Another Week of GW News, July 27, 2008

Sipping from the internet firehose...

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July 27, 2008

• Top Stories: Wetlands, Green New Deal, WCI ETS, Gore, Melting Arctic, Geopolitics
• Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
• Hurricanes, Temperatures, Carbon Cycle, Paleoclimate, ENSO, Glaciers, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Wildfires, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Misc. Science, Carbon Trade, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics:International, Security, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, Aus ETS, India, China, Canada
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video
• Energy, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Efficiency, Cars, Business
• Carbon Lobby, The Usual, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Laugh, if you can:

• 2008/07/23: Guardian(UK): Cartoons make climate change a laughing matter (19 pictures)

  The pale blue dot:

• 2008/07/21: SMH: Buckle up for trouble on the green route
  In the BBC series The Blue Planet, David Attenborough's epic documentary on the Earth's oceans first televised seven years ago, he nails us all. That is when Attenborough tells us there is now more carbon dioxide in our atmosphere than at any time "in the last 650,000 years". He rivets our attention even more by saying that we're adding "125 billion tonnes of it every year".
  This is the global warming George Bush and John Howard kept telling us wasn't happening. This is the multiplying pollution warming our oceans and killing our future. This is the accelerating climate change "we" have to do "something" about.
  To fix it we have to understand it. Almost none of us do. [Alan Ramsey]

A wetlands conference in Brazil caught some press:

• 2008/07/27: SciDaily: Rising Energy, Food Prices Major Threats To Wetlands As Farmers Eye New Areas For Crops
• 2008/07/25: BBC: Rising demands threaten wetlands
  The recent surge in demand for food and biofuel has increased the risks facing the world's wetlands, warn scientists. A declaration by 700 scientists said the habitats faced a growing risk of being converted into farmland.
• 2008/07/25: Eureka: Rising energy, food prices major threats to wetlands as farmers eye new areas for crops - 700 leading experts meeting in Brazil urge policy makers to resist pressure to convert wetlands
• 2008/07/23: ClimateP: Wetlands destruction -- another climate feedback
• 2008/07/22: CSM: Scientists: Vanishing wetlands could release "carbon bomb"
• 2008/07/22: BBC: Warming world 'drying wetlands' - More than 700 scientists are attending a major conference to draw up an action plan to protect the world's wetlands
• 2008/07/20: Eureka: Massive greenhouse gases may be released as destruction, drying of world wetlands worsens: UN
• 2008/07/20: Reuters: Wetlands could unleash "carbon bomb"

  While elsewhere on the wetland front:

• 2008/07/24: TreeHugger: Democratic Republic of Congo Creates World's Largest Protected Wetland
• 2008/07/21: BBC: Is world's wettest place getting drier?

  A UK Group has put forward a Green New Deal:

• 2008/07/21: NEF: UK needs 'Green New Deal' to tackle 'triple crunch' of credit, oil price and climate crises
• 2008/07/21: OilChange: "100 months to save the planet"
• 2008/07/21: BBC: Climate crisis: Roosevelt revisited
  We have just 100 months to act to prevent dangerous climate change, says Andrew Simms. In this week's Green Room, he outlines plans for a "Green New Deal" that could sort out the pressing problems we have with climate, energy and the financial system
• 2008/07/21: BBC: '100 months to save the planet' [says Green New Deal Group]
  A "Green New Deal" is needed to solve current problems of climate change, energy and finance, a report argues. According to the Green New Deal Group, humanity only has 100 months to prevent dangerous global warming. Its proposals include major investment in renewable energy and the creation of thousands of new "green collar" jobs. The name is taken from President Franklin D Roosevelt's "New Deal", launched 75 years ago to bring the US out of the Great Depression. The new grouping says rising greenhouse gas emissions, combined with escalating food and energy costs, mean the globe is facing one of its biggest crises since the 1930s. Its members include former Friends of the Earth UK director Tony Juniper, Green MEP Caroline Lucas and Andrew Simms, policy director of the New Economics Foundation (NEF).

The Western Climate Initiative has adapted an emission trading plan [WCI ETS]:

• 2008/07/25: PlanetArk: US-Canada Carbon Trading Group Eyes 2012 Start
• 2008/07/25: C411: Western States Lead on Carbon Market
• 2008/07/24: PhysOrg: Western governors offer greenhouse emissions plan
• 2008/07/24: GristMill: WCI's new proposal - What the Western Climate Initiative does right -- and what it could do better
• 2008/07/24: ENN: California joins big carbon-trade partnership [WCI ETS]
• 2008/07/24: SF Gate: California joins big carbon-trade partnership
  California, six other Western states and four Canadian provinces launched plans on Wednesday for one of the world's largest carbon-trading systems, a sweeping effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. The North American program, like a similar market-based system in Europe, focuses on heavy polluters such as electric utilities, oil refineries and large industrial and commercial facilities. Environmental groups immediately questioned whether the plan will be tough enough on polluters, while industry groups said the program lacks details.
• 2008/07/24: SeattlePI: Group [WCI] proposes climate-saving strategy - Washington part of coalition that suggests emissions cap

  Follow-up commentary on the Gore 'Moon Shot' challenge:

• 2008/07/26: TP:WonkRoom: The Assault On Gore -- And On The American Dream
• 2008/07/25: TreeHugger: 10 Steps to Renewable Energy Future: A TreeHugger Review
• 2008/07/25: PostCarbon: 10 Steps in 10 Years to 100 Percent Renewable Power
• 2008/07/24: BCLSB: Think About It - Some Gore bashing gone wrong
• 2008/07/23: GristMill: Precedent versus vision - The media's central arguments for and against Gore's challenge to the nation
• 2008/07/24: NEN: The Gore plan, the Pickens plan and the heartland
• 2008/07/23: EnergyBulletin: Al Gore's fantasy energy challenge
• 2008/07/23: GristMill: What is Gore's next step? From fossil fuels to manufacturing for wind and solar energy
• 2008/07/22: GristMill: Meet the Blogger - Better questions for Gore
• 2008/07/21: GWWatch: Al Gore rails America for a Clean Energy "Moon Shot"
• 2008/07/21: MWatch: Gore's, Pickens' Energy Challenges Need Smart Infrastructure - Smarter Power System, Diversity in Energy Sources Necessary to Meet Growing U.S. Demand
• 2008/07/22: CSM: Full speed ahead on new energy - T. Boone Pickens and Al Gore challenge the next president to remake the US energy industry.
• 2008/07/21: GristMill: Gore's plan is more than 100 percent feasible - We can do more than he calls for, but I would settle for Gore's objective
• 2008/07/20: GristMill: An irritating force meets an inadequate object - Al Gore on Meet the Press
• 2008/07/21: WorldChanging: Al Gore, Clean Energy and A Better Nation
• 2008/07/21: WSJ:EnvCap: Is Al Gore Serious?

  The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:

• 2008/07/25: CBC: Cruise ship traffic a threat to Arctic waters, U.S. expert warns
• 2008/07/23: ArcticEcon: Northwest Passage Transits
• 2008/07/22: Guardian(UK): Arctic lake a laboratory for studying climate change's effects on ecosystem
• 2008/07/20: Tamino: Cold War [Arctic temperatures]

  As does the geopolitical posturing:

• 2008/07/26: CCurrents: Riches In The Arctic: The New Oil Race
• 2008/07/23: USGS: 90 Billion Barrels of Oil and 1,670 Trillion Cubic Feet of Natural Gas Assessed in the Arctic
• 2008/07/25: NatureTGB: The Arctic oil rush is upon us
• 2008/07/25: Independent(UK): Riches in the Arctic: the new oil race
  New geological surveys show as much as a fifth of the world's undiscovered but exploitable gas and oil reserves lie under the Arctic ice. As the ice melts, the pristine wilderness could become 'the new Houston'.
• 2008/07/24: KSJT: NYTimes, WSJournal, lots more: USGS suspects Arctic seabed is loaded with oil and gas
• 2008/07/24: DotEarth: Arctic Gas and Oil Bonanza, but No Energy Fix
• 2008/07/24: TreeHugger: Why the Arctic Won't Keep Our Cars Running: Arctic Oil Reserve Potential a Quarter of Previous Estimates
• 2008/07/24: IHT: Russia's military conducts test flights near North Pole
• 2008/07/24: WSJ:EnvCap: Ice Breaker: Will There Be an Arctic Oil Gusher?
• 2008/07/23: McClatchyDC: New study estimates vast supplies of Arctic oil, gas -- 90 billion barrels of undiscovered but technically recoverable oil
• 2008/07/24: BBC: The Arctic is estimated to hold 90bn barrels of untapped oil, according to figures from the US Geological Survey
• 2008/07/24: CBC: Equivalent of 112 billion barrels of oil in North America's Arctic: [USGS] study
• 2008/07/23: ArcticEcon: Where Are The Arctic's Big Oil and Gas Deposits?
• 2008/07/23: BBerg: Arctic May Hold 90 Billion Barrels of Oil, U.S. Says
• 2008/07/23: G&M: Wealth of oil in Arctic, report says
• 2008/07/22: G&M: The race to own the top of the world
  Melting icecap has circumpolar countries - including Canada - scrambling to bolster their claims to Arctic territory and the oil and gas riches beneath its seabed

The food crisis remains a top story:

• 2008/07/26: AFP: Famine, soaring food prices threaten millions in east Africa
  More than 14 million people across east Africa are facing a humanitarian disaster because of a "lethal mix" of soaring food prices, drought and conflict, aid agencies say.
• 2008/07/26: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Fighting hunger in east Africa
• 2008/07/25: NakedCapitalism: China's Role in Food Inflation Exaggerated
• 2008/07/24: Xinhuanet: World farmers urged to join "Greener" revolution
  Some 100 delegates from 36 countries meeting at Rome's UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) called on farmers on Thursday to join the ongoing "Greener" revolution represented by a form of farming known as Conservation Agriculture (CA). This farming system, CA for short, aims to help feed the world more sustainably by building up soil ecosystems and reducing unnecessary soil disturbance wherever possible. According to one study, some 20 percent of the earth's cropland is now being eroded or otherwise degraded a potential catastrophe given the need to double world food production by 2050to feed a population of more than nine billion. Rebuilding good soil structure and encouraging biological processes in soil increases its capacity to produce crops, the delegates declared in a Framework for Action adopted at the end of a three-day technical meeting on Investing in Sustainable Crop Intensification and Improving Soil Health.
• 2008/07/23: BBC: New E Africa food crisis warning
  Rising food prices are putting millions of people in East Africa at risk of severe hunger and destitution, the UK-based charity Oxfam has warned. Successive droughts, war and poverty have put an estimated 9 to 13 million people in the region in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, it says. The situation has been made worse by rising food prices, with wheat and rice particularly expensive. It is the second serious drought in the region in three years...
• 2008/07/24: Guardian(UK): Rising food prices pushing east Africa to disaster, warns Oxfam
• 2008/07/22: BBC: Food crisis looms in East Africa
  More than 14 million people in the Horn of Africa need food aid because of drought and rocketing food and fuel prices, the United Nations has warned
• 2008/07/22: VoxEU: What's causing global food price inflation?
• 2008/07/20: SF Gate: Soaring food prices felt around the globe

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2008/07/23: Maribo: The conflict between ethanol and animal feed
• 2008/07/23: NYT: Uprising Against the Ethanol Mandate
  The ethanol industry, until recently a golden child that got favorable treatment from Washington, is facing a critical decision on its future. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to temporarily waive regulations requiring the oil industry to blend ever-increasing amounts of ethanol into gasoline. A decision is expected in the next few weeks. Mr. Perry says the billions of bushels of corn being used to produce all that mandated ethanol would be better suited as livestock feed than as fuel. Feed prices have soared in the last two years as fuel has begun competing with food for cropland. "When you find yourself in a hole, you have to quit digging," Mr. Perry said in an interview. "And we are in a hole."

And how are we going to feed 9 billion?

• 2008/07/23: FuturePundit: Energy Prices Drive Up Crop Planting Costs
• 2008/07/21: CJR: Can GM Crops Solve the Food Crisis? UCS says journalists overstate potential for higher yields
• 2008/07/25: SciDaily: Crop-production Costs Will Jump Dramatically In 2009, Study Predicts
• 2008/07/25: ChronicleHerald: Food for thought - Farmers facing bitter harvest and consumers may have to pay the price
• 2008/07/24: EnergyBulletin: Charcoal, agriculture and climate change
• 2008/07/24: PhysOrg: Expert warns wheat residue too valuable to lose
• 2008/07/23: PhysOrg: Study predicts crop-production costs will jump dramatically in 2009
  Soaring energy prices will yield sharp increases for corn and soybean production next year, cutting into farmers' profits and stretching already high food costs, according to a new University of Illinois study. Costs to get crops in the ground will jump by about a third in 2009, fueled by fertilizer prices expected to surge 82 percent for corn and 117 percent for soybeans, said Gary Schnitkey, an agricultural economist who conducts the annual survey of input costs. Fertilizer -- the biggest non-land expense for corn and soybean farmers -- is tethered to the same cost spiral that has driven steep gasoline and heating price increases over the last few years, said Schnitkey, a professor of agriculture and consumer economics.
• 2008/07/21: UN: New global soil database can help tackle climate change, food insecurity -- UN
• 2008/07/22: ENN: Soil database to help map CO2 storage, food output

  Lots of cyclonic activity with Bertha Cristobal, Dolly, Fausto, Genevieve & Fung-wong:

• 2008/07/27: PhysOrg: Taiwan battens down against oncoming typhoon [Fung-wong]
• 2008/07/25: NOAANews: Hurricane Dolly Offers Silver Lining To Some Drought Stricken Texas Counties
• 2008/07/24: TerraDaily: Dolly's rains dwindle, leaving floods in Texas, Mexico
• 2008/07/24: Reuters: Dolly's impact on Gulf of Mexico oil sector
• 2008/07/25: CBC: Dolly leaves 1 dead in Mexico, thousands without electricity
• 2008/07/24: Wunderground: Dolly's rains continue to inundate Texas and Mexico
• 2008/07/24: Xinhuanet: Hurricane Dolly triggers intense rainfall in Mexico, U.S.
• 2008/07/24: CBC: Flooding as Dolly loiters over Texas
• 2008/07/23: DotEarth: Hurricane Dolly Strengthening as It Reaches Texas
• 2008/07/22: DotEarth: Hurricane Dolly, a Rainmaker, Targets Border
• 2008/07/23: PhysOrg: Category 2 Hurricane Dolly Crosses South Padre Island, Texas
• 2008/07/23: Intersection:CCM: Dolly Is Rapidly Intensifying Before Landfall
• 2008/07/23: Wunderground: Dolly intensifying rapidly as it approaches landfall
• 2008/07/23: Wunderground: Hurricane Dolly smashes ashore
• 2008/07/23: BBC: Hurricane Dolly has hit the Mexico-Texas coast, bringing with it heavy rain and winds up to 100mph (161km/h)
• 2008/07/23: CBC: Dolly intensifies [to Cat 2] as it closes in on Texas, Mexico
• 2008/07/23: CBC: Sailor rescued from Cristobal's stormy wrath - A month's worth of rain falls on parts of N.S. over 2 days
• 2008/07/23: AFP: Hurricane Dolly gathers punch near US-Mexico border
• 2008/07/23: AP: Dolly lashes Texas coast as Category 2 hurricane
• 2008/07/22: Wunderground: Dolly nears hurricane strength
• 2008/07/22: DailyIndia: Dolly nears hurricane strength in Gulf
• 2008/07/22: CBC: Mexico and Texas brace for deadly storm
• 2008/07/21: AP: Texas, Mexico prepare for Tropical Storm Dolly
• 2008/07/21: Wunderground: Dolly slowly organizing, having trouble with dry air
• 2008/07/21: Wunderground: Dolly a significant threat to Texas
• 2008/07/20: Wunderground: Hello, Dolly; so long, Bertha; Cristobal keeps on chugging along
• 2008/07/21: Reuters: Storm Dolly to become hurricane, hit Texas
• 2008/07/21: OilDrum: Well, Hello Dolly! (Aw C'mon, Someone Had to Say It)
• 2008/07/21: CBC: Heavy rains expected as tropical storm Cristobal bears down [on southern Nova Scotia, Cape Breton and Newfoundland]
• 2008/07/21: HoustonChronicle: Hurricane watch issued for South Texas coast [Dolly]

  Elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2008/07/25: UN: Situation remains dire for Myanmar cyclone victims, UN agencies warn
• 2008/07/25: CSM: Hurricane season: big start - July's storms bolster forecasts for a very active year
• 2008/07/23: Eureka: Hurricane preparedness survey: Worries about drinking water and medical care
• 2008/07/21: BBC: Relief and reconstruction work in Burma after Cyclone Nargis will cost at least $1bn (£500m), according to the UN and the regional body ASEAN

  And in the carbon cycle:

• 2008/07/24: AFTIC: Amazon Powers Carbon Sink in Tropical Ocean
• 2008/07/24: OSU: Study: Typhoons bury tons of carbon in the oceans
• 2008/07/23: Eureka: Amazon outflow is found to power ocean capture of carbon dioxide
• 2008/07/22: SciDaily: Amazon River Powers Tropical Ocean's Carbon Sink
• 2008/07/21: NSF: Outflow from World's Largest River --the Amazon--Powers Atlantic Ocean Carbon "Sink"
• 2008/07/21: PhysOrg: Amazon powers tropical ocean's carbon sink
• 2008/07/21: NewScientist: Plankton turn tropical Atlantic into a huge carbon sink
• 2008/07/21: Eureka: Amazon powers tropical ocean's carbon sink - Large study contradicts previous estimates, showing tropical Atlantic captures a surprising amount of carbon

  As for the temperature record:

• 2008/07/21: SciDaily: NOAA: Eighth Warmest June On Record For Globe

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2008/07/23: BBC: Fossils date Dry Valleys' origin - Tiny fossils have helped refine the timing of the climate shift that gave rise to Antarctica's remarkable Dry Valleys...
• 2008/07/22: SciDaily: Did A Significant Climate Change Event, Known As Younger Dryas, Impact Climate Around The Globe?
• 2008/07/21: SciDaily: Changes In Winds Could Have Been Cause Of Abrupt Glacial Climatic Change [during LGM 21kya]

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

• 2008/07/10: NOAA:NCEP: El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) diagnostic discussion
  Synopsis: ENSO-neutral conditions are expected to continue into Northern Hemisphere Fall 2008

Glaciers are melting:

• 2008/07/25: Guardian(UK): China: Melting glacier leaves world's worst polluter with no room for doubt
• 2008/07/25: Guardian(UK): Life in the shadow of China's melting glacier (20 pictures)

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2008/07/27: SciDaily: Ocean Surface A Boon For Extreme Event Forecasts, Warnings [Jason 2]
• 2008/07/22: TreeHugger: Brazil to Develop Satellite to Monitor Deforestation, Urban Expansion
• 2008/07/16: NewScientist: Satellite cutbacks could leave us blind at the poles
• 2008/07/21: SciDaily: NASA Mission To Be Crystal Ball Into Oceans' Future, Mirror To The Past

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2008/07/24: ABC(Au): Climate change threat to rock lobster
• 2008/07/23: Yahoo: Dengue cases in Philippines rise by 43 percent: government
  Global warming may have contributed to a 43 percent rise in the number of dengue cases in the Philippines for the first half of the year, the health secretary said Wednesday.
• 2008/07/24: Guardian(UK): Coral grief
  Jacques Cousteau was a pioneer in the study of marine biology, but new research shows the ocean life he explored could be dead within a few years
• 2008/07/23: Guardian(UK): Penguins wash ashore in Brazil, prompting concerns about their habitat
• 2008/07/22: Edie: Climate change to cost Andean countries billions
  Climate change could bring economic chaos to the countries crossed by the Andes as rising temperatures play havoc with the glaciers on which many of the region's industries rely. The annual cost of climate change in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru could be breaking the US$30bn barrier by 2025, according to South American scientists.
• 2008/07/23: NewScientist: US spring melt to shift by months
• 2008/07/21: TerraDaily: Bangladesh to escape flooding this year: experts
• 2008/07/22: SciDaily: Air Pollution Causing Widespread And Serious Impacts To Ecosystems In Eastern United States
• 2008/07/21: KSJT: LA Times, NY Times: Two views - overseas and here at home - of water woes in a warming world with more and more people
• 2008/07/21: WorldChanging: Resources: U.S. Impacts of Climate Change, Human Development
• 2008/07/21: TNT: Scientists study impact of glacier melt on rivers - Scientists study the link between climate change, shrinking glaciers on Mount Rainier and flooding on rivers such as the Nisqually
• 2008/07/21: Missoulian: Report details climate change's effects on Clark Fork Basin
  Western Montanans need only to step outside to experience hotter temperatures, shrinking snowpacks, warmer streams and larger wildfires, but climate change can still be a complicated global issue. In a new report, the nonprofit Clark Fork Coalition tries to make climate change understandable at the local level - and to prompt policymakers and residents to take action. The comprehensive report, titled "Low Flows, Hot Trout: Climate Change in the Clark Fork Watershed," compiles more than five decades of scientific research into a 36-page document about the impacts of climate change in the Clark Fork River Basin.

And then there are the world's forests:

• 2008/07/25: FuturePundit: $1 Billion Per Year Could Stop Tenth Of Deforestation
• 2008/07/23: OSU: Paying to save tropical forests could be a way to reduce global carbon emissions
• 2008/07/23: PhysOrg: Paying to save tropical forests could be a way to reduce global carbon emissions
• 2008/07/23: G&M: [Pine-beetle] Ravaged area plans for 'social chaos,' report says
  Communities in the British Columbia region hardest hit by a massive pine-beetle epidemic have come up with a blueprint for how to survive a bleak economic period that could follow when logging levels fall by an anticipated 70 per cent. In a report released yesterday, the Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition called on the federal and provincial governments to help the area head off a total economic collapse in which mills could close, 4,000 jobs could be lost and entire communities could face depopulation as people leave in search of work.
• 2008/07/21: SciDaily: If Northern Trees Suffer Because Of Global Warming, Southern Trees May Still Be Slow To Replace Them

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2008/07/23: CBC: Tornado-like waterspout seen in Montreal
• 2008/07/23: CBC: Storm hammers southern Sask.

  As for wild fires:

• 2008/07/27: CNN: 2,000 homes threatened by 'erratic' wildfire near Yosemite
  Wildfire threatens about 2,000 homes near Yosemite National Park - Fire grows to more than 16,000 acres - 900 firefighters are battling the blaze
• 2008/07/23: DailyIndia: Stormy weather triggers fires and outages
• 2008/07/21: NOAANews: Northern Wildfire Smoke May Cast Shadow on Arctic Warming
• 2008/07/22: KSJT: SF Chronicle: Wild fires in the warming, Western US
• 2008/07/21: SF Gate: Warming West is ground zero for wildfires
• 2008/07/21: CBC: Wildfire smoke threatens N.W.T. community

  And speaking of floods & droughts:

• 2008/07/24: UIUC: Region hit hard by 1993 floods showed economic resiliency, study indicates
• 2008/07/21: NatureCF: A precipitous rise in extreme rainfall

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2008/07/24: CleanBreak: Concrete that sucks -- CO2, that is
• 2008/07/24: PeakEnergy: Putting Some Concrete Boots On Global Warming
• 2008/07/23: NewScientist: Americans must diet to save their economy
• 2008/07/23: AbqJournal: Could Fire Suppression Make Global Climate Change Worse?
• 2008/07/22: PhysOrg: Scientists test system to forecast flash floods along Colorado's front range

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2008/07/23: C411: Emergency Funding for Public Transit Crisis
• 2008/07/22: CanWest: Fuel shortage will drastically reshape transportation
• 2008/07/22: Telegraph(UK): Shipping: The greening of the ocean waves
  Although not included in the Kyoto Protocol, the maritime industry's CO2 emissions rival those of aviation. But new initiatives from port authorities look set to make shipping more eco-friendly.

