Another Week of GW News, January 27, 2008

Sipping from the internet firehose...

(skip to bottom)

• Top Stories:EU 20 by 2020, AGU Statement, Davos, Anthropocene, Holoconferences?
• Melting Arctic, WAIS, AMS Annual, Yale Report, Hawaii Conference, Bali
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, Tuvalu, The Inquisition
• Impacts, Tropical Rainforests, Corals, Desertification, Wacky Weather
• Wildfires, Floods & Droughts, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Supply & Farming
• Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering
• Journals, Misc. Science
• Kyoto, Kyoto-2, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics:International, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, China, Japan, Canada
• Ecological Economics, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts, Betting
• Energy, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Cars, Business
• Carbon Lobby, The Usual, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

The big story of the week has to be the EU's 20 by 2020 climate & energy plan:

• 2008/01/25: EUO: EU-backed carbon capture and storage technology not without critics
• 2008/01/27: TerraDaily: Analysis: Europe's climate action plan
• 2008/01/26: FuturePundit: New Renewable Energy Requirement For European Union [20% by 2020]
• 2008/01/26: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Not enough stick for EU's climate proposals
• 2008/01/24: TerraDaily: EU aims to adopt energy, climate laws by spring 2009: presidency
• 2008/01/25: ENN: Europe climate targets strong signal to others: U.N.
• 2008/01/25: ENN: Europe transport can meet new emission limits: [EU Transport Commissioner Jacques] Barrot
• 2008/01/24: Yahoo: EU Aims to Choke Carbon Emissions
• 2008/01/24: Yahoo: EU aims to adopt energy, climate laws by spring 2009: presidency
• 2008/01/25: AutoBG: Biofuels might cost the EU up to $95 billion by 2020
• 2008/01/25: AutoBG: European CO2 debate just getting started
• 2008/01/23: CarbonFin: European Commission lays out 2020 GHG targets
• 2008/01/23: BioEnergyBiz: Biofuels must be 35% cleaner than fossil fuels, says European Commission
• 2008/01/24: EnvFin: European Commission eyes CCS for GHG reduction efforts
• 2008/01/25: AFP: Davos discusses how to address climate change, poverty alleviation
• 2008/01/23: EnergyDaily: Europe's polluters warn of high price for EU green plan
• 2008/01/24: TerraDaily: IPCC chief [Rajendra Pachauri] disappointed by EU climate change plan
• 2008/01/23: TerraDaily: EU sets emissions targets to fight climate change
• 2008/01/23: TerraDaily: EU threatens trade partners over global warming
• 2008/01/23: Yahoo: EU sets emissions targets to fight climate change
• 2008/01/24: CSM: Europe gets serious on climate
  Its plan may be flawed, but at least Europe is taking action. What is the US willing to do?
• 2008/01/24: CSM: Can Europe cut carbon without cutting growth? Radical goals for 2020 boost renewable energy and cut emissions sharply.
• 2008/01/23: CBC: Cost of tough new measures to combat global warming manageable: EU
• 2008/01/24: SMH: EU decree of deep carbon cuts raises US ire
  The European Union yesterday unveiled the world's most ambitious plan to date to fight climate change, forcing member states to cut carbon emissions by a fifth by 2020 but putting Europe on a collision course with the United States, which has accused the EU of using the measures as cover for a new protectionism.
• 2008/01/24: Guardian(UK): Permission to pollute - Far from tackling climate change, the EU's timid plans are rewarding those on the wrong track
• 2008/01/24: Guardian(UK): Carrot and stick approach to enforcing difficult [EU] cuts
• 2008/01/24: Guardian(UK): EU aims for moral high ground with swingeing climate change package
  Blueprint's binding targets for 27 member countries - Brussels wants deal with US, China and India
• 2008/01/23: EUO: EU unveils comprehensive climate and energy package [20/20/20 by 2020]
  The European Commission on Wednesday (23 January) announced a comprehensive package of proposals on energy and tackling climate change, aiming to lead the world in legislative measures preventing global warming. By 2020, Europe must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, produce 20% of its energy from renewable sources and increase energy efficiency by 20%, according to the proposals - or "20/20/20 by 2020," as commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called the targets.
• 2008/01/24: ABC(Au): EU unveils new climate change plan
• 2008/01/23: NewScientist: Europe unveils ambitious energy plan
• 2008/01/22: PhysOrg: EU Plan Sets Out Cuts for CO2 Emissions
• 2008/01/23: GristMill: Under pressure - E.U. considers pollution charges on imports from U.S. and other climate scofflaws
• 2008/01/22: TerraDaily: EU to unveil climate plan amid industry, national hostility
• 2008/01/23: ENN: The EU's energy and climate plan
• 2008/01/23: Guardian(UK): EU emissions proposals: industry reaction
• 2008/01/23: Guardian(UK): EU sets 20% target for carbon cuts
• 2008/01/23: Reuters: Refineries, airlines phased into EU CO2 charges
• 2008/01/23: CBC: EU to unveil climate change strategy
• 2008/01/23: BBC: EU to map low-carbon energy path
• 2008/01/23: Guardian(UK): EU puts carbon trading at heart of climate change battle
• 2008/01/23: Guardian(UK): Green laws should not prevent free trade, UK warns Brussels
• 2008/01/22: EUO: New EU emissions trading system to increase electricity prices
• 2008/01/21: EnergyDaily: Coal-fired Poland in fighting mood over EU emissions rules
• 2008/01/22: TreeHugger: EU To Pump Up Hot Air Capture
• 2008/01/21: Yahoo: EU climate change plans to cost 60 billion euros: Barroso
• 2008/01/22: NEN: EU Labor backs carbon import tariff
• 2008/01/22: AutoBG: The EU will apply strict controls to carbon capture technology
• 2008/01/22: NYT: Europe, Cutting Biofuel Subsidies, Redirects Aid to Stress Greenest Options
• 2008/01/22: BBC: Barroso trade threat on climate
  The president of the European Commmission has threatened to impose carbon tariffs on imports unless the US agrees to a global climate change deal. Jose Manuel Barroso wants to protect energy-intensive sectors such as aluminium, steel and cement. He says there is no point these industries cutting emissions in Europe if they lose business to countries with more lax rules on carbon emissions.
• 2008/01/21: EUO: Brussels to unveil EU green strategy amid strong criticism
• 2008/01/22: Guardian(UK): MPs' warning on biofuels angers Brussels
• 2008/01/20: Yahoo: EU nations chafe as the climate change bill comes in
• 2008/01/21: BBC: Call to abandon biofuels targets - The EU should abandon its biofuels targets because they are damaging the environment, a committee of MPs says.
• 2008/01/21: Guardian(UK): [European] Car companies fight CO2 laws
• 2008/01/21: Guardian(UK): EU's green targets may force UK to increase renewables fivefold - Brussels to impose auction for emissions permits
• 2008/01/21: OilChange: Barroso Urges EU Businesses to Act On Climate

  The AGU came out with a stronger statement on climate change this week:

• 2008/01/24: MongaBay: Largest body of geologists [AGU] issues warning on global warming
• 2008/01/27: PeakEnergy: Climate 'clearly out of balance'
• 2008/01/26: NatureCF: American society [AGU] strengthens position on climate change
• 2008/01/25: Eureka: AGU revises position on climate change
• 2008/01/25: GristMill: [Dessler] Climate change is real! How about that? AGU releases position statement on climate change
• 2008/01/24: Yahoo: Scientific Group Releases New Statement on Climate Change
• 2008/01/24: BBC: Climate 'clearly out of balance'
  The world's climate is "clearly out of balance and is warming", the world's largest society of Earth and space scientists has said in a statement. The American Geophysical Union (AGU) warned that changes to the Earth's climate system were "not natural".
• 2008/01/25: OilChange: Climate "Clearly Out of Balance"
• 2008/01/25: CSM: Scientists urge speedy emission cuts - The American Geophysical Union's warning Thursday reflects an increasingly vocal scientific community
• 2008/01/24: DotEarth: Earth Scientists Express Rising Concern Over Warming

  Several statements on climate came out of the Davos conference:

• 2008/01/26: Yahoo: Japan, Denmark set new climate goals
  Davos, Switzerland - The United States, China and India must be part of the follow-up treaty to the Kyoto Protocol and agree to cut carbon emissions, Denmark's prime minister said Saturday. Japan's leader offered them a bold strategy for doing it. Climate change returned to the fore at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting, where Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda proposed a 2020 deadline for countries to boost their energy efficiency by 30 percent.
• 2008/01/27: ArabNews: Japan Unveils $10bn Climate Fund at WEF
• 2008/01/25: TStar: Change more than bulbs: Gore - Climate campaigner tells Davos forum that environmental laws, treaties badly needed
• 2008/01/24: RawStory: Climate change 'significantly worse' than feared: Al Gore [Davos]
• 2008/01/24: Guardian(UK): Davos 08: Reasons to be anxious...all sorts of doom: economic, environmental and political
• 2008/01/24: TerraDaily: Keep climate change on agenda, pleads IPCC [Davos]
• 2008/01/24: Yahoo: Climate change 'significantly worse' than feared: Al Gore [Davos]
• 2008/01/24: ENN: Gore says "changing light bulbs" not enough [Davos]
• 2008/01/24: OilChange: Financial Turmoil May Effect Climate Fight [Davos]
• 2008/01/24: Guardian(UK): UN officials' call to keep carbon on the agenda [Davos]
• 2008/01/23: C411: WEF Meeting: Report from Davos
• 2008/01/23: Guardian(UK): Warning over market's effect on climate fight
  The two UN officials leading the fight against climate change today warned that fears of an economic downturn could put efforts to cut carbon emissions at risk. Speaking on the first day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said he was concerned that world leaders might be "distracted" by the short-term search for jobs and economic growth.
• 2008/01/23: AFP: Economic turmoil overshadows World Economic Forum in Davos

  Welcome to the "Anthropocene Age":

• 2008/01/25: PhysOrg: Earth's soils bear unmistakable footprints of humans
• 2008/01/25: Eureka: Earth's soils bear unmistakable footprints of humans
  The dirt under our feet is being so changed by humans that it is now appropriate to call this the "Anthropocene (or man-made) Age," says a new worldwide overview by Duke University soil scientist Daniel Richter.

How long until holoconferences are the norm?

• 2008/01/22: Guardian(UK): Prince saves his energy in dramatic appearance at climate conference - Charles appears via hologram in Abu Dhabi

  The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:

• 2008/01/25: DailyTelegraph(Au): 2008 critical for shrinking Arctic cap
  The Arctic ice cap has shrunk by an area twice the size of France's land mass over the past two years, the Paris-based National Centre for Scientific Research said. "The year 2008 promises to be a critical year on every level," Jean-Claude Gascard, the body's research director and co-ordinator of the European scientific mission monitoring the effects of climate change across the Arctic, said. Measurements in September last year show ice covering 4.13 million sq km, down from 5.3 million sq km in 2005. "Melting could result in the loss of another million in one (2008) summer," Mr Gascard said. "Summer 2007 was marked by a major retreat in the ice cap, one we were not anticipating. The decline is also two or three times faster than (observed) beforehand." International models used to predict retreating ice have some "catching-up" to do, he said.
• 2008/01/23: TerraDaily: Arctic ice-cap loss twice the size of France: research

  And the Antarctic melt [WAIS] is still tootling along:

• 2008/01/24: MTobis: Antarctic Melting Accelerates
• 2008/01/23: NASA: Antarctic Ice Loss Speeds Up, Nearly Matches Greenland Loss
• 2008/01/24: PhysOrg: Antarctic ice loss speeds up, nearly matches Greenland loss
• 2008/01/23: UCI: Antarctic ice loss speeds up, nearly matches Greenland loss
• 2008/01/24: TerraDaily: Antarctic Ice Loss Speeds Up, Nearly Matches Greenland Loss
• 2008/01/24: ENN: Antarctic Ice Loss Dangerously Fast
• 2008/01/23: KSJT: Orange County Register: Local prof sees big difference in ice loss in Antarctica and in Greenland - and a hint of back story to this story
• 2008/01/23: PhysOrg: New Antarctic ice core to provide clearest climate record yet [WAIS-Divide]
• 2008/01/22: C411: Antarctic Ice: Growing or Shrinking?
• 2008/01/23: Eureka: New Antarctic ice core to provide clearest climate record yet [WAIS Divide Ice Core Project]
• 2008/01/22: TerraDaily: First Evidence Of Under-Ice Volcanic Eruption In Antarctica [2,000 ya]
• 2008/01/20: DeSmogBlog: Antarctic ice sheets melting at ever-faster rate due to global warming: new study
• 2008/01/21: CanWest: Norwegian PM alarmed after Antarctic visit - Thaw quickening. World's sea levels could rise rapidly

  The American Meteorological Association annual meeting went down this week:

• 2008/01/24: PhysOrg: Forecasters Debate Hurricanes, Warming
• 2008/01/24: Yahoo: Forecasters debate hurricanes, warming
• 2008/01/23: Wunderground: Hurricane Katrina--Looking Back to Look Ahead

  The Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy issued a report ranking nations climate efforts:

• 2008/01/24: SMH: Australia among worst climate offenders
  Australia is one of the world's worst performing nations when it comes to addressing climate change, according to an annual ranking of 149 countries by researchers at Yale and Columbia universities in the United States.
• 2008/01/23: KSJT: Newsweek, NYTimes, Sydney Morning Herald: World's countries enviro rankings out (US sagging, China and India worse)
• 2008/01/23: TruthOut: US Given Poor Marks on the Environment
• 2008/01/23: NYT: U.S. Given Poor Marks on the Environment
  A new international ranking of environmental performance puts the United States at the bottom of the Group of 8 industrialized nations and 39th among the 149 countries on the list. European nations dominate the top places in the ranking, which evaluates sanitation, greenhouse gas emissions, agricultural policies, air pollution and 20 other measures to formulate an overall score, with 100 the best possible.
• 2008/01/23: DeSmogBlog: Looking for a Sustainable Role Model for the US? Think Latvia
• 2008/01/23: STimes: 39th: U.S. green ranking not to be envied

  The Bush administration's Major Economies Conference goes down next week:

• 2008/01/25: TerraDaily: US pushes its climate change agenda despite criticism
• 2008/01/25: Yahoo: US pushes its climate change agenda despite criticism
  The United States pushed forward with its own agenda on climate change Friday despite criticism that Washington is attempting to undermine the global effort led by the United Nations. But as senior officials outlined the broad agenda of a meeting the United States is hosting next week in Hawaii -- which includes an emphasis on controversial uses of nuclear power and technology to trap emissions from coal plants -- they insisted they are simply supplementing the UN process.

Late comment on Bali:

• 2008/01/21: DotEarth: The Climate Challenge. Same as it Ever Was?

  No hurricanes; much chatter:

• 2008/01/25: Wunderground: The new NHC director is Bill Read
• 2008/01/25: Wunderground: Robot aircraft get major funding for hurricane work
• 2008/01/24: KSJT: AP, NPR: More on meteorological wrangling over tropical cyclones and global warming
• 2008/01/24: Intersection:CCM: The New and Improved Hurricane Felix
• 2008/01/23: NatureTGB: Hurricanes gone wild

  A paper on landfalling US hurricanes is kicking up a storm:

• 2008/01/23: GRL: Global warming and United States landfalling hurricanes by Chunzai Wang & Sang-Ki Lee
• 2008/01/25: NewScientist: Hurricane study whips up a storm
• 2008/01/23: KSJT: AP, Miami Herald, So. Fla. Sun Sentinel, etc: Fewer hurricanes for US in a warming world?
• 2008/01/23: ENN: Climate change may reduce hurricanes hitting U.S.
• 2008/01/23: STimes: Global warming reducing hurricanes in U.S., report says
  Intensifying one of the hottest debates in science, a new report concludes that global warming is diminishing the number of hurricanes that strike Florida and the rest of the United States. The study found that the planet's oceans have been warming for more than a century. No surprise there, but this may be: Those warmer oceans are producing stronger crosswinds that tend to suppress the development and growth of hurricanes, the scientists said. "We found a gentle decrease in the trend of U.S. landfalling hurricanes as global oceans warmed up," said Chunzai Wang, an oceanographer and climate scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

As for the GHG record:

• 2008/01/26: Stoat: Cars and planes, young and old [GHGs]
• 2008/01/24: Atmoz: CO2 is Still Rising - Even at Locations other than Mauna Loa
• 2008/01/22: Yahoo: Global warming: French carbon emissions sharply lower in 2006 [2.5%]
• 2008/01/21: PlanetArk: Greenhouse Gases at New Peak in Sign of Asia Growth

  And the temperature record:

• 2008/01/26: ERabett: On the straight and not so narrow
• 2008/01/26: SciDaily: 2007 Was Tenth Warmest For U.S., Fifth Warmest Worldwide [says NOAA:NCDC]
• 2008/01/24: Tamino: Global Temperature from GISS, NCDC, HadCRU
• 2008/01/23: ERabett: Food for Tamino - year to year changes in temperature anomalies
• 2008/01/21: Atmoz: Maximum Temperature Trends: Tucson and GISTEMP

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2008/01/24: RealClimate: The debate is just beginning -- on the Cretaceous!

