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Another Week of Climate Instability News

Sipping from the internet firehose...

January 3, 2010

• Chuckles, Copenhagen, Knorr, French Carbon Tax, Retrospectives, CRU
• Melting Arctic, Methane
• Food Crisis, Land Grabs, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Aerosols, Paleoclimate, Future Climate, ENSO
• Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Wildfires, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Misc. Science, Scafetta & Willson, Qing Bin Lu
• UN, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Law & Activism, Religioso, Polls
• America, Obama, Congress, Britain, Europe, Australia, China, Asia, Middle East, Africa, South America, Canada
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Media, Books, Video, Courts
• Energy, Tankers, Fracking, Wind, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Insurance
• Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

• 2009/12/28: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Devil in the Details
• 2009/12/31: MoD: (cartoon - Roberts) Jobs, not tree [Easter Bunny Island (an oldie but a goodie)]

  There is still some Copenhagen chatter:

• 2010/01/02: ClimateShifts: The aftermath of Copenhagen -- where are we headed?
• 2010/01/03: EarthTimes: India premier says Copenhagen climate summit disappointing
• 2010/01/02: PeakEnergy: Copenhagen has given us the chance to face climate change with honesty [Hansen]
• 2010/01/01: CCP: The failure of COP15 was China's fault -- I know because I was in the room
• 2009/12/30: Economist: China's thing about numbers -- How an emerging superpower dragged its feet, then dictated terms, at a draining diplomatic marathon
• 2009/12/30: Economist: Planet B -- How the underwhelming Copenhagen accord could yet turn into a useful document
• 2009/12/30: IoD: You call that progress?
• 2009/12/30: CCurrents: Can There Be Hope After Copenhagen?
• 2009/12/28: CCurrents: Humanity's Right To Life by Fidel Castro
• 2009/12/27: CCurrents: COP15 Copenhagen: A Road To Ecocide
  The outcome of the UN climate meeting in Copenhagen was "a gross violation of the tradition of the United Nations". We have been asked "to sign a suicide pact, an incineration pact, in order to maintain the economic dominance of a few countries. It's a solution based on values that funnelled six million people in Europe into furnaces", said Lumumba Di-Aping, the Sudanese negotiator for the group of 132 developing countries, known as the G77. Copenhagen was exposed as a complicity to accelerate the threat of ecocide.
• 2009/12/27: CCurrents: Copenhagen Has Given Us The Chance To Face Climate Change With Honesty by James Hansen
• 2009/12/28: DerSpiegel: Interview with German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen -- 'China Doesn't Want to Lead, and the US Cannot'
  German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen talks to SPIEGEL about the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit, why neither China nor the US can take the lead in the fight against global warming and Germany's role in the new world order.
• 2009/12/29: KSJT: German Lang. Media: Why Copenhagen failed
• 2009/12/29: SMH: Copenhagen shortcomings to stymie green market: survey
• 2009/12/29: Grist: Greenpeace Spain demands Denmark release its director
• 2009/12/29: HotTopic: A positive view of Copenhagen
• 2009/12/29: BBC: We must not accept Copenhagen's failings
  World leaders must listen to the people who put them in power and quickly make amends for failing to deliver a binding climate deal in Copenhagen, says Tim Aldred. In this week's Green Room, he says time is not on our side, as many of the world's poorest nations are already feeling the effects of climate change.
• 2009/12/28: Guardian(UK): Blame Denmark, not China, for Copenhagen failure
  The decision to override the multilateral process and hold a secret meeting of select nations ruined any chance of success
• 2009/12/28: KSJT: Guardian: A report from the room where China dug in its heels in Copenhagen; more such
• 2009/12/28: ClimateP: The Copenhagen Accord: A Big Step Forward [says NRDC]
• 2009/12/28: TreeHugger: Why Blaming China for Copenhagen Won't Help the Climate
• 2009/12/21: Slate: The Party's Over -- Why Copenhagen was the climate conference to end all climate conferences
  I'm not sure whether it was the chicken-suited followers of Supreme Master Ching Hai wandering about or the experience of freezing slowly for seven hours as I waited to get into the Bella Center, but something happened in the last 10 days to convince me, once and for all, that the United Nations climate negotiations will never quite work. As the dust settles on this year's talks and observers try to understand exactly what happened here, one thing is for certain: The U.N. process can no longer be the central focus of global efforts to confront climate change.
• 2009/12/27: AT: Obama's Lost Face
  Why did Chinese premier Wen Jiabao choose to publicly humiliate Barack Obama at Copenhagen?
• 2009/12/28: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Copenhagen: time to stop the finger-pointing
• 2009/12/28: Guardian(UK): John Prescott defends China's role at Copenhagen climate summit

  A minor storm erupted in the blogosphere mostly over some misreporting on Knorr:

• 2009/11/07: GRL: (ab$) Is the airborne fraction of anthropogenic CO2 emissions increasing? by Wolfgang Knorr
• 2009/11/17: NatGeo: Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide by Corinne Le Quéré et al.
• 2007/11/20: PNAS: Contributions to accelerating atmospheric CO2 growth from economic activity, carbon intensity, and efficiency of natural sinks by Josep G. Canadell et al.
• 2010/01/02: MTobis: Knorr: What Dr. Rabett Said
• 2010/01/01: RealClimate: Unforced variations 2
• 2009/12/31: SkepticalScience: Is the airborne fraction of anthropogenic CO2 emissions increasing?
• 2010/01/01: MTobis: Knorr Soup
• 2009/12/31: SciDaily: No Rise of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Fraction in Past 160 Years, New Research Finds
  [...]
  To assess whether the airborne fraction is indeed increasing, Wolfgang Knorr of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol reanalyzed available atmospheric carbon dioxide and emissions data since 1850 and considers the uncertainties in the data.

In France, the proposed carbon tax was struck down by the Constitutional Council because most businesses got a free pass:

• 2009/12/31: Reuters: France to propose new carbon tax: minister
  France's government wants to salvage a carbon tax, scrapped on constitutional concerns, by closing loopholes for some businesses, Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said on Thursday.
• 2009/12/31: EUO: French court strikes down flagship carbon tax as unjust
• 2009/12/31: PlanetArk: French Government Rushes To Revive Carbon Tax
• 2009/12/31: Grist: France rejects carbon pricing policy
• 2009/12/30: Guardian(UK): Humiliation for green convert Sarkozy as carbon tax ruled unconstitutional
  French court judges tax would punish households while letting off big industrial polluters
• 2009/12/30: TreeHugger: Carbon Tax Struck Down in France for Being Too Easy on Big Polluters
• 2009/12/30: EarthTimes: French constitutional body nixes carbon tax
• 2009/12/30: BWeek: French Constitutional Court Rejects Carbon Tax
• 2009/12/30: BBC: France to rethink carbon tax plan
  A new carbon tax that was supposed to go into effect in France at New Year has been struck down, delivering a blow to President Nicolas Sarkozy. France's Constitutional Council, a legal compliance watchdog, said there were too many exemptions for polluters in the tax plan. The body said 93% of industrial emissions, other than fuel use, would be exempt from the tax. The tax was set at 17 euros (£15) per tonne of emitted carbon dioxide (CO2). Prime Minister Francois Fillon has said the government will now work on a new law taking account of the legal ruling.

