Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
Another week of Climate Instability News
Information overload is pattern recognition
April 25, 2010
- Chuckles, Cochabamba, COP15, COP16, MEF, BASIC, Emerging Tech, Goldman Prize, Geology, Volcano, Earth Day
- Bottom Line, Carbon Tariffs, Subsidies, Medapi, McKibben, Spot the Error, Weaver , Post CRU, QUB, Lockwood
- Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
- Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Land Grabs, Food Production
- Hurricanes, Monsoon, GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, ENSO, Satellites
- Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Tornadoes, Wildfires, Acidification, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
- Mitigation, Transportation, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
- Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, DIY Science, GSA Position Statement, Curry, Wegman, Lovelock
- UN, Carbon Trade, Tobin Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy, CSM Carbon Offset Series
- International Politics: Misc., Security, Polls, Water Politics & Business
- National Politics: America, Blankenship & Co., US DoD, Obama, USAdmin, Congress, Climate Bill, Lobbyists, Al Gore
- Britain, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Asia, Middle East, South America
- Canada, MVP, Lancaster Plans, Syncrude Trial, BC, Tar Sands, Ontario, Canadiana
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts
- Energy, Fracking, Wind, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
- Business, Greenwashing, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
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- 2009/12/20: Guardian(UK): (cartoon - Riddell) Grandpa, What did you do...?
- 2010/04/21: ClimateP: (cartoons - Bagley, Johansson & Greenberg) Earth Day Cartoons
- 2010/04/21: SeattlePI: (cartoon - Horsey) Coal Companies
- 2010/04/19: ABC(Au): Locust swarm inspires new pizza topping
Entrepreneurs are taking advantage of locust swarms sweeping northern Victoria, with one Mildura cafe offering a locust pizza to patrons. - PWCCC: World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth
- 2010/04/24: Guardian(UK): On the frontline of climate change
For many of North America's indigenous activists at the Bolivia summit, the fight against climate change is rooted in local issues - 2010/04/24: CCurrents: Cochabamba's New Direction
- 2010/04/23: CCurrents: The People's Climate Dialogue And Convention -- At Oaxaca's Encounter for Autonomous Life
- 2010/04/23: CCurrents: A New Climate Movement In Bolivia
- 2010/04/23: CCurrents: Cochabamba Moots World Referendum On Climate Change
- 2010/04/23: CCurrents: Cochabamba Summit Calls For International Climate Court
- 2010/04/23: AlterNet: What Happened in Bolivia This Week Could Save Our Failing Democracies
- 2010/04/23: Guardian(UK): Grassroots summit calls for international climate court
Cochabamba conference closes with call for rich countries to halve greenhouse gas emissions and set up a court to punish climate crimes - 2010/04/23: PWCCC: Bolivian climate conference condemns forest programme [REDD (Reducing Emissions Through Deforestation & Degradation)]
- 2010/04/23: PWCCC: Bolivia climate summit ends with Earth Day celebration
- 2010/04/23: PWCCC: Campaigners call for climate court
- 2010/04/23: PWCCC: Citizens lead Cochabamba climate negotiations
- 2010/04/23: PWCCC: World People's Summit Calls for a Climate Justice Tribunal
- 2010/04/23: PWCCC: Climate change summit for 'the people'
- 2010/04/23: SolveClimate: World People's Summit Calls for a Climate Justice Tribunal -- Conference Holds Capitalism, Developed World Responsible for Climate Change
- 2010/04/23: MongaBay: Alternative Climate Summit, Machu Picchu, and El Niño: Destroyer of Civilizations
- 2010/04/22: Grist: The people speak at the world people's climate summit
- 2010/04/23: DemNow: Bolivian President Evo Morales on President Obama: "I Can't Believe a Black President Can Hold So Much Vengeance Against an Indian President"
[...]
Over the past three days of the summit, known here simply as "La Cumbre," seventeen working groups met to discuss various climate-related issues, from climate debt to the dangers of carbon trading. Last night, summit organizers released an Agreement of the Peoples based on the working group meetings. Key proposals include the establishment of an international tribunal to prosecute polluters, passage of a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, protection for climate migrants, and the full recognition of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The peoples' summit also condemned a proposed forest program known as REDD, or Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation. - 2010/04/22: Yahoo:AFP: People's climate summit seeks to halve emissions by 2020
- 2010/04/23: SMH: 'People' talk on climate [at Cochabamba]
- 2010/04/23: EarthTimes: Morales' comments on gays, chickens, baldness trump climate event
- 2010/04/23: Rabble: World People's Conference on Climate Change coverage at a glance
- 2010/04/23: Rabble: Bolivia's climate summit: Moments of joy, levity and absurdity
- 2010/04/22: AlterNet: "Planet or Death!" -- Bolivian President Evo Morales' Courageous Speech at World People's Conference on Climate Change
- 2010/04/23: HotTopic: Klein in Bolivia: global democracy is the way forward
- 2010/04/22: Guardian(UK): Evo Morales and the beautiful game
Bolivia's president took time out from the international climate summit to play football -- and engage in some local retail politics - 2010/04/22: Guardian(UK): Bolivia's fight for survival can help save democracy too
The people's summit to tackle climate change is a radical, transformative response to the failure of the Copenhagen club - 2010/04/22: al Jazeera: Bolivian climate summit gets UN nod
The Untied Nations has backed a Bolivian sponsored summit on climate change, with a representative saying that the gathering was a "great opportunity for the UN". "Sometimes at the global level, as with what happened with the recent climate change debate, many groups felt excluded and I think it is right to address this," Alicia Barcena, representative of UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon, said on Wednesday. "The United Nations secretary general is trying to send a message that we're completely open to dialogue." The three-day summit, dubbed the "World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth", is being hosted by Evo Morales, the Bolivian president. - 2010/04/21: CCurrents: Cochabamba, The Water Wars And Climate Change
- 2010/04/21: CCurrents: Bolivian President Blames Capitalism For Global Warming
- 2010/04/22: DemNow: Bolivia Climate Conference Moves to Establish Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth
- 2010/04/21: EnergyBulletin: Bolivia's Evo Morales: Capitalism and plastic no, Mother Earth and indigenous products, yes
- 2010/04/20: Guardian(UK): Thousands gather for the climate change summit in Bolivia (9 pictures)
- 2010/04/21: Guardian(UK): Evo Morales' message to grassroots climate talks -- planet or death
- 2010/04/21: HotTopic: Conference in Bolivia: who pays the price of change?
