A Few Things Ill Considered

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July 6, 2008

• Top Stories: G8, Garnaut, WB Biofuel Report, Melting Arctic, WAIS, Plan B.V3, Penguins
• Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel
• Hurricanes, Myanmar, GHGs, Temperatures, Paleoclimate
• Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Wildfires, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Misc. Science, Hansen
• UN Messaging, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics:International, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, India, Canada
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Media, Video, Courts
• Energy, High Cost Impacts, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Peak Oil, Cars, Greenwashing, Insurance
• Carbon Lobby, The Usual, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

It's always nice to start with a larf:

• 2008/07/05: CJR: Skewering The "Green Issue" [in the Onion]
• 2008/07/04: TreeHugger: Cartoonists Find Climate Change Not So Funny

  After their Energy ministers, and Environment ministers met, the leaders of the G8 are meeting July 7-9 in Japan. Think they will do anything useful?

• G8Summit: Hokkaido Toyako Summit
• 2008/07/06: ABC(Au): No climate change progress without India, China: Bush
• 2008/07/06: BBC: G8 leaders face series of crises Rising food and oil costs, an uncertain global economy, climate change and Zimbabwe's political crisis face the G8 leaders who are gathering in Japan [July 7-9]
• 2008/07/06: PhysOrg: Climate deadlock seen at G8 despite 'constructive' Bush
• 2008/07/06: BBC: Summit fortress - Japanese resort shuts down ahead of G8 meeting
• 2008/07/05: TreeHugger: To Cut or Not to Cut? That's the G8 Question...
• 2008/07/05: Yahoo: UN chief [UNFCCC head, Yvo de Boer] to G8: climate change, food crisis linked
• 2008/07/04: CDreams: Nation: Bush's Last Chance on Climate [G8]
• 2008/07/05: CDreams: Reuters: Indigenous People Ask G8 for Climate Talk Inclusion
• 2008/07/05: CDreams: THR&OS: George Bush Meets the Environment-Part II
• 2008/07/05: Guardian(UK): G8 summit: Breathtaking venue with no protesters to spoil the view
• 2008/07/05: Guardian(UK): Gordon Brown: West must not give up on aid and climate change
• 2008/07/03: UN: Current global crises demand decisive action, Ban says ahead of G-8 summit
• 2008/07/04: Yahoo: No climate breakthrough on G8 horizon: UN climate chief [UNFCCC head, Yvo de Boer]
• 2008/07/03: VOA: China Expresses Willingness to Discuss Climate Change Goals at G8
• 2008/07/03: DeSmogBlog: Canada and the United States Worst on Climate Change
  So how is it that two of the world's most affluent countries are the worst climate polluters in the G8 group of nations?
• 2008/07/03: WaPo: Bush Makes Final Push for Global Climate Deal - At Talks in Japan, President Faces Opposition on Goals, Role of Developing Nations
• 2008/07/04: TStar: Food crisis on G8 leaders' plate
• 2008/07/03: NatureCF: G8 Hokkaido Summit: Climate Feedback coverage
• 2008/07/03: ABC(Au): Bush hopes for G8 solution on gas emissions
• 2008/07/02: GristMill: Summit like it hot - G8 leaders head to Hokkaido where Bush and his sherpa will provide climate guidance
• 2008/07/02: TerraDaily: Poor countries should set climate targets: Brazil leader [Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva]
• 2008/07/03: ENN: G8 could see climate deal and substance in doubt
• 2008/07/03: SF Gate: Leaders seek global emissions deal - Bush administration pushing for different standards at G-8 summit
• 2008/07/01: TerraDaily: Oil shock helps put global warming on G8's back burner
• 2008/07/01: Yahoo: IEA to push G8 leaders to commit to energy efficiency: director [Nobuo Tanaka]
• 2008/07/02: AFP: Poor countries should set climate targets: Brazil leader

  In Australia, Dr. Ross Garnaut released a draft of his climate report:

• 2008/07/04: GarnautReview: [link to 312k pdf] The Garnaut Climate Change Review
• 2008/07/06: ABC(Au): Garnaut says solid public support for emissions trading
• 2008/07/06: ABC(Au): Garnaut calls for bipartisan support for emissions trading
• 2008/07/06: ABC(Au): Rudd says trading scheme will raise living costs
• 2008/07/06: PeakEnergy: Garnaut's Theorem : E = M - C
• 2008/07/05: ABC(Au): Latrobe Valley fears Garnaut brown-out
• 2008/07/05: ABC(Au): Garnaut report clashes with NSW electricity plan: Greens
• 2008/07/05: ABC(Au): Garnaut report sparks call to arms for at-risk Barrier Reef
• 2008/07/04: Oikos: Garnaut Review out today
• 2008/07/05: SMH: Australia's harsh reality: adapt or perish
  Australians must pay more for petrol, food and energy or ultimately face a rising death toll, economic loss and the eventual destruction of the Great Barrier Reef, the snowfields, Kakadu and the nation's food bowl, the Murray-Darling Basin. That is the stark ultimatum presented yesterday by Professor Ross Garnaut in the first comprehensive assessment of the impact on the country of climate change.
• 2008/07/05: SMH: 2100, a climatic odyssey
  Thousands of deaths each year from heat stress. Hundreds of plant and animal species extinguished. An inland migration to escape rising sea levels and severe storms. And the end of agriculture in most of the Murray-Darling Basin. This is the climatic apocalypse facing Australia by 2100, Ross Garnaut warns.
• 2008/07/04: Guardian(UK): Australia's quality of life at risk without urgent action on climate change: [Garnaut] report
• 2008/07/04: ABC(Au): Garnaut urges emissions trading scheme 'without delay'
• 2008/07/04: PhysOrg: Australia needs carbon trading to fight climate change: [Garnaut] study
• 2008/07/04: JQuiggin: Garnaut draft report released
• 2008/07/04: GWWatch: Garnaut Draft: Critic discounts it by 33%
• 2008/07/04: ENN: Australian adviser [Ross Garnaut] unveils carbon trading scheme
• 2008/07/04: OilDrum: Waiting For Garnaut, No More
• 2008/07/04: PeakEnergy: Garnaut Report Released
• 2008/07/04: BBC: Australia 'needs carbon trading'
  An Australian government advisor on climate change is calling for a national emissions trading scheme to be set up to combat global warming. In a draft report, economist Ross Garnaut says the scheme should set limits on the amount of greenhouse gas a company can emit
• 2008/07/04: SMH: Australia must lead climate fight
  Australia will suffer more from climate change than any other developed nation and must take the lead in global action to tackle the problem, Professor Ross Garnaut will argue in his report today. The report, commissioned by the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, is designed to illuminate the costs of inaction. It is expected to find that global warming is proceeding faster than projected, and that doing nothing will be far more costly than expected.
• 2008/07/02: GWWatch: ACCI input into The Garnaut Report

  The Guardian newspaper has reported on a secret World Bank document which asserts biofuels have pushed up global food prices by 75%:

