Another Week of GW News, January 4, 2009

Another Week of Climate Disruption News

Sipping from the internet firehose...

(skip to bottom)

January 4, 2009

• Top Stories:Tennessee Coal Sludge, YD Impact Theory, Hansen Letter, Year End Roundups
• Melting Arctic, Arctic Geopolitics, Antarctica, Contrails, Particulates, Abrupt Climate Change
• Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Carbon Cycle, Feedbacks, Glaciers, Sea Levels
• Impacts, Forests, Corals, Wacky Weather, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering
• Journals, Misc. Science
• Kyoto-2, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics:International, Security, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, Asia, Canada
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Media, Books, Betting
• Energy, US Electric Grid, Wind, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Greenwashing, Insurance
• Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

More black humour in a GW vein:

• 2009/01/03: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Paradise Lost
• 2009/01/02: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Slip Hazard
• 2009/01/01: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Wrong Track
• 2008/12/29: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Uncle Sam's Stimulus Plan

  Another light week over the holidays, unless you were near the Tennessee coal sludge:

• Wiki: Tennessee coal sludge spill
• SourceWatch: Tennessee and coal
• 2009/01/02: NYT: Metal Levels Found High in Tributary After Spill
  An environmental advocacy group's tests of river water and ash near the site of a huge coal ash spill in East Tennessee showed levels of arsenic, lead, chromium and other metals at 2 to 300 times higher than drinking water standards, the group said Thursday. The findings far exceed levels reported by the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Environmental Protection Agency or the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. Those agencies have reported elevated levels of thallium, lead and arsenic found near the spill but have not released the full results of those tests. The T.V.A. and the state have released only the results of tests on water sampled from the Tennessee River just after the spill at a spot six miles away and upstream of the ash flow, which showed that the water at that spot met drinking standards.
• 2009/01/02: CNN: Tennessee sludge contains elevated levels of arsenic
  EPA says water safe, but arsenic at levels "considered harmful to humans" - Family moving to avoid potential risk to toddler from arsenic - Mayor chugs cup of water, says, "I'm gonna be fine" - Billion gallons of fly-ash sludge from TVA coal plant spilled December 22
• 2009/01/02: CharlotteObserver: Coal ash scrutiny returns -- After a major Tenn. spill of toxic sludge, Duke Energy says inspections show no instability at its plants
• 2009/01/02: AngryBear: TVA budgets, fixes, and selling secutities [Tenn coal sludge]
• 2009/01/02: GristMill: More clean coal -- Tennessee coal ash spill contains high levels of toxic heavy metals
• 2009/01/02: TWM: Tennessee Environmental Disaster Update
• 2009/01/01: USAToday: Tenn. residents fear impact of sludgy ash spill
• 2009/01/01: GristMill: Who will be the next [coal sludge] victims?
• 2008/12/31: GristMill: Blowback -- Did the coal industry create its own PR nightmare?
• 2009/01/01: ThinkP: Erin Brockovich to visit site of recent coal ash spill
• 2008/12/31: ClimateP: Tennessee not-so-clean coal sludge spill estimate grows to 1 billion gallons
• 2008/12/31: GristMill: The coal story -- Former MSHA investigator Tony Oppegard discusses the TVA coal investigation
• 2008/12/30: GristMill: The enemy of the human race Tennessee -- A roundup of links and resources on the Tenn. coal ash spill
• 2008/12/31: TreeHugger: Epic Environmental Fail: Landowners sue Tennessee Valley Authority for $165M over Coal Ash Spill
• 2008/12/29: CNN: 1,000,000,000 gallons of sludge shames agency [TVA] -- EPA: Rivers high in arsenic, heavy metals after sludge spill
  "Several heavy metals" found in levels above safe drinking-water standards - TVA pledges cleanup; officials say treatment facility tests show water is potable - Breach at retention site has released more than a billion gallons of coal waste - 15 homes damaged, at least 300 acres covered; area residents evacuated
• 2008/12/29: FD: Tennessee Sludge Spill Much Larger Than Previously Thought

  The theory that the Younger Dryas was triggered by an impact event got a lot of play:

• 2009/01/02: FuturePundit: More Evidence For Asteroid Clovis Extinction
• 2009/01/03: Tamino: Younger Dryas Impact Event
• 2009/01/03: BCLSB: Killer Comet Theory Crosses Important Threshold!
• 2009/01/02: SciDaily: Six North American Sites Hold 12,900-year-old Nanodiamond-rich Soil
• 2009/01/02: BBC: Diamond clues to beasts' demise
  The controversial idea that space impacts may have wiped out woolly mammoths and early human settlers in North America has received new impetus. Nano-diamonds and other exotic impact materials have been unearthed in thin sediments, Science magazine reports.
• 2009/01/02: WaPo: Gems Point to Comet as Answer to Ancient Riddle
  Something dramatic happened about 12,900 years ago, and the continent of North America was never the same. A thriving culture of Paleo-Americans, known as the Clovis people, vanished seemingly overnight. Gone, too, were most of the largest animals: horses, camels, lions, mammoths, mastodons, saber-toothed cats, ground sloths and giant armadillos. Scientists have long blamed climate change for the extinctions, for it was 12,900 years ago that the planet's emergence from the Ice Age came to a halt, reverting to glacial conditions for 1,500 years, an epoch known as the Younger Dryas. In just the last few years, there has arisen a controversial scientific hypothesis to explain this chain of events, and it involves an extraterrestrial calamity: a comet, broken into fragments, turning the sky ablaze, sending a shock wave across the landscape and scorching forests, creatures, people and anything exposed to the heavenly fire. Now the proponents of this apocalyptic scenario say they have found a new line of evidence: nanodiamonds. They say they have found these tiny structures across North America in sediments from 12,900 years ago, and they argue that the diamonds had to have been formed by a high-temperature, high-pressure event, such as a cometary impact.
• 2009/01/02: NYT: Diamonds Linked to Quick Cooling Eons Ago