- 2010/04/20: SolveClimate: Mining Protests Overshadow World People's Summit on Climate Change -- 3-Day Conference Draws Thousands
- 2010/04/21: DemNow: "The Most Important Event in the Struggle Against Climate Change" -- Nigerian Environmentalist Nnimmo Bassey on Bolivia Climate Conference
- 2010/04/21: DemNow: "The World Is Changing in a More Progressive Way, and It's Taking Place Here" -- Boaventura de Sousa Santos on Bolivia Climate Summit
- 2010/04/21: DemNow: Evo Morales Opens Climate Change Conference in Tiquipaya
- 2010/04/21: TEC: An Interview with Bolivian Activist Peregrina Kusse Viza: We Must Respect Mother Earth, Our Pachamam
- 2010/04/20: al Jazeera: Bolivia's answer to UN summit [video]
- 2010/04/19: HuffPo: World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth Kicks Off in Bolivia
- 2010/04/19: Grist: The "people's climate conference" in Bolivia kicks off with ambitious aims
- 2010/04/19: NAM: Bolivia's Indigenous People Key at Climate Change Gathering
- 2010/04/19: Guardian(UK): From Buenos Aires to Cochabamba
- 2010/04/19: DemNow: The Cochabamba Water Wars: Marcela Olivera Reflects on the Tenth Anniversary of the Popular Uprising Against Bechtel and the Privatization of the City's Water Supply
- 2010/04/19: DemNow: Bolivian UN Ambassador Pablo Solon on the World Peoples' Summit on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth
- 2010/04/20: ABC(Au): Eco-activists mass for alternative climate summit
Environmental activists, indigenous leaders and Hollywood celebrities are gathering in Bolivia ahead of a self-styled global people's conference on climate change. Thousands of attendees intend to highlight the plight of the world's poorest who they argue were largely ignored at the official United Nations-sponsored summit in Copenhagen last December. - 2010/04/19: BBC: Bolivia hosts Mother Earth talks
Delegates are gathering in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba for a grassroots alternative to last year's UN climate change summit in Copenhagen. The meeting will also celebrate the rights of Mother Earth on 22 April. Bolivian President Evo Morales was one of several leaders who refused to sign the Copenhagen climate change deal. He is set to use this week's talks to propose a world referendum to ask up to two billion people their views on how to tackle climate change. Several thousand people are expected in Cochabamba for what is billed as the People's World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth - 2010/04/18: Guardian(UK): Bolivia climate change talks to give poor a voice
Picking over the bones of COP15:
- 2010/04/22: CBC: U.S. to blame for climate summit failure: Gore
The United States deserves much of the blame for the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit after it turned its back on a little-known offer from China, former U.S. vice-president Al Gore said Thursday. Gore offered a post-mortem of the summit at an international conference in Montreal, during which he revealed the Americans ignored a proposal from China in the days leading up to the December meetings. Last fall, the U.S. Senate avoided passing sweeping environmental reforms that would have included a law to drastically cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions. According to Gore, that sent the wrong signal to a potential ally heading into the climate talks. "China had sent word through private channels to the U.S. that if the U.S. passed a law requiring a reduction of emissions below the 1990 levels then China would lean forward and help get a meaningful binding treaty," he told an audience of several hundred people. "But the Senate failed to act and so President Obama was forced to go to Copenhagen without anything to put on the table." - 2010/04/21: NatureCF: Copenhagen Accord - missing the mark
- 2010/04/22: HotTopic: Copenhagen Accord puts world on pathway to 3ºC
- 2010/04/21: PhysOrg: Climate: Copenhagen pledges set Earth for +3 C warming - study
Top2:
Looking ahead to COP16 and future international climate negotiations: - 2010/04/21: Dominion: COP16 already Changing the Climate in Mexico
- 2010/04/21: ABC(Au): Climate treaty some way off, Wong says
Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says she thinks a legally binding treaty on climate change is still some way off after a meeting between developed nations in Washington. - 2010/04/21: BizGreen: Major Economies Forum quashes Mexico climate deal expectations
Leading emitters agree that there is virtually no chance of a climate change agreement being reached this year, but BASIC countries appear willing to discuss future of Kyoto Protocol - 2010/04/21: SolveClimate: Climate Funds for Poor Nations Still Unresolved After U.S.-Led Meeting -- Rich-Poor Rift Over Copenhagen Accord Dents Hopes for Climate Deal
- 2010/04/20: EurActiv: Major economies focus on finance at climate meeting
- 2010/04/20: Grist: U.S. lowers expectations for climate treaty this year [after MEF]
- 2010/04/19: TheHindu: Stage set for Cancun [after MEF]
- 2010/04/20: SIFY: Copenhagen Accord a step forward, say major economies [after MEF]
- 2010/04/20: BBerg: Polluting Nations Downplay Goals for Cancun Climate Conference [after MEF]
- 2010/04/19: TerraDaily: US cautious on prospects for climate deal [after MEF]
- 2010/04/19: EarthTimes: Major emitters meet to narrow climate differences after Copenhagen
Climate representatives of the world's biggest polluters held their first meeting Monday since a disappointing Copenhagen summit failed to reach agreement on a new treaty. - 2010/04/18: TerraDaily: Major economies to delve into climate impasse
The BASIC Group wants to preserve Kyoto:
- 2010/04/21: TheHindu: BASIC to discuss Kyoto Protocol survival
- 2010/04/21: Reuters: China-led [BASIC] bloc to consider Kyoto climate pact future
- 2010/04/21: IndiaTimes: The BASIC Group to look for options beyond Kyoto
Technology Review did a yearly series on Emerging Technologies that may be of interest:
- 2010/04/23: TechRev: 10 Emerging Technologies 2010
- 2010/04/23: TechRev: TR10: Light-Trapping Photovoltaics -- Nanoparticles boost solar power's prospects
- 2010/04/23: TechRev: TR10: Green Concrete -- Storing carbon dioxide in cement
- 2010/04/23: TechRev: TR10: Solar Fuel -- Designing the perfect renewable fuel
The Goldman Environmental Prize was awarded this week:
- Goldman Prize - For Excellence in Protecting the Environment - 2010
- 2010/04/20: TreeHugger: From Saving Seeds to Battling Shark Finning, Goldman Environmental Prize Honors 2010's Top Activists (Video)
- 2010/04/19: EarthTimes: Recipients of Goldman Environmental Prize announced
- 2010/04/19: CBC: Cuban scientist wins 'green Nobel' -- Award winner shifts farmers from dependence on chemicals
A folk-singing agricultural scientist became the first Cuban to win the Goldman Environmental Prize, also known as the "green Nobel," on Monday. Humberto Rios Labrada has been working with nearly 50,000 Cuban farmers to give them more autonomy. His campaign involves choosing the crops and seed varieties best for their lands and educating farmers on how to grow strong healthy crops with less dependence on farm chemicals. "I want the seed to adapt to the people, not the people to adapt to the seed," said Rios. He has been lecturing across Cuba on how to mix seed combinations to improve yields and quality -- techniques that have helped produce bigger beans, tastier squash, heartier rice and better varieties of other crops across the country. - 2010/04/20: IoD: Global warming, loose women, volcanoes and earthquakes
- 2010/04/21: CCP: F. Sigmundsson et al., Trans. Roy. Soc. A, Vol. 368, Climate effects on volcanism: Influence on magmatic systems of loading and unloading from ice mass variations, with examples from Iceland
- 2010/04/20: CCP: PTRS, Climate forcing of geological and geomorphological hazards
- 2010/04/20: AlterNet: Four of the Most Dangerous Fraudulent Scientific Theories That Must Be Confronted [earthquakes]
- 2010/04/19: ClimateP: Royal Society Stunner: "Observations suggest that the ongoing rise in global average temperatures may already be eliciting a hazardous response from the geosphere."