While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:

• 2008/07/22: SMH: Flicking the switch from hot air to usable heat

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2008/07/23: PhysOrg: Durham scientists to tackle CO2 storage in global warming challenge
• 2008/07/22: SciDaily: Geosequestration: Turning Carbon Dioxide Into Rock To Offset Global Warming

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2008/07/22: GristMill: Lime for a change - Could lime absorb massive amounts of carbon dioxide?
• 2008/07/21: Eureka: A dash of lime -- a new twist that may cut CO2 levels back to pre-industrial levels
• 2008/07/21: PhysOrg: A dash of lime -- a new twist that may cut CO2 levels back to pre-industrial levels
  Scientists say they have found a workable way of reducing CO2 levels in the atmosphere by adding lime [calcium hydroxide] to seawater. And they think it has the potential to dramatically reverse CO2 accumulation in the atmosphere...

While on the adaptation front:

• 2008/07/25: TerraDaily: Mangroves Key To Saving Lives
  The replanting of mangroves on the coasts of the Philippines could help save many of the lives lost in the 20-30 typhoons that hit the islands annually.

Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2008/07/25: ACP: Radiative forcing from particle emissions by future supersonic aircraft by G. Pitari et al.
• 2008/07/25: ACP: Correlation between equatorial Kelvin waves and the occurrence of extremely thin ice clouds at the tropical tropopause by F. Immler et al.
• 2008/07/24: ACP: The role of climate and emission changes in future air quality over southern Canada and northern Mexico by E. Tagaris et al.
• 2008/07/24: ACP: Tracing biomass burning plumes from the Southern Hemisphere during the AMMA 2006 wet season experiment by C. H. Mari et al.
• 2008/07/22: TCD: Antarctic summer sea ice concentration and extent: comparison of ODEN 2006 ship observations, satellite passive microwave and NIC sea ice charts by B. Ozsoy-Cicek et al.
• 2008/07/22: ACP: Estimation of the vertical profile of sulfur dioxide injection into the atmosphere by a volcanic eruption using satellite column measurements and inverse transport modeling by S. Eckhardt et al.
• 2008/07/22: ACP: Diagnosing recent CO emissions and ozone evolution in East Asia using coordinated surface observations, adjoint inverse modeling, and MOPITT satellite data by H. Tanimoto et al.
• 2008/07/21: ACP: Three years of greenhouse gas column-averaged dry air mole fractions retrieved from satellite - Part 1: Carbon dioxide by O. Schneising et al.
• 2008/07/23: ACPD: Measurement of the tropical UTLS composition in presence of clouds using millimetre-wave heterodyne spectroscopy by B. M. Dinelli et al.
• 2008/07/22: ACPD: Aerosol indirect forcing in a global model with particle nucleation by M. Wang & J. E. Penner
• 2008/07/22: ACPD: Possible influence of anthropogenic aerosols on cirrus clouds and anthropogenic forcing by J. E. Penner et al.
• 2008/07/22: PNAS: Long-term resistance to simulated climate change in an infertile grassland by J. Philip Grime et al.
• 2008/07/22: PNAS: Carbon dioxide sequestration in deep-sea basalt by David S. Goldberg et al.

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

• 2008/07/25: Eureka: Scientists search for answers from the carbon in the clouds - Latest technology examines aerosol particles in the sky
• 2008/07/21: PhysOrg: Scientists offer new explanation for monsoon development

  As for emissions trading:

• 2008/07/23: WSJ:EnvCap: Laughing Gas: How To Game the Carbon Markets
• 2008/07/21: UPI Asia: The value of China's carbon market

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

• 2008/07/24: ClimateP: Don't Offset Your CO2 Emissions, Retire Them

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2008/07/23: EconView: Sachs: Where are the Global Leaders?
  [...] There are four deep problems.
  The first is the incoherence of American leadership [...]
  The second problem is the lack of global financing [...]
  The third problem is the disconnection between global scientific expertise and politicians [...]
  The fourth problem is that the G8 ignores the very international institutions -- notably the United Nations and the World Bank -- that offer the best hope to implement global solutions.
• 2008/07/23: NYT: World Bank Criticized on Environmental Efforts
• 2008/07/22: DotEarth: Report: World Bank Still Not Lending With Environment (and Disasters) in Mind

  And on the American political front:

• 2008/07/25: TreeHugger: Surprise, Surprise: Report Finds Bush Administration's Voluntary Pollution-Reduction Programs Not Faring Well
• 2008/07/23: AfterGutenberg: Federally Subsidized Environmental Devastation
• 2008/07/23: BioenergyBiz: Huge postbag delays decision on whether to cut US biofuel target
• 2008/07/25: ICH: We're a Nation of Lemmings - Screw The Climate! We Want Our Cheap Gas!
• 2008/07/25: WSJ:EnvCap: Green Gap: Why High Energy Prices Could Hurt the Environment [US pol]
• 2008/07/25: SF Gate: Air board [California Air Resources Board] OKs toughest limits on ship exhausts
• 2008/07/25: SF Gate: Warming to global warming solutions [Calif. pol]
• 2008/07/24: ThinkP: Beck, Boehner: Arctic Refuge Is A 'Wasteland,' Wildlife 'Couldn't Care Less' About Drilling
• 2008/07/23: GristMill: 'All of the above' - GOP leaders unveil new energy bill that calls for some of everything and lots of drilling
• 2008/07/23: GristMill: Union of the States - America's governors unite to plead for extension of renewable tax credits
• 2008/07/24: TreeHugger: Indiana Launches Ambitious Energy Plan
• 2008/07/23: HillHeat: House GOP to Unveil 'American Energy Act'
• 2008/07/23: TP:WonkRoom: The 'None Of The Above' Energy Bill
• 2008/07/22: EnergyBulletin: California must wake up to looming fuel crisis
• 2008/07/21: ClimateP: House GOP offers Americans false hope, failed policies, and eco-havoc -- will the media bite?
• 2008/07/22: Eureka: Action needed now for Minnesota to reach goals in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2015
• 2008/07/22: WSJ:EnvCap: Is Expensive Gas a Blessing in Disguise?
• 2008/07/22: CSM: Offshore drilling is a false promise - We need a cleareyed view of our energy situation
• 2008/07/21: ClimateP: Fed Chair Bernanke: "oil supply conditions remaining tight for years to come."
• 2008/07/21: GristMill: FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] releases reports - Feds note electric rate increases and high construction costs for nuclear and coal

  It looks like the cost of home heating is going to be a major issue this coming winter:

• 2008/07/25: CSM: Fuel cost now driving up electric bills - Disconnect notices have risen sharply, indicating stress on more households
• 2008/07/23: ETS: Merrill Lynch's North American Economist Warns 'Brutal Winter Coming for Utility Bills'
  Merrill Lynch's North American economist, David A. Rosenberg, issued a warning Monday that a "brutal winter (is) coming for utility bills." [...] "This is going to be huge," Rosenberg wrote. As it stands, he noted, "in states like New York, shutoffs of utilities services for households in arrears on their bills were up 41% through April."

The Bush administration EPA continues to be a focus of conflict:

• 2008/07/25: Guardian(UK): Democrats: White House must publish 'chilling' climate change document
• 2008/07/23: WaPo: Ex-EPA Official [Jason K. Burnett] Says White House Pulled Rank - Administration Ordered Calif. Emissions Plan Quashed, Former Deputy Testifies
• 2008/07/25: ClimateP: Bush's Puppets...Stephen Johnson...
• 2008/07/25: PhysOrg: EPA: Few volunteering to cut greenhouse gases
• 2008/07/24: GristMill: Clear and present endangerment - Republicans block subpoena of EPA climate document, while Boxer releases choice excerpts
• 2008/07/25: HillHeat: Senate GOP Prevents EPA Document Subpoena; Contents Discussed
• 2008/07/25: WaPo: EPA E-Mail Concluded Global Warming Endangers Public Health, Senator Says
  Under a subpoena threat from Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the Environmental Protection Agency late Wednesday sent the panel a copy of its Dec. 5 proposal to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act -- as a brief loan.
• 2008/07/24: AP: EPA: Few volunteering to cut greenhouse gases
• 2008/07/24: McClatchyDC: EPA document White House squelched sought emissions limits
• 2008/07/22: ThinkP: Bush Cronies Tried To Redefine 'Carbon Dioxide' To Save Power Plants From Emissions Regulations
• 2008/07/22: ThinkP: Inhofe Praises The 'Unitary Executive Concept' For 'Enhancing Accountability' Of EPA
• 2008/07/20: CSW: EPA report on climate change health & welfare impacts: Interview comments on Free Speech Radio News
• 2008/07/22: C411: EPA Reports on Danger of Greenhouse Gases
• 2008/07/18: CNN:Fortune: Many In White House Reversed On Greenhouse Gases
  Bush administration officials, including the energy secretary, had originally agreed that greenhouse gases posed a danger to the public and should be regulated under existing clean-air laws but later reversed course amid opposition from Vice President Dick Cheney's office and the oil industry, a new congressional report says.

