A Few Things Ill Considered

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Another week of Climate Disruption News

June 28, 2009

• Chuckle, Top Stories:Waxman-Markey, MTR Coal Protests, Repression
• Melting Arctic, Geopolitics, MEF, Sarychev, Carbon Tariffs, 140 Million Year Cycle, Late Comments
• Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
• Hurricanes, Monsoon, GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, ENSO, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Corals, Climate Refugees, Desertification, Wacky Weather, Wildfires, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering
• Journals, Misc. Science, Pielke, Hansen
• Kyoto-2, UN, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics:International, America, Obama, Britain, Europe, Australia, India, China, Japan, Asia, Africa, Mexico, Canada
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Courts
• Energy, Wind, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Peak Oil, Efficiency, Cars, Greenwashing, Joe's List
• Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Weird, black humour in a GW vein

• 2009/06/26: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Consuming Society
• 2009/06/23: ClimateP: (cartoon) Bizarro and the New Yorker on how climate change might affect man-on-a-desert-island cartoons
• 2009/06/22: PhysOrg: LED there be light [joke]

  The Waxman-Markey climate/energy bill passed the US House. Now it has to get through the Senate:

• 2009/06/27: NatureTGB: Climate bill clears US House, faces long road ahead
• 2009/06/27: Grist: A Beginning, Barely -- We need more than ACES
• 2009/06/27: ThinkP: Claire McCaskill Tweets That Clean Energy Bill Will 'Unfairly Punish' Missouri
• 2009/06/27: BaltimoreSun:MP: Maryland congressmen break along party lines on cap-and-trade -- Roscoe Bartlett votes "No."
• 2009/06/26: ABC(US): House Passes Milestone Climate Change Bill -- Vote on Cap-and-Trade Bill Marks Major Movement in Energy Policy Debate
• 2009/06/26: CBS: House Passes Global Warming Bill -- Sweeping Legislation Calls For First-Ever Limits On Pollution Linked To Climate Change
• 2009/06/26: CNN: House passes sweeping energy, climate bill
  Sets mandatory caps on greenhouse gases for first time ever. Aims to make renewable energy cost competitive with fossil fuel. Opponents worry over cost.
• 2009/06/26: CNN: House passes energy overhaul bill 219-212
  Democratic leaders, Obama twist arms to get politically dicey bill passed - Bill would reduce nationwide greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020 - GOP says bill would drive polluting companies to less-regulated countries - Bill faces unclear future in Senate, where it has not been introduced
• 2009/06/26: ClimateP: The U.S. House of Representatives approves landmark (bipartisan!) climate bill, 219 - 212. Waxman-Markey would complete America's transition to a clean energy economy, which started with the stimulus bill
• 2009/06/26: ClimateP: [Rep. Lloyd] Doggett (D-Tx) switches to supporting the bill after "listening to the flat earth society and the climate deniers, and some of the most inane arguments I have heard against refusing to act on this vital national security challenge."
• 2009/06/27: ABC(Au): US passes historic climate bill
• 2009/06/26: Grist: Reactions to passage of the House climate and energy bill
• 2009/06/26: Grist: How did your rep vote on the House climate and energy bill?
• 2009/06/26: Grist: It's a marathon, not a sprint -- One hurdle down for climate bill, 60 more to go
• 2009/06/27: HillHeat: A Score of Amendments Incorporated into Final Version of Waxman-Markey
• 2009/06/26: CSW: Funding for adaptation in the Waxman-Markey House-passed climate change cap and trade bill
• 2009/06/27: JQuiggin: Good news!
• 2009/06/27: Maribo: A thought on the Waxman-Markey climate bill
• 2009/06/26: NYT:GW: Lobbying Cash Paved Climate Bill's Road to House Floor
• 2009/06/26: WaPo: Climate Change Activists Dismayed by Some of Bill's Provisions
• 2009/06/27: C411: House Passes Most Important Environmental And Energy Legislation in U.S. History
• 2009/06/26: C411: Truth Squad: Calling Out Bogus Claims One By One
• 2009/06/26: C411: Fact Checking: They Still Have It Wrong
• 2009/06/25: C411: Why This Is the Pivotal Climate Vote of Our Lives
• 2009/06/26: BCLSB: An Important Moment Tonight [W-M]
• 2009/06/26: QuarkSoup: What We Get With Cap and Trade
• 2009/06/26: WorldChanging: U.S. House Acknowledges Planetary Atmosphere!
• 2009/06/27: TreeHugger: Historic Climate Bill Passes House of Reps
• 2009/06/26: EarthTimes:US House of Representatives approves landmark climate bill
• 2009/06/27: ENN: House passes landmark climate change bill
• 2009/06/27: Time: What Does the Energy Bill Really Mean for CO2 Cuts?
• 2009/06/26: CleanBreak: U.S. House narrowly passes Waxman-Markey. Up next: Senate
• 2009/06/26: SolveClimate: U.S. Climate Bill Squeaks Through the House: 219-212
• 2009/06/27: ThinkP: House passes American Clean Energy and Security Act
• 2009/06/26: AmericaBlog: House passed major Energy Bill after debate featuring tantrum by GOP leader Boehner
• 2009/06/26: CBC: U.S. House passes climate change bill
• 2009/06/26: McClatchyDC: Historic climate bill passes House in a close vote
• 2009/06/26: Yahoo: House narrowly passes major energy-climate bill [219-212]
• 2009/06/27: BBC: The US House of Representatives has passed a climate change bill aimed at reducing the country's emissions
• 2009/06/27: Guardian(UK): Barack Obama's US climate change bill passes key Congress vote

  Before the vote the horse trading and debate was hectic:

• 2009/06/27: ABC(US): Obama Implores Senate to Pass Climate Bill -- Hailing House vote, Obama calls on Senate to pass climate, energy bill
• 2009/06/27: TPMDC: Boehner: ZOMG! Climate Change Legislation Is Complicated!
• 2009/06/27: TPMDC: Boehner Fights Climate Bill With Filibuster, Brightly Colored Poster
• 2009/06/22: PRWatch: The Waxman-Markey Crisis
• 2009/06/26: ThinkP: Glenn Beck claims supporters of cap-and-trade are either dumb, 'greedy,' 'wicked' or 'treasonous.'
• 2009/06/26: TP:WonkRoom: Rep. Artur Davis (D-Al): Clean Energy Reform Will 'Wreak Havoc' On Alabama's Struggling Economy
• 2009/06/26: WaPo: For the Farm Lobby, Too Much Is Never Enough
• 2009/06/26: GreenGrok: Climate Legislation: Countdown to the House Showdown
• 2009/06/26: Guardian(UK): The price of climate change
• 2009/06/26: AlGore: A Historic Opportunity -- Today is an historic opportunity to pass truly meaningful legislation to limit global warming...
• 2009/06/26: ClimateP: Al Gore: "There is no backup plan"
• 2009/06/26: ClimateP: House GOP repeat in unison the petroleum industry falsehood that CBO finds the Waxman-Markey bill would raise gasoline prices 77 cents a gallon
• 2009/06/26: DotEarth: The Climate Bill in Climate Context
• 2009/06/26: Grist: Irrational Corn Growers Association -- Farm lobby: Shoot the climate bill, but keep the Peterson goodies
• 2009/06/26: Grist: ACES will help create more jobs and opportunities for low-income families -- see map
• 2009/06/26: Grist: Germany's Merkel praises U.S. House climate bill as a "sea change" -- "points to the fact that the United States [is] very serious on climate"
• 2009/06/26: Grist: Vote Day Ticker -- News, rumors, and outright malarkey on the American Clean Energy Security Act's big day
• 2009/06/25: BSD: You'd think it would be easy to find the text of the Waxman-Markey bill...
• 2009/06/26: TreeHugger: Ethanol Lobby 1, Environment 0: Compromise Struck to Move Climate Bill Forward
• 2009/06/26: TreeHugger: Climate Bill Vote is Today: Everything You Need to Know
• 2009/06/26: TreeHugger: Is the Climate Bill Really a Step Forward or Merely Marching in Place?
• 2009/06/26: EarthTimes: Crunch time in House: Close vote expected on US climate bill
• 2009/06/25: EarthTimes: Obama urges passage as climate bill headed for critical vote
• 2009/06/25: NYT: The House and Global Warming
  American politicians, from both parties, insist that they want to combat global warming and reduce this country's dependence on fossil fuels. Members of the House will soon have a chance to show they mean it. Voters should watch carefully to see what they do. The American Clean Energy and Security Act would, for the first time, put a price on carbon emissions. The bill has shortcomings. But we believe that it is an important beginning to the urgent task of averting the worst damage from climate change. Approval would show that the United States is ready to lead and would pressure other countries to follow. Rejection could mean more wasted years and more damage to the planet.
• 2009/06/25: Yahoo: Questions and answers about the US climate bill
• 2009/06/25: Yahoo: Major provisions of House climate and energy bill
• 2009/06/26: Yahoo: House Democrats win key test vote on climate bill -- 217-205 to advance the White House-backed legislation toward a final roll call vote
• 2009/06/26: Time: Global-Warming's Rough Ride Through Congress
• 2009/06/25: MSNBC: Forest owners stand to win big in climate bill -- Concessions made to get votes from farm-state House Democrats
  For years, landowners have gotten paid for not farming. Now they may get paid for not cutting down trees.
• 2009/06/26: EnvEcon: Something to do while you celebrate (grieve) the Waxman-Markey vote
• 2009/06/26: NEN: ACEEE says energy/climate bill saves money, makes jobs
• 2009/06/26: WSJ:EnvCap: Today's Vote Doesn't Matter. Unless, Of Course, It Does.
• 2009/06/26: WSJ:EnvCap: Round-up: Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade Bill Up For Vote
• 2009/06/26: OilChange: Enviros Say Climate Bill Should be "Fixed or Ditched"
• 2009/06/25: AzCentral: Democrats confident as vote nears on landmark climate bill
• 2009/06/26: ThinkP: Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga) receives applause on the House floor for calling global warming a 'hoax.'
• 2009/06/26: ThinkP: Rep. John Boehner (R-Oh) Uses Press Conference To Push Heritage Foundation's Green Job Smears
• 2009/06/26: ThinkP: Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Ut) says passage of clean energy bill will be as tragic as the death of Michael Jackson
• 2009/06/26: TP:WonkRoom: Waxman Incorporates A Score Of Amendments Into Final Version Of His Clean Economy Legislation
• 2009/06/25: TP:WonkRoom: Suggesting Amendments To Waxman-Markey Bill, 49 Lawmakers Call For A Stronger Green Economy
• 2009/06/26: Hullabaloos: Without the Hot Air -- The House of Representatives is set to vote on a US climate change bill today...
• 2009/06/26: SolveClimate: Greenpeace Says 'No' to Climate Bill: ACES Is Too Weak
• 2009/06/26: SolveClimate: 3 Hours, 2 Amendments: ACES Climate Bill Hits the House Floor
• 2009/06/26: Guardian(UK): Climate change: the world looks to Washington
• 2009/06/26: BBerg: Big Oil's Answer to Carbon Law May Be Fuel Imports
  America's biggest oil companies will probably cope with U.S. carbon legislation by closing fuel plants, cutting capital spending and increasing imports. Under the Waxman-Markey climate bill that may be voted on today by the U.S. House, refiners would have to buy allowances for carbon dioxide spewed from their plants and from vehicles when motorists burn their fuel. Imports would need permits only for the latter, which ConocoPhillips Chief Executive Officer Jim Mulva said would create a competitive imbalance. "It will lead to the opportunity for foreign sources to bring in transportation fuels at a lower cost, which will have an adverse impact to our industry, potential shutdown of refineries and investment and, ultimately, employment," Mulva said in a June 16 interview in Detroit.
• 2009/06/25: Guardian(UK): Making climate change history
  Passing the US climate change bill would go down in history as America's first significant step toward curbing carbon emissions
• 2009/06/25: Guardian(UK): The climate-change showdown
• 2009/06/25: Guardian(UK): Climate change: cap and trade
• 2009/06/25: Guardian(UK): Barack Obama's climate change bill will change the face of US industry
• 2009/06/25: ClimateP: House Dems, Obama, and Gore lobby last batch of fence-sitters; Ohio Democrats wriggle on the fence as House vote approaches
• 2009/06/25: PlanetArk: Climate Bill Could Reward Farmers
• 2009/06/25: Grist: The bad and maybe not-so-bad of the Waxman-Peterson deal
• 2009/06/24: Grist: Seeking a tougher climate bill, green groups set eyes on the Senate
• 2009/06/25: JFleck: Waxman-Markey Horse Trading, a Case Study
• 2009/06/25: DM:I-CCM: A Glorious Mess: Why the Climate Bill is Ugly But Essential
• 2009/06/24: TerraDaily: US climate bill fights heats up as vote looms
• 2009/06/25: ENN: Farm Groups Prevail as House Climate Bill Puts USDA in Charge of Ag Offsets
• 2009/06/25: NEN: House energy/climate bill is a bargain -- budget offc; vote due
  Summary: The Estimated Costs to Households From the Cap-and-Trade Provisions of H.R. 2454 by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) concludes that the cap' provision of H.R. 2454, The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACESA), will cost on average ~$175 per household per year. Higher income households will pay more while lower income households will save money. The CBO analysis does not consider any cost impacts in the many other provisions of the 1,200-page act.
• 2009/06/24: WSJ:EnvCap: EPA Sees Limited Renewable Energy Growth under Waxman-Markey
• 2009/06/25: SolveClimate: Friends of the Earth Goes it Alone: Urges 'No' on Climate Bill
• 2009/06/25: NYT:CW: House Democrats, Obama Lobby Last Batch of Climate Bill Fence-Sitters
• 2009/06/24: TP:WonkRoom: Green Groups Draw A Line In The Sand On Climate Bill, But Stand On Both Sides
• 2009/06/25: AlterNet: Creating a 'Pollution Casino': Why the Energy Bill May End Up a Boon for Our Dirtiest Industries
• 2009/06/22: MoJo: The War Over Waxman-Markey
• 2009/06/24: ClimateP: Sierra Club and 28 other NGOs urge House members "to support final passage" of Waxman-Markey: "We believe this is one of the most important votes of our time." League of Conservation Voters will "not endorse any member of the House ... who votes against final passage."
• 2009/06/24: ClimateP: New EPA analysis of Waxman-Markey: Consumer electric bills 7% lower in 2020 thanks to efficiency -- plus 22 GW of extra coal retirements and no new dirty plants
• 2009/06/23: ClimateP: Waxman, Peterson announce agreement on cap-and-trade bill paving way for final vote this week
• 2009/06/24: PlanetArk: Obama Urges Passage Of "Historic" Climate Change Bill
• 2009/06/24: Grist: How bad is the Peterson-Waxman deal on climate legislation?
• 2009/06/24: Grist: Climate bill puts Americans in the green
• 2009/06/24: Grist: How Waxman-Markey tackles climate change by saving forests
• 2009/06/23: Grist: Why I'm not freaked out about the Waxman-Markey climate bill
• 2009/06/24: BCLSB: U.S. Climate Change Bill Set To Pass House
• 2009/06/24: ENN: House Democrats reach deal on Climate Bill
• 2009/06/24: BBerg: Climate Agreement Clears Way for Vote; Hurdles Remain
• 2009/06/24: WSJ:EnvCap: ACES High: Waxman-Markey Heads to a Vote
• 2009/06/23: FOE: Friends of the Earth Launches Ad Campaign Opposing House Climate Bill
• 2009/06/24: WaPo: Vote Set on House Climate Bill -- Cap-and-Trade Legislation Advances Despite Some Resistance
• 2009/06/23: CQPolitics: Waxman, Peterson Reach Agreement on Energy Bill, Setting Up Floor Vote
• 2009/06/23: ThinkP: John Podesta: Clean Energy Bill Is 'Imperfect In Its Means,' But 'Revolutionary In Its Intent'
• 2009/06/24: AlterNet: Will the Right Succeed in Butchering the American Clean Energy and Security Act?
• 2009/06/23: McClatchyDC: Energy bill nears vote in House, but what's in it for consumers?
• 2009/06/23: ClimateP: ACES wild! House Dems release 1,201-page climate bill with floor debate scheduled for Friday
• 2009/06/23: Grist: EPA: Waxman-Markey will lower electricity bills
• 2009/06/23: Grist: Waxman-Markey: We'd better try to get what we need
• 2009/06/22: Grist: Collin Peterson, climate villain -- Big Ag aims its pitchfork at historic climate legislation
• 2009/06/23: CSW: Letter to Congress from 22 environmental groups in support of cap-and-trade bill, preparedness
• 2009/06/22: CSW: Open Letter to the President and Members of Congress from 20 leading scientists and scholars
• 2009/06/22: CBS: Study: Modest Cost Hikes From Climate Bill -- Congressional Budget Office Reports That Proposed Bill Would Increase Household Costs By $175
• 2009/06/23: TreeHugger: The Big Day is Coming: House to Vote on Climate Bill this Friday
• 2009/06/23: EarthTimes: US climate bill could be set for House vote this week
• 2009/06/23: ENN: U.S. climate fix to cost consumers $175 a year-CBO
• 2009/06/23: BBerg: U.S. House Leaders Schedule Climate-Change Bill Vote [by the end of this week]
• 2009/06/: OpenSecrets: Rep. Collin C Peterson - Campaign Financing
• 2009/06/23: AfterGutenberg: My Farmers Don't Like That [W-M]
• 2009/06/23: WaPo: Climate Bill to Cost Average Consumer $175 a Year: CBO
• 2009/06/23: NYT:CW: House Dems Release Revised Climate Bill as Floor Debate Eyed for Friday
• 2009/06/22: RollCall: House to Vote Friday on Climate Bill
  House Democrats filed [the latest version of Waxman-Markey] a 1,201-page energy package late Monday night and said they are confident that they will resolve all outstanding issues in time for a vote Friday. "There are some issues still under discussion, but we are confident we can resolve them by the time the bill goes to the floor on Friday," said Drew Hammill, spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
• 2009/06/23: TP:WonkRoom: EPA: Waxman-Markey Will Lower Electricity Bills
• 2009/06/22: ClimateP: CBO stunner: Waxman-Markey cuts U.S. GHGs sharply but costs only a postage stamp a day -- without counting the efficiency savings
• 2009/06/22: ClimateP: The two most important questions that both critics and supporters of Waxman-Markey must answer
• 2009/06/22: ClimateP: Majority Leader [Steny Hoyer (D-Md)] says House unlikely to debate cap and trade on floor this week -- Waxman agrees
• 2009/06/22: EnvEcon: Guest post: Two more cents on Waxman-Markey
• 2009/06/22: SF Gate: Critics fault climate-change legislation
• 2009/06/22: LA Times: Under House energy bill, coal won't be going away
  Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of heat-trapping gases that cause global warming, but President Obama's plan to fight climate change would result in the nation burning more coal a decade from now than it does today.

