call for sharp cut to CO2 emissions
- 2008/02/25: PhysOrg: Compost can turn agricultural soils into a carbon sink, thus protecting against climate change
- 2008/02/25: GristMill: Cheap technology or cheap biology? Two solutions to global warming
- 2008/02/25: ENN: Using organic fertilizers could protect against climate change
- 2008/02/25: Eureka: Compost can turn agricultural soils into a carbon sink, thus protecting against climate change
Consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2008/02/28: CJR: The Wind Beneath Biofuels' Wings - The press goes giddy over Virgin's "nutty" test flight
- 2008/02/29: KSJT: The Australian: One more riff on Sir Richard Branson's biofueled jumbo jet demo, stunt - whatever
- 2008/02/29: CSM: Bloomberg: New York's 'black cars' should go green - Starting next year, executive rides must get at least 25 miles per gallon, and 30 mpg by 2010
- 2008/02/24: SwissInfo: Geneva says "no" to free public transport
- 2008/02/25: NatureTGB: Biofuel flight hype
- 2008/02/25: ABC(Au): Doubts surround Virgin's breakthrough biofuel flight
- 2008/02/25: OilChange: First Biofuel Flight Dismissed as Stunt
- 2008/02/24: AutoBG: [Argentina, South] America to get high speed rail
While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:
- 2008/02/27: CSM: San Francisco weighs green-building law
The city may pass the most far-reaching ordinance in the US in March. It would require most new commercial and residential high-rises to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards - 2008/02/28: KSJT: USA Today, Reuters, etc: First US test aimed at capturing CO2 from a coal plant's flue (then they'll let it go again)
- 2008/02/28: DeSmogBlog: The Enduring Myth of Carbon Storage
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2008/02/28: ACP: An improvement on the dust emission scheme in the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM by T. Cheng et al.
- 2008/02/29: ACPD: Study of suitability of cheap AvaSpec array spectrometer for solar UV field measurements by I. Ansko et al.
- 2008/02/29: ACPD: UV albedo of arctic snow in spring by O. Meinander et al.
- 2008/02/28: ACPD: Lagrangian transport modelling for CO2 using two different biosphere models by G. Pieterse et al.
- 2008/02/28: ACPD: Reconstruction of the solar spectral UV irradiance for nowcasting of the middle atmosphere state on the basis of LYRA measurements by T. Egorova et al.
- 2008/02/29: CP: South Atlantic island record reveals a South Atlantic response to the 8.2 kyr event by K. Ljung et al.
- 2008/02/28: CP: Strong summer monsoon during the cool MIS-13 by Q. Z. Yin & Z. T. Guo
- 2008/02/25: CPD: Contribution of tree-ring analysis to the study of droughts in northwestern France (XIX-XXth century) by O. Planchon et al.
- 2008/02/28: GRL: (ab$) Stabilizing climate requires near-zero emissions by H. Damon Matthews & Ken Caldeira
- 2008/02/26: ACP: SAGE II measurements of stratospheric aerosol properties at non-volcanic levels by L. W. Thomason et al.
- 2008/02/26: ACPD: The roles of convection, extratropical mixing, and in-situ freeze-drying in the tropical tropopause layer by W. G. Read et al.
- 2008/02/25: ACPD: Can we reconcile differences in estimates of carbon fluxes from land-use change and forestry for the 1990s? by A. Ito et al.
- 2008/02/25: ACPD: Estimation of the vertical profile of sulfur dioxide injection into the atmosphere by a volcanic eruption using satellite column measurements and inverse transport modeling by S. Eckhardt et al.
- 2008/02/25: ACPD: Evaluation of the MERIS aerosol product over land with AERONET by J. Vidot et al.
Before we get into politics, there was some science done:
- 2008/02/29: SciDaily: Seafloor Cores Show Tight Bond Between Dust And Past Climates
- 2008/02/28: PhysOrg: Seafloor cores show tight bond between dust and past climates
- 2008/02/27: TerraDaily: Wind variations may spur climate change
- 2008/02/28: Eureka: Seafloor cores show tight bond between dust and past climates
- 2008/02/28: CBC: Polar research ship returns to Europe after 'fantastic' 1.5 year journey
- 2008/02/27: DailyIndia: Wind variations may spur climate change
[...] The researchers discovered that below certain thresholds of wind strength, North Atlantic deepwater formation occurs south of Greenland and the AMOC [Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation] is relatively weak. Above that threshold, deepwater formation occurs farther north, leading to a vigorous AMOC. - 2008/02/25: MongaBay: Amazon rainfall linked to Atlantic Ocean temperature
- 2008/02/26: PhysOrg: Voyage to Southern Ocean aims to study air-sea fluxes of greenhouse gases
- 2008/02/26: Eureka: Voyage to Southern Ocean aims to study air-sea fluxes of greenhouse gases
- 2008/02/26: BBC: Climate secrets of marine snail [pteropod]
- 2008/02/24: PhysOrg: How it happened: The catastrophic flood that cooled the Earth
- 2008/02/25: Eureka: How the atmospheres of Mars and Venus are affected by carbon monoxide - New atmospheric modeling on Mars and Venus could have implications for Earth
Genetic engineering to deal with drought?