The EPA successfully argued moving the California Waiver suit to another court, which means nothing will happen this year:

• 2008/07/26: HillHeat: CA Waiver Lawsuit Transferred to DC Circuit

  A handful of reports on the costs of climate inaction to various US States is raising alarms:

• 2008/07/26: TreeHugger: Climate Change Will Cost U.S. States Billions of Dollars
• 2008/07/24: CSW: Report for state legislators describes costly damages in 8 states from global climatic disruption
• 2008/07/25: EnvEcon: State-by-state costs of climate inaction
• 2008/07/25: SciDaily: Costs Of Climate Change, State-by-state: Billions, Says New [UMD] Report
• 2008/07/24: C411: 12 State Reports: Cost of Inaction
• 2008/07/23: PhysOrg: Costs of climate change, state-by-state: Billions, says UMD
• 2008/07/23: Eureka: Costs of climate change, state-by-state: Billions, says UMD
  Climate change will carry a price tag of billions of dollars for a number of U.S. states, says a new series of reports from the University of Maryland's Center for Integrative Environmental Research (CIER). The researchers conclude that the costs have already begun to accrue and are likely to endure. Combining existing data with new analysis, the eight studies project the long term economic impact of climate change on Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey and Ohio. Studies on additional states are in the works.

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

• 2008/07/24: GristMill: Slippery troupe - McCain spokesfolk say that offshore drilling is 'the right thing for the environment'
• 2008/07/24: GristMill: Major League - LCV [League of Conservation Voters] President Gene Karpinski on the race for the White House
• 2008/07/23: ClimateP: McCain 'nukes the fridge': Now he believes that doing nothing can lower oil prices
• 2008/07/22: FactCheck: A Full Tank of Nonsense
• 2008/07/21: GristMill: USA Today on Obama, on coal -- Has the candidate's stance shifted?
• 2008/07/: SAEF: An open letter to the 44th President of the United States and the 111th U.S. Congress
• 2008/07/21: NEN: Elder statesmen to next pres: energy crisis coming

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2008/07/21: ThinkP: O'Reilly Attacks Gore For Attending Netroots Nation: 'The Same As If He Stepped Into The Klan Gathering'

  While in the UK:

• 2008/07/27: Guardian(UK): UK scientists hit out at new coal station plans
• 2008/07/26: Guardian(UK): Role of energy giants in UK - The problems inside France's nuclear industry could not come at a worse time for Britain
• 2008/07/24: Yahoo: UK 'blocking' EU green energy plans
• 2008/07/20: Times(UK): BAA invented [virtual] 'green' jumbo to help win Heathrow case
• 2008/07/23: BBC: Renewables mandate 'undermined' - The UK's business department, BERR, has been accused of trying to sabotage Europe's rules on renewable energy
• 2008/07/24: Guardian(UK): Don't be fooled by the climate change bill. Carbon trading torpedoes it
  The rigged statistics and exported emissions will render worthless the apparently radical targets Labour is now setting
• 2008/07/22: ClimateP: 'Plane Stupid' climate activist tries to superglue himself to Gordon Brown
• 2008/07/22: DailyMail: Activist tries to superglue himself to Gordon Brown
• 2008/07/23: Guardian(UK): Domestic energy costs: Energy-saving pilot project cuts carbon emissions by a fifth
• 2008/07/22: ENN: The UK's Green New Deal to Combat Economic Depression, Climate Change
• 2008/07/22: Guardian(UK): Coal-fired power stations will lock UK into a high-emissions future, say MPs
• 2008/07/22: BBC: Clean deadline call on coal power
  The government should set a deadline for coal-fired power stations to adopt "clean" technologies or close, according to a parliamentary committee. The Environment Audit Committee says the government is wrong to believe that a carbon market alone will persuade companies to invest in "clean coal". Its report warns that progress in this area is "extremely disappointing".
• 2008/07/21: Guardian(UK): Will the Green New Deal deliver?

  And in Europe:

• 2008/07/24: DerSpiegel: A Green Revolution off Germany's Coast
  The German government envisions thousands of wind turbines in the waters off the country's northern coast. Construction on the first project begins in August. And many more are in the planning stages. Has Germany's offshore energy revolution finally arrived?

Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2008/07/26: ABC(Au): Climate change warning
  Tasmania's most senior health official has warned that climate change could have a bigger impact on the state's medical future than our ageing population.
• 2008/07/25: ABC(Au): Climate change forcing lobster industry to adapt
• 2008/07/25: ABC(Au): PM in Cairns to look at reef coral bleaching
• 2008/07/25: ABC(Au): Senate to probe Govt solar means-testing
• 2008/07/23: ABC(Au): Migrants to fuel emissions increase: researchers
  Researchers have warned that greenhouse gas emissions will increase dramatically as immigration increases Australia's population.
• 2008/07/23: ABC(Au): [Queensland] Govt not considering solar power subsidy yet
  Queensland's Climate Change Minister [Andrew McNamara] says he is not considering a state subsidy for solar power systems at this stage.
• 2008/07/23: ABC(Au): Vic Govt encourages geothermal energy exploration
• 2008/07/22: ABC(Au): Don't rule out nuclear power: [Former prime minister Bob] Hawke

  There was a lot of chatter about the proposed emissions trading system [Aus ETS]:

• 2008/07/25: ABC(Au): Dairy industry will lose 'millions' over greenhouse gas emissions: researcher
  A researcher into climate change says inaction by the dairy industry over greenhouse gas emissions could cost it millions. Dr Warren Mason, from Dairy Australia, spoke at the state dairy conference yesterday about the introduction of a carbon trading scheme and the impacts of climate change.
• 2008/07/25: ABC(Au): [Opposition Treasury spokesman, Malcolm] Turnbull changes emissions trading stance
• 2008/07/25: ABC(Au): Rudd links reef survival to emissions scheme
• 2008/07/25: ABC(Au): Rudd assures coal power industry of emissions scheme support
• 2008/07/25: JQuiggin: How to get an ETS through the Senate
• 2008/07/25: SMH: LNG will get aid in emissions trade-off
  Kevin Rudd has signalled the first compromise in his emissions trading scheme by promising that the lucrative liquefied natural gas industry would be assisted to shield it from damage
• 2008/07/25: SMH: Climate change: feed it and weep or lead and reap [Sachs]
  Australia will reap important benefits from the carbon pollution reduction scheme. Properly, the Government has left itself considerable flexibility on several points, which will depend heavily on what other countries do. But the value of the scheme lies not in the details but in three more basic considerations. Australia can now lead economically, technologically and diplomatically in the global effort that lies ahead. A global climate control regime is on its way. It will almost surely not be a global emissions trading system, but a regime in which participating countries commit to national targets implemented through national means. The Government's proposals can work whether or not global trading comes to pass.
• 2008/07/24: ABC(Au): Coalition won't be pressured on emissions scheme: Hockey
  Federal Opposition frontbencher Joe Hockey says the Coalition will not be forced into declaring when it believes an emissions trading scheme should start.
• 2008/07/24: ABC(Au): Opposition to clarify emissions trading scheme stance
• 2008/07/23: ABC(Au): Liberal rivals playing politics with climate change: Rudd
  Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the plan for an emissions trading scheme has become entangled with the Federal Opposition's leadership struggle. The Federal Government wants to introduce a carbon reduction scheme from 2010, but it could be delayed in the Senate. Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson says the scheme should not start until at least 2011, and preferably not until 2012.
• 2008/07/23: ABC(Au): Greens to work 'constructively' on emissions scheme
  Greens leader Bob Brown says his party will not put any pre-conditions on negotiations with the Federal Government on its emissions trading scheme. Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson has repeated today that the Coalition will not back the Government's preferred start-up date for the scheme of 2010.
• 2008/07/22: ABC(Au): [Environment Minister Peter] Garrett says Liberals 'clouding waters' on carbon trade
• 2008/07/22: ABC(Au): Carbon reduction scheme ads are fluffy: [Federal Opposition Leader Brendan] Nelson
• 2008/07/22: ABC(Au): Transition to emissions scheme won't be easy: [Climate Change Minister Penny] Wong
• 2008/07/22: ABC(Au): Turnbull attacks emissions scheme 'impractical' timing
  [Shadow] Federal treasury spokesman Malcolm Turnbull has attacked the Federal Government's proposal for an emissions trading scheme to be in place by 2010.
• 2008/07/21: GWWatch: People to Rudd: Grow spine, show climate leadership
• 2008/07/22: ABC(Au): Countdown to emissions scheme
  Outlining its preferred Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), the Australian Government's green paper recognises the unique complexities that impede agriculture's coverage.
• 2008/07/21: ABC(Au): BP economist backs Govt's emissions scheme
  A leading global economist has endorsed the Federal Government's push for an emissions trading scheme saying it will work better than a carbon tax. Petroleum company BP's chief economist, Christof Ruehl, is in Perth presenting the data he has collated on world energy markets. He says latest figures from Europe show emissions are being lowered because of its trading scheme and he says carbon is currently selling for about 28 Euros.