Protests against coal and mountain-top-removal mining in Virginia gained some celebrity allies:

• 2009/06/26: Grist: The story of our civil disobedience against mountaintop-removal coal mining by James Hansen
• 2009/06/27: Grist: Why is the Obama Administration Supporting Union-Busting Thugs? Violent Massey Attack on Goldman Prize Winner Judy Bonds
• 2009/06/26: AfterGutenberg: Washington Theater Presents The MTR Follies
• 2009/06/25: McClatchyDC: Lawmakers, activists battle over mountaintop removal mining
• 2009/06/26: NatureTGB: Coal protesters assaulted and shot at, says Hansen
• 2009/06/26: CSW: Jim Hansen's statements at Coal River Mountain protest against mountaintop removal
• 2009/06/25: WorldChanging: NASA'S James Hansen Arrested During Coal Mining Protest
• 2009/06/26: ENfNM: "sacred duty": James Hansen on July 23 civil disobedience at Massey Energy [includes June 23 Declaration]
• 2009/06/25: CCP: James E. Hansen: Coal River Mountain Action -- Bravo Hansen!!! [includes June 23 Declaration]
• 2009/06/24: UNDispatch: When a scientist gets all political
• 2009/06/24: SolveClimate: Arrested in West Virginia: A First-Person Account by Mike Brune
• 2009/06/24: NatureCF: Police pinch protesting Hansen in climate change kerfuffle
• 2009/06/24: TreeHugger: Darryl Hannah & NASA Scientist James Hansen Arrested
• 2009/06/23: ENS: Climate Scientist James Hansen Arrested in Mountaintop Removal Protest
• 2009/06/23: SolveClimate: NASA's James Hansen, 28 Activists Arrested Protesting Mountaintop Mining
• 2009/06/24: CCP: Bravo Hansen! Stop coal! Stop mountain top removal!
• 2009/06/24: DemNow: Actress Daryl Hannah, Climate Scientist James Hansen Among 30+ Arrested Protesting Mountaintop Removal in West Virginia
• 2009/06/24: AlterNet: Daryl Hannah, Climatologist James Hansen and 94-Year-Old Former Congressman Arrested at Coal River Protest
• 2009/06/23: ClimateP: NASA's James Hansen arrested in protest on mountaintop removal
• 2009/06/23: DotEarth: Hansen of NASA Arrested in Coal Country
• 2009/06/23: CSW: NASA climate scientist Jim Hansen arrested today for civil disobedience against WV coal mining
• 2009/06/22: CSW: Dr. James Hansen agrees to debate a major coal mining company CEO in West Virginia
• 2009/06/23: AFTIC: Hansen arrested in coal mining protest
• 2009/06/22: Grist: Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) lambasts cap-and-trade
• 2009/06/22: CommonTragedies: How Allocations to Protect Households Can Actually Hurt Them
• 2009/06/22: WSJ: In the House, It's Peterson vs. Climate Bill
  The fate of the leading proposal to curb U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions is in the hands of Rep. Collin Peterson, a Marlboro-smoking free spirit who scoffs at warnings about climate change and says the Environmental Protection Agency is "in bed with" corporations opposed to the ethanol industry. Mr. Peterson -- a Minnesota Democrat whose chairmanship of the House Agriculture Committee gives him sway over Farm Belt lawmakers -- has forced Democratic Party leaders to slow their drive to pass climate legislation and to consider amending it in ways that some environmentalists worry will lessen its effectiveness.
• 2009/06/21: Grist: Reckoning at Coal River -- Will media and nation bear witness to coalfield tragedy this week?
• 2009/06/22: TreeHugger: Climatologist James Hansen Urges Obama to Ban Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

  Just so you know what you are up against:

• 2009/06/10: CCTimes: Defense Department sees protests as terrorism
• 2009/06/09: ACLU: ACLU Challenges Defense Department Personnel Policy To Regard Lawful Protests As "Low-Level Terrorism"
  Anti-terrorism training materials currently being used by the Department of Defense (DoD) teach its personnel that free expression in the form of public protests should be regarded as "low level terrorism." ACLU attorneys are calling the approach "an egregious insult to constitutional values" and have sent a letter to the Department of Defense demanding that the offending materials be changed and that the DoD send corrective information to all DoD employees who received the erroneous training. "DoD employees cannot fully protect our nation and its values unless they understand that a core American value is the constitutional right to criticize our government through protest activities," said ACLU of Northern California attorney Ann Brick. "It is fundamentally wrong to equate activism with terrorism."
• 2009/06/24: CCP: Kingsnorth observers physically assaulted by police officers, thrown into a women's prison for 4 days on false charges
• 2009/06/24: CCP: U.K. FIT Police arrest two female observers for asking for badge numbers, use excessive force on unresisting observers at Kingsnorth -- Police are turning activism into a crime
• 2009/06/21: Guardian(UK): Arrested for asking a policeman for his badge number
• 2009/06/23: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Why police violence is now in the frame
• 2009/06/22: Guardian(UK): Police are turning activism into a crime
  Video footage showing the arrest of women who asked police for their for their badge numbers at the Kingsnorth climate camp last year exposes the police as disgracefully heavy-handed and repressive

The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:

• 2009/06/27: CBC:Q&Q: [mp3/ogg] The Big Thaw - Ed Struzik interview
• 2009/06/25: MGS: First ARCUS summary of 2009
• 2009/06/24: ARCUS: September Sea Ice Outlook: June Report
• 2009/06/25: CCP: Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) - September Sea Ice Outlook: June Report
• 2009/06/25: DotEarth: Melting Undermines Greenland Camp
• 2009/06/23: MGS: Connolley-Grumbine sea ice bet

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2009/06/27: ChronicleHerald: It's getting hot and crowded in the Arctic
• 2009/06/26: TStar: The perils of sexing up Arctic security
  If bellicose rhetoric gets ahead of reality, Canada, Russia and NATO run the risk of talking up a new Cold War at the top of the world
• 2009/06/19: EnergyDaily: Russian official says global powers will clash over Arctic
  A top Russian government official on Friday warned that the race for Arctic energy riches would lead to clashes between global powers and said Russia needed to speed up exploration in the region. "Our neighbours are engaged in researching technologies to build ice-class vessels and are investing efforts in building drilling platforms for the Arctic," Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said, quoted by Interfax news agency. "This leaves no doubt that in the coming years this region will become a place where the global interest of many states will clash," Ivanov told a meeting of maritime officials in the northern city of Arkhangelsk. With global warming opening access to the pole, the five Arctic border states -- Russia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and the United States -- have been caught in a diplomatic tug-of-war over the region, which is believed to have immense undersea oil and gas reserves.
• 2009/06/22: Reuters: Arctic nations say no Cold War; military stirs

  Carbon tariffs are a go at the WTO:

• 2009/06/28: NYT:PK: The WTO is making sense
  There was some question about how the WTO would handle cap-and-trade -- whether it would accept the need for carbon tariffs, if some countries (cough China cough) drag their feet, or whether it would adopt a purist free-trade rule. The answer seems to be in -- the WTO is going to treat cap-and-trade the same way it treats VATs, with border taxes allowed if they can be seen as reducing distortions.
• 2009/06/28: JQuigginx: Even more good news
  Via Paul Krugman and the Financial Times news that the World Trade Organization has indicated that it will endorse border taxes on imports from countries that don't participate in an international agreement to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

A new map of the Milky Way kills the 140 million year cycle hypothesis:

• 2009/06/15: Arxiv: Testing the link between terrestrial climate change and Galactic spiral structure by Adrian L. Melott et al.
• 2009/06/26: TechRev:Arxiv: Spiral Arms Did Not Cause Climate Change on Earth
• 2009/06/26: SlashDot: Milky Way's Spiral Arms Could Not Have Caused Climate Change

  The Major Emitters Forum held a little remarked meeting in Mexico:

• 2009/06/25: Reuters: Major economies consider halving world CO2
  Major economies 2050 carbon targets "aspirational" - 50 pct cut in world emissions, 80 pct cut by rich nations - Double investments in low-carbon research by 2015
• 2009/06/25: DotEarth: Major Economies Zero In on Climate Goals
• 2009/06/24: TreeHugger: What We Got Out of the Major Economies Forum
• 2009/06/24: Guardian(UK): Todd Stern rejects calls for 40% cut in US emissions
  Barack Obama's climate envoy dismisses calls at major economies summit for US and other rich nations to cut emissions by 40% by 2020
• 2009/06/23: Google:AP: US nixes 40 percent cuts at climate change talks
  President Barack Obama's climate envoy dismissed recommendations that the United States and other developed countries reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases 40 percent by 2020.
• 2009/06/22: Google:AFP: Major polluters meet in Mexico on climate challenge
• 2009/06/22: TreeHugger: What Can The World Expect Out of the Major Economies Forum?