- 2008/02/28: ABC(Au): Breakthrough could lead to drought-resistant plants
- 2008/02/28: BBC: Scientists say they have made a key breakthrough in understanding the genes of plants that could lead to crops that can survive in a drought
- 2008/02/27: Eureka: Breakthrough in plant research - Gene discovery provides new tool to develop drought-tolerant crops
Rehashed Milankovitch, anyone?
- 2008/02/27: PhysOrg: Monsoon intensity driven by Earth's orbit: study
Meanwhile on the Kyoto-2 front:
- 2008/02/25: Guardian(UK): Rich nations should agree 2020 carbon targets -UN
The world's rich countries should set a goal of cutting planet-warming gases by 2020, not by 2050 as some have suggested, so businesses can get a clearer signal on actions they need to take to fight global warming, the U.N.'s top climate change official [UNFCCC head, Yvo de Boer] said on Monday. - 2008/02/27: ScruffyDan: Rich nations should agree 2020 carbon targets
And on the carbon trading front:
- 2008/02/28: TerraDaily: Tokyo bourse says looking at carbon trading
- 2008/02/28: EnvFin: Carbon market to be worth 63 billion euros in 2008 -- Point Carbon
- 2008/02/27: NEN: Emissions trading to save forests?
- 2008/02/25: UN: Green investment requires predictable carbon price, ministers agree at UN meeting
Predictable carbon pricing is needed to direct world investment flows toward an economy that could minimize climate change, close to 140 governments agreed today as they concluded a major meeting on the subject in Monaco, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) says. "Sufficiently high and long-term predictable price for carbon will be central for mobilizing capital for the new economy," according to the summary by Roberto Dobles, Costa Rican Environment and Energy Minister and President of UNEP's Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum, which ended Friday, and discussed the theme of "Mobilizing Finance for the Climate Challenge." - 2008/02/26: GristMill: A new marketplace for trading GHG permits - A chat with Philip V. Adams of the World Green Exchange auction system
- 2008/02/26: WSJ:EnvCap: Market Making: Carbon Keeps Growing
The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:
- 2008/02/25: DeSmogBlog: Celebrating baby steps: Why any carbon tax is a good carbon tax
The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets and/or a carbon tax] to use in reducing GHGs continues:
- 2008/03/02: TSun: The carbon cops are coming
- 2008/02/28: TruthOut: Brother, Can You Spare a Carbon Credit?
- 2008/02/24: BostonGlobe: Brother, can you spare a carbon credit?
Thinkers weigh a radical new way to reduce greenhouse gas: Give everyone an individual carbon allowance, and let the dealing begin - 2008/02/29: NewScientist: Guilty countries pledge to go carbon neutral [Climate Neutral Network]
- 2008/02/28: Yahoo: Japan arranging climate change summit: official
Japan said Thursday it was arranging a meeting of national leaders to address climate change as it prepares to hold the Group of Eight summit of major industrial economies this summer [July 7 to 9] - 2008/02/27: Yahoo: G8, EU make progress in climate commitments: study [G8 Research Group's annual compliance report]
- 2008/02/26: TerraDaily: EU official heads to US to discuss greenhouse gas deal
EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas travelled Monday to the United States for talks on a possible binding international agreement on reducing greenhouse gases, his spokeswoman said. The news came after a senior White House official announced in Paris that the US is ready to accept "binding international obligations" to cut emissions of the gases blamed for global warming. "Commissioner Dimas is on his way to the United States for discussions with US authorities on the details of a possible agreement... on an international accord after 2012," the spokeswoman said in Brussels. "There's a whole UN process under way as well and in that context we are discussing with the US but with other partners as well," she added. - 2008/03/01: BBerg: Climate Plans by New York, Florida Prod U.S. on Global Accord
- 2008/02/29: GristMill: 'Responsible Resources' is the new 'sound science'
- 2008/02/29: STimes: Should roads have tolls to fight global warming?
- 2008/02/29: DeSmogBlog: Whiff of cynicism lingers over Washington State's call for road tolls to flight global warming
- 2008/02/29: NEN: Californians fighting cap-and-trade
- 2008/02/29: NEN: Michigan Governor [Jennifer Granholm] fights for new energy
- 2008/02/28: ThinkP: One year later, EPA still hasn't regulated CO2
- 2008/02/28: DotEarth: Moving Tax Breaks From Oil to Sun and Wind?
- 2008/02/28: ThinkP: [US Supreme Court] Chief Justice Roberts defends Exxon
- 2008/02/27: GristMill: Governors drink the Kool-Aid - State govs embrace the range of 'alternative fuels,' from nukes to clean coal to biofuels
- 2008/02/26: WarmingLaw: Dingell-Boucher Redux: Preemption's Last Stand
- 2008/02/27: CSW: Water Utility Climate Alliance calls on federal climate research to aid with impacts preparedness
- 2008/02/26: CSW: Review of the Summary of Revised Research Plan for the US Climate Change Science Program
- 2008/02/27: OilChange: GOP Should Stop "Coddling Big Oil"
- 2008/02/27: AutoBG: CAFE what? California law could require 40-plus miles per gallon by 2020
- 2008/02/26: ClimateP: Bad, Governor. Bad, Coal.