- 2010/04/19: Guardian(UK): Scientists call for research on climate link to geological hazards
- 2010/04/19: NewScientist: Blame the volcano trouble on sun and global warming
- 2010/04/18: NatureTGB: Can climate change make the bed rock?
Late comments on the Icelandic volcano:
- 2010/04/21: TerraDaily: Icelandic volcano no threat or benefit to climate
- 2010/04/21: Guardian(UK): Iceland volcano gives warming world chance to debunk climate sceptic myths
Climate sceptics' favourite theory that volcanoes produce more CO2 than human activity has exploded in their faces with Eyjafjallajokull eruption - 2010/04/21: TreeHugger: Lessons From Eyjafjallajökull: Air Freight Is Going To Kill Us All
- 2010/04/20: BBC: Volcanic climate change? Not likely
- 2010/04/20: Grist: Good news for Earth Day: We can reduce climate pollution and boost the economy, all at once
- 2010/04/20: NatureCF: Eyjafjallajökull eruption: good news for the climate?
- 2010/04/19: TerraDaily: Volcano emitting 150-300,000 tonnes of CO2 daily: experts
- 2010/04/20: EarthTimes: Will Iceland's volcanic ash affect India's monsoon rains?
- 2010/04/20: Eureka: NASA's Terra satellite keeps eye on Eyjafjallajökull's ash plume
- 2010/04/20: OilChange: If one volcano can do this, what will peak oil do?
- 2010/04/17: GlideMet: How long is the Icelandic volcanic ash going to last (and other questions)?
- 2010/04/19: Guardian(UK): Iceland volcano causes [2.8m tonnes] fall in carbon emissions as eruption grounds aircraft
- 2010/04/19: BBerg: Icelandic Volcano May Be No Weather-Changing Pinatubo
The volcanic ash spewing from an Icelandic mountain that's disrupting air travel across Europe may be hundreds of times less than what Mount Pinatubo disgorged in the Philippines in 1991 when it altered the world's climate. The impact of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano is likely to be "virtually non-existent" on the global climate because the eruption is too small and gases are not penetrating the upper atmosphere, Blair Trewin, a senior climatologist at Australia's National Climate Centre in Melbourne, said in an interview. "In its current form, we wouldn't expect the eruption to have any significant global climate effects," Trewin said today by telephone. "In terms of how much material was being put up into the atmosphere, Pinatubo was several hundred times larger than this has been so far." - 2010/04/18: BCLSB: Yokel-Hoop's Effect On Carbon Emissions
I mostly ignored the Earth Day blather, but a few stories were notable:
- 2010/04/22: Yahoo:AP: Wisconsin renewable energy bill dies on Earth Day
- 2010/04/22: MongaBay: World failing on every environmental issue: an op-ed for Earth Day
- 2010/04/22: Grist: Amonix has real solar news instead of Earth Day idiocy
- 2010/04/22: NRDC:SwitchBoard: 40 Years After First Earth Day -- Looking at where we need to be internationally on global warming in another 40 years
- 2010/04/22: DemNow: New Senate Climate Bill Is "Slap in the Face to Everything that Earth Day Stands For"
- 2010/04/21: IoD: Earth Day Schmearth Day?