End of year and decade retrospectives:

• 2009/12/31: CJR: Best of 2009: The Observatory
• 2009/12/31: SolveClimate: Images of a Changing Planet -- A Look Back at the Year and Decade
• 2009/12/31: ChronicleHerald: A decade of weather shocks -- Arctic ice disintegration was biggest surprise to climate expert but there were others
• 2009/12/30: CBC: 'Summer of our discontent' tops Canada's 2009 weather -- Environment Canada documents a 'marvel of contrasts'
• 2009/12/29: Guardian(UK): Roundup: Climate science in 2009
• 2009/12/29: TreeHugger: Best and Worst of 2009: The Year in Climate Change Politics (Slideshow)
• 2009/12/28: KSJT: Lists of Top Stories 2009 (and of decade, and one of last 50 years)
• 2009/12/28: TechRev: The Year in Energy
  Liquid batteries, giant lasers, and vast new reserves of natural gas highlight the fundamental energy advances of the past 12 months.

The CRU email theft still got some attention:

• 2009/12/31: MTobis: Relative Importance of CRU
• 2009/12/31: MTobis: Skeptical Lobsters
• 2009/12/31: MTobis: Knappenberger's Variation and Lippard's Test
• 2009/12/29: TS:QuarkSoup: How Wrong can NPR Be?
• 2009/12/29: MTobis: Thin Kool-Ade
• 2009/12/29: DeSmogBlog: The Daily Mail's Distracting ChinaHack Theory
• 2009/12/28: DM:CCM: My Cameo in the "ClimateGate" Emails
• 2009/12/27: MoD: Conspiracy theories

  The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:

• 2010/01/01: CCP: The weakening of the polar vortex in the Arctic
• 2010/01/01: CC&G: Arctic Sea Ice Extent Trends With R
• 2009/12/31: SciDaily: Permafrost Thaw May Accelerate Arctic Groundwater Runoff
• 2009/12/29: USGS: Arctic Could Face Warmer and Ice-Free Conditions

  Damocles sword hangs overhead:

• 2009/12/30: CCP: Under the icy north lurks a 'carbon bomb'

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2010/01/03: Telegraph(UK): Britain must produce more food, government to warn
  Britain must produce more food to avoid going hungry in the future, the Government will warn this week. A soaring global population, climate change, diminishing energy sources and depleted fish stocks mean that society can no longer be complacent about its ability to feed itself, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will say. Setting out a comprehensive food strategy for the next 20 years, ministers will also say that:
  * The public must accept genetically-modified food;
  * The EU's Common Agricultural Policy adds £52 a year to every Briton's annual food bill; and
  * Food should be clearly labelled with its country of origin, to help consumers choose.
• 2010/01/02: NYT: Living on Nothing but Food Stamps
• 2009/12/29: PlanetArk: Yield Loss Eyed As Snow Covers U.S. Corn Crop
• 2009/12/29: GAB: Food security: Ending the year on a downer

  So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

• 2010/01/01: SciDaily: 'Land Grabs' For Rice Production Due To Supply Threats
  Recent interest in "land grabs" or the international acquisition of land to produce rice is sparked by a looming threat of inadequate rice supplies. "To put it simply, there is not enough rice to feed the world," says Dr. Robert Zeigler, director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

And how are we going to feed 9 billion?

• 2009/12/30: UN: UN food distribution brings New Year cheer to Tajik widow
• 2009/12/30: UN: Philippines: UN sends food for nearly 50,000 people driven from homes by volcano
• 2009/12/29: NYT: Europe's Vast Farm Subsidies Face Challenges
• 2009/12/29: PlanetArk: Egypt Plants New Wheat Strains To Fight Fungus
• 2009/12/27: AlterNet: The Year Food Was Totally Schizoid: Growing Local Takes Off, As Giant Agribiz Becomes More Dominant
• 2009/12/21: CSM: More herbicide use reported on genetically modified crops
  A report has found that farmers are using more herbicides on genetically engineered soybeans, corn, and cotton because of resistant weeds.
• 2009/12/28: AlterNet: High Fructose Corn Syrup Proven to Cause Human Obesity

  It was quiet on the hurricane front:

• 2009/12/29: CBC: Final mess from Hurricane Juan cleaned up
  Six years after Hurricane Juan swept over P.E.I., an administrative mess that almost denied Charlottetown $200,000 in federal aid has been cleared up.

As for GHGs:

• 2009/12/30: BWeek: Greenhouse Gases: Who's Cheating?
  The amounts of carbon in the atmosphere are out of whack with predictions and reported output
• 2009/12/31: TreeHugger: Brazil Signs Into Law Bill to Cut CO2 Emissions 39% [base year?]

  And the temperature record:

• 2009/12/31: Tamino: Exogenous Factors
• 2010/01/01: ABC(Au): SA hotter than ever in 2009
  Several heatwaves and warmer nights have been cited as the reasons behind South Australia recording its hottest year on record. The state's 2009 mean annual temperature was 20.7 degrees Celsius, 1.2C above the long-term average and beating the record set two years ago.
• 2010/01/01: ClimateShifts: Solar cycles and global warming: why the next decade is likely to be the warmest yet
• 2009/12/31: ClimateP: The hottest decade ends and since there's no Maunder mininum -- sorry deniers! -- the hottest decade begins
• 2009/12/31: TreeHugger: And Thus Ends the Hottest Decade on Record . . .
• 2009/12/31: Tamino: Cyclical? Probably not.
• 2009/12/29: ClimateShifts: Model to data temperature comparisons -- how well did they do?

  Aerosols are making their presence felt:

• 2009/12/30: KC: Dust: Tiny particles with a big impact
• 2009/12/31: SciDaily: The Stupefying Pace of Glacier Melt in the 1940s

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2010/01/01: SciDaily: Northern South America Rainier During Little Ice Age
• 2009/12/30: CCP: M. M. Robinson, Stratigraphy (2009), New quantitative evidence of extreme warmth in the Pliocene Arctic

  Future ice age projections of the future climate:

• 2009/12/29: FuturePundit: Global Warming Won't Prevent Ice Age

  While on the ENSO front:

• 2010/01/02: ERabett: Double Whammy -- It looks like the El Nino is heating up...just in time for the solar cycle 24 is to kick in
• 2009/12/28: ClimateShifts: ENSO Wrap-Up

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2010/01/02: VOA: WHO Warns Climate Change Bad For Health
• 2010/01/02: AzStarNet: Local climate-change study has surprising results
  When it comes to climate change, you have to expect the unexpected. That's what researchers at Tumamoc Hill, near downtown Tucson, learned after studying how nine species of flowering winter annual plants behaved as temperatures rose and rainfall declined over a 25-year period ending in 2007.
• 2010/01/02: SciDaily: Will Higher Global Temperatures Make It Easier for Viruses to Jump Species?
• 2009/12/31: Times(UK): Global warming blamed for rise in malaria on Mount Kenya
• 2009/12/28: DM:80B: Global Warming Could Make the Ocean a Noisier Place to Live

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2010/01/01: TerraDaily: Logging exports banned in Sierra Leone
• 2009/12/31: PlanetArk: Indonesia To Relax Forest Protection On Key Projects
• 2009/12/31: Grist: Soybeans threaten Amazon rainforest [Lester Brown]
• 2009/12/30: WpgSun: Alberta trying to stop pine beetles
• 2009/12/29: CBC: Peruvian Indian won't sign report on deadly clashes
• 2009/12/28: TreeHugger: Deforestation Increased as World Prepared for COP15

