Sipping from the internet firehose...
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H.E.Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
August 10, 2008
- Top Stories:UK Warming, Tropical Rainfall, Forest CO2, Melting Arctic, Arctic Geopolitics
- Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
- Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, ENSO, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Satellites
- Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Wildfires, Floods & Droughts
- Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering
- Journals, Misc. Science, Hansen, Pielke
- Carbon Trade, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
- Politics:WCI, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, China, Japan, Canada
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books
- Energy, High Cost Impacts, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Greenwashing
- Carbon Lobby, The Usual, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
- 2008/08/07: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Tire Gauges
- 2008/08/06: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Energy Policy
- 2008/08/06: N3xus6: (cartoon - ?) A New Hero Is Born
- 2008/08/04: ClimateP: Vote for best cartoon about Bush interference in science
A report out of the UK warns the nation to prepare for drastic (4C+) warming:
- 2008/08/09: QuarkSoup: Prepare for 4 C
- 2008/08/07: NatureTGB: Four degrees of doom!
- 2008/08/07: TreeHugger: Prepare For 4 Degree Celsius Rise in Temperature, Top UK Government Scientist Warns
- 2008/08/06: Guardian(UK): Prepare for global temperature rise of 4C, warns top scientist
Defra's chief adviser [Professor Bob Watson] says we need strategy to adapt to potential catastrophic increase - 2008/08/07: Guardian(UK): Climate change - Planning for the worst
- 2008/08/07: Guardian(UK): Climate change catastrophe by degrees
Bob Watson rightly warns us to prepare for 4C global warming. To avoid that, we must make drastic CO2 cuts now - 2008/08/07: KSJT: Guardian: An essay on a climate Cassandra, and why to listen to him
Another report on warming and rainfall:
- 2008/08/07: Science: (ab$) Atmospheric Warming and the Amplification of Precipitation Extremes by Richard P. Allan & Brian J. Soden
- 2008/08/08: KSJT: Miami Herald, NYTimes, lots more: Warming climate means more rain
- 2008/08/08: ClimateP: Science: Extreme rains supercharged by warming
- 2008/08/08: TreeHugger: Get Ready For More Flooding: Tropical Warming Statistically Linked to Increased Rainfall
- 2008/08/07: Reuters: Tropical downpours worsening, say scientists
- 2008/08/07: Eureka: Climate change: When it rains it (really) pours -- Upcoming study in Science says warmer climates lead to more extreme rainstorms
A report on forest absorption of CO2 was notable for the widly disparate angles taken:
- 2008/08/09: AutoBG: Australian study shows that planted trees capture less CO2
- 2008/08/06: PhysOrg: Protecting natural forests crucial for climate change
- 2008/08/05: TerraDaily: Scientists warn forest clearing more harmful than thought
- 2008/08/05: ABC(Au): Calls for immediate moratorium on old growth logging
- 2008/08/05: NewScientist: IPCC 'wrong' on logging threat to climate
- 2008/08/05: TreeHugger: 60% Worse Than We Thought: IPCC Wrongly Estimates Logging Impact on Climate Change
- 2008/08/04: Reuters: Untouched forests store 3 times more carbon: study
The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:
- 2008/08/10: Guardian(UK): Meltdown in the Arctic is speeding up -- Scientists warn that the North Pole could be free of ice in just five years' time instead of 60
- 2008/08/09: NewScientist: Satellites help explain Greenland ice loss mystery
- 2008/08/08: CBC: High Arctic surveillance study hampered by strong winds
- 2008/08/06: AFTIC: The intricacies of sea ice formation
- 2008/08/05: CanWest: Arctic ice depleted by half in 6 years of 'drastic thinning:' researcher
- 2008/08/04: CCurrents: A Voyage Into The Great Arctic Meltdown
- 2008/08/06: CBC: 'Land that never melts' is melting: Erosion probed in Nunavut park
- 2008/08/06: CanWest: 'Drastic thinning' of ice in Arctic hits 50 per cent -- Could bring ice-free North Pole in summer, seven-year study says
- 2008/08/04: Tamino: To AR1 or not to AR1? [arctic sea ice extent]
- 2008/08/05: PeakEnergy: The Great Arctic Meltdown
- 2008/08/04: PhysOrg: Undersea 'black smokers' found off Arctic: Swiss scientists
- 2008/08/04: ENN: For second year in a row, melt may open Northwest Passage
- 2008/08/04: SciDaily: Investigating [Arctic] Sea Ice Decline
- 2008/08/04: SMH: Voyage into the Arctic as the summer ice vanishes
- 2008/08/04: SMH: Cold Rush for Arctic's energy riches
And the geopolitics:
- 2008/08/09: Yahoo: Canada says science backs up its Arctic claim
- 2008/08/09: CanWest: U.S. shifts priorities in Arctic to security -- Chertoff makes unannounced visit to Alaska to check out coast guard operations
- 2008/08/09: G&M: Canada challenges Russian Arctic sovereignty claim
- 2008/08/06: CBC: New Arctic map puts focus on 'areas of uncertainty'
- 2008/08/07: WpgFP: Canada poised to make big claim on Arctic riches - Case to be presented in race for vast oil and gas reserves
- 2008/08/07: TStar: Who owns resource-rich Arctic? Map blending geological data, international law offers a new look at overlapping claims
- 2008/08/06: NatureTGB: Mapping the Arctic dispute
- 2008/08/06: KSJT: Wires, Brit and Canada press: New Arctic map is just the thing for a slightly less chaotic land rush way up north
- 2008/08/06: NewScientist: Map shows front lines of Arctic carve-up
- 2008/08/06: TreeHugger: New Arctic Map Shows Just What Boundaries We'll Be Fighting Over For Oil
- 2008/08/04: Reuters: Norway completes seismic scan in pristine Arctic [near the Lofoten islands]
- 2008/08/05: CCurrents: Pressures Mount Over Arctic Energy Resources
- 2008/08/05: McClatchyDC: In Arctic 'cold war,' Russia plows ahead
- 2008/08/05: WSWS: Pressures mount over Arctic energy resources
- 2008/08/06: CBC: New Arctic map puts focus on 'areas of uncertainty'
- 2008/08/06: AFP: Arctic map flags up territorial disputes over oil
- 2008/08/05: BBC: Arctic Map shows dispute hotspots
British scientists say they have drawn up the first detailed map to show areas in the Arctic that could become embroiled in future border disputes. - 2008/08/04: CanWest: Canada must prepare for new Arctic age - Huge changes pose challenge for government
The food crisis remains a top story:
- 2008/08/07: IRNA: UK food prices up 9.5 per cent in past year
- 2008/08/07: HeraldTrib: From food bank's chief, insight into hungry U.S.