• 2008/07/04: Guardian(UK): Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis - Internal World Bank study delivers blow to plant energy drive
• 2008/07/03: Guardian(UK): The appetite for biofuel starves the poor
  The evidence is mounting. The biofuels bonanza is forcing millions in the developing world into poverty and hunger
• 2008/07/05: GristMill: The Guardian uncovers a 'secret' World Bank biofuel report - Economist says biofuels have pushed up global food prices by 75%
• 2008/07/06: FTimes:MaverEcon: Let's stop subsidising the production and use of bio-fuels [WB]
• 2008/07/05: GEA: Insane U.S. Ethanol Policies - A World Bank Report suggests Biofuels behind food price hikes
• 2008/07/04: CDreams: Guardian(UK): Secret Report: Biofuel Caused Food Crisis
• 2008/07/05: Xinhuanet: World Bank report: Biofuels force food prices rise by 75%
• 2008/07/05: SMH: Biofuels send food costs soaring: report
  Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75 per cent - far more than previously estimated - a confidential World Bank report reveals.
• 2008/07/04: ABC(US): Report Blames Biofuels for Food Crisis - A Report Leaked To The Guardian Newspaper Blames Biofuels For Food Shortage
• 2008/07/04: EUO: Food and fuel crises pushing world into 'danger zone', says World Bank
• 2008/07/04: PhysOrg: Biofuels behind food price hikes: leaked World Bank report
• 2008/07/04: TreeHugger: Secret World Bank Report Says Biofuels Are Prime Cause of Food Crisis
• 2008/07/04: Yahoo: Biofuels behind food price hikes: leaked World Bank report
• 2008/07/04: JBS: Biofuels to Blame for 75% of Food Price Increase: World Bank
• 2008/07/04: TMoS: Biofuels Drive Food Crisis
• 2008/07/04: DerSpiegel: World Bank Leak - Biofuels May Be Even Worse than First Thought
• 2008/07/04: CBC: Biofuel production boosts food prices by 75%, report suggests
• 2008/07/04: AFP: Biofuels behind food price hikes: leaked World Bank report
• 2008/07/04: NakedCapitalism: World Bank: Biofuels Increased Food Prices 75%

  The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:

• 2008/07/05: Stoat: Large and Rapid Melt-Induced Velocity Changes in the Ablation Zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet?
• 2008/07/03: ERabett: What's the earliest the NW Passage ever opened?
• 2008/07/03: DotEarth: A Tempered View of Greenland's Gushing Drainpipes
• 2008/07/03: DotEarth: Fire Under North Pole Ice - More View
• 2008/07/03: NewScientist: Greenland ice sheet slams the brakes on
• 2008/07/01: DotEarth: What's Up With Volcanoes Under Arctic Sea Ice
• 2008/07/01: ABC(Au): Arctic ice cap could melt by 2070, Russia warns
• 2008/07/01: GWWatch: Arctic sea ice extent running close to record
• 2008/07/01: ABC(Au): Arctic ice cap could melt by 2070, Russia warns
• 2008/06/30: NatureTGB: An ice free North Pole?

  As does the geopolitical posturing:

• 2008/07/04: NatPo: Canada will claim Arctic shelf in 2013 [says Natural Resource Minister Gary Lunn]
• 2008/07/01: CNN: Arctic Holds 100 Billion Bbl Oil In Unexplored Fields-US Government Expert [Donald Gautier]

  Here is a report on rapid WAIS collapse to starch your shorts:

• 2008/06/25: ABC(Au): Rising seas threaten west Antarctic
  [...] Dr Bradley Opdyke, a paleoceanographer from the Australia National University (ANU) believes the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) could partially collapse within 20 years, resulting in a dramatic jump in sea levels.
• 2008/07/03: PeakEnergy: Rising seas threaten west Antarctic [WAIS]

  Real Climate did a good report on filtering ENSO out of long term trends:

• 2008/07/04: RealClimate: Global trends and ENSO

  Lester Brown has a new Plan B, Version 3:

• 2008/07/02: EPI: (link to pdf) Time for Plan B: Cutting Carbon Emissions 80 Percent by 2020
• 2008/07/05: PeakEnergy: A Look At Plan B, Version 3
• 2008/07/02: NBF: Lester Brown Plan B is mathematically and logistically flawed
• 2008/07/02: GristMill: 'There is no box' - Lester Brown unveils plan for 80 percent cuts by 2020

  Meanwhile on the iconic animals front:

• 2008/07/02: NatureTGB: 'Canary' penguins herald ocean doom
• 2008/07/01: Eureka: Penguins setting off sirens over health of world's oceans
• 2008/07/01: CBC: Penguin march linked to ocean troubles [impacts]

  The food crisis remains a top story:

• 2008/07/03: PlanetArk: Some 1.5 Bln People May Starve Due to Land Erosion - FAO
• 2008/07/02: Europa: Climate change threatens global food and water supply
  Scientists from all over the world representing some of the most prestigious national academies of science from the countries of the G8 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission), Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa have issued a warning that is making people sit up and take note.
• 2008/07/02: AllAfrica: DailyChampion: Nigeria: Food Scarcity Blamed On High Oil Price
• 2008/07/03: DailyTimes(Pk): Mill owners refuse to reduce flour prices
• 2008/06/30: USAToday: In food crisis, Asians look to agriculture
• 2008/06/30: BBC: Pakistan's poor hit as food prices soar
• 2008/07/01: VoxEU: The global food crisis: A toolkit for audacious leaders
  Food riots, starvation, malnutrition, and supply-driven inflation -- the global food crisis is upon us. Here one of the world's leading development economists discusses short-, medium-, and long-run solutions.
• 2008/06/30: CitizenTimes: Why the sudden food crisis?
  [...] Few are ready to talk about the carrying capacity of Earth and whether we are exceeding it. Perhaps the time has come to realize that Earth is close to being stressed beyond its ability to support the people inhabiting it. It is not just the food we grow, but the damage we are causing to the land by over-farming, the addition of pollutants to the atmosphere bringing on rapid climate change, and the now-generation approach that we must have it all. We have not grasped the concept of sustainability
• 2008/06/30: NYT: Hoarding Nations Drive Food Costs Ever Higher
• 2008/06/30: SMH: [Australian] Farmers suffer fertiliser drought in wake of mergers
• 2008/07/03: PeakEnergy: Wheat Prices Drop
• 2008/07/03: BBC: China to increase grain output
  China's cabinet has approved a plan to ensure grain production keeps pace with strong domestic demand and overcomes challenges such as climate change. China aims to reach and maintain annual grain output of 500 million tonnes by 2010, and to increase output to more than 540 million tonnes a year by 2020.
• 2008/07/01: CPunch: Monsanto and GM Food - The Global Seed Police
• 2008/07/01: CCurrents: The Rise of Food Fascism: Agrarian Elite Foments Coup In Bolivia
• 2008/07/02: NYT: Plea for Aid to Avert Starvation
  Warning that rising food and oil prices pose a crisis for the world's poor, Robert B. Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, is calling on President Bush and other leaders convening in Japan next week in an economic summit meeting to make new aid commitments to avert starvation and instability in dozens of countries.
• 2008/06/29: Guardian(UK): Home-grown veg ruined by toxic fertiliser [aminopyralid]
  Gardeners across Britain are reaping a bitter harvest of rotten potatoes, withered salads and deformed tomatoes after an industrial herbicide tainted their soil
• 2008/07/02: Guardian(UK): Abu Dhabi develops food farms in Sudan
• 2008/06/30: TerraDaily: Philippines: Three percent of farm output lost to typhoon [Fengshen]
• 2008/07/01: TreeHugger: Midwest Flooding Brings to Light the Vulnerability of Corn Ethanol
• 2008/06/30: VOA: Mercosur Summit to Tackle Food Crisis, EU Migration Policy

