Another Week of GW News, April 5, 2009

Sipping from the internet firehose...

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Another week of Climate Disruption News

Information overload is pattern recognition

April 5, 2009

• Chuckle, Top Stories:Red River, Bonn, G-20, USNA Climate Summit, GLOBE, Tim DeChristopher, Grumbine, Sunspots
• Melting Arctic, Wang & Overland, Geopolitics, Methane, Antarctica, Wilkins, Wordie, Polar Conference, Late Comments
• Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Satellites, DSCOVR
• Impacts, Forests, Climate Refugees, Tornadoes, Wildfires, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Carbon Labels, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Misc. Science, Dyson
• Kyoto, Kyoto-2, Carbon Trade,
• Politics:International, Tariffs, America, Obama, Britain, Europe, Australia, China, Asia, Canada
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Media, Books, Courts
• Energy, Virus Power, Wind, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Grid, Cars
• Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Here's a chuckle for ya:

• 2009/04/01: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Ernestly Frank
• 2009/03/31: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Can the Can
• 2009/03/30: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Apocalypse when?

  I think I culled all the April fool malarkey, but sometimes (with denier fabulations) it is hard to tell:

• 2009/04/01: NewScientist: Rainforests may pump winds worldwide
• 2009/04/01: BSD: Hey Sen. Inhofe, hire me to write your climate commentary!

  The flood threat is greatly diminished in the North Dakota & Minnesota:

• 2009/04/03: NOAANews: NOAA Forecasters: Red River Will Crest Again in Fargo-Moorhead in Late April
• 2009/04/03: TerraDaily: Why Does Fargo Flood?
• 2009/04/02: Google:AP: After Red River flood battle comes recovery debate
• 2009/04/01: CBC: Fargo cleans up after snowstorm as flood fears ease on Red River
• 2009/03/31: CNN: Couple in Minnesota town say home was 'sacrificed' to flood
  Couple in Minnesota says home was "sacrificed" to save neighborhood - Tearful resident: "We have a hard time getting through any conversation on this" - Couple says temporary dike was built near their home, but didn't spare it
• 2009/03/30: TerraDaily: North Dakota fights levee erosion amid record floods
• 2009/03/31: CBC: In sandbag-walled Fargo, residents worry about wind-driven waves -- Officials hope for gradual snow-melt as water level drops
• 2009/03/30: CBS: Flooded N. Dakota Stares Down Snow Storm -- Waves Fueled By Powerful Winds Could Weaken Levees; Weary Residents Brace For The Worst
• 2009/03/30: CNN: North Dakota expects snowstorm as official warns, 'It's not over'
  "We're still in a flood fight," says Fargo, North Dakota, deputy mayor - Fargo plans to halt sandbagging operation as Red River recedes - Officials: Wind from storm likely to cause waves in water, put pressure on sandbags - Two deaths, 50 injuries blamed on flood-related incidents
• 2009/03/30: CBC: Snow, ice jam continue threat in Red River flood fight
• 2009/03/30: Yahoo: Flooding in Fargo eases but winter storm moves in

  While Manitobans are waiting for the Red River to crest and being vexed by ice jams:

• 2009/04/05: TStar: How Man(itoba) defeats Nature
  As a bloated Red River flows north, Winnipeg counts on innovative engineering to protect it from a record-breaking flood
• 2009/04/03: CBC: Hundreds of people answer call for sandbagging help -- More than 600 pounds of food donated to feed volunteers
• 2009/04/03: CBC: Flooding closes CPR branch line in southern Manitoba
• 2009/04/04: CBC: Call goes out for more volunteers in Manitoba flood fight
• 2009/04/01: CBC: Manitoba invests in new flood-fighting technology
  [...] The province has purchased five certified emergency response trailers (CERTs), each at $100,000. Every trailer contains about 60 tube dikes -- 15-metre-long tubes that can be filled with water and strung together or stacked.
• 2009/03/31: CBC: Fearing possible ice jams, Selkirk declares state of emergency
• 2009/04/01: CBC: Another spring snowstorm creating problems in southern Manitoba -- Conditions also hindering flood protection efforts north of Winnipeg
• 2009/03/30: WpgFP: 'This makes me cry,' owner says -- Volunteers shift sandbagging efforts north of Selkirk
  Homes south of Selkirk are pretty well fortified and flood fighters are now looking north as ice jams continue to threaten several rural municipalities north of Winnipeg.
• 2009/03/30: WpgFP: Chilly weather stops flood in its tracks

  A UNFCCC conference began in Bonn this week:

• 2009/04/03: NatureCF: What's going Bonn?
• 2009/04/02: OilChange: Bonn, not London, is the Important Meeting
• 2009/04/03: BBC: US to be 'pragmatic on climate'
  The US must balance science with what is politically and technologically achievable on climate change, America's lead negotiator has said. Speaking at UN talks in Bonn, Jonathan Pershing said the US must not offer more than it could deliver by 2020.
• 2009/04/02: Reuters: Small islands urge deep CO2 cuts, fear rising seas
• 2009/04/03: BBC: US to be 'pragmatic on climate'
  The US must balance science with what is politically and technologically achievable on climate change, America's lead negotiator has said. Speaking at UN talks in Bonn, Jonathan Pershing said the US must not offer more than it could deliver by 2020. Poor countries said the latest science showed rich states should cut emissions by 40% on 1990 levels by 2020. President Barack Obama's plan merely to stabilise greenhouse gases at 1990 levels by 2020 is much less ambitious.
• 2009/04/01: Reuters: Rich urged at UN talks to make deeper C02 cuts
• 2009/04/01: EasyBourse: Mexico President Wants Global "Green Fund" To Fight Climate Change
• 2009/04/01: Yahoo: Australia urges new phase for climate talks -- clear -- but realistic -- goals
• 2009/04/02: EurActiv: IPCC chief urges US to match EU climate goals
• 2009/04/01: KSJT: New Scientists, Reuters: That other big int'l meeting in Europe - the one in Bonn on climate
• 2009/04/01: Xinhuanet: Top Chinese negotiator urges developed countries to commit more in fighting climate change
  Top Chinese negotiator Tuesday urged developed countries to give more commitments and support to developing countries in fighting climate change. Su Wei, Chinese delegation chief to the UN climate change talks in Bonn, made the call in an exclusive interview with Xinhua. The Bonn conference, which started on March 29 and will last till April 8, is the first of a series of UN climate change talks this year, which is aimed to pave the way for an ambitious and effective international climate change deal to be reached in Copenhagen in December.
• 2009/03/31: Yahoo: New greenhouse gases targeted by UN talks
• 2009/04/01: Yahoo: UN climate talks: Save the forests -- but how?
  Deforestation, one of the main drivers of global warming, has barged its way to the heart of UN climate talks, which resumed in Bonn this week. But which makes the better incentive for saving the carbon-absorbing tropical woodlands: market mechanisms or public funding? This question has split nations, divided green groups and tossed in yet another factor to bedevil efforts to agree a pact by year's end for tackling climate change.
• 2009/03/30: People's Daily: UN climate change talks raise curtains in Bonn
  The first of a series of UN climate change talks kicked off in Bonn on Sunday, paving the way for an ambitious and effective international climate change deal to be reached in Copenhagen in December. The Bonn talks, which will last till April 8, attracted more than 2,000 participants, including government delegates, representatives from businesses and industries, environmental organizations and research institutions.
• 2009/03/30: EurActiv: Bumpy ride ahead for UN climate talks
  As hundreds of delegates gathered in Bonn on Sunday (29 March) for the first official round of UN talks in view of preparing the ground for a post-Kyoto climate deal in December, most experts concurred that a detailed agreement is unlikely to emerge by the end of the year.
• 2009/03/29: UN: Major negotiations for new UN climate change pact kick off in Germany
  The first round of United Nations-backed negotiations designed to culminate in an ambitious new international climate change treaty in Copenhagen in December got underway today. More than 2,000 delegates from government, business and industry, environmental organizations and research institutions, have gathered in Bonn, Germany, for the first of a series of three sessions aimed at producing a draft document to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period to reducing greenhouse gas emissions ends in 2012.
• 2009/03/30: ClimateP: Climate Envoy Stern in Bonn: The U.S. can't "ride in on a white horse and make it all work."
• 2009/03/30: GristMill: Stern words -- U.S. climate envoy tells international gathering all the right things about climate
• 2009/03/30: GristMill: Back at the table -- Todd Stern's speech cheers delegates at Bonn climate talks
• 2009/03/29: DeutscheWelle: Bonn Conference to Set Agenda for New UN Climate Deal
• 2009/03/30: Times(UK): America 'can't wave magic wand' on climate change
  Expectations of what can be achieved by the United States in fighting global warming are unrealistic, climate change negotiators from more than 170 countries have been told. Hopes raised by a new willingness in the White House to take action to control climate change must be balanced by a realisation that there are limits to what the US can do, they were told.

Greenpeace published a paper on REDD and the carbon market:

• 2009/03/31: EurActiv: Greenpeace: Forests could collapse carbon markets
• 2009/03/31: BBerg: Rain Forest-Saving Credits May Cut Carbon-Emission Prices [says GP]
• 2009/03/31: GreenPeace: [links to pdfs] Forests for climate
• 2009/03/30: TerraDaily: Forest credits would crash carbon markets: Greenpeace
• 2009/03/31: TreeHugger: Including Forest Protection in Carbon Markets Will Harm Emission Reduction Efforts, Greenpeace Report Warns

  G-20 had a conference in London this week. Didn't do anything for the climate:

• 2009/04/02: Guardian(UK): G20 forgets the environment -- Climate breakdown, peak oil and resource depletion all dwarf the financial crisis in financial and humanitarian terms
• 2009/04/03: Independent(UK): The protesters are the ones we should listen to at this summit -- The way out of the credit and the climate crunch is the same - a Green New Deal
• 2009/04/04: Guardian(UK): [Letters] G20 avoid the issue of our finite planet
• 2009/04/03: Guardian(UK): Climate change the biggest loser of G20 summit, warn environmental groups
• 2009/04/03: NatureCF: [G20] World leaders fail to stimulate green economy
• 2009/04/03: CarbonPositive: G20 leaves climate challenge to UN
• 2009/04/02: Yahoo: Environmental groups see snub at G20 summit
• 2009/04/03: OilChange: G20 a "Wasted Opportunity"
• 2009/04/02: Guardian(UK): G20: A big green disappointment -- To postpone further debate on climate change until Copenhagen would be a major missed opportunity
• 2009/04/02: EUO: G20 protesters target European Climate Exchange
• 2009/04/02: ABC(Au): Flannery to G20: economic recovery must include green growth
  Former Australian of the Year Tim Flannery says if the G20 meeting of world leaders in London does not make a decision on further measures to combat climate change, there will be an even bigger economic crisis.
• 2009/03/31: Guardian(UK): G20: The cake and bunting revolution by Leila Deen
  Clever social activists rely not on bravado or violence, but on reaching out to create trust in the wider community To all those obsessed with the ridiculous scare-story and smear campaigns being run by the police about the G20 protests, I have news for you. Revolutionary change does not come from confronting police lines. It comes through building movements. And movements are built by bonding, by networks, by making friends. And that requires cake, a lot of cake, and sometimes bunting. Don't get me wrong, sometimes we must challenge police, should their lines try and stop us exercising our right to protest. That does not mean violence.
• 2009/03/31: Guardian(UK): G20: Nature doesn't do bailouts
  Climate Camp in the City allows us to come together and learn about the problems of global warming, so we can take action
• 2009/03/31: Guardian(UK): G20: A new horizon for humanity by Spanish PM, José Luis RodrÃguez Zapatero
  Energetic commitment is required at this summit if we are to move towards the construction of a fairer global economic order
• 2009/03/31: NatureTGB: G20 Watch: it's getting hot in here
• 2009/03/31: Guardian(UK): Green new deal could ease triple crunch in finance, environment and resources
  As the G20 summit approaches, government must understand that leadership means putting the UK on course to climate safety
• 2009/03/31: NewScientist: The climate summit that's more important than the G20
  All eyes are on London this week for the G20 summit. Will it come up with a plan to save the world economy? It won't, say UN climate negotiators in Germany -- where this week's real business is happening -- unless there is a plan in place to save the planet first.
• 2009/03/31: Guardian(UK): Climate change experts call on G20 members to commit to action -- Leaked communique all but ignores green issues
• 2009/03/31: Guardian(UK): How the world sees the G20 summit - fear, apathy and Barack Obama -- From Moscow to Baghdad - what politicians want from the G20
• 2009/03/30: EUO: Great expectations ahead of G20 summit
• 2009/03/30: NatureN: [Nicholas] Stern message for G20 summit -- Stimulus packages must focus more resources on clean energy and averting climate change, report says.
• 2009/03/30: NatureCF: [Nicholas] Stern's new vision for a safer planet
• 2009/03/31: ABC(Au): G20 leaders urged to spend on environment, poverty
• 2009/03/30: OilChange: Stern: "High carbon growth kills itself"
• 2009/03/30: TP:WonkRoom: Triggering A Green Recovery At The G20 Summit
• 2009/03/30: Guardian(UK): 'We're the first generation that has had the power to destroy the planet. Ignoring that risk can only be described as reckless' [Nicholas Stern interview]

  Apparently there was also a US National Academies Climate Summit this week:

• 2009/04/02: GreenGrok: Impressions from National Academies Climate Summit
• 2009/03/30: GreenGrok: National Academies Kick Off Climate Study with Summit
• 2009/03/31: DotEarth: Can Academy Shape U.S. Climate Choices?
• 2009/03/30: GreenGrok: National Academies Kick Off Climate Study with Summit
• 2009/03/29: CSW: What do we need from the National Academy of Sciences "America's Climate Choices" study?

  And a GLOBE conference:

• GLOBE International
• 2009/03/30: GristMill: GLOBE trotter -- Legislators from around the world meet to discuss climate policy

  Utah student Tim DeChristopher who monkey wrenched the BLM sellout has been charged:

• 2009/04/02: WSJ:EnvCap: A Bid Too Far: Utah Oil Lease Activist Tim DeChristopher Faces Jail Time
• 2009/04/03: DemNow: Utah Student [Tim DeChristopher] Who Prevented Bush Admin Sell-Off of Public Land Charged for Disrupting Auction

  Rob Grumbine continues his educational project:

• 2009/04/03: MGS: How much detail is there really?
• 2009/04/02: MGS: Feedback

  Several articles have noted the unusual lack of sunspots lately:

• 2009/04/01: FuturePundit: Solar Minimum Hits Long Range Low
• 2009/04/03: KSJT: AP, some others: The sun's spots stay scarce, NASA and astronomers say, again. And that's probably good.
• 2009/04/01: NASA: Deep Solar Minimum
• 2009/04/01: PhysOrg: How Low Can It Go? Sun Plunges into the Quietest Solar Minimum in a Century

  The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:

• 2009/04/05: ENN: Climate clock is ticking -- In the summer of 2007, a large portion of Arctic Sea ice - about 40 per cent - simply vanished.
• 2009/04/03: Guardian(UK): The Catlin Arctic Survey: 'The other day Ann got stranded on a floe'
  We're managing to make good progress with the arctic survey amid the hazards -- and we even pulled off a decent April Fool
• 2009/04/03: KSJT: AP, etc: Arctic (still) warming faster than IPCC had said. Clear summer sailing in 2040?
• 2009/04/03: MTobis: Low Hanging Fruit - Black Carbon in Arctic
• 2009/04/03: BBC: Arctic diary: Explorers' ice quest -- Day 34 - High Spirits
• 2009/04/02: CCP: Drew Shindell & Greg Faluvegi: Black carbon responsible for half of Arctic warming
• 2009/03/31: CCurrents: Arctic Meltdown Is A Threat To Humanity
• 2009/03/31: PhysOrg: NASA flies to Greenland to extend polar science
• 2009/03/30: CCP: NSIDC: 2009 annual maximum Arctic sea ice extent confirmed

  A paper by Wang & Overland forecasts a timeframe of 30 years for Arctic ice to disappear:

• 2009/04/03: GRL: (ab$) A sea ice free summer Arctic within 30 years? by Muyin Wang & James E. Overland
• 2009/04/05: SMH: We're skating on very thin ice
  Ice could disappear from the Arctic summer within 30 years because of global warming, a US study has found.
• 2009/04/03 EarthTimes: Arctic summer ice may vanish in 30 years, study finds ahead of summit
• 2009/04/03: Yahoo: Study: Arctic sea ice melting faster than expected
• 2009/04/04: ScottDiatribe: Big news! Original scientific models are wrong on climate change affecting Arctic ice!
• 2009/04/03: TerraDaily: Arctic Could Lose Most Ice In 30 Years
• 2009/04/03: ENN: Ice-free Arctic Ocean Possible In 30 Years, Not 90 As Previously Estimated
• 2009/04/03: CBS: Most Arctic Sea Ice Could Melt In 30 Years -- Comprehensive New Government-Backed Study Shows Trend Much More Advanced Than Feared
• 2009/04/02: PhysOrg: NOAA: Ice-free Arctic summers likely sooner than expected
• 2009/04/02: NOAANews: Ice-Free Arctic Summers Likely Sooner Than Expected
  Summers in the Arctic may be ice-free in as few as 30 years, not at the end of the century as previously expected. The updated forecast is the result of a new analysis of computer models coupled with the most recent summer ice measurements. "The Arctic is changing faster than anticipated," said James Overland, an oceanographer at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and co-author of the study, which will appear April 3 in Geophysical Research Letters. "It's a combination of natural variability, along with warmer air and sea conditions caused by increased greenhouse gases."

As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2009/03/30: CBC: Russia not bullying Canada over Arctic, its ambassador says
• 2009/03/31: CanWest: Russia not planning Arctic 'power grab' -- Canadian accusations don't 'wash well in Moscow,' envoy says

  Permafrost methane, again:

• 2009/03/31: HotTopic: The inner mounting flame
• 2009/04/01: Stoat: Ecologists don't understand physics

  While in Antarctica:

• 2009/04/03: USGS: New USGS Study Documents Rapid Disappearance of Antarctica's Ice Shelves
• 2009/03/05: USGS: Coastal-Change and Glaciological Map of the Larsen Ice Shelf Area, Antarctica: 1940-2005 by Jane G. Ferrigno et al.
• 2009/03/31: TerraDaily: Climate Warming Affects Antarctic Ice Sheet Stability
• 2009/03/29: Eureka: Dust may settle unanswered questions on Antarctica

  The Wilkins Ice Sheet is fracturing:

• ESA: Wilkins Ice Shelf
• 2009/04/05: BBC: Ice bridge ruptures in Antarctic
  An ice bridge linking a shelf of ice the size of Jamaica to two islands in Antarctica has snapped. Scientists say the collapse could mean the Wilkins Ice Shelf is of the brink of breaking away, and provides further evidence or rapid change in the region. Sited on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, the Wilkins shelf has been retreating since the 1990s. Researchers regarded the ice bridge as an important barrier, holding the remnant shelf structure in place.
• 2009/04/05: Guardian(UK): Antarctic ice shelf half the size of Scotland on verge of collapse
• 2009/04/03: MTobis: Wilkins Ice Shelf Disintegration proceeds
• 2009/04/03: ESA: Collapse of the ice bridge supporting Wilkins Ice Shelf appears imminent
• 2009/04/03: CNN: Wilkins ice shelf expected to break from Antarctica
  A large Antarctic ice shelf is cracking and may break away - Scientists are investigating whether or not climate change is to blame - Satellite photos show cracks in the Wilkins Ice Shelf - The ice sheet formed over thousands of years by accumulated snow
• 2009/04/03: PhysOrg: Collapse of the ice bridge supporting Wilkins Ice Shelf appears imminent
• 2009/04/03: EarthTimes: Scientists say monster iceberg about to break loose
  The Wilkins Ice Shelf, a monster iceberg more than 100 kilometres across, is about to separate from the Antarctic continent and float free...
• 2009/04/03: SciDaily: Collapse Of The Ice Bridge Supporting Wilkins Ice Shelf Appears Imminent

  The Wordie Ice Sheet is gone:

• 2009/04/05: ABC(Au): Antarctic [Wordie] ice shelf 'disappears'
• 2009/04/03: Reuters: Wordie Ice Shelf has disappeared: scientists
  One Antarctic ice shelf has quickly vanished, another is disappearing and glaciers are melting faster than anyone thought due to climate change, U.S. and British government researchers reported on Friday. They said the Wordie Ice Shelf, which had been disintegrating since the 1960s, is gone and the northern part of the Larsen Ice Shelf no longer exists. More than 3,200 square miles (8,300 square km) have broken off from the Larsen shelf since 1986.

There will be an Arctic-Antarctic conference in Washington DC for the next two weeks:

• 2009/04/05: EarthTimes: US hosts Arctic-Antarctic summit as melting speeds up
  The United States will bring together the world's government's for a summit on the state of the North and South Poles on Monday, in what environmentalists have billed as a chance to draw attention to some of the most visible effects of global warming. The nearly two-week gathering, which will be kicked off in Washington by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, includes government representatives and scientists from 47 countries.
• 2009/04/01: TerraDaily: Clinton to host first Arctic-Antarctic meeting

  GristMill has changed their site making it almost unusable, but they did post a good series:

• 2009/04/02: GristMill: Climate policy Myth: There is a "free market" in energy
• 2009/04/02: GristMill: Climate policy Myth: Solving climate change is primarily about finding cleaner sources of energy
• 2009/04/02: GristMill: Climate policy Myth: Unlike cap-and-trade, a carbon tax is simple, immune to manipulation, & politically palatable
• 2009/04/02: GristMill: Climate policy Myth: Democrats support good climate policy and Republicans oppose it

  Late comment on Earth Hour:

• 2009/03/30: KSJT: Lots of ink (and candles): Earth hour
• 2009/03/29: CBC: Earth Hour sees B.C. power consumption drop 1.1%
• 2009/03/30: SMH: A vote for the planet
• 2009/03/30: SMH: Seeing the light when darkness falls

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2009/04/02: Reuters: One in 10 Americans gets help from U.S. to buy food
  A record 32.2 million people -- one in every 10 Americans -- received food stamps at the latest count, the government said on Thursday, a reflection of the recession now in its 16th month. Food stamps, the major U.S. anti-hunger program, help poor people buy groceries. The average benefit was $112.82 per person in January. The January figure marks the third time in five months that enrollment set a record.