- 2010/04/21: ClimateP: Let's rename Earth Day
- 2010/04/20: AlterNet: Our Big Challenge on Earth Day: Stop the Nuke Industry from Pretending It Can Prevent Climate Change
- 2010/04/19: DailyAstorian: We only have one planet to ruin
And on the Bottom Line:
- 2010/04/22: ClimateShifts: The world will have to spend an extra $500 billion to cut carbon emissions for each year it delays implementing a major assault on global warming, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday
Carbon Tariffs still have people on edge:
- 2010/04/20: NYT:GW: Obama Open to Trade Protections in Senate Climate Bill, Adviser Says
A top White House adviser confirmed today that President Obama is open to helping energy-intensive industries cope with the costs of climate legislation, including use of controversial border tariffs he had previously warned could spark a global trade war. Energy and climate adviser Carol Browner said the administration recognizes Congress' interest in using trade language as it works on climate legislation that addresses concerns from some of the country's industries that are most vulnerable to cheap foreign imports, including steel, cement, glass, pulp and paper. - 2010/04/22: IISD:B: Earth Day: time to consider how fossil-fuel subsidy reform can contribute to climate change, energy security and poverty alleviation goals
- 2010/04/22: MongaBay: Half a trillion spent on fossil fuel subsidies mostly "a complete waste of money"
- 2010/04/21: SciDaily: Fossil-Fuel Subsidies Hurting Global Environment, Security, Study Finds
- 2010/04/: GSI: [link to 1.2 meg pdf] Untold Billions: Fossil-Fuel Subsidies, Their Impacts and the Path to Reform. A Summary of Key Findings
- 2010/04/21: PhysOrg: Fossil-fuel subsidies hurting global environment, security
- 2010/04/21: Eureka: Fossil-fuel subsidies hurting global environment, security -- Analysis: Most fuel subsidies are complete waste of money, or worse
A comprehensive assessment of global fossil-fuel subsidies has found that governments are spending $500 billion annually on policies that undermine energy security and worsen the environment. The study, titled "The Politics of Fossil-Fuel Subsidies" by David Victor, a professor of political science with UC San Diego's School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS), was one of five released April 22 by the Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI) of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). - 2010/04/22: Guardian(UK): Coal is still a vital energy source for developing nations [Lodge]
It is unrealistic to expect South Africa, a nation rich in coal, to turn to more costly fuels - 2010/04/23: Guardian(UK): Veteran climate campaigner calls for renaming of planet Earth
- 2010/04/22: NatureCF: Earth, but not as we know it
- 2010/04/18: SolveClimate: Bill McKibben on Cochabamba, Congress and Eaarth
Michael starts a new game for those who might enjoy Lambert'ing the denier crowd:
- 2010/04/23: MTobis: Climate Confusion Bugspotter #4
- 2010/04/22: MTobis: Spot the Error #3
- 2010/04/21: MTobis: Spot the Error #2
- 2010/04/19: MTobis: Spot the Denier Bug
Canadian climatologist Andrew Weaver has sued the National Post:
- 2010/04/23: CCP: Andrew Weaver sues National Post for libel
Climate scientist sues newspaper for 'poisoning' global warming debate -- Climate modeller Andrew Weaver launches libel action in Canada for publishing 'grossly irresponsible falsehoods' - 2010/04/23: KSJT: Climate scientist at U. of Victoria sues Canadian newspaper for libel
- 2010/04/22: BSD: Scientist versus denialist defamers, part 1
- 2010/04/22: NatureTGB: Canadian scientist sues newspaper over global warming coverage
- 2010/04/22: Guardian(UK): Climate scientist sues newspaper for 'poisoning' global warming debate
- 2010/04/22: AFTIC: Climate Scientist Sues National Post
- 2010/04/22: Deltoid: Scientist fights back against big media
- 2010/04/22: BCLSB: Andrew Weaver Strikes Back
- 2010/04/21: CBC: B.C. climatologist [Andrew Weaver] sues National Post
- 2010/04/21: DeSmogBlog: Climate Scientist [Dr. Andrew Weaver] Sues National Post
Post CRU theft, controversy & inquiry, another challenge and IPCC pushback:
- 2010/04/22: Guardian(UK): Pachauri: Despite attacks from critics, climate science will prevail
- 2010/04/22: TerraDaily: Study challenges IPCC's Bangladesh climate predictions
- 2010/04/22: Yahoo:AFP: Challenge to IPCC's Bangladesh climate predictions
- 2010/04/21: JKB: IPCC-hearings in Dutch Parliament, part 2
- 2010/04/21: NatureCF: Pachauri responds to allegations of IPCC inaccuracy
- 2010/04/20: MoD: Scientists have to be right 100% of the time
- 2010/04/19: BHB: Oxburgh addendum
- 2010/04/20: BCLSB: Oxburgh Panel And David Hand Apologize To Michael Mann
- 2010/04/18: JKB: IPCC-Hearings in Dutch Parliament
- 2010/04/15: Nation: Climategate Claptrap, II
- 2010/04/18: Deltoid: Oxburgh refuted
Late comment on the QUB case:
- 2010/04/20: Guardian(UK): Climate sceptic wins landmark data victory 'for price of a stamp' [Pearce]
- 2010/04/20: NewScientist: UK university [QUB] ordered to give data to climate sceptic [Pearce]
Late comment on Lockwood:
- 2010/04/20: PhysOrg: Are winters in Europe becoming colder?
The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:
- 2010/04/24: SkeptiSci: Has Arctic sea ice returned to normal?
- 2010/04/24: QuarkSoup: Save the Poles
That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:
- 2010/04/20: CCP: Mark Maslin et al., PTRS-A, 368, Gas hydrates: past and future geohazard?
As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:
- 2010/04/22: PlanetArk: Betting On Climate Change
While in Antarctica:
- 2010/04/19: SciAm: Geologists Drill into Antarctica and Find Troubling Signs for Ice Sheets' Future
New sediment cores from an Antarctic research drilling program suggest that the southernmost continent has had a more dynamic history than previously suspected - 2010/04/23: TerraDaily: Ten million short of food in west Africa: UN
- 2010/04/19: WFP: Sudan: Ten Hunger Facts
- 2010/04/22: SciAlert: The coming famine: risks and solutions for global food security
- 2010/04/19: Guardian(UK): UN based policy of doubling food production on 'flawed data'
The Soil Association says the suggested increase in food production is closer to 70%, rather than the UN's projected 100% - 2010/04/21: TreeHugger: Good News (No, Really): We May Only Need to Increase Food Production 70% by 2050
- 2010/04/21: Grist: Our other fertilizer problem -- Foreign Policy mag spotlights 'peak phosphorous'
- 2010/04/21: DerSpiegel: Essential Element Becoming Scarce -- Experts Warn of Impending Phosphorus Crisis