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2008/01/22: BBC: Tuvalu struggles to hold back tide
  The fragile strips of green that make up the small islands of Tuvalu are incredibly beautiful but also incredibly vulnerable

Late coverage of the Inquisition at JPL:

• 2008/01/16: LA Times: Inquisition at JPL - The government shouldn't be prying into the personal lives of its scientists.
• 2008/01/21: PeakEnergy: Inconvenient Science

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2008/01/26: MTobis: Ocean's Biological Deserts Expanding
• 2008/01/25: Reuters: Climate change to hit health above economy - study
• 2008/01/25: EnergyBulletin: Climate change to bring civil unrest
• 2008/01/25: PhysOrg: Climate change poses a huge threat to human health
• 2008/01/25: ENN: Climate change poses a huge threat to human health
• 2008/01/24: Times(UK): Climate change "will lead to warfare over food and water" [says Oxford Research Group]
• 2008/01/23: ABC(Au): Global warming tipped to hurt rural health
• 2008/01/22: PhysOrg: Utah Scientist: Dust Shortening Winters
  Western winters are getting shorter because of dust kicked up by urban and agricultural development, a University of Utah researcher said. Thomas Painter, head of the school's Snow Optics Laboratory, said in a lecture at the downtown library Monday that disturbed particles from the Colorado Plateau mix with snow, limiting the heat it can reflect. As a result, today's snowpacks melt about a month earlier than they once did.
• 2008/01/23: DailyIndia: Global warming might affect lizard gender
• 2008/01/22: PhysOrg: Forests could benefit when fall color comes late
• 2008/01/22: Yahoo: Red Cross refocuses aid budget on threat of climate change
• 2008/01/22: Yahoo: Climate change threatens N. Ireland's Giant's Causeway
• 2008/01/22: CanWest: Arctic oil poses dangers to nature - Spills can kill large number of animals, contamination can remain for decades [says Arctic Council report]
• 2008/01/22: Guardian(UK): Global warming plants the seeds of change for gardeners
• 2008/01/21: ENN: Red Cross says changing climate worsens disasters
• 2008/01/25: ENN: Lofty Himalayas magnify global warming impact

  And then there are the tropical rainforests:

• 2008/01/26: Maribo: Greenhouse gases, meat consumption and the Amazon
• 2008/01/21: ClimateP: Decelerating growth in tropical forest trees - thanks to accelerating carbon dioxide

  Brazil has had trouble getting its story straight:

• 2008/01/25: TruthOut: Amazon's Rescue Reversed - Space imaging gives the lie to Brazil's recent "great achievement" of halting rainforest destruction.
• 2008/01/26: TreeHugger: Amazon Deforestation Speeds Up Once More
• 2008/01/26: SMH: Amazon destruction steps up
• 2008/01/25: NatureTGB: Army sent in to save rainforest - Brazil is preparing to call on the army in a bid to stop Amazon deforestation
• 2008/01/25: KSJT: AP, Reuters, Brit Press : Brazil sending in more troops to protect Amazon rain forest
• 2008/01/25: PhysOrg: Brazil to Crack Down on Deforestation
• 2008/01/24: BBC: Brazil has agreed emergency measures to stem deforestation as government figures revealed a sharp increase in the rate of clearances in the Amazon
• 2008/01/25: Guardian(UK): Amazon's rescue reversed - Space imaging gives the lie to Brazil's recent 'great achievement' of halting rainforest destruction
• 2008/01/24: ABC(Au): Brazil announces record rate of Amazon deforestation
• 2008/01/24: CDreams: Brazil Amazon Deforestation Soars
• 2008/01/24: BBC: Brazil Amazon deforestation soars
  The Brazilian government has announced a huge rise in the rate of Amazon deforestation, months after celebrating its success in achieving a reduction. In the last five months of 2007, 3,235 sq km (1,250 sq miles) were lost. Gilberto Camara, of INPE, an institute that provides satellite imaging of the area, said the rate of loss was unprecedented for the time of year. Officials say rising commodity prices are encouraging farmers to clear more land to plant crops such as soya.
• 2008/01/24: CBC: Amazon deforestation rises sharply in 2007, as jungle cleared for farming

  Corals are dying:

• 2008/01/24: PhysOrg: Researchers Looking at Coral Threats
• 2008/01/24: Guardian(UK): Hurricanes and global warming devastate Caribbean coral reefs
• 2008/01/24: Maribo: Status of the Coral Reefs of the Caribbean
• 2008/01/24: CSM: Can the crown jewel of world's coral reefs be saved?
  Scientists and politicians are moving to protect the enormous biodiversity in the Coral Triangle -- a critical marine nursery for tuna and other species.
• 2008/01/24: Guardian(UK): Hurricanes and global warming devastate Caribbean coral reefs

  Desertification looms as a threat:

• 2008/01/24: ENN: China sees little optimism in anti-desert fight
• 2008/01/24: ChinaDaily: China's deserts shrinks, erosion risk lingers

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2008/01/18: YLE: Global Warming Spawns 2nd Consecutive Mild Winter [in Finland]

  As for wild fires:

• 2008/01/22: PhysOrg: Bushfire impact on water yields

  Speaking of floods & droughts:

• 2008/01/24: TruthOut: Drought Could Force Nuke-Plant Shutdowns
• 2008/01/25: MTobis: Drought and Nukes
• 2008/01/24: PhysOrg: Drought Could Force Nuke-Plant Shutdowns
• 2008/01/24: ChinaDaily: Severe floods leave 1,203 dead last year in China
• 2008/01/23: DeSmogBlog: In US South, Drought Spooks the Nukes!
• 2008/01/23: WSWS: Britain: Thousands still displaced from homes flooded last summer
• 2008/01/23: Yahoo: Southern Drought Could Dry Up Coolant Water and Force Nuclear Plants to Shut Down [across the Southeast]
• 2008/01/23: SMH: Coast on alert as floods head downstream

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2008/01/23: CNN: Biofuels may threaten environment, U.N. warns
  Biofuel boom could cause food shortages in developing world - Increased competition for agricultural land a concern, U.N. says - Corn prices have gone up in U.S. and Mexico
• 2008/01/25: NEN: Fuel or food? What kind of question is that?
• 2008/01/25: EnvEcon: A quick example of the perils of ignoring substitution effects [biofuel vs food]
• 2008/01/24: TStar: Biofuels could generate extensive food shortages
• 2008/01/21: FTimes: The rising cost of food - Long period of rising food prices forecast

  And the troubling matter of falling food production is not going away:

• 2008/01/26: CasaubonsBook: How Big is a Farm? Who is a Farmer?
• 2008/01/21: FuturePundit: Stuart Staniford: Peak Oil And The Fallacy Of Reversibility
• 2008/01/26: FarmTalk: Plan ahead to avoid fertilizer shortages - K-State specialist says demand, high prices making it difficult to get fertilizer needs filled
• 2008/01/25: NatureN: Gates funds agricultural development - Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent to revitalize African soils
• 2008/01/24: HuffPo: Eating As If the Climate Mattered
• 2008/01/24: BBerg: Malaysia to Stockpile Staple Foods to Avoid Shortage
• 2008/01/24: Straight: Faraway food production - High energy and land costs raise the stakes for B.C. farmers.
• 2008/01/23: EnergyBulletin: Biofuels, transition and divergent visions of the future of farming
• 2008/01/23: KSJT: Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Top soil is washing away, some farmers doing their best, some readers say phooie
• 2008/01/23: OilDrum: Is Relocalization Doomed?: A Response to Staniford's "Fallacy of Reversibility"
• 2008/01/21: WSWS: Pakistan roiled by flour and electricity shortages, food price rises
• 2008/01/22: Guardian(UK): Biotech companies desert international agriculture project [after it failed to back GM as a tool to reduce poverty and hunger]
• 2007/12/: FAO: Crop Prospects and Food Situation
• 2008/01/17: JapanFocus: China, Japan and World Food Insecurity
• 2008/01/22: SeattlePI: The lowdown on topsoil: It's disappearing - Disappearing dirt rivals global warming as an environmental threat
• 2008/01/20: Reuters: Across Asia, food is the new oil as prices surge
• 2008/01/21: OilDrum: The Fallacy of Reversibility - Why Peak Oil Actually Helps Industrial Agriculture
• 2008/01/21: PeakEnergy: The End Of Cheap Food