  James and Anniek Hansen wrote a widely reported letter to Barack and Michelle Obama:

• 2009/01/02: CSW: James and Anniek Hansen make a personal appeal to Barack and Michelle Obama
• 2009/01/03: AfterGutenberg: A Letter to Obama
• 2009/01/02: GristMill: Dear Barack and Michelle -- An open letter to the president and first lady from the nation's top climate scientist [James Hansen]
• 2009/01/02: ERabett: Hansen writes to Obama
• 2009/01/02: Guardian(UK): NASA climate expert [James Hansen] makes personal appeal to Obama
• 2009/01/01: Guardian(UK): Climate change policies failing, NASA scientist warns Obama
  Award-winning researcher James Hansen says new president's rhetoric must be backed by action
• 2009/01/01: Guardian(UK): A letter to Michelle and Barack Obama from James and Anniek Hansen

  Everybody & his uncle is doing a year end roundup:

• 2009/01/01: ClimateP: The top 10 global warming stories of 2008
• 2008/12/31: RealClimate: 2008 Year in review
• 2008/12/30: CBC: Water, in all its forms, tops 2008 weather news
• 2008/12/30: NatureCF: Roundup of roundups, 2008
• 2008/12/30: DeccanHerald: Tipping point 2008
  The year 2008 will go down as volatile and dangerously unpredictable. But if governments don't change, it may come to be seen as a calm before the storm...
• 2008/12/30: NEN: 2008 Wrap up -- most important posts of the year, part 1 (Solar can be 10%, Pickens has good and bad, Europe will get supergrid)

  The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:

• 2009/01/03: CBC:Q&Q: (mp3/ogg) Polar Bears Get Crackin'
• 2009/01/02: ENN: The big melt: 2 trillion tons of ice since 2003
  More than 2 trillion tons of land ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska have melted since 2003, according to new NASA satellite data that show the latest signs of what scientists say is global warming. More than half of the loss of landlocked ice in the past five years has occurred in Greenland...
• 2009/01/02: SciDaily: Cause Of Glacial Earthquakes In Greenland Clarified
• 2009/01/02: BCLSB: Arctic Sea Ice...Stalled Again
• 2008/12/29: CanWest: Arctic polar bears face uncertain future - Scientists, Inuit squabble over animal population

  As for the geopolitics of the Arctic resources:

• 2009/01/02: CNN: Countries in tug-of-war over Arctic resources
  Russia, Canada, the U.S. and other countries are eyeing the Arctic's oil and gas - The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the Arctic holds 90 billion barrels of oil - Shrinking polar ice makes the region more accessible to shipping, other industry - But environmental impact of oil and gas drilling has scientists deeply concerned
• 2009/01/02: BarentsObserver: New national security strategy highlights Arctic
  A new Russian national security strategy will be adopted in February, Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev confirms. The new strategy, which will cover the period until 2020, includes a high level of focus on the energy potentials of the Arctic.

While in Antarctica:

• 2008/12/30: TerraDaily: As Ice Melts, Antarctic Bedrock Is On The Move

  So, does the contrail theory measure up?

• 2008/12/31: NatureN: Can aircraft trails affect climate? Grounding planes after the 11 September attacks may not have caused unusual temperature effects.
• 2008/12/31: NatureCF: Contrail climate effects questioned

  Particulates, we have particulate theories:

• 2009/01/04: Independent(UK): Soot reduction 'could help to stop global warming' -- Cutting one of humanity's most common pollutants would have immediate cooling effect, NASA claims
• 2008/12/30: TerraDaily: Dangerous Sea Level Rise Imminent Without Large Reductions Of Black Carbon

  Abrupt climate change is back:

• 2008/12/30: GristMill: Notable quotable -- Faster, climate change! Kill! Kill!
• 2008/12/31: EPOnline: [USGS] Report Notes Potential for Abrupt Climate Change
• 2008/12/29: DeutscheWelle: German Scientist Warns Climate Change Accelerating
  Climate change is happening more rapidly than anyone though possible, the German government's expert, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, warned in an interview.
• 2008/12/30: ClimateP: Climate change is accelerating warns top German scientist

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2009/01/03: CCurrents: The Food Crisis
• 2008/12/: FAO: Crop Prospects and Food Situation
• 2008/12/29: KSJT: BBC: Our huge, old, and oil-based agriculture can't last much longer

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2008/12/28: TreeHugger: Big Food's War on Biofuels

  And how are we going to feed 9 billion?

• 2009/01/03: GristMill: For a 'change we can believe in,' dump industrial agriculture -- Studies show mono-cultures, GMOs, and globalization are problems, not solutions
• 2009/01/01: SciDaily: New Winter Wheat Ready For Prime Time
  Anton, a hard white winter wheat cultivar developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and University of Nebraska (UN) scientists, is now available for production in the Northern Plains region as a source of high-quality flour for bread, noodles and other baked goods. Anton is the product of 15 years of selective breeding and evaluation by scientists with ARS' Grain, Forage and Bioenergy Research Unit and UN's Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station (NAES), both at Lincoln, Neb.
• 2008/12/10: LA Times: Food lessons from the Great Depression
  Today, learning how to cook on a budget is becoming important to more families. In the 1930s, making do was a kitchen art, honed by necessity. Sour grass soup, anyone?