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2008/07/01: OilChange: "We are holding ourselves hostage to the weather" [food vs biofuel]

  In the NE Pacific, Boris & Cristina died and Douglas was born, while Bertha started a slow march across the Atlantic:

• 2008/07/05: Wunderground: Bertha may pose a long-range threat to the U.S.
• 2008/07/04: Wunderground: Bertha slowly intensifies, continues west-northwest
• 2008/07/03: DotEarth: Tropical Storm Bertha Born, But Threat Unclear
• 2008/07/03: Wunderground: Tropical Storm Bertha forms--and sets a record
• 2008/07/03: Yahoo: Tropical depression forms in Atlantic Ocean
• 2008/07/02: Wunderground: African disturbance 92L chugs west; California fires generating significant pollution
• 2008/07/01: Wunderground: African disturbance 92L could develop into tropical depression

  Still not much news from Myanmar:

• 2008/07/04: DVB: Some progress in cyclone relief but help still needed
• 2008/07/04: DVB: Analysis: Junta's information black-out
• 2008/07/03: UN: Two months after deadly cyclone [Nargis] struck Myanmar, devastation remains - UN
• 2008/07/03: ESA: Extended cyclone relief efforts aided from space [Myanmar]
• 2008/07/03: CBC: Burmese cyclone victims rescued from human trafficker, report says

  Elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2008/07/01: UN: Food aid continues in Bangladesh, months after deadly cyclone [Sidr] - UN agency
• 2008/06/30: Wunderground: July Atlantic hurricane outlook

  Meanwhile GHGs are still going up:

• 2008/07/03: EnvFin: Imports boost UK CO2 emissions - government report
• 2008/07/04: PhysOrg: Carbon dioxide emissions associated with UK consumption increase
• 2008/07/03: Guardian(UK): UK's CO2 emissions higher than official figures, government admits
• 2008/07/03: ABC(Au): Plasma, LCDs blamed for accelerating global warming [NF3]
• 2008/07/03: OilChange: How Your Flat-Screen Fries the Climate
• 2008/07/03: Guardian(UK): Climate risk from flat-screen TVs
• 2008/06/30: C411: Picturing U.S. Carbon Emissions

  As are the temperatures:

• 2008/07/03: TreeHugger: Heat Wave Temperatures to Reach Record Highs by End of Century
• 2008/07/02: PhysOrg: Hot future shock: Heat wave temperatures to soar

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2008/07/04: SciDaily: Geologists Push Back Date Basins Formed, Supporting Frozen Earth Theory

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2008/07/06: SciDaily: Acidifying Oceans Add Urgency To Carbon Dioxide Cuts
• 2008/07/05: PeakEnergy: Turning The Ocean Sour
• 2008/07/05: Guardian(UK): Arctic foxes at risk as polar ice recedes
• 2008/07/03: MongaBay: CO2 emissions could doom fishing industry
• 2008/07/03: DeSmogBlog: Penguins the Latest Climate Change Canary
• 2008/07/03: PhysOrg: Acidifying oceans add urgency to CO2 cuts
• 2008/07/03: Eureka: Acidifying oceans add urgency to CO2 cuts
• 2008/07/02: Eureka: Instances of mass die-offs in wild lions precipitated by extreme climate change
• 2008/07/02: TerraDaily: War, drought and inflation threaten Horn with disaster: UNICEF
• 2008/07/02: NatureN: Deep trouble - Global warming is forcing North Sea fish to head to greater depths.
• 2008/06/29: Yahoo: Fish Fade Away, Crabs Take Over
• 2008/07/01: Forbes:AP: Omaha storm caused $10 million in utility damage
• 2008/06/30: TreeHugger: USDA Study: Climate Change Could Benefit Super Weeds More Than Crops

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2008/07/05: ClimateP: Rainforest Destruction - Greater and More Concentrated
• 2008/07/01: ClimateP: Tropical Rain Forests: Bad to Worse

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2008/07/02: TP:WonkRoom: Global Boiling: Climate Activists Call For Response To Extreme Weather
• 2008/07/01: CBC: Downpour leaves Lethbridge in state of emergency - An average July's worth of rain drenches city in 90 minutes

  We have heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2008/07/06: DailyIndia: Heat wave coming to scorched California - 105 degrees F. expected Monday
• 2008/07/06: AP: Tired firefighters battle 330 Calif. wildfires
• 2008/07/06: SMH: Thousands flee raging bushfires...along California's central coast...
• 2008/07/05: CNN: Weather aids California firefighters
  Cool, damp air lets crews move personnel, equipment - Mandatory evacuation order extended south of national forest - Governor seeks $12 fee from taxpayers for fire control - Arizona evacuees to be allowed to return home
• 2008/07/05: TreeHugger: A Picture is Worth... Northern California's Wildfires
• 2008/07/05: DailyIndia: Thousands relocated by Canadian wildfires
• 2008/07/05: CBC: Hundreds more to flee forest-fire threat in Saskatchewan
• 2008/07/04: BBC: Firemen in California are continuing to battle huge wildfires which threaten several towns in the US state
• 2008/07/04: BBC: Fires cause California evacuation
• 2008/07/04: SMH: Big Sur, California, evacuated after wildfires
• 2008/07/01: CBC: Fires force 1,100 from homes in northern Sask.
• 2008/07/01: PhysOrg: Fires Burning Near Big Sur, California
• 2008/07/01: AP: California firefighters have to pick their battles
• 2008/06/30: BBC: Crews battle California wildfires - Fire-fighters in Northern California are struggling to contain more than 1,000 wildfires that have been burning for more than a week.
• 2008/06/30: CBC: Forest fire hits 2 remote communities in northern Saskatchewan

  And speaking of floods & droughts:

• 2008/07/06: SMH: Locust threat - The drought is extending its grip across NSW and a locust plague is tipped to threaten crops in spring
• 2008/07/05: DailyIndia: Australian state [New South Wales] facing drought, locusts
• 2008/07/02: Reuters: U.S. Midwest floods show signs of global warming
• 2008/07/02: CSM: After this flood, FEMA earns praise - Federal, state, and local agencies responded quickly, say many Midwest residents.

  On the mitigation front, consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2008/07/01: GPM: Airbus And Boeing Face A Dark And Painful Future
• 2008/06/30: FPB: Airlines literally running out of gas
• 2008/07/01: FactCheck: Can a freight train really move a ton of freight 436 miles on a gallon of fuel?