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2008/01/26: SciDaily: Could Tiny Diatoms Help Offset Global Warming?
• 2008/01/25: GristMill: Leaf blowers: Not a big climate problem - The best climate strategies don't start in your backyard
• 2008/01/25: GristMill: Words of wisdom from the CAFE champ - How we can make progress with climate change mitigation
• 2008/01/23: TreeHugger: Ontario Bans Bans on Clotheslines
• 2008/01/23: G&M: Care about the environment? Eat less meat
• 2008/01/21: WaPo: A Big Drop In Emissions Is Possible With Today's Technology
• 2008/01/21: TreeHugger: Land-Based Carbon Mitigation Projects in Mexico
• 2008/01/20: Yahoo: German farmers cultivate ways to fight global warming

  As for transportation & GHG production:

• 2008/01/27: Guardian(UK): Can airlines find a cleaner way to fly? Aviation and carbon emissions: The science
• 2008/01/23: DotEarth: Look. It's a Freighter. It's a Sailboat. It's -- Both
• 2008/01/24: TStar: Hydrogen ship heralds fossil-free future
  At first glance, the red ship hardly looks like a herald of the future. Even its owner admits the hull needs a coat of paint and the interior some spit and polish. But in a few weeks, the Elding -- Icelandic for "Lightning" -- will be transformed into the world's first hydrogen-equipped commercial vessel, the latest sign that Iceland is pushing hard to become the first nation to break free from the constraints of fossil fuel.
• 2008/01/22: ABC(Au): Ships turn to sails, lower speeds to cut fuel use
• 2008/01/22: AutoBG: World's first kite-towed cargo vessel makes first commercial transport
• 2008/01/22: BBC: Kite to pull ship across Atlantic

  While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:

• 2008/01/21: SeattlePI: Global Warming: Smarter planning

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2008/01/21: Stoat: SequestrationWatch

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2008/01/24: ABC(Au): Queensland Govt starts testing clouds for rain project
• 2008/01/20: CTB: Bringing Seapower to the Fight Against Global Warming
• 2008/01/21: CTB: Big Technology: Geo-Engineering

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2008/01/25: CPD: Modeling variations of marine reservoir ages during the last 45 000 years by J. Franke et al.
• 2008/01/25: TC: Glacier annual balance measurement, forecasting and climate correlations, North Cascades, Washington 1984-2006 by M. S. Pelto
• 2008/01/24: ACPD: Ten years of CO2, CH4, CO and N2O fluxes over Western Europe inferred from atmospheric measurements at Mace Head, Ireland by C. Messager et al.
• 2008/01/23: ACPD: The effect of the solar rotational irradiance variation on the middle and upper atmosphere calculated by a three-dimensional chemistry-climate model by A. N. Gruzdev et al.
• 2008/01/23: ACPD: Proposal of a new erythemal UV radiation amplification factor by A. Serrano et al.
• 2008/01/21: CPD: Borehole climatology: a discussion based on contributions from climate modeling by J. F. Gonzalez-Rouco et al.
• 2008/01/23: GRL: Global warming and United States landfalling hurricanes by Chunzai Wang & Sang-Ki Lee
• 2008/01/22: ACPD: Variability of subtropical upper tropospheric humidity by J.-M. Ryoo et al.
• 2008/01/19: GRL: (ab$) Solar radiation budget and radiative forcing due to aerosols and clouds by Dohyeong Kim & V. Ramanathan

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

• 2008/01/24: PhysOrg: New radar satellite technique sheds light on ocean current dynamics
• 2008/01/24: EcoStudies: When accounting for the global nitrogen budget, don't forget fish
• 2008/01/24: ESA: New radar satellite technique sheds light on ocean current dynamics
• 2008/01/24: ENN: Why Diatoms could help stop global warming
• 2008/01/23: TerraDaily: Human-Generated Aerosols Affect Our Weather
• 2008/01/22: Atmoz: On Aerosol Radiative Forcing: Kim and Ramanathan
• 2008/01/22: PhysOrg: Ocean Bridge Links Climate In Mid-Latitudes And Tropics
  It's no surprise when a tropical El Niño brings wet storms to the U.S. Southwest; now researchers are finding that the relationship may be two-way, with atmospheric variability outside of the tropics impacting the formation of El Niños and La Niñas through upper-ocean pathways called "ocean bridges."
• 2008/01/22: PhysOrg: Human-generated aerosols affect our weather
  The rise of human-generated pollution in the global atmosphere is forcing a change in ocean circulation in the Southern Hemisphere, in turn affecting our region's weather systems.
• 2008/01/21: TaraExpeditions: Tara is released from the ice
• 2008/01/22: BBC: Boat [Tara] sails free from icy shackles
  A boat that was deliberately trapped in the Arctic ice in an effort to monitor the region's changing climate has broken free after more than 500 days
• 2008/01/21: TreeHugger: UK Deploying Armada of Robot Submarines and Sensors to Monitor Gulf Stream [Rapid Watch]

  Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:

• 2008/01/26: Yahoo: Iraq ratifies Kyoto Protocol on climate change

  And on the Kyoto-2 front:

• 2008/01/26: PhysOrg: Japan wants change to 1990 emission baseline, says PM
  Japan will push for a year after 1990 to be used as the reference point for greenhouse emission cuts in a post-Kyoto deal as chair of the G8 summit in July, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Saturday. The Kyoto Protocol requires major developed nations to slash emissions causing global warming by an average of five percent from 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. [...] Moving the goalposts might help bring India and China -- whose emissions shot up between 1990 and 2000 -- on board in a new deal, although such a change is likely to come up against stiff opposition from the European Union.

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

• 2008/01/23: HillHeat: Hearing Looks at Implications of Auction in Cap-and-Trade
• 2008/01/16: CAP: Cap and Trade 101 -- What Is Cap and Trade, and How Can We Implement It Successfully?
• 2008/01/21: G&M: Everyone's profiting from carbon offsets. Too bad the environment isn't

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2008/01/22: PhysOrg: Rich nations' environmental footprints tread heavily on poor countries
• 2008/01/22: TerraDaily: Fueling And Feeding Bigfoot [aka the developed world]
• 2008/01/21: Telegraph(UK): Environment damage of rich countries on poor
• 2008/01/21: Guardian(UK): Rich countries owe poor a huge environmental debt

  The possibility of an EU vs USA trade war has a non-zero probability:

• 2008/01/22: NatureTGB: Climate change trade war - Europe and the US could be headed for a trade war over climate change
• 2008/01/21: BBC: US warns EU against protectionism
  US trade representative Susan Schwab has said that climate change should not be used as an excuse for protectionism. She was speaking in Brussels after French President Nicolas Sarkozy said a European tax could be imposed on states that refused to cap carbon emissions.

This has become a common pattern: national governments refuse to act, so states, provinces and/or municipalities assume their responsibilities:

• 2008/01/23: GristMill: As nations trail behind...States and provinces lead on climate initiatives
• 2008/01/22: PhysOrg: More [US] states crafting greenhouse gas curbs

  And on the American political front:

• 2008/01/26: ClimateP: Hansen: The Shadow on American Democracy
• 2008/01/24: TruthOut: Nationwide "Teach-In" Planned to Address Climate Change [Focus the Nation]
• 2008/01/25: HillHeat: Are 1990 Levels by 2020 a Sufficient Cut?
• 2008/01/25: NEN: Wishing for tax, getting ready for cap-and-trade in florida
• 2008/01/24: KSJT: Time Mag, Missoulian, etc: Montana's governor takes it greenward
• 2008/01/24: ClimateP: The Poor State of the Nation's Climate
• 2008/01/24: GristMill: Change we can believe in? What does the 2005 energy bill vote say about Obama?
• 2008/01/24: TreeHugger: Ten Ideas For The US Congress: Seize The Initiative
• 2008/01/24: CSM: Nationwide 'teach-in' planned to address climate change [Focus the Nation: Global Warming Solutions for America on Jan 31]
• 2008/01/24: SeattlePI: Nickels urges government to cut greenhouse gas emissions - 'Stop ignoring or denying' global warming, mayor says
• 2008/01/24: ABC(US): [PCAP: Presidential Climate Action Project] Group Releases Climate State of the Union - Declaration Says U.S. Failing to Deal With Global Warming
• 2008/01/23: TruthOut: Renewable Energy Leaders Urge Congress, Bush to Extend Tax Credits Quickly
• 2008/01/23: GristMill: Leap year - Climate legislation may be easier next year, but it won't be easy
• 2008/01/23: NEN: Govt panel calls for new energy R&D
• 2008/01/21: WorldChanging: From Food Stamps to Farmers Markets: US Food Subsidies Evolve
• 2008/01/21: STimes: Building a response to climate change
• 2008/01/21: McClatchyDC: Businesses want a say in global-warming bill
• 2008/01/22: ADN: State plays large role in world's warming - Alaska inventory finds jet flights, energy use to blame.
• 2008/01/22: ThinkP: [Grover] Norquist: voters don't care about global warming