- 2008/08/08: BDL: North Korea Watch: The Famine Wolf Is Here
- 2008/08/06: WSWS: Famine in East Africa: Catastrophe threatens as food prices rise
- 2008/08/05: JFleck: Starvation, Africa and Climate Change
- 2008/08/05: DailyTimes(Pk): Food, energy crises hit Pakistan, India hard
The conflict between biofuel and food persists:
- 2008/08/06: GristMill: More on the World Bank and food prices -- Why the Bank itself bears its share of responsibility for the global food crisis
- 2008/08/04: IndiaTimes: Biodiesel mission set to pull down shutters
New Delhi: The national mission on biodiesel appears to have been given a quiet burial with a group of ministers (GoM) shelving the programme even before it took off. The decision comes even as countries across the world debate whether diversion of farm land for biofuel led to the rally and shortage in food grains. - 2008/08/05: TreeHugger: Indian National Biodiesel Promotion Plan Given a 'Quiet Burial'
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
- 2008/08/08: Asia Times: Food crisis sows seed for change
- 2008/08/08: EUO: EU predicts better harvest will cool food price tensions
- 2008/08/07: GristMill: Price is nice -- As energy costs rise, supply chains go local
- 2008/08/07: GristMill: An agricultural Waterloo -- Globalization failed, cheap oil is gone, local production is the only way forward
- 2008/08/05: GristMill: Urban farming gets its day in the sun -- Amid climate crisis and rising costs, big media discovers city-grown food
- 2008/08/06: CBC: Agrium posts best-ever quarter
Agrium Inc. posted its highest-ever quarterly earnings on Wednesday, one day after the Egyptian government cancelled plans for the company's controversial new fertilizer plant. The Calgary-based phosphate and potash heavyweight earned $636 million US, or $4 a share, for the April to June period this year. Those results represented a huge jump compared to the $229 million, or $1.70 a share, Agrium made for the second quarter of 2007. - 2008/08/05: OLJ: WTO talks: A tsunami averted
- 2008/08/05: AllAfrica: IRIN: Zimbabwe: Winter Wheat On Course for Smallest Ever Crop
- 2008/08/04: SciDaily: Traditional Forms Of Agriculture: Unexpected Degree Of Diversity, Time-honored Principles
Cyclones Edouard, Hernan, Kammuri & Kika blew around:
- 2008/08/08: CBC: Hurricane Herman forms far off Mexico's Pacific coast
- 2008/08/06: TerraDaily: South China evacuates nearly 400,000 as storm [Kammuri] approaches
- 2008/08/07: ChinaDaily: Tropical storm Kammuri makes new landfall in S China
- 2008/08/06: Wunderground: Edouard brings welcome rains to Texas
- 2008/08/05: Wunderground: Edouard makes landfall
- 2008/08/05: BBC: Tropical Storm Edouard hits Texas
- 2008/08/05: CBC: [Tropical storm] Edouard hits Texas with strong winds, heavy rain
- 2008/08/03: CNN: Edouard could soon bring twisters to Louisiana, Texas
Edouard could reach hurricane strength before landfall, forecasters say - Storm expected to make landfall in Texas early Tuesday, forecasters say - 2008/08/04: Wunderground: Edouard springs to life, threatens Texas/Louisiana
- 2008/08/04: Wunderground: Edouard moving toward Texas
- 2008/08/04: BBC: An offshore oil port has been forced to close and workers are leaving oil platforms as Tropical Storm Edouard moves over the Gulf of Mexico
- 2008/08/04: Yahoo: Tropical Storm Edouard aims for Texas, Louisiana coast
Otherwise in the hurricane wars:
- 2008/08/09: Wunderground: Updated hurricane season predictions from CSU, NOAA, and TSR
- 2008/08/08: NatureTGB: Atlantic hurricane forecast dialed up
- 2008/08/08: Wunderground: August hurricane outlook, part II: steering currents
- 2008/08/08: SciDaily: NOAA Forecasts Even Stronger Atlantic Hurricane Season For 2008 Than Earlier Prediction
- 2008/08/08: DailyIndia: Burmese comedian may be jailed for helping Cyclone Nargis victims
- 2008/08/07: NOAANews: Strong Start Increases NOAA's Confidence for Above-Normal Atlantic Hurricane Season
- 2008/08/07: Wunderground: August hurricane outlook, part I: SSTs
- 2008/08/07: BBC: One of Burma's most popular comedians [Zarganar] has been charged with several offences, after he defied the military by giving aid to the victims of Cyclone Nargis
- 2008/08/05: TerraDaily: US experts [CSU] predict more active hurricane season
- 2008/08/05: BBC: Burmese still struggling after cyclone
It has been three months since Cyclone Nargis struck Burma, leaving 130,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands homeless. - 2008/08/08: Tamino: Yet More CO2
- 2008/08/05: Tamino: Revising Mauna Loa CO2 Monthly Data
- 2008/08/04: Atmoz: Trends in Atmospheric CO2 Trends
- 2008/08/03: Tamino: Jump! [Mauna Loa CO2]
As for the temperature record:
- 2008/08/08: NOAANews: NOAA: U.S. Temperature Above Normal in July
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2008/08/07: MongaBay: Fossil finds grant new insight into the Antarctica's natural history
- 2008/08/05: KSJT: AP, NYTimes, Telegraph - In Antarctica flash-frozen moss reveals an ancient plunge into deep, polar climate
- 2008/08/05: TreeHugger: Really Abrupt Climate Change Really Happened
- 2008/08/04: NSF: Antarctic Fossils Paint a Picture of a Much Warmer Continent - Insects, ferns flourished, then flickered out millions of years ago as the tundra retreated
- 2008/08/05: ENN: Lost world frozen 14m years ago found in Antarctica
- 2008/08/04: NatureCF: The year the climate changed
On the ENSO front:
- 2008/08/05: ENN: Software predicts where El Nino will strike next
- 2008/08/03: Atmoz: On the Relationship between the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the Global Average Mean Temperature
Glaciers are melting:
- 2008/08/05: ENN: Tibetan plateau melts in the face of climate change
Sea levels are rising:
- 2008/08/05: DeSmogBlog: New NASA satellite map pinpoints worldwide sea level rise
While in near earth orbit:
- 2008/08/04: SpaceMart: ESA Meets Increasing Demand For Earth Observation Data
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2008/08/09: TreeHugger: Climate Change Will Make North Atlantic Invasion by Pacific Shellfish Possible
- 2008/08/08: Yahoo: Global warming threatens indigenous peoples: FAO
- 2008/08/08: BBC: Study examines bluetongue spread
- 2008/08/07: TerraDaily: Study: China's hail storms are decreasing
- 2008/08/08: CanWest: Pacific species set to invade warmer Arctic, Atlantic waters -- Ice-free conditions to cause reopening of migration route
- 2008/08/07: ABC(Au): East coast climate zones heading south: marine scientists
- 2008/08/07: NewScientist: China's smogs have surprise climate benefit [cutting emissions of methane from rice paddies]
- 2008/08/06: MongaBay: New mapping system shows how detailed climate changes will affect species
- 2008/08/06: PhysOrg: Carbon dioxide poses risk to marine life survival
Climate change and the subsequent acidification of the world's oceans will significantly reduce the successful fertilisation of certain marine species by the year 2100, an international team of biological scientists has found. - 2008/08/06: CanWest: Ontario: Great Lakes levels on the rebound
Water levels in the Great Lakes are rebounding from record lows a year ago and have reached their highest levels in four years, Environment Canada said yesterday - 2008/08/05: DeSmogBlog: Newly identified Antarctic Killer Whales at risk
- 2008/08/04: Eureka: Climate change and species distributions - How changing temperatures push living things to the edge
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2008/08/07: TerraDaily: Indonesia warns over forest fires on Borneo
The number of forest fires on Indonesian Borneo has soared over the past two days due to land clearing, raising concerns it could lead to haze over Malaysia and Singapore, an official said Thursday. More than 400 forest fires from traditional farming methods -- blamed for the smoke which shrouds the region annually -- were being monitored on Indonesian Borneo Thursday compared to 217 on Wednesday, officials said. - 2008/08/05: Eureka: The drivers of tropical deforestation are changing, say scientists [from poverty-driven to industry-driven]
- 2008/08/06: PeakEnergy: Palm Oil vs Orang Utans
- 2008/08/04: BizGreen: Brazil launches forestry investment fund
- 2008/08/05: NatureTGB: Rainforest news: looking for da Silva dollars
- 2008/08/05: ABC(Au): Australian forests enlisted in carbon fight
- 2008/08/03: TerraDaily: Indonesian forest fires spark haze fears in Malaysia
Yes we have no wacky weather, except:
- 2008/08/05: Google:AP: Violent storms cause damage in Ill. and Ind.