- 2008/02/26: HillHeat: Boucher Releases White Paper on "Appropriate Roles for Different Levels of Government"
- 2008/02/26: NEN: Silicon Valley lobbies Congress for new energy
- 2008/02/26: AutoBG: Automakers' Rep. John Dingell renews attempt to block state CO2 regs
- 2008/02/26: Missoulian: Governors don't reach consensus on energy
- 2008/02/25: CAP: Investments for Renewable Energy, Not Loopholes for Big Oil
- 2008/02/21: ClimateIntel: NHTSA to 9th Circuit: No Authority To Demand Environmental Impact Statement
- 2008/02/25: WarmingLaw: More on CAFE and Warming Impacts
- 2008/02/25: WSJ:EnvCap: Big Oil on Clean Energy: More Mandates (and Subsidies), Please
The House passed a bill to finance renewables & repeal oil tax breaks, again:
- 2008/02/28: NYT: House Passes Renewable Energy Credits
- 2008/02/28: WSJ:EnvCap: House Vote Shows Oil Still Beats Wind in Texas
- 2008/02/28: NEN: [US] Senators for 36% of people may block new energy for all
- 2008/02/28: AutoBG: House passes energy tax bill, White House threatens veto
- 2008/02/28: SF Gate: EPA chief blasted for blocking pollution plan
- 2008/02/28: SeattlePI: Energy Taxes: Rocket launch
The economy or the environment? How about both? Congress approved Wednesday $18 billion in new oil company taxes, money that will be used to spur investment in wind, solar and alternative sources. There is a hard truth at work here. The rising price of gasoline is the quickest way to wean this country from foreign oil. If gas hits $4 a gallon soon, most consumers will do two things: They will drive less. And they will look for workable alternatives -- vehicles that will be propelled by alternative energy if the price is right. - 2008/02/28: HillHeat: Pelosi, Bush Battle on Oil-For-Renewables Tax Package
- 2008/02/28: ThinkP: House passes clean energy tax package
- 2008/02/27: CNN: House Votes To Repeal Oil Tax Breaks, Finance Renewables
- 2008/02/25: NEN: House energy bill coming to floor - This is essentially the same bill passed in 2007 by the House and rejected by the Senate...
People are noting the influence of Big Coal:
- 2008/03/01: WaPo: U.S. Won't Finance Montana Coal Plant
The Agriculture Department's Rural Utilities Service will not provide financing for a controversial coal plant proposed by a Montana electricity cooperative, an agency spokesman said yesterday. The RUS, which provides low-cost financing to rural electric cooperatives, will not help Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission build a 250-megawatt coal-fired plant "because of cost and timing," said RUS spokesman Jay Fletcher. He would not elaborate. - 2008/02/29: GristMill: ABEC ads in Ohio
- 2008/02/29: HillHeat: ABEC Campaigning in Ohio
- 2008/02/29: TreeHugger: Burning the Future: Coal in America
- 2008/02/29: WSJ:EnvCap: What's Eating Big Coal?
- 2008/02/27: AP: With much at stake, coal industry spends millions on election-year ads and donations
- 2008/02/25: GristMill: NBC on ABEC
- 2008/02/25: ThinkP: Coal Front Group Pulls Website Using Kids To Spout Industry Propaganda
EPA released its justification for blocking the California waiver:
- 2008/03/01: WarmingLaw: The Silver Lining in Yesterday's Cloud
- 2008/03/01: ENN: California emissions waiver formally blocked
- 2008/02/29: Yahoo: EPA justifies blocking Calif. waiver
- 2008/02/29: GristMill: Hot, noxious air from Bush administration - The EPA's phony explanation of its rejection of California
- 2008/02/29: HillHeat: EPA Releases California Waver Denial Justification
- 2008/02/28: HillHeat: EPA Set to Issue Legal "Justification" for CA Waiver Denial
- 2008/02/29: WarmingLaw: Strong Reactions to Waiver Document Cite Federalism, Mass. v. EPA
- 2008/02/29: WarmingLaw: EPA Denial Notice Now Online
- 2008/02/29: WarmingLaw: Johnson's "Unique" Reading of the CAA
- 2008/02/29: WarmingLaw: EPA's Johnson Gets It Exactly Backwards
- 2008/02/29: WSJ:EnvCap: EPA: California's Dreaming
- 2008/02/28: WarmingLaw: EPA Set to Issue Legal "Justification" for CA Waiver Denial
- 2008/02/27: TruthOut: Memos Show Pressure on EPA Chief
- 2008/02/27: HillHeat: Senate Investigation Finds Top EPA Officials Supported California Waiver
- 2008/02/26: WarmingLaw: Boxer: EPA Docs Show "An Agency in Crisis"
- 2008/02/27: WSJ:EnvCap: Intrigue at EPA: Internal Spat Over California
- 2008/02/27: SF Gate: Memo warned: EPA chief's credibility at risk
- 2008/02/27: NYT: E.P.A. Staff Lobbied Boss on Decision on Emissions
- 2008/02/26: GristMill: Hackus interruptus - EPA staffers warned Johnson he might have to resign if he denied Cali's waiver
- 2008/02/26: TPMM: Staff to EPA Administrator: California Decision Could Mean Your Job
- 2008/02/26: ThinkP: EPA Staff Urged Administrator [Stephen Johnson] To Resign If He Denied California Emissions Waiver
One hears a lot about the campaign(s), not much about climate:
- 2008/03/02: Yahoo: Climate crisis getting short shrift in US president race: Gore
- 2008/02/28: ClimateP: Novak: VP-hopeful Pawlenty fails energy/climate conservative litmus test [2008]
- 2008/02/28: ThinkP: McCain 'Responsive' To Oil And Coal Interests Of Right-Wing Governors
- 2008/02/26: ClimateP: The Washington Post lamely attacks Obama's climate ideas
- 2008/02/24: GristMill: Nader is in - Ralph Nader announces his presidential run, calls for carbon tax
While in the UK:
- 2008/02/26: REA: Green Britain Gears Up for Climate Change Battle
- 2008/02/25: BBC: Zero carbon goal needs firm foundation
There is no "magic bullet" solution when it comes to meeting the UK government's ambitious target of making new homes "zero-carbon" by 2016... - 2008/02/26: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Feed-in tariffs a big incentive to go green - You rightly point out the massive benefits of feed-in tariffs...