  The EPA vs California on the emissions waiver story is still lively:

• 2008/01/26: TruthOut: EPA Chief Is Under the Microscope - Critics say Johnson, a devout former agency scientist, appears to ignore data as he heeds White House dictates
• 2008/01/25: TruthOut: EPA Director Called Before Senate
• 2008/01/25: WarmingLaw: Overruling EPA by Amending the Clean Air Act
• 2008/01/24: WarmingLaw: EPA on the Hot Seat: Wrap-Up and Reflection
• 2008/01/25: RegisterGuard: [Wash. Gov. Chris] Gregoire joins 13 other governors in opposing EPA decision
• 2008/01/25: WaPo: [Mld. Gov. Martin] O'Malley (D) O'Malley Attacks EPA Greenhouse Gas Decision - Governors Testify Against Block in Emission Cuts
• 2008/01/25: SF Gate: EPA chief sits and takes his punishment
• 2008/01/25: LA Times: EPA chief grilled over California rejection
• 2008/01/24: ClimateP: Details on EPA Chief's overruling his staff on CA tailpipe emissions -- and Schwarzenegger's response
• 2008/01/24: PhysOrg: EPA Staff Backed California Pollution Waiver
• 2008/01/24: HillHeat: EPA Admin on the Hot Seat at EPW Hearing
• 2008/01/24: WarmingLaw: LiveBlog: Doniger v. Holmstead
• 2008/01/24: WarmingLaw: LiveBlog: State Officials' Testimony
• 2008/01/24: WarmingLaw: LiveBlog: Johnson's Opening Statement, questions
• 2008/01/24: WarmingLaw: Oversight of the EPA Waiver Decision: LiveBlog of Opening Comments
• 2008/01/24: WarmingLaw: EPA Responds to Boxer; Liveblogging ON
• 2008/01/24: LA Times: EPA staff finds emissions threat
  The White House is reviewing the 'endangerment' conclusion, which would require regulations. The agency, contradicting its chief, has also concluded that a California tailpipe law was justified.
• 2008/01/24: SF Gate: Behind EPA's rejection of state emission rules
• 2008/01/24: ThinkP: Boxer Chastises EPA Administrator [Stephen Johnson] For Redacting Documents With Duct Tape
• 2008/01/22: TruthOut: Federal Denial of the Right to Cleaner Air: A Look Under the Hood [EPA]
• 2008/01/22: Grist: Paper Travail - EPA provides only some documents related to California waiver
• 2008/01/23: GristMill: Peeling away the covers - Boxer releases notes on secret EPA material
• 2008/01/23: CEPW: Boxer Statement on California Waiver Decision
• 2008/01/23: WarmingLaw: Boxer Defies EPA, Confirms Agency Staff Favored Waiver
• 2008/01/23: GristMill: Testing the limits of coverup and privilege - More shenanigans from the EPA on the Cali waiver
• 2008/01/23: ThinkP: Bush Appointee [Stephen Johnson] Overruled EPA Staff In Order To Deny California Waiver On Emissions
• 2008/01/21: WarmingLaw: Executive Privilege Redux?
• 2008/01/21: WarmingLaw: EPA Asserts Executive Privilege on Waiver Documents; May Issue New Legal Finding
• 2008/01/21: WarmingLaw: Waiver Denial Suit: What happens if....? A response to a reader's inquiry
• 2008/01/20: SlashDot: EPA Asserts Executive Privilege In CA Emissions Case
• 2008/01/21: TPMM: EPA Asserts Executive Privilege against Embarrassment
• 2008/01/19: SF Gate: EPA won't give details on denying emissions waiver

  The 2008 campaign is still not making much climate news:

• 2008/01/25: ClimateP: McCain's Double-Talk Express on Global Warming
• 2008/01/25: ClimateP: Campaigning is Dirty Work [2008]
• 2008/01/24: Yahoo: Republicans differ on global warming
• 2008/01/23: GristMill: Lucy and the football - Credulous 'former advisors' notwithstanding, no, Bush is not going to help on climate legislation
• 2008/01/22: ClimateP: The Trust Factor
• 2008/01/23: GristMill: Like a red-headed step planet - How will climate play in the general election? [2008]

  Big Coal is funding politicians left, right & centre:

• 2008/01/24: DeSmogBlog: Americans For Balanced Energy Choices Pennsylvania "Clean Coal" Campaign Revealed
• 2008/01/22: GristMill: There's coal money and then there's war money [2008]
• 2008/01/23: ClimateP: No Questions On Global Warming Asked At CNN's Coal Industry-Sponsored Presidential Debates
• 2008/01/23: TreeHugger: Global Warming Talk Scarce at Big Coal-Sponsored Debates
• 2008/01/22: ThinkP: No Questions On Global Warming Asked At CNN?s Coal Industry-Sponsored Presidential Debates
• 2008/01/22: TreeHugger: Big Coal Turning Kids Into Pushers This Primary Season
• 2008/01/21: DeSmogBlog: Americans For Balanced Energy Choices "Clean Coal" PR Spin Campaign Revealed

  Yet more Bush administration science censorship?

• 2008/01/23: NatureTGB: Was Arctic report censored?
• 2008/01/23: DerSpiegel: Oil at the North Pole - Politicians Censor Report on Dangers of Arctic Drilling
• 2008/01/22: OilChange: US Censors Arctic Report
• 2008/01/22: CDreams: Independent(UK): US Censors Arctic Scientists' Findings as it Prepares for Oil and Gas Auction

  Do you think the petroleum politicians lift a finger for renewables?

• 2008/01/23: CSM: Wind, solar tax credits to expire - Green Energy Advocates urge sustained support through inclusion in stimulus package
• 2008/01/22: GristMill: If you build it, they will come - Growing solar industry depends on key tax credit that will expire this year
• 2008/01/22: CSM: Wind, solar tax credits to expire - Green Energy Advocates urge sustained support through inclusion in stimulus package

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2008/01/24: TruthOut: Gore Says "Changing Light Bulbs" Not Enough
• 2008/01/25: OilChange: Gore: Climate Change Worse Than Feared
• 2008/01/24: GristMill: Gore's moral obligation - Why Al Gore isn't running for president
• 2008/01/23: Yahoo: New award for climate-change campaigner Gore

  While in the UK:

• 2008/01/27: Guardian(UK): Now it's green Adair with Turner to lead UK eco-police
  Adair Turner, the former CBI boss and vice-chairman of Merrill Lynch Europe, is to become chairman of a new high-powered committee to ensure central and local government policies reduce carbon emissions. [...] The Committee on Climate Change will assume powers akin to the monetary policy committee to ensure the UK cuts its emissions by 60 per cent by 2050.
• 2008/01/26: Guardian(UK): Britain must act quickly or fail to meet its obligations, say experts
• 2008/01/23: AutoBG: London's Low Emission Zone rulemakers have to make concessions
• 2008/01/23: BBC: UK 'to ignore' EU pollution plea
  The government will ignore a plea from the EU to create a clean technology fund from a levy on pollution, BBC News has learned. Instead the UK wants to divert the proceeds of the levy - which could stretch to £1bn a year - into general Treasury funds.
• 2008/01/21: inel: Scientists call for emissions cuts of 80% (minimum) by 2050; tell your MP

  The Heathrow argument continues apace:

• 2008/01/26: Atmoz: Heathrow Expansion: Supply and Demand
• 2008/01/27: Guardian(UK): Britain's new eco battle
  A historic decision over a new runway for Heathrow is close. And as airports across the UK unveil new expansion plans the growth of aviation will become a fierce battleground between environmentalists and big business. It is a struggle which will shape Britain's eco future for generations to come
• 2008/01/27: Guardian(UK): The arguments for and against Heathrow's runway 3
• 2008/01/25: Atmoz: A View of the Proposed Heathrow Expansion from the Other Side
• 2008/01/26: Times(UK): Blaming carbon on planes "is flight of fancy"
  [...] Estimates from the Department for Transport for 2005 show that cars emitted 69.9 million tonnes of CO2 while domestic and international aviation emitted 37.5 million tonnes.
• 2008/01/25: inel: This consultation IS FIXED ask me how (~ GREENPEACE at QEII Conference Centre today)
• 2008/01/23: inel: Infinite growth potential! Heathrow expansion is symbolic of a wider global struggle (no wonder climate change is such a challenge!)
• 2008/01/22: inel: Richmond capacity turnout opposes Heathrow expansion

  And UK energy policy is still getting kicked around:

• 2008/01/27: Times(UK): Wind farms turn huge profit with help of subsidies
• 2008/01/27: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Time to look beyond the nuclear option
• 2008/01/26: BBC: Britain is likely to face a shortfall in electricity generation within five to seven years, a report [by Inenco] concludes
• 2008/01/24: Times(UK): 20,000 wind turbines - plus a 15% rise in electricity bills
  The cost of household electricity bills is expected to rise by up to 15 per cent if Britain is to meet compulsory climate change targets announced yesterday. Under the European Commission's proposed measures for renewable energy supplies and lower carbon dioxide emissions, Britain will be required to increase its proportion of renewable energy from 1.3 per cent in 2005 to 15 per cent in 2020 - the equivalent of 20,000 wind turbines being erected in the countryside and offshore if Britain is to meet the target.
• 2008/01/22: BBC: Details of a feasibility study into the Severn Barrage, a tidal power plan that could provide about 5% of UK electricity, have been announced
• 2008/01/21: inel: The Commons Environmental Audit Committee opposes biofuels

  While in Europe:

• 2008/01/23: BBC: Could carbon capture replace cuts? [Norway profile]
• 2008/01/23: WorldChanging: Sweden, the E.U. and Renewables
• 2008/01/21: EnergyDaily: Record number of Swedes favour expanding nuclear power: poll

  In Australia, the Rudd government is quiet:

• 2008/01/26: SMH: Greenhouse cuts would land us in the Middle Ages, says Labor sceptic
  The Hawke government finance minister Peter Walsh has warned the Rudd Government that cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 would send Australian living standards back to the Middle Ages.
• 2008/01/23: ABC(Au): Vic Govt highlights climate change impact on rivers
• 2008/01/22: ABC(Au): Global south to bear brunt of northern pollution: CSIRO
• 2008/01/22: ABC(Au): Taxpayers 'could lose' $15b power profits
  A new report has found a national carbon trading scheme could wipe out the expected $15 billion windfall to New South Wales taxpayers from privatising the electricity sector. The Australia Institute report argues the scheme will significantly reduce the value of coal-fired power stations and new owners would demand indemnities against any future carbon liabilities. Its author, Dr Clive Hamilton, says those could amount to up to $15 billion - the same amount the Government expects to make from the privatisation.
• 2008/01/22: SMH: Flooding disaster may cost farmers $1b
  The central Queensland town of Emerald was officially declared a disaster zone yesterday as the Premier, Anna Bligh, met emergency officials to decide how to help flood-hit areas. The floods could cost the state's farmers $1 billion in crop and stock losses.

While in China:

• 2008/01/24: al Jazeera: Winter saps China energy supplies
• 2008/01/23: BBerg: China Shuts 5% of Coal-Fired Power Plants on Shortage [snowfalls hamper deliveries of the fuel]
• 2008/01/23: BBC: China says it is facing serious power shortages as severe winter weather continues to cause unusually high demand for electricity
• 2008/01/22: ENN: Heavy snow in China causes deaths and damage

  While in Japan:

• 2008/01/25: Yahoo: Japanese PM pledges initiatives on climate change, development

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

• 2008/01/26: Impolitical: No science please, we're Conservatives
• 2008/01/24: G&M: Watchdog has right to issue independent report, panel rules
  Upon being fired as federal environment commissioner last year, Johanne Gélinas defended her right to publish an annual report on the government's green performance. An independent federal panel has agreed with her. A report released yesterday by the so-called green ribbon panel says a separate, distinct commissioner's report should be tabled every year in the House of Commons. Auditor-General Sheila Fraser - who fired Ms. Gélinas - had suggested that environment reports be rolled into the larger sets of regularly tabled auditing documents.
• 2008/01/23: CBC: Feds to close science advisor office
  The federal government will be closing the Office of the National Science Advisor, less than four years after the position was created. Arthur Carty was originally appointed to the role of National Science Advisor by former prime minister Paul Martin on April 1, 2004.
• 2008/01/22: CanWest: Big talk, little action on cutting vehicle emissions
  In response to the oil crisis of 1973, the United States passed a law requiring automobile manufacturers to meet fuel-efficiency standards. That was 1975. Last week, Canada announced it is doing the same. Sort of. Actually, the government will first have a round of consultations. Then it will put something together. And phase it in. Starting in 2011. Transportation Minister Lawrence Cannon is quite excited by the high standards he expects by 2020.
• 2008/01/22: TStar: Selling out sovereignty in orbit and the North [RadarSat-2]
• 2008/01/20: NEN: Canada Needs Carbon Tax [NRTEE]
• 2008/01/21: TStar: Cash to be had in solutions
  With former environment minister Stephane Dion leading their party, the Liberals are casting their green policy as a crusade to enlist Canadians in a long-term effort to fight climate change. Saying the atmosphere can no longer be "a free garbage dump," Dion is holding out the hope that Canadians will rally behind this cause just as they supported the campaign to rein in the budget deficit when Jean Chretien was in power.
• 2008/01/21: CanWest: Climate change hot topic for lobby industry
  It is a dauntingly technical file that involves international treaties, dips into provincial jurisdiction, and touches nearly every sector of the economy. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that climate change is a popular topic these days on which to lobby. Search the federal lobbyist registry and you will find 211 active registrations under "climate change."
• 2008/01/21: TheRecord: PM just 'posturing' on climate - At candidate training session, Green leader targets 'climate denier'
  Prime Minister Stephen Harper is still a "climate denier," the leader of the Canadian Green Party says. "He merely is posturing as a prime minister who has accepted that climate change is real," Elizabeth May said Saturday night in a fundraising lecture in Waterloo to party members, supporters and others. "Only someone who is pretending could come up with policies that are abysmal and play the role of saboteur on the global stage," May said.

There is a premier's conference coming up next week in Vancouver:

• 2008/01/25: G&M: Protesters intend to turn up heat on Stelmach
  Premiers gather in Vancouver on Monday, and environmentalists will be cheering for Gordon Campbell - for a change
• 2008/01/24: G&M: Premiers back stricter emission rules, Campbell says
  Canadian provinces will blow past Ottawa's targets for lower vehicle emissions and instead embrace tougher rules driven by such U.S. states as California, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell said yesterday. Mr. Campbell will play host to a premiers summit next week in Vancouver focused on climate change and labour issues, and he said 12 of the 13 premiers - Ontario being the exception - are ready to side with California rather than Washington in the continental duel over how fast to reduce vehicle emissions.

BC is still groping toward viable energy & climate policies:

• 2008/01/25: CBC: B.C. to set up climate-change institute with $94.5-million endowment
• 2008/01/22: Rabble: Will a carbon tax actually reduce emissions?