The element phosphorus is essential to human life and the most important ingredient in fertilizer. But experts warn that the world's reserves of phosphate rock are becoming depleted. Is recycling sewage the answer? - 2010/04/19: BBerg: Global Warming Reduces Grain Output in Inflation-Ridden India
- 2010/04/18: AlterNet: How the Top 5 Supermarkets Waste Food
The conflict between biofuel and food persists:
- 2010/04/22: Grist: Food vs. foolish -- Scientists show 'growing' fuel is waste of energy
- 2010/04/19: PhysOrg: Food vs. fuel: Scientists say growing grain for food is more energy efficient
- 2010/04/19: SciDaily: Food Vs. Fuel: Growing Grain for Food Is More Energy Efficient
Using productive farmland to grow crops for food instead of fuel is more energy efficient, Michigan State University scientists concluded, after analyzing 17 years' worth of data to help settle the food versus fuel debate. - 2010/04/20: BAR: Colonizing Cassava
When huge corporations start talking about improving the harvests of foods the poor depend on to survive, watch out! Those crops are about to be colonized, made more expensive and genetically altered. Casava is the latest target of global agro-industry. - 2010/04/22: PhysOrg: Global biofuel drive raises risk of eviction for African farmers
- 2010/04/22: Eureka: Global biofuel drive raises risk of eviction for African farmers
African farmers risk being forced from their lands by investors or government projects as global demand for biofuels encourages changes in crop cultivation - 2010/04/19: DailyNews(Tz): ActionAid disputes EC arguments on biofuels
European Union's energy policy which targets to source 10 percent of it from renewable sources by 2020, is both a threat to food security and not an appropriate response to climate change. ActionAid International Tanzania Country Director, Aida Kiangi and Agriculture and Food Security Advisor, Elias Mtinda said in Dar es Salaam today that European Commission's energy policy has lured Western corporations into rural areas of the developing world including Tanzania. - 2010/04/15: AfricaFiles: Land grabs continue as elites resist regulation
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
- 2010/04/22: FAO: Agriculture and food security trust fund launched -- Will channel G8 commitments made in L'Aquila
- 2010/04/21: FAO: FAO steps up aid to Sahel pastoralists -- Poor rains impact food production in Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mali
- 2010/04/23: CCurrents: How To Feed The Hungry
- 2010/04/21: AlterNet: Human Rights With Your Food: Farm Workers March in Florida for Living Wages
- 2010/04/15: CSIRO: CSIRO develops highest yielding salt tolerant wheat
In a major breakthrough for wheat farmers in salt-affected areas, CSIRO researchers have developed a salt tolerant durum wheat that yields 25 per cent more grain than the parent variety in saline soils. - 2010/04/20: Eureka: Cover crop mulches tested for no-till organic onions -- Foxtail millet, cowpea examined in conservation tillage experiments
- 2010/04/19: Newser: Try Some Locusts on Your Pizza -- Australians beset by plague of insects try to make the best of it
- 2010/04/19: ABC(Au): Locust swarm inspires new pizza topping
Entrepreneurs are taking advantage of locust swarms sweeping northern Victoria, with one Mildura cafe offering a locust pizza to patrons. - 2010/04/20: Grist: Time for the public to reinvest in food-system infrastructure
- 2010/04/20: SeedDaily: Orange Corn Holds Promise For Reducing Blindness And Child Mortality
- 2010/04/20: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Modesto Bee Story about the Agricultural Economy
- 2010/04/20: OilDrum: Reducing Fossil Energy Use on the Farm
On the cyclone front, it has been relatively quiet, although Sean blew out into the Indian Ocean:
- 2010/04/23: NASA: Cyclone 24S Now All Grown Up and Renamed "Tropical Storm Sean"
- 2010/04/22: NASA: 91S Becomes Tropical Cyclone 24S as NASA's TRMM Captures its Rainfall
- 2010/04/22: PhysOrg: 91S becomes Tropical Cyclone 24S as NASA's TRMM captures its rainfall
While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
- 2010/04/21: SF Gate: U.S. East Coast Faces Double Hurricane Threat, WSI Predicts
- 2010/04/20: NOAANews: NOAA Hurricane Team to Embark on Gulf Coast Awareness Tour -- Public and Media Invited to Tour Hurricane Hunter Aircraft
And in the Monsoon:
- 2010/04/23: EarthTimes: India predicts normal monsoon rainfall in 2010
- 2010/04/23: SciDaily: Heavy Snowfall Over Himalayas Makes Drought Over India More Likely
Scientists from the Walker Institute at the University of Reading have helped to explain why heavy snowfall over the Himalayas in winter and spring can lead to drought over India, especially in the early part of the summer monsoon. - 2010/04/20: FAO: New FAO report assesses dairy greenhouse gas emissions -- Study covers the global dairy business from nomadic herds to intensified dairy plants
- 2010/04/22: CBC: B.C. emitting more greenhouse gases
- 2010/04/21: MongaBay: Got milk?: 3 percent of greenhouse gases from milk production
- 2010/04/21: TDC: Green investments spur growth, emissions cuts -- Households surpass industry as nation's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions
- 2010/04/20: UN: Milk production accounts for nearly 3 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions - UN
And in the carbon cycle:
- 2010/04/25: ClimateShifts: Whale poo reduces carbon levels: 'Huge Amounts Of Iron'
- 2010/04/23: DM:DB: A Novel Geoengineering Idea: Increase the Ocean's Quotient of Whale Poop
- 2010/04/22: ABC(Au): Whale poo reduces carbon levels
Australian scientists have discovered whale faecal matter could be crucial in reducing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. - 2010/04/22: NewScientist: Whale poop is vital to ocean's carbon cycle
As for the temperature record:
- 2010/04/21: SciDaily: Global Temperatures Push March 2010 to Hottest March on Record
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2010/04/24: SciNow: Did Monster Eruptions Warm the World? [in PETM]
- 2010/04/22: France24: Study details at least four epic droughts in Asia
- 2010/04/22: CBC: Asian drought damage reconstructed
- 2010/04/23: ABC(Au): Epic drought broke the Ming dynasty: study
A study of tree rings has provided the most detailed record yet of at least four epic droughts that hit Asia over the past millennium, including one that helped end China's Ming Dynasty in 1644. - 2010/04/22: NatureN: Tree rings [from more than 300 sites] map 700 years of Asian monsoons -- Historical rainfall across the region documented for the first time
- 2010/04/21: SkeptiSci: The significance of past climate change
While on the ENSO front:
- 2010/04/22: CCentral: Did Someone Say 'PDO'?