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2008/07/02: TerraDaily: Carbon capture: pipe dream or climate change weapon?
• 2008/07/02: DeSmogBlog: CCS: An Idea Whose Time Is Way Behind Schedule!
• 2008/07/02: Yahoo: Carbon capture: pipe dream or climate change weapon?
• 2008/07/01: NatureTGB: Germany sinks carbon dioxide
• 2008/06/30: Yahoo: Experts urge states to invest in CO2 carbon capture and storage
• 2008/06/30: DerSpiegel: Pumping carbon beneath the earth - German Test Facility to Start CO2 Sequestration
  A power plant just outside of Berlin is expected to test carbon sequestration for the first time this week. The technology, which would see coal-fired power plants pumping CO2 underground, could help reverse climate change. But it could also be dangerous.
• 2008/07/01: Guardian(UK): Global warming: Government puts carbon capture on fast track
• 2008/06/29: LTM: Carbon sequestration: bury the idea, not the CO2
• 2008/06/30: PhysOrg: Germany to start storing carbon dioxide underground
• 2008/06/30: TreeHugger: New Carbon Storage Project to Begin in Germany
• 2008/06/30: ENN: [24] Japanese companies work together on CCS

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2008/07/01: TreeHugger: This Month In Wired: Geoengineering and Ken Caldeira

  While on the adaptation front:

• 2008/07/04: TreeHugger: Move to Canada if You Want to Avoid the Worst of Climate Change
• 2008/07/04: Telegraph(UK): Canada best to escape climate change
• 2008/07/03: NewYorker: The Island in the Wind [Samsø] - A Danish community's victory over carbon emissions.
• 2008/06/30: GristMill: Milk jug gets a makeover - Another example of how carbon constraints may benefit big box retailers

  And in the journals:

• 2008/06/20: Arxiv: Some comments on the possible causes of climate change by L. Padget & J. Dunning-Davies
• 2008/07/01: TCD: On the use of incoming longwave radiation parameterizations in a glacier environment by J. Sedlar & R. Hock
• 2008/07/02: ACP: Morphology of the tropopause layer and lower stratosphere above a tropical cyclone: a case study on cyclone Davina (1999) by F. Cairo et al.
• 2008/06/30: ACP: Impacts of climate change on air pollution levels in the Northern Hemisphere with special focus on Europe and the Arctic by G. B. Hedegaard et al.
• 2008/06/30: ACPD: On the diagnosis of climate sensitivity using observations of fluctuations by D. Kirk-Davidoff
• 2008/07/01: PNAS: Reply to Barbraud et al.: King penguin population threatened by Southern Ocean warming by Céline Le Bohec et al.
• 2008/07/01: PNAS: [Letter] Are king penguin populations threatened by Southern Ocean warming? by Christophe Barbraud et al.

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

• 2008/07/02: Eureka: University of Hawaii researchers discover new pathway for methane production in the oceans
• 2008/07/01: TerraDaily: Ways To Tame The Climate - Scientists from 12 academies round the world have met in Tokyo to issue a statement...

  More Hansen:

• 2008/07/02: Tamino: Cycling Carbon
• 2008/06/29: EnergyBulletin: Free speech and the fate of humanity

  Meanwhile at the UN:

• 2008/06/30: UN: Cost of curbing climate change not as high as assumed, says UN official [Rajendra K. Pachauri]
• 2008/07/04: PhysOrg: Only seven years left for global warming target: UN panel chief [Rajendra Pachauri]
• 2008/07/03: Reuters: Next U.S. president likely to agree to CO2 cuts: UN [UNFCCC head, Yvo de Boer]
• 2008/07/03: Guardian(UK): Paying the price for global growth by Ban Ki Moon
  The food and fuel crisis, and climate change, are the ties that bind us all. The leaders of the G8 must act, at the Hokkaido Toyako summit and beyond
• 2008/07/03: PhysOrg: UN's climate change guru [UNFCCC head, Yvo de Boer] sees record oil price as a positive
• 2008/07/03: WaPo: Global Action to Save Global Growth by Ban Ki-moon [G8]
• 2008/07/01: CCurrents: The World's Will To Tackle Climate Change Is Irresistible
• 2008/07/01: Yahoo: UN chief urges rich nations to lead on Africa, climate
• 2008/06/30: Yahoo: Eco progress to continue despite economic woes: IPCC chief
• 2008/06/29: SwissInfo: UN climate chief warns of leadership vacuum
• 2008/06/30: Guardian(UK): The world's will to tackle climate change is irresistible - Far from stymying the environmental cause, the downturn in the world's economies highlights just how pressing it is

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

• 2008/07/02: GristMill: The dogma whisperer - A possible consensus perspective on the tax vs. cap debate

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2008/07/06: ClimateP: Making the Clean Tech Fund Clean
• 2008/07/03: EnvFin: World Bank approves $5 billion climate funds
• 2008/07/03: BBC: Environment ministers from the South Asian regional body, SAARC, have agreed on measures to tackle climate change
• 2008/07/02: ENN: World Bank approves climate funds before G8 summit

  And on the American political front:

• 2008/07/06: NYT: American Energy Policy, Asleep at the Spigot
• 2008/07/05: CalcRisk: U.S. Energy Consumption as Percent of GDP
• 2008/07/04: NatureCF: One earth, one US agency
• 2008/07/03: MongaBay: U.S. should merge NOAA, USGS to form national Environmental Agency [say a group of former senior federal officials]
• 2008/07/04: TreeHugger: Massachusetts Unveils Ambitious Renewables and Energy Efficiency Bill
• 2008/07/02: HoustonChronicle: EPA considers requests on easing ethanol rules
• 2008/07/03: GristMill: Sweetening the deal - Lugar calls for end to tariff on Brazilian sugarcane ethanol
• 2008/07/03: C411: The Problem with the Pew Poll [US pol]
• 2008/07/03: GWWatch: Cap 'n Trade on US election menu
• 2008/07/03: ClimateP: Climate change imperils 4th of July -- again!
• 2008/07/03: USAToday: Climate Scorecard ranks U.S. last among largest economies
• 2008/07/02: GristMill: A fuel's errand - Republican House members ask EPA to scale back ethonol mandate
• 2008/07/02: GristMill: Crisis and opportunity in the farm belt - Sen. Grassley: Screw conservation, let's grow more corn!
• 2008/07/02: GristMill: No shame in our game - Climate policy isn't a pill to swallow, it's a way off a sinking ship
• 2008/07/01: GristMill: Textbook case - New edition of AP American Government book retains false information about climate change
• 2008/07/02: WSJ:EnvCap: Summer Sacrilege: U.S. Climate Approach Finds Backers
• 2008/07/01: EnergyBulletin: Democrats are blowing our best chance for clean energy
• 2008/07/01: C411: Climate Bills Introduced in the House
• 2008/06/30: GristMill: [Jason] Burnett at the stake - Former EPA official talks about White House's unwillingness to regulate greenhouse gas emissions
• 2008/06/29: CDreams: Blind and Naked Ignorance

