Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
Another Week in the Planetary Crisis
Sipping from the Internet Firehose...
February 26, 2012
- Chuckles, Europe, Weaver & Swart, WB-GPO, Blue Planet, AAAS, Equinox, Coalition
- Heartland Leak: Docs, Provenance, Gleick, Legalities, Ethics, Funding, Framing, Education, Misc
- Subsidies, Thermodynamics, Global Legal Framework, Cook, Post CRU
- Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy, Tsunami Debris
- Melting Arctic, Polar Bears, Permafrost, Methane, Antarctica
- Food Crisis, Fisheries, Food Prices, Food vs. Biofuel, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production
- GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Feedbacks, Aerosols, Clouds, Paleoclimate, Attribution
- ENSO, Uncertainties, State of the Oceans, Extinctions, Proxies, Volcanoes, Satellites
- Impacts, Forests, Extreme Weather, Wildfires
- Corals, Acidification, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
- Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering
- Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, Models, Open Science, Wegman
- International Politics: Rio+20, UN, Carbon Tax, Hormuz, FQD, EU ETS & Airlines
- Rare Earths, Solar Spat, Malvinas, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz, Religioso
- National Politics: America, BP Disaster, 2012, War is Peace, Keystone
- Birth Control, Obama, USAdmin, Congress, Lobbyists
- Britain, Europe, Australia, Gillard vs Rudd, Murray-Darling, India, China, Asia, South America
- Canada, Post G20, PCO, Muzzled Scientists, Northern Gateway, CWB, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Ontario, Canadiana
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Podcasts, Courts
- Energy, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Fossil Fuel Corps, Pipelines, Peak Oil, Biofuel
- Wind, Solar, FITs, Nukes, Nuclear Fusion, Cars, Energy Storage
- Business, FAQs, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
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- 2012/02/22: JoeMohrToons: (cartoon - Mohr) "America Will do What's Right..."
- 2012/02/25: TP:JR: (4 cartoons - McMillan) Open Thread, New Cartoon and a Request
And for those interested in exploring the nether reaches of Poe's Law:
- 2012/02/24: Wonkette: Embryos Greet Defeat Of Virginia's Personhood Bill With Eerie Silence
The European cold spell has broken:
- 2012/02/26: al Jazeera: After the freeze comes the thaw -- Warmer weather causes concern across Europe
- 2012/02/21: DerSpiegel: Serbian Thaw -- Melting Danube Ice Creates Chaos in Belgrade
The Arctic cold front was long and hard. Yet now that temperatures are warming up across Europe, melting snow and ice are causing chaos as well. Hundreds of boats and barges on the Danube have been crushed by huge chunks of ice and officials are concerned about flooding. - 2012/02/21: UN: Warning of destructive floods as Danube thaw sets in, UN urges better response
- 2012/02/20: CBC: Ice chunks on Danube River causes chaos in Belgrade -- Trademark floating restaurant on barge sinks
- 2012/02/20: BBC: Boats sink in Belgrade as thaw causes Danube ice chaos
A rapid thaw has brought chaos to the River Danube in the Serbian capital Belgrade, where ice damaged boats, pontoons and floating restaurants. - 2012/02/19: NatureCC: (ab$) The Alberta oil sands and climate by Neil C. Swart & Andrew J. Weaver
- 2012/02/20: UVic: The Alberta Oil Sands and Climate
- 2012/02/23: EnvEcon: The goodest of the bad
- 2012/02/21: PostMedia: All fossil fuels must be cut to avoid global warming, scientists say
Two Canadian climate change scientists from the University of Victoria say the public reaction to their recently published commentary has missed their key message: that all forms of fossil fuels, including the oilsands and coal, must be regulated for the world to avoid dangerous global warming. - 2012/02/21: TStar: The oilsands are a symptom of the bigger problem of our dependence on fossil fuels by Andrew Weaver
- 2012/02/22: OilChange: Tar Sands: "No get-out-of-jail-free card"
- 2012/02/20: PostMedia: Coal is worst, but oilsands are still harmful: climate scientists
Coal - not oilsands - is the largest threat to the world's climate. Still, that's no reason to endorse the Keystone XL or Northern Gateway pipelines, say two Canadian climate experts in a provocative study released on the weekend. - 2012/02/20: TP:JR: Confusing Climate Study Actually Makes Strong Case Against Tar Sands -- If We Want To Avoid Catastrophic Global Warming
- 2012/02/19: QuarkSoup: CTV News Story on Today's Tar Sands Paper
- 2012/02/20: TMoS: The Tar Sands - Environmentally Inconsequential
- 2012/02/20: G&M: Coal, not oil sands, the true climate change bad guy, analysis shows
- 2012/02/20: CBC: Climate expert says coal not oilsands real threat -- Burning all oilsands would cause fraction of coal's warming effect, prof says
One of the top climate scientists in the world suggests Alberta's oilsands should not be the focus of concern about global warming. Andrew Weaver of the University of Victoria says the oilsands aren't likely to make much of a difference -- he says the real threat is burning coal. - 2012/02/19: WpgFP: Coal, not tarsands, the true climate change bad guy says study
- 2012/02/19: QuarkSoup: Where Did the Alberta-Catastrophe Linkage Come From?
- 2012/02/19: QuarkSoup: New Paper Says Only a Tiny Temperature Change From Alberta Tar Sands
The World Bank has launched a Global Partnership for Oceans:
- Global Partnership for Oceans
- 2012/02/24: NatureNB: Global partnership aims to save the oceans
- 2012/02/24: al Jazeera: World Bank issues SOS for oceans
Global lender launches partnership between governments, scientists and organisations to restore health of planet's seas. - 2012/02/24: Guardian(UK): World Bank launches global coalition for marine protection
The Blue Planet Prize was awarded this week:
- Blue Planet Prize
- 2012/02/20: Guardian(UK): Civilisation faces 'perfect storm of ecological and social problems'
Abuse of the environment has created an 'absolutely unprecedented' emergency, say Blue Planet prizewinners - 2012/02/22: SciNews: More News in Brief: 2012 AAAS Meeting
- 2012/02/21: RawStory: Stark warning emerges from summit: science is 'under siege'
- 2012/02/20: PostMedia: Projects to bury greenhouse gas show promising results
AAAS symposium indicates big opportunity to deal with fossil fuel emissions of CO2 Carbon capture and storage won't save the world from global warming, but it can play a significant role in curtailing global emissions of carbon dioxide. - 2012/02/19: Guardian(UK): Attacks paid for by big business are 'driving science into a dark era'
Researchers attending one of the world's major academic conferences 'are scared to death of the anti-science lobby' - WGSI: Equinox Summit: Energy 2030
- 2011/06/: WGSI: [links to several pdfs] Equinox Blueprint: Energy 2030
- 2012/02/20: SciNow: A Practical Blueprint for a Low-Carbon Electric World?
- 2012/02/20: NatureNB: Energy summit unveils blueprint for change
Late comment on the coalition [C, CH4 & HFC] project:
- 2012/02/21: GreenGrok: Looking to the Climate-Change Road Less Traveled
- 2012/02/20: Economist:B: Climate change - The other greenhouse gases
HeartlandGate, DenialGate, HI Gate...call it what you will...a major blogostorm erupted this week
First, the docs: - 2012/02/14: DeSmogBlog: Heartland Institute Exposed: Internal Documents Unmask Heart of Climate Denial Machine
- 2012/02/14: TP: Heartland Institute Documents
- Climate Document Storehouse
- 2012/02/23: QuarkSoup: Heartland Documents Up at Climate Document Storehouse
Heartland Leak: Document provenance:
- 2012/02/24: P3: Who's writing style most closely matches the Heartland memo?
- 2012/02/24: WtD: Plausible denial: Heartland Institute strategy document confirmed as authentic
- 2012/02/23: GLaden: Is the Heartland "Strategy Memo" a Fake? Let's try using science!
- 2012/02/24: IJISH: Denialgate: inactivists' proposed timeline surrounding "Climate Strategy" document makes zero sense
- 2012/02/22: GLaden: "Faked" Heartland Institute Doc is Authentic
- 2012/02/22: S&R: A Heartland Institute statement raises questions about "climate strategy" memo's origin
- 2012/02/22: DeSmogBlog: Evaluation shows "Faked" Heartland Climate Strategy Memo is Authentic
- 2012/02/21: QuarkSoup: Bast Again Says Gleick "Forged" the Memo
- 2012/02/21: HC: Did Heartland Insider write the accompanying email?
- 2012/02/20: QuarkSoup: Heartland Accuses Gleick of Faking the Memo, Too
- 2012/02/21: DM:BA: Breaking news: Heartland leaker is scientist Peter Gleick, says documents are all real
- 2012/02/20: DeSmogBlog: Whistleblower Authenticates Heartland Documents
- 2012/02/21: BCLSB: Heartland Documents Proven Authentic
- 2012/02/20: 350orBust: More Light Shed On Origin And Veracity Of Heartland Documents
- 2012/02/20: CCP: Peter Gleick: The Origin of the Heartland Documents
- 2012/02/20: QuarkSoup: Peter H. Gleick: The Origin of the Heartland Documents
- 2012/02/20: QuarkSoup: To Clarify: Gleick Wasn't the Faker, But the Scanner
- 2012/02/20: Stoat: So, is it a fake? [Heartland Climate Strategy]
Heartland Leak: Gleick:
- 2012/02/25: Guardian(UK): Peter Gleick on leave from Pacific Institute over Heartland leak
- 2012/02/24: Mercury: Peter Gleick requests short-term leave of absence from Oakland's Pacific Institute
- 2012/02/22: P3: Peter Gleick is Still a Good Scientist
- 2012/02/24: Guardian(UK): Heartland emails show ease in which Gleick accessed sensitive files
- 2012/02/22: KSJT: Dot Earth, more: A climate campaigner who, his judgment 'blinded' he says, tricked Heartland Institute
- 2012/02/22: Guardian(UK): Scientist who lied to obtain Heartland documents faces fight to save job
- 2012/02/22: BBC: Confessions of a climate gate-opener
- 2012/02/21: CSM: Climategate sequel? Scientist lies to get Heartland Institute documents
- 2012/02/21: CCP: SMH: Scientist Peter Gleick admits ruse that exposed Heartland Institute's climate-change agenda
- 2012/02/21: QuarkSoup: AGU Statement; Gleick Resigned Last Thursday
- 2012/02/21: QuarkSoup: Gleick Removed from AGU Task Force
- 2012/02/21: ITracker: Peter Gleick tricks Heartland scum, feels bad about it
- 2012/02/21: Guardian(UK): Climate scientist Peter Gleick admits he leaked Heartland Institute documents
- 2012/02/20: NYT: Activist Says He Lied to Obtain Climate Papers
A prominent environmental researcher, activist and blogger from California admitted Monday night that he had deceitfully obtained and distributed confidential internal materials from the Heartland Institute, a libertarian group based in Chicago devoted in part to questioning the reality of global warming. Peter H. Gleick, founder and president of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security, wrote in a statement published on The Huffington Post that he had posed as someone else to get the materials, which include fund-raising and strategy documents intended only for the board and top executives of the group. Dr. Gleick distributed the documents to several well-known bloggers and activists who support the work of mainstream climate scientists and who have denounced the Heartland Institute as a center of climate change denial. The document release, which lit up the Internet last week, was cast by some bloggers as the work of a whistle-blowing Heartland employee or ex-employee who had access to internal papers, when it was in fact orchestrated by Dr. Gleick, a Yale- and Berkeley-trained scientist and environmental activist who says that he was frustrated with Heartland's anti-climate-change programs. - 2012/02/21: QuarkSoup: Gleick Resigns from NCSE Board
- 2012/02/21: QuarkSoup: UCS: The Devil Made Him Do It
- 2012/02/21: P3: In defense of Peter Gleick, Muckraker
- 2012/02/21: IJISH: Denialgate: Gleick confesses to being intermediate leaker
- 2012/02/21: ClassM: Peter Gleick's alleged crime
- 2012/02/21: HotTopic: (Not So Simple) Twist Of Fate
- 2012/02/21: NatureNB: Climate scientist admits responsibility for Heartland leak
- 2012/02/20: CCP: Peter Gleick, Climate Hero! Exposes illegal activities of the Heartland Institute
- 2012/02/20: JEB: Well this is fun
- 2012/02/20: P3: Hmm -- Well, maybe Peter had something to do with it after all!
- 2012/02/20: HuffPo: The Origin of the Heartland Documents
Heartland Leak: Legalities:
- 2012/02/22: TP:JR: CAPAF General Counsel Responds To Heartland Institute
- 2012/02/21: CCP: Mark Boslough: Heartland Institute sends a valentine
- 2012/02/21: SMandia: Heartland Serves Threatening Letters, Climate Science Legal Defense Fund & PEER Hit Back
- 2012/02/21: WtD: Release the SLAPP hounds: how the Heartland Institute and the denial movement abuse the strategic lawsuit
- 2012/02/20: P3: Here come the lawyers
- 2012/02/20: WottsUWT: The Heartland Institute Sends Legal Notices to Publishers of Faked and Stolen Documents
- 2012/02/20: CCP: Heartland Institute sends incompetent threatening letters without any legal basis to climate change bloggers, journos
- 2012/02/20: QuarkSoup: Sticky: Heartland Threatening Bloggers, Too
- 2012/02/20: ERabett: Mr. Bluster
- 2012/02/20: OilChange: Hypocritical Heartland Threatens Critics
The climate sceptic think tank, the Heartland Institute, that last week was the victim of a devastating leak of information, has decided that attack is the best form of defence and has started threatening organisations and websites that published the leaked documents. - 2012/02/20: BCLSB: Heartland Institute Starts Threatening Bloggers (Including Canadians)
- 2012/02/19: DeSmogBlog: Heartland Demands DeSmogBlog Remove "Climate Strategy" Document -- DeSmogBlog will leave them in place - in the public interest
- 2012/02/19: BerthoudRecorder: Heartland Institute threatens 71-year-old veteran
- 2012/02/19: CCP: Heartland Institute grows desperate, continues to make a fool of itself, demands take down of documents it merely "alleges" are theirs, threatens a suit when nothing the documents say is untrue
- 2012/02/19: CCP: Heartland Institute's president Joseph Bast sends threatening and hysterical e-mail that repeats lies about climate science to retired Air Force Colonel, Gary Wamsley...