- 2008/08/05: CNN: Chicago slammed by severe thunderstorms, high winds
- 2008/08/04: WSJ:EnvCap: Stormy Weather: Is Global Warming to Blame?
- 2008/08/04: BBC: North France tornado kills three - A tornado has wreaked havoc in a small town in northern France, killing three people and injuring nine
As for wild fires:
- 2008/08/07: EarthTimes: Wildfires devastate thousands of hectares in Spain
- 2008/08/10: Guardian(UK): Wildfire risk to tinder-dry rural Britain
- 2008/08/03: TWM: California Wildfires...
And speaking of floods & droughts:
- 2008/08/09: CBC: More than 60 dead in Vietnam floods
- 2008/08/10: Guardian(UK): 'Big Dry' claims River Murray lakes -- After seven years of drought, flooding with seawater may be river system's only hope
- 2008/08/09: Novosti: Some 100 homes in west Ukraine still flooded after July rains
- 2008/08/09: Novosti: At least 60 dead as heavy rains hit north Vietnam
- 2008/08/09: BBC: Dozens killed in Vietnam floods
At least 62 people in northern Vietnam have been killed by flash floods and landslides caused by a tropical storm [Kammuri] - 2008/08/07: SciDaily: Some African Drought Linked To Warmer Indian Ocean, NASA Data Show
- 2008/08/05: TerraDaily: Eastern Europe floods kill 42 people, thousands evacuated: UN
- 2008/08/05: PhysOrg: NASA data show some African drought linked to warmer Indian Ocean
- 2008/08/05: Eureka: NASA data show some African drought linked to warmer Indian Ocean
- 2008/08/05: DailyTimes(Pk): Rain havoc kills 35, over 200,000 displaced
- 2008/08/05: CBC: Floods in Pakistan kill 27, leave thousands homeless
- 2008/08/04: CBC: Cottagers airlifted after flash floods, heavy rain in northwest N.B.
Elsewhere on the mitigation front:
- 2008/08/06: CColose: CO2 lifetime and the incompleteness of short term mitigation options
- 2008/08/09: BBC: Eat kangaroo to 'save the planet'
Switching from beef to kangaroo burgers could significantly help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, says an Australian scientist. The methane gas produced by sheep and cows through belching and flatulence is more potent than carbon dioxide in the damage it can cause to the environment. But kangaroos produce virtually no methane because their digestive systems are different. Dr George Wilson, of the Australian Wildlife Services, urges farming them. - 2008/08/08: ABC(Au): Roo meat the key to cutting greenhouses emissions, expert says
- 2008/08/08: WorldChanging: Can Cattle Save Us From Global Warming?
- 2008/08/08: WSJ:EnvCap: Kangaroo Courtship: Australia's Latest Plan to Fight Global Warming
- 2008/08/07: NatureTGB: Dutch get 'clean air concrete'
- 2008/08/08: AfterGutenberg: $350 billion for 350 ppm
- 2008/08/05: DeSmogBlog: McKinsey Report: $170 billion until 2020 to cool the planet
As for transportation & GHG production:
- 2008/08/07: CBC: Fares rising among northern airlines as fuel prices soar
- 2008/08/05: AutoBG: Electric plane flies at Oshkosh airshow
- 2008/08/05: AutoBG: Swiss proposal would be among the most extreme anti-car laws anywhere
- 2008/08/04: BostonGlobe: In US, gas prices mean more riders, fewer buses
While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:
- 2008/08/06: USAToday: 'Green' building codes sprout up across USA
- 2008/08/07: ChinaDaily: Rules on energy conservation in civilian buildings issued
- 2008/08/07: NEN: Mazria challenge: Carbon neutral buildings by 2030
- 2008/08/05: SF Gate: [San Francisco Mayor Gavin] Newsom signs strict green building codes into law
San Francisco took a major step Monday to cement its reputation as the most environmentally progressive city in the United States, as Mayor Gavin Newsom signed into law stringent green building codes for new construction and renovations of existing structures in the city. - 2008/08/07: KSJT: Scientific American News: Big gas-fired power plant + big cement plant = less CO2 in the air
- 2008/08/04: TreeHugger: Carbon Capture And Sequestration (CCS) Update: Capture Methods Highlighted By USDOE Grant
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- 2008/08/09: Xinhuanet: Beijing disperses rain to dry Olympic night
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2008/08/04: CP: Shifts in early spring wind regime in North-East Europe (1955-2007) by S. Keevallik & T. Soomere
- 2008/08/07: Science: (ab$) Atmospheric Warming and the Amplification of Precipitation Extremes by Richard P. Allan & Brian J. Soden
- 2008/08/05: ACP: Comparison of OMI ozone and UV irradiance data with ground-based measurements at two French sites by V. Buchard et al.
- 2008/08/05: ACPD: Mass concentrations of black carbon measured by four instruments in the middle of Central East China in June 2006 by Y. Kanaya et al.
- 2008/08/05: ACPD: Significant impact of the East Asia monsoon on ozone seasonal behavior in the boundary layer of Eastern China and the west Pacific region by Y. J. He et al.
- 2008/08/05: PNAS: Mid-Miocene cooling and the extinction of tundra in continental Antarctica by Adam R. Lewis
- 2008/07/03: EPL: (ab$) Pattern of climate network blinking links follows El Niño events by A. Gozolchiani et al.
Before we get into politics, there was some science done:
- 2008/08/06: PhysOrg: Aphids are sentinels of climate change
- 2008/08/06: MGS: Science on the way
- 2008/08/04: Guardian(UK): Scientists search for climate clues in Alaska glacier
- 2008/08/04: Eureka: Patagonian glacier yields clues for improved understanding of global climate change
- 2008/08/09: SciDaily: Global Warming Forecasts Not Taking Into Account Nanoscale Atmospheric Aerosols
- 2008/08/07: KSJT: Chr. Science Monitor: Soot is everywhere, is a problem, is an enigma...