While in India:

• 2008/07/25: BBC: Power crisis hits Indian states
  Authorities in the western Indian state of Maharashtra have announced tough measures to deal with a power crisis. The state's 250,000 industries will now get power only five days a week and malls and government offices have been told to reduce energy consumption. Scanty rains, growing demand for power and lack of new power plants has led to shortages in others parts of India too. The southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are also reeling under severe power shortage. In the last few days the two states have also announced a slew of measures to curb their energy use.

And in China:

• 2008/07/24: ChinaDaily: Doubts rise over economics of ecological city

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

• 2008/07/26: G&M: The Tories' almost forgotten [climate change] policy
• 2008/07/25: TStar: [Federal Environment Minister John] Baird questions climate proposal from provinces - Minister touts federal plan as tougher than provincial scheme for cap-and-trade system

  The Tories tried to hide another climate report that didn't suit their ideology:

• 2008/07/24: G&M: Federal climate change report warns of health problems
• 2008/07/23: CSW: Canadian government mimics US "quiet release" method for major climate and health report
• 2008/07/23: G&M: Health report to get 'low-profile' release
  The Conservative government is planning a quiet release for a major Health Canada report that warns of the harmful impact of climate change on the health of Canadians, particularly the young, elderly and aboriginals. Should the department follow through with its communications plan, it will be the second time this year that the government has taken such an approach with a major climate-change study.
• 2008/07/23: Maribo: Canadian government hiding climate change reports

  The Liberal Green Shift carbon tax plan is still being debated:

• 2008/07/26: Canoe: Baird calls Grits' carbon tax proposal 'pay and pollute'
• 2008/07/26: OSun: Votes 'real test' for Liberal's Green Shift
• 2008/07/25: RPE: A Carbon Tariff is Eminently Sensible
• 2008/07/25: BaDH: Leading advocate [NAPO head, Rob Rainer] says Dr. Dion's carbon tax will leave people in poverty
• 2008/07/25: G&M: Liberal MPs still undecided on carbon tariff
  Caucus members say they're not yet committed to import-duty plan, while Conservatives and NDP deride it The Liberal caucus has yet to decide whether it favours new import duties on goods from high-polluting countries, agriculture critic Wayne Easter said yesterday. A day earlier, party leader Stéphane Dion said a Liberal government would impose a "carbon tariff" on countries that were not doing enough to combat global warming. Mr. Dion said the tariff could also be used to help Canadian farmers by raising the price of imports.
• 2008/07/25: CanWest: Green Plan policy for environment or tax reform?
  Liberal leader Stéphane Dion is hitting the barbecue circuit this summer, selling his Green Shift plan and daring the Conservative government to call a fall election on his promise to implement a carbon tax.
• 2008/07/24: G&M: Dion touts tariffs for 'free-riders' - Liberal Leader proposes action against climate-change villains while hinting at a fall vote
• 2008/07/23: BCLSB: Stephane Dion Will Act On High Gas Prices!
• 2008/07/22: APIL: Suzuki Proves Why Liberals are Needed to go Green

  While in Ontario:

• 2008/07/26: TStar: The real cost of logging in the Boreal Forest
• 2008/07/21: GristMill: Howdy, Ontario - A big addition to the Western Climate Initiative

  Wrangling over the BC climate plan continues:

• 2008/07/22: Tyee: Gordon Campbell's Moving Targets - How to make the environment's numbers add up. In search of a level playing field in the climate change numbers game.
• 2008/07/23: Tyee: Wanted: A Real Climate Change Vision
  What Campbell gets wrong, that ordinary BCers have right. What's missing is a clear vision for B.C.'s new green economy.
• 2008/07/21: Google:CP: No pressure on feds to join Western Climate Change Initiative, says B.C. premier
• 2008/07/22: ChronicleHerald: B.C. premier: No rift with Ottawa on climate change
• 2008/07/20: NEN: Canada's carbon tax: How's it setting in?
• 2008/07/21: HillTimes: Libs have 'information job to do' on carbon tax plan, getting 'feedback' on diesel prices - Rural Liberal MP Wayne Easter says there's 'a lot of messaging to be done.'
• 2008/07/25: G&M: Tories to take aim at carbon taxes in buildup to race for B.C. seats

  The tricky & difficult question of the tar sands looms in both Alberta & Saskatchewan:

• 2008/07/25: CBC: Sask. First Nations strike tarsands deal with Taiwan firm
  A group of Saskatchewan First Nations has turned to Taiwan's Chinese Petroleum Corp. to help them get a foothold in the province's fledgling tarsands play. The Indian Oilsands Group recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the state-owned refining company that will kick-start work on the project, Oilsands Group spokesman Ken Thomas told a Saskatoon news conference Thursday. The Oilsands Group includes four First Nations -- Beardy's-Okemasis, Flying Dust, Witchekan Lake and Cowessess -- as well as the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.
• 2008/07/22: G&M: Climate brinkmanship in Alberta, Saskatchewan

  And then there is the miscellaneous Canadiana:

• 2008/07/16: DS: New report shows provincial action on climate change heating up

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

• 2008/07/24: JQuiggin: Should companies pursue social goals?
• 2008/07/22: LA Times: Toward a Type 1 civilization - Along with energy policy, political and economic systems must also evolve.

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

• 2008/07/25: PhysOrg: Population policy needed for the UK in order to combat climate change
  The biggest contribution UK couples can make to combating climate change would be to have only two children or at least have one less than they first intended, argues an editorial published on BMJ.com today.
• 2008/07/23: SMH: Population time bomb ticking on emissions
• 2008/07/22: CanberraTimes: Population bomb 'ticks louder than climate'

  Apocalypso anyone?

• 2008/07/26: AlterNet: Massive Economic Disaster Seems Possible -- Will Survivalists Get the Last Laugh?

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2008/07/24: PRWatch: Will Global Warming Revive Good Journalism?