  A nice pic of Sarychev:

• 2009/06/25: APOD: Sarychev Peak Volcano in Stereo
• 2009/06/24: DailyMail: Stunning pictures of 'hole in the clouds' as astronauts witness volcano eruption from the International Space Station

  Late comment on the Copenhagen conference synthesis report:

• 2009/06/22: Tamino: Key Messages -- synthesis report from the Copenhagen conference
• 2009/06/22: ScienceInsider: Scientists Demand Climate Action
• 2009/06/18: PIK: Copenhagen Climate Report: "Inaction is inexcusable"
• 2009/06/21: RealClimate: A warning from Copenhagen [Synthesis Report]

  Late comment on the UK Climate Projections:

• 2009/06/18: MetOffice(UK): UK Climate Projections 2009 (UKCP09)

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2009/06/23: Guardian(UK): China suspends reforestation project over food shortage fears
  Environmental restoration plan scrapped to grow crops as concerns increase over feeding world's largest population
• 2009/06/25: WFP: Camp Cooking Stoves Help Hungry in Pakistan
• 2009/06/22: WFP: Monster Chopper Lifts Food in Southern Sudan
• 2009/06/22: FAO: FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to Zimbabwe
• 2009/06/25: UN: Financial crisis pushes more of world's poor into hunger, warns UN body [UN Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN)]
• 2009/06/25: PhysOrg: Undesirable weather slows down [Indiana] hay production
• 2009/06/25: PhysOrg: Projected food, energy demands seen to outpace production
• 2009/06/25: Grist: The oil intensity of food
• 2009/06/25: Eureka: Projected food, energy demands seen to outpace production
  With the caloric needs of the planet expected to soar by 50 percent in the next 40 years, planning and investment in global agriculture will become critically important, according a new report released today (June 25). The report, produced by Deutsche Bank, one of the world's leading global investment banks, in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, provides a framework for investing in sustainable agriculture against a backdrop of massive population growth and escalating demands for food, fiber and fuel. "We are at a crossroads in terms of our investments in agriculture and what we will need to do to feed the world population by 2050," says David Zaks, a co-author of the report and a researcher at the Nelson Institute's Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment.
• 2009/06/25: CanWest: Fungus threatens wheat around globe -- 'Stem rust' could wipe out 80% of world's crop
  Scientists in Canada and around the world are racing to find a way to stop a destructive fungus that threatens to wipe out 80 per cent of the world's wheat crop, causing widespread famine and pushing the cost of such staples as bread and pasta through the roof. Canadian officials say the airborne fungus, which is known as Ug99, has so far proved unstoppable, making its way out of eastern Africa and into the Middle East and Central Asia. The fungus is now threatening areas that account for more than one-third of the world's wheat production, and scientists in North America say it's only a matter of time before the pest hits the breadbasket regions of North America, Russia and China. "I think it's important people start recognizing what a big threat this is. This could mean world famine. This is quite the deal," said Rob Graf, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's research centre in Lethbridge, Alta. The United Nations calls Ug99 "a major threat" to world food security.
• 2009/06/22: CCurrents: More Than 1 Billion People Hungry Worldwide In 2009

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2009/06/19: SF Gate:Gleick: Water for energy: The bad bet for biofuels
• 2009/06/23: GreenGrok: Is There Enough Water to 'Grow' Ethanol?

  And how are we going to feed 9 billion?

• 2009/06/27: NewScientist: Africa alone could feed the world
  Doom-mongers have got it wrong - there is enough space in the world to produce the extra food needed to feed a growing population. And contrary to expectation, most of it can be grown in Africa, say two international reports published this week.
• 2009/06/25: KC: Drought-tolerant seed could boost corn crop
• 2009/06/26: PlanetArk: Canadian Farmers Opposed To GM Wheat: Survey
• 2009/06/26: TerraDaily: Rainfall, Timing Of Manure Application Affect Carbon Losses
• 2009/06/25: DotEarth: Farming for a Growing Population
• 2009/06/24: TheIndependent: Climate change threatens state's irrigation industry
  Irrigation is the lifeblood of Nebraska agriculture. But with Nebraska now the nation's leading irrigation state, a new federal report raises concerns that climate change could have a long-term impact on the state's groundwater reserves.
• 2009/06/25: BBC: Firms target nutrition for the poor
• 2009/06/25: AlterNet: Food Inc: Michael Pollan and Friends Reveal the Food Industry's Darkest Secrets
• 2009/06/23: EnergyBulletin: [several articles] The history of Canada's first grain CSA - as told through the voices of its people
• 2009/06/24: Eureka: Iowa State University researcher looks at the future of agriculture
• 2009/06/23: NewsGazette: Group warns global warming would be devastating to crops
  As the planet warms, bringing with it wetter springs and hotter, drier summers in Illinois, one of the state's biggest commodities - corn - will not be immune to the effects of global climate change, according to a report issued Monday by Environment Illinois.
• 2009/06/24: SolveClimate: As Global Warming Makes Crops Impossible, a Shift to Camels [in Africa]
• 2009/06/23: PhysOrg: Feed your crop, not the weeds
• 2009/06/22: UN: Vast stretch of African savannah ripe for commercial farming -- UN

  A couple of tropical depressions troubled the Caribbean while Linfa and Nangka blew around the Western Pacific and Andres, the Eastern Pacific:

• 2009/06/27: Wunderground: A late look at Invest93L
• 2009/06/25: CBC: Tropical storm [Nangka] kills at least 8 in Philippines
• 2009/06/24: TerraDaily: Five dead, seven missing as storm [Nangka] whips Philippines: official
• 2009/06/24: EarthTimes: Hurricane Andres weakens, pulls away from Mexican coast
• 2009/06/24: CBC: Andres downgraded to tropical depression
• 2009/06/22: TerraDaily: Tropical storm Andres blows up Mexico's Pacific coast
• 2009/06/23: EarthTimes: Hurricane warning in Mexico as Tropical Storm Andres gets stronger
• 2009/06/22: CBC: Tropical storm Andres strengthens off Mexico

  While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2009/06/18: MetOffice(UK): North Atlantic tropical storms forecast
• 2009/06/24: PhysOrg: Bangladesh introduces SMS cyclone alert system

  The Indian monsoon is late and light:

• 2009/06/24: BBC: India monsoon rain 'below normal'
  Indian officials say that monsoon rains in the country are likely to be "below normal" triggering off fears about crop failure and high food prices.
• 2009/06/23: EarthTimes: Delayed monsoon worries Indian government

  As for GHGs:

• 2009/06/26: TreeHugger: Peak Emissions by 2020? The UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Think So
• 2009/06/25: Guardian(UK): Growth of global carbon emissions halved in 2008, say Dutch researchers
  Recession and oil price main drivers behind fall in consumption as developing world emissions rise above 50% for first time
• 2009/06/25: Guardian(UK): International promises on greenhouse gas emissions
  [...] Here's what the main players have pledged so far by 2020, compared with 1990 levels:
  EU (down) 20-30%
  US (unknown) 0%
  Japan (down) 8%
  Russia (down) 10-15%
  Australia (down) 3-24%
  Canada (down) 3%
  China, India and other developing nations ... [Have not] yet made a specific pledge.
• 2009/06/25: Yahoo: Recession, expensive oil slow CO2 growth in 2008
• 2009/06/22: NOAANews: Beyond CO2: Study Reveals Growing Importance of HFCs in Climate Warming
• 2009/06/24: PlanetArk: Car Makers Fight EU Ban On Climate Change Chemicals
  Car makers are lobbying the European Union to delay an agreed 2011 ban on climate-damaging chemicals in car air conditioners, a letter from auto industry group ACEA shows. The move has aroused strong opposition from environmentalists and suppliers of greener engineering systems. The European Union ruled in 2006 that from 2011 it would ban the use of fluorinated chemicals, such as the industry standard known as R134a, which have a powerful climate-warming effect when released into the atmosphere. The EU closed a legal loophole in April after learning that car makers were planning to use it to avoid the ban until 2017.
• 2009/06/22: PhysOrg: Beyond CO2: Study reveals growing importance of HFCs in climate warming
• 2009/06/22: AFTIC: New Science Confirms Refrigerant Gases Pose Grave Warming Threat
• 2009/06/22: SolveClimate: Study Confirms Growing Threat of Super Greenhouse Gases
• 2009/06/22: NatureN: Climate effects of refrigerants underrated -- Environmentalists push for tougher regulation of chemicals meant to help the ozone layer
• 2009/06/22: DotEarth: Ozone Solution [HFCs] Poses a Growing Climate Threat
• 2009/06/22: TreeHugger: There's No Way to Stabilize CO2 Without Tackling Coal Emissions: MIT Study

  And in the carbon cycle:

• 2009/06/26: ABC(Au): An Australian National University report has found street trees are more effective than native forests at capturing carbon because of their relative youth
• 2009/06/26: NewScientist: Ozone hole has unforeseen effect on ocean carbon sink
• 2009/06/24: SciDaily: Ozone Hole Reduces Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Uptake In Southern Ocean

  As for the temperature record:

• 2009/06/26: Tamino: Breaking Records
• 2009/06/24: BCLSB: No Discernable Bias

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2009/06/25: SciDaily: Ancient Climate Change: When Palm Trees Gave Way To Spruce Trees [33.5 mya]
• 2009/06/24: KSJT: CanWest: The canyon left behind by a polar glacier has geoscientists uneasy
• 2009/06/23: TerraDaily: Rock Bands Spin An Oxygen Record
• 2009/06/23: TerraDaily: Did Global Warming Cause A Sudden Collapse In Ancient Biodiversity [200 mya]
• 2009/06/22: SciDaily: Ice Sheets Can Retreat 'In A Geologic Instant,' Study Of Prehistoric Glacier Shows
• 2009/06/21: UB: Ice Sheets Can Retreat "In a Geologic Instant," Study of Prehistoric Glacier Shows -- Findings are relevant to modern Greenland ice sheet, says UB researcher

  While on the el Niño/la Niña [ENSO] front:

• 2009/06/26: KSJT: Orange County Register, North County Times: El Nino brewing fast, could mean rain for parched SoCa, Southwest
• 2009/06/22: BCLSB: Here Comes El Nino

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2009/06/22: ETH: Ice volume of Switzerland's glaciers calculated
  Switzerland's glaciers have lost twelve percent of their ice volume since 1999. This is the result of a new procedure developed by scientists at ETH Zurich. The water stored in Switzerland's glaciers currently equates to about two thirds of the volume of Lake Geneva.
• 2009/06/25: TreeHugger: Melting German Glacier Gets Sunscreen, Again
• 2009/06/22: CanWest: Study warns of cataclysmic melting of glaciers
  It's a little-known natural wonder along Baffin Island's rugged east coast, a spectacular, 110-km-long channel lined by towering cliffs that - despite its extreme remoteness - is a mecca for base-jumping enthusiasts from around the world. But U.S. scientists who have reconstructed a cataclysmic glacial meltdown in prehistoric Canada say Nunavut's Sam Ford Fiord is also a sentinel of danger in the age of climate change, showing just how quickly the planet's massive coastal glaciers could disappear and send global sea levels surging. Their study, published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience, says the rapid melting of the fiord's colossal, kilometre-deep glacier about 9,500 years ago is proof that similar features found today in Greenland, Canada and Antarctica could be lost "in a geologic instant."
• 2009/06/23: ENN: Patagonian glaciers melting at unprecedented rates
• 2009/06/23: CCP: Patagonian glaciers of Chile and Argentina are losing ice mass at higher altitudes at much faster rates -- Chilean Glaciers Melting at Unprecedented Rates
• 2009/06/22: Reuters: Swiss glaciers melting faster than ever before: study
  Switzerland's glaciers shrank by 12 percent over the past decade, melting at their fastest rate due to rising temperatures and lighter snowfalls, a study by the Swiss university ETH showed Monday.
• 2009/06/23: PlanetArk: Swiss Glaciers Melting Faster Than Ever Before: Study
• 2009/06/22: SwissInfo: Scientists pinpoint ice loss in glaciers
  Zurich researchers have calculated that Swiss glaciers contain the equivalent of around two thirds of the water in Lake Geneva.