- 2008/08/07: Eureka: Forward step in forecasting global warming [aerosols]
More Hansen:
- 2008/08/05: ClimateP: Hansen's trip report finds "sobering degree of self-deception" in Germany, UK, Japan
The Pielke fan clubbe put in an appearance:
- 2008/08/08: BSD: Mucking my way through Pielke Jr. (and the Volokhs)
- 2008/08/04: AFTIC: Pielke Jr. misses it again
As for carbon trading:
- 2008/08/06: CarbonFinance: Climate Exchange shares to be traded in US
Climate Exchange, the parent company of the Chicago Climate Exchange, is reaching out to US investors by establishing a Level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) programme. This will allow shares in the firm, which also owns Europe's leading carbon exchange the European Climate Exchange, to be traded in the US. - 2008/08/06: CarbonFinance: EU ETS prices bite into Drax's profits
- 2008/08/07: Reuters: EU says U.N. carbon market link to start October
- 2008/08/06: Google:AFP: EU and UN to link carbon trading registers by December: Brussels
- 2008/08/06: Reuters: U.N. to tighten rules on earning carbon offsets
- 2008/08/06: TerraDaily: EU and UN to link carbon trading registers by December: Brussels
- 2008/08/07: NEN: Emissions market primer -- Cap-and-trade is just over the U.S. horizon
- 2008/08/06: ChinaDaily: Energy exchanges launched
Two environment and energy exchanges were launched yesterday in Shanghai and Beijing, as the country increases efforts in emission cutting and energy conservation. - 2008/08/06: ENN: U.N. to tighten rules on earning carbon offsets
- 2008/08/05: Reuters: European carbon hits 5-month low on oil, no buyers [EU ETS]
- 2008/08/03: PDInquirer: Asia emerging as center of carbon trade program
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:
- 2008/08/08: ScruffyDan: Cap-and-trade systems are really just a hidden carbon tax
- 2008/08/05: AD: Either/or -- carbon tax vs cap and trade
- 2008/08/03: Atmoz: The future of carbon offsets
More on the WCI:
- 2008/08/08: WorldChanging: Inside WCI: Delay
- 2008/08/07: WorldChanging: Inside WCI: Offsets
- 2008/08/04: WorldChanging: Inside WCI: Linking
And on the American political front:
- 2008/08/08: NewScientist: Humans cause climate change, US body [CCSP] accepts
- 2008/08/08: NewScientist: US military launches war on global warming
- 2008/08/07: SF Gate: [Cal Pol] On transportation woes -- The planning void - land-use decisions
- 2008/08/07: CBC: 'Green-collar' jobs a growth area, U.S. group says
- 2008/08/06: WSJ:EnvCap: Tow the Line: Detroit Has Help Fighting New Fuel Economy Rules
- 2008/08/06: NatureTGB: Polar bear protection: Let the courts decide...
- 2008/08/05: Reuters: Alaska seeks to reverse U.S. polar bear decision
- 2008/08/04: GristMill: Now they're ready - The history of House Republicans on energy in the 110th Congress
- 2008/08/04: GristMill: A pox on the House - Republicans continue shenanigans in the Capitol
- 2008/08/05: C411: Concerned Citizens Plea for Stronger CAFE Standards [NHTSA hearing]
- 2008/08/05: ThinkP: O'Reilly Rejects Right-Wing Defense Of Big Oil's Massive Profits: Go Tell That To 'Some Old Lady In Minnesota'
- 2008/08/05: CBC: Alaska sues U.S. over polar bears' threatened-species status
- 2008/08/04: DotEarth: Are We Stuck With 'Blah, Blah, Blah, -- Bang'?
- 2008/08/03: GristMill: Color of change - Groups urge action as report finds black Americans are more likely to suffer in changing climate
Energy is shaping up to be the big 2008 issue:
- 2008/08/09: GristMill: Where there's a drill, there's a way -- New House bill combines drilling with tax extensions for renewables
- 2008/08/08: GristMill: Minority Leader report -- Boehner returns from golfing, says Republicans can win on offshore drilling
- 2008/08/07: PRWatch: Polls, Damn Polls and Offshore Drilling
- 2008/08/08: ClimateP: The truth about those opinion polls on offshore drilling
- 2008/08/08: TP:WonkRoom: Framing Of Polls On Energy Solutions Guides Coverage
- 2008/08/07: GristMill: Republicans to try some Newt tactics -- [unelected] Gingrich says Republicans will shut down gov't if they can't get a vote on drilling
- 2008/08/07: ClimateP: The difficulty of debunking a myth
- 2008/08/05: YCMF: Parsing Opinion Polls ... and Politics ... In Covering Offshore Drilling Campaign Issue
- 2008/08/07: OilChange: Offshore Drilling: Its All in How You Ask
- 2008/08/06: AngryBear: An Energy Proposal from Over 30 Years Ago
- 2008/08/06: NatureTGB: 'Drill here, drill now' ...there's little evidence that either party is up for more than grandstanding and political antics
- 2008/08/05: GristMill: Meet the new alternative ... Guess which 'alternative energy' lobby is biggest?
- 2008/08/06: ThinkP: After Failed 'Contract With America,' Gingrich Rallies The Right Behind New Contract With Energy Industry
- 2008/08/02: NatJo: How to Get Serious About Energy Policy
Politicians of both parties take it for granted that the American voter cannot tolerate an explicit tax on carbon. - 2008/08/06: PeakEnergy: Who Killed The Solar Tax Credit?
- 2008/08/06: FT:CCB: Getting serious about energy policy
- 2008/08/04: GristMill: Not so fast - Coastal governors stand in the way of offshore drilling, even if Congress approves it
- 2008/08/03: GristMill: What power politics looks like [US pol - energy]
- 2008/08/04: BBerg: Pickens, Gore Sidestep Differences in Alternative-Energy Quest
- 2008/08/04: ThinkP: [Rep. Roy] Blunt (R-MO) Defends Exxon's Record Profits: Stop Complaining That An 'American Company Made Money'
The Bush administration EPA has denied Texas' request for an ethanol waiver:
- 2008/08/08: IR^2: EPA Denies Ethanol Waiver
- 2008/08/08: AutoBG: Texas denied reduced ethanol requirements by EPA
- 2008/08/07: Reuters: EPA rejects Texas request to cut U.S. ethanol use
- 2008/08/07: GristMill: EPA: Corn ethanol is awesome! The discredited agency upholds the biofuel mandate
- 2008/08/07: Guardian(UK): US government rejects Texas request to halve ethanol target -- The move signals that America remains hungry for biofuels despite evidence of their role in the global food crisis
- 2008/08/07: NatureN: US backs its biofuels -- Environmental agency denies request to cut back on ethanol
- 2008/08/07: TreeHugger: Renewable Fuel Standards Waiver Request by Texas Governor Denied by Feds
- 2008/08/07: CNN: EPA rejects ethanol waiver request
Environmental agency says it will not curtail the government's ethanol production requirement despite request by Texas Gov. Rick Perry. - 2008/08/06: KSJT: Guardian: US biofuels policy, with ethanol the catalyst, in for big court test
Elsewhere in the EPA:
- 2008/08/07: GristMill: Johnson stands up for himself - EPA administrator says he's not pulling out
- 2008/08/07: ThinkP: EPA's Johnson says he's not resigning
- 2008/08/05: HillHeat: EPA Climate Career Staff Call Administrator's Actions 'Unprofessional,' 'Unprecedented,' 'Damaging'
- 2008/08/06: CSW: EPA union officials: Stephen Johnson subverted staff on global warming sound science and policy
- 2008/08/04: ENN: Conservation Coalition and States Will Sue EPA to Reduce Global Warming Pollution from Ships and Planes
Just another funding cut:
- 2008/08/08: CSW: Abrupt termination of NSF-funded climate humanitarian program raises fundamental questions
- 2008/08/07: KSJT: NYTimes: NCAR fires its Dr. AskMeAnything
- 2008/08/07: DotEarth: Dismay Over Cuts at Climate Lab
- 2008/08/07: NYT: Climate-Change Program to Aid Poor Nations Is Shut
- 2008/08/07: DeSmogBlog: US to Poor Countries: "Just Use Your Imagination!"
One hears a lot about the campaigns, not much about their climate & energy policies:
- 2008/08/10: GWWatch: Obama's Energy Plan: Really good
- 2008/08/06: GristMill: Gauge against the machine -- McCain now agrees that inflating your tires saves gasoline
- 2008/08/07: CNN: McCain's nuclear plan: Doable, but risky
- 2008/08/07: PeakEnergy: Homer Simpson Without The Donut
- 2008/08/05: GristMill: Flat tire -- What's the deal with Republican attacks on the tire gauge?