  In a sudden turnaround, the BLM reversed its solar moratorium:

• 2008/07/04: AutoBG: Solar moratorium full speed reverse
• 2008/07/04: NEN: BLM backs off solar power plants
• 2008/07/03: KSJT: Wires, NYTimes, etc: Feds undo their solar energy moratorium on public lands
• 2008/07/03: ClimateP: Bush BLM flip flops back to sanity
• 2008/07/02: DeSmogBlog: US Solar Moratorium Canceled
• 2008/07/03: PeakEnergy: BLM Moratorium Lifted
• 2008/07/03: NYT: U.S. [BLM] Lifts Moratorium on New Solar Projects
• 2008/07/02: TreeHugger: New Solar Energy Applications Will Continue to Be Accepted by BLM
• 2008/07/01: TreeHugger: U.S. Solar Moratorium on Public Lands, Part Two: The Industry Strikes Back
• 2008/07/01: NEN: More impediments to solar from Bush admin

  One White House suppressed EPA document is explosive:

• 2008/07/01: GristMill: Back draft - The EPA documents the White House doesn't want you to see
• 2008/07/02: DeSmogBlog: White House Covers Up $2 Trillion Global Warming Benefit
• 2008/07/01: ClimateP: White House disses Supreme Court, kills $2 trillion savings
• 2008/06/29: CattleNet: White House Fights To Edit EPA Document Outlining GHG Regs
• 2008/06/30: TP:WonkRoom: Bush Hiding Truth: Global Warming Regulations Worth $2 Trillion Benefit

  A court in Georgia has blocked construction of a new coal-fired power station:

• 2008/07/03: NEN: Another coal plant goes down in court
• 2008/07/03: BBC: The US state of Georgia has blocked construction of a new coal-fired power station because of concerns over its carbon dioxide emissions
• 2008/07/01: KSJT: Wires, WSJournal, NYTimes, Atl. Journal-Constitution, etc: A Georgia judge nixes coal plant, cites CO2 pollution
• 2008/06/30: ClimateP: Georgia judge blocks coal plant over CO2 emissions
• 2008/07/01: ENN: [Georgia, USA] Judge: Reduce CO2 Or Don't Build Coal Plant
• 2008/07/01: HillHeat: Citing Threat Of Global Warming, Georgia Judge Blocks Coal Plant
• 2008/06/30: TP:WonkRoom: Citing Threat Of Global Warming, Georgia Judge Blocks Coal Plant

  One hears a lot about the campaigns, not much about their climate & energy policies:

• 2008/07/03: GristMill: The drill of the chase - RNC to drop $3 million on ads hitting Obama on energy
• 2008/07/02: ClimateP: McCain's new energy ad -- the media is (almost) on to his cynical doubletalk
• 2008/07/02: GristMill: Derailed - McCain just not that into Amtrak
• 2008/07/01: GristMill: 'Often contradictory stances' - Mainstream media realizes that McCain's energy rhetoric and record don't match up
• 2008/07/02: ENN: McCain and Obama's Plans to Combat Climate Change

  While in the UK:

• 2008/07/03: Guardian(UK): Stop Boris Johnson from hitting reverse gear
• 2008/07/02: Guardian(UK): Climate change is no longer just a middle-class issue - Today's poll shows that public concern about climate change has reached a critical mass and now includes the less well-off
• 2008/07/03: Guardian(UK): Climate change: Time for deeds not words to reach emissions target, PwC [PricewaterhouseCoopers] study warns
• 2008/07/03: Guardian(UK): Avoiding climate change disaster is affordable , says PwC
• 2008/07/02: Guardian(UK): Climate more urgent than economy, say voters
• 2008/07/02: Guardian(UK): Transport: London mayor [Boris] unveils congestion charge rethink
• 2008/06/30: ABC(Au): Britain gears up for $200b green shift

  And in Europe:

• 2008/07/06: PhysOrg: Germany wants to build 30 windfarms
• 2008/07/05: PhysOrg: EU ministers 'discover' biofuels not an obligation
  European Union energy ministers announced during an informal meeting Saturday that they had been labouring for 18 months under the false impression that an EU plan to fight global warming included an obligation to develop controversial biofuels. Documents issued by the EU since the ambitious energy and climate plan was unveiled in January 2007 have consistently said 10 percent of all vehicle fuel by 2020 would come from fuels made from plants. The vast majority of biofuels in production today are extracted from corn and sugar crops. "The member states realised that the Commission's plan specifies that 10 percent of transport needs must come from renewable energy, not 10 percent from biofuels," Jean-Louis Borloo, the French environment and energy minister, said at the close of the three-day ministerial gathering.
• 2008/07/05: AFP: Europe must end energy dependence on Russia: ex-IEA chief [Claude Mandil]
• 2008/07/01: EnergyDaily: Norwegians fume as new 'climate tax' on fuel takes effect
• 2008/06/30: EUO: EU biofuels target 'probably a mistake,' France says
• 2008/07/01: PhysOrg: New Austrian laws promote eco-friendly cars
• 2008/06/30: AutoBG: Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne still hating on EU CO2 regulations

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2008/07/06: ABC(Au): Agencies join forces to combat climate change
  A number of organisations have formed what they describe as "an historic alliance" to tackle climate change and make jobs at the same time. Calling itself the Southern Cross Coalition, the alliance includes several peak bodies such as the ACTU, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Climate Institute.
• 2008/07/06: ABC(Au): QRC [Queensland Resources Council] backs emissions trading scheme
• 2008/07/06: SMH: It's crunch time for PM - Kevin Rudd now faces massive political problems in turning his climate change rhetoric into dollars and cents reality...
• 2008/07/05: ABC(Au): [Federal Opposition Leader Brendan] Nelson defends fuel stance
• 2008/07/05: SMH: Emissions trading delay second-best option
  The Rudd Government could soften the political effect of an emissions trading scheme by delaying its full implementation for two years, under an option contained in the Garnaut report.
• 2008/07/05: SMH: As the right goes green, [Brendan] Nelson is the odd man out
• 2008/07/05: ABC(Au): Govt under pressure over carbon trading time frame
• 2008/07/04: ABC(Au): [Federal Treasurer Wayne] Swan urges China to act on climate change
• 2008/07/04: ABC(Au): Govt urged to act swiftly on Garnaut findings [by environmental and industry groups]
• 2008/07/04: ABC(Au): Rudd pushing 'half-cocked' emissions trading scheme [says Federal Opposition]
• 2008/07/04: ABC(Au): Pioneer [Munmorah] clean-coal trial 'window-dressing'
  The New South Wales Greens say an Australian-first clean-coal pilot project on the state's central coast is another example of the State Government just tinkering around the edges of the climate change challenge.
• 2008/07/03: ABC(Au): Clean coal solution holds the key: Switkowski
  Nuclear energy advocate Ziggy Switkowski says finding a way to burn coal cleanly would be the biggest contribution Australia could make to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions
• 2008/07/03: ABC(Au): Business Council warns against 'carbon trading scaremongering'
• 2008/07/03: ABC(Au): Households to pay higher energy costs, warns business chief [Greig Gailey]
  "We won't foot the bill." That is the blunt message from big business the day before Professor Ross Garnaut delivers his long-awaited report on the impact of an emissions trading scheme.
• 2008/07/02: ABC(Au): Coastal developers look at climate forecasts - The potential for rising sea levels and their likely effect on coastal development are being investigated in South Australia.
• 2008/07/02: ABC(Au): Climate change targets too low: academic
• 2008/07/03: ABC(Au): Greenpeace activists chained to coal conveyor [at Lake Macquarie power station]
• 2008/07/02: ABC(Au): Most stumped by emissions scheme: survey
• 2008/07/02: ABC(Au): Govt releases paper on renewable energy target
• 2008/07/02: ABC(Au): After Garnaut, the big questions will remain unanswered
• 2008/07/01: ABC(Au): Climate change laws tabled in Parliament
  The Tasmanian Government's new climate change legislation doesn't include interim targets to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions
• 2008/07/01: ABC(Au): Business unprepared for emission trading scheme: survey
• 2008/07/01: ABC(Au): [Federal Minister for Climate Change, Penny] Wong says Australians want leadership on climate change