It's heartening to see that London Mayor Ken Livingstone gets it:
- 2008/03/01: TreeHugger: London to Retrofit Public Buildings for Reduced Emissions
- 2008/02/26: AutoBG: London Mayor to Porsche: butt out of England's elections, make cleaner cars
GreenPeace & Plane Stupid kicked the Heathrow controversy up a notch this week:
- 2008/03/01: inel: Open Skies?! We need closure on aviation growth to combat climate change
- 2008/02/29: Guardian(UK): Man bailed over Commons rooftop protest
- 2008/02/29: inel: Surrey County Council opposes Heathrow expansion
- 2008/02/28: inel: Good news! Greenpeace notes Government "wobbling" over Heathrow
- 2008/02/28: Guardian(UK): Airport protesters take to parliament roof
- 2008/02/27: ABC(Au): [Plane Stupid] Westminster roof protesters arrested
- 2008/02/27: ABC(Au): [Plane Stupid] Heathrow protesters climb British Parliament roof
- 2008/02/27: inel: What price little white carbon shadows of Heathrow expansion?
- 2008/02/27: inel: Plane Stupid at Westminster ~ good update by Reuters
- 2008/02/27: inel: Plane Stupid at the Houses of Parliament!
- 2008/02/27: Reuters: Heathrow protesters [Plane Stupid] scale British parliament roof
- 2008/02/26: Guardian(UK): Heathrow protesters scaled plane after using 'broken door'
- 2008/02/25: GristMill: Greenpeace takes Heathrow
- 2008/02/25: Guardian(UK): Climate protesters arrested after scaling Heathrow jet
- 2008/02/26: Guardian(UK): Green activists breach security at Heathrow
- 2008/02/25: ABC(Au): [GreenPeace] Protesters breach Heathrow security
- 2008/02/25: inel: Central Hall Westminster was packed to the gills tonight
- 2008/02/25: CBC: Greenpeace activists arrested after climbing on top of plane
Four members of Greenpeace have been arrested after climbing atop a plane at London's Heathrow Airport and unfurling a banner protesting climate change. The environmentalists walked across the airport tarmac and climbed onto the British Airways Airbus A380 after it landed on a domestic flight from Manchester. The two men and two women wrapped a banner around the tail fin reading: Climate Emergency -- No Third Runway. Greenpeace opposes plans for a third runway at Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport. - 2008/02/29: BBC: No impact from Energy Saving Day
The UK's first Energy Saving Day has ended with no noticeable reduction in the country's electricity usage - 2008/02/27: BBC: Moral appeal for UK energy saving [Energy Saving Day]
- 2008/02/27: BBC: Day to 'save energy and climate'
Energy Saving Day, a 24-hour initiative aiming to reduce the UK's electricity use, begins on Wednesday evening. A coalition of environmental groups, religious leaders and energy companies is asking people to curb climate change by turning off devices not in use. The National Grid will monitor how much difference it makes to consumption, while power companies will identify customers wanting home insulation. The BBC News website will be displaying results in close to real time - 2008/03/01: TreeHugger: EU Scorecard on Environment Published
- 2008/02/29: EUPolitix: Climate change package 'fully compatible' with growth
EU plans to reduce CO2 emissions are "fully compatible" with economic growth and job creation, insists environment commissioner Stavros Dimas - 2008/02/28: Yahoo: EU nations sound objections to climate change plan
- 2008/02/28: WSJ:EnvCap: Mais Non: Even Europeans Don't Like Climate Crackdown
- 2008/02/28: ENN: Only Austria and Denmark have issued 2008 EUAs: EU
An initiative in Switzerland:
- 2008/02/29: SwissInfo: People power prepares to fight global warming
A people's initiative calling for the government to slash greenhouse gases by 30 per cent by 2020 is set to come to a nationwide vote. Pressure is mounting on the authorities to do more to fight global warming in Switzerland, especially after the government's latest package of measures met with a mixed response. Green groups and centre-left parties handed in their initiative to the Federal Chancellery in the capital, Bern, on Friday. They managed to collect more than 150,000 signatures in just a year. To force a vote, 100,000 signatures have to be collected in 18 months under Switzerland's system of direct democracy. - 2008/02/27: ABC(Au): Australia, New Zealand to join forces on climate change
- 2008/02/25: TheAge: What we can do now
Some parts of tackling climate change will be expensive. Some will be cheap. One goal of policy should be to bring on the cheap bits, so we have time to tackle the bits that will cost us. Ross Garnaut's interim report on climate change has put Australia back on track to develop an effective climate change policy, after the false start of last year's Shergold report. No one reading it can doubt Garnaut's commitment to design an emissions trading system that is effective, comprehensive and beyond rorting. But not all key players want that. Ignore the lunatic fringe who argue that (a) global warming is a myth, and (b) if it's not, fossil fuels are not to blame, and (c) if they are, we should let Bangladesh sink rather than put up petrol and electricity prices. Those people will chirp on forever. I'm talking about serious people, who run big companies that stand to lose when a price is put on carbon. Known as "the greenhouse mafia", they include mining companies, electricity generators, and emission-intensive manufacturers - 2008/02/26: ABC(Au): [Horticulture lobby group] Growcom urges more focus on climate change policy
- 2008/02/26: BBC: Rudd plans summit on 2020 vision [in Canberra in April]