- 2008/08/05: TerraDaily: Thompson Files: Crisis denial syndrome
- 2008/08/06: NEN: The energy issue
- 2008/08/05: TP:WonkRoom: McCain's 'Comprehensive Approach' To Energy Does Not Include Clean Renewable Energy
- 2008/08/05: ThinkP: Exclusive: Auto Makers Deflate McCain's Ignorant Hot Air On Value Of Proper Tire Inflation
- 2008/08/06: AntiWar: My Energy Plan Is Better Than Yours
- 2008/08/05: ClimateP: Will McCain's cynical lies destroy the chance for serious energy and climate policy?
- 2008/08/05: DotEarth: The Obama Energy Speech, Annotated
- 2008/08/05: GristMill: Drill he or won't he? Enviros unhappy with Obama's offshore-drilling shift, but pleased with his energy plan
- 2008/08/05: HillHeat: Obama: New Energy for America
- 2008/08/05: PeakEnergy: John McCain Is A Stooge Of Big Oil
- 2008/08/05: WSJ:EnvCap: Obamanomics: An Energy Policy for November
- 2008/08/05: TP:WonkRoom: America's Auto-Makers: Congress Should Inflate Their Tires, Not Their Rhetoric
- 2008/08/04: ThinkP: McCain Mocks Obama With Tire Gauges, But Agrees That Inflating Car Tires Properly Will Save Energy
- 2008/08/05: FDL: A Car That Gets 150mpg? Hell Yes We Can.
- 2008/08/05: AngryBear: Hess Contributions Preceded McCain Drilling Flip-flop
- 2008/08/05: Guardian(UK): Obama shifts policy on offshore oil drilling as petrol prices soar
- 2008/08/04: Guardian(UK): Paying lip service to cap-and-trade
Barack Obama and John McCain both propose to reduce carbon emissions, but their plans face a sceptical American public - 2008/08/03: ClimateP: Since offshore oil is de minimis, why shouldn't Obama and the Dems make a deal? Part 1
- 2008/08/04: GristMill: Obama's new 'New Energy' plan - More drilling in exchange for comprehensive energy legislation
- 2008/08/04: GristMill: In Big Oil's Pocket - Obama releases new ad blasting's McCain's ties to oil industry
- 2008/08/04: TPM: Multiple Oil Company Executives Gave Huge Contributions To Electing McCain Just Days After Offshore Drilling Reversal
How do you think this will crack up?
- 2008/08/04: GristMill: California climate skirmish - Los Angeles utility starts to squawk as it stares down a $700 million carbon bill
While in the UK:
- 2008/08/08: Guardian(UK): Intense rainfall due to global warming could raise flood risk
- 2008/08/06: Guardian(UK): Drax profits halve as UK's largest source of CO2 pays price for soaring cost of carbon credits
- 2008/08/05: HExaminer: We told you what privatisation of the nation's energy would bring!
- 2008/08/04: Guardian(UK): Centrica may reactivate plans to bid for nuclear power generator
Centrica could dust off plans for a merger with British Energy if France's EDF abandons its attempt to take over Britain's nuclear power generator. - 2008/08/04: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Collective action to save the planet
How's Boris doing?
- 2008/08/08: Guardian(UK): Boris: no more energy for sustainability?
I knew the mayor would ditch some of his predecessor's more radical environmental plans, but he's pushing London back years - 2008/08/08: Guardian(UK): 100 days of Boris Johnson -- New mayor 'backtracking' on London's environmental progress
- 2008/08/06: Guardian(UK): London's congestion charge worked: don't scrap it now
The charge helped motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike move towards a sustainable transport system for the capital - 2008/08/10: Guardian(UK): Coal plant protesters injured in skirmishes with police
- 2008/08/09: Guardian(UK): Four arrested in breach of Kingsnorth power station security
- 2008/08/09: ENN: UK climate protesters fail to stop E.ON output
- 2008/08/07: QuarkSoup: UK Kingsworth protest
- 2008/08/06: BBC: Showdown looms for 'climate camp'
Protesters are aiming to shut down Kingsnorth power station on the Medway estuary in Kent this weekend. They oppose the decision of its owner, the energy company E.ON, to replace the ageing site with a brand-new coal-fired power station - the first such to be built in Britain for 30 years. - 2008/08/06: Guardian(UK): Plans for Kingsnorth push ahead despite 'clean coal' talks
- 2008/08/05: Guardian(UK): Coal plugs the energy gap -- for now
- 2008/08/05: Guardian(UK): Climate change protesters deny they are armed - Officers say searches of camp at Kingsnorth power station in Kent yielded knives and makeshift weapons
- 2008/08/05: NatureTGB: Dangerous weapons and boardgames seized at 'Climate Camp'
- 2008/08/08: Guardian(UK): Climate protesters arrested after gluing themselves to bank [UK pol]
- 2008/08/08: Guardian(UK): Kingsnorth climate camp: Police and protesters prepare for action
- 2008/08/07: Guardian(UK): Kingsnorth climate protesters target biofuel depot - Vopak site in Essex blockaded as part of week-long environment protest
- 2008/08/04: Guardian(UK): Dirty tactics to defend a dirty industry
- 2008/08/05: Guardian(UK): Climate activist arrested over breach of bail
- 2008/08/04: Guardian(UK): Anger at police raid on green camp ahead of coal protest
Environmental campaigners and politicians criticised the police last night after around 200 officers raided a climate camp, seizing hundreds of items that they claimed could be used to break the law. - 2008/08/07: DerSpiegel: Carbon Chronicles - Poland Seeks Help to Block EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- 2008/08/07: EUO: Poland keen to block EU's CO2 auction scheme
- 2008/08/06: IHT: EU companies to get polluting permits
European companies will be able to gain a permit to pollute at home if they invest in projects that cut greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere in the world by December, the European Commission said Wednesday - 2008/08/07: Times(Malta): Brussels lays groundwork for next climate change conference
The European Commission set the ball rolling yesterday to plan its position for next year's world conference on climate change in Copenhagen. In preparation for the conference, the EU executive is inviting the public to put forward their views on several critical issues, such as mid-term emission reduction targets for developed countries and emission reduction actions for developing countries, adaptation to climate change, technology cooperation and finance. The results will help shape the EU's position on the global post-2012 agreement. - 2008/08/06: TerraDaily: Poland seeks allies to block EU carbon caps: report
- 2008/08/04: Forbes:TFN: EU asks for views on post-2012 climate change agreement
The European Commission is asking for views from stakeholders and the general public on the European Union's approach to a post-2012 global climate change agreement. By launching a public consultation, the commission said views will help shape the EU's position on an agreement after the Kyoto Protocol targets end. - 2008/08/09: ABC(Au): The Federal Opposition says Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has gone soft on China when it comes to climate change and clean energy
- 2008/08/08: ABC(Au): Religious leaders call for Pacific climate change action
Almost 40 religious leaders - including Christians, Muslims and Jews - are calling on the Federal Government to aid countries in the Pacific affected by climate change. - 2008/08/08: ABC(Au): Premature climate change ruling creates planning uncertainty
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal handed down a landmark decision this week that will have a major impact on planning decisions in coastal areas across Australia. The recognition by VCAT that climate change - particularly the potential for sea level rises - is a significant factor when considering planning applications has far-reaching ramifications. - 2008/08/07: ABC(Au): Councils along Victoria's west coast are calling for a state-wide approach to the impact of climate change on seaside developments