  Here is something for your library:

• 2008/07/27: NYT: Nothing to Eat [Book Review] _The End of Food_ by Paul Roberts
• 2008/07/24: QuarkSoup: Dire Predictions

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2008/07/26: BSD: My "Dark Knight" review: go see WALL-E

  Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

• 2008/07/27: ClimateP: A bone to pick with T. Boone Pickens
• 2008/07/26: ClimateP: Another Energy Monster is Lurking - rising costs of home heating
• 2008/07/27: PeakEnergy: Chopping To Keep Warm
• 2008/07/25: DeSmogBlog: Where's the best place for wind power?
• 2008/07/24: IAEA: A Global Agency is Needed for the Energy Crisis by Mohamed ElBaradei
• 2008/07/27: WaPo: Why This Run-Up Is Different
• 2008/07/26: PeakEnergy: El Baradei: A Global Agency is Needed for the Energy Crisis
• 2008/07/25: NGE: Build the World's Biggest "Batteries" (seriously)
• 2008/07/24: EnvFin: E.ON and Dong swoop in to save London Array [wind project]
• 2008/07/25: BBC: Oil prices slip to seven-week low [US$123.26 a barrel]
• 2008/07/25: ERabett: Darth Entropy eats the Space Cadets' lunch
• 2008/07/25: MTobis: Limits to Clean Energy
• 2008/07/25: TreeHugger: Two Small Renewable Energy Firsts: Offshore Wind Power in Germany, Solar Photovoltaic in Greece
• 2008/07/25: Yahoo: Oil prices drop to 124 dollars in New York
• 2008/07/25: Guardian(UK): China's renewable energy revolution (15 pictures)
• 2008/07/24: WorldChanging: In Windy West Texas, An Economic Boom
• 2008/07/23: CSM: Where would America's renewable energy come from?
• 2008/07/24: ETS: Electricity Expert [Dan] Scotto: U.S. Power Rates to Double Over Next 5 Years Due Primarily To Lack of Supply (Part 2 of 4)
• 2008/07/24: PeakEnergy: Shale oil vs Renewables - The Race Is On
• 2008/07/24: Reuters: Libya halts oil shipments to Switzerland [in protest at the arrest of Gaddafi's son]
• 2008/07/23: FTimes: A global agency is needed for the energy crisis by IAEA head, Mohamed ElBaradei
• 2008/07/22: ClimateP: Five reasons Pickens is now as tiresome as Madonna and Britney
• 2008/07/23: SciDaily: Better Than Power Grid: New Microgrid Network Proposed For More Dependable, Cheaper Power
• 2008/07/23: NEN: U.S. takes world lead in wind production
• 2008/07/23: NEN: Geothermal overlooked?
• 2008/07/23: OilChange: The 800 Billion Barrel 'Bargain Basement' Sale [US oil shale]
• 2008/07/22: CNN: Wind power: A reality check
  Plans are afoot to prod the nation into using much more renewable energy. Can it be done, and what's the cost?
• 2008/07/22: ClimateP: Stop the shale oil madness from destroying the climate -- and Colorado
• 2008/07/21: C411: Wind Power Gets a $5 Billion Boost in Texas
• 2008/07/21: QuarkSoup: US Oil Production
• 2008/07/22: TreeHugger: USA is the Number One Biggest Wind Energy Producer
• 2008/07/22: PeakEnergy: The London Array [wind farm] Is Back On
• 2008/07/21: ClimateP: Reframing the energy debate, Part 1: Time to stop using the phrase "renewable energy"
• 2008/07/22: ABC(Au): World dependent on fossil fuels for 20 years: CSIRO
  A CSIRO researcher says the world will be dependent on fossil fuels for energy generation for at least the next 20 years. Peter McCabe has spent more than 30 years researching the world's use of fossil fuels and will be a keynote speaker at a geoscience conference in Perth today. Dr McCabe says concerns about climate change should be addressed in the short term by energy conservation and by storing the carbon dioxide that results from burning fossil fuels underground. He says oil, gas and coal are used to generate up to 86 per cent of the world's energy, while wind, solar and geo-thermal sources account for less than 1 per cent.
• 2008/07/21: BBC: Plans to build Europe's largest onshore wind farm [548 megawatts] in South Lanarkshire have been approved by Scottish ministers

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2008/07/25: TreeHugger: The World's Largest Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant: 10 Megawatts
• 2008/07/25: NEN: Power company in first thin film power plant build
• 2008/07/24: TreeHugger: SHEC Labs has announced that they have developed the world's most efficient solar thermal energy technology.[at the prototype stage]
• 2008/07/24: TreeHugger: Massive Saharan Solar Project Could Power $71 Billion EU Supergrid
• 2008/07/24: NEN: Report: Big action in concentrating solar
• 2008/07/23: PhysOrg: First Solar: Quest for the $1 Watt
• 2008/07/22: QuarkSoup: Installed Solar Capacity
• 2008/07/23: PeakEnergy: Solar Thermal Coming To The Boil
• 2008/07/23: NYT: Harvest the Sun - From Space -- Satellites With Solar Panels Can Beam the Sun's Energy to Earth
• 2008/07/23: Guardian(UK): Solar power from Saharan sun could provide Europe's electricity, says EU
• 2008/07/23: Guardian(UK): £37bn plan to power EU with the Saharan sun
• 2008/07/22: TreeHugger: Solar Energy in the Sahara to Power Europe Gains Support

  As for coal:

• 2008/07/22: Stoat: What the price of coal means

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2008/07/25: PRWatch: Ethanol Lobby's "Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy" Seeks to Gorge on Tax Subsidies
• 2008/07/25: TreeHugger: First Commercial-Scale Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Approved for California

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2008/07/23: NatureN: US-India nuclear deal moves forward - Landmark agreement faces opposition from scientists and arms-control experts.
• 2008/07/23: PhysOrg: Hitachi, GE to develop smaller nuclear reactors
  Japan's Hitachi and US giant General Electric will team up to sell midsize nuclear reactors to meet growing demand for power facilities in Southeast Asia, a Hitachi spokesman said Wednesday.
• 2008/07/22: PRWatch: Nuclear "Renaissance" Dismissed as a "Carefully Fabricated Illusion"
• 2008/07/21: PeakEnergy: Amory Lovins On Nuclear Power

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2008/07/24: EnergyBulletin: The peak oil crisis: America's electricity
• 2008/07/23: KSJT: LA Times: A peak oil primer and update
• 2008/07/21: LompocRecord: The Perfect Storm: Peak oil meets global warming
• 2008/07/21: Times(UK): IEA warns non-Opec oil could peak in two years

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2008/07/25: ClimateP: Energy efficiency, Part 2: The limitless resource
• 2008/07/23: ClimateP: Energy efficiency is THE core climate solution, Part 1: The biggest low-carbon resource by far
• 2008/07/22: TreeHugger: Big LED Breakthrough at Purdue University Could Change the World

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

• 2008/07/26: AutoBG: Electric smart on its way for 2010
• 2008/07/25: NewScientist: 'Fuel battery' could take cars beyond petrol - part battery, part chemical fuel cell
• 2008/07/25: EnergyDaily: Hydrogen Vehicles Making Impressive Progress Toward Commercialization
• 2008/07/25: Yahoo: Honda reports record fiscal 1Q profit as demand in new markets offsets currency damage
• 2008/07/25: CBC: Electric cars a silent danger, Victoria blind advocates say
• 2008/07/25: Guardian(UK): US cars: Demise of American gas guzzler forces Ford to focus on European models
• 2008/07/23: KSJT: Lots of ink for plug-in hybrids (roundup)
• 2008/07/23: NewScientist: Driving towards the 100-mpg car [Auto X Prize director, John Shore interview]
• 2008/07/22: CBC: GM, utility companies study electric car impact
• 2008/07/23: PeakEnergy: (Another) EEStor Update
• 2008/07/22: TreeHugger: Matsushita to Increase Lithium-ion Battery Production by 300%
• 2008/07/22: NEN: Getting cars on the grid
• 2008/07/22: WSJ:EnvCap: Motor City Blues: How Ford and GM Cope With Pricey Gas
• 2008/07/21: KSJT: Chr. Science Monitor: Meet Dr. Plug-in, a man on a mission

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2008/07/23: WSJ:EnvCap: Corporate America: We Want Climate Action, Just Not Sure How