- 2008/02/26: SMH: Greenhouse gases to grow 20% by 2020
Australia will meet its Kyoto Protocol emissions targets but greenhouse pollution is growing, mainly due to heavy reliance on coal for electricity. A report from the Federal Government's Department of Climate Change shows that although the rate of growth is slowing, Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are likely to increase by 20 per cent by 2020 - 2008/02/25: ABC(Au): Desperate times call for tough leadership [Garnaut]
- 2008/02/25: ABC(Au): Australia on target to meet Kyoto targets
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, brought in a budget that impressed no one:
- 2008/02/27: GristMill: Canadian dispatch - New Canadian budget supports dirty energy industries, disses renewables
- 2008/02/26: CTB: Canadian federal budget misses mark -- by a mile
- 2008/02/27: TreeHugger: New Canadian Budget: "We're Screwed."
- 2008/02/26: CBC: Budget far from green, environmentalists say
Before the budget, Suzuki & Jaccard suggested the Tories try a revenue neutral carbon tax:
- 2008/02/25: CBC: Carbon tax could raise billions, lower emissions and cut income taxes: Suzuki
- 2008/02/26: NatPo: Harper Rejects Suzuki Carbon-Tax Report
- 2008/02/25: CanWest: Carbon report says tax could save Canadians money
The average Canadian would see a 50 per cent income tax cut if the federal government phased in a new tax to crack down on activities that produce the pollution linked to global warming, a new report said Monday. "There is a lingering misconception that a carbon price is nothing more than a tax grab," said the report, Pricing Carbon: Saving Green - a carbon price to lower emissions, taxes and barriers to green technology. "While the receipt of substantial revenue - more than $50 billion per year - accompanies any effective carbon price, the revenue is simply the byproduct of putting a price on carbon emissions." The study was unveiled jointly by environmentalist David Suzuki and Mark Jaccard, an economist and professor from Simon Fraser University who heads a consulting firm that produced the report - 2008/02/25: CBC: Put a price on carbon emissions: Suzuki
- 2008/02/25: G&M: Climate change plan could trigger tax cuts: Suzuki
David Suzuki is trying to speak Stephen Harper's language, releasing a report Monday that argues a strong climate change plan could produce deep income tax cuts. The well-known environmentalist and Simon Fraser University economist Mark Jaccard released a report Monday morning on Parliament Hill that outlines various options for Ottawa to implement a carbon tax or other ways of forcing polluters to pay for their environmental impacts. The report argues that making polluters pay a fee for every tonne of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere could raise between $50-billion and $100-billion in revenue annually by 2020. The report argues that most of that revenue could be used to greatly reduce personal income taxes - 2008/02/25: CanWest:CC: No comment
- 2008/02/25: DeSmogBlog: Friends of Science Investigation Eliciting Not-So-Friendly Reaction
- 2008/02/22: PRWatch: Controversy Grows over Canadian Skeptics Ad Campaign
Late comment on BC's carbon tax:
- 2008/02/29: AutoBG: B.C. to increase the carbon tax on drivers by 2.4 cents per liter during the summer
- 2008/02/29: GeorgiaStraight: Carbon tax "classic" Gordo: Gordon Price
Long-time NPA councillor Gordon Price is calling the B.C. Liberal's new carbon tax a "classic Gordon Campbell" move. Price should know. He was on Vancouver city council between 1986 and 2002 -- seven of those years alongside then -- NPA mayor Campbell. He said the genius here is that Campbell "can't be outflanked on the right". "But it is just a huge message, almost a slap, to those who had been thinking about climate change as a debate you would have around junk science -- a marginal issue," Price told the Straight by phone from a Paris sustainability conference. "I think the implications of it [the carbon tax] are profound. I will tell you the world over here takes the whole issue at a completely different level of seriousness." - 2008/02/29: CanWest: New gas tax seen as small 'stick'
Cost isn't steep enough to influence types of new cars drivers buy, the New Car Dealers Association says - 2008/02/28: CSM: North America gets its first carbon tax
The Canadian province of British Columbia hopes to change consumer behavior -- and raise revenue -- by taxing virtually all fossil fuels, including gasoline and home-heating fuel - 2008/02/27: CanWest: [BC] Carbon tax is a gentle nudge to action
- 2008/02/27: CanWest: [BC] Liberals' climate guru [Mark Jaccard] got his start as an NDP appointee in the 1990s
- 2008/02/26: Tyee: BC's Carbon Tax Shell Game
Economist [Professor William Rees] who invented 'eco-footprint' analysis is not impressed. - 2008/02/26: Rabble: Some real budget choices for the public good
- 2008/02/25: Tyee: How Will You Spend Your $100? We'll each get a cheque to offset the carbon tax. Tell us your plans for the money
- 2008/02/25: CanWest: B.C. firm turns to green power - Canfor Pulp is planning to become an electricity producer using wood waste to answer BC Hydro's call for green power
Alberta votes next week & Stelmach entered 'what he says versus what he does' territory:
- 2008/02/29: DeSmogBlog: Somewhat Sheepishly, Albertans Prep to Re-Elect Tories
- 2008/02/26: DeSmogBlog: Stelmach: "Environment Takes Precedence"
- 2008/02/25: DeSmogBlog: First Nations to Alberta Government: Enough Already!