- 2012/02/19: S&R: Heartland uses PR director's email for delivering threats of legal action
- 2012/02/19: QuarkSoup: Today's Email from Heartland to Desmogblog
- 2012/02/19: GLaden: I just got an email from the Heartland Institute about the "HeartlandGate" documents
- 2012/02/19: SlashDot: Heartland Institute Threatens To Sue Anyone Who Comments On Leaked Documents
- 2012/02/19: 350orBust: Heartland Institute Threatens Legal Action Against Mom Working For A Better World
Heartland Leak: Ethics:
- 2012/02/22: FAIR: Media's Weird Ethics: Pretending to Be Someone Else Is Worse Than Facilitating Global Catastrophe
- 2012/02/23: P3: Ethical considerations regarding Heartland/Gleick
- 2012/02/22: P3: The Morality of Unmasking Heartland
- 2012/02/26: ClimateShifts: Unmasking Heartland: the moral dilemma
- 2012/02/22: S&R: Heartlandgate, Climategate and pro wrestling ethics
- 2012/02/21: UCSUSA: Gleick's Actions Don't Excuse Heartland's Anti-Science Campaign
- 2012/02/21: CCP: Stephan Lewandowsky: The morality of unmasking Heartland
- 2012/02/21: CCP: Gleick's Actions Don't Excuse Heartland's Anti-Science Campaign to promote false science in children's classrooms
- 2012/02/22: WtD: Electronic civil disobedience: Peter Gleick, brave whistleblower or unethical scoundrel?
- 2012/02/21: Guardian(UK): Gleick apology over Heartland leak stirs ethics debate among climate scientists
Scientist Peter Gleick apologises for 'serious lapse in judgment and ethics', but supporters say Heartland remains the villain - 2012/02/20: QuarkSoup: Ouch: Gleick Chairs AGU Task Force on Scientific Ethics
- 2012/02/21: Grist: Peter Gleick: Hero or moral moron?
- 2012/02/21: TreeHugger: Identity of 'DenialGate' Whistleblower Revealed. Is he a Hero or a Huckster?
- 2012/02/19: TP:JR: Ethical Analysis of Disinformation Campaign's Tactics: Reckless Disregard for the Truth, Specious Claims of 'Bad' Science
Heartland Leak: Funding:
- 2012/02/23: ITracker: What on earth is Criag Idso doing for Heartland's $11,600 a month?
- 2012/02/25: DeSmogBlog: Heartland Funding Disinformation Echo Chamber
- 2012/02/25: ERabett: Tax Free Shenanigans?
- 2012/02/20: DeepClimate: Heartland's "Anonymous Donor"?
- 2012/02/20: Guardian(UK): We need to know who funds these thinktank lobbyists
The battle for democracy is becoming a fight against backroom billionaires seeking to shape politics to suit their own interests - 2012/02/19: CCP: Prospective donors listed by gifts from 2011, From 2012 Heartland Institute Fundraising Plan
- 2012/02/20: PSinclair: Heartland Mystery Donor to be Unmasked?
- 2012/02/20: ERabett: The Anonymous Donor May Stand Up
Heartland Leak: Media & Framing:
- 2012/02/26: LFR: Scientific American's John Horgan should be fired
- 2012/02/24: RR: NYTimes' Michael Roston Compares Scientist Involved In Heartland Institute Document Leak To James O'Keefe
- 2012/02/24: DeSmogBlog: Republic Report Slams Media Obsession With Shiny Penny In Heartland DenialGate Coverage
- 2012/02/24: P3: What a shiny penny!
- 2012/02/22: TP:JR: Washington Post Embraces False Balance in Flawed Piece on Heartland Affair
- 2012/02/21: QuarkSoup: The Two Sides of Desmogblog's Mouth
- 2012/02/21: ITracker: Romm v Revkin
- 2012/02/21: CCP: Andrew Revkin suppresses comments on his Dot Earth blog in support of Peter Gleick
- 2012/02/21: QuarkSoup: Romm's Rage Shtick Now Playing in Theatre 3
- 2012/02/21: FTB:XBlog: Peter Gleick, The Heartland Revelations and Situational Journalism
- 2012/02/21: TP:JR: Crossing the Line as Civilization Implodes: Heartland Institute, Peter Gleick and Andrew Revkin
- 2012/02/20: QuarkSoup: Revkin: Gleick's "reputation in tatters...."
Heartland Leak: Education:
- 2012/02/26: HotTopic: Heartland on education: they'd like to teach the world to lie
- 2012/02/25: CCP: Seth Borenstein, USA Today: Leaks show how Heartland Institute tries to shape climate teaching
- 2012/02/24: CSW: Climate science in the schools: Heartland Institute vs. Gavin Schmidt
- 2012/02/24: TreeHugger: Inside the Campaign to Teach Schoolchildren That Climate Change is a Hoax (Video)
- 2012/02/24: AlterNet: The Right-Wing Plot to Undermine Science in Public Schools
- 2012/02/24: TP:JR: Heartland Institute: Keep Climate Denial Out of Our Schools
- 2012/02/20: LA Times: Climate denial in the classroom
It's bad enough that we're doing so little to fight climate change; let's not ask teachers to lie about it too. - 2012/02/20: TfK: Deniers leak secret plan to miseducate US schoolchildren
Heartland Leak: Miscellaneous:
- 2012/02/25: CAbyss: The Heartland Irony Institute
- 2012/02/24: ITracker: Heartland apologizes to donors for sunlight
- 2012/02/24: ClimateSight: Recent Developments at the Heartland Institute
- 2012/02/24: DeSmogBlog: What passes for a Brain Trust at Heartland?
- 2012/02/23: DeSmogBlog: At Heartland's law firm: "Carbon Matters"
- 2012/02/22: CCentral: Surf's Up: The Web's Best Reading of Heartland Scandal
- 2012/02/22: P3: Monbiot on Heartland: Plutocracy Pure and Simple
- 2012/02/23: CER:RRapier: How To Kill The Global Warming Cause
- 2012/02/24: Guardian(UK): Anything to declare, Mr Booker? We need transparency about Heartland [Monbiot]
- 2012/02/23: SMandia: Do Not Take Your Eyes Off Lex Luthor (Heartland Institute)
- 2012/02/23: IJISH: Denialgate: fallout has just begun
- 2012/02/22: DeSmogBlog: Congressman Calls For Hearing Into Heartland Institute Payments to Federal Employee Indur Goklany
- 2012/02/22: Grist: Spy vs. spy: The Heartland Institute's head-spinning hypocrisy
- 2012/02/22: Stoat: What people think about the Heartland links
- 2012/02/21: S&R: Climate scientist defense group and Peter Gleick illustrate Heartland's irony and hypocrisy
- 2012/02/21: P3: Center for Biological Diversity Press Release
- 2012/02/21: P3: Double standards
- 2012/02/21: CCP: Bill Snape: Center for Biological Diversity Statement on Heartland Misinformation Campaign
- 2012/02/21: QuarkSoup: Interview with AGU President Michael McPhaden [podcast]
- 2012/02/21: Guardian(UK): Heartland Institute leak exposes strategies of climate attack machine
The documents show how groups play up controversy to undermine confidence in well-established scientific findings - 2012/02/21: Maribo: Keeping our cool while the planet warms
- 2012/02/21: PSinclair: "Dear Phillip Morris" -- Heartland's Love Letter to Big Tobacco
- 2012/02/20: ITracker: Heartlandgate, ctd: From the annals of hypocrisy
- 2012/02/20: HC: Heartland . Astroturfing ?
- 2012/02/19: QuarkSoup: Is the Pressure Getting to the Heartland Institute?
- 2012/02/19: NatureNB: 'Climate-gate' researchers enter Heartland debate
- 2012/02/20: CSW: Republicans for Environmental Protection vs. Heartland Institute climate disinformation campaign
Who's getting the subsidies?
- 2012/02/21: TP:JR: Putting Big Oil Subsidies to Work for America
- 2012/02/20: EnergyBulletin: Cheater Economics
Delving into the laws of thermodynamics this week:
- 2012/02/20: ERabett: The Meaning of Life
The world inches toward creating a global legal framework for ecological crime:
- 2012/02/21: Eureka: Create effective new global environmental agency, ministers urged -- 'Conditions right for important reform of environmental governance'
John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:
- 2012/02/26: SkeptiSci: Radiative Balance, Feedback, and Runaway Warming by Chris Colose
- 2012/02/26: SkeptiSci: German translation of The Debunking Handbook
- 2012/02/25: SkeptiSci: Satellites find over 500 billion tons of land ice melting worldwide every year, headlines focus on Himalayas by MarkR
- 2012/02/24: SkeptiSci: Scafetta's Widget Problems by dana1981, Dikran Marsupial
- 2012/02/26: SkeptiSci: Monckton Misrepresents Reality (Part 3) by dana1981, Alex C, Tom Curtis
- 2012/02/22: SkeptiSci: Monckton Misrepresents Specific Situations (Part 2) by dana1981, Alex C, Tom Curtis
- 2012/02/21: SkeptiSci: Monckton Misrepresents Scientists' Own Work (Part 1) by dana1981, Alex C, Tom Curtis
- 2012/02/22: SkeptiSci: Uncertainty Is Not the Basis for Investment by jg
- 2012/02/21: SkeptiSci: New research from last week 7/2012 by Ari Jokimäki
- 2012/02/20: SkeptiSci: Global Extinction: Gradual Doom as Bad as Abrupt by John Hartz
Post CRU-Two ... boredom:
- 2012/02/19: IJISH: SwiftHack 2.0 site's Florida connection? relay.sinwt.ru has IP address in Orlando
A note on theFukushima disaster:
It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.] We'll see. At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.
Meanwhile...
It is very difficult to know for sure what is really going on at Fukushima. Between the company [TEPCO], the Japanese government, the Japanese regulator [NISA], the international monitor [IAEA], as well as independent analysts and commentators, there is a confusing mish-mash of information. One has to evaluate both the content and the source of new information.
How knowledgeable are they [about nuclear power and about Japan]?
Do they have an agenda?
Are they pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear?
Do they want to write a good news story?
Do they want to write a bad news story?
Where do they rate on a scale of sensationalism?
Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down-ness?
One fundamental question I would like to see answered:
If the reactors are in meltdown, how can they be in cold shutdown?Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:
- 2012/02/22: Asahi: Government sat on survey of radiation in Fukushima children's thyroid glands
The thyroid glands of children in Fukushima Prefecture were exposed to radiation doses of up to 35 millisieverts following the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan said Feb. 21. The estimate is based on results collected in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, late last March, but not released by the government at the time. - 2012/02/22: SlashDot: NRC Releases Audio of Fukushima Disaster
- 2012/02/22: BBC: Cruise finds Fukushima pollution
Radioactive elements from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant have been detected in seawater and marine organisms up to 600km from Japan. But the scientists who made the discovery stress the natural radioactivity of seawater dwarfs anything seen in their samples. The results come from a research cruise in June last year led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). The initial findings were presented to the biennial Ocean Sciences Meeting. - 2012/02/26: EneNews: NHK: First aerial footage of Fukushima plant since 3/11 -- Shows [hydrogen] explosion 'distorted' No. 3 reactor building
- 2012/02/21: WNN: Last Kansai reactor goes off line
Only two of Japan's nuclear power reactors now remain in operation after Kansai Electric Power Company's Takahama unit 3 entered a scheduled inspection outage. - 2012/02/21: EneNews: WSJ publishes NRC transcript: Explosion "leveled the structure for Unit 4 spent-fuel pool all the way down to approximate level of the bottom of the fuels" -- "So, there's no water in there whatsoever"
- 2012/02/21: EneNews: Tepco to begin coating seafloor with cement mixture (photos)
- 2012/02/20: GLaden: Japan Nuclear Disaster Update # 43: why do we feel the need to be alarmist?
- 2012/02/21: ABC(Au): Another Japanese nuclear reactor shut down - just two remaining
- 2012/02/20: EneNews: WSJ: Striking fact that many of Fukushima's reactors are still off-limits -- 1,500 microsieverts per hour -- Still too dangerous for workers to enter
Post Fukushima, nuclear policies are in flux around the world:
- 2012/02/25: P3: Germany's Renunciation of Nukes: Year 1
- 2012/02/24: DerSpiegel: Merkel's Switch to Renewables -- Rising Energy Prices Endanger German Industry
Last spring, Chancellor Angela Merkel set Germany on course to eliminate nuclear power in favor of renewable energy sources. Now, though, several industries are suffering as electricity prices rapidly rise. Many companies are having to close factories or move abroad. - 2012/02/22: APR: Japan should consider restarting nuclear plants
- 2012/02/20: TheHindu: Call for re-think on nuclear plants
In the wake of the nuclear meltdown, and subsequent radiation leak at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the debate on nuclear power, its safety and feasibility, has been rekindled. - UHawaii: Tracking the debris from the 11 March 2011 tsunami in Japan using the SCUD model of the surface ocean currents
- 2012/02/22: BBC: Path of tsunami debris mapped out
Almost a year after the Japanese Tohoku earthquake and mega-tsunami, the Pacific Ocean is still dealing with the consequences of the catastrophe. - 2012/02/21: AlterNet: Are Millions of Pounds of Japan's Tsunami Debris About to Hit US Shores?
The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:
- 2012/02/25: Stoat: Sea ice pic
- 2012/02/23: BBC: UK submarine data de-classified to aid climate science
The UK Ministry of Defence is to de-classify submarine data to help shed light on climate change in the Arctic. Environmental data are routinely monitored by Navy vessels, but the measurements are highly sensitive because they could give away positions. A dataset from one submarine mission will be released to give a snapshot of conditions under the ice. - 2012/02/24: ArcticNews: Temperature anomalies continue in the Arctic
- 2012/02/21: ArcticNews: U.K. Environment Audit Committee, hearing February 21, 2012
- 2012/02/25: ASI: 2012 minimum global sea ice area
As for the charismatic megafauna:
- 2012/02/21: CCurrents: As Arctic Sea Ice Declines, Polar Bear Patrol Gets Busy
Permafrost is thawing:
- 2012/02/20: Eureka: Global permafrost zones in high-resolution images on Google Earth
- 2012/02/20: SwissInfo: Swiss create global permafrost map
A Zurich researcher has put together the first high definition global map of permafrost, highlighting sensitive zones where climate change could have a major impact. Alpine countries like Switzerland have already begun to experience some of the problems related to thawing permafrost, which can destabilise cable-car and electric pylons and lead to rock falls. If temperatures continue to rise, these issues will become more common, warns glaciologist Stephan Gruber, who devised the new map. - 2012/02/20: ArcticNews: Abrupt release of methane in the Arctic in late 2011?