The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2009/04/02: EarthTimes: Zambia's opposition condemns reported Chinese biofuels project
  Lusaka - Zambia's main opposition leader Michael Sata has strongly opposed a reported request by China to plant 2 million hectares of the jatropha plant in the southern African country for the production of biofuels. During a discussion programme on local radio Thursday, Sata said such a move would disadvantage Zambians, who are scrambling for land to grow food.

And how are we going to feed 9 billion?

• 2009/04/04: NewsObserver: More people try to grow own food -- Food safety, finances swell interest; professionals help out
• 2009/04/02: FAO: UN agency calls for inclusion of farming in talks on new climate change treaty
• 2009/04/01: AlterNet: 8 Ways to Join the Local Food Movement
• 2009/03/27: PlanetArk: Farmers Face Growing Climate Change Dilemma: Scientist
• 2009/03/31: EnergyBulletin: [link to 1.9 meg pdf] The food and farming transition: toward a post carbon food system
• 2009/03/30: Eureka: New breakthrough in global warming plant production -- a single gene responsible for controlling plant growth responses to elevated temperature
• 2009/03/30: eMediaWire: People Are Hoarding Nonperishable Survival Food in Anticipation of Widespread Shortages

  It has been quiet, but toward the end of the week, Lin blew around the SW Pacific and unnamed 26 bothered Madagascar:

• 2009/04/05: NewScientist: Hurricane speed reveals where storm surges will strike
• 2009/04/02: NASA: Hispaniola Was a Tropical Cyclone Target Five Times in 2008
• 2009/03/30: PhysOrg: Hurricanes not likely to disrupt ocean carbon balance

  As for GHGs:

• 2009/04/03: EUO: Economic crisis producing huge drop in EU CO2 emissions
• 2009/04/02: TerraDaily: Economic crisis cut EU's CO2 emissions in '08: [Point Carbon] institute
• 2009/04/01: SciDaily: Nitrate Stimulates Greenhouse Gas Production In Small Streams
  Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas that has been accumulating in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution. It is well known that fertilizer can stimulate nitrous oxide production in soils, but less is known about nitrous oxide production in small streams which drain agricultural landscapes.
• 2009/03/29: Maribo: The Canadian emissions story
• 2009/03/30: ENN: How the recession is helping the environment -- decreasing the planet's carbon footprint

  And the temperature record:

• 2009/04/03: DotEarth: Study: Cool Spells Normal in Warming World
• 2009/04/02: NewScientist: Natural mechanism for medieval warming discovered -- strongly positive NAO from 1050 to 1400
• 2009/04/03: PhysOrg: Atlantic dynamo turned up the heat over Medieval Europe

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2009/04/04: SwissInfo: Glaciers continue to disappear
  Eighty-two of 88 glaciers measured in Switzerland between 2007 and 2008 reduced in length, according to scientists at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Although the winter of 2007 was one of the snowiest ever -- with many stations reporting record snowfalls -- this was cancelled out by a hot summer. The Gorner Glacier alone shrank by 290 metres.

Sea levels are rising:

• 2009/03/31: GreenGrok: The Carterets' Big Move: A Sign of the Future? Atolls in the South Pacific Ocean are sinking.

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2009/03/31: People's Daily: Satellites [Huanjing-1A and Huanjing-1B] will help predict disasters
• 2009/03/31: People's Daily: Small satellites for environment, disaster monitoring sent into orbit

  The campaign to uncover DSCOVR [Deep Space Climate Observatory] rolls on:

• 2009/03/30: DeSmogBlog: NASA Reneges on Transparency - Still No DSCOVR Documents

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2009/03/30: USGS: Marshes Using CO2 to Cope with Global Warming
• 2009/04/04: PhysOrg: As West warms, some fear for tiny mountain dweller [Pika]
• 2009/04/01: VenturaCountyStar: State faces greater risk from global warming
  State officials on Wednesday released what they called the most comprehensive and detailed report on the effects of climate change in California -- a 40-volume set of scientific studies that shows the state more at risk to global warming than previously believed. Among the projected effects: a loss of up to $3 billion in agricultural revenues by 2050 resulting from reductions in the water supply, a statewide increase in electricity demand of up to 55 percent because of extended use of air conditioning, and a heightened risk of wildfires that could cause billions of dollars in property damages annually. The study is the second in a series of biennial reports the state's multi-agency Climate Action Team is required to present to the governor and lawmakers.
• 2009/04/03: NatureTGB: California faces billion dollar bill from climate change
• 2009/04/03: ENN: Mercury in seals linked to vanishing sea ice
• 2009/03/31: CCP: Spring keeps coming earlier for birds, bees, trees
• 2009/03/31: PhysOrg: Climate change fears for deadly virus outbreaks in livestock
• 2009/03/31: TreeHugger: Will We Simply Conclude Through Inaction That Madagascar's Natural Heritage is Disposable?
• 2009/03/29: MongaBay: Plant communities changing across the globe, says scientist Sasha Wright
• 2009/03/30: G&M: Canada's winter sports melting away, report warns

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2009/04/05: WpgFP: Our green carbon future -- Boreal forest a gold mine of conservation opportunities
• 2009/04/01: LLNL: Tropical forest seed banks: a blast from the past
• 2009/04/01: Yahoo: UN climate talks: Save the forests -- but how?
  Deforestation, one of the main drivers of global warming, has barged its way to the heart of UN climate talks, which resumed in Bonn this week. But which makes the better incentive for saving the carbon-absorbing tropical woodlands: market mechanisms or public funding? This question has split nations, divided green groups and tossed in yet another factor to bedevil efforts to agree a pact by year's end for tackling climate change.
• 2009/03/30: UN: Billion tree campaign grows past 3 billion mark, says UN agency
• 2009/03/30: DotEarth: Madagascar Forest Defenders Send S.O.S.

  Climate refugees are becoming an issue:

• 2009/03/31: UN: UN refugee agency deplores deaths of hundreds bound for Europe off Libyan coast
• 2009/04/01: Guardian(UK): Hundreds of migrants feared dead off Libyan coast
  Just 23 of 300 Italy-bound migrants have survived - Charity says 13,000 died in this manner in last decade
• 2009/03/31: CNN: Mediterranean is sea of death for hundreds -- Desperation, smuggling the backdrop to migrant tragedy
  Libya has long been a destination for migrants from the rest of Africa - Many African migrants try to find work in industries such as construction - Others attempt to move on to Europe, with Italy a common destination - Strict border controls often prompt migrants to take other dangerous routes
• 2009/03/31: CBC: 21 dead, 200 feared drowned after boat sinks off Libyan coast
• 2009/03/31: BBC: A boat packed with more than 250 migrants heading for Europe illegally has sunk off the coast of Libya, reports from Libya and Egypt say
• 2009/03/31: Guardian(UK): Hundreds missing after migrant boats sink off coast of Libya
• 2009/03/30: CNN: Fishing boats sink off Libyan coast -- those on board the vessels apparently were immigrants -- 42 rescued

  India got zapped by a tornado:

• 2009/04/01: EarthTimes: India tornado leaves 14 dead, thousands homeless
• 2009/04/01: EarthTimes: India tornado death toll climbs to 12

  As for wild fires:

• 2009/04/04: ABC(Au): Group urges more freedom for controlled burns
  A group campaigning for more controlled burning in Australian forests wants supporters to make their feelings known to the Royal Commission into Victoria's devastating February bushfires. The No Fuel No Fire Alliance is launching a bumper sticker campaign to call for more freedom for rural property owners to carry out controlled burning.
• 2009/04/01: BBC: Climate change 'fans Nepal fires'
  The forest fires that flared unusually viciously in many of Nepal's national parks and conserved areas this dry season have left conservationists worrying if climate change played a role. At least four protected areas were on fire for an unusually long time until just a few days ago.
• 2009/03/31: SMH: Black Saturday death toll now 173
• 2009/03/30: TerraDaily: Australia revises fire death toll down
• 2009/03/30: EarthTimes: Australian forest fire death toll falls to 173

  And disruptions of the hydrological cycle[floods & droughts]:

• 2009/04/04: McClatchyDC: Drought-weary Australia a guide to California's future?
• 2009/04/02: SF Gate: [California] State forecast to face less water, more heat
• 2009/04/02: TerraDaily: Food, supplies dropped to flood-hit Australian towns
• 2009/04/03: ENN: Warming Takes Center Stage As Australian Drought Worsens
• 2009/04/02: SF Gate: California's electricity supply could face serious strain in a warmer, drier future
• 2009/04/03: AlterNet: Fixing Our Water Crisis Can't Be Done by the Corporations that Are Exacerbating It
• 2009/04/03: SMH: After the flood, devastated locals tally the losses
  [...] Clarence Valley is the latest area on the Mid-North Coast to be declared a natural disaster zone - joining Coffs Harbour, Bellingen and Nambucca Heads.
• 2009/04/02: EarthTimes: Rain wreaks havoc in Colombian capital Bogota
• 2009/03/26: Independent(UK): India is stealing water of life, says Pakistan -- Thousands of Punjab farmers suffer as river Chenab runs dry
• 2009/03/31: Nation: Blue Gold: Have the Next Resource Wars Begun?
• 2009/04/01: SMH: Mid-North Coast floods leave thousands stranded
  One-in-100-year rainfall has hit the Mid-North Coast, and some places recorded more than 300 millimetres in six hours. Flash flooding warnings were in place from the North Coast to Sydney. Up to 2800 residents had been left isolated by the floods, said a spokesman for the State Emergency Service, Phil Campbell.
• 2009/03/30: UN: Namibia: UN agencies appeal for $3 million for victims of torrential floods
• 2009/03/31: SMH: Warnings about dam disaster ignored
  The Indonesian Government ignored repeated warnings about a catastrophic flash flood at Situ Gintung and instead built a jogging track around its dam wall from funds earmarked for its inspection and repair.

Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2009/04/03: AlterNet: The Startling Effects of Going Vegetarian for Just One Day
• 2009/04/01: CCurrents: How To Tackle Climate Change -- The Maldives Example
• 2009/03/31: CNN: Can 'biochar' save the planet?
  'Biochar' may reduce greenhouse gases, produce clean energy, help farming - Organic waste can be turned into valuable, renewable resources - Ancient farming method could improve crop yields - Experts: Biochar could reduce harmful global CO2 levels
• 2009/03/30: NatureCF: The biochar backlash
• 2009/03/30: SciDaily: Fish Oils Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Flatulent Cows

  Would carbon labels be useful?