  The Federal & State governments have come to an agreement on managing the Murray-Darling river system:

• 2008/07/04: SMH: At last a deal to rescue the Murray
  The Rudd Government has finally clinched agreement with the states to hand control of the Murray-Darling Basin to a single independent body, but has argued that without rain authorities are powerless to save the stricken river system.
• 2008/07/05: ABC(Au): Rudd 'lacks credibility' on Murray-Darling crisis [says federal Opposition]
• 2008/07/03: ABC(Au): Govt pledges $3.7b to save Murray-Darling
• 2008/07/03: ABC(Au): Murray-Darling rescue needed 'now'

  BoM & CSIRO have released a disturbing climate report:

• 2008/07/06: PhysOrg: Australian climate report like 'disaster novel': minister
• 2008/07/06: Yahoo: Australian [BoM/CSIRO] climate report like 'disaster novel': minister
• 2008/07/06: ABC(Au): 'Disturbing' drought report released
• 2008/07/06: Yahoo: Climate study like disaster book: [Australian Federal Agriculture Minister Tony] Burke
• 2008/07/06: GWWatch: Frequent Extreme Weather Events scenario for 20 years

  In India, the government has released its first climate change plan:

• 2008/07/03: CNet: [link to pdf] India reveals its first climate change plan
• 2008/07/02: Guardian(UK): India tackles climate change with renewable energy
• 2008/06/30: Yahoo: India in solar energy push as climate plan launched
• 2008/06/30: Hindu: PM for equitable and fair global climate change framework
• 2008/06/30: TreeHugger: Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Key to India's New Climate Plan
• 2008/06/30: BBC: India unveils climate change plan
  The Indian government has unveiled a national action plan to confront the threat posed by climate change. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the plan envisaged a gradual shift to greater reliance on sustainable sources of energy. Mr Singh said the development of India's capacity to tap solar power would be central to the strategy. But the prime minister made no commitment to cut his country's carbon emissions which are predicted to rise.

In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:

• 2008/07/04: DeSmogBlog: Climate Spin for Canada's Conservative Government
• 2008/07/03: CanWest: Feds [Canadian tories] cool to climate-change program - World Bank funds to help poor nations cope with warming
• 2008/07/03: TSDoM: Do Nothing Conservatives Strike Again
• 2008/07/02: G&M: Carbon-tax policy stirs political tensions [NRTEE, Cons & Dion]
• 2008/06/30: Impolitical: It isn't easy for Harpie to be green
• 2008/06/30: TStar: Change in the political climate

  The Liberals "Green Shift" carbon tax plan continues to draw comment:

• 2008/07/05: CBC: Dion mixes Stampede with politics to sell Green Shift
• 2008/07/05: WpgSun: Tied up over issues - Dion's much-touted 'green shift' fails to win over supporters, poll finds
• 2008/07/05: BCLSB: Green Shift A Wash?
• 2008/07/05: RCC: Canada Needs a Consensus on Carbon: CCCE [Canadian Council of Chief Executives]
• 2008/07/05: NatPo: Carbon tax plan may extend past energy sector
• 2008/07/05: TStar: Dion in the lion's den
• 2008/07/04: CanWest: [Regina MP Ralph] Goodale alone in selling carbon tax to voters
• 2008/07/04: G&M: Can Campbell and Dion find a comfortable fit for their green plans?
• 2008/07/04: CanWest: Dion defends 'Green Shift' slogan as legal battle heats up
• 2008/07/04: CanWest: Let the carbon tax debate begin
• 2008/07/04: TStar: If we don't step forward, no one will [green shift]
• 2008/07/03: CanWest: Dion challenges PM to carbon-tax debate - Says Harper uses 'low blow politics'; Liberal leader wants to hold duel in Calgary but Tory chief dismisses rival's challenge
• 2008/07/03: CanWest: Dion's Liberals roll the dice with their Green Shift
• 2008/07/02: BCiTO: Mason: Carbon shift opponents "playing politics with the planet"
• 2008/07/02: G&M: Pointless to rush a carbon emissions plan
• 2008/07/02: WpgFP: The worse, the better, Dion believes
• 2008/07/01: ScottsDiatribe: Mark Francis answers your questions on Green Shift
• 2008/06/30: ScottsDiatribe: Don't let facts get in the way of your fearmongering
• 2008/06/30: HillTimes: Tories trying to frame 'green shift' as a tax issue, not environmental
  David McGuinty says Stephen Harper's 'screw everybody' language appears like he's 'a junk yard dog backed into a corner'
• 2008/06/30: CanWest: Dion set to face West's ire in bid to sell carbon tax - Tories liken anti-pollution levy to despised national energy program

  The Tories did a lot of positioning trying to leverage the G8 summit:

• 2008/07/05: Impolitical: Look, bright shiny object over there says Baird [G8]
• 2008/07/02: Canoe: Harper says top polluters must join pact
• 2008/07/03: CBCandy: Screw you, Stephen Harper - Harper "There's no point in reaching an agreement on climate change until all the biggest polluters agree"
• 2008/07/03: TStar: PM [Harper] predicts progress on climate after Bush
• 2008/07/03: CanWest: Canada won't support global climate-change funds - As G8 summit looms, Ottawa hasn't agreed to back programs to help developing nations

  BC's carbon tax kicked in as of July 1st:

• 2008/07/03: ENN: Drivers on Canadian West Coast paying carbon tax
• 2008/07/03: Tyee: Freeways Jam up Climate Plan - 'Gateway' will wipe out Libs' green goals: expert
• 2008/07/02: G&M: B.C.'s Carbon Tax - A Canada Day resolution: Don't let the politicians do your thinking for you
• 2008/07/01: G&M: Day 1 of B.C.'s tax revs up political pressure
• 2008/07/01: CBC: B.C. carbon tax kicks in on Canada Day
• 2008/07/01: CanWest: [BC] Carbon tax boosts gas prices starting today - About 2.4 cents a litre added to pump price...
• 2008/06/26: DSuzuki: Environmental "reality check" aims to clear the air on B.C. carbon tax
• 2008/06/28: CanWest: Environmental coalition gallops to the defence of the carbon tax
• 2008/06/30: G&M: All the pain Campbell's inflicting could well be for naught

  The tricky & difficult question of the tar sands looms:

• 2008/07/03: TreeHugger: Library Late Fees in Alberta Are 16 Times Bigger than Environmental Fines at the Alberta Tar Sands
• 2008/07/02: DeSmogBlog: Dirty Oil Sands Ad Greets Alberta Premier in Wyoming
• 2008/06/27: CanWest: Alberta oil no longer an easy sell in U.S.
• 2008/06/30: CanWest: Governors cheer oilsands - Western lawmakers praise reliable energy supply

  Ontario energy policy is in play:

• 2008/07/02: REA: Will Renewables Trump Nuclear in Ontario?