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2010/01/03: EarthTimes: Heavy snow brings Beijing to a standstill
• 2010/01/02: CBC: Storm pounds Maritimes
  A storm is battering most of the Maritimes, wreaking havoc on travel and power lines. Snow, ice pellets, freezing rain and rain have been falling most of the day in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I., creating treacherous road conditions in some areas. High winds are also being experienced right across the region, resulting in blowing snow and whiteouts.
• 2010/01/03: Guardian(UK): Peru's mountain people face fight for survival in a bitter winter

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2009/12/31: TerraDaily: Shocked residents survey Australia wildfire wreckage
• 2009/12/29: TerraDaily: Australian residents urged to flee 'house-high' wildfires
• 2009/12/30: EarthTimes: Australians tell of 'great firebomb' claiming their homes
• 2009/12/30: EarthTimes: Australian forest fire claims up to 40 houses
• 2009/12/30: BBC: Homes burn in West Australia fire
  Nearly 40 homes have been razed in wildfires tearing through farming areas north of the Western Australian capital, Perth. State Premier Colin Barnett declared a natural disaster, freeing up emergency funds for those in need. The blazes have consumed about 13,400 hectares (33,000 acres) of land.
• 2009/12/29: CBC: Western Australia wildfires injure 3
• 2009/12/30: WpgSun: Wildfires rage in Australia's west
• 2009/12/28: BBC: Forest fires burn homes in Chile
  Chilean authorities are on high alert in the region of Valparaiso where forest fires have destroyed at least 20 homes, forcing people to flee. The forest fires have burned some 2,000 hectares of wood and brush in the hills near the port of Valparaiso. At the weekend, hundreds of residents had to leave as the fires neared their homes.

Glaciers are melting:

• 2009/12/28: KSJT: German Lang. Media: Carbon runoff from Glaciers (so what?)

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2009/12/28: ClimateShifts: Atlantic Coast sea level rises at faster pace

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2010/01/03: BBC: Hundreds flee Australia flooding
  More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from an outback town in the Australian state of New South Wales, after days of flooding. Two areas of the state have been declared natural disaster areas after days of heavy rains swelled rivers and left farms cut off. As water levels threatened to reach 5.5m (18ft), up to 1,200 people were moved from the town of Coonamble. It comes after summer wildfires wreaked havoc on the other side of the country.
• 2010/01/03: ABC(Au): Evacuation ordered as waters rise
• 2010/01/03: ABC(Au): Once-in-a-decade floodpeak nears towns
  The residents of 100 properties at Coonamble in central-western New South Wales are preparing to evacuate due to flash flooding, with predictions of the highest floodpeaks to hit the region in 10 years.
• 2010/01/02: CNN: Death toll in Brazil rains hits 51
• 2009/12/31: TerraDaily: Vietnam says parched Red River at record low
• 2010/01/01: TerraDaily: 19 dead as mudslide hits Rio hotel
  A mudslide struck a small luxury hotel filled with New Year's revelers on an island southwest of Rio de Janeiro Friday, killing at least 19 people and leaving many others missing amid tons of mud and debris. Mudslides and flooding unleashed by days of torrential rains have claimed the lives of 52 people since Wednesday across the state of Rio de Janeiro, authorities said.
• 2010/01/02: EarthTimes: Report: Brazil mudslide death toll rises to 45
• 2010/01/01: HuffPo: Water Crisis, Energy Crisis, Vicious Cycle
• 2009/12/31: BBC: Heavy rains have caused floods and landslides in Brazil, leaving at least 18 people dead
• 2009/12/31: CBC: Heavy rains kill at least 18 in Brazil
• 2009/12/28: ABC(Au): Heavy rain recorded in Riverina
  There has been very welcome rainfall recorded in parts of the Riverina and the south-west as the remnants of ex-Tropical Cyclone Laurence pass across New South Wales.
• 2009/12/26: IPSNews: Africa: Drying, Drying, Disappearing...
  Lake Chad was bigger than Israel less than 50 years ago. Today its surface area is less than a tenth of its earlier size, amid forecasts the lake could disappear altogether within 20 years.
• 2009/12/28: BBC: Saudis arrested in floods probe

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2010/01/02: BNC: The most important investment that we aren't making to mitigate the climate crisis
• 2010/01/02: HotTopic: Carbonscape and the new Victorians [biochar]
• 2009/12/29: NBF: Climate Change and Food [SF?]
• 2009/12/28: AlterNet: The Toilet That Can Help Solve Our Water and Energy Problems
• 2009/12/28: MoD: Uncertainty of the future increases the value of climate mitigation today

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2010/01/02: Guardian(UK): Train fares have gone off the rails
  To fight climate change we need to drive and fly less and travel by train more -- but that's unlikely while rail fares are so high
• 2009/12/29: NBF: China High Speed Rail Present and Future
• 2009/12/31: DM:80B: China's New Bullet Train Breaks Speed Record; Makes Amtrak Cry
• 2009/12/29: ATA: ATA Truck Tonnage Index Jumped 2.7 Percent In November [mom, fell 3.5 yoy (note: seasonally adjusted)]
• 2009/12/28: PKedrosky: The Undulating Plateau of Jet Fuel Consumption

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

• 2010/01/01: Guardian(UK): Green technology to be used by top firms to overhaul UK homes
  Sustainability scheme could create tens of thousands of jobs - 'Retrofitting' homes could make Britain a pioneer in field
• 2010/01/01: ABC(Au): New sustainability declaration for home sellers comes in effect
  From today, anyone selling a home in Queensland will have to fill out a Sustainability Declaration form. The document contains questions about a property's water and energy use.
• 2009/12/28: SolveClimate: Sustainable Heating and Cooling: Digging The Foundations

  And on the carbon sequestration front:

• 2010/01/02: Google:AFP: Shell CO2 stocking plans under fire
  A plan by oil giant Shell to store 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year in a depleted gas reservoir beneath the Dutch city of Barendrecht has drawn the ire of residents and local officials who have vowed to thwart it. "We are going to do everything to oppose this project," declared Barendrecht deputy mayor Simon Zuurbier, who voiced fears for the safety of the city's 50,000 inhabitants. "We are taking legal action to get it cancelled and we'll approve none of the required permits." Anglo-Dutch Shell in November was authorised by the Dutch government to undertake a project to capture and store a portion of the 5.0 megatonnes of carbon dioxide emitted each year by the company's refinery in Pernis, Europe's largest. Pernis is located 15 kilometers (9.4 miles) from here. Under the scheme, set to get under way in 2012, the CO2 will be carried by a pipeline and, after being compressed, will be injected into a depleted gas reservoir 1,800 meters (5,900 feet) under ground. The reservoir has a capacity of 800,000 tonnes. Shell has said that over time the CO2 will dissolve or form minerals.
• 2009/12/30: BizGreen: Fuel cells and carbon capture combine for clean coal breakthrough
  Integrating underground coal gasification with hydrogen fuel cells will revolutionise energy generation, predict Linc and AFC Energy

Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2010/01/01: RS: Geoengineering: a brave new world?
  Event type: Public lectures
  Start Time: 6.30 pm
  Start Date: 19 January 2010
  Venue: The Royal Society, London
  Curator: Professor John Shepherd FRS
  Speakers: Professor Brian Launder FREng FRS, Dr David Santillo, Professor Corinne Le Quéré, and Professor Steve Rayner
• 2009/12/30: SlashDot: Geoengineering a Snow-Free Winter Fails In Moscow
• 2009/12/15: ERW: Saving Greenland's ice by geoengineering
• 2009/12/28: NatGeo: Africa-wide "Great Green Wall" to Halt Sahara's Spread?