While in Antarctica:
- 2012/02/25: BBC: Two missing as fire guts Brazil's Antarctic research station
The Brazilian military says two soldiers are missing and one is injured after an explosion at its research station in the Antarctic. The blast was caused by a fire in a machine room at the Comandante Ferraz base, on King George Island, near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The Brazilian navy said the fire had destroyed the entire station, and was still not under control. More than 30 people were evacuated to a Chilean research station nearby. - 2012/02/24: al Jazeera: Horn of Africa refugee crisis still dire
Aid groups warn that critical aid is still required for Somali refugees at world's biggest refugee camp in Kenya. - 2012/02/24: UN: UN-backed forum to discuss early action ahead of next drought in Horn of Africa
- 2012/02/20: ERW: Land-use change could cut food yields
Land-use change such as deforestation could cut crop yields by up to 17% by affecting the amount of moisture reaching key agricultural areas, according to scientists from the US. That's on top of the yield drop of the same magnitude it's predicted that climate change may cause. - 2012/02/21: WMO: Regional Climate Outlook Forum for the Greater Horn of Africa
- 2012/02/19: PostMedia: Canada must act now to prevent African famine, official says
Immediate action is needed to prevent a large-scale famine in West Africa following the failure of life-giving seasonal rains, World Vision Canada president Dave Toycen said Sunday. Reached by Postmedia News as he toured a village in rural Mali, Toycen said the situation is already becoming grim for local residents. - 2012/02/19: AllAfrica: ZimStandard: Zimbabwe: Banning NGOs Is the Height of Lunacy
Masvingo Governor Titus Maluleke's inexplicable ban of 29 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) was the last thing anyone expected from a government official in charge of a province that is in dire need of food assistance. Maluleke, who is struggling to make a mark in a province once blessed with political greats such as the late Vice-President Simon Muzenda and Eddison Zvobgo, who was the Zanu PF legal supremo, hogged the limelight last week when he suspended aid organisations from operating in his province. Among these organisations was Care International which has been heavily involved in drought relief programmes. Nobody in his right senses expected the governor to behave that way. But Maluleke had the guts to do so, throwing the lives of thousands of vulnerable people in jeopardy. - 2012/02/24: BBC: All parts of the UK must unite to stand up for fishing, [EFRAC] MPs say
- 2012/02/24: BBC: Black fish scam: Law breaking on an industrial scale
This was law breaking on an industrial scale. The 17 fishermen, including thirteen from Shetland, illegally landed mackerel and herring at the Shetland Catch factory over a three year period. They offloaded thousands of tonnes of fish, much more than they were allowed under European rules to protect stocks. The fraud was widespread and sophisticated. - 2012/02/24: Economist: How to stop fishermen fishing -- Of all the sea's many problems, overfishing should be the most fixable. Here's how
- 2012/02/23: BBC: Regulation key to save fish stocks
[...]
James Chng, 68, has been involved in the fish trade since 1969. During that time, he has seen a steady decline in the industry. "The volume is down by almost 70% compared with the 1980s," he says. He says his firm, Keck Seng Brothers Fishery, is handling just 500 kilos of fish per day, down from 20 tonnes during the peak years in the 1980s.
[...]
The amount of fish being caught has been declining globally for years. "If you add the weight of all the fish caught by vessels all over the world, we are coming down from the peak we saw in the late 1980s," says Andrew Sharpless, chief executive of Oceana, an international conservation organisation. Over-fishing is the main reason, he says.
[...]
According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), some 77% of the world's fisheries are either fully-exploited, over-exploited, depleted or recovering from depletion. - 2012/02/19: SciNow: Global Fisheries Deals: What's the Catch?
- 2012/02/20: TDR: Revealed: Lavish lifestyles of the crooked skippers involved in £47m 'black fish' scandal
Food Prices are still problematic:
- FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
- 2012/02/24: CSM: Why we're paying more for corn
The conflict between biofuel and food persists:
- 2012/02/20: Crikey: Food security v energy security: land use conflict and the law
So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?
- 2012/02/24: BLC: Guided by science, Kenyan authority rejects the case for jatropha at Dakatcha IBA
- 2012/02/22: CCurrents: Central Government Illegally Grabbing Forest Land And Displacing Forest Dwellers -- Joint Statement of Adivasi and Forest Dwellers' Organisations
Regarding the genetic modification of food:
- 2012/02/24: EurActiv: Study questions safety of GM corn as France seeks EU ban
Insecticides present in one of Europe's most controversial genetically modified crops, MON810 maize, may be harmful to humans, French and German researchers say in a new study that could pour fuel over calls asking to limit such plants in the EU. - 2012/02/24: NewInt: America fights to save its cornfields
- 2012/02/22: Grist: GMO-labeling game plan: California or bust!
- 2012/02/21: EUO: France wants Monsanto GM corn approval suspended
- 2012/02/21: PlanetArk: France Asks EU To Suspend Monsanto GM Corn Approval
- 2012/02/17: LA Times: Organic farmers take on Monsanto over patent lawsuits
- 2012/02/20: EurActiv: Anti-GMO stance seen as hurting EU grain farmers
European farmers are likely to fall behind in the competitive world grain market as EU consumer hostility to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) drives away research and prevents cultivation of high-yield and pest-resistant crops. - 2012/02/20: PlanetArk: Analysis: EU Farmers Lose Out As Consumers Oppose GMOs
- 2012/02/19: Eureka: Policies implementing GMOs need to take biodiversity complexities into account, says Pitt researcher
And how are we going to feed 9 billion, 10 billion, 15 billion?
- 2012/02/23: NatureNB: Scientists launch African agricultural monitoring system; global network to follow
- 2012/02/23: UBristol: Farm 'weeds' have crucial role in sustainable agriculture
- 2012/02/21: EnergyBulletin: Tilling the soil in 2012, parts 1 and 2
- 2012/02/21: UN: Brazil funds UN local food purchase projects in five African countries
- 2012/02/21: Grist: Farming the 'burbs
- 2012/02/21: BBerg: Record Rice Harvests Seen Boosting Stockpiles to Decade High: Commodities
- 2012/02/10: EKathimerini: A single man takes the initiative to feed the poor
- 2012/02/19: BBC: Lab-grown meat is first step to artificial hamburger
Dutch scientists have used stem cells to create strips of muscle tissue with the aim of producing the first lab-grown hamburger later this year. - 2012/02/24: EMPA: Protecting the climate by reducing [HFCs] fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions
- 2012/02/23: TreeHugger: 12 Countries Exceed EU Limits on Air Pollutants Mostly Because of Vehicle NOx Emissions
- 2012/02/21: ITRacker: Warming increases methane emissions from natural sources
And in the carbon cycle:
- 2012/02/24: CAbyss: Carbon Dioxide, Climate, and the Biosphere by Gunnar Schade
Yes we have feedbacks:
- 2012/02/25: P3: Water Vapour Feedback Explained
- 2012/02/24: BBickmore: Water Vapor Feedback Infographic
Aerosols are making their presence felt:
- 2012/02/24: ACS:CEN: Black Carbon Belchers? Pollution Monitoring: Cars may produce more climate-warming particles than previously thought
- 2012/02/20: Guardian(UK): Measuring China's pollution from space
US scientists have used satellite data to create the first estimates of ground-level particulate pollution in China - 2012/02/25: ABC(Au): Clouds dropping closer to Earth
New research has found clouds are dropping closer to the Earth, with scientists measuring their height for the first time on a global basis. Experts from the University of Auckland suggest the change in cloud altitude could be the Earth's way of dealing with global warming. - 2012/02/23: SciNow: Could a Bit More Rain Have Saved the Mayas?
- 2012/02/24: CSM: Climate change may have caused Mayan civilization's collapse
- 2012/02/23: TP:JR: Global Extinction: Gradual Doom as Bad as Abrupt
- 2012/02/23: BBC: Mild drought caused Maya collapse in Mexico, Guatemala
Relatively mild drought conditions may have been enough to cause the collapse of the Classic Maya civilisation, which flourished until about 950AD in what is now southern Mexico and Guatemala. - 2012/02/23: SciAm:HoG: How Plants survived the Ice Age
- 2012/02/23: DM:GNXP: Ending the Ice Ages
- 2012/02/21: SciNews: The bloom isn't off this ancient plant -- Fruit preserved more than 30,000 years in Siberia's permafrost yields a living flower
- 2012/02/21: BBC: Researchers have unearthed a forest in northern China preserved under a layer of ash deposited 300 million years ago
- 2012/02/21: KSJT: Ice Age re-blooming right now? Really. It's a flower a squirrel stashed after dodging mammoths
- 2012/02/20: NatureN: Ash-covered forest is 'Permian Pompeii' -- Scientists reconstruct ancient ecosystem from plants preserved in volcanic eruption. [300 mya]
- 2012/02/21: NatureN: Wild flower blooms again after 30,000 years on ice -- Fruits hoarded by ancient ground squirrels give new life to prehistoric plants
- 2012/02/21: CSM: 300-million-year-old 'Chinese Pompeii' found buried under volcanic ash
- 2012/02/20: UCincinnati: UC Research Reveals Water Management and Climate Change in Ancient Maya City
- 2012/02/20: BBC: Scientists in Russia have grown plants from fruit stored away in permafrost by squirrels over 30,000 years ago
- 2012/02/20: NYT: Dead for 32,000 Years, an Arctic Plant Is Revived
- 2012/02/20: WaPo: Russians regenerate flowering plant from 30,000-year-old frozen burrow of Ice Age squirrel
In the attribution debate:
- 2012/02/21: Guardian(UK): Climate change increased likelihood of Russian 2010 heatwave -- study
- 2012/02/21: AGU: Russian heat wave had both manmade and natural causes
While on the ENSO front:
- 2012/02/22: al Jazeera: Flooding across South America
La Nina causes another month of misery for many Latin American countries - 2012/02/22: ITRacker: La Nina whiplash fading fast
Dealing with uncertainties:
- 2012/02/21: Wunderground:RR: Simply Uncertain
And the State of the Oceans:
- 2012/02/26: ClimateShifts: Revealing the oceans
- 2012/02/20: NatureNB: Ocean health index devised
What's new on the extinction front?
- 2012/02/22: BBC: Study warns action needed to save Irish hare from extinction
The Irish hare is one of a number of native species facing extinction if action is not taken to control the invasion of foreign mammals in Ireland, according to new research. The red squirrel and red deer are also in danger. It follows research by academics from Queen's University in Belfast. - 2012/02/20: Eureka: Glacial carbon may hold record of environmental change
- 2012/02/19: Eureka: Glaciers: A window into human impact on the global carbon cycle -- Fossil fuel signature found in Alaskan ice
What's up with volcanoes this week?
- 2012/02/22: NatureNB: Chilean volcano's ash is still disrupting ecosystems
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
- 2012/02/23: NOAANews: NOAA, NASA activate new satellite instrument to monitor health and recovery of Earth's ozone layer
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2012/02/25: SimpleC: Climate change causes chipmunks hidden damage
- 2012/02/24: CSM: Could global warming turn us all into hobbits?
- 2012/02/23: Grist: Chihuahua-size horses caused by climate change
- 2012/02/23: Eureka: Climate change, increasing temperatures alter bird migration patterns
- 2012/02/23: al Jazeera: More impacts of climate change
Storm surges and tornadoes are more likely in the coming years thanks to global warming - 2012/02/22: PSinclair: Range Shifts -- More Evidence of Warming
- 2012/02/20: BBC: Thailand's economy shrinks 9% after flood disruptions
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2012/02/24: Guardian(UK): [Editorial] Forests: the fire next time
The combination of a predicted increase in heatwaves and the carbon stored in the world's soils is reason for alarm - 2012/02/21: EnergyBulletin: Busting the forest myths: People as part of the solution [Pearce]
The long-held contention that rural forest communities are the prime culprits in tropical forest destruction is increasingly being discredited, as evidence mounts that the best way to protect rainforests is to involve local residents in sustainable management. - 2012/02/21: Grist: Texas lost half a billion trees in current drought
- 2012/02/20: IBTimes: NASA Creates Unique Map Showing Height of Earth's Forests
- 2012/02/17: NASA: NASA Map Sees Earth's Trees in a New Light
- 2012/02/19: BBC: Logging blamed for Philippine flood deaths
Two months after floods in the southern Philippines killed more than 1,000 people, the illegal logging that exacerbated the disaster continues unabated. - 2012/02/23: Wunderground: New product allows you to explore record-setting extreme weather
- 2012/02/21: Princeton: 'Storm of the century' may become 'storm of the decade'
- 2012/02/21: Wunderground: 4 out of 5 Americans affected by weather-related disasters since 2006, study finds
- 2012/02/20: al Jazeera: Afghanistan battles against cold and snow
Afghanistan is struggling to cope with its coldest and snowiest winter in 15 years. Over 40 people have died so far. - 2012/02/19: PostMedia: Canadians need to prepare for more bigger, hotter fires: expert
Canadians need to brace for more wildfires that are too big and too hot to stop when using traditional fire fighting techniques. "It's going to be incredibly difficult in the future to manage forest fires because the intensity of forest fires is going to be increasing," said Mike Flannigan, a senior research scientist with Natural Resources Canada and professor at the University of Alberta. His team's latest research, presented here Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, predicts there will be two to three times more fire activity in the northern hemisphere by the end of the century. "Virtually all of Russia, Canada, the U.S." will be impacted, said Flannigan, who suggested the analysis may be conservative. - 2012/02/23: CoralCOE: Scientists call for no-take coral sea park
Acidification is changing the oceans:
- 2012/02/19: SciNews: Carbon dioxide breaking down marine ecosystems
Scientists capitalize on 'natural' experiment to chronicle how ecosystems will change as oceans continue to acidify - 2012/02/20: ABC(Au): Marine species at risk as oceans acidify
British scientists say the current level of carbon dioxide emissions will wipe out about 30 per cent of the world's marine species by the end of the century. - 2012/02/19: BBC: 'Jacuzzi vents' model CO2 future
A UK scientist studying volcanic vents in the ocean says they hold a grave warning for future marine ecosystems. These vents have naturally acidified waters that hint at how our seas might change if atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to rise. They are conditions that would make it harder for corals and similar organisms to make the hard parts in their bodies. Dr Jason Hall-Spencer's work suggests our oceans could lose perhaps 30% of their biodiversity this century. - 2012/02/26: ABC(Au): 'Super Sherpa' says climate change may make Everest unclimbable
- 2012/02/24: TP:JR: As Warming Glaciers Retreat, What Will Become of Peru's Cordillera Blanca and Its Water Supply?