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
- 2010/04/23: PhysOrg: ESA's CryoSat-2 and NASA's DC-8 star in Arctic cooperation
- 2010/04/23: PhysOrg: [CryoSat2] Satellite takes a space-eye view of Arctic ice
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2010/04/23: VOA: Oxfam: Climate Change Devastating Ethiopian Rural Communities
- 2010/04/23: CCurrents: The State Of The Earth, 2010
- 2010/04/22: IoD: "Racing toward a cliff"
- 2010/04/22: NOAANews: "Vital New Roadmap" Underscores Need to Study Climate Change, Human Health Links -- Asthma, Cancer, Weather Disaster-Related Illnesses Cited Among Concerns
- 2010/04/20: Reuters: Spring comes 10 days earlier in changed US climate
- 2010/04/20: PhysOrg: Long-distance journeys are out of fashion: Global warming is causing evolutionary changes in bird migration
- 2010/04/19: SciDaily: Seabed Biodiversity in Oxygen Minimum Zones
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2010/04/19: EurActiv: World forests 'being flushed down the toilet'
As global population grows and access to sanitation improves, the world's forests are "under assault" from paper companies competing to respond to growing consumer demand for toilet tissue, the only paper product that cannot be recycled after use, writes the Worldwatch Institute. - 2010/04/19: PlanetArk: Indonesian Firm [Sinar Mas] Faces New Forest Clearing Allegation
Yes we have no wacky weather, except:
- 2010/04/23: Wunderground: Quiet tornado season wakes up; severe thunderstorm in India leaves 1 million homeless
- 2010/04/22: EarthTimes: Cyclone kills four in India's north-east
And in tornado alley:
- 2010/04/25: CNN: Mississippi tornado leaves path of death, destruction -- Hundreds of homes, buildings flattened by nearly mile-wide twister
- 2010/04/24: TerraDaily: Tornado kills nine, destroys homes in southern US
- 2010/04/25: EarthTimes: At least 10 killed in giant tornado in US South
- 2010/04/25: BBC: Nine dead in Mississippi tornado -- Storms in the US state of Mississippi have left at least nine people, including children, dead.
- 2010/04/24: Reuters: Tornado kills 7 in Mississippi: officials
A tornado nearly a mile wide ripped through central Mississippi on Saturday, killing seven people, trapping others in their homes and destroying many buildings, authorities said. - 2010/04/24: DWWSJ: Large Tornado Crosses Mississippi- Heavy Damage/Deaths
- 2010/04/24: CBS: Mayor: Tornado Kills 2 in Rural Mississippi -- Several Others Injured as Tornado Rips Through Rural Mississippi
- 2010/04/24: ABC(US): Tornado Strikes Western Miss.; Injuries Reported -- Tornado hits at least 3 counties in western Mississippi; injuries reported, damage extensive
- 2010/04/24: CNN: At least 7 dead in Mississippi tornado
At least 7 killed in massive tornado; 2 of the dead are children - Governor calls the storm "devastating," says people have been trapped in wreckage - Worst damage is in Yazoo City and Eagle Lake, near Louisiana border - Forecaster says spotters reported the twister's path as up to a mile wide - 2010/04/24: CBC: Deadly tornadoes rip across U.S. southeast - 2 dead
- 2010/04/24: DWWSJ: NOAA- Rare High Risk of Severe Storms For SE USA Saturday
- 2010/04/23: DWWSJ: Update: Deadly Tornado Outbreak More Likely Now
- 2010/04/23: DWWSJ: Deadly Tornado Outbreak This Weekend??
As for heatwaves and wild fires:
- 2010/04/24: CBC: B.C. wildfire sparked by army gunfire
- 2010/04/19: IndiaTimes: Heat wave claims 80 in India
Acidification is changing the oceans:
- 2010/04/22: ABC(US): Ocean Acidification Hits Northwest Oyster Farms -- Scientists Say Carbon Dioxide in Oceans Could Mean Curtains for Shellfish
- 2010/04/23: NAP: Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean
- 2010/04/22: MiamiHerald: Report: Ocean acidification rising at unprecedented rate
- 2010/04/23: SciDaily: Acidifying Oceans Dramatically Stunt Growth of Already Threatened Shellfish, Research Finds
- 2010/04/22: Eureka: CO2 emissions causing ocean acidification to progress at unprecedented rate
- 2010/04/20: Eureka: On 'Earth week,' world is no longer our oyster -- Acidifying oceans dramatically stunt growth of already threatened shellfish
Glaciers are melting:
- 2010/04/24: BBC: The vanishing glaciers of Ecuador
- 2010/04/19: BBC: Bolivian community sees its future melt
For the Incas, and most of the Andean civilisations, snow-capped mountains were divinities to be honoured, as they supplied water. But now it seems those gods are losing their powers. Researchers say that the glaciers are in dramatic retreat across the Andes due to rising temperatures. In the small village of Khapi, below the stunning - and still snow-covered - Mount Illimani, the sense of anxiety is profound. An idea has taken root there - that those who have caused the snow to retreat and the waters to slow should be brought before an international court.
[...]
What they want is an international court of environmental justice, an idea that is being pushed by Evo Morales, Bolivia's president. - 2010/04/18: MoD: Sea-level rise predictions since the IPCC
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2010/04/22: EarthTimes: Boats back in business on the Mekong river in northern Laos
- 2010/04/22: EarthTimes: Just add water: Australia's dust bowl bubbles to life
- 2010/04/20: ClimateShifts: Australia has suffered hellish wildfires and withering drought -- and is asking for more through its massive coal exports
Elsewhere on the mitigation front:
- 2010/04/23: TEC: Advocates for climate mitigation again understate case?
Consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2010/04/24: NRDC:SwitchBoard: In praise of the IMO's actions to reduce ship pollution
- 2010/04/20: PhysOrg: New study for cleaner aviation fuel
CSIRO together with Australasia's major aviation players is leading a world-first study to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from air transport by helping to develop a sustainable aviation fuels industry. - 2010/04/23: NYT:GW: Future of CO2 Storage May Be Etched in German Sandstone
- 2010/04/23: OilDrum: Carbon Capture and Storage: Energy Costs Revisited
- 2010/04/20: ABC(Au): Survey to help create 3D carbon storage sites model
A seismic survey exploring the possibility of storing carbon in the offshore Gippsland Basin has been completed. A ship has been surveying the Bass Strait sea floor since the middle of February. - 2010/04/20: ABC(Au): Search on for greenhouse gas storage sites
The Queensland Government is asking for tenders to explore potential sites for the underground storage of greenhouse gases from coal-fired power stations in the state. - 2010/04/19: SolveClimate: British Progress Toward Carbon Capture and Storage Drags -- Pilot Projects Will Take a Decade, Widespread Development at Least 20 Years
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- 2010/04/22: Slate: Mother Earth Has a Fever -- Should geoengineering tests be governed by the principles of medical ethics?