  While on the adaptation front:

• 2009/12/28: BBC: 'Back to nature' cuts flood risks
  Reconnecting flood-plains to rivers will help reduce the risk of future flooding, suggest US scientists. A study by US researchers said allowing these areas to be submerged during storms would reduce the risk of flood damage in nearby urban areas.

Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2009/11/17: NatGeo: Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide by Corinne Le Quéré et al.
• 2007/11/20: PNAS: Contributions to accelerating atmospheric CO2 growth from economic activity, carbon intensity, and efficiency of natural sinks by Josep G. Canadell et al.
• 2009/11/07: GRL: (ab$) Is the airborne fraction of anthropogenic CO2 emissions increasing? by Wolfgang Knorr
• 2009/12/29: AGWObserver: Skeptical Science and Climate Denial Crock of the Week in Finnish [misc]
• 2009/12/27: AGWObserver: Papers on urban heat island
• 2009/12/29: PNAS: Oil sands development contributes polycyclic aromatic compounds to the Athabasca River and its tributaries by Erin N. Kelly et al.
• 2009/12/29: PNAS: Overfishing reduces resilience of kelp beds to climate-driven catastrophic phase shift by S. D. Ling et al.
• 2009/12/29: PNAS: High resilience in the Yamal-Nenets social-ecological system, West Siberian Arctic, Russia by Bruce C. Forbes et al.
• 2009/12/29: PNAS: The impact of soil microorganisms on the global budget of O18 in atmospheric CO2 by Lisa Wingate et al.
• 2009/12/29: PNAS: Black soot and the survival of Tibetan glaciers by Baiqing Xu et al.
• 2009/12/29: PNAS: Atmospheric CO2 concentrations during ancient greenhouse climates were similar to those predicted for A.D. 2100 by D. O. Breecker et al.
• 2009/11/19: arXiv: ACRIM-gap and total solar irradiance revisited: Is there a secular trend between 1986 and 1996? by N. A. Krivova et al.

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

• 2010/01/01: GreenFyre: I've changed my mind [about the worst climate paper ever]
• 2009/12/31: APSmith: It's only the thought that counts
• 2009/12/30: NatureN: Soils give clean look at past carbon dioxide -- It could take less of the greenhouse gas to reach a particular level of warming
• 2009/12/27: JKB: Elsevier's coverage of Sinninghe Danté's research

  Regarding Scafetta & Willson:

• 2009/12/29: ERabett: Never mind
• 2009/12/28: ERabett: Dissed

  Regarding Qing Bin Lu & cosmic rays:

• 2009/12/27: ERabett: If you got a hammer

  While at the UN:

• 2009/12/30: UN: Secretary-General confers with world leaders on climate change
• 2009/12/30: UN: Facing climate change, developing world benefits from UN online scientific scheme
• 2009/12/28: UN: UN food agency shocked at killing of staff member in Afghanistan
• 2009/12/28: UN: Despite no accord at climate summit, UN aviation agency pushes emissions curb

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2009/12/31: Reuters: EU carbon slips to end 2009 down 21 percent for year
• 2009/12/31: PlanetArk: South Korea To Launch Emissions Scheme In January
  South Korea will launch a pilot carbon emissions trading scheme from January after the environment ministry received applications from 641 public and private organizations, the ministry said on Wednesday. A ministry official said trading mainly among local municipalities will be done online next year, and from 2011 at Korea Exchange, the country's bourse. The ministry has not yet decided its price for emissions per ton, she said.
• 2009/12/30: Telegraph(UK): 'Carousel' frauds plague European carbon trading markets
• 2009/12/29: SolveClimate: Low Carbon Prices: Just a Phase or an Indictment of Cap and Trade?
• 2009/12/28: Xinhuanet: South Korea to start carbon emissions trading late next year

  The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2009/12/30: IPSNews: Doors Opening for Carbon Tax
  With the chance for a global climate change treaty on hold, a tax on greenhouse gases could be an effective alternative for discouraging the activities that create emissions, say economists and environmentalists.

The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world as nations scramble to deal with climate change:

• 2009/12/31: TP:WR: Climate Activists Jailed For Saying 'Coal's Killing West Virginia's Communities'
• 2009/12/29: AlterNet: One Day We'll All Be Terrorists
  Our descent is the familiar disease of decaying empires. Dissent is starting to become defined as an act of terrorism.
• 2009/12/29: Grist: Greenpeace Spain demands Denmark release its director

  Among the world's religions:

• 2010/01/01: Reuters: Pope urges lifestyle changes to save environment

  Polls! We have polls!

• 2010/01/02: Reuters: Australian ruling party has solid lead - poll
• 2009/12/29: DJ: Overwhelming American Majority Support Action on Global Warming

  And on the American political front:

• 2010/01/01: BostonHerald: Mass. planning new solar energy push in 2010
• 2010/01/02: KPUA: New homes in Hawaii must have solar water heaters
• 2010/01/02: PhysOrg: Solar showdown in Calif. tortoises' desert home
• 2010/01/01: ClimateP: The coming climate panic? Will U.S. conservatives usher in the era of permanently big government?
• 2009/12/30: TheHill: Governors sign low-carbon accord
  The governors of 11 states in the Northeast said Wednesday they would work to develop a low-carbon fuel standard to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks despite objections from the oil industry. The memorandum of understanding sets an early 2011 deadline for a proposed framework to be completed, and piggybacks on California's controversial effort to reduce the carbon footprint of transportation fuels. The governors of Connecticut, Maine, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont signed the MOU. Ten of those states (the exception being Pennsylvania) are members of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an effort to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in response to global warming.
• 2009/12/30: TreeHugger: Survey Finds Over Half of All Americans Committing to Green New Years Resolutions
• 2009/12/30: SolveClimate: GOP Protest Builds Against EPA Regulating Greenhouse Gases -- Louisiana Governor, Alaska Senator Lead the Attack
• 2009/12/29: TP: Governor Of Katrina-Ravaged Louisiana [Bobby Jindal (R)] Tries To Block Climate Change Regulation
• 2009/12/28: NOLA: Greenhouse gas decision is target of coordinated protest by Louisiana agencies
  The Jindal administration is mounting a coordinated campaign against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to regulate the man-made gases thought to be responsible for climate change and has filed letters protesting the potential economic dislocation of the proposed policy. On Monday, Gov. Bobby Jindal and the secretaries of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and Louisiana Economic Development filed objections with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, a New Orleans native, on economic grounds. Their protests follow similar letters by the executive director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission last week and the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality on Dec. 15. The letters say nothing about the cost of inaction as Louisiana's coastline is ravaged by rising sea levels, jeopardizing business investment in the state's most populated areas.
• 2009/12/29: BismarckTrib: N.D. likely to sue Minnesota over carbon tax
• 2009/12/29: SF Gate: More talk than progress in U.S. energy policy
• 2009/12/28: JKB: Senator James Inhofe's trip to Copenhagen

  The Obama chatter is nonstop:

• 2009/12/31: CSW: A New Year's resolution for Obama: Figure out how to talk to the public about climate change
• 2009/12/28: Reuters: Chavez says Obama "illusion" over
  Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said in a New Year's message the "illusion" around President Barack Obama was over and rich nations had left the world on the verge of ecological disaster.
• 2009/12/27: AT: Obama's Lost Face
  Why did Chinese premier Wen Jiabao choose to publicly humiliate Barack Obama at Copenhagen?