- 2012/02/22: ERW: Coating of dirt melts Himalayan glaciers faster
- 2012/02/22: TP:JR: NASA: Earth Is Losing Half A Trillion Tons Of Ice A Year
Sea levels are rising:
- 2012/02/20: CBC: Sea level rise underestimated, say B.C. scientists
- 2012/02/20: Grist: Beach bummer: Time to kiss your coastal real estate goodbye
- 2012/02/19: Eureka: Preparing for the flood: Visualizations help communities plan for sea-level rise
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2012/02/24: BBC: Drought conditions in England 'set to widen'
Ongoing dry weather over the spring and summer threatens to place more areas of England in a state of drought, the Environment Agency (EA) has warned. - 2012/02/25: ABC(Au): River flood forces Gympie businesses to evacuate
Businesses in Gympie in south-east Queensland have been evacuated as the Mary River continues to rise. The surrounding region has been soaked by torrential rain. - 2012/02/22: ABC(Au): Weather bureau predicts wet weather to continue
In its latest seasonal outlook, the bureau says much of Queensland is likely to have more rain than normal - 2012/02/21: JFleck: Stuff I wrote elsewhere: on the implications of a low snowpack on the Colorado
- 2012/02/21: TP:JR: Climate Forecast: 70% of U.S. Counties Could Face Some Risk of Water Shortages by 2050
- 2012/02/21: ABC(Au): Wild storms hit southern Queensland
- 2012/02/21: ABC(Au): Flooding spreads across western NSW
- 2012/02/21: PlanetArk: Record low Rainfall Puts UK On Drought Watch
- 2012/02/20: BBC: South East latest part of England officially in drought
Much of southern and eastern England is officially in a state of drought, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced. The announcement came as Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman hosted a drought summit. In parts of south-east England groundwater levels are lower than in the infamously dry summer of 1976. - 2012/02/23: BBC: Protection 'vital for Mediterranean's wetlands'
Urgent government action is the only thing that can stem the crisis facing the Mediterranean's wetlands. - 2012/02/21: CCP: Plutocracy, Pure and Simple -- Now it's a straight fight with the billionaires and corporations
Consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2012/02/24: CBC: Volkswagen profit doubles to $20B
[...]
Volkswagen sold nearly 8.27 million vehicles last year, a 14.7 per cent rise from the previous year's figure of 7.2 million ... - 2012/02/23: PlanetArk: IMO To Discuss CO2 Curbs For Ships, Industry Frets
- 2012/02/21: CalcRisk: DOT: Vehicle Miles Driven increased 1.3% in December
[...]
The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported:
- Travel on all roads and streets changed by +1.3% (3.2 billion vehicle miles) for December 2011 as compared with December 2010.
- Cumulative Travel for 2011 changed by -1.2% (-35.7 billion vehicle miles). - 2012/02/24: TreeHugger: LEED-Bashing: How The Wood Wars Are Hurting LEED and All of Green Building
- 2012/02/25: CCurrents: Houses In The Post-Peak World
- 2012/02/20: Drexel: Drexel Engineers Develop Cement With 97 Percent Smaller Carbon Dioxide and Energy Footprint
- 2012/02/20: IdahoStatesman: Study: Demand for green home building and remodeling on the rise
As for carbon sequestration:
- 2012/02/23: GEP: More Carbon Farming in Australia
- 2012/02/23: ABC(Au): Capturing carbon in the central west
Ten farmers in the central west have signed up to capture carbon in their soil as part of a state government trial. The Lachlan Catchment Management Authority is managing the $200 thousand pilot scheme. - 2012/02/22: ABC(Au): Carbon capture trial drilling begins
- 2012/02/15: AlterNet: A Plan to Save Us From Global Warming? Industry's Colossal Experiment With the Future of Civilization at Stake
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- 2012/02/20: GEP: La Via Campesina Calls for Ban on Geoengineering
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2012/02/24: CP: Extreme climate, not extreme weather: the summer of 1816 in Geneva, Switzerland by R. Auchmann et al.
- 2012/02/22: CP: The oxygen isotopic composition of phytolith assemblages from tropical rainforest soil tops (Queensland, Australia): validation of a new paleoenvironmental tool by A. Alexandre et al.
- 2012/02/21: CP: Hydroclimate variability in the low-elevation Atacama Desert over the last 2500 yr by E. M. Gayo et al.
- 2012/02/20: CPD: Rapid coupling of Antarctic temperature and atmospheric CO2 during deglaciation by J. B. Pedro et al.
- 2012/02/20: CPD: Investigating late Holocene variations in hydroclimate and the stable isotope composition of precipitation using southern South American peatlands: a hypothesis by T. J. Daley et al.
- 2012/02/22: ACP: Assessing filtering of mountaintop CO2 mole fractions for application to inverse models of biosphere-atmosphere carbon exchange by B.-G. J. Brooks et al.
- 2012/02/21: ACP: The influence of boreal biomass burning emissions on the distribution of tropospheric ozone over North America and the North Atlantic during 2010 by M. Parrington et al.
- 2012/02/21: ACP: Evaluation of the smoke-injection height from wild-land fires using remote-sensing data by M. Sofiev et al.
- 2012/02/21: ACP: Short-lived climate forcers from current shipping and petroleum activities in the Arctic by K. Ãdemark et al.
- 2012/02/20: ACP: The MIPAS HOCl climatology by T. von Clarmann et al.
- 2012/02/23: ACPD: Quantifying population exposure to airborne particulate matter during extreme events in California due to climate change by A. Mahmud et al.
- 2012/02/23: ACPD: Contribution of organic carbon to wood smoke particulate matter absorption of solar radiation by T. W. Kirchstetter & T. L. Thatcher
- 2012/02/20: ACPD: Quantification of diesel exhaust gas phase organics by a thermal desorption proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer by M. H. Erickson et al.
- 2012/02/20: ACPD: Arctic climate response to forcing from light-absorbing particles in snow and sea ice in CESM by N. Goldenson et al.
- 2012/02/20: NERC:NORA: Polar marine ecosystems: major threats and future change by Andrew Clarke et al.
- 2012/02/22: NERC:NORA: Trends in the Southern Annular Mode from observations and reanalyses by Gareth J. Marshall
- 2012/02/22: NERC:NORA: An anticyclonic circulation above the Northwest Georgia Rise, Southern Ocean by Michael P. Meredith et al.
- 2012/02/24: NERC:NORA: Reconstruction of late Pleistocene climate in the Valsequillo Basin (Central Mexico) through isotopic analysis of terrestrial and freshwater snails by Rhiannon E. Stevens et al.
- 2012/02/24: GMD: The FAMOUS climate model (versions XFXWB and XFHCC): description update to version XDBUA by R. S. Smith
- 2012/02/24: GMDD: Seasonal leaf dynamics for tropical evergreen forests in a process based global ecosystem model by M. De Weirdt et al.
- 2012/02/22: OSD: Validation of the NEMO-ERSEM operational ecosystem model for the North West European Continental Shelf by K. P. Edwards et al.
- 2012/02/22: TCD: A synthesis of the antarctic surface mass balance during the last eight centuries by M. Frezzotti et al.
- 2012/02/24: Science: (ab$) The Robustness and Restoration of a Network of Ecological Networks by Michael J. O. Pocock et al.
- 2012/02/24: ACS: (ab$) Are emissions of black carbon from gasoline vehicles underestimated? insights from near and on-road measurements by John Liggio et al.
- 2012/02/21: PNAS: (ab$) Nonequilibrium atmospheric secondary organic aerosol formation and growth by Véronique Perraud et al.
- 2012/02/21: PNAS: (ab$) A serpentinite-hosted ecosystem in the Southern Mariana Forearc by Yasuhiko Ohara et al.
- 2012/02/21: GMDD: The Nexus Land-Use model version 1.0, an approach articulating biophysical potentials and economic dynamics to model competition for land-use by F. Souty et al.
- 2012/02/20: GMDD: Towards a public, standardized, diagnostic benchmarking system for land surface models by G. Abramowitz
- 2012/02/21: TCD: P-wave velocity changes in freezing hard low-porosity rocks: a laboratory-based time-average model by D. Draebing & M. Krautblatter
- 2012/02/20: TCD: Thin-layer effects in glaciological seismic amplitude-versus-angle (AVA) analysis: implications for characterising a subglacial till unit, Russell Glacier, West Greenland by A. D. Booth et al.
- 2012/02/15: BG: Use of a process-based model for assessing the methane budgets of global terrestrial ecosystems and evaluation of uncertainty by A. Ito & M. Inatomi
- 2012/02/17: Science: (ab$) Cyanophora paradoxa Genome Elucidates Origin of Photosynthesis in Algae and Plants by Dana C. Price et al.
- 2012/02/19: NatureCC: (ab$) The Alberta oil sands and climate by Neil C. Swart & Andrew J. Weaver
- 2011/01/14: Science: (ab$) Lessons from Earth's Past by Jeffrey Kiehl
- 2012/02/20: AGWObserver: New research from last week 7/2012
And other significant documents:
- 2012/02/22: PI: [link to 352k pdf] Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through transportation fuel policy
The European Union's proposed fuel-quality directive and implications for Canadian oilsands producers - 2012/02/23: NatureNB: University of Sydney sackings trigger academic backlash
- 2012/02/23: NatureN: Rainfall calms storms -- Globally, friction on raindrops dissipates almost as much atmospheric energy as does turbulence
- 2012/02/22: Eureka: Geological cycle causes biodiversity booms and busts every 60 million years, research suggests
- 2012/02/20: Rutgers: The Origin of Photosynthesis Revealed -- Genome analysis of "living fossil" sheds light on the evolution of plants
- 2012/02/19: Eureka: A classic model for ecological stability revised, 40 years later -- Predator-prey relationships stabilize diverse ecosystems, according to calculation
What's new in models?
- 2012/02/21: RBroberg: IPCC AR4 WG1 Earth System Models of Intermediate Complexity
What developments in the ongoing struggle for Free Science?
- 2012/02/21: JEB: Is for-profit publishing dead?
- 2012/02/21: DM:Crux: It's Not Academic: How Publishers Are Squelching Science Communication
Regarding Wegman:
- 2012/02/24: ERabett: Shock, Horror, Surprise: GMU finds Wegman slightly pregnant, but only in one case, not the other
- 2012/02/24: Stoat: Wegman plagiarism again
- 2012/02/22: USAToday: University reprimands climate science critic for plagiarism
- 2012/02/22: DeepClimate: GMU split decision on Wegman: Plagiarism in CSDA, but "no scientific misconduct" in 2006 congressional report
There is a steady dribble of Rio+20 Conference news:
- 2012/02/24: EnergyBulletin: Social movements call for a Permanent Peoples' Assembly, Rio 2012
- 2012/02/20: EurActiv: Potocnik to test Rio ideas at UNEP forum
The EU's Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik says he will "test the waters" on his priorities for the June Earth Summit during ministerial meetings in Nairobi that began today (20 February). - 2012/02/21: UN: Pakistan: UN and Government request additional funding for post-flood recovery
- 2012/02/21: UN: UN urges Africa to facilitate private investment in clean energy production
The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:
- 2012/02/24: TreeHugger: The Rightwing Case for a Carbon Tax
On the international political front, tensions continue as the USA and Israel lean on Iran:
- 2012/02/24: BBerg: Oil Rises in Longest Rally in Two Years as Iran Spurs Supply Concerns
- 2012/02/23: Reuters: Iran oil output steady despite sanctions -- February Iran oil output same as January
- 2012/02/20: InformedComment: Top Ten Ways Iran is Defying US, EU Oil Sanctions and How You are Paying for It All
The Fuel Quality Directive vote was a stalemate...which got reported as Success, Failure and Stalemate:
- EuropeanCommission: Transport & Environment - Fuel Quality Monitoring
- 2012/02/24: PlanetArk: Canada Pleased With EU Vote, Will Defend Oil Sands
- 2012/02/24: PlanetArk: EU Tar Sands Fight Not Over, Experts At Stalemate
- 2012/02/24: NatureN: Oil-sands vote ends in deadlock -- European Union states fail to agree on whether to recognize oil sands as high polluters
- 2012/02/23: TreeHugger: Is Tar Sands Oil Dirtier Than Regular Crude? EU Says 'No'
- 2012/02/24: PostMedia: Canada claims win in EU oilsands vote -- Officials block draft bill that would have declared fuel a dirty form of crude
- 2012/02/23: Guardian(UK): EU tar sands pollution vote ends in deadlock
Decision on whether to label oil produced from tar sands as highly polluting is delayed as key vote fails to find majority - 2012/02/23: EurActiv: EU tar sands pollution vote ends in deadlock
The European Union failed to label oil produced from tar sands as highly polluting on Thursday, with a key vote by member states ending in deadlock. - 2012/02/23: EUO: Tar sands go political as key vote ends in deadlock
- 2012/02/22: PI: [link to 352k pdf] Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through transportation fuel policy
The European Union's proposed fuel-quality directive and implications for Canadian oilsands producers - 2012/02/23: CBC: EU at stalemate on Canada's oilsands ranking -- European Union vote on 'fuel-quality directive' moves up to full council debate
European Union officials are at a stalemate after voting on whether to classify Canada's oilsands crude as more harmful to the environment than other fuels -- a proposal that Canada would fight. The ballot by experts from the EU's 27 member countries, which are weighted by population, failed to produce the required 255 votes needed to approve the classification. As a result, the proposal will move up to the European Council, which will vote on it in late spring or early summer. - 2012/02/23: G&M: EU blocks passage of Canada's 'tar sands' ranking
- 2012/02/22: G&M: The ground war with Europe over Alberta's oil
- 2012/02/21: EUO: EU faces multiple trade wars defending green policies
EU measures to cut CO2 emissions and improve the climate have sparked outrage in the global aviation industry and most recently in Canada, home to the world's second largest fossil fuel reserves. The Guardian newspaper has revealed that the EU intends to label fuel from tar sands, which would include oil from the Canadian Alberta province, as "highly polluting" in a vote in an expert committee dealing with energy issues on Thursday (23 February). The label could render extraction and exploitation of the tar sands more difficult and more expensive. - 2012/02/21: OilChange: Bully-Boy Canada Threatens EU (Again)
- 2012/02/21: BBC: EU to vote on oil sands pollution
European Union officials are expected to vote on draft legislation that would label Canadian fuel as more polluting than oil from other parts of the world. Oil extracted from "oil sands" is regarded by some as energy intensive and environmentally damaging. The vote comes as native groups are suing the provincial and federal governments for breaching a treaty designed to preserve their way of life. Officials are set to vote on the matter on 23 February. - 2012/02/20: CBC: EU oilsands policy could spark trade complaint -- Ambassador to EU threatens complaint to World Trade Organization
- 2012/02/20: EurActiv: Canada threatens EU over tar sands
Canada is threatening trade retaliation if the EU tries to tighten regulations on oil from its highly polluting tar sands in a Fuel Quality Directive, according to documents seen by EurActiv. - 2012/02/20: Guardian(UK): Canada threatens trade war with EU over tar sands
The row over the EU's plan to label tar sands oil as highly polluting escalates as Canada says it 'will not hesitate to defend its interests' - 2012/02/23: EUO: US, China, Russia agree to fight EU aviation emissions trade
- 2012/02/23: Grist: U.S. gangs up with Saudi Arabia to crush European climate initiative
- 2012/02/24: PlanetArk: U.S. Considering Options On EU [ETS & airlines] Carbon Law: Hormats
- 2012/02/24: DerSpiegel: Airline Trade War? Global Opposition Grows against EU Emissions Law
The rest of the world is furious at the EU's plan to impose emissions fees on airlines flying to Europe. This week, representatives of almost two dozen countries met in Moscow to sign a joint protest. Some say that a trade war may be imminent. - 2012/02/22: RuAviation: Joint declaration of the Moscow meeting on inclusion of international civil aviation in the Eu-ETS
- 2012/02/23: BBC: EU aviation climate charge faces limited opposition
Governments opposed to the EU climate levy on international aviation have agreed a limited package of counter-measures during a meeting in Moscow. But they will not immediately lodge a case against the EU for breach of UN rules, as had been proposed. The 23 nations issuing a joint declaration include the US, China, Brazil, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Russia. - 2012/02/23: PlanetArk: EU Air Emission Law Opponents Agree Counter Measures
- 2012/02/22: EurActiv: 'Trade war' fears as Moscow aviation meeting debates ETS
As a 'coalition of the unwilling' meets in Moscow to debate retaliatory measures against the EU's inclusion of airlines in the Emissions Trading System (ETS), a senior Airbus executive has warned of a 'trade war'. - 2012/02/21: HuffPo:Reuters: EU [Airline] Carbon Tax Regulations Likely To Be Accepted By Non-European Countries
- 2012/02/21: PlanetArk: Q+A: Will Moscow Talks Unleash Carbon Trade War Against EU?