• 2009/03/31: BBC: Carbon labels present taxing problem
  Labels showing products' carbon footprints will not help tackle climate change, says Alex Kasterine. In this week's Green Room, he argues that carbon labelling schemes will harm exports, especially from developing nations, without making much impact on emissions.

As for transportation & GHG production:

• 2009/03/31: NewScientist: US tells ships to clean up fumes or stay away
• 2009/03/31: PhysOrg: New plan to reduce planes' CO2 emissions

  While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:

• 2009/04/05: PeakEnergy: Remixing Concrete
• 2009/04/02: ClimateP: Does carbon-eating cement deserve the hype?
• 2009/04/01: EurActiv: MEPs push back deadline for zero-energy buildings
  MEPs in the Parliament's industry committee yesterday (31 March) backed legislation that would require all new buildings in Europe to produce their own renewable energy by 2019, asking for a big push in public financing for energy-efficient buildings.
• 2009/03/25: CBC: Smaller, energy-efficient homes popular: survey

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2009/04/04: CBC:Q&Q: [mp3/ogg] Seltzer Sequestration
• 2009/04/02: Nature: [Letter] Solubility trapping in formation water as dominant CO2 sink in natural gas fields by Stuart M. V. Gilfillan et al.
• 2009/04/02: CBC: Energy giants lose interest in Alberta carbon capture fund
  Some of the biggest players in Alberta's oilsands have dropped out of the running to be part of the province's $2 billion carbon capture and storage fund. Nine companies, including Suncor Energy, Syncrude Canada Ltd., and ConocoPhillips Canada, are no longer interested in sending the province proposals for carbon capture and storage projects. A total of 20 companies were chosen by the province in November to apply for the fund. The companies cited high costs, according to reports.
• 2009/04/02: NatureCF: The watery fate of carbon dioxide
• 2009/04/02: KSJT: Independent, Telegraph, CBC, etc: The non-solid truth on how nature has stored CO2 deep underground
• 2009/04/02: ABC(Au): Natural carbon capture encourages scientists
  Researchers have found that nature has been storing CO2 safely in water within gas fields for millions of years.
• 2009/04/01: CBC: Nature's underground carbon stores aren't rock solid -- Instead, they're wet and fizzy like bottled drinks, study finds
• 2009/04/01: NatureN: Tracing carbon dioxide's fate underground -- Greenhouse gas dissolves in water rather than becoming locked into minerals.
• 2009/04/01: Eureka: Carbon capture has a sparkling future

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2009/04/03: MillerMcCune: Is White the New Green?
  Three California energy experts make a convincing -- and sincere -- case that painting roofs white in the hot parts of the planet could offset the greenhouse gas woes caused by the world's cars
• 2009/04/02: PeakEnergy: Ocean Iron Fertilization Test Fails

  While on the adaptation front:

• 2009/03/31: Guardian(UK): Q&A: Adaptation to climate change

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2009/04/02: ACP: Carbon monoxide distributions from the upper troposphere to the mesosphere inferred from 4.7 um non-local thermal equilibrium emissions measured by MIPAS on Envisat by B. Funke et al.
• 2009/04/03: ACP: The impact of tropical recirculation on polar composition by S. E. Strahan et al.
• 2009/04/03: ACP: Development of a global model of mineral dust aerosol microphysics by Y. H. Lee et al.
• 2009/04/03: GRL: (ab$) A sea ice free summer Arctic within 30 years? by Muyin Wang & James E. Overland
• 2009/04/02: Nature: [Letter] Solubility trapping in formation water as dominant CO2 sink in natural gas fields by Stuart M. V. Gilfillan et al.
• 2009/03/31: CPD: Climate and CO2 modulate the C3-C4 balance and ?13C signal in simulated vegetation by O. Flores et al.
• 2009/03/31: CPD: Investigating the impact of Lake Agassiz drainage routes on the 8.2 ka cold event with climate modeling by Y.-X. Li et al.
• 2009/03/19: Nature: Obliquity-paced Pliocene West Antarctic ice sheet oscillations by T. Naish et al.
• 2009/03/22: NatureGeo: Climate response to regional radiative forcing during the twentieth century by Drew Shindell & Greg Faluvegi
• 2009/04/01: ACP: Modelling of cirrus clouds -- Part 2: Competition of different nucleation mechanisms by P. Spichtinger & K. M. Gierens
• 2009/04/01: ACPD: IASI measurements of reactive trace species in biomass burning plumes by P.-F. Coheur et al.
• 2009/04/01: ACPD: Retrieval of atmospheric profiles and cloud properties from IASI spectra using super-channels by X. Liu et al.
• 2009/03/31: ACPD: A simple model for cloud radiative forcing by T. Corti & T. Peter
• 2009/03/31: ACPD: Observations of heterogeneous reactions between Asian pollution and mineral dust over the Eastern North Pacific during INTEX-B by C. S. McNaughton et al.
• 2009/03/30: ACPD: Monitoring of atmospheric composition using the thermal infrared IASI/MetOp sounder by C. Clerbaux et al.
• 2009/03/31: PNAS: Amplification of the North American "Dust Bowl" drought through human-induced land degradation by Benjamin I. Cook et al.

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

• 2009/04/02: BBC: A Dundee scientist has been awarded £1m to study the stresses that plants come under and how they will cope with things like climate change
• 2009/04/02: RealClimate: Advocacy vs. Science

  Dyson, redux:

• 2009/03/31: Ph&Ph: Picking And Choosing
• 2009/03/30: DeSmogBlog: Freeman Dyson is flailing outside his field of expertise; the NYT should be embarrassed
• 2009/03/29: CCP: James Hansen's comments on the New York Times Magazine article "The Civil Heretic" on Dyson Freeman
• 2009/03/30: AJaffe: Dyson disturbs
• 2009/03/30: DM:CV: Freeman Thinking
• 2009/03/30: KSJT: NYTimes Sun. Magazine: Cover profile of the (mischievous, subversive) climate skeptic Freeman Dyson
• 2009/03/30: DM:Intersection: Another Whack at the New York Times Magazine Freeman Dyson Profile by Nicholas Dawidoff

  Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:

• 2009/03/31: Reuters: China passes 500 mark for U.N. clean energy projects

  And on the Kyoto-2 front:

• 2009/04/03: IndiaTimes: Small islands urge deep CO2 cuts, fear rising seas
• 2009/03/31: Guardian(UK): Climate change: the policy gaps
  We can't wait for Copenhagen, individual countries must start implementing strategies to tackle global warming now
• 2009/03/31: ClimateP: Only the most ambitious emissions reductions under discussion within UNFCCC can achieve climate goals
• 2009/03/30: Reuters: China hails US climate pledges, OPEC fears for oil
• 2009/03/30: DeccanHerald: Defining year for climate change
  The world is poised to conclude an agreement which has the potential to decide the fate of the human race, according to Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
• 2009/03/30: BBerg: China Demands Obama Carbon Pledge at UN Climate Talks
  China and India called on wealthier countries to accept numerical cuts of greenhouse-gas emissions at United Nations climate talks, a change in policy for the new U.S. team of negotiators. The world is running out of time to tackle global warming and needs pledges by industrialized countries to release less carbon dioxide, Chinese negotiator Yu Qingtai told delegates meeting today in Bonn. "Looking at the clock ticking away, the central task is the establishment of commitments" for developed nations to stem heat-trapping emissions, Yu said at the first full day of talks.
• 2009/03/30: Google:AFP: US must do more on climate change: Germany
  The United States must step up its efforts to combat climate change, Germany's environment minister said Monday, accusing the Obama administration of lacking ambition in its environmental goals. "Even under Barack Obama, the US has insufficient climate protection goals, at least as far as the international community is concerned," Sigmar Gabriel told Berlin radio station RBB. Gabriel called on Obama to commit to "significantly more ambitious targets than has so far been the case."
• 2009/03/30: TerraDaily: Huge Danish police deployment set for [December] climate summit

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2009/04/01: CFO: UK, Germany reveal large EU Allowance shortfalls
  The UK and Germany have posted a "staggering" EU allowance (EUA) shortfall of more than 140 million for last year -- with more installations yet to report. In the first glimpse of emissions covered in Phase II the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), about 80% of installations -- which accounted for 93% of ETS emissions in 2007 -- reported their 2008 verified data, totalling 1.98 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (t CO2e).
• 2009/04/01: NatureCF: Cap-and-trade: the experience Down Under
• 2009/04/01: BBerg: Japan Bought 2 Million Tons of Kyoto Credits in 2008
• 2009/03/30: Kentucky: Forest owners can sell carbon credits for their trees

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2009/04/02: EnvFin: International task force to plan green stimulus strategy
  The World Economic Forum has set up a task force to identify how to create millions of green jobs and put long-term economic growth on a sustainable, low-carbon path. Launched in London this week, 52 companies and 32 'thought leaders' have joined the forum's Task Force on Low-Carbon Economic Prosperity, which will develop ideas to feed into global policy.
• 2009/04/01: EUO: EU welcomes US move on CO2 amid climate change worries
• 2009/04/01: GristMill: How do you solve a problem like Silvio? Italian premier's skepticism could undermine G8 climate talks
• 2009/03/31: KSJT: Northeast US Press: Foreign company buys huge swath of the Adirondacks, all to help fight climate change
  For some reason, on reading news that a huge overseas fund looking for green investment has bought a giant stretch of the Adirondacks from American land owners is just a bit dismaying.
• 2009/03/31: People's Daily: US praises China's efforts on climate
• 2009/03/30: EarthTimes: China, EU to establish renewable energy institute
• 2009/03/30: ENN: China hails U.S. climate promises, says to act

  About those biofuel and/or carbon tariffs:

• 2009/04/03: BBerg: Climate-Change Policies Risk Protectionism, China, India Say
• 2009/04/02: Yahoo:IBD: Dem Climate Change Legislation Could Trigger Global Trade War
• 2009/03/31: SMH: Wong warns US on [carbon] tariffs
  The Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, has warned the United States against introducing "carbon tariffs" to protect American industry, an idea floated earlier this month by the US Energy Secretary, Steven Chu. Ms Wong said Australia had a "consistent position on trade policy and that is, as a small and open economy, we support open trade".