Sea levels are rising:

• 2009/06/26: TerraDaily: Close Relationship Between Past Warming And Sea-Level Rise
• 2009/06/25: BostonGlobe: In Chatham, an austere utopia yields to a relentless tide
• 2009/06/23: Wunderground: U.S. vulnerability to sea level rise
• 2009/06/22: PhysOrg: Close relationship between past warming and sea-level rise
• 2009/06/22: Eureka: Close relationship between past warming and sea-level rise
• 2009/06/21: NewScientist: Earth's coastlines after sea-level rise, 4000 AD

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2009/06/28: PhysOrg: Sophisticated weather satellite rockets into orbit [spare GOES]

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2009/06/26: SciNow: Evolution Heats Up in the Tropics
• 2009/06/26: KSJT: NYTimes, AP, etc: Otolith news - rising CO2 accelerates ear bone growth in fish
• 2009/06/26: PhysOrg: Major study links malaria mosquitoes to Amazon deforestation
• 2009/06/25: CSW: Climate change in our backyards: the Southeast
• 2009/06/26: BBC: Dolphin 'super pod' seen in firth
  Hundreds of dolphins more commonly found in warmer seas have been seen in the Moray Firth while making a "massive migration" into the North Sea. The environmental charity Earthwatch Institute said more than 400 short-beaked common dolphins were sighted off the north east coast. It said the "super pod" was a sign of how climate change was pushing some wildlife further north.
• 2009/06/25: DotEarth: Fish Ear Bones Affected by CO2
• 2009/06/25: PlanetArk: Alaska Polar Bear Numbers Declining: U.S. Agency
• 2009/06/24: CSW: Climate change in our backyards: the Northeast
• 2009/06/25: SunTimes: Get used to it: [USGCRP] Report predicted heat waves, flooding -- Annual deadly heat waves, flooding predicted in global warming report
• 2009/06/25: SciDaily: Insights Into How Climate Change Might Impact Species' Geographic Ranges
• 2009/06/25: Eureka: High carbon dioxide levels cause abnormally large fish ear bones
• 2009/06/23: CSW: "Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States" -- Report Overview (Part 1 of a series)
• 2009/06/24: CSW: Climate change impacts in the US Northeast
• 2009/06/24: BBC: Evolution faster when it's warmer
  Climate could have a direct effect on the speed of "molecular evolution" in mammals, according to a study. Researchers have found that, among pairs of mammals of the same species, the DNA of those living in warmer climates changes at a faster rate.
• 2009/06/22: PhysOrg: Warmer ocean brings fewer sardines to S.Africa
• 2009/06/24: PhysOrg: Dry autumns and winters may lead to fewer tornadoes in the spring

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2009/06/26: Guardian(UK): Brazil grants land rights to squatters living in Amazon rainforest -- Campaigners fear controversial 'land-grabbers' law will lead to accelerated deforestation
• 2009/06/26: BBC: Brazil's Lula signs Amazon bill
  Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has approved a controversial bill allowing Amazon farmers to acquire an area of public land larger than France.
• 2009/06/25: MongaBay: Massive deforestation in the past decreased rainfall in Asia
• 2009/06/23: DerSpiegel: Oil or Trees? Germany Takes Lead in Saving Ecuador's Rainforest
  Oil companies are salivating over the supply of black gold beneath Ecuador's rainforest. The South American country is pledging to keep the oil in the ground -- if the international community provides compensation. Now Germany has taken a leading role in raising the necessary cash.
• 2009/06/23: Independent(UK): Oil boom threatens the last orang-utans
  A famous British company, Jardines, is profiting as the lowland forest -- which shelters the few remaining orang-utans -- is razed to make way for massive palm oil plantations, reports Kathy Marks in Tripa, Indonesia [...] Riswan Zen, a spatial analyst for Yel [Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari (Yel), an Indonesian conservation group], last flew over in 2007. "So much forest gone, and all in two years, my God," he says, gesticulating at a satellite imaging map. "If nothing is done, there'll be no forest left in one to two years."
• 2009/06/23: WSWS: Peruvian government forced to repeal Amazon free trade decrees
• 2009/06/23: BBC: Amazon bill controversy in Brazil
  Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is due this week to make one of the most keenly awaited decisions about land ownership in the Amazon rainforest. The president has to decide by 25 June whether to veto parts of a bill that is due to transfer an area of public land - estimated to be around 670,000 square kilometres (259,000 square miles) - into private hands. The government originally introduced what is called "Provisional Measure 458" as a way of bringing security to small farm owners in the Amazon region. But critics say the proposal amounts to an amnesty for land-grabbers, and that the original measure has been altered by Congress in a way that will only serve to encourage deforestation.
• 2009/06/19: TerraDaily: Uganda forests rapidly disappearing: study

  Corals are dying:

• 2009/06/23: CoralCOE: Corals "facing a stormy future"

  Climate refugees are becoming an issue:

• 2009/06/28: TreeHugger: Climate Forced Migration: Pathways Of Future Conflict
• 2009/06/25: NatureN: Climate refugee fears questioned -- Few figures to back up prophecies of mass migration to rich countries
• 2009/06/24: DotEarth: A Diaspora From African Drylands

  Desertification looms as a threat:

• 2009/06/27: ENN: Deserts crossing Mediterranean
• 2009/06/19: Monitor(Ug): Uganda could be a total desert in 40 years - report

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2009/06/26: PhysOrg: QuikScat Finds Tempests Brewing In 'Ordinary' Storms
• 2009/06/25: TerraDaily: Stormy weather leaves 1,200 homeless in Cape Town
• 2009/06/25: SolveClimate: A Warming World Means More Destructive Storms

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2009/06/28: BBC: India heat wave sparks protests
  Protests are growing in Delhi over power cuts as the Indian capital remains in the grip of a heat wave. [...] With temperatures in the mid-40s, there is an increasing demand for electricity as everyone tries to cool down.
• 2009/06/26: CBC: India heat wave kills at least 24
• 2009/06/26: PhysOrg: In the warming West, climate most significant factor in fanning wildfires' flames
• 2009/06/25: Reuters: Texas grid urges power reductions amid heatwave
• 2009/06/25: EarthTimes: 120 die in unrelenting heatwave across India
• 2009/06/22: TerraDaily: First Detailed Look At The Progress Of A Wildland-Urban Fire

  As for disruptions of the hydrological cycle [floods & droughts]:

• 2009/06/27: EarthTimes: Czech Republic reports twelfth death in floods
• 2009/06/26: PlanetArk: Ten Dead In Czech Floods, Central Europe On Alert
• 2009/06/26: JFleck: Drought Causes Crime?
• 2009/06/26: EarthTimes: Flood death toll rises in Central Europe as cleanup continues
• 2009/06/25: PlanetArk: Floods Force Vienna To Evacuate Albertina Museum
• 2009/06/24: ClimateP: U.S. Open at Bethpage Black hit by "global warming type" of record rainfall...
• 2009/06/24: TerraDaily: Czech floods turn deadly: report
• 2009/06/25: EarthTimes: 10 killed in floods after heavy rain across central Europe
• 2009/06/25: EarthTimes: Eight die amid floods in Czech Republic
• 2009/06/25: EarthTimes: Six die amid floods in north-eastern Czech Republic
• 2009/06/25: EarthTimes: Austrian flood situation stabilizes after three days rain
• 2009/06/25: Guardian(UK): Katine [north-east Uganda] farmers begin to worry as drought bites
• 2009/06/23: TreeHugger: In Australia, Drying Lakes Means Acidic Dust, Potential Health Threats, and Major Bioremediation Efforts
• 2009/06/22: EarthTimes: Thousands evacuated as floods, storm hit southern China

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2009/06/21: Yahoo: Canadian scientists breeding cows that burp less
• 2009/06/22: EurActiv: Sweden promotes climate-friendly food choices
• 2009/06/22: KSJT: AP: Another but similar report on the sweeter belchings of Vermont's dairy cows
• 2009/06/22: Grist: 350 vs. 450: The heart of the matter
• 2009/06/21: Grist: Can a number save the world?

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2009/06/26: CalcRisk: Truck Tonnage Index Increased [3.2%] in May, Off 11% from May 2008
• 2009/06/25: MillerMcCune: Pump Prices Driving More to Mass Transit
• 2009/06/26: BBC: Solar plane to make public debut
• 2009/06/22: Time: U.S. Stimulus Puts Bullet Trains on the Fast Track
• 2009/06/23: AlterNet: Why the Economic Downturn Has Been Good News for Amtrak and the Future of Rail Travel
• 2009/06/16: Guardian(UK): UK air passenger numbers slump as recession bites

  While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:

• 2009/06/23: WorldChanging: Does Green Building Have to Break the Bank?
• 2009/06/23: SF Gate: Startup's prefab homes aim for zero energy bills
• 2009/06/23: AlterNet: Why a Car-Free Suburbia May Become a Reality

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2009/06/26: NatureTGB: Carbon capture round-up
• 2009/06/26: PlanetArk: EU To Help China Bury Carbon In Climate Fight
• 2009/06/26: PlanetArk: AEP [American Electric Power Co Inc.] Sees Carbon Capture From Coal Ready By 2015
• 2009/06/25: DerSpiegel: Popular Opposition -- German Carbon Sequestration Plans Stall
  Storing CO2 underground was supposed to be a cure-all for Germany's heavily coal-reliant power supply. But many are skeptical of the technology, and this week, a law designed to regulate carbon sequestration derailed amid bickering in Berlin.
• 2009/06/24: TreeHugger: Artificial Trees: Could They be Better Than the Real Thing?
• 2009/06/23: NYT:GreenInc: Raytheon Tests Carbon Sequestration
• 2009/06/22: CleanBreak: Creating a carbon vacuum: turn MSW into charcoal and bury it
• 2009/06/22: CNN: 'Synthetic tree' claims to catch carbon in the air [Lackner]
  "Synthetic tree" would capture carbon dioxide in the air to reduce emissions - Trapped carbon would be compressed to liquid CO2 ready for sequestration - Technology is being developed by scientists at Columbia University in the U.S. - Broecker: "I think this is something that the world's going to have to have"
• 2009/06/22: EurActiv: Germany agrees scaled-down CO2 capture law
  Germany's grand coalition government has reportedly agreed to a scaled-down draft law on carbon dioxide storage after conservatives objected to some of the measures.

The US FutureGen project had an off week:

• 2009/06/26: EnvEcon: Evidence that clean coal is really expensive
• 2009/06/25: WSJ:EnvCap: Taking Lumps: Futuregen Backers Back Out
• 2009/06/25: TulsaWorld: AEP to exit clean-coal project -- Southern Co. is also bowing out of the FutureGen project to lower CO emissions.
  American Electric Power Co. and Southern Co., the nation's largest producers of power from coal, are withdrawing from the FutureGen project, which is aimed at lowering carbon-dioxide emissions.

Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2009/06/26: SciDaily: Global Sunscreen Won't Save Corals
• 2009/06/25: NewScientist: Methane controls before risky geoengineering, please
• 2009/06/24: GreenGrok: To Geo-engineer or Not to Geo-engineer
• 2009/06/22: NYT:GreenInc: Pressing the Case for Geoengineering

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2009/06/26: ACPD: Interannual variability of tropospheric composition: the influence of changes in emissions, meteorology and clouds by A. Voulgarakis et al.
• 2009/06/15: Arxiv: Testing the link between terrestrial climate change and Galactic spiral structure by Adrian L. Melott et al.
• 2009/06/25: CP: The influence of the circulation on surface temperature and precipitation patterns over Europe by P. D. Jones & D. H. Lister
• 2009/06/25: CP: Mechanisms and time scales of glacial inception simulated with an Earth system model of intermediate complexity by R. Calov et al.
• 2009/06/24: CP: Individual and combined effects of ice sheets and precession on MIS-13 climate by Q. Z. Yin et al.
• 2009/06/23: CP: Two-dimensional reconstruction of past sea level (1950-2003) from tide gauge data and an Ocean General Circulation Model by W. Llovel et al.
• 2009/06/25: CPD: Northern high-latitude climate change between the mid and late Holocene -- Part 2: Model-data comparisons by Q. Zhang et al.
• 2009/06/22: ACP: The relationship between aerosol and cloud drop number concentrations in a global aerosol microphysics model by K. J. Pringle et al.
• 2009/06/22: ACP: Impacts of aerosol-cloud interactions on past and future changes in tropospheric composition by N. Unger et al.
• 2009/06/22: ACP: A six year satellite-based assessment of the regional variations in aerosol indirect effects by T. A. Jones et al.
• 2009/06/23: ACPD: Evidence of ice crystals at cloud top of Arctic boundary-layer mixed-phase clouds derived from airborne remote sensing by A. Ehrlich et al.
• 2009/06/23: PNAS: Reversing a tree regeneration crisis in an endangered ecoregion by Joern Fischer et al.
• 2009/06/23: PNAS: Maximum leaf conductance driven by CO2 effects on stomatal size and density over geologic time by Peter J. Franks & David J. Beerling
• 2009/06/23: PNAS: The water footprint of bioenergy by Winnie Gerbens-Leenes et al.
• 2009/06/21: Nature:GeoSci: [Letter abstract] Antarctic temperature and global sea level closely coupled over the past five glacial cycles by E. J. Rohling et al.
• 2009/06/21: Nature:GeoSci: [Letter abstract] Surface-temperature trends and variability in the low-latitude North Atlantic since 1552 by Casey Saenger et al.
• 2009/06/21: Nature:GeoSci: [Letter abstract] Rapid early Holocene retreat of a Laurentide outlet glacier through an Arctic fjord by Jason P. Briner et al.