There were no cyclones anywhere this week:

• 2008/12/30: Wunderground: Looking back at Hurricane Gustav's record 212 mph wind gust
• 2008/12/30: TerraDaily: NRL's P-3 Aircraft Support Project To Study Tropical Cyclones

  As for GHGs:

• 2009/01/03: QuarkSoup: The CO2 of Your Offspring

  And in the carbon cycle:

• 2009/01/02: SciDaily: Sea Rise Over Continental Shelves Significantly Affected Past Global Carbon Cycle
  Since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; about 21,000 years ago) sea level has risen by 130 meters (430 feet), resulting in continental shelf submergence and a massive expansion of the surface area of shelf seas. Although shelf seas only account for 7 percent of the oceanic surface area, recent observations demonstrate that they host significant fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2) between the ocean and atmosphere.

As for the temperature record:

• 2009/01/03: EarthTimes: Singapore sees record high temperatures in 2008
• 2008/12/31: ENN: 2009 to be one of warmest years on record: researchers
• 2008/12/30: Reuters: 2009 to be one of warmest years on record: researchers
• 2008/12/30: KSJT: Telegraph, Reuters: Brrr for now, but Britain's Met Office says 2009 is going to be a scorcher...

  Yes we have feedbacks:

• 2009/01/02: TerraDaily: Global Warming Aided By Drought, Deforestation Link

  And regarding the ozone layer:

• 2009/01/04: NewScientist: Why mountains are bad for the ozone layer

  As for glaciers:

• 2008/12/30: PhysOrg: Researchers study glaciers on Earth's coldest desert

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2008/12/31: ENN: Malibu's vanishing Broad Beach a sign of rising sea levels, experts say
• 2008/12/30: SusBiz: [USGS] Report Forecasts Sea Level Rise to 4 feet by 2100

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2009/01/01: NewScientist: NewScientist: More polar bears going hungry
  Warmer temperatures and earlier melting of sea ice are causing polar bears to go hungry. The number of undernourished bears has tripled in a 20-year period.
• 2008/12/31: KSJT: Wash. Post, etc: USGS report says climate change hitting sooner, harder than expected
• 2008/12/31: TreeHugger: Tick-Borne Diseases May Spread More Easily with Global Warming
• 2008/12/30: TerraDaily: Climate Change Alters Ocean Chemistry
• 2008/12/29: ENN: 'Japanese Inuit' warns of climate change danger

  Then there are the world's forests:

• 2009/01/02: TerraDaily: Canada's forests not helping environment
• 2009/01/04: TreeHugger: New Map Shows Wilderness Disappearing
• 2009/01/03: TreeHugger: Canadian Forest Agency Proposes Climate Strategy: 'Sharpen The Chain Saws'
• 2009/01/02: ChicagoTrib: Canada's vast forests, once huge absorbers of greenhouse gases, now add to problem
• 2008/12/30: CrossCut: Meet the Pacific albus tree, harbinger of green forestry
  This fast-growing, light-weight poplar is finding a market in a more carbon-conscious forest-products industry.

Corals are dying:

• 2009/01/03: SciDaily: Hot Southern Summer Threatens Coral With Massive Bleaching Event
• 2009/01/01: MongaBay: Ocean acidification is killing the Great Barrier Reef
• 2009/01/02: BBC: Coral growth in Australia's Great Barrier Reef has slowed to its most sluggish rate in the past 400 years
• 2009/01/01: Guardian(UK): Slowdown of coral growth extremely worrying, say scientists
• 2009/01/02: ABC(Au): Coral growth declines sharply on Great Barrier Reef
  New research on the Great Barrier Reef says coral growth has fallen to the slowest rate in more than 400 years. The Australian Institute of Marine Science's Glenn De'ath says banding like tree rings on the giant Porites coral reveals a massive decline in the growth history.

Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2008/12/31: GristMill: Global warming increasing rainfall and intense storms

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2009/01/03: ABC(Au): Melbourne residents cautioned on water usage
  Melburnians are being urged to further slash their water consumption, despite last week consuming six litres under the Victorian Government's target of 155 litres [per day]
• 2009/01/02: SciDaily: Spanish Droughts Over Past 500 Years Reconstructed
• 2009/01/02: NYT: Signs of Another California Drought Year
• 2008/12/30: CBC: Record U.S. snowfall makes Manitoba flood forecasters nervous

  On the mitigation front, consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2008/12/30: PeakEnergy: Creeps And Weirdos At GM -- GM's ongoing jihad against public transport
• 2009/01/02: TPMCafe: The Coalition for Mass Transit
• 2008/12/30: NewsObserver: Let's get the trains on track
• 2008/12/28: FresnoBee: New transportation mix needed for U.S. -- More emphasis on 'green transportation' needed in future
• 2008/12/30: CNN:Reuters: Airlines 'shrinking by all measures' - report -- Air and cargo traffic fell off in November as airlines face 'chronic crisis.'
• 2009/01/01: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Bumpy take-off for aviation biofuel
• 2008/12/30: QuarkSoup: Here's an interesting poll result
• 2008/12/30: Stuff(NZ): Air NZ biofuel test successful
  Air New Zealand has successfully completed the world's first test flight using a new biofuel. A biofuel blend of 50:50 jatropha and Jet A1 fuel was used to power one of the Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400's Rolls-Royce RB211 engines.
• 2008/12/29: BaltimoreSun: All aboard: the rush to rail -- Across the nation, trains are gaining steam as the right transportation investment for our times
• 2008/12/29: TreeHugger: Quotes of the Day: On SUVs, History, and the Volt
• 2008/12/27: Reuters: Phoenix opens $1.4 billion light-rail system

  While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:

• 2009/01/02: 100kHouse: The Cost of Polishing a Turd
• 2009/01/02: TreeHugger: New Cement Eats CO2 - Fights Global Warming
• 2008/12/31: Guardian(UK): Revealed: The cement that eats carbon dioxide
  [...] The new environmentally formulation means the cement industry could change from being a "significant emitter to a significant absorber of CO2," says Nikolaos Vlasopoulos, chief scientist at London-based Novacem, whose invention has garnered support and funding from industry and environmentalists [...] Novacem's cement, based on magnesium silicates, not only requires much less heating, it also absorbs large amounts of CO2 as it hardens, making it carbon negative.
• 2008/12/28: EnvEcon: Passive houses, active policies
• 2008/12/30: GristMill: Passive boxes, on the hillside -- While we obsess about 'clean' coal and bail out the mortgage industry, Germans build passively
• 2008/12/30: TreeHugger: CSI: Thermal Police Looking For Leaks
• 2008/12/28: Columbian: Green-home backers hope to be in the black
• 2008/12/30: CBC: Insulation top choice for energy program
  More than 1,200 P.E.I. households have taken advantage of government-subsidized home energy audits this year. Mike Proud, manager of the Office of Energy Efficiency, told CBC News Monday that the rising price of fuel created a lot of demand for the audits over the summer and into the fall. "It's mostly insulation work. We hoped that that would be the case because we know that that's the best investment to make," said Proud. "We've seen a lot of people doing the basement insulation, the attic insulation, even some doing exterior wall insulation."

As for carbon sequestration:

• 2008/12/30: GristMill: See the reforest for the trees -- Planting trees and managing soils to sequester carbon

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2009/01/02: AlterNet: Are 'Hail Mary' Technological Solutions Our Only Hope to Prevent Disastrous Climate Change?
• 2008/12/20: AcceleratingFuture: The Weather Machine
• 2009/01/03: DerSpiegel: Slowing Global Warming with Antarctic Iron
  Recent research shows that melting icebergs in the ocean around Antarctica may actually slow global warming. The iron particles they carry feed algae blooms that suck up CO2. Could man-made algae blooms in the frigid waters help combat climate change?
• 2009/01/03: SlashDot: More Climate Scientists Now Support Geoengineering
• 2009/01/03: CBC:Q&Q: (mp3/ogg) Sucking CO2
• 2009/01/02: NatureCF: Geoengineering: Plan B or not plan B?
• 2009/01/02: Independent(UK): Climate scientists: it's time for 'Plan B'
  Poll of international experts by The Independent reveals consensus that CO2 cuts have failed -- and their growing support for technological intervention
• 2008/12/26: Celsias: All About Albedo: A Lighter World is a Cooler World

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2008/12/30: PNAS: Synergistic effects of climate-related variables suggest future physiological impairment in a top oceanic predator by Rui Rosa & Brad A. Seibel
• 2008/12/30: PNAS: Effect of habitat area and isolation on fragmented animal populations by Laura R. Prugh et al.
• 2008/12/30: PNAS: Near-linear cost increase to reduce climate-change risk by Michiel Schaeffer et al.
• 2008/12/14: CSB: Global structures of the DE3 tide by ZeYu Chen & DaRen Lu
• 2008/12/: WorldWatch: [2.4 meg pdf] Low-Carbon Energy: A Roadmap

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

• 2009/01/02: TerraDaily: Ocean Observations Reap Climate Science Rewards
• 2008/12/31: SciDaily: [Abundance of] Bacteria In Ice May Record Climate Change
• 2008/12/29: ENN: Seawater science can help climate change forecasts
• 2008/12/29: Eureka: Global structures of the DE3 tide

  Meanwhile on the Kyoto-2 front:

• 2009/01/01: ENN: Economist Nicholas Stern has said he is optimistic a global deal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions will be struck under Barack Obama's US presidency
• 2008/12/31: EnvEcon: The road to Copenhagen runs through Washington, and Beijing, and Delhi, and Brasilia
• 2008/12/31: BBC: Stern hope over US climate deal
  Economist Lord Stern has said he is optimistic a global deal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions will be struck under Barack Obama's US presidency. Lord Stern, who was behind the first detailed economic assessment of the impact of climate change, said US and Chinese agreement to a cut was crucial. President George W Bush's climate views were "prehistoric" and had been seen as an obstacle, Lord Stern told the BBC. But many now believed the new president could take a lead, he said.

And at the UN:

• 2008/12/30: NewsWeek: We're In For Stormy Weather [Ban Ki-Moon] - Overshadowed by the economic headlines, serious climate trouble looms ahead.

  On the carbon trading front:

• 2009/01/04: Times(UK): EU denounces socialite's carbon offset project
  A pioneering climate change project in Africa run by Robin Birley, the socialite, has been accused by the European commission, its main donor, of making unsubstantiated claims about its environmental impact. The project has received more than £1m in public grants and money from celebrities in the music and film business. They include Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones and Brad Pitt, the actor. The project attempts to offset an individual's carbon footprint by paying poor farmers in Mozambique to plant trees, which absorb CO2, and to protect existing forests.
• 2009/01/02: EarthTimes: Spain to buy carbon dioxide emission rights from eastern Europe

  The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2009/01/03: AutoBG: Oil refiner CEO advocates for higher fuel taxes
• 2009/01/01: Google:AP: Panel [National Commission on Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing] wants fuel taxes hiked to fund highways
• 2008/12/30: GristMill: Gas tax redux -- Another attempt to dispute the disproportionate attention paid to gas taxes

  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:

• 2009/01/02: EnvEcon: Cap v FTax
• TBAS: Carbon tax vs. cap-and-trade
• 2008/12/28: GristMill: Policy at Bernie's -- Will carbon cap-and-trade be the next Ponzi scheme?