- 2008/08/07: ABC(Au): Economy suffering in climate policy debate: RBA director
Professor Warwick McKibbin says there is a fixation with targets and timetables for addressing climate change and it is crucial to "get the balance right" between long-term environmental gains and short-term economic costs. - 2008/08/07: ABC(Au): Queensland's timber industry says the Federal Government's proposed carbon emissions trading scheme could change the face of their business
- 2008/08/07: ABC(Au): Energy suppliers 'plan emissions scheme rip-off'
Electricity suppliers are being accused of planning to rip off consumers under the Federal Governments' emissions trading scheme. The Total Environment Centre has obtained minutes from a December meeting of the Australian Financial Markets Association, which represents electricity generators and retailers. The Centre's Jeff Angel says the meeting refers to a "carbon clause", a proposal to pass on the full carbon cost to consumers under an emissions trading scheme. That is despite being issued free permits and compensation from the Federal Government to ease the transition to an emissions trading scheme. - 2008/08/07: ABC(Au): Caltex Australia has warned a forum on emissions trading that current proposals for carbon trading could shutdown petroleum refineries in Australia
- 2008/08/07: ABC(Au): Emission reduction scheme should be seen as 'insurance'
The federal bureaucrat who will implement Australia's carbon trading scheme has attacked climate change sceptics. The secretary of the Department of Climate Change, Doctor Martin Parkinson, says climate change deniers have misappropriated the term "sceptic". He has told a forum that the weight of scientific evidence is real and Australia is likely to be hardest hit. - 2008/08/07: ABC(Au): Profiting from carbon trading 'must be stopped'
The New South Wales Greens say electricity generators must be stopped from using a planned emissions trading scheme to increase their profits. The Total Environment Centre says it has obtained documents showing the generators plan to pass on the full carbon cost to consumers, despite the industry being issued free permits and compensation. - 2008/08/06: ABC(Au): Farmers want role in global warming fight
The Western Australian Farmers Federation (WAFF) says the Commonwealth should not ignore the role the agricultural sector could play in tackling global warming. - 2008/08/06: ABC(Au): Senator Wong likened to Saddam Hussein [by Opposition's environment spokesman, Greg Hunt]
- 2008/08/05: ABC(Au): Coastal councils warned on climate change
Victoria's coastal councils are being warned to take climate change into account when considering building applications. - 2008/08/05: ABC(Au): Climate change ruling threatens coastal property prices
- 2008/08/04: ABC(Au): Funds to help dairy farmers deal with climate change
- 2008/08/04: ABC(Au): Emissions trading 'could cost states, territories $1.4b'
The states and territories could lose $1.4 billion a year under an emissions trading scheme, figures released by the [Canberra-based think tank] Australia Institute show. - 2008/08/07: EnvFin: China 'beginning to pull weight' on climate change - [The Climate Group] report
- 2008/08/05: TreeHugger: It's Not You, It's Me: 33% of China's CO2 Emissions From Export Manufacturing
In Japan:
- 2008/08/05: Yomiuri: Govt, firms clash over CO2 calculations [in cogeneration systems]
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, stealth released another inconvenient report:
- 2008/08/08: EnvCanada: Offset System, one component of the Government of Canada's plan to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
- 2008/08/09: Far-n-Wide: Timing
Everyone has noticed, that this government has a habit of releasing unflattering reports, or items they wish to bury, on Fridays. - 2008/08/09: CanWest: Conservatives release green plan -- Draft rules include emissions credit system
- 2008/08/06: APoV: Typical Dishonesty From Harper And His Harpies
- 2008/08/06: G&M: Stakeholder group reworks Tory air-quality plan
- 2008/08/06: ChronicleHerald: Harper government slammed for burying negative reports
- 2008/08/05: MS: Climate Change Report Delayed, While the Rain Continues to Fall
The Liberal Green Shift carbon tax plan is still getting press:
- 2008/08/09: ChronicleHerald: Harper hopes Green Shift will turn Atlantic tide
- 2008/08/07: ABCiTO: Unnamed, unsourced exclusive: Dion's not taking the dare
- 2008/08/07: G&M: Dion 'ready to go' on PM's dare -- Liberal Leader set to fight election over green plan
- 2008/08/07: JCherniak: A proposed income tax cut IS news
- 2008/08/06: NBBJ: Atlantic truckers oppose Green Shift - Carbon tax will 'create welfare instead of wealth': executive director
- 2008/08/05: BCLSB: Peter MacKay's Mondo Boner! [Green Shift]
- 2008/08/05: NatPo: The real Green Shift [suit]
- 2008/08/05: CanWest: Green shift for a warming planet by Ralph Goodale
- 2008/08/04: CanWest: Tories launch new attack on Liberal green plan
Wrangling over the BC climate plan continues:
- 2008/08/07: Tyee: [BC] NDP's Carbon Math Is Wrong -- But trying to chase the real numbers can drive you bonkers
- 2008/08/08: CanWest: Emissions cuts can boost business, CEO [Jeff Burghardt, president and CEO of Prince Rupert Grain Ltd.] says
- 2008/08/07: CanWest: Consider increasing carbon tax, B.C. urged -- Houses for sale should carry ratings of energy efficiency: advisory group
- 2008/08/06: CanWest: B.C.'s carbon tax doesn't let 'polluters' off -- Debate continues to rage over British Columbia's carbon tax.
The tricky & difficult question of the tar sands looms:
- 2008/08/07: CBC: Imperial Oil delays Kearl oilsands project
- 2008/08/07: BBerg: Imperial Delays [until next year] C$8 Billion [Kearl] Oil-Sands Mine Decision
As for miscellaneous Canadiana:
- 2008/08/06: CBC: Low-speed electric trucks fit to market: Transport Canada
- 2008/08/05: ENN: Air Canada introduces [carbon] offsets for corporate travel
- 2008/08/04: G&M: Deal lets Ontario join [WCI] climate-change drive
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
- 2008/08/08: EnvEcon: How about (a) estimating benefits and costs and (b) determining the incidence of policy instruments?
- 2008/08/06: GristMill: For-profit, common good -- Using the power of business for people and planet
- 2008/08/05: GristMill: Globalization death watch, part II - The beginnings of a continentalized global economy
- 2008/08/05: Eureka: Evaluating ecosystem services - A new approach to environmental protection
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2008/08/06: SF Gate: Banning birth control
Not content with its incremental battle on abortion, the Bush administration has now decided that it's time to limit women's access to birth control - 2008/08/08: CCurrents: Doom Or Disaster?
Nearly every projection for the future of civilisation made in the IPCC reports has been exceeded. Events that were projected to emerge by the end of the century have been moved back to 2070, then to 2040, and even now to 'within the next few years'. The goal posts are moving towards us at a terrible pace. - 2008/08/08: Guardian(UK): The truth is, we're fighting for survival
Amid the trivial political squabbles, a stark truth lies hidden: humanity is staring global catastrophe in the face - 2008/08/07: ClimateP: Science magazine blows the story of China's Environmental Challenges
- 2008/08/03: ClimateP: The Washington Post's Joel Achebach doesn't understand basic climate science
- 2008/08/04: TP:WonkRoom: Global Boiling: Joel Achenbach, Dittohead?