  And other significant documents:

• 2009/06/27: VoxEU: Tax policies for low-carbon energy by Gilbert E. Metcalf
  Nearly all economists agree that the most efficient way to address environmental problems is to raise the cost of the pollution-generating activity, but US policies subsidise clean-energy alternatives instead. This column criticizes that approach - subsidies lower the cost of energy, play favourites with technologies, are often inframarginal, and frequently interact in unexpected ways with other policies.

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

• 2009/06/26: CBC: Botanists set out on canoe expedition to gather Arctic plants
• 2009/06/26: CBC: Carbon man shuns Washington trip
  An academic has refused an all expenses paid trip to a conference in Washington to discuss tackling carbon emissions. Larch Maxey of Swansea University described the invite to the Smithsonian Festival, which this year focuses on Wales, as the "irony of our times." He said the plane journey across the Atlantic would use several years' worth of his carbon share and now others invited to attend have followed suit. Instead they taking part in the event via video link.
• 2009/06/26: PhysOrg: New guide to tropical seedlings: Essential to climate change research
• 2009/06/23: BBC: Himalayan glacier studies commence
  After a long gap, scientists in Nepal have embarked on the first field studies of Himalayan glacial lakes, some of which are feared to be swelling dangerously due to global warming. In May, they completed the field visit to the first location, a lake in the Everest region, in a series of studies. They plan to conduct similar surveys of two other glacial lakes in the central and western part of the Nepalese Himalayas later in the year. "We have started with Nepal, but we intend to extend studies to other Hindu Kush Himalayan countries," says Arun Bhakta Shrestha, a climate change specialist with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), which is carrying out the research alongside a number of government agencies.

More Hansen:

• 2009/06/23: NewYorker: Profile of climatologist James Hansen -- The Catastrophist -- NASA's climate expert delivers the news no one wants to hear

  The Pielke fan clubbe, alas:

• 2009/06/25: ERabett: Ethon RTFR ( a bit edited:)
• 2009/06/22: ClimateP: Why does the New York Times hate science? Why do deniers like Pielke shout down any talk of a link between climate change and extreme weather?
• 2009/06/21: BSD: Detection, Attribution and Estimation

  Meanwhile on the Kyoto-2 front:

• 2009/06/26: SwissInfo: India seeks more talks on contentious climate draft
  Indian negotiators have played down a proposal for major economies to consider setting a goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, saying there were contentious ideas in the draft on the cuts needed. The proposal is part of a draft document put forward by the United States and Mexico at talks in Mexico this week, without reaching an accord
• 2009/06/23: Guardian(UK): Where's the world's plan of action against climate change? [by Rajendra Pachauri]
  The IPCC wants nations to work together to fight climate change -- and mitigation could bring economic benefits too
• 2009/06/21: Guardian(UK): It takes a global effort to save the world [by Jeffrey Sachs]
  Nations must co-operate to improve technology and tackle climate change, rather than trying to get away with doing the minimum

While at the UN:

• 2009/06/23: UN: Ban invites world leaders to 'unprecedented' UN climate change summit [at UN Headquarters on 22 September]
• 2009/06/24: UN: Ban calls on G8 to combat climate change, boost support for development
• 2009/06/23: EarthTimes: New York, UN launch climate project
  New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday to launch Climate Week NYC to support the climate change summit of world leaders planned for September. Ban has invited all heads of state and government to attend the summit on September 22 at UN headquarters in New York, one day before the UN General Assembly is to open its 64th annual session.

And on the carbon trading front:

• 2009/06/26: PlanetArk: Cambodia Signs 8.5 Million T Forest Carbon Deal
  Cambodia has signed agreements for a project that aims to protect 60,000 hectares of forest and reward local communities from the sale of carbon credits over several decades, the developers said in a statement. The project in northwestern Oddar Meanchey province is expected to yield 8.5 million carbon offsets over 30 years and is the first avoided deforestation project in Cambodia for registration under the respected Voluntary Carbon Standard. U.S.-based Terra Global Capital said in the statement it had finalized an agreement with the Cambodian Forestry Administration on marketing the carbon credits.
• 2009/06/24: PlanetArk: Climate Exchange Shares Jump 17 Percent
• 2009/06/23: BBerg: EU-UN Carbon Spread Narrows on Profit Seeking
  The spread between European Union and United Nations emission permits narrowed to its lowest in 11 weeks and may shrink further as traders seek to profit from freely granted allowances, said First Climate, a manager of carbon credits. The spread, traded as a contract on the European Climate Exchange in London, narrowed 6.7 percent today to 1.68 euros ($2.36) a metric ton, its lowest since April 2. EU carbon dioxide allowances for December were at 13.12 euros a ton while UN credits were at 11.42 euros.
• 2009/06/19: Reuters: US carbon prices slip 8 pct in RGGI auction

  The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2009/06/23: WSJ:EnvCap: Club Pigou: James Hansen and Carbon Tax Aficionados

  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:

• 2009/06/27: Grist: Climate Econ 101 -- The cost of cap-and-trade: What MIT really thinks
• 2009/06/23: MTobis: Cap and Trade that Might Work
• 2009/06/22: EnergyBulletin: Cap and trade: unexpected friend to [natural] gas industry
• 2009/06/22: GreenGrok: Cap and Trade Part 5: What's With the Add-Ons?

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2009/06/26: Reuters: Obama, Germany's Merkel to air differences at [Friday, White House] meeting
• 2009/06/25: EUO: Commission outlines clean coal China plan
• 2009/06/25: DerSpiegel: 'Two Different Worlds' -- Merkel Wants More on Climate from Obama
  As far as German Chancellor Angela Merkel is concerned, when it comes to combating climate change, US President Barack Obama refuses to go the distance. The US has stalled progress on a global agreement, and a bill currently before Congress is too anemic.
• 2009/06/25: CanWest: Canada, U.S. chided by France on climate -- must do more
• 2009/06/24: PlanetArk: U.S. Resists EU Climate Target For G8 Summit
  The United States has been resisting European calls for industrialized nations to target an upper limit for global warming of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), according to a draft summit text. Two degrees is seen by the European Union and many developing countries as the threshold beyond which climate change will reach danger levels, with rising seas and more heatwaves, floods and droughts. The Italian draft for a Group of Eight summit in Italy next month, dated May 11 and obtained by Reuters, reaffirms a goal of agreeing a U.N. climate pact in December and says a "substantial share" of stimulus packages should go to a greener economy. But it shows disagreement over targets in a section that would widen to the G8 a European Union target of limiting "the average increase in temperature to 2 Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels." The disputed section says: "We reiterate the goal of achieving at least a 50 percent reduction of global emissions by 2050, recognizing that this implies that global emissions need to peak by 2020." The 2020 peak would also be new for the G8. The U.S. delegation wrote in a comment on the section that "any negotiation of numbers or figures should be undertaken in the context of the (U.N.) negotiations" on a new climate treaty.
• 2009/06/22: WBCSD: US draws line with China on climate technology
  Access to green technology is becoming a growing stumbling block in global efforts to fight climate change, with US lawmakers bristling at what they see as China's attempt to "steal" US know-how. China and India have led calls for developed nations to share technology to help them battle global warming as the clock ticks to a December meeting in Copenhagen meant to seal a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. The US House of Representatives this month unanimously voted to make it US policy to prevent the Copenhagen treaty from "weakening" US intellectual property rights on a wind, solar and other eco-friendly technologies.

And on the American political front:

• 2009/06/27: ABC(US): D.C. Metro Crash Highlights Underfunding of Public Transit Systems
  $50B in Backlog Repairs Is Needed for Rail Transit, but Just $5.6B Was Spent in 2006 Federal investigators don't yet know why DC Metro Train 112 rounded a bend near Fort Totten station and slammed into Train 214 this week, taking nine lives and injuring 80. But what is known is that there is a vast and widening gap between what's needed to keep America's public transportation systems fit to ride and what federal, state, and local authorities are investing in them. More than one-third of assets in the nation's seven largest rail transit agencies, including the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), are in marginal or poor condition, according to an April report by the Federal Transit Administration.
• 2009/06/27: TreeHugger: California To Require Heat-Reflecting Vehicle Windows, Starting With 2012 Model Year
• 2009/06/26: Guardian(UK): Guess which [US] state is last?
• 2009/06/25: ClimateP: ABC-WP Poll: Clear majority of Americans approve of Obama's handling of global warming and support greenhouse gas regulation even if raises their energy bills -- even if China and India do less
• 2009/06/25: WorldChanging: Large Majority in U.S. Supports Regulation of CO2, Poll Shows
• 2009/06/26: ENN: New Law Requires Calif. Landfills to Capture Methane
• 2009/06/26: Guardian(UK): Why do we allow the US to act like a failed state on climate change?
  The Waxman-Markey climate bill is the best we will get from America until the corruption of public life is addressed
• 2009/06/26: GCC: California Adopts Cooler Cars Regulation
  The California Air Resources Board adopted a regulation that will require new cars sold in California starting in 2012 to have windows that reflect or absorb heat-producing rays from the sun. This will help keep cars cooler, increase their fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Cooler cars mean less air conditioning thereby increasing fuel efficiency and preventing about 700,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere in 2020 -- roughly the equivalent of taking 140,000 cars off the road for a year.
• 2009/06/26: AutoBG: CARB adopts reflective glass rule to keep cars cooler
• 2009/06/25: STimes: Washington should scrap biofuels mandate
  Washington state should rescind its mandate that state vehicles use 20 percent biodiesel, argues guest columnist Duff Badgley. The law actually causes more harmful greenhouse gases because of conversion of natural lands to grow biofuel crops.
• 2009/06/25: TWL: Oregon House approves [feed-in tarif] solar bill
• 2009/06/25: : Bill to cut carbon emissions from gasoline, diesel fuel, gains approval
  Oregon's Legislature passed one of its most-contested environmental bills Thursday, allowing regulators to adopt a requirement to cut the carbon content of fuel in cars and trucks by 10 percent come 2020, handing Gov. Ted Kulongoski what could be his biggest green victory this session. The "low carbon fuel standard" is designed to reduce the state's dependence on foreign oil, cut greenhouse gas emissions and encourage development of alternatives to petroleum-based fuels, including electric cars and locally grown biofuels. California adopted a similar standard earlier this year. Washington may follow. The Oregon House approved the bill 35-25 on Thursday after the Senate passed it on a 16-14 vote Wednesday evening.
• 2009/06/25: WaPo: Limits on Emissions Have Wide Support
  Three-quarters of Americans think the federal government should regulate the release into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases from power plants, cars and factories to reduce global warming, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, with substantial majority support from Democrats, Republicans and independents. But fewer Americans -- 52 percent -- support a cap-and-trade approach to limiting greenhouse gas emissions similar to the one the House may vote on as early as tomorrow. That is slightly less support than cap and trade enjoyed in a late July 2008 poll. Forty-two percent of those surveyed this month oppose such a program. The Washington Post-ABC News survey showed that support slipped slightly when people were asked whether they would be willing to pay higher prices in general or higher electricity bills in exchange for significant decreases in greenhouse gases. Although 62 percent of those surveyed said they would support regulation even if it raised the price of purchases and 56 percent would back cap and trade if it resulted in a $10 increase in utility costs, 44 percent said they would back a cap-and-trade system if it boosted monthly electricity bills by $25.
• 2009/06/25: Kentucky: Report: Coal industry costs state government
  The coal industry takes $115 million more from Kentucky's state government annually in services and programs than it contributes in taxes, according to a study to be released Thursday. The Berea-based Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, or MACED, spent a year examining the coal industry's impact on the state's general fund and road fund. "The coal industry is pretty free about discussing the positive impact of coal on the state. But there's almost no public discussion about the cost," said MACED President Justin Maxson.
• 2009/06/23: Eureka: Weather forecasts of great value to Americans, survey finds -- Annual dollar value equates to $31.5 billion, for $5.1 billion spent on developing forecasts
• 2009/06/23: UCAR: 300 Billion Weather Forecasts Used by Americans Annually, Survey Finds
• 2009/06/22: ClimateP: Nobelist Krugman takes on the "fantasists" of the "burn-baby-burn crowd" for opposing climate action that costs Americans 18 cents a day
• 2009/06/22: SolveClimate: Utah Newspaper Takes Future Governor to Task on Climate Change