- 2010/04/19: CaS: The Engineered Earth
- 2010/04/22: TCoE: Phoning HOME on geohacking
- 2010/04/21: DM:CCM: Are Conservatives Misusing Geoengineering?
- 2010/04/19: ETCGroup: ETC Group attends Cochabamba Climate Change Conference: Presses for a Ban on Geoengineering
- 2010/04/20: DemNow: Pat Mooney [ETC Group] on the Dangers of Geoengineering and Manipulating the Planet to Combat Climate Change
While on the adaptation front:
- 2010/04/20: TerraDaily: Cattle Graziers' Climate Change Adaptability
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2010/04/19: NERC:NORA: Monitoring technologies used at some geological CO2 storage sites by S. Hannis et al.
- 2010/04/21: NERC:NORA: Alarming trends in Arctic charr populations in the U.K. by Ian J. Winfield
- 2010/04/22: AGWObserver: On quick feedback determinations
- 2010/04/23: ACP: Radiosonde stratospheric temperatures at Dumont d'Urville (Antarctica): trends and link with polar stratospheric clouds by C. David et al.
- 2010/04/23: ACPD: Comparison of TOMS retrievals and UVMRP measurements of surface spectral UV radiation in the United States by M. Xu et al.
- 2010/04/23: ACPD: Multi-annual changes of NOx emissions in megacity regions: nonlinear trend analysis of satellite measurement based estimates by I. B. Konovalov et al.
- 2010/04/23: ACPD: Options to accelerate ozone recovery:ozone and climate benefits by J. S. Daniel et al.
- 2010/04/23: ACPD: Studying an effect of salt powder seeding used for precipitation enhancement from convective clouds by A. S. Drofa et al.
- 2010/04/22: TCD: The relation between sea ice thickness and freeboard in the Arctic by V. Alexandrov et al.
- 2010/04/21: TCD: Climate of the Greenland ice sheet using a high-resolution climate model - Part 2: Near-surface climate and energy balance by J. Ettema et al.
- 2010/04/21: TCD: Climate of the Greenland ice sheet using a high-resolution climate model - Part 1: Evaluation by J. Ettema et al.
- 2010/04/21: CPD: Clustering climate reconstructions by G. Bürger
- 2010/04/20: CPD: Asian aridification linked to the first step of the Eocene-Oligocene climate Transition (EOT) in obliquity-dominated terrestrial records (Xining Basin, China) by G. Q. Xiao et al.
- 2010/04/20: CPD: Glacial cycles: exogenous orbital changes vs. endogenous climate dynamics by R. K. Kaufmann & K. Juselius
- 2010/04/20: CPD: The last glacial maximum locations of summer-green tree refugia using simulations with ECHAM3 T42 uncoupled, ECHAM5 T31 coupled and ECHAM5 T106 uncoupled models by K. Arpe et al.
- 2010/04/21: ACP: Winter- and summertime continental influences on tropospheric O3 and CO observed by TES over the western North Atlantic Ocean by J. Hegarty et al.
- 2010/04/21: ACP: A new ENSO index derived from satellite measurements of column ozone by J. R. Ziemke et al.
- 2010/04/21: ACP: Sulfur cycle and sulfate radiative forcing simulated from a coupled global climate-chemistry model by I.-C. Tsai et al.
- 2010/04/21: ACPD: Measured black carbon deposition on the Sierra Nevada snow pack and implication for snow pack retreat by O. L. Hadley et al.
- 2010/04/19: ACPD: Arctic shipping emissions inventories and future scenarios by J. J. Corbett et al.
- 2010/04/20: PNAS: Rapid deglacial and early Holocene expansion of peatlands in Alaska by Miriam C. Jones & Zicheng Yu
- 2010/04/20: PNAS: Current selection for lower migratory activity will drive the evolution of residency in a migratory bird population by Francisco Pulido & Peter Berthold
- 2010/04/20: PNAS: Electric power from offshore wind via synoptic-scale interconnection by Willett Kempton et al.
- 2010/04/19: AGWObserver: Simple observational proof of the greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide
- 2010/04/21: AGWObserver: Papers on N2O atmospheric concentration
- 2010/04/20: OS: The role of atmosphere and ocean physical processes in ENSO in a perturbed physics coupled climate model by S. Y. Philip et al.
- 2010/04/20: OS: First images and orientation of fine structure from a 3-D seismic oceanography data set by T. M. Blacic & W. S. Holbrook
- 2010/04/20: OSD: The influence of the Brazil and Malvinas Currents on the southwestern Atlantic shelf circulation by R. P. Matano et al.
And other significant documents:
- 2010/04/23: TCoE: Doc alert: China's intensity-based CO2 goals
- 2010/04/23: CSIRO: [link to 1.5 meg pdf] Our Future World: an analysis of global trends, shocks and scenarios
- 2010/04/23: NAP: Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean
- 2010/04/: GSI: [link to 1.2 meg pdf] Untold Billions: Fossil-Fuel Subsidies, Their Impacts and the Path to Reform. A Summary of Key Findings
- 2010/04/20: UKSA: [link to 902k pdf] Telling porkies: The big fat lie about doubling food production
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2010/04/23: SEasterbrook: Ethics of Climate -- Talk by Ray Pierrehumbert
- 2010/04/23: ERabett: Ray Pierrehumbert on the habitable zone
- 2010/04/20: PhysOrg: Volunteers Scrutinize 'Ten Most Wanted' Plants for Clues to Climate Change [in Project BudBurst]
- 2010/04/20: PhysOrg: NASA Announces A New Approach To Earth Science Data Analysis
The way we analyze planet Earth will never be the same, thanks to a new initiative at NASA that integrates supercomputers with global satellite observations and sophisticated models of the Earth system in an online collaborative environment. As part of its celebration of Earth Week, NASA unveiled the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) at a "Green Earth" public forum held at the NASA Exploration Center, Moffett Field, Calif. - 2010/04/19: Guardian(UK): Scientists develop sensor to predict freak weather, from flash flooding to landslides
In the fight against climate change, scientists have created a sensor that can alert us to freak weather - 2010/04/19: CG&G: RClimate Script: Pacific Decadal Oscillation Trend
The GSA has revised its position statement on climate change:
- 2010/04/21: MTobis: Uncertainties Greatly Reduced -- The Geological Society of America has revised its position statement on climate change.