- 2008/02/26: G&M: Environment trumps economy, Stelmach says
Alberta Tory leader trumpets emissions targets but falls short of calling for controls on oil-and-gas developments Alberta Progressive Conservative Leader Ed Stelmach has been steadfast about not putting the brakes on oil sands development, but in a surprising about-face in the midst of a provincial election campaign, he suggested yesterday that environmental policy may trump economics. - 2008/02/25: DeSmogBlog: Petro Firms Seek Partial Oil-Sands Moratorium
- 2008/02/25: CBC: Companies call for oilsands development freeze
- 2008/02/25: G&M: Oil patch split over partial moratorium
A business-led lobbying effort to create a partial moratorium on oil sands development in order to free up conservation land has divided Canada's major energy companies, while a government decision on the issue will likely be delayed until after next Monday's provincial election. - 2008/03/01: CanWest: Canadian ambassador Wilson lobbies U.S. to go easy on oilsands restrictions
The Harper government quietly has urged the Bush administration to protect Alberta's oilsands sector from newly enacted U.S. energy and climate change legislation... - 2008/02/28: GristMill: The problem with tar sands - Could Canadian oil be the most destructive on earth?
A project to mine methane hydrates in the Arctic:
- 2008/02/27: CBC: Scientists tapping Arctic Ocean methane as potential cleaner energy source
Al Gore will be giving his seminar in Montreal:
- 2008/02/28: BCLSB: Meet Al Gore In Montreal
And then there is the miscellaneous Canadiana:
- 2008/02/25: DeSmogBlog: Smart Science Policy Not in Canada's "Nature"
- 2008/02/28: G&M: SaskPower tries retrofit route - Utility earmarks $758-million for latest twist in carbon capture
- 2008/02/28: TStar: Green-auto rebates a flop, Ignatieff says
- 2008/02/27: AutoBG: Canadian ecoAuto program killed after only two years
- 2008/02/26: DeSmogBlog: Environment Canada's Muzzle Mandate Available for Viewing
- 2008/02/25: ROB: Green laws have auto sector crying poor
Canadian Automotive Partnership Council warns federal, Quebec and Ontario governments of lost investments - 2008/02/25: JVail: Building an Alternative to Hierarchy: Rhizome Theory
- 2008/02/27: SMH: Hitting the 'non-existent' limits [to growth]
- 2006/10/23: Resurgence: Friendly Fire - Most of those advocating the new energy technologies are not suggesting any reduction in overall energy consumption
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2008/03/01: Guardian(UK): 'Enjoy life while you can'
Climate science maverick James Lovelock believes catastrophe is inevitable, carbon offsetting is a joke and ethical living a scam. So what would he do? - 2008/02/29: OilChange: "We're in deep doo-doo"
- 2008/02/26: EnergyBulletin: The five stages of collapse
As for how the media handles the science of climatology:
- 2008/02/24: ArsTechnica: Getting the public to pay attention to good science
Here is something for your library:
- 2008/02/29: EPI: [Book Plug] Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization by Lester R. Brown
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2008/02/27: Yahoo: US Official Estimates $31 Billion at Stake in Kerr-McGee Case
A U.S. Interior Department official said Tuesday that the government may have a hard time collecting as much as $31 billion in royalty payments for leases issued in the late 1990s unless a court decision that rejected the government's right to the payments is reversed - 2008/02/28: TruthOut: Alaska Town Sues 24 Energy Cos on Climate Change
- 2008/02/27: APRN: Kivalina sues energy companies for global warming damage
- 2008/02/27: IHT: Alaskan village files suit against energy companies
- 2008/02/27: WarmingLaw: Alaska Village [Kivalina] Sues Over Global Warming Impacts: Demands Compensation for Public Nuisance, Conspiracy
- 2008/02/27: DeSmogBlog: Alaskans Sue Oil, Coal Firms for "Conspiracy" to Hide Truth About Warming
- 2008/02/27: OilChange: Alaskan Town Sues Big Oil Over Climate
- 2008/02/27: NYT: Flooded Village [Kivalina] Files Suit, Citing Corporate Link to Climate Change
- 2008/02/27: ADN: Storm-plagued village sues energy companies
- 2008/02/26: CNN: Eskimo village [Kivalana, Alaska] sues over global warming
A tiny Alaska village eroding into the Arctic Ocean sues two dozen companies - Claims global warming threatens the existence of the Inupiat Eskimo village - They allege melting sea ice is leaving the village exposed - Some of the world's largest oil, coal and power producers named in lawsuit - 2008/02/27: SlashDot: Alaskan Village Sues Over Global Warming
The betting meme rolls on:
- 2008/02/22: DurangoHerald: Warming skeptic gets taker on wager
The Durango resident who stirred public debate with a $5,000 wager that the Earth's average temperature in 2017 would be lower than in 2007 has an official taker - albeit to slightly different conditions. Dr. Richard Grossman, a Durango gynecologist and obstetrician and occasional columnist for The Durango Herald, waited until the dust settled to work out conditions of the bet with Roger W. Cohen, who issued the challenge - 2008/02/28: GristMill: Familiar refrains from some fossil fossils - Big Energy promotes Big Energy at Houston energy conference
- 2008/02/29: GristMill: Progressive energy policy in Bayou City? Carl Pope talks market failures with energy execs at Houston energy conference
- 2008/02/29: Yahoo: Oil hits record high above 103 dollars [Gold at US$976.32/oz]
- 2008/02/28: GristMill: Cap-and-caulk - How smart climate policy can cut our energy costs
- 2008/02/28: TreeHugger: Who Wants To Steal The Climate Future?
- 2008/02/27: OilDrum: North American Natural Gas Production and EROI Decline
- 2008/02/27: PhysOrg: Researchers solve decade-old mystery of hydrogen storage material
- 2008/02/27: GristMill: Laundered coal by any other name kills the climate just the same - Is 'ethanol' short for 'laundered coal'?
- 2008/02/27: TreeHugger: Big Money in Texas Wind Power Boom
- 2008/02/27: NEN: AWEA's [Gregory] Wetstone spreads the word and the word is wind
- 2008/02/26: TEB: EU Research Shows that Hydrogen Energy Could Reduce Oil Consumption in Road Transport by 40% by 2050
- 2008/02/27: BBC: Deadly Cameroon riots over fuel
- 2008/02/26: IHT: Oil hits a high [US$100.88/barrel]; some in U.S. see $4 gas by spring
- 2008/02/26: Guardian(UK): Renewed energy [Jeremy Leggett]
A recent German experiment shows that renewable energy, harnessed on a national scale, can indeed replace fossil fuels and nuclear power - 2008/02/26: Telegraph(UK): The future is bright, the future is green - the long-term advantages of investing in newer sources of power
- 2008/02/26: People's Daily: Global wind power grew by 30 percent in 2007 [to 94,000 megawatts]
- 2008/02/25: ClimateP: Wildcatting the Wind in Texas
- 2008/02/25: UPI: Russian oil supply stop unsettles Germany
A brownout in Texas is being (unfairly?) blamed on wind:
- 2008/02/29: GristMill: When the wind blows - Wind power gets a bad rap after the Texas blackouts
- 2008/02/29: TreeHugger: How Not To Build A Wind-Based Economy
- 2008/02/28: WSJ:EnvCap: No Breeze: The Day the Wind Died in Texas
- 2008/02/27: Reuters: Loss of wind causes Texas power grid emergency
Meanwhile among the solar afficionados:
- 2008/03/01: SciNews: Today's solar cells give more than they take
- 2008/02/28: EnvFin: Australia to build world's largest solar PV plant
- 2008/02/28: KSJT: SF Chronicle: Solar cells get a double rap from UC Berkeley researchers
- 2008/02/28: PhysOrg: Capturing Sunlight: Indoline Dyes Improve Efficiency of Solar Cells
- 2008/02/28: TreeHugger: Coating Solar Cells to Boost their Lifespan
- 2008/02/27: NEN: First Solar: First in sun, first in earnings
- 2008/02/27: TEB: End in Site for Silicon Shortage in Solar industry
- 2008/02/26: NYT: Photovoltaic Cells Are Still Very Green, Comparative Test Shows
- 2008/02/26: TreeHugger: Moth Eyes May Hold Secret to Better Solar Panels
- 2008/02/25: ABC(Au): Solar to power homes in northern Vic
- 2008/02/25: NewScientist: Green invention special: Long-life solar cells
- 2008/02/25: PhysOrg: IMEC obtains record conversion efficiency of 24.7% for [single-junction] GaAs solar cells on Ge substrate
- 2008/02/25: GristMill: Sun spotty - Borenstein analysis of solar PV misses the point of California's solar program
The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:
- 2008/03/01: WaPo: 'Clean' Coal? Don't Try to Shovel That
[...] Clean coal: Never was there an oxymoron more insidious, or more dangerous to our public health. Invoked as often by the Democratic presidential candidates as by the Republicans and by liberals and conservatives alike, this slogan has blindsided any meaningful progress toward a sustainable energy policy - 2008/02/29: PRWatch: Coal on the Ropes: Part One
- 2008/02/27: PRWatch: Coal on the Ropes: Part Two
- 2008/02/28: GristMill: How will it end? Two chapters from the book of coal
- 2008/02/28: GristMill: Don't get burned - The dangers of funding new coal-fired plants
- 2008/02/27: EnergyDaily: Coal-Fired Power Industry Now In Similiar Position To Nuclear Power In 1970s
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2008/02/29: ClimateP: Can words describe how bad corn ethanol is?