- 2012/02/19: HBL: Why oppose a cleaner sky?
- 2012/02/20: Reuters: Russia could block airlines from emission trading
Russia may prohibit its airlines from carbon emission trading in protest against a European Union law it says is unfair, state carrier Aeroflot (AFLT.MM) said on Monday. - 2012/02/20: Reuters: Q+A: Will Moscow talks unleash carbon trade war against EU?
A group of nations opposed to an EU law forcing all airlines to pay for their emissions meets in Moscow this week to debate possible retaliation, raising the risk of a trade war. - 2012/02/20: BBerg: EU Ministers Mull Climate Aid From Airlines, Ships, Draft Shows
European Union finance ministers will ask the bloc's regulator to analyze how putting a price on carbon from aviation and shipping could help raise funds to fight climate change, according to a draft EU document. - 2012/02/21: BBC: Countries rally against EU carbon tax on airlines
Delegates from 26 countries opposed to a new EU carbon tax on airlines are meeting in Moscow to consider possible retaliation, amid fears of a trade war. - 2012/02/21: BBC: Airlines and tar sands proxy for bigger climate battles
It's shaping up to be a crucial week in climate politics. - 2012/02/20: PlanetArk: Moscow Air Talks To Debate Measures Against EU: Draft
Nations opposing a European Union law that forces all airlines to pay for their carbon emissions will next week debate an array of counter-measures, a draft agenda seen by Reuters on Friday showed, raising the risk of an aviation trade war. The agenda also refers to the formal dispute procedure under the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, although some airline representatives and analysts have said the meeting would be unlikely to decide on whether to invoke that for now. China, the United States, India and Russia are among those to have expressed vehement opposition to the EU legislation requiring carriers using EU airports to acquire allowances under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). - 2012/02/19: TCoE: EU and the airline carbon tax
In the Rare Earths' tussle:
- 2012/02/21: Atlantic: A Visit to the Only American Mine for Rare Earth Metals
The solar panel trade war between China and the USA is still on:
- 2012/02/22: BBC: US turns up heat on China solar subsidies
In the search for sustainable energy, the battle for the growing solar market could be set to trigger a trade war between China and the US. At the heart of the dispute is the claim that China pays unfair subsidies to its solar companies. - 2012/02/20: OilPrice: Falklands Flare Up - Could a New Oil Find Re-Ignite an Old Conflict?
The Falkland Islands, a British windswept archipelago in the southern Atlantic off the coast of Argentina, last had its moment in the media spotlight two decades ago, when the two nations fought a brief but vicious conflict after Buenos Aires invaded the islands, providing a PR boost to Argentina's ruling junta. But, Argentina lost, and the 11-week conflict claimed more than 900 lives, leaving Britain in control of the islands. UK analytical firm Edison Investment Research is now reporting that the Falklands' oil industry could potentially be worth $180 billion in royalties and taxes, news that has reignited the smoldering diplomatic dispute between London and Buenos Aires. - 2012/02/24: ABC(Au): Xena boards ship in oil drill protest
Xena actress Lucy Lawless has boarded an oil-drilling ship in a bid to disrupt plans to search for oil off Alaska. Lawless and six other Greenpeace protesters boarded the ship Noble Discoverer in a bid to prevent it sailing to the Arctic, where it has been contracted by Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell to conduct exploratory drilling. The New Zealander said her actions, which forced authorities to close the North Island port of Taranaki, were prompted by a desire to save one of the world's last pristine environments. Lawless said she was not concerned at the prospect of being arrested. - 2012/02/23: CCP: Shell's Alaska-bound oil drilling ship occupied by Greenpeace, Xena actress, climate warrior Lucy Lawless
Polls! We have polls!
- 2012/02/24: TreeHugger: Americans Getting Tired of Clean Coal, Biofuels, Carbon Offsets & Cap-and-Trade
Regarding Water Politics and Business:
- 2012/02/19: BBC: Drought summit: Why not pipe the water from north to south?
London Mayor Boris Johnson is the latest in a long line of people to wonder why droughts have to be a regular occurrence in the south-east of England, when water is so abundant further north. - 2012/02/22: Telegraph(UK): Pollution goes against God's will, say church leaders in Ash Wednesday message
And on the American political front:
- 2012/02/24: Grist: Time for environmental funders to stop neglecting the grassroots
- 2012/02/: WheatLife: CRP - A look at our nation's most popular conservation program
- 2012/02/23: AlterNet: What Are We Really Eating? Reporter Goes Undercover to Reveal the Real Story of Our Broken Food System
- 2012/02/22: Grist: Why all promises to make gas significantly cheaper are fantasies
- 2012/02/23: NatureNB: Virginia moves toward Personhood for embryos
- 2012/02/22: AlterNet: The Republican Brain: Why Even Educated Conservatives Deny Science -- and Reality
- 2012/02/21: TreeHugger: The True Politics of Climate Change: A Video Interview with Jon Krosnick
- 2012/02/21: GLaden: Zombie Bill Reawakens in Oklahoma
- 2012/02/21: TP:JR: Putting Big Oil Subsidies to Work for America
- 2012/02/21: AlterNet: Why Right-Wingers' Hatred of Modern Women Is Going to Cost Them the Birth Control Battle (and a Whole Lot of Votes)
- 2012/02/20: AlterNet: Renewables Are a Reality: How We Can Ditch Fossil Fuels Without Any Help From Congress
- 2012/02/20: CBC: Americans brace for higher summer gas prices -- Experts predict higher pump prices will lead to summer 'staycations'
Gasoline prices have never been higher this time of the year in the U.S. At $3.53 US a gallon, prices are already up 25 cents since Jan. 1. And experts say they could reach a record $4.25 a gallon by late April. - 2012/02/24: PlanetArk: Gulf Oil Spill Trial -- Let The Fingerpointing Begin
- 2012/02/24: PlanetArk: BP, Anadarko Liable For U.S. [GoM] Spill Damages
- 2012/02/23: Reuters: BP, Anadarko liable for U.S. spill damages
BP Plc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp are liable for civil damages under federal pollution laws over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a U.S. judge ruled, exposing them to billions of dollars in potential fines. - 2012/02/23: TreeHugger: BP May Be Liable For Billions In Civil Damages For Gulf Oil Spill, Judge Rules
- 2012/02/25: CSM: BP faces billions in fines as spill trial nears
- 2012/02/22: PlanetArk: Mexico, U.S. Sign Cross-Border [GoM] Deep Water Oil Deal
- 2012/02/21: TreeHugger: 1.5 Million Acres in the Gulf of Mexico Opened for Offshore Drilling
- 2012/02/20: BBC: The US and Mexico have agreed to work together to develop deep-water oil and gas fields that straddle their maritime border in the Gulf of Mexico
On the 2012 campaign trail:
- 2012/02/25: TCoE: A stupid runs through it
- 2012/02/24: Wonkette: Even Sociopathic Pat Buchanan Thinks Rick Santorum Is Nuts
- 2012/02/24: Wonkette: Santorum: Colleges Are 'Indoctrination Mills' That Evilly Enlighten The Young
- 2012/02/23: Grist: Does Santorum think the pope is a 'radical environmentalist'?
- 2012/02/23: BBickmore: Republican Scientist: "I. WILL. NEVER. VOTE. SANTORUM."
- 2012/02/23: Wonkette: GOP Suddenly Concerned About Being Insane Racist Misogynist Fanatics
- 2012/02/24: Wonkette: Mitt Romney Delivers Big Speech About Nothing To Empty Stadium
- 2012/02/24: Grist: Flashback: Gingrich opposed ANWR drilling, pushed for efficiency instead
- 2012/02/25: al Jazeera: The 0.000063% election -- How US politics became the politics of the "super rich"
- 2012/02/24: Guardian(UK): Jeb Bush eyed as latest 'white knight' candidate in GOP presidential race
- 2012/02/22: CSM: GOP's big investors: Who's really running for president?
- 2012/02/22: P3: Santorum Remarks: Satan and the Academy
- 2012/02/21: TreeHugger: Obama's Coming Gas Price War with the GOP
- 2012/02/21: AlterNet: Agenda for the Dark Ages: GOP Frontrunner Rick Santorum's 5 Most Extremist Themes
[...] 1. The end of the secular state.
[...] 2. The end of science.
[...] 3. A return to patriarchy.
[...] 4. The fostering of ignorance.
[...] 5. The demonization of everybody but white, heterosexual, right-wing Christian males. - 2012/02/21: Grist: Rick Santorum rewrites the history of clean air in America
- 2012/02/21: AutoBG: Newt Gingrich: "You cannot put a gun rack in a Chevy Volt"
- 2012/02/20: Maribo: "Stewardship", Rick Santorum and climate change
- 2012/02/20: BBC: Rick Santorum hits Barack Obama on energy and climate
- 2012/02/20: Guardian(UK): The paradox of Rick Santorum's conservative beliefs
Santorum's supporters denounce the government's religious interference, but it's their mantra that feels like oppression - 2012/02/19: SST: Apparently Something is Rotten in the State of Maine... Congressman Ron Paul Edition
- 2012/02/19: AlterNet: Why Is Rick Santorum Obsessed With Your Sex Life?
- 2012/02/20: al Jazeera: They are GOP, hear them roar
The attacks of Republican candidates on women's health may make their chances at victory impossible. - 2012/02/19: BDL: Harold Pollack: Santorum Is Not Funny
- 2012/02/19: USAToday: Gingrich's Limbaugh troubles spell out climate divide
When all else fails, you can always confound them with the olde "black is white" routine:
- 2012/02/26: TP:JR: Why Does Rick Santorum Feel Compelled to Assure Us He's "Pro-Science?"
- 2012/02/20: CBS: Santorum: Democrats are "anti-science," not me
- 2012/02/21: DeSmogBlog: Rick Santorum, Attacking Scientists, Claims He's not Anti-Science
The Keystone XL saga rolls along:
- 2012/02/24: OilChange: Rising gas prices, Keystone XL and the real solutions
- 2012/02/25: DailyKos: Texas foe loses one round in fight against Keystone XL pipeline, but she is far from surrender
- 2012/02/19: EconBrowser: Work-arounds for the politics of Keystone
- 2012/02/19: TP:JR: Protesters to Keystone XL Pipeline: Don't Mess With Texas
- 2012/02/20: PlanetArk: House Passes Keystone Bill, Senate Action Uncertain
The birth control thang:
- 2012/02/24: al Jazeera: The birth control bishops
Rather than spend energy fighting contraception legislation, the Catholic Bishops should clean up their own backyard. - 2012/02/19: AlterNet: 6 People the Media Should Have Talked to About Birth Control That Aren't Catholic Men
- 2012/02/20: al Jazeera: Campaign against birth control is religious fanaticism
Catholic and Evangelical leaders are fighting for "religious freedom" and US citizens of all faiths are paying for it. - 2012/02/24: PlanetArk: Obama Says High Gas Prices Show Need For New Energy Sources
- 2012/02/24: TreeHugger: Obama Mocks GOP's 'Drill Now' Agenda: "That's Not a Plan...That's a Bumper Sticker."