The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2010/01/01: LA Times: Federal agencies may have to consider climate before they act
  The Obama administration may issue an order that would expand the National Environmental Policy Act's scope to prevent global warming. The move could open up new avenues to challenge projects.
• 2009/12/28: BizJo: Atlanta group challenges EPA on greenhouse gases
• 2009/12/30: TheHill: EPA explores land protection, climate change overlap
• 2009/12/29: AutoBG: Report: Stop-start tech saves fuel, so why can't we get it in the States? Blame the EPA
• 2009/12/27: CBS: American Electric Power, One of Country's Biggest Electric Utilities Gets Stimulus Cash for Carbon Capture Project

  Kerry-Boxer aka CEJAPA defines a battleline:

• 2009/12/29: ClimateP: The Hill: "Dozens of Democrats want to move a climate change bill, including centrists such as Sen. Arlen Specter"
• 2009/12/30: TreeHugger: Moderate Dems Say They Want a Climate Bill in 2010!
• 2009/12/29: TreeHugger: No Climate Bill in 2010? Says Who?
• 2009/12/28: AlterNet: A New Outside-the-Beltway Climate Bill [Cantwell-Collins] Deserves Support; Why Won't Enviros Get Behind It?

  What are the lobbyists pushing?

• 2009/12/27: CPI: The Climate Lobby from Soup to Nuts
• 2009/12/29: DemNow: Report: Venture Capitalists, Food Companies Among 1,160 Businesses Lobbying on Climate Change
• 2009/12/28: ClimateP: The Climate Lobby from Soup to Nuts
• 2009/12/28: SolveClimate: The Climate Lobby from Soup to Nuts -- An Array of New Interests Joins Washington's Climate Change Debate

  While in the UK:

• 2010/01/03: Times(UK): Gordon Brown unveils £100bn wind farm gamble
  Gordon Brown will this week launch a £100 billion green power revolution when he awards a raft of development contracts to build a new generation of offshore wind farms. The government envisages a third of the UK's energy coming from wind power by 2020. The plan is far and away the most ambitious in the world and comprises the central plank of the country's efforts to cut emissions.
• 2009/12/30: Guardian(UK): John Gummer to quit as MP to focus on international climate change campaign
  Former Tory cabinet minister announces he is to step down at the election in order to play a leading role in a pan-European campaign to tackle global warming

And in Europe:

• 2009/12/30: EarthTimes: German cities ban old, polluting cars
• 2009/12/29: NYT: Europe's Vast Farm Subsidies Face Challenges
  The last time the European Union decided the future of its 50 billion euro agricultural aid program, in 2005, the deal was cut behind closed doors in a luxury suite at the five-star Conrad Brussels hotel. The president of France, Jacques Chirac, and the chancellor of Germany, Gerhard Schröder, joined forces in secret to protect the program against cuts until 2013, outmaneuvering Tony Blair, the British prime minister, who was left fuming over the generous subsidies. Now, 2013 is closer at hand and a new round of maneuvering has begun to reshape the richest system of agricultural handouts in the world. At stake are a host of delicate -- some would argue intractable -- issues that have hardened to the point where resolution will be all the more difficult: Who should receive the subsidies? What is their purpose? Is there a way to tie payments to a crackdown on fraud and corruption? Can they be more directed at small farmers instead of multinational conglomerates?
• 2009/12/29: PlanetArk: German Solar Industry Wants Faster Subsidy Cuts

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2010/01/02: Reuters: Australian ruling party has solid lead - poll
  Australia's Labour government starts an election year with a solid lead against the conservative opposition which blocked key climate change legislation, according to a major poll published on Saturday. The widely watched Newspoll, published in The Weekend Australian, showed Labour beating the opposition coalition by 57 percent to 43 percent on a two-party basis, far exceeding the 5.4 percent margin by which it won the last election in 2007.
• 2010/01/02: SMH: Power bidders left in dark over carbon-cost risk [as NSW privatizes its energy infrastructure]
• 2010/01/01: ABC(Au): Australia's coal addiction set in train 30 years ago
  As the world battles to secure a low-carbon future, secret cabinet documents from 1979 show that before global warming was on the radar, Canberra acted to lock in Australia's coal-based energy future. It was the year of the second oil shock, when Iranian oil supplies slumped and crude prices skyrocketed on the back of Iran's Islamic revolution and nations scrambled for policies to reduce their dependence on foreign oil.
• 2009/12/30: ABC(Au): Families 'will be ahead' under emissions scheme
  The Federal Government says the average low income household will be just under $200 better off under its proposed emissions trading scheme (ETS). The Government will try again in February to get the scheme passed by parliament.
• 2009/12/30: BBerg: Australia Sticks by Plan to Reintroduce Carbon Bill
  Australia's government will stick by plans to reintroduce legislation in February to create a national carbon emissions trading system after the bill was rejected by the Senate earlier this month. "The parliament meets at the beginning of February and we will be putting the legislation again to the parliament," Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner told reporters in Melbourne today. "That commitment stands."
• 2009/12/28: ClimateShifts: Climate Change Minister for Queensland spins 'destruction of Great Barrier Reef'

  And in China:

• 2009/12/28: BBerg: China Coal Demand May Rise 4%-6%, China Securities Journal Says
  China, the world's second-largest energy user, may consume between 4 and 6 percent more coal next year on continued economic growth, China Securities Journal said, citing a forecast from the China National Coal Association. Demand from the world's biggest producer and consumer of coal may expand to about 3.4 billion metric tons from this year, the Beijing-based newspaper reported today. China uses coal to operate about 80 percent of its power plants and to make steel.
• 2009/12/28: UPI: China amendment to boost renewable energy
  China adopted an amendment to its renewable energy law Saturday that requires utilities to buy all the power produced by generators of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. Power enterprises that refuse to do so will face fines up to an amount double that of the economic loss of the renewable energy company, state-run news agency Xinhua reports.
• 2009/12/21: NewYorker: Green Giant -- Beijing's crash program for clean energy.
• 2009/12/28: ClimateP: Green Giant: Beijing's crash program for clean energy -- China introduces yet another new law to boost renewable energy

  While elsewhere in Asia:

• 2009/12/31: PlanetArk: South Korea To Launch Emissions Scheme In January
• 2009/12/29: Thaindian: Powerless Nepal loses lustre as New Year destination

  In the Middle East:

• 2009/12/28: BBC: Saudis arrested in floods probe
  At least 40 Saudi officials have been arrested in an investigation into the authorities' response to devastating floods in Jeddah, local media say. Some 150 people were killed in the floods in the port town last month. The officials included a number of senior assistants to the mayor of Jeddah, the reports said.
• 2009/12/28: BBC: South Korea wins nuclear contract [in the United Arab Emirates]

  While in Africa:

• 2009/12/31: Guardian(UK): Africa's apocalyptic mood
• 2009/12/31: BBC: Ethiopia rejects hunger warning
  An Ethiopian minister has denied reports that millions of people need urgent food aid after failed rains. Disaster Prevention Minister Mikitu Kassa told the BBC that the government was helping those hit by the drought. He was speaking after the US-funded Famine Early Warning System warned of increased hunger in parts of the country in the coming months. Ethiopia has been extremely sensitive to images showing its people as starving since the famine of 1984-5.
• 2009/12/28: Guardian(UK): Change beckons for billionth African