- 2008/02/29: GristMill: There will be ethanol - Archer Daniels Midland will squeeze out competition, says Fortune
- 2008/02/29: WorldChanging: Biofuels: Driving in the Wrong Direction?
- 2008/02/27: MObjectivist: Sad State of Affairs
- 2008/02/28: AutoBG: University of Minnesota feels a $1.5m biofuel research pinch
- 2008/02/28: CNN: The ethanol boom is running out of gas as corn prices spike
Cargill announces it's scrapping plans for a $200 million ethanol plant near Topeka, Kan. A judge approves the bankruptcy sale of an unfinished ethanol plant in Canton, Ill.. And that was just Tuesday. Indeed, plans for as many as 50 new ethanol plants have been shelved in recent months, as Wall Street pulls back from the sector, says Paul Ho, a Credit Suisse investment banker specializing in alternative energy. Financing for new ethanol plants, Ho says, "has been shut down." - 2008/02/27: EnergyDaily: New US Biofuels Target Poses Risks And Rewards For Fuel Marketers And Refiners
- 2008/02/27: TreeHugger: California's (Misguided) Drive to Pump Up Biofuels
- 2008/02/27: WaPo: The Problem With Biofuels - More proof that there are no easy solutions to climate change
- 2008/02/26: NewsObserver: A new path to ethanol - Novozymes races to turn crop waste, not corn, into fuel
- 2008/02/25: KennebecJournal: Corn can't save us: Debunking the biofuel myth [Pimentel]
- 2008/02/22: TechRev: Fuel from Algae - A startup's [Solazyme] new process could make fuel from algae as cheap as petroleum
- 2008/02/25: PeakEnergy: Fuel From Algae
- 2008/02/25: WSJ:EnvCap: Opening the Ethanol Floodgates: Here Comes Brazil
- 2008/02/25: AutoBG: Canada not exactly swimming in available biofuels
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2008/02/27: EnergyDaily: Nuclear Plants Are Designed To Respond Safely To Electrical Grid Disturbances [Turkey Point power station in south Florida]
- 2008/02/26: CPunch: Nuclear Power and the Swing States - How Ohio Got Nuked
- 2008/02/: Platts:Insight: Uranium and the Nuclear Renaissance
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
- 2008/02/29: EnergyBulletin: Peak oil in Shell's National Dialogue on Energy Security
- 2008/02/29: SA: Deutsche Bank's $150 Call: Peak Oil Light
- 2008/02/27: WSJ:EnvCap: Another Peek at the Plateau
Anybody for abiotic oil?
- 2007/09/14: WEngdahl: Confessions of an "ex" Peak Oil Believer
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
- 2008/02/29: CPunch: Energy Efficiency May be a Good Thing, But It Won't Cut Energy Use - The Jevons Paradox
- 2008/02/29: ClimateP: Power plants costs double since 2000 -- Efficiency anyone?
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2008/03/01: AutoBG: EU estimates 16 million hydrogen-powered vehicles in Europe by 2030
- 2008/02/29: SF Gate:TTC: TED 2008: BMW betting on hydrogen
- 2008/02/29: AutoBG: EDTA responds to USA Today article that pooh-poohed plug-in vehicles
- 2008/02/29: People's Daily: Going green could boost BMW
- 2008/02/28: GristMill: Horsepower vs. mpg - A timeline of changes in automotive fuel economy
- 2008/02/28: AutoBG: Britons buying greener new cars in 2008
- 2008/02/27: SciDaily: New Electrodes May Provide Safer, More Powerful Lithium-ion (Li-ion) Batteries
- 2008/02/27: Eureka: UCLA researchers solve decade-old mystery
Their findings could lead to the production of environmentally friendly hydrogen gas fueled vehicles - 2008/02/26: TreeHugger: Miles EV Raises $15 Million for XS500 Electric Car
- 2008/02/26: AutoBG: New York '08 Preview: Milner ElectriCar plug-in hybrid
- 2008/02/25: ClimateP: [US] Hybrid sales up 27% in January
- 2008/02/25: TreeHugger: Volkswagen to Introduce 70 mpg Diesel-Electric Hybrid Golf
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2008/02/28: IHT: As green power investments rise, a fear they are being misguided
- 2008/02/28: EnvFin: NEF revises 2007 clean energy investment - again [$148.4 billion was invested in companies and projects last year, up 60% from 2006]
- 2008/02/28: EnvFin: Carbon neutrality fast becoming mainstream, says ICF
- 2008/02/27: GristMill: Wal-Mart wants your cleantech ideas
- 2008/02/24: TEB: Bank of America to Assess Cost of Carbon on Loans to Utility Companies
- 2008/02/25: MWatch: Trillions turn green - Investment dollars flow to climate change, clean tech
Meanwhile in the greenwashing ch