And on the American political front:

• 2009/04/05: ClimateP: Republicans (sic) for Environmental Protection take on Conservatives for Polluter Appeasement
• 2009/04/04: AlterNet: Stunning Government Billion-Dollar Giveaway to Paper Companies in the Works
  Thanks to an obscure tax provision, the United States government stands to pay out as much as $8 billion this year to the ten largest paper companies. And get this: even though the money comes from a transportation bill whose manifest intent was to reduce dependence on fossil fuel, paper mills are adding diesel fuel to a process that requires none in order to qualify for the tax credit. In other words, we are paying the industry--handsomely--to use more fossil fuel. "Which is," as a Goldman Sachs report archly noted, the "opposite of what lawmakers likely had in mind when the tax credit was established."
• 2009/04/03: BSD: BICEP and USCAP mean it's time to Green the Chamber of Commerce
• 2009/04/03: ClimateP: First quarter cleantech VC funding still hits $1 billion -- green stimulus funds soar to $400 billion
• 2009/04/01: ClimateP: Ohio court lets utility cut secret side deals with industrial customers to support a rate hike in return for a price cut
• 2009/04/01: WSJ:EnvCap: Clean Dreams: California Moves Closer to 33% Renewables Target
• 2009/03/30: GristMill: Oregon's folly -- Oregon tries to undo ethanol leg. while 'enviros' lobby for biofuels subsidies
• 2009/03/31: DM:Intersection: The Push for Restarting the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment
• 2009/03/30: TreeHugger: Texas Board of Ed Neuters Science Textbooks' Global Warming Language

  A poll turned up some discomfiting attitudes:

• 2009/04/04: IR^2: We Want Energy Independence! That is, as long as it doesn't increase gasoline costs by $0.40/gallon...
• 2009/04/02: GristMill: Survey says: Americans concerned about global warming, want policy change, like money
• 2009/04/03: JFleck: People Seem to Favor Action on Climate Change Until...[they find out it isn't free]
• 2009/03/30: WorldChanging: Americans Favor a Carbon Cap

  The Obama chatter is nonstop:

• 2009/04/03: WaPo: Obama climate plans face long route for passage
• 2009/03/30: GristMill: A letter to the president -- House Dems say they're coming together around climate and energy legislation
• 2009/03/30: TreeHugger: Obama Paves the Way for International Climate Treaty
• 2009/03/30: TreeHugger: Obama to Automakers: Make Greener American Cars or Go Under

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2009/04/02: REA: Stimulus Dollars Begin to Flow: Here's How, Where and When
• 2009/04/03: HillHeat: EPA To Hold Public Hearings On Greenhouse Gas Registry
• 2009/04/03: TreeHugger: Interior Secretary [Salazaar], Too, Says We Need a Energy 'Moon Shot'
• 2009/04/03: CBC: U.S. to move millions of litres of oil away from active Alaska volcano
• 2009/03/31: BizWeek: Chu believes FutureGen project has merit

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2009/04/04: ClimateP: Don't Flush an Energy Opportunity
  Congress now has several opportunities to further our understanding of the nexus between water and energy use and to promote water conservation efforts that can also achieve significant energy savings. A recently introduced energy and water bill combined with financial incentives in the omnibus energy bill due later this year could help the entire country enjoy the savings some states are already seeing from reductions in water use -- with a potential for job creation through water-efficient home retrofits.
• 2009/04/04: ThinkP: Conservatives Holding Up Increasing Number Of Key Obama Nominees
• 2009/04/03: ClimateP: Q: Does a climate bill have to be bipartisan?
• 2009/04/03: ClimateP: Conservatives win Senate Democrat converts to their polluter-appeasing message
• 2009/04/03: TreeHugger: "Cash for Clunkers" Gains Momentum in Congress
• 2009/04/03: TP:WonkRoom: Republicans For Environmental Protection: 'Conservatives, Of All People, Should Not Ignore Basic Principles Of Economics'
• 2009/04/03: ThinkP: Republicans for Environmental Protection calls GOP's cap-and-trade myth 'a disservice' to Americans
• 2009/04/01: Reuters: U.S. Senate leader tries to quell climate bill fears
• 2009/04/02: TP:WonkRoom: By Overwhelming Margins, Senate Accepts Conservative Lies About A Green Economy
• 2009/04/02: ThinkP: Joining Their 11 Colleagues, Eight More Republicans Advance Cap-And-Trade Tax Myth
• 2009/04/02: ThinkP: At Least 11 Republicans In Congress Advance False Claim That Green Economy Bill Imposes $3,100 Tax On Families
• 2009/04/01: GristMill: Pro and recon -- Senate rules out using budget process to pass cap-and-trade
• 2009/04/01: GristMill: This is only a test -- Senate susses out climate plan positions
• 2009/04/02: DeSmogBlog: John Boehner, the Say Anything Republican
• 2009/04/01: ClimateP: Rep. Shimkus: Cutting CO2 emissions is "Taking away plant food from the atmosphere"
• 2009/03/31: McClatchyDC: California drought hearing produces partisan sniping [at a congressional hearing Tuesday]
• 2009/03/31: ClimateP: ACEEE: House "CARS" bill to accelerate vehicle scrappage "would not achieve its energy and environmental objectives."
• 2009/03/31: WSJ:EnvCap: German Lessons: Is Cash-for-Clunkers the Answer to U.S. Auto Woes?
• 2009/03/31: TPM_DC: Pelosi: Climate Legislation by July (We Hope)
• 2009/03/30: ClimateP: Senate energy bill starting point
• 2009/03/30: ClimateP: Waxman, Markey, Dingell, and Boucher embrace climate action, praise USCAP proposal

  Markey and Waxman introduced ACES: American Clean Energy and Security Act this week:

• 2009/04/04: OilDrum: Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009
• 2009/04/02: GristMill: Markey and Waxman cut the crap -- New climate legislation overlooks a major GHG source: industrial ag
• 2009/04/03: C411: Links: How Many Bloggers and MIT Professors Does It Take to Correct a Number?
• 2009/03/31: C411: Waxman and Markey Fire Starting Gun
• 2009/04/02: EnvFin: US market welcomes Waxman-Markey climate bill [ACES: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009]
• 2009/04/03: GreenGrok: Congress on Climate: A Zig, A Zag, and Then a Zig, Sort Of
• 2009/04/03: TerraDaily: Analysis: Carbon-market battle begins
• 2009/04/02: TPM-DC: Republicans: We Stand By Our Distortion of MIT Study
• 2009/04/03: TreeHugger: GOP Willfully Distorts Research on Climate Legislation
• 2009/04/03: DeSmogBlog: Why Are Mitch McConnell and John Boehner Working Against the Interests of America?
• 2009/04/03: DeSmogBlog: Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) calls out the Republican $3,100 lie
• 2009/04/03: WSJ:EnvCap: In Hot Water: Energy and Climate Bill is Really, Really Comprehensive
• 2009/04/01: DeSmogBlog: Rep. John Boehner and Sen. Mitch McConnell's Big Green Lie
• 2009/04/02: ENN: Highlights of draft bill to curb global warming
• 2009/04/02: SMH: US unveils ambitious greenhouse target
  The United States has taken a decisive step towards curbing greenhouse gas emissions with a cap-and-trade scheme. The chairman of the powerful House of Representatives energy and commerce committee, Henry Waxman, has released ambitious draft legislation in preparation for consultations with both houses of Congress. It proposes that the US cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020 and by 83 per cent by 2050. Australia uses a different baseline for its scheme: a 5 to 15 per cent reduction from 2000 levels by 2020.
• 2009/04/01: MoJo: Cap and Trade
• 2009/04/01: ClimateP: MIT Professor tells GOP to stop 'misrepresenting' his work and inflating the cost to families of cap-and-trade by a factor of 10.
• 2009/03/31: ClimateP: White House endorses Waxman-Markey, Senate Majority Whip Durbin says he doesn't have 60 votes for it -- House GOP keeps lying
• 2009/04/01: GristMill: Valid argument ISO soundbite -- Responding to the 'energy tax' attack
• 2009/04/01: GristMill: Going big -- In defense of the Dems' One Big Bill energy/climate strategy
• 2009/04/01: GristMill: Stop the auction permits before they kill again -- Waxman bill threatens children and elderly, says very concerned power industry
• 2009/04/01: GristMill: They really took that Big Lie theory to heart! Republicans claim carbon bill impact on families that is off by -- no kidding -- 98%
• 2009/03/31: GristMill: House rules -- Key Democrats deal opening hand in climate debate
• 2009/03/31: CommonTragedies: Waxman-Markey drops, planet takes little notice
• 2009/04/01: TreeHugger: Guide to the Democrats' Energy and Climate Bill: the Greenest in US History?
• 2009/04/01: DeSmogBlog: The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009; Draft One
• 2009/04/01: ENN: House Climate Bill Aims to Please Environmental and Business Interests
• 2009/04/01: NEN: Climate change, energy bills -- first draft of history
• 2009/04/01: OilChange: Lukewarm Response to "Centrist" Clean Energy Bill
• 2009/04/01: LA Times: House leaders pitch wide-ranging climate plan
  Democrats Waxman and Markey propose a multi-part effort to reduce greenhouse gases and promote renewable energy. A lengthy congressional debate is likely to follow.
• 2009/03/31: ThinkP: Conservatives Falsely Assert That Green Economy Legislation Would Impose $3,100 Tax On Families
• 2009/04/01: ThinkP: MIT Professor Tells Boehner To Stop 'Misrepresenting' Green Economy Legislation
• 2009/03/31: McClatchyDC: [Waxman & Markey] Bill would drastically change U.S. energy production, use
• 2009/03/31: NatureTGB: US climate policy: it's off to the races...with the introduction today of draft legislation to control greenhouse gases through a cap-and-trade system
• 2009/03/31: ClimateP: First impression of Waxman-Markey: A solid bill that boosts the economy, creates green jobs, and puts the country on a path to preserve a livable climate. Grade: B+
• 2009/03/30: ENS: New Day Dawns for U.S. Global Warming Policy
• 2009/03/31: TreeHugger: Democrats Introduce Huge Cap and Trade, Renewable Energy Bill to House
• 2009/03/31: WSJ:EnvCap: ACES High: The Waxman, Markey Bill and Cap-and-Trade
• 2009/03/31: WSJ:EnvCap: ACES to Open: Waxman, Markey Energy Bill Kicks Off Climate Battle
• 2009/03/31: NatJo:CD: Waxman, Markey Brief Dems On Energy, Climate Plan
• 2009/03/31: TP:WonkRoom: House Energy Leaders [Waxman & Markey] Unveil Green Economy Legislation
• 2009/03/31: TPM_DC: Markey: Some Emissions Permits Likely Will Be Given Away
• 2009/03/31: TPM_DC: Greenpeace: Waxman-Markey Climate Bill Not Strong Enough
• 2009/03/31: TPM_DC: Waxman to Unveil Climate Change Bill Today, Going Further Than Obama

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2009/03/31: GristMill: Birthday in the balance -- Celebrate Al Gore turning 61 today with a Grist quiz

  While in the UK:

• 2009/04/03: Guardian(UK): RBS dirty fuel protesters open up new front of attack
• 2009/03/31: Guardian(UK): Boris Johnson to slash London environmental team in half -- Leaked proposals to cut 20 jobs at city hall call mayor's commitment into question
• 2009/03/31: Guardian(UK): Thames Barrier gets extra time as London's main flood defence -- Six-year study reveals that original designs overestimated threat from climate change
• 2009/03/31: Guardian(UK): Just when we need him, the professor has an acute attack of the Bellamoids
• 2009/03/30: Guardian(UK): Green spending in UK economic rescue package 'negligible'
  UK government's fiscal stimulus package is a missed opportunity, says New Economics Foundation, as less than 1% of anti-recession spending goes on environment
• 2009/03/30: BBC: Brown accused over green spending
  Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been accused by a think tank of failing to harness his economic stimulus for the benefit of the environment. The New Economics Foundation says that among rich nations, the UK has invested the least in clean technology. It called UK performance pathetic...