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2008/12/30: TTimes: Addressing climate change head-on [US & China]
• 2008/12/30: NewsWeek: Coping With Climate -- Developing nations will bear the brunt of global warming. Public-private partnerships can help

  As for GW & security:

• 2009/01/04: TreeHugger: Global Warming May Become the Instigator of World War IV
• 2009/01/04: WaPo: Global Warming Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
• 2008/12/29: GristMill: Where 'national security' and energy meet -- Obama's NSA pick [Jones] promotes 'drill, baby, drill,' clean coal, and nuclear

  And on the American political front:

• 2009/01/03: CSW: Letter to White House Science Office on delays in releasing climate science reports
• 2009/01/03: MTobis: NASA: "A Hopelessly Old-Fashioned View of the Future"
• 2009/01/02: KHOU: New bill would cut greenhouse gases emitted from Texas refineries
• 2009/01/02: ClimateP: Markey to replace Boucher as chair of Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee? Let's hope so!
• 2009/01/02: GristMill: When did 'public' become a four-letter word? Regulation and public investment are more efficient means to reduce GHGs than emissions pricing
• 2008/12/30: FuturePundit: US Policy To Shift Toward Insulation For Heating Subsidies
• 2008/12/29: HuffPo: Unintended Consequences
• 2008/12/31: TreeHugger: Creating New Jobs By Investing In Renewable Energy And Energy Efficiency
• 2008/12/31: SF Gate: The Last Road Trip -- Freakishly cheap gas? Nation broke? Just hit the road
• 2008/12/31: AfterGutenberg: Yeah! Congress Says We Can Do That
• 2008/12/30: QuarkSoup: Oregon Wants to Track Your Car
• 2008/12/29: GristMill: Stimulus spending going to roads?
• 2008/12/28: LA Times: Energy dispute over Rockies riches
  A trove of oil shale may be a boon. But the science to extract fuel is imperfect, and locals worry about their water supplies, which ultimately feed Southern California reservoirs. Reporting from Salt Lake City -- A titanic battle between the West's two traditional power brokers -- Big Oil and Big Water -- has begun.
• 2008/12/29: AngryBear: Big oil, big water, and big spending...who is the economy for?
• 2008/12/29: AutoBG: "Sell Fuel Efficient Cars Act of 2008" introduced in Senate
• 2008/12/29: AutoBG: Michigan approves $335 million in tax breaks for battery manufacturers
• 2008/12/29: CNN: Will energy savings jump-start the economy?
  Energy-efficiency to play part in anticipated $800 billion stimulus plan - Just over $30 billion could be earmarked for energy-efficiency measures - Program could decrease country's energy consumption by 0.5% per year - Critics fear money will be hard to trace; plan seen as unncessary windfall

The Bush administration's midnight regulation changes continue to gather opprobrium:

• 2009/01/03: ThinkP: Bush Administration Trying To Make It Easier To Turn Forests Into Housing Subdivisions
• 2008/12/31: NYT: California: Effort to Block Species Rules
• 2008/12/31: CBC: California seeks to undo Bush environmental changes
• 2008/12/30: GristMill: [Dessler] Lowered Johnson -- Prepare for your opinion of EPA Administrator Johnson to be further reduced

  The Obama chatter is nonstop:

• 2008/12/29: EnergyTrib: Obama, Vilsack and Salazar: The Ethanol Scammers' Dream Team
• 2009/01/03: NYT: In Obama's Team, Two Camps on Climate
• 2008/12/31: DotEarth: 11 Questions for Obama's Science Team
• 2008/12/30: USNews: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Steven Chu -- Steven Chu is President-elect Obama's pick for energy secretary
• 2008/12/30: NewsOk: New environmental team suggests change is in air - how Obama's team might shape environmental policy
• 2008/12/29: GristMill: Where 'national security' and energy meet -- Obama's NSA pick [Jones] promotes 'drill, baby, drill,' clean coal, and nuclear
• 2008/12/29: SeattlePI: Obama should increase federal gas tax or impose carbon tax
• 2008/12/29: CSW: When Obama says climate change is "a matter of urgency and of national security," he needs to say why
• 2008/12/29: TStar: Re-igniting the global warming debate
  President-elect Obama brings a new energy to search for alternate fuel sources for planet

The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2008/12/30: RI: Church of England puts its faith in Al Gore's investment arm
  The Church of England's Church Commissioners have gone green, investing £150 million with former US Vice-President Al Gore's environmentally minded investment firm, Generation Investment Management.

While in the UK:

• 2009/01/03: Guardian(UK): [Letters] The [UK] government lacks a green vision
• 2008/12/29: Guardian(UK): Windfarm revolution tangled in red tape - 262 UK projects await planning permission - Renewable energy target looks increasingly remote

  And in Europe:

• 2009/01/03: ENN: EU seals [6 laws of] historic climate and energy package
• 2008/12/31: NatureN: Spanish solar companies slammed over subsidy fraud

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2009/01/03: ABC(Au): [Queensland Premier Anna] Bligh alarmed by latest reef report
  The Queensland Premier says she is alarmed by reports that coral growth on the Great Barrier Reef is at its slowest for more than 400 years
• 2009/01/01: ENN: Official [Australian] figures mask true state of environment
• 2008/12/30: IPSNews: Emissions Reduction Target 'Weak'
  The gap between the Rudd government's rhetoric and practice in addressing climate change, albeit with one eye on the worsening global financial conditions, has led to a palpable feeling of betrayal among Australians

And in Asia:

• 2009/01/01: EarthTimes: Singapore prepares climate change impact report
• 2008/12/30: GMANews: House panels approve creation of climate change body
  Manila, Philippines - A government body that is specifically tasked to address climate change may soon be created with two House panels' approval of a bill seeking to establish a Climate Change Commission.

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

• 2009/01/04: TStar: U.S. change will blow north
  [...] Since Obama has said that he wants to reduce U.S. dependence on oil from the Middle East and Venezuela, Canada is in a great position to become an even more important supplier than it is now. And much of that oil would come from the oil sands. But Obama has also said that he intends to implement a cap-and-trade system that would include hard caps and aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent from 1990 levels by 2050. The Harper plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions has no such hard caps, and neither does the Alberta plan. To harmonize with the U.S. means we would have to substantially rejig our climate change policies. Needless to say, the petroleum industry is not thrilled with this idea - it would eat into their profits. Neither is the Alberta government, which has long seen a cap-and-trade system as a carbon tax that drains money from Alberta. But even U.S. Republicans are pushing for polluters to pay.
• 2009/01/01: TheCoast: Hansen: Dion was right

  A new energy plan in Ontario:

• 2008/12/29: BCLSB: Ontario To Become Green Giant?