  The Obama chatter is nonstop:

• 2009/06/28: Guardian(UK): Victory on climate change boosts president's position
• 2009/06/25: ClimateP: Obama: "The energy bill before the House will finally create a set of incentives that will spark a clean energy transformation in our economy... Make no mistake: This is a jobs bill... I know this will be a close vote, in part because of the misinformation out there..."
• 2009/06/26: ABC(Au): United States President Barack Obama is making a public appeal for Congress to pass legislation to curb America's greenhouse gas emissions
• 2009/06/26: TreeHugger: Obama's Nominee for Director of Fish & Wildlife Service Ignored Endangered Species Act
• 2009/06/26: EarthTimes: US hopes to 'match' Germany's commitment on climate change
  President Barack Obama said Friday that he hopes the United States will soon be able to match Germany's commitment to tackling climate change. After a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House, Obama acknowledged that Europe was well ahead of the United States in reducing emissions that cause global warming. "Europe in many ways over the last several years has moved more rapidly than the United States," Obama said in a press conference with Merkel. He was "impressed" with Germany's "foresight and commitment to clean energy." "It is my hope that the United States will match that commitment today," Obama said, as the US House of Representatives prepared to vote later in the afternoon on a landmark bill that for the first time would impose limits on climate-damaging emissions.
• 2009/06/26: Guardian(UK): Barack Obama pleads with Congress to pass historic climate change bill
• 2009/06/23: ClimateP: President Obama urges passage of Waxman-Markey: "I believe that this legislation is extraordinarily important for our country."
• 2009/06/22: MongaBay: Scientists call on Obama for 'maximum personal leadership' to combat global warming
• 2009/06/22: TreeHugger: Obama Must Show More Personal Leadership on Climate Change: 20 Leading Scientists Say in Open Letter
• 2009/06/22: WSJ:EnvCap: For Obama, Welcome News from Number Crunchers for a Change
• 2009/06/22: EnvEcon: "In Forceful Open Letter, Twenty U.S. Climate Scientists and Experts Call for Urgent Climate Action and Sustained Presidential Leadership"
• 2009/06/22: Yale360: A Plea To President Obama: End Mountaintop Coal Mining by James Hansen
  Tighter restrictions on mountaintop removal mining are simply not enough. Instead, a leading climate scientist argues, the Obama administration must prohibit this destructive practice, which is devastating vast stretches of Appalachia.

The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2009/06/26: QD: Steven Chu: Tomorrow is Today
• 2009/06/26: SymmetryMag:B: Steven Chu's energy challenge
• 2009/06/26: CCP: Energy Secretary Chu warns of the dangers of climate change, while inspiring hope
• 2009/06/25: MObjectivist: Secretary of Energy
• 2009/06/26: TreeHugger: Take Action: Tell Hillary Clinton to Stop Tar Sands Pipeline Into US
• 2009/06/24: Grist: Coal is here to stay, says Obama's chief environmental adviser [Sutley]
• 2009/06/23: Grist: EPA chief Lisa Jackson on mountaintop removal, climate legislation, toxics, and more
• 2009/06/24: Reuters: Clinton asked to keep Canada [tar]sands oil out of U.S.
• 2009/06/23: CBC: U.S. government lends $8B for 'green' vehicles
• 2009/06/23: Grist: Memo to Hillary's science czar: organic ag isn't a 'myth'
  Is organic farming productive enough to feed billions of people -- or will it always be a yuppie niche in a food system increasingly dependent on agrichemicals, massive animal factories, synthetic fertilizers, and biotechnology? Nina Fedoroff, the State Department's chief technology adviser, propounds the latter view. A trained scientist with ties to the biotech industry, Fedoroff thinks organic is a fraud. (She attained her current positon during the Bush Adminsration in Condoleeza Rice's State Department; Secretaryfedoroff/bushNina Fedoroff, with her previous employer. Clinton has elected to keep her on.)
• 2009/06/22: Grist: Cheney must be smiling -- White House refuses to disclose information on meetings with coal executives
• 2009/06/23: BBerg: Solar, Wind Power Loan Guarantees to Begin in July, U.S. Says
  Renewable energy loan guarantees of as much as $18.6 billion will begin to be delivered in July, said David Frantz, director of the program at the U.S. Energy Department. Energy Department officials are preparing to release rules for solar, wind and geothermal energy developers seeking the funds by next month, Frantz said today at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum in New York.
• 2009/06/22: ENN: US EPA Issues Clean Energy Action Guide for States

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2009/06/24: TP:WonkRoom: Newt's ASWF Attacks: 'Why Did Rick Boucher Vote To Kill Virginia Jobs?'
• 2009/06/23: TreeHugger: Newt Rips Climate Bill With Silly, Scary Commercial
• 2009/06/23: ThinkP: Gingrich-Run Coal Company Front Group Airing Anti-Climate Legislation TV Ads
• 2009/06/22: ThinkP: GOP distributes candles to 'thank' Obama for 'taxing our lights out.'
• 2009/06/21: ClimateP: The top 10 ways the House GOP are like my two-year-old daughter
• 2009/06/21: TP:WonkRoom: John Kerry: Climate Change Is Our Greatest Long-Term Security Threat
• 2009/06/21: WaPo: The Influence Game: Excuse me! Lobby wins on burps
  One contributor to global warming - bigger than coal mines, landfills and sewage treatment plants - is being left out of efforts by the Obama administration and House Democrats to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Cow burps.

While in the UK:

• 2009/06/28: Guardian(UK): Festival-goers spell out runway feelings
  Glastonbury revellers formed a giant "no" in the sunshine yesterday in a protest over controversial airport expansion. An estimated 300 campaigners gathered in the Greenpeace field to create a defiant human message against plans to build a third runway at London Heathrow.
• 2009/06/28: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Climate change: renewables, not coal, are the way forward
• 2009/06/27: JEB: Ouch -- 25% cut in the Hadley Centre funding
• 2009/06/27: TreeHugger: Gordon Brown Pitches $100 Billion Climate Finance Plan
• 2009/06/26: Guardian(UK): Gordon Brown puts $100bn price tag on climate adaptation
• 2009/06/26: CBC: British PM backs $113B climate fund for 3rd World
• 2009/06/26: NatureN: UK launches climate manifesto -- Gordon Brown proposes $100 billion climate fund for developing countries
• 2009/06/26: NatureCF: Ministry of Defence withdraws Met office climate funding
• 2009/06/26: TreeHugger: Peak Emissions by 2020? The UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Think So
• 2009/06/26: EarthTimes: Brown proposes rich nations fund to alleviate climate change impact
• 2009/06/26: BBC: Brown proposes £60bn climate fund
  Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants to set up a £60bn annual fund to help poor countries deal with climate change. He hopes it will break the deadlock over who will pay developing nations to adapt to the changing climate and who will help them obtain clean technology. Countries must reach a binding global agreement on carbon emission cuts at December's Copenhagen summit, he said.
• 2009/06/26: Guardian(UK): Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband's blueprint for global warming deal
• 2009/06/26: Guardian(UK): Science Museum has a vital role in the climate change debate by Chris Rapley
• 2009/06/25: Guardian(UK): Politicians must champion the 'age of sensible', says science museum boss
  People more likely to act on climate change if offered positive vision of low-carbon future, says Chris Rapley
• 2009/06/25: Guardian(UK): UK security: risk factors
• 2009/06/25: NatureTGB: Tough talk on 'Tartan Targets'
• 2009/06/25: NatureN: Funding cut for UK climate research -- Ministry of Defence pulls £4.3 million from Met Office
• 2009/06/24: Guardian(UK): Scottish parliament agrees tougher 42% target to cut emissions
  Campaigners say 'hugely significant' vote to cut emissions by 42% by 2020 sets new 'moral' standard for the rest of the industrialised world
• 2009/06/24: Guardian(UK): Can Joanna Lumley make us listen when it comes to the environment?
• 2009/06/23: Guardian(UK): Carbon targets 'dangerously optimistic'
• 2009/06/23: Guardian(UK): UK climate change policies 'dangerously optimistic', MPs warned
  Decc and Defra are like 'small dogs yapping at the heels' of more powerful departments, says leading climate scientist
• 2009/06/24: CCP: Kingsnorth observers physically assaulted by police officers, thrown into a women's prison for 4 days on false charges
• 2009/06/24: CCP: U.K. FIT Police arrest two female observers for asking for badge numbers, use excessive force on unresisting observers at Kingsnorth -- Police are turning activism into a crime
• 2009/06/24: BBC: UK expands wind power potential
  The UK government has moved to clear the path for a quarter of the nation's electricity to be powered by wind. Ministers on Wednesday approved new wind power sites for the Crown Estate around the the UK's coastline. They also began the tender process for a £15bn contract for the new cabling needed to bring the power onshore. The government is relying heavily on the wind to meet its European commitments to provide 15% of all energy from renewables by 2020.
• 2009/06/21: Guardian(UK): Arrested for asking a policeman for his badge number
• 2009/06/23: BBC: Jump start for electric car trial -- A UK-wide trial of low carbon and electric cars has been launched.
• 2009/06/23: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Why police violence is now in the frame
• 2009/06/22: Guardian(UK): Police are turning activism into a crime
  Video footage showing the arrest of women who asked police for their for their badge numbers at the Kingsnorth climate camp last year exposes the police as disgracefully heavy-handed and repressive
• 2009/06/21: Guardian(UK): [Letters] The struggle against climate change will benefit the UK too

  And in Europe:

• 2009/06/26: EurActiv: Ministers agree 'flexible' curbs on industrial pollution
• 2009/06/26: EUO: Heavy industry emissions targetted by EU
• 2009/06/26: EV: Sweden talks tough on climate
• 2009/06/26: ENN: Europe dodges the carbon pollution issue
  European environment ministers have sidestepped the key emissions reduction strategy of classifying carbon dioxide as a pollutant during consideration of new laws to limit industrial pollution. The move further questions Europe's claim to be a leader in climate action...
• 2009/06/25: EurActiv: Polish union warns of EU climate-law job cuts
• 2009/06/25: EurActiv: Sweden seeks to steer EU onto energy-efficient path
• 2009/06/25: DerSpiegel: Popular Opposition -- German Carbon Sequestration Plans Stall
  Storing CO2 underground was supposed to be a cure-all for Germany's heavily coal-reliant power supply. But many are skeptical of the technology, and this week, a law designed to regulate carbon sequestration derailed amid bickering in Berlin.
• 2009/06/25: BBC: Sweden will assume the EU's six-month rotating presidency on 1 July, amid great economic challenges and institutional uncertainty for the 27-nation bloc
• 2009/06/24: Guardian(UK): Europe refuses to get soil on its hands
  EU legislation protects Europe's water and air, but not its soil -- though none of us can live without it
• 2009/06/24: ScienceInsider: [Claude] Allègre? Non! No Second Act For Controversial Former French Science Minister
• 2009/06/23: Eureka: European climate change reports launched in Brussels
  Two new reports examining climate change adaptation and policy making across Europe will be launched today in Brussels in the presence of Peter Gammeltoft, Head of Unit 'Protection of Water & Marine Environment' at the European Commission. The preliminary conclusions of the research were used in the European Commission's White Paper on climate change, published in April 2009. [...] The first new report from PEER, 'Europe Adapts to Climate Change: Comparing National Adaptation Strategies', critically analyzes the current status of national adaptation strategies in EU member states, and identifies a variety of opportunities to strengthen their further development and implementation, including timely and targeted scientific research. The second report, 'Climate Policy Integration, Coherence and Governance', concludes that specific measures to tackle climate change, such as emissions trading, will only be successful if they are coherently supported by other government policies addressing economic and social issues.
• 2009/06/22: Euractiv: 'Baltic Energy Market' takes shape
  Eight Baltic Sea states last week (17 June) launched an action plan to connect Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to EU energy networks, providing a signpost for the Swedish Presidency's agenda for the Baltic Sea region. The Baltic Energy Interconnection Plan responds to calls for a more integrated electricity market in the Baltic region, as highlighted by the European Commission's Second Strategic Energy Review in November 2008.
• 2009/06/22: EarthTimes: EU needs Arctic role, Swedish future EU presidency says

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2009/06/28: ABC(Au): Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the momentum behind new climate change legislation in the United States should force the Coalition to clarify its position on emissions trading
• 2009/06/26: Deltoid: Senator Fielding says there has been no warming for 15 years
• 2009/06/25: ABC(Au): Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett says a Top End project to increase remote communities' access to sustainable energy will still get funding over the next two years to complete existing initiatives
• 2009/06/24: Reuters: Australian senator [Fielding] rejects climate change evidence
• 2009/06/23: ABC(Au): Shoalhaven council is calling for the federal and state governments to develop policies to cope with the potential impacts of climate change
• 2009/06/23: ABC(Au): Man arrested at anti-coal protest -- A 25-year-old man has been arrested at the Australian Labor Party headquarters in Sydney's C-B-D.
• 2009/06/22: ABC(Au): South-east Queensland's vulnerability to climate change will be measured in a $14 million state and federal government study
• 2009/06/22: ABC(Au): Another renewable energy rebate axed
  The renewable energy industry is frustrated by another rebate being wound-up with little or no warning. The Federal Government has announced it will no longer fund a 50 per cent subsidy for most households not connected to the electricity grid to install renewable energy systems. The industry was notified by an email sent out at 8:33am (AEST) today, which informed them applications for the rebate would not be accepted as of 8:30am. Solar energy businessman, Adrian Ferraretto, says that has thrown the industry and customers into chaos.
• 2009/06/22: ABC(Au): Climate change sceptic [Plimer] to speak at NFF congress
  Climate change, genetically modified crops, farming technology and the looming global food shortage will be high on the agenda at the National Farmers Federation's (NFF) conference in Brisbane today. More than 400 representatives from Australia's farming sector will meet for the NFF's first National Congress to look at the country's role in feeding the world and how it can better prepare for the future.
• 2009/06/22: Australian: Energy heavies back geothermal sources
  Energy giants Origin and AGL have been busy beefing up their wind-farm portfolios in recent months in preparation for the upgraded Renewal Energy Target -- should it make its way through parliament. But perhaps the most revealing aspects of presentations both companies made last week was their faith in geothermal energy as a significant source of base-load power in the future.