Here is something for your library:
- 2008/08/08: Grist: The Locavore's Dilemma [Book Review] _End of Food_ by Paul Roberts
- 2008/08/09: Guardian(UK): Words of warming [climate change books]
- 2008/07/30: EPI: [Book Excerpt _Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization_ by Lester R. Brown] Raising energy efficiency in a new materials economy - Part I
Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:
- 2008/08/10: TreeHugger: Solar Cheaper than Coal: First Solar's Cadmium Telluride Breakthrough
- 2008/08/07: FuturePundit: Oil Consumption Drops In Developed Countries
- 2008/08/09: SCT: Firewood prices are heating up - Stocking stove will be costly this year
- 2008/08/07: EnvFin: US now world leader in wind power production - AWEA
- 2008/08/08: TheBigPicture: Crude Oil Breaks Below $115
- 2008/08/08: PhysOrg: Kites could provide electricity for 100,000 homes
- 2008/08/08: CNN: Oil sinks to 3-month low...near $115 a barrel
- 2008/08/08: PeakEnergy: Wavegen Commences Operation In Scotland
- 2008/08/08: NEN: Wind wins Texas showdown
- 2008/08/08: BBC: Oil 'could hit $200 within years'
A serious oil supply crisis is looming, which could push prices above $200 a barrel, a think tank has warned. A "supply crunch" will affect the world market within the next five to 10 years, the Chatham House report said. - 2008/08/07: ClimateP: The 'other' geothermal [heat pumps] grew 33% in 2006 [over 2005]
- 2008/08/07: NGE: The crucial first step in the global clean energy transition
- 2008/08/06: PhysOrg: Hydrogen-Wind-Nuclear Plant in Ontario Not Currently Worthwhile, Study Shows
- 2008/08/06: Eureka: Scientists a step closer to producing fuel from bacteria
- 2008/08/05: NGE: World Energy Strategy
- 2008/08/06: BDL: Jimmy Carter on Energy: 1977
- 2008/08/05: EnergyBulletin: Per capita US military energy consumption
- 2008/08/05: GristMill: The (renewable) electron economy, part 1 - The shape of the oil crisis
- 2008/08/05: SciDaily: Fuel Cell Efficiency May Be Improved With Material With 'Colossal Ionic Conductivity'
- 2008/08/05: NEN: New energy; The Middle East perspective
- 2008/08/05: WSJ:EnvCap: Clean Tech: One Sector Is Bucking Global Economic Blues
- 2008/08/05: BendBulletin: Oregonians warming to 'the idea of big wind'
- 2008/08/04: RPTT: Toward more efficient fuel cells?
- 2008/08/05: AFP: Oil prices slide below 119 dollars
- 2008/08/04: CalcRisk: Oil Futures Fall to $120 per Barrel
- 2008/08/04: NakedCapitalism: Oil below $120: Has the commodities bubble been pricked?
- 2008/08/04: AngryBear: Behavior reveals...oil company priorities
- 2008/08/04: KSJT: NYTimes: Wind in Nebraska, and why use quotes when you can see for yourself what's up?
- 2008/08/04: ClimateP: A real energy plan for America: Efficiency now, 10% renewables by 2012, and one million plug-in hybrids by 2015
- 2008/08/04: ABC(Au): Massive wind farm planned for southern Queensland
- 2008/08/03: SF Gate: Experts clash over viability of biofuels, alternative energy
- 2008/08/04: NEN: Wind: The new major energy source
- 2008/08/04: PeakEnergy: Efficient Thermoelectric materials
- 2008/08/04: CBC: Oil prices steady in face of hurricane [Edouard] fears
Late chatter on that MIT electrolysis [not hydrolysis as I mistakenly said last week (sigh)] report:
- 2008/08/06: OilDrum: Local Scientist Splits Water, Saves World, Gets On TV
- 2008/08/06: AutoBG: MIT researchers develop inexpensive new catalyst for hydrogen production
- 2008/08/05: CCurrents: Solar Power Breakthrough
High energy costs (& the undeclared recession) are impacting America:
- 2008/08/08: ClimateP: AEP [American Electric Power] demands 45% rate increase for Ohio -- what all America can look forward to under McCain
- 2008/08/08: GristMill: First as tragedy, then as farce? Coal electricity prices: the new gas prices
- 2008/08/07: CNN: For some, energy prices are threatening lives
Energy prices in parts of Alaska are even worse than in the Lower 48 - Rural Alaskans will spend 40 percent of their annual income on energy - The situation is becoming dire; lawmakers proposing relief programs - Some fear gas could reach $12 a gallon by the fall hunting season - 2008/08/07: KSJT: Anchorage Daily News: Energy crisis bites in the far north
- 2008/08/07: LA Times: Unpaid bills are causing more utility shut-offs
Rising prices and a sagging economy are boosting the number of customers who can't pay their energy fees. Agencies offering financial aid report long waiting lists. - 2008/08/: Spectrum: First Solar: Quest for the $1 Watt
- 2008/08/07: NEN: Utilities get comfortable with sun
- 2008/08/06: TreeHugger: All the Benefits of Solar PV Without The Financial Risk: The Solar Power as Service Model
- 2008/08/05: ClimateP: The Solar Billionaires' Club
- 2008/08/04: WorldChanging: U.S. Utilities Advance Solar Projects
- 2008/08/04: TreeHugger: Seeing Red: New Solar Energy Material Can Utilize Infrared Spectrum
The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:
- 2008/08/10: PeakEnergy: Crowing About CTL
- 2008/08/07: RS: Big Coal's Campaign of Lies -- While its fuel cooks the planet, the coal industry uses its clout to dupe consumers and delay change
- 2008/08/08: Guardian(UK): How coal came back into fashion
- 2008/08/08: Guardian(UK): Wicks: All is lost on global warming without clean coal
- 2008/08/06: NatureCF: King coal still on the throne -- Like it or lump it: coal is here for the long haul
- 2008/08/05: Guardian(UK): The stakes could not be higher. Everything hinges on stopping coal
The climate camp must succeed. In the absence of political backbone, our only hope is an avalanche of public revulsion - 2008/08/08: EnergyDaily: Miscanthus Can Meet US Biofuels Goal
- 2008/08/06: Eureka: Improved reaction data heat up the biofuels harvest
- 2008/08/05: NEN: You say Biofuels, I say Agrofuels
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2008/08/07: ClimateP: How much of a subsidy is the Price-Anderson Nuclear Industry Indemnity Act? The answer is perhaps as high as a hundred billion dollars.
- 2008/08/06: ClimateP: Nuclear storage at Yucca jumps 38% -- to $96B
- 2008/08/05: EnergyDaily: Yucca Mountain cost estimate is increased [to US$79.3 billion]
- 2008/08/06: DeSmogBlog: The Yuc's on Us
- 2008/08/04: KSJT: Baltimore Sun: Maryland starts hearings on a new nuke
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
- 2008/08/07: Guardian(UK): Let's face it, there's simply not enough oil and gas to go around
- 2008/08/07: CanWest: The laws of economics still at play in the oil market
Forecasters failed to foresee demand would fall as prices rose despite long-standing evidence to show that would happen - 2008/08/06: FCNP: The Peak Oil Crisis: Masking the Peak
- 2008/08/04: GP: Deep Green: peak oil changes everything
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
- 2008/08/05: NDN: Cars could cut fuel use by 30-50% say MIT report
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2008/08/09: McClatchyDC: Kentucky governor [Steve Beshear] OKs use of low-speed electric vehicles
- 2008/08/09: AutoBG: Kentucky governor allows LSVs in hopes of luring ZAP! Alias factory
- 2008/08/08: CNN: 106 mpg 'air car' creates buzz, questions
The car would be powered by a combination of compressed air and fuel - A New York company is pledging to build the first models in the U.S. in 2010 - The mileage claim is "at the edge of possibility," an engineering expert says - India shows interest in the technology; car to compete for the Automotive X Prize - 2008/08/05: FuturePundit: EEStor Claims Battery Energy Density Breakthrough
- 2008/08/05: CB: Another chapter in EEStory
- 2008/08/07: NatureTGB: Giving hybrids a voice [the silent car menace]
- 2008/08/07: SF Gate: $10 million invested in Zap electric cars
- 2008/08/07: BondDad: The Detroit Death March
- 2008/08/07: ROB: Toyota profit falls 28%
- 2008/08/06: ClimateP: Light truck sales drop 25%, Toyota screws up
- 2008/08/05: AutoBG: Volkswagen releases more details on the new Gen-VI Golf, up to 52.3 mpg (US)
- 2008/08/06: AutoBG: Mitsubishi, Yuasa quintuple lithium ion production before it even starts
- 2008/08/06: Google:AFP: Nissan Motor unveils new prototype electric car
- 2008/08/05: TreeHugger: Lotus Wants Electric Cars and Hybrids to Make More Noise
- 2008/08/05: PeakEnergy: What is going to power our cars?