  To general derision and disbelief, Alberta announced its climate plan this week:

• 2008/01/26: CanWest: Small oil firms could dodge new green laws
• 2008/01/25: Maribo: Alberta's climate change non-plan
• 2008/01/25: Tyee: Held Hostage by Tar Sands - Alberta's greed is a threat to Canada and the world
• 2008/01/24: DeSmogBlog: Alberta Climate Change Plan: Triple Oil Production; Do Nothing; Blame Consumers
• 2008/01/25: DeSmogBlog: Alberta's "Green Plan" - the Industry Analysis
• 2008/01/25: CanWest: Oilsands must go green: poll - Politicians warned: put environment ahead of economics
  A new poll in advance of a looming provincial election warns politicians that Albertans want a green approach to future oilsands development. The online poll released by Cambridge Strategies Inc. Thursday suggests that ecologically responsible and sustainable development is more important to the majority of Albertans than expanded growth or accelerated oilsands production.
• 2008/01/25: G&M: Alberta green plan puts PM 'on the spot' - Stelmach spurns Harper's emissions reduction targets
• 2008/01/24: CBC: Alberta green plans would see first real reduction in emissions in 2020
  Alberta has rolled out a plan that allows total greenhouse gas emissions to increase another 12 years before starting a gradual reduction. Environment Minister Rob Renner says the plan will result in "real reductions" of 14 per cent below 2005 levels by 2050.
• 2008/01/24: Reuters: Alberta targets emission cuts with carbon capture
• 2008/01/24: CBC: Alberta promises to reduce CO2, but not until 2020
  The Alberta government unveiled a plan Thursday to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but the emissions are not expected to decrease until 2020, and the plan allows them to increase in the meantime.
• 2008/01/23: CanWest: The Stelmach government is set to release its new environmental plan on Thursday in Edmonton...

  So how is the Quebec carbon tax playing out?

• 2008/01/24: CanWest: Carbon tax bill in the mail - Gaz Metro passes it on $15 per year for residential customers

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

• 2008/01/24: VoxEU: What a different world. Costs and policy for a low carbon society
  If the world wants to stabilise atmospheric greenhouse gases at 550 parts per million, massive changes are required, especially in the energy sector. This article discusses means and costs of drastically reducing carbon emissions.

The Australian Productivity Commission has reviewed the Stern Review:

• 2008/01/25: ABC(Au): [Productivity Commission] Report will aid climate change fight: [Federal Environment Minister Peter] Garrett
• 2008/01/25: ABC(Au): Stern Review 'exaggerated' costs of climate change [Australian Productivity Commission]
• 2008/01/25: SMH: Think tank [Productivity Commission] questions Stern review on costs
• 2008/01/24: JQuiggin: Reviewing the Stern Review

  Apocalypso anyone?

• 2008/01/23: EnergyBulletin: Peak everything economics, or, what do you call this mess?
• 2008/01/23: CGIAR: Thousands of Crop Varieties from Four Corners of the World Depart for Arctic Seed Vault
• 2008/01/21: CCurrents: Systemic Collapse
  [...] The reason why we live in the Age of Peak Everything is that everything is connected: oil, electricity, metals, food, water, money. Everything depends on everything. And there is no redundancy.
• 2008/01/17: GIM: Sowing the seeds of a future society

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2008/01/25: GristMill: How fake trend pieces are born
• 2008/01/24: GristMill: Carry a tune - A plea for some pepper in the climate change message
• 2008/01/22: WarmingLaw: The Horse Race or the Human Race?

  Here is something for your library:

• 2008/01/22: NatureCF: Censorship and an outspoken scientist
• 2008/01/21: PRNet: [Book Plug] _The Changing Climate of South Texas 1900-2100: Problems and Prospects, Impacts and Implications_ editors Dr. James Norwine & Dr. Kuruvilla John

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2008/01/22: CSW: "Everything's Cool" global warming documentary TV premiere January 22-28 on the Sundance Channel

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2008/01/22: WarmingLaw: Riegel Redux? The Supreme Court Takes on Preemption

  The betting meme rolls on:

• 2008/01/24: Stoat: Sea ice betting summary

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

• 2008/01/27: SCO: Energy crisis challenges everyone
  Fact - While electricity and natural gas prices are actually lower this winter compared to last year, they are still double what they were a few years ago.
  Fact - Crude oil prices and the heating oil and gasoline they provide have hit new record highs this winter ? as much as 50 percent higher in a single year.
  Fact - There are no factors suggesting energy prices are going to drop anytime soon. Crude oil at more than $100 a barrel has finally arrived.
  Combine these facts with the concerns about pollution and global warming and about geopolitical unrest and energy security - we are in a crisis, one that is fundamentally challenging our way of life.
• 2008/01/27: CourierMail: Fuel crisis looms by 2015
• 2008/01/27: OilDrum: CSIRO Future Fuels Forum
• 2008/01/27: PeakEnergy: Hot Geothermal With Cool Rocks
• 2008/01/25: OilDrum: Shell Energy Futures
• 2008/01/25: PeakEnergy: Shell's Scenarios: Blueprints or the Scramble
• 2008/01/25: BBC: Massive [Scottish] wind farm 'turned down'
• 2008/01/24: DeSmogBlog: Gas Prices Up, Globe Still Warming and ExxonMobil Earnings Soar
• 2008/01/23: ABC(Au): Iceland moves to hydrogen power for ships, cars
• 2008/01/22: GristMill: Deep thought of the day [energy subsidies]
• 2008/01/22: PhysOrg: Rain Power: Harvesting Energy from the Sky
• 2008/01/22: EnergyDaily: Trees And Grass May Be Able To Produce Ethanol Without Poisoning The Oceans
• 2008/01/22: RigZone: World Oil Demand to Reach 118 Mmbpd by 2030: UAE Minister [Mohammed bin Dhaen Al Hamli] [note he said demand, not production]
• 2008/01/21: BBerg: Pemex 2007 Oil Output Falls 5.3% on Storms, Cantarell
• 2008/01/22: NEN: 45% Jump in wind capacity - in 1 year!
• 2008/01/22: CDreams: Reuters: World Wind Energy Market Seen Growing in 2008
• 2008/01/21: Missoulian: [Northwest] Wind energy hits highest output ever
• 2008/01/22: TacomaNewsTrib: Scientists see potential geothermal energy source under Cascades
• 2008/01/22: ADN: Wind power gains strength as rural energy alternative
• 2008/01/22: BBC: 'Huge' gas field found off Brazil
  A huge natural gas field has been found a short distance off Rio de Janeiro's coastline, Petrobras, Brazil's state-controlled oil company, says. The company believes the new field, Jupiter, could match the recently discovered Tupi oil field in size.
• 2008/01/21: ABC(Au): Japan taps into ocean winds for power
• 2008/01/21: SciDaily: New Methane Storage Technology Exceeds DOE Goals - can hold almost one-third more methane than the...target level
• 2008/01/20: OilDrum: 2007: record year for US wind industry

  Meanwhile among the solar afficionados:

• 2008/01/25: PhysOrg: Nanowires hold promise for more affordable solar cells
• 2008/01/21: GristMill: The hybrid solar home - An alternative housing concept
• 2008/01/20: USAToday: Stirling Energy takes on the solar power challenge
• 2008/01/21: NEN: Google's $10 mil to eSolar power plants [solar thermal]

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2008/01/25: PRWatch: The People vs. Big Coal, and Big Green
• 2008/01/24: GristMill: The good and the ugly -- Anti-coal activism news
• 2008/01/: EcoWorld: China's Coal - The reality of energy development in China
• 2008/01/22: TBAS: The need for an international moratorium on coal power by James E. Hansen
• 2008/01/23: ClimateP: The liquid-coal military industrial complex
• 2008/01/23: ClimateP: Dr. Hansen to Dr. Merkel: Carbon is forever -- so ban new traditional coal plants now

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2008/01/26: Guardian(UK): To bio or not to bio - are 'green' fuels really good for the earth?
• 2008/01/23: WSJ:ER: More Bad News for Ethanol
• 2008/01/23: DerSpiegel: 'A Total Disaster' - Critique Mounts against Biofuels
• 2008/01/23: EnergyBulletin: False hopes and cellulose
• 2008/01/23: PhysOrg: UN Warns of Biofuels' Environmental Risk
• 2008/01/21: Guardian(UK): GM shifts gears and supports ethanol - Is cellulosic ethanol the dream fuel or a pipe dream?
• 2008/01/22: AfterGutenberg: The Environmental Audit Committee Wants To Know [Are biofuels sustainable?]
• 2008/01/21: OilChange: More Bad News For Biofuels

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2008/01/25: KSJT: Tampa Tribune, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The cost of a nuclear renaissance is going through the roof
• 2008/01/25: GristMill: Irony in the nuclear power/climate change equation - Severe drought in the Southeast impacts nuclear power production
• 2008/01/20: NEN: Energy-hungry world deaf to nuclear dangers

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2008/01/26: TreeHugger: Shell CEO Admits Peak Oil Could be Here in 7 Years
• 2008/01/27: PeakEnergy: Peak Oil In The Wall Street Journal
• 2008/01/25: ClimateP: Shell: Conventional oil peaks within 7 years
• 2008/01/25: Times(UK): Shell chief fears oil shortage in seven years
  World demand for oil and gas will outstrip supply within seven years, according to Royal Dutch Shell. The oil multinational is predicting that conventional supplies will not keep pace with soaring population growth and the rapid pace of economic development. Jeroen van der Veer, Shell's chief executive, said in an e-mail to the company's staff this week that output of conventional oil and gas was close to peaking. He wrote: "Shell estimates that after 2015 supplies of easy-to-access oil and gas will no longer keep up with demand."