- 2012/02/23: NYT: In a Nod to Gas Prices, Obama Talks About Energy
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
- 2012/02/24: CSW: US Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Draft Strategy - Part 2
- 2012/02/23: TP:JR: Utilities Blowing Smoke on Coal-Plant Retirements
The EPA can't be used as a scapegoat for plant closures that have been informed by many different economic drivers. - 2012/02/20: PlanetArk: Shell Moves Closer To Arctic Drilling With Spill Response
Royal Dutch Shell's bid to drill in the Arctic this summer took another step forward on Friday when the U.S. Interior Department approved its oil spill response plan for the Chukchi Sea. - 2012/02/24: TP:JR: Bipartisan Support Grows for Carbon Price as Part of Debt Deal
- 2012/02/13: WaPo: Carbon emission policy could slash debt, improve environment By Henry A. Waxman, Sherwood Boehlert, Edward J. Markey and Wayne Gilchrest,
At the end of this year, the United States will confront a trifecta of difficult fiscal challenges: The Bush tax cuts will be set to expire; the defense budget and spending on civilian programs will face a $110 billion sequester; and a new extension of the federal debt limit will be looming. At the same time, the evidence will be clearer than ever that urgent action is needed to protect our nation and the world from irreversible climate change. The overwhelming scientific consensus will have grown even stronger. And if 2011 is a harbinger of our future, record-breaking droughts and storms will have again afflicted our nation -- at immense cost in lives and property damage. These fiscal and environmental problems may appear unrelated. But as a bipartisan group of current and former members of Congress, we want to propose a new idea: These seemingly intractable challenges are easier to address together than separately. The debate over how to reduce our nation's debt has been presented as a dilemma between cutting spending on programs Americans cherish or raising taxes on American job creators. But there is a better way: We could slash our debt by making power plants and oil refineries pay for the carbon emissions that endanger our health and environment. This policy would strengthen our economy, lessen our dependence on foreign oil, keep our skies clean -- and raise a lot of revenue. - 2012/02/23: TP:JR: Infographic: The Solyndra Witch-Hunt One Year Later
- 2012/02/22: Grist: [Rep. Cliff] Stearns (R-Fla.) accidentally exposes GOP energy agenda
- 2012/02/22: TreeHugger: Republican Climate Scientists Can't Get GOP Politicians to Return Their Calls
- 2012/02/22: DeSmogBlog: Congressman Calls For Hearing Into Heartland Institute Payments to Federal Employee Indur Goklany
- 2012/02/21: Grist: GOP to Navy: Use more oil, demand more money
- 2012/02/21: Grist: Roads to ruin: Why 'drill and drive' is the new motto in Washington
- 2012/02/20: PlanetArk: House Republicans Seek More Documents In Solyndra Probe
What are the lobbyists pushing?
- 2012/02/23: AlterNet: Are Conservatives Winning the War on Women? How the Religious Lobbying Industry Truly Threatens Our Rights
While in the UK:
- 2012/02/24: BBC: Road lighting 'could be dimmed'
Lights on thousands of miles of major roads in England could be dimmed during quiet periods in a bid to save money and reduce carbon emissions, it has emerged. - 2012/02/23: BBC: Donald Trump accused of bullying Scottish government
American billionaire Donald Trump has been accused of attempting to bully the Scottish government. Mr Trump has offered to bankroll protesters campaigning against wind farms. - 2012/02/23: BBC: Donald Trump could give 'wind farm evidence' to Scottish Parliament
US tycoon Donald Trump could be asked to give evidence about wind farms to a Scottish Parliament committee. Mr Trump has launched recent high-profile attacks about plans for a wind farm off the coast near his golf resort in Aberdeenshire. - 2012/02/23: BBC: Gender-based abortion claims probed by Department of Health
The Department of Health has launched an inquiry into claims that doctors agreed to carry out abortions on the grounds of the sex of unborn babies. The Daily Telegraph said it had secretly filmed doctors at a number of British abortion clinics. The doctors are said to have agreed to terminate foetuses when women did not want their baby because of its gender. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said sex selection was "illegal and morally wrong" and he had ordered an inquiry. - 2012/02/22: Guardian(UK): We must capitalise on a low-carbon future
Some are beginning to argue that the environment is a luxury we can't afford. They couldn't be more wrong - 2012/02/20: BBC: MPs back more powerful computers for Met Office
The Met Office needs new supercomputers to issue confident extreme weather warnings and more accurate long-term forecasts, a group of MPs has said. A Science and Technology Committee report said that, despite improvements, the public still thought reliable seasonal predictions were not possible. - 2012/02/20: Guardian(UK): A drought summit in winter feels wrong instinctively -- ignore those instincts
Caroline Spelman's gathering of water companies, farmers and wildlife groups seems untimely, but this is a flawed perception - 2012/02/19: BBC: Drought summit: Why not pipe the water from north to south?
London Mayor Boris Johnson is the latest in a long line of people to wonder why droughts have to be a regular occurrence in the south-east of England, when water is so abundant further north. - 2012/02/19: BBC: Drought summit as rivers in England dry up
The Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman is hosting a drought summit later as parts of England struggle with groundwater levels lower than in 1976. She has invited water companies, farmers and wildlife groups to discuss the situation in south-east England, East Anglia and the east Midlands. The River Kennet in Wiltshire has dried up completely west of Marlborough. The Angling Trust's chief executive Mark Lloyd said "it's a pile of stones you can walk across in ordinary shoes". Many rivers in south-east England have also dried up. - 2012/02/23: EurActiv: Progressive energy firms launch new climate alliance
Eight of Europe's largest energy companies have launched a clean energy alliance with a call for the EU to set legally enforceable targets for 2030 in emissions reductions, renewable energy and energy efficiency. - 2012/02/23: EUO: Germany to cut solar energy subsidies
- 2012/02/21: EurActiv: Finance ministers eye transport levies to feed climate fund
European finance ministers will today (21 February) call for the EU executive to prepare a paper on raising climate funds through carbon pricing on aviation and maritime transport by June, if draft conclusions seen by EurActiv are approved. - 2012/02/21: EUO: EU faces multiple trade wars defending green policies
EU measures to cut CO2 emissions and improve the climate have sparked outrage in the global aviation industry and most recently in Canada, home to the world's second largest fossil fuel reserves. The Guardian newspaper has revealed that the EU intends to label fuel from tar sands, which would include oil from the Canadian Alberta province, as "highly polluting" in a vote in an expert committee dealing with energy issues on Thursday (23 February). The label could render extraction and exploitation of the tar sands more difficult and more expensive. - 2012/02/20: EUO: Oil business to lobby against EU transparency rules
Royal Dutch Shell and other large oil and resources companies plan to counter EU anti-corruption rules that would force them to disclose payments to governments in countries where they operate... - 2012/02/23: ABC(Au): Report details CSG environmental failings
Coal seam gas (CSG) explorer Santos has issued a damning report on the environmental record of its predecessor in the Pilliga State Forest, Eastern Star Gas. Santos says environmental incidents were not reported to authorities and the treatment plant for contaminated water suffered multiple leaks and incidents. It says it is going to spend $20 million upgrading Eastern Star's sites and equipment. However, Santos' vice-president in eastern Australia, James Baulderstone, says test results indicate there are no health or ecological risks. - 2012/02/22: ABC(Au): Savanna fire management - a Carbon Farming Initiative
- 2012/02/21: ABC(Au): Climate threat to Tasmanian industry
Experts are warning Tasmania's fisheries and hydro-electric power supply are at risk if action is not taken to combat climate change. The Climate Commission has released a report into the possible impacts of climate change in Tasmania. It predicts more intense rain events and flooding, as well as a greater risk of bushfires. - 2012/02/22: BBC: Australia PM Gillard calls Labor leadership ballot
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced a ballot for the leadership of the Labor Party amid a bitter tussle with Kevin Rudd. The move comes hours after Mr Rudd, who was ousted as PM by Ms Gillard in 2010, resigned as foreign minister. Ms Gillard said she would "go to the backbench" and renounce future bids for the leadership if she failed, and called on him to do the same. Mr Rudd is on his way back to Brisbane from Washington DC. - 2012/02/25: ABC(Au): Rudd, Gillard choose to run in different directions
Kevin Rudd's strategy ahead of the leadership showdown is to bypass his caucus colleagues and appeal straight to the public, but it is a tactic some say will not work. - 2012/02/25: SMH: Rudd sought option to kill climate plan
Kevin Rudd commissioned advice on ''repositioning'' his ill-fated climate change policy, including scrapping it, two months before he dumped it, leaked documents show. Mr Rudd yesterday placed the blame squarely on Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan for forcing him to drop the policy but the Herald has obtained a departmental briefing commissioned by Mr Rudd showing he began the process that led to the policy being deferred indefinitely. In April 2010 the Herald revealed Mr Rudd had abandoned the carbon pollution reduction scheme after talks with senior colleagues. It sent the government into a tailspin and two months later, on June 24, Mr Rudd was dumped as prime minister. - 2012/02/26: ABC(Au): As it happened: Labor leadership
- 2012/02/24: al Jazeera: Rudd to face Gillard in Australian vote
Former Australian prime minister says he will stand for Labor leadership in bid to regain old job from Julia Gillard. - 2012/02/25: PlanetJ: Rudd's political tantrum must be opposed
- 2012/02/23: JQuiggin: Rudd + Gillard = Rudd
- 2012/02/24: ABC(Au): Labor's leadership war becomes numbers game
As the leadership showdown looms, Julia Gillard looks to have the numbers in caucus but opinion polls tell a different story, pitting Kevin Rudd as the much preferred leader. - 2012/02/23: al Jazeera: Australian PM calls leadership vote
Julia Gillard calls on ex-leader Kevin Rudd, her likely challenger, to accept its outcome as final. - 2012/02/22: CBC: Australian PM Gillard calls leadership vote -- Winner of ballot could lead party into 2013 federal election
- 2012/02/22: ABC(Au): Gillard, Rudd on course for leadership showdown
- 2012/02/22: JQuiggin: It's on -- A showdown over the ALP leadership...
- 2012/02/22: TheAge: Gillard hits back after Rudd quits as Foreign Minister
- 2012/02/22: TheAge: Labor colleagues 'sick' of Rudd: Swan
The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, has torn Kevin Rudd in half. In a statement released at 8.30pm, Mr Swan says Mr Rudd lacks Labor values, has been undermining the government, treats people like dirt and was behind the leaks that destroyed the party's 2010 campaign. "For the sake of the labour movement, the Government and the Australians which it represents, we have refrained from criticism to date," he said. "However for too long, Kevin Rudd has been putting his own self-interest ahead of the interests of the broader labour movement and the country as a whole, and that needs to stop. "The Party has given Kevin Rudd all the opportunities in the world and he wasted them with his dysfunctional decision making and his deeply demeaning attitude towards other people including our caucus colleagues. He sought to tear down the 2010 campaign, deliberately risking an Abbott Prime Ministership, and now he undermines the Government at every turn." - 2012/02/22: ABC(Au): Live blog: Labor leadership in crisis
- 2012/02/22: ABC(Au): Gillard to call leadership spill
Prime Minister Julia Gillard will tomorrow announce that she is calling a ballot to resolve the Labor leadership stoush with her predecessor Kevin Rudd. Ms Gillard will hold a morning press conference in Adelaide to call a caucus ballot for Monday when Parliament resumes. - 2012/02/22: al Jazeera: Rudd departure shakes Australian government
Foreign minister steps down, saying he has lost support of PM Gillard amid speculation he is plotting return to top job. - 2012/02/21: ABC(Au): Rudd quits as Foreign Minister
Kevin Rudd has resigned as Foreign Minister, saying he will not be part of the leadership "soap opera" and heading off any move to sack him. - 2012/02/22: ABC(Au): Gillard fobs off leadership spill speculation
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has brushed aside reports that she is preparing to call a leadership spill next week and sack Kevin Rudd from the ministry. Earlier this week senior minister Simon Crean called for Ms Gillard to summon Mr Rudd to a meeting about the leadership and, if need be, sack him. But the focus is on next Tuesday's scheduled caucus meeting, with growing expectations the Prime Minister will open the leadership for a spill. - 2012/02/21: BBC: Australia's Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd resigns
Australia's Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has resigned amid widespread reports of a leadership tussle between him and Prime Minister Julia Gillard. - 2012/02/26: ABC(Au): Hard lessons
No matter where you go along the length and breadth of the Murray Darling Basin, there's passionate debate over the future of the nation's food bowl. At issue of course is the fair allocation of water, the lifeblood not only of farm enterprises but the communities they help sustain. And in irrigation areas like Finley in southern New South Wales, they're taking more than just an academic interest in the outcome of the latest public consultation process... - 2012/02/22: ABC(Au): Greens to seek Murray-Darling inquiry
The Greens will move for a Senate inquiry into the draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan when Federal Parliament resumes next week. - 2012/02/21: ABC(Au): MDBP consultations continue in north west Victoria
While in the Indian subcontinent:
- 2012/02/24: BBC: India PM Manmohan Singh blames anti-nuclear protests on US NGOs
The Indian prime minister has blamed US non-governmental organisations for the delay in commissioning the Koodankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu state. Manmohan Singh told the prestigious Science journal that these groups did not appreciate India's growing energy requirements. The plant has been stalled by protests from local people over safety concerns. Mr Singh also blamed US and Scandinavian groups for opposing genetically modified crops in India. Critics say Mr Singh's comments hark back to the pre-liberalisation days when Indian politicians blamed all of India's problems on foreign countries. - 2012/02/23: NBF: China 2011 energy, GDP and agriculture numbers
Elsewhere in Asia:
- 2012/02/19: TP:JR: Tongan Government Moves Forward on Goal for 50% Renewable Energy by 2015
And South America:
- 2012/02/20: CCurrents: Bolivia: Challenges Along Path Of 'Governing By Obeying The People'
In Canada, neocon PM Harper madly pursues petroleum while continuing his do-nothing climate policy:
- 2012/02/24: HuffPo: Kyoto Protocol: Peter Kent Says Government Will Soon Table Bill To Scrap Law Forcing Canada To Meet Greenhouse Gas Targets
- 2012/02/22: DWR: Science and the Conservative Party of Canada? Yeah Right...