  Wrangling over the BC carbon tax & climate plan:

• 2009/01/02: G&M: The [BC] carbon tax conundrum
  With broader economic concerns likely weighing on voters' minds, a key question in the coming provincial election will be whether the downturn will overshadow - or reignite - anger over the Liberal government's controversial measure

The tricky & difficult question of the tar sands looms:

• 2009/01/02: JackedUp: Stelmach and his Oil
• 2008/12/30: ClimateP: A Tale of Two Dickensian Disasters: Coal and Tar [sands]
• 2008/12/30: G&M: Emissions still an issue for oil sands
• 2008/12/28: PoughkeepsieJournal: Canada's vast oil cache hides dirty environmental secret -- the dirtiest oil on the planet

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

• 2009/01/03: GristMill: Q. What's an 'environmental externality'? Who do we repay for the pollution from which we have benefitted?
• 2009/01/02: Tyee: Idea #10: Biophysical Economics -- In the future, economists will return to earth
• 2008/12/31: ClimateP: A carbon litmus test: The green eyeshades need to go green

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

• 2009/01/03: Stoat: Why did Malthus assume linear increase in food?
• 2009/01/02: Guardian(UK): Japan sees biggest population fall
• 2008/12/31: PS: The Malthus Gun by Nina V. Fedoroff
• 2008/12/30: DailyTimes(Pk): The Malthus Gun
  Adapting to climate change and decreasing agriculture's environmental impact, while substantially increasing its productivity, are among the key challenges confronting us in the twenty-first century. Despite the bad rap they've gotten, the GM crops in use today have already contributed to meeting both challenges

As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2009/01/04: ClimateP: Dumbest headline of 2009: "Bush may be giving Obama breathing room to fight global warming"
• 2009/01/03: CSW: Several of our favorite journalists won major prizes in 2008 for reporting on climate change
• 2009/01/03: RealClimate: Environmental reporters ought to be more responsible too

  Here is something for your library:

• 2008/12/29: EPI: [Excerpt from _Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization_ by Lester R. Brown] Planting trees and managing soils to sequester carbon
• 2008/12/28: GristMill: [Book Review] _Soil Not Oil_ by Vandana Shiva

  The betting meme rolls on:

• 2008/12/31: BaltSun:JHancock: Is oil cheap only because of the recession?

  Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

• 2009/01/04: PeakEnergy: Seagen Tidal Power Project [in Northern Ireland] Hits Full Speed
• 2008/12/31: NewsWeek: Time to Kill the Oil Beast -- America's overreliance on petroleum is the source of all its energy problems. [Michael T. Klare]
• 2008/12/29: ClusterStock: SEC Loosens Oil Accounting Rules
  Watch for oil companies to register asset increases on their balance sheets. The SEC has announced a new rule that will allow companies to book unproven, but expected, oil reserves on their books, as assets. Previously, oil companies could only declare oil assets that they'd actually proven.
• 2008/12/24: FWBizPress: Worldwide oil and natural gas reserves increase in 2009
• 2008/12/29: PeakEnergy: Stanford Research Ranks Energy Options
  [...] Best to worst electric power sources:
  1. Wind power
  2. concentrated solar power (CSP)
  3. geothermal power
  4. tidal power
  5. solar photovoltaics (PV)
  6. wave power
  7. hydroelectric power
  8. a tie between nuclear power and coal with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS)
• 2009/01/01: Guardian(UK): Green revolution stalls on cheap oil
• 2008/12/31: AutoBG: Low gas prices are kind of like a $1 billion daily bailout
• 2008/12/31: RigZone: Gulf Oil Blocks May Be at High Risk during 2009 Active Hurricane Season
• 2008/12/31: CNN: Oil out with a bang with 14% spike -- Crude prices rally near the close of trade...
• 2008/12/31: CBC: Oil rebounds above $40 US
• 2008/12/30: EnergyBulletin: Comments on $37 oil
• 2008/12/30: PhysOrg: Progress Toward a Biological Fuel Cell?
  Biological fuel cells use enzymes or whole microorganisms as biocatalysts for the direct conversion of chemical energy to electrical energy. One type of microbial fuel cell uses anodes (positive electrodes) coated with a bacterial film. The fuel consists of a substrate that the bacteria can break down. The electrons released in this process must be transferred to the anode in order to be drawn off as current. But how can the electrons be efficiently conducted from the microbial metabolism that occurs inside a cell to the anode?
• 2008/12/30: Law: Power Companies to Disclose Financial Risks of Climate Change
• 2008/12/29: Reuters: October [US] oil demand down 4.07 pct from year ago: EIA
• 2008/12/29: KSJT: Dayton Daily News, SF Chron, NYTimes etc: Sun, wind power, other news of renewable energy plans - including dull, reliable EFFICIENCY
• 2008/12/29: NewScientist: Green fuel technologies pick up speed in 2008
• 2008/12/29: GristMill: The right questions
• 2008/12/28: OilDrum: Welcome to The Oil Drum: EROI
• 2008/12/28: Scitizen: A Recent History of Oil Prices
• 2008/12/: WorldWatch: [summary] Low-Carbon Energy: A Roadmap
• 2008/12/: WorldWatch: [2.4 meg pdf] Low-Carbon Energy: A Roadmap
• 2008/12/28: WVGazette: 'On the verge of an energy revolution' -- New technologies set to move world from coal dependence, study finds
• 2008/12/28: SlashDot: Batteries To Store Wind Energy