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

• 2008/01/24: FuturePundit: Lead Acid UltraBattery Cuts Hybrid Car Costs?
• 2008/01/24: EnergyBulletin: The peak oil crisis: The future of cars - part 1
• 2008/01/24: TreeHugger: Tata and Chrysler to Collaborate on Making Electric Vehicles
• 2008/01/24: AutoBG: [GM vice chairman, Bob] Lutz says gas prices will need to go up if Americans are to embrace small cars
• 2008/01/22: GristMill: This is a very big deal - Israel to build national electric car infrastructure
• 2008/01/23: TreeHugger: More Cities Jumping on the Hybrid Bus Bandwagon
• 2008/01/23: AutoBG: Headline of the year (?): China builds a "Detroit Fish"
• 2008/01/23: AutoBG: Zap working with a Chinese company on in-wheel electric motors
• 2008/01/23: AFP: GM in virtual tie with Toyota for top automaker spot
• 2008/01/22: Register: Israel electric car project aims to wipe out oil - Sell them like mobile phones, kill oil by 2020
• 2008/01/21: ClimateP: Plug-in hybrids and electric cars - a core climate solution, nationally and globally
• 2008/01/20: AutoBG: CSIRO's UltraBattery to cut cost of hybrid battery by $2,000 in two years
• 2008/01/21: AutoBG: It's official! Project Better Place, Renault signs deal to bring electric cars to Israel

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2008/01/27: Independent(UK): Big business says addressing climate change 'rates very low on agenda' - Poll of 500 major firms reveals that only one in 10 regard global warming as a priority
  Global warming ranks far down the concerns of the world's biggest companies, despite world leaders' hopes that they will pioneer solutions to the impending climate crisis, a startling survey will reveal this week. Nearly nine in 10 of them do not rate it as a priority, says the study, which canvassed more than 500 big businesses in Britain, the US, Germany, Japan, India and China. Nearly twice as many see climate change as imposing costs on their business as those who believe it presents an opportunity to make money. And the report's publishers believe that big business will concentrate even less on climate change as the world economy deteriorates. The survey demolishes George Bush's insistence that global warming is best addressed through voluntary measures undertaken by business - and does so at the most embarrassing juncture for the embattled President. For this week he is convening a meeting of the world's largest economies to try to persuade them to agree with him. The meeting - in Hawaii on Wednesday and Thursday - follows the US's refusal to accept binding targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, the main cause of global warming, in international negotiations in Bali last month, and is seen as an attempt to develop a less rigorous approach to the crisis. But the new report shows that even business does not support this, with four out of the five companies surveyed wanting governments to take a central role in tackling climate change. The survey, carried out by the consulting firm Accenture, found that only 5 per cent of the companies questioned - and not one in China - regarded global warming as their top priority. And only 11 per cent put it in second or third place.
• 2008/01/24: GristMill: Great Scott - Wal-Mart CEO lays out ambitious social and environmental goals for his company
• 2008/01/24: CSM: Costs of climate change spur greening of business
  Climate concerns are pushing corporates to do good by doing well. Meanwhile, new research puts a number on the ecological impact of rich country lifestyles on poor ones.
• 2008/01/20: TerraDaily: Carbon Disclosure Project to assess world business CO2 footprint

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2008/01/26: ERabett: A list for Morano -- Like John Hersey, Eli writes a list of 619 climate scientists for Morano...
• 2008/01/26: Stoat: Spencer is totally off his rocker
• 2008/01/23: N3xus6: Common attributes - The denialist is an easy creature to spot...
• 2008/01/25: BCLSB: Creationist, Rocker, And Sometime Scientist Roy Spencer Stands With Rush On Global Warming
• 2008/01/24: GristMill: [Dessler] The solar distraction - Climate skeptics blame the sun for global warming
• 2008/01/24: DeSmogBlog: "Skeptical" Russian Scientist Blinded by Sunspots [Abdussamatov]
• 2008/01/24: DeSmogBlog: Echo Chamber: Morano's Distortions Have Staying Power
• 2008/01/24: Guardian(UK): Climate change denial adverts (6 pix)
• 2008/01/24: Guardian(UK): Driven by mischief - Judging by their ads, some companies now revel in taunting environmentalists
• 2008/01/23: WarmingLaw: S. Fred Singer-- Master Climate Litigator?
• 2008/01/22: ERabett: Firing the auditors ... the RSS error trap
• 2008/01/23: Deltoid: Climate Audit Comedy of Errors
• 2008/01/23: DeSmogBlog: Heartland Institute Ensures Bad Book Has Great "Sales"
• 2008/01/22: Deltoid: Tim Ball, Creationist?
• 2008/01/21: Stoat: Corbynwatch
• 2008/01/22: Maribo: Carbonland continues to shrink
• 2008/01/22: Deltoid: No, global warming hasn't stopped
• 2008/01/21: ClimateP: Unstoppable disinformation every 15 minutes from Fred Singer
• 2008/01/20: ERabett: The art of climate auditing [funny]
• 2008/01/21: EnergySmart: Global Warming Denier Website Receives Federal Award
• 2008/01/21: DeSmogBlog: In Praise of High Class Climate Deception
• 2008/01/21: DeSmogBlog: How to Get Rich By Scamming the Climate
• 2008/01/21: Far-N-Wide: The Denier Response

  Then there was the usual news and commentary:

• 2008/01/26: BSD: Dressler's obesity-climate change analogy may be better than he intended
• 2008/01/25: GristMill: Not just an environmental issue - Climate change is as much a social priority as an environmental concern
• 2008/01/26: AbqJournal: Wrong Forecast Right for N.M.
• 2008/01/26: MTobis: Climate Models: Best Hope of Policy Gradualism
• 2008/01/26: ENN: Global Warming by the Numbers
• 2008/01/26: SciDaily: Natural Gas Formation By Bacteria Linked To Climate Change And Renewable Energy
• 2008/01/25: GristMill: We don't need no thought control - Schools should be talking about climate change solutions
• 2008/01/24: TreeHugger: Enough, Already. "Recyclable" is Not Recycling
• 2008/01/23: GristMill: Public vs. private commitment - Research on changing behavior
• 2008/01/24: inel: Billion dollar leadership?
• 2008/01/24: OilChange: $700 an Hour to Work on Climate
  [...] Twenty of the 100 highest-grossing U.S. law firms have started practices advising companies on climate change, according to Bloomberg. The attorneys help clients finance clean-energy projects and lobby Congress, typically billing $500 to $700 an hour.
• 2008/01/23: Atmoz: Accuracy? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Accuracy [accuracy versus precision]
• 2008/01/23: DotEarth: Who's the Greenest of Them All?
• 2008/01/22: BBC: Flying clouds the real climate culprit
  The aviation industry has become public enemy number one for environmental groups, says Martin Wright. But, he argues in this week's Green Room, they should focus their efforts on "the real elephant in the room" - forest destruction.
• 2008/01/19: TStar: Take the Earth Hour challenge
• 2008/01/22: PhysOrg: Weather network expands into 10 states
  Colorado State University's Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network is beginning its 10th year with the addition of 10 new states. [...] The network now has more than 7,500 active volunteer observers in 27 states.
• 2008/01/21: Eureka: Economists help climate scientists to improve global warming forecasts
• 2008/01/21: CCurrents: Global Warming - Stop Arguing - Take Action Now
• 2008/01/21: WorldChanging: Conservation Easements, Climate Foresight and Resilience

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

• Future Theft
• FAO: Crop Prospects and Food Situation
• GIM: Growth is Madness!
• The Yale Project on Climate Change
• GCC: Green Car Congress
• GDTE: Get Down To Earth
• Climate Crisis
• ITTO: International Tropical Timber Organization
• TGW: Target Global Warming
• SOLA: Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere
• IODP Proceedings - Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX)
• Yahoo: Science - Environment & Nature
• The Great Warming [three-hour television series]

My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.

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

"Thousands have lived without love, none without water." -W.H. Auden

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