  And South America:

• 2009/12/31: GreenO: Brazil's Lula Signs Law Cutting CO2 Emissions
• 2009/12/29: Google:AFP: Brazil's Lula signs law cutting CO2 emissions
• 2009/12/29: CBC: Peruvian Indian won't sign report on deadly clashes
  A Peruvian Indian member of an official probe into June's bloody clashes between police and Amazon Indians that left 33 dead has condemned the final report and refuses to sign it. Jesus Manaces, an Awajun Indian, said Tuesday that the document was slanted toward the government. It was presented Tuesday to President Alan Garcia's cabinet chief, Javier Velasquez. But only four committee members out of seven signed off on the final report -- a Catholic priest and three former politicians who held high-ranking posts in Garcia's government.
• 2009/12/29: PlanetArk: Brazil Keeps Climate Targets Despite Failed Summit
• 2009/12/29: Reuters: Brazil keeps climate targets despite failed summit
  Brazil will make its ambitious 2020 greenhouse gas emissions targets legally binding even though global climate talks failed this month, the country's environment minister said on Monday.
  [...]
  Brazil aims to reduce its projected 2020 greenhouse gas emissions by as much 39 percent. That amounts roughly to a 20 percent reduction from 2005 levels.

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

• 2009/12/30: TStar: Climate walkout `certainly happened' -- Despite minister's denial, email confirms incident
  Canada's lead climate-change negotiator told senior officials that a walkout by some countries at global-warming talks in Thailand "certainly happened," even as their boss was on TV denying the account, a newly released document shows. The Canadian Press reported in the fall that dozens of countries left the room in October after the Canadian delegation suggested replacing the Kyoto Protocol with a new global-warming pact.

The Joint Review Panel on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline delivered its report this week:

• 2010/01/01: CBC: Mackenzie panel report draws praise, criticism
  People in the Northwest Territories are still sifting through the Joint Review Panel's recommendations for the Mackenzie Valley gas project. But a pattern is emerging: there's a tremendous amount of work to do before the project goes ahead if all the panel's 176 conditions are followed.
• 2009/12/31: Reuters: Canada panel backs Arctic pipeline conditionally
  The C$16.2 billion ($15.4 billion) Mackenzie pipeline in Canada's Arctic should be allowed to proceed, provided 176 recommendations aimed at securing socioeconomic benefits and minimizing environmental damage are followed, regulators ruled on Wednesday.
• 2009/12/30: CBC: Mackenzie pipeline gets green light from panel
• 2009/12/31: G&M: Mackenzie pipeline gets thumbs-up
  Northern natural gas conduit 'would deliver valuable and lasting overall benefits,' review panel says in long-awaited report A decades-old northern dream has taken a major step forward after the panel tasked with reviewing the Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline concluded that it should go forward. The joint review panel, which has spent the past half-decade assessing the pipeline, has concluded that the $16.2-billion project "would deliver valuable and lasting overall benefits, and avoid significant adverse environmental impacts."

The Tories are allowing PetroChina to buy into the tarsands:

• 2009/12/31: CanWest: PetroChina's $1.9B buy in tarsands approved
• 2009/12/30: BBC: China invests in Canada oil sands
  Canada's Industry Minister, Tony Clement, has given PetroChina the go-ahead for a $1.7bn (£1bn) acquisition of two oil sand projects. The deal gives the Chinese company 60% control of Athabasca Oil Sands Corporation's MacKay and Dover oil sands deposits in Alberta province.
• 2009/12/30: CanWest: PetroChina's oilsands bid OK'd
  The federal government has approved a $1.9-billion bid by PetroChina Co. to buy a stake in two Alberta oilsands projects, its biggest North American acquisition.

It seems the Tories have thin skins:

• 2009/12/30: SeattlePI:SB: A huffy Canada shuts down 'Yes Men'
  Stung by a satire at the Copenhagen climate conference, Canada's government has shut down two parody Web sites criticizing the Great White North's glacial policy on global warming. In the process, however, it has taken down 4,500 other Web sites that had nothing to do with the prank played two weeks ago at the global climate summit. The two "offending" sites, developed by "Yes Men" pranksters, announced that Canada would reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 40 percent from 1990 levels, and 80 percent by the year 2050. The "announcement" came as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government was privately circulating a plan to permit a 165 percent INCREASE in emissions from Alberta's huge, dirty oil sands project.
• 2009/12/29: YesMen: Canada demolishes parody websites, climate policy unchanged
• 2009/12/29: BCLSB: Canada Has Enviro Canada Parody Pages Shut Down

  Quebec adopted the California auto emission standards:

• 2009/12/30: CanWest: Emission limits lauded -- Quebec gets strict on fuel efficiency
  Environment and consumer groups are welcoming the news that Quebec's new fuel- efficiency standards officially take effect as of mid-January, meaning automakers will face stiff fines if they sell too many gas-guzzling vehicles in the province. Quebec is the first Canadian province to adopt strict fuel-efficiency rules for cars sold or leased in its territory, following the lead of California and 15 other United States jurisdictions in an effort to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
• 2009/12/29: Yahoo:Reuters: Quebec adopts California's auto emission standards
• 2009/12/29: CBC: Quebec adopts California car emissions standards -- Rules will gradually lower greenhouse gas emission ceiling for cars

  Late coverage of the EnCana plan:

• 2009/12/29: FuturePundit: Canadian Equivalent Of Pickens Plan For Natural Gas

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2010/01/02: CTV: U.S. consul general watching oilsands closely

  As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

• 2010/01/02: TStar: Premier adamant on tying energy future to Quebec
  Daring plan to barter NB Power for greener power upsets Newfoundland, may thwart regional alliance

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

• 2009/12/30: Grist: All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds -- Economics as pathology
• 2009/12/27: CCurrents: Oil And Environment: A Contradiction

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

• 2010/01/02: PeakEnergy: The New Population Bomb
• 2009/12/28: OilDrum: Long term agricultural overshoot

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2010/01/03: ClimateP: With science journalism "basically going out of existence," how should climate scientists deal with well-funded, anti-science disinformation campaign?
• 2010/01/03: HotTopic: Climate tweeting, blogging, and Oz's big drought
• 2010/01/02: ClimateP: Why journalists should not twitter, Parts 87, 88, 89
• 2010/01/02: TCoE: I got yer duck right here
• 2010/01/01: ClimateP: The NY Times starts 2010 pushing the same damn disinformation about climate science it did in 2009
• 2009/12/29: TS:QuarkSoup: How Wrong can NPR Be?