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

• 2008/07/: MR: Ecology -- The Moment of Truth - An Introduction
• 2008/06/29: EconView: Sachs: "Simplistic Free-Market Optimism is Misplaced"

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

• 2008/07/03: GristMill: Revisiting Malthus
• 2008/07/01: Atlantic:TC: The Return of Thomas Malthus

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2008/06/30: CJR: The Prediction Predicament - The risks in reporting long-range weather forecasts
• 2008/06/30: MTobis: Sleight-of-Mind
• 2008/07/05: RFK_AF: Hey progressive bloggers -- Stop carrying the Republican's pollen
  The number one rule of framing is: YOU NEVER REPEAT YOUR OPPONENT'S FRAME. I know it's difficult-- Republicans say shit that makes us insane in the head. But anytime you feel like repeating a Republican sound bite, don't.
• 2008/06/29: GristMill: Per Hirsh incentives - Newsweek political journalist transcribes McCain campaign spin on energy
• 2008/06/30: Guardian(UK): In dangerous denial

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2008/07/06: Guardian(UK): Wall-E is Hollywood's new star, so why is he causing an eco row?
• 2008/07/01: ThinkP: Right-Wing Apoplectic Over Pixar's WALL-E: 'Malthusian Fear Mongering,' 'Fascistic Elements'

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2008/07/03: DemNow: Groundbreaking Lawsuit Accuses Big Oil of Conspiracy to Deceive Public About Climate Change

  Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

• 2008/07/05: MBO: Learning about world oil reserves
• 2008/07/04: Yahoo: World must brace for oil beyond $150
• 2008/06/30: FuturePundit: US Oil Consumption Falls Back To 2002 Level
• 2008/07/05: AFP: World oil markets to remain tight until 2013: IEA chief [Nobuo Tanaka]
• 2008/07/04: EuroTrib: Houston, we have a solution [energy]
• 2008/07/04: NewScientist: Giant rubber snake could be the future of wave
• 2008/07/04: PeakEnergy: Indonesian President On Oil Market: If We Can't Increase Production, We Must Decrease Consumption
• 2008/07/04: PeakEnergy: Renewable Energy Investment Soars
• 2008/07/03: Yahoo: Oil passes, settles above $145 for first time
• 2008/07/03: NEN: Green 'Gold Rush'
• 2008/07/03: CBC: Oil approaches $146 US a barrel
• 2008/07/03: AFP: Oil price flies to record high beyond $146
• 2008/07/03: Yahoo: Oil hits new record above $145 - Oil soars to record near $146 amid concerns over hefty drop in US stockpiles, Iran conflict
• 2008/07/02: TreeHugger: Hidden Oil Subsidies: We Need to END Them
• 2008/07/02: TreeHugger: World Oil Demand Growth to Outpace Non-Opec Supply Growth: IEA
• 2008/07/01: OilDrum: Energy Transitions Past and Future [Cutler Cleveland]
• 2008/07/02: NEN: Utilities buy more wind
• 2008/07/02: PeakEnergy: IEA says current prices justified
• 2008/07/01: EnergyBulletin: International Energy Agency says current prices justified
• 2008/07/01: Eureka: UNEP: Clean energy investments charge forward despite financial market turmoil
• 2008/07/01: G&M: World oil supplies will be tight until 2013: IEA
• 2008/07/01: KTimes: Energy crisis: Three strikes and we are out
• 2008/07/01: NEN: The business of and battle over wind
• 2008/07/01: BBC: 'Green' energy spending on rise
  Global investment in "green" energy surged ahead in 2007 and has continued to grow this year despite turmoil in financial markets, a report says. Spending on green power last year hit $148bn (£75bn), up 60% from 2006, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said. Rising oil prices, concerns over energy security, climate change worries and growing government support were behind the rise, it said. Wind energy got the most investment but solar power grew fastest as a sector.
• 2008/07/01: BBC: Global oil supplies will grow more slowly than expected over the next five years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted.
• 2008/06/30: TreeHugger: Wind Power Number of the Day: 59.3% [bunch of stats]
• 2008/06/30: BBC: Oil breaks new ground above $143
• 2008/06/30: AngryBear: Oil shale and solar status
• 2008/07/05: ChronicleHerald: Who's afraid of rising fuel prices? Don't panic: We'll figure out a way to get by in an era of expensive oil

  As for the impacts of high energy costs:

• 2008/07/05: TreeHugger: Wal-Mart Now US' Largest Buyer Of Locally Grown Produce
• 2008/07/04: Google:AFP: Marshall Islands declares 'economic emergency' over energy crisis
• 2008/07/03: NYT: Politics Failed, but Fuel Prices Cut Congestion
• 2008/07/02: CSM: At $9 per gallon, British driving habits change
  As more people opt for fewer car trips, carpooling, and public transportation, environmentalists point out that high fuel prices are also leading to reduced carbon emissions
• 2008/07/02: McClatchyDC: Fuel costs keep N.C. fishing boats at the dock
• 2008/07/02: McClatchyDC: 5th Texas electricity provider is going dark
• 2008/07/01: BBC: Bangladesh and Pakistan have both sharply raised fuel prices again as the cost of crude oil continues to soar

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2008/07/06: PeakEnergy: Sunrise In San Diego [CSP]
• 2008/07/03: PeakEnergy: Ausra Opens First U.S. Solar Thermal Power Factory
• 2008/07/02: NEN: Huge SoCal solar power plant needs transmission
• 2008/06/30: GristMill: Power from rooftops could replace coal - More than half of today's electricity, more than 16 percent of today's energy

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2008/07/02: CBC: Investors dump coal stocks
  Canadian coal stocks got hammered Wednesday as investors followed an international trend and sold off shares. A drop in coal prices of $20 a tonne, or about 10 per cent, was behind the nosediving shares. Stock declines in Toronto, between 11 and 16 per cent, were larger than those in New York or London.
• 2008/07/02: NatureTGB: It's a coal world
• 2008/06/30: QuarkSoup: Coalocaust