  More people are talking about the electrical grid we need:

• 2008/12/31: OilDrum: Will the US Electric Grid Be Our Undoing?
• 2008/12/31: CleanBreak: Smart grid destined for role as enabler of renewables, efficiency, and distributed generation
• 2008/12/29: TechRev: Lifeline for Renewable Power -- Without a radically expanded and smarter electrical grid, wind and solar will remain niche power sources
• 2008/12/29: ClimateP: A smart, green grid is needed to enable a near-term renewable revolution

  The answer my friend...:

• 2008/12/31: AutoBG: New [FloDesign] wind turbine could dramatically increase generation efficiency
• 2008/12/30: AutoBG: While everything else is shrinking, US moves to #1 spot in wind power

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2009/01/03: PeakEnergy: China Plans World's Largest Solar Power Plant
• 2009/01/02: ClimateP: World's biggest solar power tower to open in Spain
• 2009/01/02: PeakEnergy: First Solar Reaches Grid-Parity Milestone?
• 2009/01/01: McClatchyDC: Duke Energy's solar panel plan approved
  The state Utilities Commission on Wednesday approved Duke Energy's plan to place solar panels on hundreds of N.C. rooftops. The $50 million plan will help Duke meet state requirements to generate electricity from renewable energy sources such as the sun, wind and plants. Duke expects to generate eight megawatts of electricity from panels at up to 425 sites, enough to power 1,300 homes, within two years. Duke has estimated average residential power bills will go up about 8 cents a month under the plan.
• 2008/12/27: LATimes: With aid from the state, Californians warm to rooftop solar power
  At a time when many investors are sticking money in their mattresses, Californians are putting it on their roofs. Applications for state rebates to install solar panels hit their highest level ever in December, one of the few bright spots in an otherwise gloomy economy.

The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2009/01/02: GristMill: Another step forward -- Dynegy pulls out of coal-fired power plant partnership
• 2009/01/02: GristMill: Not so cheap when you have to clean up your own mess -- Stiffer regulation of coal ash would cost the industry billions
• 2008/12/29: LeDaro: "Clean" Coal Technology

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2009/01/04: SciDaily: Biofuel Development Shifting From Soil To Sea, Specifically To Marine Algae
• 2008/12/31: GristMill: Waiting for Godot in the switchgrass -- Robert Rapier on ever-delayed cellulosic ethanol
• 2008/12/30: PhysOrg: Ethanol sales top gasoline sales in a first in Brazil
• 2008/12/30: AutoBG: UNM wants to "link the world of biofuels with the world of fuel cells."
• 2008/12/29: KSJT: Honolulu Advertiser: Hawaii to get ethanol from pure cane sugar

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2009/01/02: DerSpiegel: Nuclear Fusion -- Energy of the Stars, With No Emissions
  A consortium of governments will build a groundbreaking fusion power plant in France for a price in excess of 5 billion euros. After decades of discouraging setbacks, plasma physics has made jaw-dropping recent progress. Could it save the world?
• 2009/01/03: AlterNet: 6 Reasons Why Nuclear Power Can't Save Us
• 2008/12/28: KC Star: Nuclear proposal energizes debate in Missouri
  We'll soon see how much Missourians want a new nuclear power plant. A Missouri utility wants to build a second nuclear plant in Callaway County -- if ratepayers will pony up before the plant opens. But that is against the law in Missouri, where utilities are prohibited from charging ratepayers for plants that have not been built. So a showdown is looming in the General Assembly on whether to change the law to allow a 1,600-megawatt nuclear plant to be built by AmerenUE.
• 2008/12/31: People's Daily: Work on 4 nuke plants to start next year -- China is expected to start work on four nuclear power stations in 2009, according to a senior government official

  Yes we have a peak oil [& lithium] sighting:

• 2009/01/02: OilDum: Implications of Energy Return on Investment, Peak Oil and the Concept of "Best First"
• 2009/01/02: PeakEnergy: Peak Oil and Civil Unrest
• 2009/01/02: PeakEnergy: More On Peak Lithium
• 2008/12/31: TriCityHerald: Roller coaster petroleum
• 2008/11/20: GPM: Peak Moment: Energy Investment, Energy Return

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2009/01/02: PeakEnergy: LED Streetlights In New York
• 2008/12/31: Time: Wasting Our Watts
• 2008/12/28: AfterGutenberg: O.K., Assume Cheap and Easy
• 2008/12/29: SciBlogging: What Is The State Of Solid State LED Lighting?
• 2008/12/29: GristMill: The most important inverted cost curve you've never heard of -- Report highlights vital fact on energy: Efficiency gets cheaper the more you spend on it

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

• 2009/01/04: CanWest: Canada ready to plug into electric cars: study [Electric Vehicle Technology Road Map] group
• 2009/01/03: ClimateP: Is Toyota developing a purely solar-powered car -- or is this a story lost in translation?
• 2009/01/03: AutoBG: EnerDel has applied for $480 million in federal loans to crank up battery production
• 2009/01/02: AutoBG: US Fuel Cell Council asks for $1.2 billion to help fuel cells gain a foothold
• 2009/01/02: AutoBG: Japanese convenience store chain orders 150 Mitsubishi electric cars, could install 8,000 chargers
• 2009/01/02: NakedCapitalism: Hybrid Car Sales Fell Sharply in November
• 2009/01/01: FTimes: Sharp fall in hybrid vehicles sales as US tightens belt
• 2008/12/31: AutoBG: EEStor partner [Lockheed Martin] patent may keep eenthusiasts eexcited
• 2008/12/29: TreeHugger: EEStor Ultracapacitors Coming to a Tailor Near You
• 2008/12/31: NatureN: US firms power up to build advanced batteries
• HybridCars: Alternative, Fuel Efficient Hybrid Vehicles & Automobiles
• 2008/12/30: HybridCars: Ford Exec Admits Hybrid Battery Shortage
• 2008/12/25: ABC(US): Economic crisis has small car sales making a U-turn -- Sales of These Small Vehicles Have Fluctuated Wildly in 2008
• 2008/12/30: TreeHugger: BYD Delays Sale of Electric Cars in North-America to 2011
• 2008/12/30: MLive: Consumers want their SUVs; they just don't want to pay for the gasoline
• 2008/12/30: AutoBG: Ford: don't get too excited about the Fusion hybrid, we may not have enough batteries
• 2008/12/29: AutoBG: Nissan-NEC joint venture to invest for 200,000 Li-ion batteries annually by 2011