It has been a down and up sort of week for the CPRS aka Aus-ETS:

• 2009/06/28: EarthTimes: Australia's carbon-trading plan gets reprieve
  Australia's planned carbon-emissions trading scheme got a lift Sunday when the opposition Liberal Party withdrew its threat to block enabling legislation passing through parliament. Liberal Party leader Malcolm Turnbull said landmark legislation in the United States had prompted a rethink of stonewalling tactics that would have seen the opposition vote against the bill when it came before the Senate on August 13. "We'll be able to present amendments, hopefully the government will accept them," Turnbull told a local television network. "If the government doesn't accept them, then of course we'll have to work out what happens next." Turnbull's comments reflected a softening of the opposition's stance. Previously, his policy had been to hold off until after the December climate-change conference in Copenhagen before voting on the government plan.
• 2009/06/26: PlanetArk: Australian Carbon Plan Hits Political Roadblock
  Australia's landmark carbon trade scheme, being watched around the world in the lead up to global climate talks in December, hit a political roadblock on Thursday when parliament delayed a vote on the plan until August.
• 2009/06/25: ABC(Au): The Coalition and Independent Senator Nick Xenophon have combined to delay the vote on the Government's carbon trading scheme until August
• 2009/06/24: ABC(Au): Xenophon backs emissions vote delay
  Independent Senator Nick Xenophon says his bid to defer a vote on an emissions trading scheme is not designed to delay action on climate change.
• 2009/06/22: ABC(Au): Family First Senator Steve Fielding says he does not intend to vote in favour of the Government's emissions trading scheme because he remains unconvinced of the science behind the scheme
• 2009/06/22: ABC(Au): Carbon scheme will hurt ratepayers: local governments
  Australia's local government leaders say ratepayers will have to bear the cost of the Federal Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. More than 700 mayors, councillors and chief executives are attending the three-day National General Assembly of Local Government in Canberra. Up for debate is a discussion paper on climate change, which says at $20 a tonne the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme will add $344 million to councils' operating costs.
• 2009/06/22: ABC(Au): Coalition threatens carbon scheme filibuster
  Some Senators are planning to obstruct debate on the Government's emissions trading scheme this week in a bid to block a vote by Friday. The Government wants the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme passed by Friday, when Parliament rises for the winter break, but the Opposition wants it delayed until next year.
• 2009/06/21: NYT: Australian Emissions Trading Plan in Trouble
• 2009/06/22: Reuters: Australian Senate poised to defeat carbon laws
  The Australian parliament's upper-house Senate began debating plans for the government's carbon trading scheme on Monday with little sign the package of 11 bills will pass.

And in India:

• 2009/06/23: Yahoo: [Indian] Govt to make energy [efficiency] label mandatory for cars

  While in China:

• 2009/06/26: CopenhagenPost: China snubs climate minister after Lama meeting
  Meeting with the Dalai Lama may have been more problematic than first thought as China pull out of climate meeting in Greenland
• 2009/06/25: PhysOrg: China aims to build 'Three Gorges of wind power'

  In Japan:

• 2009/06/25: WSJ:EnvCap: Japan Backpedals on Emissions Targets
• 2009/06/23: JapanTimes: Asia yen loans readied in climate change fight
  Yen loans will be extended to four Asian countries to assist their efforts to fight global warming, according to government sources. Under its Climate Change Program Loans, the government will provide tens of billions of yen to Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, the sources said.
• 2009/06/22: BizGreen: Japan turns to nuclear power to meet emissions targets

  And elsewhere in Asia:

• 2009/06/25: PlanetArk: Disaster-Prone Bangladesh Trials Cell Phone Alerts
• 2009/06/19: TerraDaily: Asia must act boldly to fight climate change: SKorea
  Asian countries are particularly vulnerable to the effects of global climate change and must take bold action to reverse it, South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-Soo said Friday. In a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum on East Asia, Han said many major cities on the continent are situated along coastlines. "Two thirds of the world's poorest live in our region, and they are the most severely and disproportionately affected by climate change," he said. "Thus it is imperative that we act boldly, decisively and without delay."

While in Russia:

• 2009/06/25: MongaBay: Russia pledges to raise carbon emissions to combat global warming
• 2009/06/24: TreeHugger: Russia to be Particularly Screwed by Climate Change
• 2009/06/23: WSJ:EnvCap: Russia's Do-nothing Climate Plan
• 2009/06/22: COP15: Russia plans to increase emissions 30 percent by 2020

  And Africa:

• 2009/06/26: PlanetArk: Africa Needs Compensation For Climate Change - Meles
  Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has demanded that the rich world compensate Africa for global warming and said pollution in the northern hemisphere may have caused his country's ruinous 1980s famines.

In Mexico:

• 2009/06/26: BBC: Mexico's gamble on biofuels
  Mexican authorities intent on tackling the issues surrounding the production of biofuels are faced with one fundamental question. Should they have clean air, or cheap food to feed the country's poor? In a country where, according to official estimates, 40 million people live in poverty and 30% of the maize consumed is imported, the answer not straightforward.
• 2009/06/24: Guardian(UK): Can Felipe Calderón make Mexico a leader in combating climate change?
• 2009/06/22: TerraDaily: Mexico seeks help for developing nations on climate change
  Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Monday called for financial help for developing countries to meet their climate change commitments under a new treaty set to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

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

• 2009/06/27: G&M: Ottawa could waive thousands more environmental assessments
• 2009/06/26: CanWest: Eco-groups take Conservatives to court over assessment waivers
  The potential number of stimulus projects the federal government is exempting from environmental assessment has skyrocketed from 2,000 to as many as 12,000, according to environmental groups who are challenging the government's policy in the courts. Ecojustice and Sierra Club Canada amended their lawsuit in the Federal Court this week to include new figures they obtained from updated regulations published by the government in May. The government says it is simply cutting needless red tape on projects that don't pose a risk to the environment, but the environmentalists are worried the government is permanently retreating from environmental oversight.
• 2009/06/26: CanWest: Ottawa expands environmental exemptions for stimulus projects
  The potential number of stimulus projects the federal government is exempting from environmental assessment has risen from 2,000 to as many as 12,000...

In Saskatchewan they are wrangling over nuclear power:

• 2009/06/24: AD: Pushy...at least one of the Saskatchewan pro-nuclear forces is looking to push-polling...
• 2009/06/23: BuckDog: Public Consultations 'Be Damned' - Premier Wall Wants Nuclear Reactor Built In Saskatchewan
• 2009/06/23: G&M: Premier accused of subverting nuclear hearings
  Saskatchewan leader defends comments about building reactor even as public consultations on issue continue
  Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is being accused of undermining public hearings on nuclear-power development in the province with his recent proposal that a research reactor be built within three years. Mr. Wall told the Globe and Mail on Friday the reactor would produce medical isotopes, topping up shortfalls created by the closing of Ontario's Chalk River facility. But the statement comes as the provincial government is holding public hearings to gauge public sentiment on reactor construction. Many people involved in those hearings said yesterday that Mr. Wall's comments suggest the public consultations are token efforts.
• 2009/06/22: G&M: Prairies' reactor still years away -- Process of acquiring isotopes reactor still in early consultation stages

  In BC, adjustments to the election results are ongoing:

• 2009/06/22: Tyee: In Bad Times, Tough Eco-Standards an Even Harder Sell -- BC timber firms are slow to seek FSC certification, but Great Bear Rainforest may change that.

  In Ontario, Ottawa refused to finance Toronto's streetcars:

• 2009/06/26: CBC: Toronto gives extra streetcar funds green light
• 2009/06/26: TStar: Streetcar tab soars as Miller's gamble fails
  Toronto will have to pay $417 million more for its new streetcars, bringing the city's total bill to $772 million. The 204 Bombardier LRVs will cost $1.2 billion and will replace the TTC's aging fleet.

Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2009/06/26: TreeHugger: Take Action: Tell Hillary Clinton to Stop Tar Sands Pipeline Into US
• 2009/06/26: Dominion: Five-Fold Increase in Oil Sands Production -- Tar sands could produce 6 million barrels of oil per day by 2035: [CERA] report
• 2009/06/25: PlanetArk: Green Group Asks U.S. To Bar Canada Oil Sands
  An environmental group on Wednesday asked U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to deny permits for pipelines that would bring oil from Canada's oil sands to the United States. ForestEthics said production from Canadian oil sands, also known as tar sands, generates up to five times more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil. It said this conflicts with President Obama's pledge to tackle global warming.
• 2009/06/24: Reuters: Clinton asked to keep Canada [tar]sands oil out of U.S.
• 2009/06/24: Rabble: Separating truth from greenwashing in the West's energy export boom
• 2009/06/22: G&M: Alberta's oil sands show signs of life -- Run-up in oil prices contributing to guarded optimism, as trades begin to rebound

  As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

• 2009/06/23: ChronicleHerald: Navy belongs in Arctic, top sailor maintains
  The Canadian navy is still the best choice to patrol Arctic seas, even though its proposed icebreakers are looking remarkably like coast guard ships, says the new chief of maritime staff. "It's about sovereignty; it's about jurisdiction," Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden told The Canadian Press in a wide-ranging interview Monday. McFadden took over the navy's top post from Vice-Admiral Drew Robertson, who retired after a 36-year naval career.
• 2009/06/22: CanWest: High-speed rail to foster national unity, Liberal MP suggests
  A multi-billion dollar high-speed rail project between Quebec City and Windsor, Ont., would promote national unity among Quebecers and boost their attachment to the rest of the country, says federal Liberal transport critic Joe Volpe.

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

• 2009/06/27: EnergyBulletin: The Transition Initiative
• 2009/06/27: MTobis: Long Time Coming [Paper Discussion] _The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth_ by Kenneth Ewart Boulding
• 2009/06/25: FPR: Let's Get Rid of the Economy of Growth
• 2009/06/26: OilDrum: Have We Reached an Inflection Point in Economics History?: "Indeflation" and Energy
• 2009/06/23: USAToday: Recession generation? Young adults brace for simpler lifestyle
• 2009/06/22: FS: Common Sense Stimulus -- Build a productive infrastructure before the currency is destroyed

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

• 2009/06/23: AlterNet: Virginity Movement on the Defensive, Scrambling to Rebrand

  Apocalypso anyone?

• 2009/06/23: BNC: Lovelock's dire vision
• 2009/06/17: Herald(Au):JC: Hurtling towards calamity
• 2009/06/22: CCP: Lovelock: Adapt, try to survive, CO2 drawdown via biochar may help -- Climate change is inevitable, proceeding and even accelerating

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2009/06/22: CJR: Climate Change, Crop Catastrophe -- California papers ignore the agricultural consequences of climate change
• 2009/06/26: KSJT: Nature: What! Another spotlight on science journalism teetering on an abyss? Yes - and it's a good one
• 2009/06/26: AFTIC: A tale of two interviews
• 2009/06/26: MediaMatters: Fox still peddling debunked cap-and-trade cost figure
• 2009/06/23: MediaMatters: Media reported conservatives' high cap-and-trade cost estimates, but not lower CBO number
• 2009/06/25: EnergyBulletin: A shale gas boom?
• 2009/06/23: ClimateP: Shame on the New York Times for running ExxonMobil's greenwashing ad once again -- they can't plead ignorance this time, only greed

  While activists search for effective communication techniques:

• 2009/06/23: PRWatch: More Messaging for the Earth
• 2009/06/26: Guardian(UK): Can Cannes save the world? No, but it's a good place to start, says Bob Geldof
• 2009/06/23: Guardian(UK): Copenhagen climate change treaty backed by 'Hopenhagen' [PR] campaign
• 2009/06/22: Guardian(UK): How science teacher from Oregon became YouTube phenomenon
• 2009/06/21: Guardian(UK): Getting the green message across -- Environmentalists struggle to find the right way to promote green values - and it politicians keep passing the buck

  Finally somebody calls bullshit:

• 2009/06/23: NEN: On climate change polls
  Summary: The many polls and varied results characterizing the public's attitude on global climate change suggest misguided methods and misinterpreted results. The conclusion late in 2008 and early this year that the public is losing interest in the question is especially questionable given more recent and comprehensive polls.