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2008/07/06: PeakEnergy: Ethanol Plants Shutting Down In US
• 2008/07/02: BBC: Anger at Kenya biofuel approval
  Kenyan environmentalists have told the BBC that the government should revoke a decision to allow a controversial biofuels project to go ahead. The project involves growing sugarcane for biofuels in coastal wetlands.
• 2008/07/03: REA: Abandoned Farmlands Are Key to Sustainable Bioenergy
• 2008/07/03: AutoBG: EPIC [Ethanol Promotion and Information Council] calls for some unity on the ethanol issue, darnit
• 2008/07/02: Eureka: Ethanol byproduct produces green results - DDGS could reduce costs to commercial nursery growers
• 2008/07/01: AutoBG: Gushan, China's largest biodiesel maker, readying large plant in Shanghai
• 2008/06/30: AutoBG: American biofuel plants filing for bankruptcy protection
• 2008/06/27: Reuters: U.S. biofuel plants go bankrupt on feedstock costs

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2008/07/03: EnergyBulletin: The peak oil crisis: assesing $200 oil
• 2008/07/01: WSJ:EnvCap: Peak Oil: IEA Inches Toward the Pessimists' Camp

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

• 2008/07/06: ABC(Au): Ferrari to slash sports cars' carbon emissions
• 2008/07/03: FuturePundit: GM Volt Battery Tech Lagging
• 2008/07/05: TheAge: UK new car sales down, fuel a factor
• 2008/07/05: AutoBG: DOE Expands International Effort to Develop Fuel-Efficient Trucks
• 2008/07/05: SlashDot: VW Concept Microcar Gets 235 MPG
• 2008/07/03: NEN: Independent to do EV retrofits, beat bigs to market
• 2008/07/02: PeakEnergy: Mercedes-Benz to ditch petrol powered vehicles
• 2008/07/02: AutoBG: French small car sales improve in wake of new CO2 taxes
• 2008/07/02: AutoBG: More automakers make their true feelings known about CAFE - demands too harsh
• 2008/07/02: CSM: Big trouble for Big Three automakers
• 2008/07/01: CalcRisk: Chrysler Sales Fall 36% [in June]
• 2008/07/01: CalcRisk: GM June U.S. sales fall 18.2%
• 2008/07/01: CalcRisk: Toyota Sales Off 21.4% in June
• 2008/07/01: CalcRisk: Ford Sales Off 28% in June
• 2008/07/01: GEA: Auto Sales Dismal At GM, Toyota, Ford, Chrysler
• 2008/07/01: GEA: Automakers Worst Month Since 1992
• 2008/07/01: BBerg: GM, Ford, Toyota Plunge as Buyers Reject Big Trucks
• 2008/07/02: Guardian(UK): Oil price: Slump in motor sales raises fears for viability of Detroit's car industry
• 2008/07/01: CNN: Auto sales plunge - Buyers flee SUVs and pickups but can't find the cars they want, resulting in steep declines at most automakers.
• 2008/06/30: PhysOrg: Hydrogen cars commercially unavailable until 2020: Mazda

  Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:

• 2008/07/02: TreeHugger: Greenwash Watch: Has Green Advertising Nuked the Fridge?

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2008/07/01: WSJ:EnvCap: Pay Up: Insurers Raise Rates Over Global Warming

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2008/07/05: N3xus6: The oztrayan hates teh science. part xixixviii
• 2008/07/03: DeSmogBlog: Wall Street Journal's Bret Stephens' Sick Souled Neurosis
• 2008/07/04: ClimateP: Polluter appeasement -- should we question the patriotism of deniers?
• 2008/07/02: BSD: Heartland Institute flaunts its tobacco denialism
• 2008/07/04: JEB: Corbyn on July
• 2008/07/03: DeSmogBlog: Melting North Pole? No Problem! [Horner]
• 2008/07/03: JQuiggin: Radical scepticism
• 2008/07/02: ERabett: The Breakdown Institute's Nightmare Visions
• 2008/07/02: DeSmogBlog: Tom Harris Pops Up Down Under
• 2008/07/02: GWWatch: Climate Change: A plot to breed new Masters Race
• 2008/07/02: Deltoid: Adam Shand update
• 2008/07/01: GWWatch: Climate denial getting traction
• 2008/06/29: ClimateP: Anti-science conservatives must be stopped
• 2008/06/30: GristMill: [Dessler] Climate skeptics say the darndest things - Did I say darndest? I meant stupidest
• 2008/06/29: Deltoid: Marohasy makes it up
• 2008/06/29: Deltoid: Channel Nine's Sunday: Summer warmer than winter "just an assumption"
• 2008/06/30: DeSmogBlog: Fronting the Fronters: Turnabout Is Fair Play!

  Then there was the usual news and commentary:

• 2008/07/05: ERabett: Who deserves the credit, who deserves the blame, Naoimi Oreskes is the name
• 2008/07/06: PeakEnergy: The Linear And The Exponential [Dyson]
• 2008/07/02: ArxivBlog: Global warming and the climate of fear
• 2008/07/03: LNB: Where the Linear Crosses the Exponential [Dyson]
• 2008/07/03: AFTIC: Thank you Deltoid!
• 2008/07/03: TreeHugger: "Creation Care" - A Growing Movement
• 2008/07/03: PeakEnergy: McKinsey [Quarterly] Interviews Amory Lovins
• 2008/07/03: CDreams: TLIPWC: New Atlantic Alliance Needed to Fight Carbon
• 2008/07/03: DemNow: "Global Disruption" More Accurately Describes Climate Change, Not "Global Warming" -- Leading Scientist John Holdren
• 2008/07/03: Guardian(UK): I've seen the effects of climate change - and if people won't face up to it, governments must make them
• 2008/07/02: NewScientist: Which countries would you pick for your climate team?
• 2008/07/01: GWWatch: Public's conflicting attitudes to climate action
• 2008/07/01: Eureka: Shrinking carbon footprints - Going green -- savings and comfort are the best incentives
• 2008/06/27: Nation: Smoking Guns and Melting Ice
• 2008/07/01: Guardian(UK): This economic panic is pushing the planet right back down the agenda
• 2008/06/30: Guardian(UK): Prudence: a green virtue
• 2008/06/29: CDreams: OrionMag: When Words Fail - Climate change activists have chosen a magic number [McKibben]

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

• DeSmogBlog: Top 10 Facts About the Alberta Oil Sands
• G8Summit: Hokkaido Toyako Summit
• AAD: Antarctic images
• LSU: Earth Scan Laboratory
• UNL: US Drought Monitor
• Climate Feedback
• Maribo
• The Oil Sands of Canada
• The Mountain Sentinel: energy depletion, sustainability, fascism, socioeconomic collapse, democracy, equality, activism, peak oil [Dale Allen Pfeiffer]
• ScienceAlert - Australia & NZ - News
• Dr. Luann Becker
• IR^2: IR-Squared
• IPCC:WGIII: Fourth Assessment Report (Mitigation)

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.

<regards>
-het

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

"Just as thousands were drawn to California and the Klondike in the late 1800s, the green energy gold rush is attracting legions of modern-day prospectors in all parts of the globe... What is unfolding is nothing less than a fundamental transformation of the world's energy infrastructure." -Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme

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