- 2012/02/22: PostMedia: Environment Canada presses for urgent crackdown on coal
Canadians will see both health and economic benefits if the federal government follows through rapidly on draft regulations to crack down on pollution from coal-fired electricity plants, says newly released briefing notes from Environment Canada. The department also has identified the oil and gas sector as a "priority" in the next step of its climate-change plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, according to the briefing notes which suggest draft regulations in that booming sector could be introduced this year. The documents, prepared in September right after the government had introduced draft regulations to crack down on pollution from coal plants, noted the urgency of delivering meaningful regulations for coal-fired electricity. - 2012/02/23: PostMedia: Environment Canada presses for crackdown on coal -- New regulations on power-plant pollution urgently needed, files say
Canadians will see both health and economic benefits if the federal government follows through rapidly on draft regulations to crack down on pollution from coal-fired electricity plants, say newly released briefing notes from Environment Canada. The department also has identified the oil and gas sector as a "priority" in the next step of its climate-change plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, according to the briefing notes which suggest draft regulations in that booming sector could be introduced this year. The documents, prepared in September right after the government had introduced draft regulations to crack down on pollution from coal plants, noted the urgency of delivering meaningful regulations for coal-fired electricity. - 2012/02/20: Rabble: On the environment Canada is a rogue state
- 2012/02/21: CD:B: On the environment Canada is a rogue state
- 2012/02/19: LFR: Conservative conundrum: Navy head says Canada needs bigger presence in Arctic because of ... oops ... climate change
The G20 controversy lingers:
- 2012/02/22: TStar: 'Secret' G20 law to be scrapped
The Liberals are replacing the archaic "secret law" police used to place hundreds of people under arrest during the G20 summit in 2010. The Public Works Protection Act has been shelved in favour of a new bill that would apply only to securing power plants and courthouses, said Community Safety Minister Madeleine Meilleur. The legislation, introduced Wednesday, was created out of recommendations of former chief justice Roy McMurtry in the wake of the G20 fiasco. It is far narrower in scope than the old law. - 2012/02/22: CBC: Ontario to scale back 'secret law' used at G20
The so-called secret law used to give police extra powers during the G20 summit in Toronto in 2010 is being scaled back by the Ontario government. The Liberals came under fire for using an obscure Second World War law originally designed to protect court houses to give police authority to stop and search people during the G20. Critics say the Public Works Protection Act was used to justify mass arrests of hundreds of G20 protesters, and the province intentionally let people believe it gave police more powers than it actually did. The Liberals claim there was a "communications problem" with the way the law was used during the G20 summit, and refuse to offer any apology. But they are now updating the act to limit its scope to apply only to court houses and hydro generating stations. - 2012/02/21: TMoS: Harper's Dirty Little Tar Sands Warning
Steve Harper has been warned - the Athabasca Tar Sands pose a "significant environmental and financial risk" to Alberta. That warning came in a secret report prepared for Wayne Routers, the clerk of the Privy Council Office, the federal government's top civil servant. - 2012/02/20: PostMedia: Oilsands pose 'significant environmental and financial risk' to Alberta, says PCO [Privy Council Office]
Collateral damage from Canada's booming oilsands sector may be irreversible, posing a "significant environmental and financial risk to the province of Alberta," says a secret memorandum prepared for the federal government's top bureaucrat. The memorandum, released by the Privy Council Office through access to information legislation, also raises doubts about recent industry and government claims that oilsands companies are reducing heat-trapping gases produced by each barrel of oil. The industry has suggested that a shift in oilsands extraction to use steam to remove synthetic crude oil from natural bitumen deposits on site can reduce land disruption and provide for reductions in energy and emissions. But the memo, prepared for Wayne Wouters, the clerk of the Privy Council Office - the lead department in the federal government's bureaucracy - said this shift is actually accelerating the industry's impact on climate change, with emissions growth projected to be greater over the next decade than all other Canadian economic sectors combined. - 2012/02/24: ScienceInsider: Canada's Restrictions on Scientists' Speech Raise Concerns
- 2012/02/22: KSJT: The Science Reporting Chill in Canada
The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:
- 2012/02/23: CBC: Transport Canada OK's Northern Gateway supertankers -- Fishing advocates say human error a real threat
- 2012/02/25: STimes: Canada revs up for fight over second tar sands oil pipeline
Canada's recent push for the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to carry oil from the tar sands of Alberta to the nation's West Coast has been marked by uncharacteristic defiance. - 2012/02/21: LA Times: Canadian oil: Could some of it be headed for California?
Much of the focus behind Canada's push to build a new oil pipeline to the West Coast has been to diversify its markets, to reduce its reliance on the U.S. as a customer. The Canadian government says it wants to start selling oil to China and South Korea. But there are strong indications that California could be the ultimate destination for much of the oil shipped on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline. Analysts say California could see as much as half of the oil transported out of the tar sands of northern Alberta to a port on the coast of British Columbia, where it would be loaded onto tankers for destinations as yet unknown. - 2012/02/22: BCLSB: Northern Gateway Alternate Route Also Going Nowhere
- 2012/02/21: 350orBust: Oilman's Son At Enbridge Pipeline Hearing: It's Time To Chose A New Path
Meanwhile in the CWB saga:
- 2012/02/24: CBC: Manitoba judge rules against former wheat board directors
A Manitoba judge has thrown out a bid to suspend a new federal law ending the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on western grain sales. Eight former wheat board directors had asked for an injunction to stop the law's implementation until a court could rule on its validity. The directors argued that the law isn't valid because the federal government didn't hold a referendum among producers before ending the monopoly. - 2012/02/22: CBC: Carbon tax review welcomed by B.C. farmers
The B.C. government's promise to review the controversial carbon tax is being applauded by the agricultural organizations. Finance Minister Kevin Falcon confirmed during Tuesday's provincial budget speech that the government will increase the carbon tax one more time as scheduled this year. But after that the tax will then be frozen while the government conducts a review to determine its impact on B.C.'s economy, he said. - 2012/02/21: PostMedia: Foresters join warning cry over risk to forest sustainability -- Experts are making some decisions using decades-old data, report shows
B.C. forest inventories are so far out of date that the foresters' professional association is questioning whether provincial forestlands can still be managed sustainably. A report by the Association of B.C. Forest Professionals released Monday says that at a time when wildfire and insect pests such as the mountain pine beetle are on the rise, funding for inventory work has been cut almost in half. The beetle has created "the need for inventory updates on an unprecedented scale," yet the budget for inventory work has been cut from a long-term average of $15 million a year to $8.4 million in the current fiscal year. The foresters are calling on the government to restore funding to $15 million. Further, staffing levels have been trimmed from 40 in 2006 to 27 in 2011. The result of less money and fewer staff is that foresters are making decisions based on data that in 40 per cent of the cases has not been updated since 1990, the report states. In 30 per cent of the cases, the inventory work was completed before 1980. - 2012/02/20: PostMedia: B.C. coal exports coming under scrutiny for contributing to greenhouse gases
Coal is fast gaining notoriety as the dirtiest fossil fuel and a growing source of global greenhouse gas emissions, all of which is staining the B.C. government's green climate-action initiatives. - 2012/02/24: PostMedia: Canada claims win in EU oilsands vote -- Officials block draft bill that would have declared fuel a dirty form of crude
- 2012/02/21: Tyee: Dispatch from Alberta's War in the Woods -- They call us 'obstructors' for trying to save the forest they named a 'Special Place.'
- 2012/02/22: PI:B: The path to improved oilsands monitoring: Pembina's role
- 2012/02/22: Sierra: Protect Woodland Caribou with Science, says Sierra Club Canada
- 2012/02/22: Eureka: AGU: Oil sands pollution comparable to a large power plant
It takes a lot of energy to extract heavy, viscous and valuable bitumen from Canada's oil sands and refine it into crude oil. Companies mine some of the sands with multi-story excavators, separate out the bitumen, and process it further to ease the flow of the crude oil down pipelines. About 1.8 million barrels of oil per day in 2010 were produced from the bitumen of the Canadian oil sands - and the production of those fossil fuels requires the burning of fossil fuels. In the first look at the overall effect of air pollution from the excavation of oil sands, also called tar sands, in Alberta, Canada, scientists used satellites to measure nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide emitted from the industry. In an area 30 kilometers (19 miles) by 50 kilometers (31 miles) around the mines, they found elevated levels of these pollutants. - 2012/02/23: EugeneWeekly: Tar Sands Megaloads Stalled
- 2012/02/23: PostMedia: Secret memo warns oilsands damage may be irreversible
Collateral damage from Canada's booming oilsands sector may be irreversible, posing a "significant environmental and financial risk to the province of Alberta," says a secret memorandum prepared for the federal government's top bureaucrat. The memorandum, released by the Privy Council Office through access to information legislation, also raises doubts about recent industry and government claims that oilsands companies are reducing heat-trapping gases produced by each barrel of oil. The industry has suggested that a shift in oilsands extraction to use steam to remove synthetic crude oil from natural bitumen deposits on site can reduce land disruption and provide for reductions in energy and emissions. But the memo, prepared for Wayne Wouters, the clerk of the Privy Council Office - the lead department in the federal government's bureaucracy - said this shift is actually accelerating the industry's impact on climate change, with emissions growth projected to be greater over the next decade than all other Canadian economic sectors combined. - 2012/02/22: CBC: Caribou recovery plan swamped by public feedback
[...]
...it will be April before the government comes up with a recovery strategy to save a species driven out of its habitat by oilsands development and urban sprawl in booming western Canada. - 2012/02/20: CDreams: 'It's Going to Be War': First Nations Battle Canadian Tar Sands
- 2012/02/21: CBC: Flint Energy shares soar on US takeover
Shares in Calgary's Flint Energy Services Ltd. jumped 66 per cent in trading a day after San Francisco-based URS Corp. said it is buying the oilsands service company for $1.25 billion. - 2012/02/21: Far-n-Wide: Oilsands And Selective "Upsides"
Also in Alberta:
- 2012/02/23: Tyee: Alberta Plays Catch-up on Frack Front -- Regulator acknowledges water risks, says hydraulic fluids disclosure will be required
- 2012/02/20: DWR: Deregulating Alberta Power -- Our Gift to the Energy Companies
Ontario is wrestling with its energy policy:
- 2012/02/24: iPolitics: Ontario's clean energy future at odds with declining demand
- 2012/02/23: PlanetArk: Ontario Won't Alter Local Content In Green-Energy
- 2012/02/20: CleanBreak: Ontario leads Canada with installation of geothermal heat pump or "geo-exchange" systems, but residential lags commercial market
As for miscellaneous Canadiana:
- 2012/02/25: iPolitics: Rising oil prices fuel fears for Canada as global economy sputters
- 2012/02/20: ChronicleHerald: Environment clashes raising Leslie's profile
Halifax MP Megan Leslie has found herself at the forefront of one of the most contentious issues in Canadian politics. As the NDP environment critic, she engages in daily clashes in the House of Commons with Environment Minister Peter Kent and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver that have gotten increasingly nasty. - 2012/02/21: WpgFP: Green group fears feds' streamlining of reviews
A group of environmental lawyers, doctors and academics says the federal government will endanger health and safety if it curtails the environmental assessment process in a "haphazard" way. They fear the federal government, in its zeal to streamline approvals for resource projects, is developing a process that would be blind to long-term effects on people and communities. - 2012/02/25: EnergyBulletin: A conversation with Herman Daly
- 2012/02/23: GRC: Is the 'Green Economy' A New Washington Consensus?
- 2012/02/22: CDreams: Cooperatives Over Corporations
- 2012/02/22: CCurrents: Cash Of The Titans: Against The Noxious Fantasy Of Limitless Growth
- 2012/02/02: RDWolff: Manifesto For Economic Democracy and Ecological Sanity
- 2012/02/22: EnergyBulletin: Co-ops are Big: Charles Gould on the Int'l Year of the Co-op
- 2012/02/22: Grist: The doughnut of justice: A new way to think about growth
- 2012/02/21: CCurrents: 'Perpetual Growth Myth' Leading World To Meltdown
- 2012/02/20: CCurrents: Limits To Growth And Fractional Reserve Banking
- 2012/02/19: IPSNews: Building Sustainable Future Needs More Than Science, Experts Say
Contrary to popular belief, humans have failed to address the earth's worsening emergencies of climate change, species' extinction and resource overconsumption not because of a lack of information, but because of a lack of imagination, social scientists and artists say. - 2012/02/21: al Jazeera: Oil: In perpetuity no more
Industrial civilisation's entire economy is based on a finite resource we treat as infinite. - 2012/02/22: EnergyBulletin: coming together in groups
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2012/02/24: al Jazeera: The birth control bishops
Rather than spend energy fighting contraception legislation, the Catholic Bishops should clean up their own backyard. - 2012/02/23: AlterNet: Are Conservatives Winning the War on Women? How the Religious Lobbying Industry Truly Threatens Our Rights
- 2012/02/23: NatureNB: Virginia moves toward Personhood for embryos
- 2012/02/23: BBC: Gender-based abortion claims probed by Department of Health
- 2012/02/21: AlterNet: Why Right-Wingers' Hatred of Modern Women Is Going to Cost Them the Birth Control Battle (and a Whole Lot of Votes)
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2012/02/26: S&R: What will America look like after the apocalypse? Not what you think.
How do the media measure up? See also:
- 2012/02/24: RealClimate: Bickmore on the WSJ response
- 2012/02/24: QuarkSoup: McKibben's Dishonest Huff Post Piece
- 2012/02/24: RR: NYTimes' Michael Roston Compares Scientist Involved In Heartland Institute Document Leak To James O'Keefe
- 2012/02/24: DeSmogBlog: Republic Report Slams Media Obsession With Shiny Penny In Heartland DenialGate Coverage
- 2012/02/21: MediaMatters: Fox Still Struggling With Basic Chart Concepts: Gas Price Edition
- 2012/02/22: BBickmore: Response to Wall Street Journal 16
- 2012/02/21: CCP: Global Warming Know-It-Alls Write More BS In The Wall Street Journal
Regarding the quality of blogosphere discussion:
- 2012/02/19: P3: Zero Snark Open Thread: IPCC, Science, Politics, Economics...
Here is something for your library:
- 2012/02/22: ClimateSight: [Book Review] _The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines_ by Michael Mann
- Download The Universe -- The Science Ebook Review
- 2012/02/20: HotTopic: [Book Review] _The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines_ by Michael Mann
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2012/02/25: PSinclair: Dr. Suess is Not Here to Puke, So I Will
- 2012/02/25: TP:JR: New Folk Music Video On Impact of Mountain Top Removal
- 2012/02/24: Guardian(UK): The fracking frontline: a tale of two Pennsylvanias - video
- 2012/02/21: MediaMatters: More "Indoctrination" Paranoia: Fox Attacks Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
- 2012/02/23: Grist: Right-wingers and greens agree: The Lorax movie sucks balls
- 2012/02/20: QuarkSoup: Hitler Does Heartland
As for podcasts:
- 2012/02/21: QuarkSoup: Interview with AGU President Michael McPhaden [podcast]
- 2012/02/19: SciNow: Podcast: Oceans of the Future
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2012/02/24: TreeHugger: Ecuador Court Rejects Chevron Arbitration Ruling, Reopening $18 Billion Fine For Amazon Pollution
- 2012/02/22: TreeHugger: New York Towns Can Ban Fracking Even If State Doesn't, Judge Rules
- 2012/02/22: KPLU: Pharmacists don't have to sell Plan B contraceptive, judge rules
- 2012/02/22: BBerg: Gas-Fracking Ban in Upstate New York Upheld by State Court Judge
- 2012/02/22: ABC(Au): US judge upholds fracking ban
In a blow to the US oil and gas industry, a judge has ruled small towns in New York have the authority to ban drilling, including the controversial method known as fracking, within their borders. In a ruling released late on Tuesday, State Supreme Court justice Phillip Rumsey held that the Ithaca suburb of Dryden's recent ban on gas drilling falls within the authority of local governments to regulate local land use. - 2012/02/21: Guardian(UK): Climate change sceptic thinktank not 'influential' enough to reveal funder
Court denies freedom of information request for charity body to name seed funder of GWPF chaired by Lord Lawson - 2012/02/21: PlanetArk: Ecuador Court Rejects Chevron Arbitration Ruling
- 2012/02/17: LA Times: Organic farmers take on Monsanto over patent lawsuits
- 2012/02/20: PlanetArk: Panel Reinforces Ecuador Award Halt In Chevron Case
Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:
- 2012/02/23: Eureka: Breakthrough in designing cheaper, more efficient catalysts for fuel cells -- Chemists take new approach: synthesizing catalysts that are all edge
- 2012/02/23: TP:JR: Construction of the Largest U.S. Geothermal Heat Pump System Underway
- 2012/02/22: SP: Energy independence, or impending oil shocks?