Here is something for your library:

• 2009/06/23: TreeHugger: [eBook Plug] Thoreau's Legacy Lives On in Interactive Anthology on Climate Change

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2009/06/26: AutoBG: California Attorney General drops greenhouse gas suit against carmakers
• 2009/06/26: CanWest: Eco-groups take Conservatives to court over assessment waivers
  The potential number of stimulus projects the federal government is exempting from environmental assessment has skyrocketed from 2,000 to as many as 12,000, according to environmental groups who are challenging the government's policy in the courts. Ecojustice and Sierra Club Canada amended their lawsuit in the Federal Court this week to include new figures they obtained from updated regulations published by the government in May. The government says it is simply cutting needless red tape on projects that don't pose a risk to the environment, but the environmentalists are worried the government is permanently retreating from environmental oversight.
• 2009/06/20: SF Gate: State drops warming suit against carmakers
  State Attorney General Jerry Brown agreed Friday to drop a global warming lawsuit that accused the six largest automakers of damaging California's resources by selling vehicles that emit large amounts of heat-trapping gases. Brown's predecessor, Bill Lockyer, filed the suit in 2006 against General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, and the North American outlets of Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

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

• 2009/06/16: REA: Interview: Hans Jørgen Koch Explains Why IRENA Is "50 times More than the IEA"
• 2009/06/26: NEN: Wind price competes w/coal if emissions get priced
• 2009/06/26: BBC: Oil rises back above $71 a barrel
• 2009/06/25: CBC: Western Canadian Coal profit up with coal prices
• 2009/06/25: ClimateP: Game changer 3: New natural gas supplies -- great for low-cost climate action, bad for coal
• 2009/06/25: TP:WonkRoom: The Investment Cost Of Our Energy Price Roller Coaster
• 2009/06/25: AlterNet: Gas Pump Thievery: Who's Really Behind the Rising Prices at the Pumps?
• 2009/06/24: NewScientist: Ice on fire: The next fossil fuel
• 2009/06/24: PeakEnergy: Energy heavies back geothermal sources
• 2009/06/26: BBerg: Big Oil's Answer to Carbon Law May Be Fuel Imports
  America's biggest oil companies will probably cope with U.S. carbon legislation by closing fuel plants, cutting capital spending and increasing imports. Under the Waxman-Markey climate bill that may be voted on today by the U.S. House, refiners would have to buy allowances for carbon dioxide spewed from their plants and from vehicles when motorists burn their fuel. Imports would need permits only for the latter, which ConocoPhillips Chief Executive Officer Jim Mulva said would create a competitive imbalance. "It will lead to the opportunity for foreign sources to bring in transportation fuels at a lower cost, which will have an adverse impact to our industry, potential shutdown of refineries and investment and, ultimately, employment," Mulva said in a June 16 interview in Detroit.
• 2009/06/23: CanWest: IEA says potential for oil supply crunch by 2014
  Oil markets may face a supply crunch by 2014 if global GDP growth hits 5% in the coming years, [Nobuo Tanaka] the head of the International Energy Agency said Tuesday.
• 2009/06/22: EnergyBulletin: Interview with Charlie Maxwell (Part 1 of 2)
• 2009/06/22: CNN: Oil falls below $67
• 2009/06/22: OilDrum: The Net Hubbert Curve: What Does It Mean?
• 2009/06/22: PeakEnergy: The Renewables Hump 4: EROEI Issues

  The answer my friend...:

• 2009/06/24: KSJT: Phil. Inquirer, Wires, NYT, Financial Times, etc: US makes key move toward offshore wind power
• 2009/06/24: PhysOrg: Experts examine risks to birds from wind turbines (w/ Video)
• 2009/06/24: NEN: U.S. green lights offshore wind
• 2009/06/24: Reuters: Wind energy body [WWEA] says capacity grows at record pace
• 2009/06/23: McClatchyDC: Wind energy race on as feds grant first offshore leases
• 2009/06/23: NEN: The facts about wind speed and climate change
• 2009/06/22: MongaBay: Wind could power the entire world
• 2009/06/22: SlashDot: Wind Could Provide 100% of World Energy Needs

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2009/06/25: PhysOrg: SRNL to study applicability of solar cell coatings
• 2009/06/24: TreeHugger: Visible Solar Light Combines Solar With LEDs For Big Savings
• 2009/06/22: PeakEnergy: Queensland set to become solar powerbase?
• 2009/06/22: WSJ:EnvCap: Big, Big Solar Coming to West Texas

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2009/06/25: Kentucky: Report: Coal industry costs state government
  The coal industry takes $115 million more from Kentucky's state government annually in services and programs than it contributes in taxes, according to a study to be released Thursday. The Berea-based Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, or MACED, spent a year examining the coal industry's impact on the state's general fund and road fund. "The coal industry is pretty free about discussing the positive impact of coal on the state. But there's almost no public discussion about the cost," said MACED President Justin Maxson.
• 2009/06/22: ClimateP: Coal mining costs Appalachians five times more in early deaths than it provides in economic benefits
• 2009/06/22: BBC: Coal protesters board cargo ship -- Campaigners from Greenpeace have boarded a ship delivering coal to the Kingsnorth power station in Kent

  Meanwhile in the clean coal saga:

• 2009/06/26: Grist: Slip Slidin' Away -- Was the Tennessee coal ash disaster really a once-in-a-lifetime event?
  A new report from an engineering firm hired by the Tennessee Valley Authority identified factors behind last year's disaster that unleashed more than a billion of gallons of toxic ash from a massive storage pond at the federal company's Kingston plant in eastern Tennessee. It claims that the disaster was a one-of-a-kind event -- but skeptical coal ash watchdogs are calling for a more thorough investigation by federal authorities.

Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2009/06/26: Eureka: Cellulose-hydrogen production from corn stalk biomass by anaerobic fermentation
• 2009/06/24: PhysOrg: Plant making [natural] gas from wood opens in Austria
• 2009/06/25: WSJ:EnvCap: From Washington to Texas, Biodiesel Makers Sitting Idle
• 2009/06/23: BBC: How Texas manure ethanol plan fell flat
• 2009/06/23: SciDaily: Alternative Feedstocks For Ethanol Production

  Yes we have peak denial:

• 2009/06/25: Macleans: Peak water, peak fish and the end of everything

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2009/06/24: PhysOrg: Microsoft launches home energy monitoring tool
• 2009/06/23: NewScientist: 'Lightbulb' molecule has a bright future

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

• 2009/06/28: PhysOrg: Daimler launches first German hybrid car
• 2009/06/24: FuturePundit: IBM Push For Practical Electric Car Batteries
• 2009/06/27: AutoBG: Sanyo to crank up hybrid battery capacity by 75%
• 2009/06/26: SlashDot: New Lithium-Air Battery Delivers 10 Times the Energy Density
• 2009/06/24: BWeek: Are Batteries in Electric Cars Safe?
• 2009/06/25: AutoBG: Report: Chevy Volt will be built, sold in China
• 2009/06/23: EarthTimes: US offers billions to Ford, Nissan and Tesla for green cars
• 2009/06/23: PhysOrg: Toyota plans fuel-cell car by 2015
• 2009/06/23: Grist: US to loan $5.9 billion to Ford, $1.6 billion to Nissan for fuel efficiency
• 2009/06/23: DM:80B: DoE Tosses Tesla a $465 Million Loan to Make Mass-Market Electric Cars
• 2009/06/23: WSJ:EnvCap: Going Electric: Nissan, Exxon, the Feds and Tesla Enjoy a Big Day for Electric Cars
• 2009/06/23: AutoBG: Officially, official: Tesla gets $465m in loans from the DOE to build Model S, EV powertrains
• 2009/06/23: AutoBG: Officially, official: Nissan gets $1.6B DOE loan to build EVs, batteries in Tennsessee
• 2009/06/23: GCC: University of Michigan Report Finds Focus on Fuel Economy Would Be Very Profitable for Detroit 3; Says Rapid, Wide-Reaching Change in Business Models Required for Turnaround
• 2009/06/23: BBC: Nissan eyes an electric car boost
  Japanese carmaker Nissan plans to make 100,000 electric cars a year by 2012, as it aims to become the first auto firm to mass produce the vehicles.

Cash-for-Clunkers, aka Scrappage, Plans are being legislated and argued around the world:

• 2009/06/26: AutoBG: Obama signs Cash-for-Clunkers bill into law, countdown to start begins
• 2009/06/25: CNN: 'Cash for Clunkers' mostly a clunker -- Most car shoppers will not benefit from the vehicle trade-in law
• 2009/06/22: AutoBG: Analysts: There's no guarantee that cash-for-clunkers will really drive car sales

  Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:

• 2009/06/21: USAToday: 'Green' claims by marketers go unchecked
• 2009/06/21: Guardian(UK): American shoppers misled by greenwash, Congress told
  98% of supposedly environmentally friendly products in US supermarkets make false or confusing claims, campaigners say

Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:

• 2009/06/27: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for June 27th: Dust-Bowl-ification spreads to southern Italy; Clean energy by Nobel Prize-wining Grameen Bank; DC Metro crash symptom of crumbling infrastructure
• 2009/06/25: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for June 25: Scotland approves 42% reduction in CO2 by 2020; Sears Tower to generate most of its own power
• 2009/06/24: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for June 24nd: U. Michigan study says it was "standard practice" to ignore consumer demand for fuel efficiency -- "If GM had followed its own research it would likely not be in Chapter 11 today."
• 2009/06/23: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for June 23: Amazon deforestation declines to record low, Swiss glaciers melting faster than ever before
• 2009/06/22: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for June 22nd: GOP nuke plan to cost consumers up to $4 trillion; 98% of green product claims may be greenwash

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2009/06/26: Grist: The GOP's Spanish prisoner/professor
• 2009/06/26: Tamino: Embarrassing Questions
• 2009/06/26: Deltoid: Senator Fielding says there has been no warming for 15 years
• 2009/06/25: Guardian(UK): Climate science is by nature uncertain
  For climate sceptics, the mere presence of uncertainty is reason enough to doubt. But doubt is not an enemy -- it is the stimulus that drives science forward
• 2009/06/25: TWTB: Fred Hiatt and George Will think Washington Post readers are morons
• 2009/06/24: Deltoid: The Australian's War on Science 39
• 2009/06/22: EnvEcon: Cap'n Trade's archenemy

  The denyosphere is trying to spin a bit of nonsense around the EPA:

• 2009/06/28: TreeHugger: Obama Green Machine Found Nesting on a Key Environmental Report, Claims CEI
• 2009/06/27: ClimateSpin: Suppressed EPA report suppressed for a good reason
• 2009/06/26: RealClimate: Bubkes -- [Deniers] all a-twitter over an apparently "suppressed" document that supposedly undermines the EPA Endangerment finding
• 2009/06/25: BBerg: EPA Barred Criticism of Carbon Finding, Barton Says
  The Obama administration suppressed analysis that didn't back up its proposed finding that greenhouse-gas pollution poses a danger to the public, a Republican lawmaker charged. Representative Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson that criticism by a staff economist was barred after the administration decided to issue the finding. The opinions "by an individual who is not a scientist" were "heard and considered," EPA press secretary Adora Andy said in an e-mailed statement. "The claims that his opinions were not considered or studied are entirely false."

As for climate miscellanea:

• 2009/06/26: NewScientist: Financial crisis may have been good for the climate
• 2009/06/26: NewScientist: Debate heats up over long-term climate forecasts
• 2009/06/26: AlterNet: New Washing Machine Uses Only 1 Cup of Water
• 2009/06/25: GreenGrok: Statistically Speaking: Quoth the Raven
• 2009/06/23: KtG&PDH: Don't Fight The Powerful Trends Now Underway
• 2009/06/23: Stoat: Foaming at the mouth with Joe Romm
• 2009/06/22: WorldChanging: Closing the Climate Change Accounting Loophole -- With a Billboard
• 2009/06/22: SolveClimate: A Lesson for Stovepipe City: Everything in Climate Change is Connected
• 2009/06/20: GreenLeft: 'Plan B': less climate action than we need

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

• CRMW: Coal River Mountain Watch
• Wiki: 2007-2008 world food price crisis
• Wiki: Food security
• Wiki: Stem rust
• UCSUSA: Thoreau's Legacy: American Stories about Global Warming -- An Online Anthology
• COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen December 2009
• Climate Justice - enforcing climate change law
• The Canary Project
• Earth Times
• P&P: People & Planet
• CCC: California Climate Change
• GRACE: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment
• NuclearInfoNet: Everything you want to know about Nuclear Power
• EEE: Ecological Economics Encyclopaedia
• Carbon Sink
• Carbon Balanced by the World Land Trust
• EDF: Environmental Defense Fund

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.

"When, in the course of their lives, people find they are being abused by those in position of power, and their children and their children's future are being damaged by those in power, it is the right of the people, and their sacred duty, to resist those in position of power and fight for the well-being of the young and the unborn." -Opening Paragraph of the June 23 Declaration

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