And in Europe:

• 2009/04/01: CFO: UK, Germany reveal large EU Allowance shortfalls
  The UK and Germany have posted a "staggering" EU allowance (EUA) shortfall of more than 140 million for last year -- with more installations yet to report. In the first glimpse of emissions covered in Phase II the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), about 80% of installations -- which accounted for 93% of ETS emissions in 2007 -- reported their 2008 verified data, totalling 1.98 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (t CO2e).
• 2009/04/03: EUO: Economic crisis producing huge drop in EU CO2 emissions
• 2009/04/02: NYT: Europe readies for effects of climate change
• 2009/04/02: EurActiv: EU endorses new energy labels
  The EU stepped up its energy-efficiency policy by upgrading the energy labelling system for household electrical products and agreeing new energy-performance standards on Tuesday (31 March).
• 2009/04/02: EurActiv: EU at odds over priorities for 'green stimulus'
• 2009/04/01: EurActiv: MEPs push back deadline for zero-energy buildings
  MEPs in the Parliament's industry committee yesterday (31 March) backed legislation that would require all new buildings in Europe to produce their own renewable energy by 2019, asking for a big push in public financing for energy-efficient buildings.
• 2009/03/30: EUO: Europe's Greens accuse EU of 'greenwashing' stimulus packages
• 2009/03/30: GristMill: A mandarin's plea for climate action -- A letter from Europe
• 2009/03/30: SwissInfo: As climate changes, so do borders
  Confirmation that glaciers between Switzerland and Italy have drifted over the decades has sent both sides to the drawing board to redefine parts of the border. A line of around 750km, established in 1861 and fixed based on data from 1940, would have to be adjusted on account of rapidly melting snow and ice in the high Alps, including in an area around the famed Matterhorn. But the issue of redrawing a small section of the divide between the countries -- no more than ten per cent -- is as much about warmer temperatures and shifting glaciers as how the two countries agreed to define the border almost 150 years ago. It is a technical exercise, both parties say, and hardly one either side is wrangling over. Rather than negotiating a new border, bureaucrats are looking to see whether particular markers have shifted. And in the case where they have, they redraw the lines. At lower altitudes, borders are defined at fixed points -- literally with cement markers in some places -- said Daniel Gutknecht from Switzerland's topographical service

Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2009/04/03: ABC(Au): Economic climate 'driving job insecurity, not ETS'
  The Federal Government has rejected suggestions that its proposed emissions trading scheme (ETS) will lead to massive job losses.
• 2009/04/03: ABC(Au): Solar spike proves stimulus plan working: Garrett
  The Federal Government says strong uptake of its solar hot water rebate is proof that its economic stimulus package is working.
• 2009/04/03: ABC(Au): Carbon trading in Australia will create millions of new green-collar jobs by expanding traditional industries and creating new ones, says the CSIRO's senior science leader
• 2009/04/01: ABC(Au): Aust 'left behind' in clean energy stakes
• 2009/04/02: JQuiggin: Trailing the world [Aus-ETS]
• 2009/04/02: SMH: Anger over call to scrap coal plans
  A NSW Minister and the head of the Minerals Council have attacked remarks by a member of the Rudd Government's Infrastructure Australia body who called for plans to boost coal exporting capacity in Newcastle to be scrapped. The Ports Minister, Joe Tripodi, and the chief executive of the NSW Minerals Council, Nikki Williams, challenged remarks by Professor Peter Newman calling for coal mining to be phased out because of the adverse effects on global warming.
• 2009/04/02: SMH: US greenhouse bid puts pressure on Rudd's plan
  The Rudd Government's troubled climate change plan came under increased pressure yesterday after a more ambitious proposal to cut greenhouse pollution and promote jobs in clean energy was unveiled by the US. [...] The Climate Institute's John Connor said the proposed US legislation was "stronger, smarter and more ambitious" than Mr Rudd's. If the US bill goes ahead, it would leave Australia "in the slipstream of efforts to create clean energy jobs and reduce energy costs through energy efficiency". Just back from the US, Senator Wong welcomed the American bill but played down its ambitious targets to cut greenhouse gases, with her spokeswoman saying debate "has a long way to go". Republicans are expressing opposition to it. The bill proposes cutting greenhouse pollution to 20 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020. In addition, the US would effectively cut another 10 per cent of its emissions by 2020 by buying into offset deals in developing countries to prevent deforestation. Federal Government officials estimate the plan could cut US greenhouse gas emissions overall about 19 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020. This is substantially more than Mr Rudd's plan to cut Australia's emissions between 5 per cent and 15 per cent on 2000 levels by 2020. Mr Connor said his Climate Institute analysis showed the US proposal would equate to Australia cutting its greenhouse emissions 25 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020 - a target the federal cabinet rejected last December.
• 2009/04/01: ABC(Au): Aust 'left behind' in clean energy stakes -- There's been a big step in the United States' newfound enthusiasm for dealing with climate change
• 2009/04/01: AutoBG: Austrian government launches 100 unit EV test program with Th!nk
• 2009/04/01: SMH: Scrap coal plan, says Rudd's man
  A member of the Rudd Government's group charged with rebuilding Australia's infrastructure says plans to double the coal export capacity in Newcastle should be abandoned. Professor Peter Newman, who is a member of Infrastructure Australia, said the environmental damage done from burning coal meant the construction of new coal loading facilities in what is already the world's biggest coal exporting port should be stopped now.
• 2009/03/31: ABC(Au): Downturn 'bigger worry' than carbon scheme
  The federal Member for Cunningham, Sharon Bird, has played down the role of lobbying by BlueScope Steel to lessen the impact of the Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. [...] She says the global economic downturn is a far greater worry than the carbon reduction scheme.
• 2009/03/31: ABC(Au): Wind farm promises jobs boost
  The developer of a proposed $800 million wind farm says the project will generate 40 jobs and boost income for landholders in the Harden Shire.
• 2009/03/31: ABC(Au): Digging into soil carbon warrants study
• 2009/03/30: BNC: CPRS vs carbon tax: Senate Inquiry
• 2009/03/30: ABC(Au): The New South Wales Government will trial an electric car in a plan to make its fleet emissions free
• 2009/03/30: ABC(Au): The Gippsland Basin in south-east Victoria will be explored to determine whether carbon emissions can be stored beneath the surface

  And in China:

• 2009/04/02: BBC: Can China be green by 2020?
  China's unprecedented economic growth over the past 30 years has come at a huge cost to the environment.

While elsewhere in Asia:

• 2009/04/04: EarthTimes: Rights group says 30 million Bangladeshis exposed to climate change

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

• 2009/04/03: OttawaSun: Tory green plan on hiatus
  The Harper government's "Turning the Corner" green plan hasn't hit a dead end -- it's just in the shop for a tune-up. So says Environment Minister Jim Prentice about the environmental showpiece, unveiled two years ago with loud fanfare, but hardly talked about anymore.

Fundamentalists in the Tory cabinet:

• 2009/04/04: BCLSB: Lunney Goes To Ground
• 2009/03/30: HillTimes: Scientists say Obama gets it, and Canada doesn't -- More scientists may follow funding dollars to the United States.
  Scientists say they are not worried about whether Canada's Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear believes in evolution, but are concerned that his understanding of research will see scientists follow funding dollars to the United States. "Are [Gary Goodyear's] beliefs around religion, evolution, creationism relevant? I think it does become relevant if those beliefs begin to influence policy-making. Is there any evidence of that so far? No, so I think we have to be cautious. But we would want someone in that portfolio who does understand the nature of scientific research," said David Robinson, associate executive director for research and advocacy for the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT). Mr. Robinson had a meeting with Mr. Goodyear (Cambridge, Ont.) early this month that has now become infamous after The Globe and Mail reported that the meeting quickly descended into a shouting match and ended with Mr. Goodyear's aide telling Mr. Robinson and his colleague to "shut up" before storming out of the room.

Oh look! Another climate bill the Tories will refuse to enact:

• 2009/04/02: CBC: Greenhouse gas targets bill passes 2nd reading

  The climate policies of the Liberals are emerging:

• 2009/03/31: BaDH: Ignatieff Liberals are back to thinking Kyoto is just the name of a dog

  Quebec is protecting more of the boreal forest:

• 2009/04/01: TreeHugger: Quebec to Protect 4.5 Million Acres of Land, 8.12% of Province Now Protected

  In BC, the coming election looms:

• 2009/03/31: Straight: David Suzuki: Run-of-river power projects may offer green energy solutions

  Ontario is still wrestling with its energy policy:

• 2009/03/30: CleanBreak: Residential solar thermal systems get huge incentive boost [Ontario]
• 2009/04/01: CBC: McGuinty announces details of $9B plan for Toronto-area transit

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2009/04/03: DeSmogBlog: Alberta Lobbying Hard in Washington on Cap and Trade Bill
• 2009/04/02: CBC: Energy giants lose interest in Alberta carbon capture fund
  Some of the biggest players in Alberta's oilsands have dropped out of the running to be part of the province's $2 billion carbon capture and storage fund. Nine companies, including Suncor Energy, Syncrude Canada Ltd., and ConocoPhillips Canada, are no longer interested in sending the province proposals for carbon capture and storage projects. A total of 20 companies were chosen by the province in November to apply for the fund. The companies cited high costs, according to reports.
• 2009/04/02: CBC: Suncor fined $850,000 for environmental violations
  Suncor has been fined a combined $850,000 in two separate environmental cases, the Alberta government announced Thursday. Suncor was fined $675,000 for failing to install pollution control equipment at its Firebag facility near Fort McMurray and failing to tell Alberta Environment about it. The oilsands giant was also fined $175,000 in connection with the dumping of undertreated wastewater from a company-owned work camp near Fort McMurray into the Athabasca River.
• 2009/04/01: TreeHugger: Duck Death Toll Triples to 1,606 at Alberta Tar Sands Site
• 2009/04/01: TreeHugger: [NatGeo] Tar Sands Documentary Causes "Big Stink" in Alberta: Now Online
• 2009/04/01: CanWest: Obama climate bill could side-swipe Alberta tarsands
  Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday unveiled draft climate change legislation to slash America's greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020, setting the stage for a protracted and intense political debate in Washington that has potentially major consequences for Canada's energy industry. The 648-page draft bill would establish a carbon cap-and-trade system to help industry achieve the greenhouse gas reductions, but sidesteps the politically explosive issue of how new emissions credits would be distributed to U.S. companies. The legislation would also impose low-carbon standards for gasoline and other transportation fuels, rules that could make it more difficult for U.S. refineries to sell fuel produced from Alberta's carbon-intensive tarsands. "This is not a ban on tarsands oil. But it is definitely a disincentive, because it has higher emissions," said Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, director of the Canadian program director at the Natural Resources Defence Council.
• 2009/03/31: CBC: Syncrude says duck death toll was 3 times original estimate
• 2009/03/31: NewsWire: Syncrude announces changes to waterfowl protection program
  [...] Alberta Fish and Wildlife officials and Syncrude initially estimated 500 waterfowl were involved in the incident. In the weeks that followed, the birds later returned to the surface, where staff collected, counted and reported the numbers as part of the government's investigation. The Crown prosecutors have agreed Syncrude can release the final bird count, which is 1,606.
• 2009/03/31: BCLSB: 100s of Dead Ducks
• 2009/03/30: DeSmogBlog: Oil Giant in a showdown with Local "Big Loop Group" Ranchers in Alberta
• 2009/03/31: CBC: Alberta to check oilsands ponds for duck deterrents
• 2009/03/30: Rabble: Petro-Canada Suncor merger: The end of the national energy policy?