- 2012/02/22: EnergyBulletin: The Way is Shut by Tom Murphy
- 2012/02/22: ABC(Au): Clean energy [thermoelectric] device promises cost savings
- 2012/02/21: TP:JR: Top Three Reasons Cheap Natural Gas Won't Kill Renewable Energy
- 2012/02/15: SP: What EROI tells us about ROI
- 2012/02/21: PlanetJ: US energy sources could be mostly renewable by 2030
- 2012/02/21: PlanetArk: Kenya's Kengen To Raise $12 Billion For New Plants
- 2012/02/20: AlterNet: Renewables Are a Reality: How We Can Ditch Fossil Fuels Without Any Help From Congress
- 2012/02/20: P3: Is "Clean Tech" "Going Bust"[?]
- 2012/02/20: PlanetJ: Get ready for the carbon bubble
- 2012/02/19: Forbes: How Many Lives Does Nuclear Energy Have?
- 2012/02/20: NBF: How Many Lives does Coal and OIl Have?
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
- 2012/02/23: Tyee: Alberta Plays Catch-up on Frack Front -- Regulator acknowledges water risks, says hydraulic fluids disclosure will be required
- 2012/02/24: USGS: Media Advisory: USGS to Discuss First Shale-Oil and Shale-Gas Resource Potential Assessment for the Alaska North Slope
- 2012/02/23: ERW: Tighten fracking regulations, scientists urge US officials
- 2012/02/23: ABC(Au): Report details CSG environmental failings
- 2012/02/22: TreeHugger: New York Towns Can Ban Fracking Even If State Doesn't, Judge Rules
- 2012/02/26: Grist: As fracking boom hits Ohio, industry deceives landowners
- 2012/02/22: BBerg: Gas-Fracking Ban in Upstate New York Upheld by State Court Judge
On the coal front:
- 2012/02/22: TP:JR: Coal Consumption in China Rises at Fastest Rate Since 2005
- 2012/02/22: NatureNB: Interactive tool illustrates the human harms of mountain-top mining
- 2012/02/21: EnergyBulletin: Peak? What peak? King coal is coming back!
On the gas and oil front:
- 2012/02/24: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
OIL (US$/bbl)
Nymex Crude Future...109.77
Dated Brent Spot.....126.65
WTI Cushing Spot.....109.49 - 2012/02/21: BBC: Oil price highest for nine months
- 2012/02/20: BBC: Oil price hits eight-month high
- 2012/02/24: EUO: Turkey to start oil drilling in Northern Cyprus
- 2012/02/22: EconBrowser: Crude oil and gasoline prices
- 2012/02/24: OilDrum: January Oil Supply
- 2012/02/25: CalcRisk: Oil Prices and the Economy
- 2012/02/25: iPolitics: Rising oil prices fuel fears for Canada as global economy sputters
- 2012/02/22: BBC: Chevron Nigeria gas well fire 'may burn for months'
A gas-fuelled fire, with flames as high as 5m, may burn for months in waters off the Niger Delta in south-east Nigeria, Chevron has told the BBC. - 2012/02/21: BBC: New oil finds off Liberia and Sierra Leone
Oil has been found off the coasts of Liberia and Sierra Leone, energy companies have announced. African Petroleum and Anadarko say further tests are needed to see how commercially viable the finds are. Nevertheless, hopes have been raised that an oil bonanza could spur growth in the West African states - still recovering from civil war - 2012/02/20: OilDrum: Oil Shocks Around the World: Are They Really That Bad?
In the fossil fuel corps:
- 2012/02/19: BBC: ExxonMobil fined 'record' £2.8m over carbon dioxide emissions
Energy giant ExxonMobil was fined £2.8m for failing to report carbon dioxide emissions from its Mosmorran chemical plant in Fife, it has emerged. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said there had been no direct environmental impact. The fine, believed to be the biggest ever in the UK, dates to 2010 but the details have only just been published. - 2012/02/21: EurActiv: Greek crisis kills ITGI pipeline project
Azerbaijan has eliminated one of the main competitors bidding for the gas of the Shah Deniz II offshore field, apparently over concerns that one of project's partners, Greek gas company DEPA, would not be able to carry on with the project. The consortium developing Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II gas field has narrowed the number of groups competing to build infrastructure to carry gas to Europe by selecting the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project for the Italian pipeline option, to the detriment of the rival Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) project, Reuters announced. - 2012/02/22: CCurrents: The Peak Oil Crisis: Technology Update
- 2012/02/23: CCurrents: Oil Will Decline Shortly After 2015, Says Former Oil Expert Of International Energy Agency
- 2012/02/25: EnergyBulletin: Peak energy & resources, climate change, and the preservation of knowledge
- 2012/02/21: EnergyBulletin: The peak oil crisis: technology update
- 2012/02/21: al Jazeera: Oil: In perpetuity no more
Industrial civilisation's entire economy is based on a finite resource we treat as infinite. - 2012/02/19: EnergyBulletin: How you can tell that the peak oil debate is (almost) over
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2012/02/24: Eureka: Green fuel versus black gold -- Is bioethanol a more environmentally benign option to petroleum-derived fuels?
- 2012/02/23: Grist: Map shows avalanche of cellulosic ethanol projects on the way
- 2012/02/15: EnergyBalance: The Achilles' Heel of Algal Biofuels - Peak Phosphate
The answer my friend...:
- 2012/02/24: Grist: LEGO buys $500 million worth of wind turbines
- 2012/02/24: TreeHugger: New Wind Turbine Design to Generate Power from Low Winds
- 2012/02/24: KSJT: Christian Science Monitor: Wind power is green. But sometimes the turbine owners are mean, too.
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2012/02/24: Grist: One Million Lights trades kerosene for solar in developing countries
- 2012/02/24: BBerg: China Encourages Solar-Product Makers to Expand Amid Supply Glut
- 2012/02/23: PlanetArk: Canadian Solar To Build Factory In Japan: Report
Feed-In-Tariffs are being variously implemented around the world:
- 2012/02/24: EurActiv: Germany announces up to 30% cuts in [FITs] solar subsidies
The German government has agreed to accelerate the next round of cuts in state-mandated photovoltaic incentives by three months to April 1 after a record-breaking expansion of solar power in 2011. - 2012/02/23: BBerg: Germany Plans Record Cuts in [FITs] Solar Subsidies to Limit Boom
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2012/02/23: al Jazeera: Danger Zone: Ageing Nuclear Reactors
Following Japan's nuclear disaster last year there are fears the US may be heading for a nuclear catastrophe of its own. - 2012/02/24: APR: Atomic Power Review
- 2012/02/21: Guardian(UK): From Rocky Flats to Fukushima: this nuclear folly
There's no such thing as safe and accidents are always covered up. So why let Obama build a whole new generation of reactors? - 2012/02/21: NBF: India's 500 megawatt breeder reactor to be commissioned in [2013] and Russian and Chinese Fast Reactor Plans and Projects
Nuclear fusion projects around the world limp along:
- 2012/02/23: ScienceInsider: Bigger Contribution to ITER Erodes Domestic Fusion Program
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2012/02/24: AutoBG: Snopes: Chevy Volt chain email is verifiably false
- 2012/02/24: Guardian(UK): Volvo's eco-cred on the slide over MPG claim
- 2012/02/23: TreeHugger: How Easy (Or Hard) Is It To 'Brick' a Tesla Roadster?
- 2012/02/21: AutoBG: Bob Lutz: electrification of the automobile is "gradual" but inevitable
- 2012/02/21: TreeHugger: Electric Delivery Vans Receive Major Boost from UK Government
As for Energy Storage:
- 2012/02/23: NCSU: Mechanism Behind Capacitor's High-Speed Energy Storage Discovered
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2012/02/20: TP:JR: How Can Business Leaders Accept the Challenges of the New Energy Era?
Who's fielding theFAQs?
- 2012/02/20: Guardian(UK): Why does climate change get described as a 'stock-flow' problem?
Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:
- 2012/02/24: TP:JR: February 24 News...
- 2012/02/23: TP:JR: February 23 News...
- 2012/02/22: TP:JR: February 22 News...
- 2012/02/21: TP:JR: February 21 News...
Other (weekly) lists:
- 2012/02/24: EnergyBulletin: ODAC Newsletter
- 2012/02/21: BPA: Agriculture News
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2012/02/25: JKB: An answer to Jo Moreau
- 2012/02/24: ABC(Au):TDU: The shadowy world of IPA finances
- 2012/02/23: RBroberg: Goddard's Snowjob Revisited
- 2012/02/23: CChallenge: Examining Fritz Vahrenholt's answers in his Der Spiegel's interview
- 2012/02/21: P3: Singer's Proxy Claim Refuted
- 2012/02/22: PSinclair: The Anti Science Lobby and "a new Dark Era"
- 2012/02/22: TP:JR: Koch Brother Who Called Cape Wind a 'Sweetheart Deal' Slapped With $550,000 Fine For No-Compete Contracts
- 2012/02/21: CCurrents: Why Do Political And Economic Leaders Deny Peak Oil And Climate Change?
- 2012/02/21: P3: Now that We Know
- 2012/02/21: Monbiot: Plutocracy, Pure and Simple -- Now it's a straight fight with the billionaires and corporations
- 2012/02/20: WtD: Mo' money: Ian Plimer appointed to Rinehart board
- 2012/02/20: CCP: Attacks paid for by big business are 'driving science into a dark era'
- 2012/02/19: ERabett:BDS: Steve Goddard and Anthony Watts have trouble reading beyond headlines
Meanwhile in the 'clean coal' saga:
- 2012/02/21: NBF: Assessment of impact of 88 coal plants on health
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2012/02/25: PSinclair: Who Knew? There's a Crock of the Week Facebook Fan Page...
- 2012/02/22: ERabett:BDS: Keep your eye on the ball
- 2012/02/20: HuffPo: Forget Logic, It's Just Climate Schizophrenia
- 2012/02/20: DM:CV: Money vs. Science
- 2012/02/19: SciNow: Q&A: What Can Indigenous People Tell Us About Climate Change?
- 2012/02/19: Eureka: Southwest pueblo-dwellers key to modern climate policy?
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- BirdLife International - conserving the world's birds
- Climate Document Storehouse
- Stephanie McMillan
- Sierra Club Canada
- Global Partnership for Oceans
- Wunderground: Record Extremes
- NIVA: Norwegian Institute for Water Research
- ArcticNews
- La Via Campesina - International Peasant Movement
- EnergySkeptic: Peak Energy & Resources, Climate Change, and the Preservation of Knowledge -- Collapse or Extinction?
- IPRC: International Pacific Research Center
- UHawaii: Tracking the debris from the 11 March 2011 tsunami in Japan using the SCUD model of the surface ocean currents
- 2012 Ocean Sciences Meeting -- 20-24 February 2012 -- Salt Lake City · Utah · USA
- Energy Balance
- Arctic Climate Action Registry
- CI: Ocean Health Index
- Download The Universe -- The Science Ebook Review
- EuropeanCommission: Transport & Environment - Fuel Quality Monitoring
- NASA:GSFC: ICESat (Ice, Cloud,and land Elevation Satellite)
- NASA:JPL: 3D Land Mapping -- Combining Lidar and Radar for Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces
- Blue Planet Prize
- SEPA: Scottish Environment Protection Agency
Here's a wee chuckle for ye:
The Weaver & Swart paper got a lot of attention because it was interpreted as defending the tar sands:
Late comment on the AAAS meeting:
The Equinox Blueprint: Energy 2030 conference released a report thsi week:
There has been a lot of speculation about where the tsunami debris is headed:
That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:
The food crisis is ongoing:
The state of the world's fisheries is a concern:
As for GHGs:
Clouds are one of the major uncertainties in climate. Much research revolves around them:
While in the paleoclimate:
What's new in proxies?
This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:
As for heatwaves and wild fires:
Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:
Glaciers are melting:
First, stop subsidizing fossil fuels
Second, put a price on carbon
Let the markets work from there
Third ... <your suggestion here>
And elsewhere on the mitigation front:
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
As for miscellaneous science:
While at the UN:
We now have a graphic demonstration of why Copenhagen, Durban and a host of other UNFCCC conferences have failed:
And on that dismal rock in the South Atlantic:
What are the activists up to?
Among the world's religions:
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:
The Obama chatter is nonstop:
As for what is going on in Congress:
And in Europe:
Meanwhile in Australia:
The Gillard vs Rudd conflict came to a head this week with a Labor party leadership vote scheduled for Monday, the 27th:
After a 10 year drought and recent massive flooding, water usage planning is controversial and difficult:
And in China:
Just for the record: The Harper gang received a Privy Council Office memorandum on tarsand dangers which they have ignored:
The Harper gang is afraid of what scientists might say:
In BC, the stage is set. Now what will Clark and Dix do?
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands, See also:
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
And in the Transition movement:
And in pipeline news:
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
Low Key Plug
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(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.
<regards>
P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.
I notice moyhu has set up a monster index to old AWoGWN on AFTIC."Virtually all of us are now convinced that global warming poses a clear and present danger to civilization. That bold statement may seem like hyperbole, but there is now a very clear pattern in the scientific evidence documenting that the earth is warming, that warming is due largely to human activity, that warming is causing important changes in climate, and that rapid and potentially catastrophic changes in the near future are very possible. This pattern emerges not, as is so often suggested, simply from computer simulations, but from the weight and balance of the empirical evidence as well." -Lonnie Thompson
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