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2008/12/31: PhysOrg: Green technology is on the rise, despite recession

  Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:

• 2009/01/02: AutoBG: Car and Driver gets in on the "Ferrari's are greener than Priuses" myth

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2009/01/02: BCLSB: Munich Re Wants Climate Agreement
• 2008/12/31: KSJT: NYTimes, BBC, AP, etc: Germany's insurance giant fingers climate change
• 2008/12/31: DeSmogBlog: 2008 Third Worst Year for Weather-related Insurance Claims
• 2008/12/30: FTimes: Munich Re highlights climate change impact
  Financial damage and loss of life caused by natural disasters made 2008 one of the most devastating years on record and showed the impact of climate change, one of the world's biggest reinsurers said yesterday. Munich Re said weather-related catastrophes helped push losses to $200bn compared with $82bn in 2007. Insured losses of $45bn were 50 per cent more than in the previous year.
• 2008/12/29: BBC: 'Huge year for natural disasters' -- Losses from natural disasters rose by 50% in 2008, underlining need for action on climate change, re-insurers Munich Re say
• 2008/12/29: CBC: Insurers' annual losses on natural disasters swell to $45B
  Insurers' losses from natural disasters rose by about 50 per cent in 2008 over 2007, with Caribbean hurricanes Ike and Gustav powering the increase and climate change increasingly a factor, a leading reinsurer said Monday. Munich Re AG said in an annual review that the industry's insured losses totalled $45 billion US this year, up from nearly $30 billion in 2007. It said total economic losses, including losses not covered by insurance, swelled to $200 billion from last year's $82 billion.

The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2009/01/03: ERabett: The baseline game
• 2009/01/02: Times(UK): EU's new figurehead believes climate change is a myth
• 2009/01/02: ClimateP: Weblog Awards duped by deniers -- again!
• 2009/01/02: Deltoid: Telegraph takes lead from Australian
• 2009/01/02: DeSmogBlog: A New List of Climate Quibblers: Paid Deniers, Dead Guys and Ill-informed Fellow Travellers
• 2008/12/31: ERabett: The Electric Kooling-Aid Denialist Test
• 2009/01/01: Deltoid: The Australian's War on Science XXX
• 2009/01/01: MTobis: Snippets from the Pseudo-Debate
• 2008/12/31: DeSmogBlog: Calgary Herald, Barry Cooper consign ethics and facts to the trash heap
• 2009/01/01: IsJustToSay: UofC Professor reads Farmer's Almanac
• 2008/12/31: GristMill: Don't let the Ecuador hit you on the way out -- Chevron's history of denial, delay, and defamation in the Ecuadorian Amazon
• 2008/12/31: Tamino: Stupid is as stupid does
• 2008/12/31: BelfastTelegraph: Environment minister Sammy Wilson: I still think man-made climate change is a con
• 2008/12/30: CommonTragedies: A mustached fox enters the EU henhouse
• 2008/12/30: Deltoid: Skeptic's Handbook: not novel, not right
• 2008/12/29: Deltoid: The Australian's War on Science XXIX
• 2008/12/28: DeSmogBlog: Debunking Joanne Nova's 'Skeptics Handbook' part 3: The Climate Models Have it Right

  Then there was the miscellaneous news and commentary:

• 2009/01/03: DotEarth: 'Generation E' -- Innovating, Motivating
• 2009/01/03: SwissInfo: Gloomy outlook forecast for the climate -- The economic crisis may melt away in 2009, but it is safe to forecast that the issue of climate change will remain high on the agenda
• 2009/01/02: MGS: Happy Perihelion
• 2009/01/01: Guardian(UK): 95 months and counting -- Averting climatic catastrophe is still achievable but we might need to learn from the Victorians about applying ourselves
• 2008/12/31: GEB: Considerations for New Year
• 2008/12/31: MTobis: Another Sign of Dawning Realization
• 2009/01/01: TreeHugger: Divergence On The Corporate Front: Sustainability Shakeout Begins
• 2008/12/29: CourierNews: Elgin is seeing green in its future -- 'Sustainable urbanism' gets a closer look to cut energy, be environmentally friendly
• 2000//: the irresistible fleet of bicycles: In Distrust of Movements by Wendell Berry
• 2008/12/29: ClimateP: Must see: Photographing Climate Change
• 2008/12/29: ClimateP: McKinsey 2008 Research in Review: Stabilizing at 450 ppm has a net cost near zero
• 2008/12/29: SciDaily: Humans, Oceans Shaped North American Climate Over Past 50 Years, NOAA Report Says

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

• Wiki: [DSCOVR aka Triana] Deep Space Climate Observatory
• SourceWatch: Tennessee and coal
• 100K House Blog
• TBAS: Carbon tax vs. cap-and-trade
• Wiki: Category:Geoengineering
• Climate Intervention
• CleanTechnica
• Wiki: Tennessee coal sludge spill
• The Reality Coalition -- This Is Reality
• Wiki: Solar Radiation Management [a type of geoengineering]
• EROI Institute

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 archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.

"Thou shalt not exceed the carrying capacity. So says rationality; sentimentality is shocked." -Garrett Hardin

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