  And then there is the miscellaneous Canadiana:

• 2009/04/02: CBC: Incentives coming for Manitobans to give up their old clunker cars
  The province of Manitoba wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by getting drivers to give up their old cars. The provincial government on Thursday released a long-awaited report from the Manitoba Vehicle Standards Advisory Board, titled "Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Passenger Vehicles in Manitoba." While the board's report supports new California emissions standards that the U.S. state wants to put in place, it will not force vehicles here to comply with those standards. The province doesn't have the clout for that, board co-chair Marilyn McLaren said. Science and Technology Minister Jim Rondeau echoed that statement. "We are a quarter of one per cent of the North American market. We're not going to drive the agenda," he said. The province will instead begin advocating for a North American emissions standard, he said.
• 2009/03/29: Maribo: The Canadian emissions story

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

• 2009/04/03: ABC(Au): Growing the green collar workforce
• 2009/04/02: AlterNet: How a Green Economy Is an Antidote to Casino Capitalism
• 2009/03/30: ClimateP: Introduction to climate economics: Why even strong climate action has such a low total cost -- one tenth of a penny on the dollar
• 2009/03/31: SeedDaily: Fighting Global Warming Offers Growth And Development Opportunities
• 2009/03/31: PeakEnergy: Resilience Economics
• 2009/03/30: NEN: Plan B 3.0, A path to the future

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

• 2009/03/29: FuturePundit: 1 Billion Humans Chronically Hungry
• 2009/04/04: MTobis: Hockey Stick
• 2009/04/03: DotEarth: U.N. Sees Falling Middle East Fertility Rates
• 2009/03/31: BBC: Earth population 'exceeds limits'
  There are already too many people living on Planet Earth, according to one of most influential science advisors in the US government. Nina Fedoroff told the BBC One Planet programme that humans had exceeded the Earth's "limits of sustainability". Dr Fedoroff has been the science and technology advisor to the US secretary of state since 2007, initially working with Condoleezza Rice. Under the new Obama administration, she now advises Hillary Clinton. "We need to continue to decrease the growth rate of the global population; the planet can't support many more people," Dr Fedoroff said, stressing the need for humans to become much better at managing "wild lands", and in particular water supplies. Pressed on whether she thought the world population was simply too high, Dr Fedoroff replied: "There are probably already too many people on the planet."
• 2009/03/30: UNDispatch: Tackling "Population Control" Dangers Head-On
• 2009/03/30: AlterNet: Christian Fundamentalist Group Preaches Patriarchy and Women's Fertility as Weapons for Spiritual Warfare

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2009/04/04: PRWatch: PR Newsletter Gathers "Intelligence" on Environmental Reporters
• 2009/04/02: Nature: [Editorial] No time to retreat
  Last month over 2,000 climate experts convened in Copenhagen with a common cause -- to provide a scientific update to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007 assessment on global warming. They also shared a common concern that despite the gathering pace of climate change, their message is simply failing to permeate through to policymakers and the public.
• 2009/04/02: ClimateP: Memo to Wall Street Journal: You can do better than "greenhouse gases, which are believed to contribute to climate change"
• 2009/04/02: ClimateP: The Washington Post, abandoning any journalistic standards, lets George Will publish a third time global warming lies debunked on its own pages
• 2009/04/02: MTobis: Sustainable Science Journalism Toward a Sustainable World
• 2009/04/01: DM:RB: Say It Ain't So: New Yorker Publishes Misleading Climate Piece
• 2009/03/30: GristMill: Off the Wald -- Shoddy economics at The New York Times
• 2009/03/30: MediaMatters: Media promote claims of global cooling despite overwhelming consensus to the contrary
• 2009/03/31: Maribo: Communicating the urgency of climate change is an ongoing challenge.
• 2009/03/30: ClimateP: Must read Newsweek stunner: Why the "status quo" establishment media's coverage of global warming is so fatally useless, Part 1
• 2009/03/29: ClimateP: NYT's Matt Wald blows the "Alternative and Renewable Energy" story, quotes only industry sources, ignores efficiency and huge cost of inaction
• 2009/03/30: DeSmogBlog: Reporters Miss The Boat (Again) on Fargo Flood, Fail to Mention It Fits Global Warming Trends
• 2009/03/29: DailyKos: NYT repeats coal talking points, try to sabotage Obama's green energy plans

  Notice how the headline contradicts the scientist's statement:

• 2009/04/02: CanWest: Nature, not just man, to blame for global warming: scientists
  "Most of the warming (worldwide) is the consequence of human influences," said Martin Hoerling, a NOAA climate scientist. But he said the question remains, "what does that mean for my back yard?"

Here is something for your library:

• 2009/03/29: RealClimate: A potentially useful book - Lies, Damn lies & Science
• 2009/03/30: Guardian(UK): The point of no return [Book Excerpt] _A Blueprint For a Safer Planet: How to Manage Climate Change and Create a New Era of Progress and Prosperity_ by Nicholas Stern

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2009/04/02: SF Gate: Group sues Obama admin. over new fuel standards
  An environmental group is suing the Obama administration to toss out federal fuel efficiency standards that are lower than those proposed by the Bush administration. The Center for Biological Diversity filed its federal lawsuit Thursday against the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Department of Transportation. Obama's Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard for 2011 vehicle models requires 30.2 miles per gallon for cars and 24.1 mpg for trucks and SUVs. Bush's proposal was for 31.2 and 25, respectively.
• 2009/03/30: WarmingLaw: Litigation Round-Up: Auto Industry Continues its Preemption Challenges in Effort to Stop States from (OMG!) Regulating Vehicle Emissions

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

• 2009/04/04: ERabett: Recycle -- Edison used the castoff heat from his generators to warm nearby homes and factories.
• 2009/04/05: PeakEnergy: Platinum Free Fuel Cells
• 2009/03/31: FuturePundit: Renewables Face Harder Time With Fossil Fuels Price Dip
• 2009/04/04: SciDaily: Tapping Industrial Waste Heat Could Reduce Fossil Fuel Demands
• 2009/03/30: REA: Transitioning to Renewable Energy
  How some traditional energy companies are reusing and repurposing their technology to develop renewables.
• 2009/04/02: EnvFin: Clean-tech and energy investment halves in first quarter
• 2009/04/03: PeakEnergy: Energy. It's what you dig out of the ground.
• 2009/03/30: TheState: Hydrogen: Cool applications ... and a reality check
• 2009/03/30: Yale360: Despite Economy, Prospects For Green Energy Remain Strong
• 2009/03/31: TreeHugger: Methane Extraction from 'Ice' + Carbon Sequestration = Green Fossil Fuel?
• 2009/03/31: CanEast: The end of cheap energy will change us
• 2009/03/30: Reuters: U.S. power use tumbling with recession
• 2009/03/26: Reuters: Financier sees oil shock from credit crunch
  The global financial crisis and collapse in the oil market have stalled vital investment in oil exploration and production and are likely soon to lead to a sharp spike in prices, an energy consultant and financier says. Matt Simmons, founder of Houston-based investment bank Simmons & Co, argues the underlying rate of decline of the world's aging oilfields is as much as 20 percent a year and only high levels of investment can reduce that to single digits.
• 2009/03/30: PeakEnergy: Geothermal Power In Chile

  A viral curiosity:

• 2009/04/03: KSJT: Lots of Ink: Batteries made by viruses, or of viruses, or with viruses... take your pick
• 2009/04/03: BBC: Virus battery could 'power cars'
  Viruses have been used to help build batteries that may one day power cars and all types of electronic devices. The speed and relatively cheap cost of manufacturing virus batteries could prove attractive to industry.
• 2009/04/02: PhysOrg: Virus battery could power cars, electronic devices

  The answer my friend...:

• 2009/04/05: PeakEnergy: Wind power could meet all US electricity needs
• 2009/04/03: KSJT: LA Times, etc: US had oodles of wind power offshore. Enough for all?
• 2009/04/03: LA Times: Wind turbines could more than meet U.S. electricity needs, report says
  The Interior Department report, which looks at the potential of wind turbines off the U.S. coast, is part of the government's process to chart a course for offshore energy development.
• 2009/04/01: TreeHugger: Duke Energy Announces New 42 MW Wind Farm for Cheyenne, Wyoming
• 2009/04/01: McClatchyDC: Duke expands Wyoming wind projects [with 42 megawatt project]

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2009/03/29: FuturePundit: Mass Produced Stirling Solar Concentrator With High Efficiency
• 2009/04/04: TreeHugger: Port of Los Angeles to Install 1.16 Million Square Feet of Rooftop Solar Panels (10 MW) Over Next Five Years
• 2009/04/01: CleanBreak: Canadian solar industry jobs to double over three years
• 2009/04/03: ABC(Au): ACT solar water heater sales go through the roof
• 2009/04/01: NEN: Gorbie & global green grade the solar world
• 2009/03/30: PeakEnergy: Its Time For Solar Power In Texas

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2009/04/03: NEN: The truth about coal (science, not a sales pitch)
• 2009/04/01: TreeHugger: 100 Days Since the TVA Coal Ash Spill: Where Are We?
• 2009/03/31: GristMill: The end of an era -- Closing the door on building new coal-fired power plants in America

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2009/04/01: BBerg: Shell Says Biofuel May Make Up 10% of Fuel Mix in 'Few Decades'
• 2009/04/01: CleanBreak: Utilities prepare to open natural gas pipes to biogas