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2008/07/27: GWWatch: Genetic scientist ages L. Ron Bolt
• 2008/07/24: CSW: Michael MacCracken's analysis of errors in Robinson, Robinson, and Soon 2007 contrarian article
• 2008/07/26: Deltoid: Bellamy mystery solved
• 2008/07/26: GWWatch: L. Ron Bolt denies AGW thrice (today)
• 2008/07/23: DeSmogBlog: Fake Glacier Claim Rises Again
• 2008/07/24: Deltoid: Chilinger: if you assume that CO2 isn't a greenhouse gas then increasing it doesn't warm the Earth
• 2008/07/22: DeSmogBlog: Who is 'Rocket Scientist' David Evans?
• 2008/07/22: DiscoverMag: Global warming and partisan divides
  I find politically-based interpretation of science fascinating. Why would party affiliation have anything to do with how you view science?
• 2008/07/23: KSJT: The Australian: Pressure for a government review of climate science. Maybe IPCC got it wrong?
• 2008/07/22: ClimateP: Deniers are winning in UK, too.
• 2008/07/21: BSD: I've created a monster (but he's a nice monster)
• 2008/07/21: GWWatch: Rocket scientist brought back to earth
• 2008/07/22: OilChange: The oil industry wins again...
• 2008/07/21: Guardian(UK): Why does Channel 4 seem to be waging a war against the greens?
• 2008/07/21: BCLSB: The Lonely Denier: Meet Gerald E. King

  The APS nonsense continues:

• 2008/07/25: NewScientist:EnvBlog: Is climate scepticism the new flat Earth theory?
• 2008/07/25: Deltoid: Monckton and the APS
• 2008/07/24: ClimateP: How to diss-a-peer: Real Climate Scientists take on TVMOB
• 2008/07/23: RealClimate: Once more unto the bray
• 2008/07/19: CPP: klimate kerfuffle
• 2008/07/21: DeSmogBlog: Dennis Avery kills climate change AND Maggie Thatcher
• 2008/07/20: CSW: Combatting an attempt by the disinformation campaign to hijack an American Physical Society forum
• 2008/07/21: JEB: Journalist writes drivel in shock horror probe [APS]
• 2008/07/20: Deltoid: More Monckton
• 2008/07/19: DeSmogBlog: C. Monckton: Complaints and Critiques

  Not to mention the TGGWS & OFCOM fiasco:

• 2008/07/24: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Volcanic row over climate change film rumbles on
• 2008/07/23: JEB: More on the OFCOM swindle
• 2008/07/23: Deltoid: I must be psychic
• 2008/07/22: Guardian(UK): It's not we who make the public sceptical on climate change - Don't blame Channel 4. It is greens trying to stamp out dissent who harm their own cause
• 2008/07/23: Guardian(UK): [Letters] A fig leaf for global warming sceptics [TGGWS]
• 2008/07/22: NatureCF: Slap on the wrist for 'Swindle'
• 2008/07/21: DotEarth: Regulators: 'Swindle' Climate Film Unfair but Not Harmful
• 2008/07/22: JEB: The Great OFCOM Swindle
• 2008/07/21: MTobis: How the Public is Deliberately Misled
• 2008/07/22: Deltoid: Ofcom round up
• 2008/07/21: Deltoid: Ofcom rules that The Great Global Warming Swindle was biased and unfair
• 2008/07/20: Stoat: TGGWS again: oh lordy
• 2008/07/22: GWWatch: Royal Society gives Great Global Warming swindler a Right Royal Bollocking
• 2008/07/21: DeSmogBlog: Royal Society releases statement on Swindle Ofcom Ruling
• 2008/07/22: SMH: Climate program swindled viewers
• 2008/07/21: Guardian(UK): Channel 4 ruled 'unjust and unfair' in climate change documentary
• 2008/07/21: Guardian(UK): The public has been swindled
  Ofcom's censure of Channel 4 is flawed: The Great Global Warming Swindle clearly misled viewers about climate change
• 2008/07/21: Guardian(UK): Global warming documentary: The Ofcom report at a glance
• 2008/07/22: Guardian(UK): Watchdog's verdict on Channel 4 climate film angers scientists - Regulator accused of letting makers off hook
• 2008/07/22: Guardian(UK): Ofcom's findings on The Great Global Warming Swindle
  Ofcom says it received 265 complaints about the programme's factual accuracy. Three individuals or organisations - Sir David King, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Prof Carl Wunsch - also complained about the way they were portrayed.
• 2008/07/21: NatureTGB: Global warming swindle only swindled some
• 2008/07/21: KSJT: Guardian: UK's Channel 4 rapped by government overseer for bad environmental reporting
• 2008/07/21: BBC: A reluctant whistle-blower
  Channel 4's The Great Global Warming Swindle documentary, broadcast in March 2007, broke Ofcom rules, the UK media regulator has ruled. The controversial programme, which presented the view that climate change was not primarily caused by burning fossil fuels, attracted a range of criticisms from viewers, including a number of leading climate scientists. Dave Rado, who co-ordinated a formal complaint to Ofcom, explains why he felt compelled to challenge the programme's contents.
• 2008/07/21: DeSmogBlog: Media coverage slams the Great Global Warming Swindle
• 2008/07/21: DeSmogBlog: Former Royal Society Spokesperson weighs in on Ofcom's global warming swindle decision
• 2008/07/21: DeSmogBlog: UK's Channel 4 Green War [...] "Why does Channel 4 seem to be waging a war against the greens?"
• 2008/07/21: BBC: The Great Global Warming Swindle, a controversial Channel 4 film, broke OFCOM rules, the media regulator says

  Then there was the usual news and commentary:

• 2008/07/27: SciDaily: Wealth Does Not Dictate Concern For The Environment, Study Finds
• 2008/07/26: Guardian(UK): Making a climate crisis into a drama
  You may think the BBC's Burn Up was far-fetched. Believe me, having witnessed climate negotiations myself, it was anything but
• 2008/07/27: Guardian(UK): Actions speak louder than a lot of government hot air
• 2008/07/26: MTobis: Is "Climate Change" Everything?
• 2008/07/26: TreeHugger: 14 Ways People Will React To Climate Change: How Accurate Were Our 2005 Predictions?
• 2008/07/26: Guardian(UK): A new spiritual politics of limits
• 2008/07/24: EnvFin: Corporations lack access to carbon data - report
• 2008/07/25: Guardian(UK): Back to basics on climate change
• 2008/07/25: GristMill: Myth: All solutions to climate chaos raise prices - Busted: Majority of emissions cuts can come from public spending
• 2008/07/25: Scotsman: Call to dub climate change 'a catastrophe'
  The government should stop talking about global warming and start using the term "climate catastrophe", a leading scientist [Dr Richard Pike, chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry] said yesterday.
• 2008/07/24: GristMill: Target practice - On the art of setting (and hitting) emission targets
• 2008/07/23: TP:WonkRoom: Polluter Profits Surge On 'High Crimes Against Humanity'
• 2008/07/23: Guardian(UK): Cartoonists use humour to tackle climate change
• 2008/07/21: Guardian(UK): Global warming is a brutal truth
• 2008/07/21: ENN: Climate report calls for leaders with vision
• 2008/07/21: ENN: Human rights a 'compass' for climate change policies
• 2008/07/20: TimesArgus: Energy Matters: Neighbors to help neighbors through winter of high prices
• 2008/07/21: PeakEnergy: Much Ado, But Nothing Being Done

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

• USGS: Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal
• Farm Policy
• CB: Clean Break
• Ofcom Swindle Complaint website
• LDEO: Persistent drought in North America: a climate modeling and paleoclimate perspective
• ScienceBlogs
• Intersection
• Deltoid - Tim Lambert
• Stoat
• UK RoyalSociety: Climate change documents
• Ross Gelbspan: The Heat is Online
• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
• EESI: Climate Change News
• CMDL:NOAA: CCGG: Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases Group
• EESI: Environmental and Energy Study Institute
• SPARC: Science Policy Assessment and Research on Climate
• Global Warming Factsheets

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.

"...when we look at all three of these seemingly intractable challenges at the same time, we can see the common thread running through them, deeply ironic in its simplicity: our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels is at the core of all three of these challenges - the economic, environmental and national security crises. We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change. But if we grab hold of that common thread and pull it hard, all of these complex problems begin to unravel and we will find that we're holding the answer to all of them right in our hand." -Al Gore July 17, 2008

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