  Here is something for your library:

• 2009/12/31: BNC: Energy and climate books I read in 2009
• 2009/12/30: Nation: How to Solve the Climate Problem [Book Excerpt] _Storms of My Grandchildren_ by James Hansen

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2010/01/01: Guardian(UK): Climate change is inspiring the ultimate scary movies
  Disaster film-makers struggling to compete with the realities of the post-9/11 world have, in global warming, found the perfect plot device

Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2010/01/01: TreeHugger: North Dakota Threatens Suit Against Minnesota, For Even Thinking About Future Carbon Cost
• 2009/12/28: BizJo: Atlanta group challenges EPA on greenhouse gases
  Six Republican congressmen from Georgia have signed onto an Atlanta-based organization's legal challenge of a federal announcement that could lead to government regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. The Southeastern Legal Foundation filed a petition last week calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its Dec. 7 "endangerment finding" declaring carbon dioxide and other gases linked to global warming a threat to public health and the environment. The petition argues that news of a conspiracy within the scientific community to hide evidence that calls into question manmade impacts on global warming has emerged since the closing of public comment on the EPA filing.
• 2009/12/30: Reuters: Dutch court to take on Shell Nigeria cases
  Royal Dutch Shell and its Nigerian unit will face compensation demands in a Dutch court for alleged damage caused by oil spills in Nigeria after the court ruled on Wednesday it was competent to handle the cases. Environmental group Friends of the Earth Netherlands and four Nigerians aim to sue Shell and Nigeria-based Shell Petroleum Development Co. (SPDC) in a district court in The Hague on charges related to incidents of oil spills in Nigeria. Shell had asked for a ruling on whether the Dutch court had jurisdiction over SPDC's Nigerian activities, but the court rejected a claim of incompetence. "The court has decided that it is competent, so we will be handling the case," said a court spokeswoman. "The facts are connected and for reasons of efficiency the cases against Royal Dutch Shell and Shell Nigeria will be handled jointly."
• 2009/12/29: BismarckTrib: N.D. likely to sue Minnesota over carbon tax
  North Dakota's attorney general said he expects the state to sue Minnesota over a plan there to tax carbon created by electrical generation. After discussing the issue with the state Industrial Commission in a closed session this month, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said "It is very likely that we will be suing the state of Minnesota." At issue is a measure by Minnesota's Public Utilities Commission to add a fee of between $4 and $34 per ton of carbon dioxide to the cost of electrical generation starting in 2012. The majority of electricity in North Dakota is generated by coal-fired power plants, which emit a large amount of carbon relative to other fuels sources. North Dakota officials argue that the move would place an unfair tax on electricity from the state and discourage its use by Minnesota utilities.

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

• 2010/01/01: HuffPo: Water Crisis, Energy Crisis, Vicious Cycle
• 2010/01/01: PeakEnergy: Liquid Natural Gas -- A Specious Climate Solution?
• 2009/12/31: NYT:GreenInc: The Smoldering Wood Pellet Business
• 2009/12/31: Forbes: Exelon's Carbon Advantage
  Exelon's John Rowe has been planning for expensive carbon for a decade. Now it's time to push for the payoff.
• 2009/12/31: PeakEnergy: The Year in Energy
• 2009/12/29: Thaindian: Powerless Nepal loses lustre as New Year destination
  Slapped with a 51-hour weekly power outage from Wednesday and a warning that next month it could go up to 12 hours a day, Nepal has begun to lose its lustre as a holiday destination, especially for the budget tourist from India who crosses over the open border by bus. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Tuesday announced that due to the power-generating rivers drying up and the demand for energy increasing, it would enforce between seven to eight hours of blackout daily. In the coming days, NEA warned that it could rise to 12 hours daily.
• 2009/12/30: Reuters: California's renewable pipeline hits nearly 70 GW
  Renewable energy projects proposed in California total nearly 70 gigawatts, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Tuesday, a large pipeline that could help the state meet its renewable energy goals.
• 2009/12/29: TreeHugger: Solar Industry Says End Fossil Fuel Subsidies And Expect A Solar Boom
• 2009/12/23: BizInsider: What If The EIA's Energy Outlook Were Written By An Honest Person?

  Sign of the times? Holding crude waiting for the market to go up...

• 2009/12/31: OilDrum: 26 Mile Long Glut of Idled Oil Tankers
• 2009/12/28: BBerg: Tanker Glut Signals 25% Drop on 26-Mile Line of Ships
• 2009/12/28: BWeek: Tanker Glut Signals 25% Drop as 26-Mile Queue Overwhelms Demand
  A 26-mile-long line of idled oil tankers, enough to blockade the English Channel, may signal a 25 percent slump in freight rates next year. Traders booked a record number of ships for storage this year...
  [...]
  Traders are storing enough crude at sea to supply the 27- nation European Union for more than three days.
  [...]
  By the end of November, 168 tankers were storing crude or refined products, according to data from Simpson, Spence & Young Ltd., the world's second-largest shipbroker. Their combined carrying capacity of 23.8 million deadweight tons is equal to 5.9 percent of the tanker fleet.

Hey I've got an idea. Let's contaminate the aquifer for 10,000 years, while getting gas for 10!

• 2009/12/30: NYT: E.P.A., Concerned Over Gas Drilling, Questions New York State's Plans
  The federal Environmental Protection Agency told New York State on Wednesday that it had major concerns about how proposed hydraulic drilling for natural gas would affect public health and the environment, and urged it to undertake a broader study of the potential impact. In formal comments on the state's proposed regulations governing new natural gas drilling, the E.P.A. said it was particularly concerned about the regional water supply, air quality, wastewater treatment and radioactive materials that could be disturbed during drilling. It recommended that "essential environmental protection measures" be taken before the state begins to review permit applications for the drilling, which is envisaged in the Marcellus Shale region.
• 2009/12/31: ProPublica: Natural Gas Drilling: What We Don't Know
• 2009/12/31: PlanetArk: U.S. States Strive To Regulate Shale Gas Industry
• 2009/12/30: Reuters: U.S. states strive to regulate shale gas industry
  As U.S. energy companies scramble to mine natural gas from shale deposits, state regulators are struggling to keep pace amid criticism that they lack the resources to enforce environmental laws.
• 2009/12/27: ProPublica: In New Gas Wells, More Drilling Chemicals Remain Underground
• 2009/12/30: ProPublica: Interactive: Search Gas Drilling Data in Your State
• 2009/12/28: NRDC:SwitchBoard: What happens to hydraulic fracturing fluids underground?

  The answer my friend...:

• 2010/01/03: Times(UK): Gordon Brown unveils £100bn wind farm gamble
• 2010/01/01: PhysOrg: China to be 3rd biggest wind power producer: media [Xinhua]
• 2009/12/27: FuturePundit: Wind Energy Limits In Britain
• 2009/12/30: CBC: Construction underway on Harrow wind farm [in Essex, Ontario]
• 2009/12/30: OilDrum: Aruba's New Windfarm

  Here's a situation crying out for an energy storage solution:

• 2009/12/31: PlanetArk: Spain Stops Wind Turbines To Balance Supply
  Spain had to shut down some of its wind turbines on Wednesday as wet and windy weather caused a surge in green electricity generation at a time of low demand, grid operator Red Electrica said.

Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2010/01/02: SunNews: Duke Energy boosts solar might
  Thousands of panels are soaking up the winter sunshine as Duke Energy launches its solar rooftops program under North Carolina's new green energy law. For the first time, in a small but significant step, Duke and Raleigh-based Progress Energy will have to make a smidgen of their electricity this year from the sun. Energy from other renewable fuels, such as wind, wood wastes and chicken manure, will join the mix in two years. Renewables have to account for 12.5 percent of utility retail sales by 2021.
• 2010/01/01: BostonHerald: Mass. planning new solar energy push in 2010
  Massachusetts is planning a new drive for solar energy in 2010 with a string of programs designed to dramatically increase the number and size of solar panel arrays in the state. The push comes as Gov. Deval Patrick, heading into an election year, hopes to make good on his pledge to turn Massachusetts into one of the nation's renewable energy hubs.
• 2010/01/02: KPUA: New homes in Hawaii must have solar water heaters
  With the new year, Hawaii has become the first state requiring solar water heaters in new homes. Legislation signed by Gov. Linda Lingle in 2008 requires the energy-saving systems installed in homes starting in 2010.
• 2010/01/03: Guardian(UK): Shell accused of abandoning solar power buyers in the developing world
• 2010/01/02: PhysOrg: Solar showdown in Calif. tortoises' desert home
• 2009/12/30: FuturePundit: Hot Electrons To Double Solar PV Efficiency?
• 2009/12/30: SciAm: Are [Stirling] Engines the Future of Solar Power?
• 2009/12/31: LasVegasSun: Storing the sun's heat [with molten salt] -- Nevada, Arizona race to be the first to use emerging technology
• 2009/12/29: SolveClimate: Solar Could Generate 15% of Power by 2020, If US Ends Fossil Fuel Subsidies -- The Result: 882,000 New Jobs, 10% Drop in Emissions
• 2009/12/27: SF Gate: Solar savings -- City, state and federal grants, tax breaks are making 'going solar' more affordable in [San Francisco] area

  On the coal front:

• 2010/01/01: PeakEnergy: Australia's coal addiction set in train 30 years ago
• 2009/12/30: WVGazette:CT: Coal and climate change: The industry's fuzzy math
• 2009/12/30: Guardian(UK): Investing in coal is dysfunctional by Jeremy Leggett
  Power companies, investment bankers and pension fund managers are fuelling an unlivable future -- with our money
• 2009/12/30: FreeP: [Michigan] State grants permit for coal power plant [with proviso for closing 5 others]
• 2009/12/29: TreeHugger: Texas Really Does Get Coal In Its Stocking

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2010/01/01: Yahoo:AP: Bad year for biofuel ends on a dour note
• 2009/12/31: PhysOrg: Engineered tobacco plants have more potential as a biofuel

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2 009/12/21: Wired: Uranium Is So Last Century -- Enter Thorium, the New Green Nuke
• 2009/12/29: NBF: Nuclear Plans Around the World
• 2009/12/30: NBF: Kazatomprom Declares 13900 tons of Uranium Production in 2009
• 2009/12/31: PeakEnergy: Nuclear economics just don't add up
• 2009/12/31: BBC: Lithuania shuts nuclear generator
  Lithuania is to shut down its one and only nuclear power station in Visaginas on 31 December.
  [...]
  The plant currently supplies up to 80% of Lithuania's electric power.
• 2009/12/28: BBC: South Korea wins nuclear contract
  A South Korean consortium has been awarded a contract worth some $40bn (£25bn) to build four nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates. The group, led by the Korea Electric Power Corp (Kepco), beat bids from a US-Japanese group and a French firm. South Korean officials said the deal was the biggest single contract the country had ever won abroad. Though the world's third largest oil exporter, the UAE says only nuclear power can meet its energy demands. The nuclear reactors should all be in operation by 2020...

More people are talking about the electrical grid:

• 2010/01/02: STimes: Customer revolt may threaten rollout of smart grid
  Consumer backlash and cost concerns may cause delays in the nationwide rollout of "smart" utility meters at the center of the Obama administration's $8 billion push to update the U.S. electricity grid.
• 2010/01/01: PeakEnergy: Smart Grid Will Generate $200B of Global Investment
• 2009/12/31: CSM: No more power lines?
  Buried super-cooled electrical cables may replace towering transmission lines and carry solar and wind energy efficiently over long distances.
• 2009/12/31: NBF: Cost and benefits of 2G Superconducting Wire for Transmission

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2010/01/02: TreeHugger: Redefining Sexy: Energy Efficiency's Seductive Appeal

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

• 2009/12/31: NRDC:SwitchBoard: The NRC Report: Keeping All The Horses In The Race
• 2009/12/31: SolveClimate: 2010 Will Not Be the Year of the Electric Car, Consultants Say
• 2009/12/30: SciDaily: Lithium-Air Batteries Could Displace Gasoline in Future Cars -- "This is not a near-term technology"
• 2009/12/28: Grist: How cities can foster demand for electric cars
• 2009/12/28: AutoBG: Report: 76% of "electric propulsion vehicle" patent applications come from Japan
• 2009/12/28: AutoBG: USABC - GM, Chrysler, Ford - looking for help on four advanced automotive battery projects
• 2009/12/28: AutoBG: EPA's Green Vehicle Guide offers clear ranking of fuel efficient vehicles

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

• 2009/12/30: AutoBG: France changes vehicle scrappage plan rules, gives Tesla buyers an effective 20 discount

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2009/12/28: NYT: Emissions Disclosure as a Business Virtue

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2009/12/29: TerraDaily: 2009 a 'benign' year of natural disasters: German re-insurer
• 2009/12/29: BBC: Natural catastrophes took fewer lives and caused less damage this year than in 2008, according to the re-insurance group Munich Re

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2010/01/03: IJI: We need more summaries of stuff
• 2010/01/02: TCoE: It ends here
• 2010/01/02: ClimateShifts: Steve Netwriter: skeptic or denier?
• 2010/01/01: ClimateShifts: Why do deniers think the earth is cooling?
• 2009/12/29: BSD: Denialist taxonomy
• 2009/12/30: CSW: Stephen Schneider: Climate Denier Gate a case of Science as a Contact Sport
• 2009/12/28: TruthOut: A Convenient Delusion
• 2010/01/01: CCP: Ernest Partridge, The Crisis Papers: A Convenient Delusion
• 2009/12/28: ClimateP: Watch Ross Gelbspan's video on climate change and the fossil-fuel-funded disinformation campaign
• 2009/12/28: TreeHugger: Big Oil and Coal Climate Disinformation Campaign 101 (Video)

  A graphic of the climate change consensus:

• 2009/12/23: IiB: Climate Change: A Consensus Among Scientists?
• 2009/12/31: BRitholtz: Statistics: Scientific Consensus on Climate Change?
• 2009/12/29: TreeHugger: Consensus Matters: Don't Believe the Climate 'Skeptics'

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2010/01/03: OilDrum: 2010: The Year For Making Contact
• 2010/01/02: ERabett: New Year's Puzzler
• 2010/01/02: CSW: Ross Gelbspan: "In Conclusion..."
• 2010/01/02: WaPo: On issues like global warming and evolution, scientists need to speak up [CCM]
• 2009/12/31: ClimateSight: Remind You of Anything?
• 2009/12/31: HotTopic: Wade in the water
• 2009/12/30: ClimateShifts: To Save the Planet, Save the Seas
• 2009/12/29: CCurrents: Climate Problem Is Really A Justice Problem
• 2009/12/28: CCurrents: Climate Change (Optimistic) Activism in 2010
• 2009/12/29: HotTopic: The [Climate] Wizard turns on...
• 2009/12/28: RealClimate: Updates to model-data comparisons
• 2009/12/28: TreeHugger: View 300 Years of Global Climate Data on One Map

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

• TCoE: The Cost of Energy
• TheGreenO
• IR^2: I-R-Squared
• Climate Shifts
• HillHeat - Science Policy Legislation Action
• It's Getting Hot In Here - Dispatches from the Youth Climate Movement
• ACP: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics - Recent Final Revised Papers
• ACPD: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics - Papers in Open Discussion
• TCD: The Cryosphere - Papers in Open Discussion
• HYDE: The History Database of the Global Environment

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

"We basically have three choices: mitigation, adaptation and suffering. We're going to do some of each. The question is what the mix is going to be. The more mitigation we do, the less adaptation will be required and the less suffering there will be." -John Holdren, AAAS president

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