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2009/04/03: AlterNet: Startling Revelations about Three Mile Island Disaster Raise Doubts Over Nuke Safety
• 2009/04/03: NewScientist: Are we safe in a new nuclear age?
• 2009/04/02: Infrastructurist: Three Mile Island -- Thirty Years Later
• 2009/04/02: ISS: Fooling with Disaster? Startling revelations about Three Mile Island disaster raise doubts over nuclear plant safety
• 2009/04/03: FDL: Startling New Revelations about Three Mile Island and Nuclear Safety
• 2009/04/03: BBC: Putting up a fight -- Row over nuclear waste dump in Australia's outback
• 2009/04/01: NatureTGB: US Department of Energy says 'Go' to [National] ignition facility
• 2009/04/01: KSJT: SFChronicle, SJ Merc-News, Wired, AP, etc: National Ignition Facility all bolted together. Now to mimic H-bombs and the sun's furnace
• 2009/03/31: ClimateP: Best headline of the year from World Nuclear News -- "Money no object for Indian reactor plans"

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2009/03/30: PeakEnergy: The peak oil crisis: pondering the near future

  Dr. James Hamilton (of EconBrowser fame) published a provocative paper this week:

• 2009/04/05: PeakEnergy: Did the Oil Price Boom of 2008 Cause Crisis?
• 2009/04/03: WSJ:RTE: Did the Oil Price Boom of 2008 Cause Crisis?
• 2009/04/02: EconBrowser: Consequences of the Oil Shock of 2007-08
• 2009/04/02: EconBrowser: Causes of the Oil Shock of 2007-08

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

• 2009/04/05: PeakEnergy: Victoria [Australia] to roll out 2.5 million smart meters

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

• 2009/04/03: TreeHugger: Due to Demand, Mitsubishi Increases i MiEV Electric Car Production
• 2009/04/03: TreeHugger: U.S. Hybrid Car Sales in March... Not Good At All
• 2009/03/31: FuturePundit: New Lithium Batteries Seen As Longer Lasting
• 2009/04/03: AutoBG: Germany bets millions in race for better battery, will likely lose
• 2009/04/01: NYT: China Vies to Be World's Leader in Electric Cars
• 2009/04/02: NakedCapitalism: China Out to Dominate in Electric Cars (and Why Not GM)
• 2009/04/02: PhysOrg: Hydrogen cars closer to reality with new storage system design
• 2009/04/01: BBC: US car maker sales down for March
  The US auto industry's monthly sales were sharply down on this time last year, although roughly in line with Wall Street expectations. General Motors said its sales fell 45% compared with March 2008, Ford's sales dropped by 41% and Chrysler's by 39%.
• 2009/04/01: RawStory: Ford US sales down 40.9 percent in March
• 2009/03/31: TreeHugger: Solo EV: New Electric Bus by Optare
• 2009/03/31: AutoBG: First Ride: 2009 Zero X electric motorcycle
• 2009/03/30: PhysOrg: EarthTalk: Are hybrid cars really better for the environment?
• 2009/03/27: TechRev: Better Lithium-ion Batteries -- A startup says its solid polymer electrolytes will mean cheaper, more-reliable batteries.
• 2009/03/30: PeakEnergy: Better Lithium-ion Batteries
• 2009/03/30: AutoBG: Nissan could sell electric car to the U.S. masses in 2011 or earlier

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2009/04/05: BCLSB: At Least THIS Guy Isn't Subject To Uncontrollable Erections [denial]
• 2009/04/04: ClimateP: Good news, bad news, webstats, and the anti-scientific deniers at WattsUpWithThat
• 2009/04/02: GristMill: Swift-boating, climate style -- Cato's skeptic ads draw a flurry of responses
• 2009/04/04: QuarkSoup: Can you say, "Positive Feedback?"
• 2009/04/04: DeSmogBlog: The decline of Tim Ball: Denier champion reduced to railing at real scientists
• 2009/04/01: CPI: Behind the Climate Skepticism Curtain: The Koch Family and the Cato Institute
• 2009/04/03: ERabett: Reading Assignments -- the beta version of our reply to G&T
• 2009/04/03: Deltoid: Should you get your science from the IPCC or the Bible?
• 2009/04/03: DeSmogBlog: Ever Wonder Who's Financing the Skeptics' Resurgence?
• 2009/04/02: DeSmogBlog: Dennis Avery fails to correct Right Wing Echo Machine
• 2009/04/02: Guardian(UK): Climate change numpties: Simon Singh's guide for the perplexed
• 2009/04/01: DeSmogBlog: Oil Companies Sabotaging America's "Green" Revolution
• 2009/04/01: DeSmogBlog: Our Friend CO2
• 2009/04/01: ClimateP: Rep. Shimkus: Cutting CO2 emissions is "Taking away plant food from the atmosphere"
• 2009/04/01: BCLSB: Orgone Petition
• 2009/03/31: QuarkSoup: Monce Replies to Achenbauch
• 2009/03/31: Guardian(UK): Climate change deniers: the usual suspects with no credibility -- Rightwing Cato Institute fails to impress with predictable list of debunkers
• 2009/03/31: ClimateP: FedEx, GM, Microsoft, Toyota, Visa, and WalMart support Cato, which is buying expensive global warming denier ads attacking Obama
• 2009/03/31: Stoat: The atmospheric CO2 levels at Hawaii's Mauna Loa observatory have declined since 2004?
• 2009/03/31: QuarkSoup: Petitions and Polls and Consensus
• 2009/03/30: QuarkSoup: Avery's Pathetic Error
• 2009/03/31: DeSmogBlog: Ad features 100 scientists willing to stoke the climate crisis
• 2009/03/30: DeSmogBlog: David Bellamy Gets It Completely Wrong on Climate Change Science
• 2009/03/31: TP:WonkRoom: Right-Wing Climate Denier Attacks Carol Browner As Having 'Little Respect For The Law' And 'Less For Science'
• 2009/03/31: TPM: Your Guide to Climate Change Nay-Sayers [15 pix & quotes]
• 2009/03/30: CBC: Pricey ads signed by scientists slam Obama's climate change talk
• 2009/03/30: ClimateP: Global warming denier Dennis Avery doesn't know the difference between growth and growth rate
• 2009/03/30: TreeHugger: Amateur Climate Change Deniers Still Rampant in Congressional Hearings
• 2009/03/30: DeSmogBlog: The Heartland Institute's Skeptic Handbook - Get Out the Shovel...
• 2009/03/29: DeSmogBlog: Lord Monckton and Rep. John Shimkus Declare Global Warming Emissions "Plant Food"
• 2009/03/30: TP:WonkRoom: Hudson Institute's Dennis Avery: 'I Stand Corrected' On My Lie That Carbon Dioxide Levels Are Declining

  G. Willikers is back with another serving of nonsense:

• 2009/04/04: TP:WonkRoom: George Will's Latest Denier Column Links To Global Boiling Document
• 2009/04/02: MediaMatters: George Will continues to misuse WMO climate data despite criticism from WMO sec. general
• 2009/04/02: GESN: Will Writes, Will Whines
• 2009/04/02: DM:CCM: George Will Just Can't Keep His Hands Away from the Hot (Warming) Stove
• 2009/04/02: DM:Loom: George Will, Now With Misleading Links!
• 2009/04/03: CJR: Making Space for Skeptics -- Post, Times draw criticism for coverage questioning global warming
• 2009/04/02: TWTB: Washington Post's Fred Hiatt and George Will: Stupid, Lying, or Craven?
• 2009/04/03: GreenFyre: George Will, sock puppet or lap dog?
• 2009/04/02: Deltoid: George Will misrepresents WMO data again

  Then there was the miscellaneous news and commentary:

• 2009/04/04: TreeHugger: Article Argues for Press Freedom to Stop Climate Change
• 2009/04/02: ClimateP: Does the Pew Center's Eileen Claussen get the dire nature of our climate predicament -- or did Duke's Bill Chameides misquote her
• 2009/04/03: AFTIC: Only In It For The Gold: And What's Wrong with This Picture?
• 2009/04/03: WorldChanging: A Month's Worth of Blogging, Condensed into a Single Column
• 2009/04/03: SciDaily: Rising Sea Levels Will Lead To 'Relocation, Relocation, Relocation': Math Could Address Climate Change Population Concerns
• 2009/04/01: NatureCF: New climate centre launches at Columbia
• 2009/03/31: Guardian(UK): Take a spin on MIT's greenhouse gas Roulette wheel
• 2009/03/31: UN: UN joins global task force to create new 'green' economy
• 2009/03/30: QuarkSoup: Friedmann and "Mother Nature's Dow"
• 2009/03/31: TP:MYglesias: Carbon Giveaways Hammer the Poor, Auction & Rebate Gets Fair Environmental Sustainability
• 2009/03/30: ClimateP: A Call for Action from China Hands
• 2009/03/29: ClimateP: NYT's Tom Friedman updates the global warming threat and spells out the solution
• 2009/03/30: PeakEnergy: A Climate Bailout
  [...] Hal Harvey is the C.E.O. of a new $1 billion foundation, ClimateWorks, set up to accelerate the policy changes that can avoid climate catastrophe by taking climate policies from where they are working the best to the places where they are needed the most. "There are five policies that can help us win the energy-climate battle, and each has been proven somewhere," Harvey explained.
  
  1. "First, building codes: California's energy-efficient building and appliance codes now save Californians $6 billion per year," he said.
  2. Second, better vehicle fuel-efficiency standards: "The European Union's fuel-efficiency fleet average for new cars now stands at 41 miles per gallon, and is rising steadily," he added.
  3. Third, we need a national renewable portfolio standard, mandating that power utilities produce 15 or 20 percent of their energy from renewables by 2020. Right now, only about half our states have these. "Whenever utilities are required to purchase electricity from renewable sources," said Harvey, "clean energy booms." (See Germany's solar business or Texas's wind power.)
  4. The fourth is decoupling -- the program begun in California that turns the utility business on its head. Under decoupling, power utilities make money by helping homeowners save energy rather than by encouraging them to consume it.
  5. "Finally," said Harvey, "we need a price on carbon." Polluting the atmosphere can't be free.

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

• ESA: Wilkins Ice Shelf
• CCC: Columbia Climate Center
• Hot Topic - Global warming and the future of New Zealand
• MIT:JPSPGC: Greenhouse Gamble -- Policy vs. No-Policy: Updated Estimates -- Visualizing the risks and probabilities of success
• GLOBE International
• CEL: China Environmental Law -- A discussion of China's Environmental and Energy laws, regulations, and policies
• Summit on America's Climate Choices: Developing the Framework for a National Response to Climate Change -- March 30 -- March 31, 2009
• I-R-Squared
• Climate Shifts
• HillHeat - Science Policy Legislation Action
• It's Getting Hot In Here - Dispatches from the Youth Climate Movement
• ACP: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics - Recent Final Revised Papers
• ACPD: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics - Papers in Open Discussion
• TCD: The Cryosphere - Papers in Open Discussion
• HYDE: The History Database of the Global Environment

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

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

"Can we ever know, on any contentious or politicized topic, how to recognize the real conclusions of science and how to distinguish them from scientific-sounding spin or misinformation?" -Chris Mooney

• Global Warming Links
• Global Warming News Archive
• Energy
• Energy News
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• H.E. Taylor (homepage)

Last modified April 5, 2009