- 2008/08/04: ETS: Consumer Auto Expert [Phil] Reed: 'Panic in Boardrooms' of GM, Ford As It Becomes Clear Electric Cars 'Really Coming'
- 2008/08/04: PhysOrg: Sony to invest 40 bln yen in batteries: company
- 2008/08/04: SF Gate: Slowpoke, no-gas electric car - check it out [Zenn]
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2008/08/07: EnvFin: Clean energy investors shrug off economic difficulties
- 2008/08/08: CNN: The smart money's on green
- 2008/08/06: TreeHugger: Dell Reaches Carbon Neutrality Goals, 5 Months Ahead of Schedule
- 2008/08/06: AutoBG: Miyama, Inc. reduces its CO2 emissions by 21 percent
Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:
- 2008/08/05: DeSmogBlog: Friends of Coal, Friends of Coal Industry
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2008/08/10: JQuiggin: The CIS and delusionism
- 2008/08/10: MGS: More from Icecap
- 2008/08/08: Atmoz: The Anatomy of a ClimateAudit Post
- 2008/08/08: CColose: The latest fad to keep the denial crowd busy for a week
- 2008/08/09: ERabett: Milankovitch, Landscheidt, Gerlich and Tscheuschner
- 2008/08/09: Deltoid: The Australian's War on Science XVI - hysterical knavish Nazi inquisition edition
- 2008/08/09: Deltoid: Climate auditing the difference between hemisphere warming trends
- 2008/08/09: GWWatch: Bone up on Tamino AGW denier debunkery
- 2008/08/09: GWWatch: Satellite temps slipstream surface readings - AGW denial myth #2,971 busted
- 2008/08/09: GWWatch: Nest of deniers exposed
- 2008/08/07: PRWatch: Climate Change Skeptics Found Wrong but not Harmful [Ofcom]
- 2008/08/09: TP:WonkRoom: Oil Man Inhofe Leads Political Stunt To Misdeliver Gas Receipts
- 2008/08/08: MTobis: Science, Impartial Honesty, Advocacy, Stridency, Idiocy, Dissembling, Lying Through Your Teeth
- 2008/08/08: DeSmogBlog: The Computer Models Are All Wet -- But the Skeptics are Wetter!
- 2008/08/07: Atmoz: The Great Season Climatic Oscillation and the Global Warming
- 2008/08/07: Tamino: A (brief) Tale of Three Sites
- 2008/08/07: Deltoid: Do not cite or quote
- 2008/08/06: ERabett: The Louts' Lament -- the Monckton vs. Monckton death match
- 2008/08/06: Deltoid: Monckton copyright scofflaw
- 2008/08/05: JQuiggin: Suppressed viewpoints on climate change
- 2008/08/04: IHT: Convincing the skeptics
- 2008/08/05: MTobis: John Holdren On the Climate "Skeptics"
- 2008/08/05: DeSmogBlog: Ship's Logs Show "Natural" Climate Change - Maybe
- 2008/08/03: ERabett: Recycling Fraud
- 2008/08/03: Deltoid: Robert Grumbine finds icecap.us to be unreliable
- 2008/08/04: BCLSB: Analyze That Data, Anthony Watts!
- 2008/08/04: SciAlert: Global warming - myth, threat or opportunity
- 2008/08/04: PRWatch: Deadly Denial
Then there was the usual news and commentary:
- 2008/08/10: MTobis: Mashey on Oreskes (Guest posting)
- 2008/08/10: SMH: It is getting easier to be green -- An environmentally compatible economy will bring prosperity...[aus pol]
- 2008/08/09: RealClimate: Comprehensive climate glossary
- 2008/08/10: GWWatch: Global warming needs a Dr Evil
- 2008/08/08: KSJT: AP: Another idea for carbon offset farming: grow cattails in the marshes and send them down the coal road
- 2008/08/07: MGS: Math in Climatology
- 2008/08/07: MGS: Building the Simplest Climate Model
- 2008/08/07: TreeHugger: Japanese Website Releases uses Interactive Globe To Illustrate "Global Warming Divide"
- 2008/08/07: QuarkSoup: Cascade Snowpack and AGW
- 2008/08/06: Guardian(UK): US study finds [Washington state's Cascade] mountain's snowpack may not yet be affected by climate change
- 2008/08/06: GristMill: Revkin agonistes -- Is tackling climate change contrary to human nature?
- 2008/08/06: ERabett: Water, water everywhere
- 2008/08/06: C411: Why Climate Projections Have Error Bars
- 2008/08/06: Guardian(UK): It's creation, stupid! A coalition of the faiths could save the planet
- 2008/08/05: NatureN: Climate war games - Role-play negotiations test the outcomes of global warming.
- 2008/08/05: MGS: The Simplest Meaningful Climate Model
- 2008/08/: MR: The Scientific Case for Modern Anthropogenic Global Warming
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- Grida: Environmental Knowledge for Change
- Chris Colose
- TCG: The Climate Group
- ThingsBreak: Open Source Climate Science Education
- DurhamU:IRBU: International Boundaries Research Unit
- NOAA:NCEP: MMAB Sea Ice Concentration -- Northern Hemisphere
- The Garrett Hardin Society
- GEOSS: Global Earth Observation System of Systems
- GristMill
- CarboEurope
- CCI: Climate Change Institute
- EPA: Global Warming
- EPA: Global Warming
- CACC: Campaign against Climate Change
- ClimateCrisis
- ARCSS: Arctic System Science Program
- Kerry Emanuel's Homepage
- UA:ISPE: Institute for the Study of Planet Earth
- UA:DGESL: Environmental Studies Laboratory - Publications
- ESMF: Earth System Modeling Framework
- Integrated Project CarboEurope-IP - Assessment of the European Terrestrial Carbon Balance
- NEESPI: The Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative
- Spotlite Archive
- IODP: Integrated Ocean Drilling Program
Here's a chuckle for ya:
Meanwhile GHGs are still going up:
As for carbon sequestration:
Several power station protests got a lot of attention:
And in Europe:
Meanwhile in Australia:
And in China:
Apocalypso anyone?
As for how the media handles the science of climatology:
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
Biofuel bickering abounds:
Low Key Plug
My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.
<regards>
P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.
"With modest exceptions,our federal energy policy is really a large trough arranged by the hogs for their convenience." -Amory Lovins
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