Regarding Judith Curry:
- 2010/04/24: IoD: Judith Curry sticks her neck out
- 2010/04/23: CaS: An Inconvenient Provocateur [Judith Curry interview]
- 2010/04/23: Stoat: Curry
Regarding Wegman:
- 2010/04/23: ERabett: The keyboard of doom, or Deep Climate on Wegman
- 2010/04/23: Deltoid: More plagiarism from Wegman
- 2010/04/23: DeSmogBlog: Deep Climate exposes more cheating by team Wegman
- 2010/04/22: DeepClimate: Wegman and Said on social networks: More dubious scholarship
Regarding Lovelock:
- 2010/04/20: OpenDem: James Lovelock: greenery vs democracy
Does the pioneer of 'gaia' have a point: could democracy be an obstacle to planetary safety? - 2010/04/20: UN: Ban re-nominates Guterres and Steiner for top refugee and environment posts
And on the carbon trading front:
- 2010/04/21: PlanetArk: Carbon Permit Spot Trade [in EU] Should Be Regulated: BarCap
- 2010/04/20: PlanetArk: France Seeks Tighter Regulation Of CO2 Market
- 2010/04/20: PlanetArk: EU Carbon At Fresh 2010 High After Weak Open
The Bank Levy &/ Tobin Tax is being argued in the G20. As to whether it will ever be put to climate ends...:
- 2010/04/23: CBC: G20 rejects bank tax -- Canada opposed measure; France, U.K., Germany in favour
- 2010/04/23: CBC: The bank tax fight -- The IMF proposal that's dividing the G20
- 2010/04/23: CBC: Canada leads split on IMF bank tax
Canada's vocal opposition to an international proposal to tax banks is highlighting the growing rift between countries about how best to protect the global financial system, [Petersen Institute] experts said. - 2010/04/21: CBC: Global bank tax urged by IMF
- 2010/04/21: WpgFP: Canada says no to 'Robin Hood' tax
The International Monetary Fund is recommending all G20 countries slap a tax on financial institutions -- advice that puts the organization at odds with Canada, which has a rigid anti-tax position. In a report leaked to the BBC and posted on the network's website, the IMF says G20 governments should tax banks and other financial institutions to make them pay for their own bailouts. - 2010/04/20: Guardian(UK): New global 'FAT' tax to rein in banks
Tough proposals to cut the world's biggest banks down to size by taxing their profits and pay were outlined by the International Monetary Fund tonight in an attempt to spare taxpayers another massive public bailout of the financial sector. In measures more stringent than Wall Street and the City had expected, the fund called for the introduction of a twin-track approach to the three-year banking crisis that would both force firms to pay for any future support packages and raise new taxes on their profits and remuneration. - 2010/04/20: CBC: Carbon trading no cure-all -- Detractors cite lack of enforcement, fraud potential
- 2010/04/21: AutoBG: 240 trees offset 1 car per year and other fun facts
CSM did a series on carbon offsets:
- 2010/04/20: CSM: Carbon offsets: How a Vatican forest failed to reduce global warming
- 2010/04/20: CSM: Carbon offsets: Green project offends Indian farmers who lose land to windmills
- 2010/04/20: CSM: Carbon offsets: Australia leads the pursuit of 'greenwashing'
- 2010/04/20: CSM: Buying carbon offsets may ease eco-guilt but not global warming
- 2010/04/20: CSM: Is Dave Matthews' carbon offsets provider really carbon neutral?
- 2010/04/20: CSM: Seeking carbon offsets for global warming? Buyer beware
On the international front, we have power politics as usual:
- 2010/04/21: DemNow: Why Is the US Cutting Off Climate Aid to the Poorest Country in South America? - Bolivian Climate Negotiator Angélica Navarro
On the security front, here's one the MICPIC [Military Industrial Congressional Prison Infotainment Complex] will love:
- 2010/04/19: EarthTimes: UN: Shift defence spending to development, climate programmes
New York - The world spent more than 1 trillion dollars a year on weapons - money that could instead have been used in development, poverty-reduction and climate programmes, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday. "By accelerating disarmament, we can liberate the resources we need to combat climate change, address food insecurity and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)," Ban said in opening a one-day debate on disarmament at the UN General Assembly. - 2010/04/22: Reuters: Most UK farmers say not feeling climate change
An increasing number of British farmers say they are unaffected by climate change, a survey found on Friday. - 2010/04/20: ClimateP: New polls show Latinos and African Americans support bipartisan climate and clean energy jobs bill
Regarding Water Politics and Business:
- 2010/04/24: TEC: Sanjeev Chadha: Why is PepsiCo building dams?
- 2010/04/24: EarthTimes: China says its dam on River Tsangpo will not affect India
- 2010/04/22: Rabble: Water wars and climate change in the 'heart of Bolivia'
- 2010/04/22: DemNow: From Melting Glaciers to Structural Adjustment: Maude Barlow on the Need for Water Justice
- 2010/04/21: CCP: Richard Black of the BBC: UK water use 'worsening global crisis'
- 2010/04/20: TerraDaily: Argentines outraged at Uruguay paper mill ruling
- 2010/04/20: BBC: Uruguay paper mill 'can continue' Uruguay should have informed Argentina about its plans to build two paper mills on the banks of a river they share, the UN's top court has ruled.
But the International Court of Justice in The Hague said Uruguay had not violated its environmental obligations and the mill can continue working. Only one mill was built but the dispute has simmered for several years. Argentina argues the mill is polluting the river, while Uruguay says it adheres to strict environmental codes. - 2010/04/19: AlterNet: Water Wars: How One City's Fight Against a Multinational Ignited a Movement Battling Water Privatization
And on the American political front:
- 2010/04/21: MatterNetwork: Colorado Law Will Retire or Retrofit Coal-Fired Power
- 2010/04/24: TEC: Colorado Shows How It's Done -- 30% Renewables by 2020, Efficiency, and Phaseout of Coal Plants
- 2010/04/22: Yahoo:AP: Wisconsin renewable energy bill dies on Earth Day
- 2010/04/22: UCSUSA: Earth Day 2010: Dirty Energy Ballot Measure is This Year's Biggest Threat to California's Environment -- Statement By Dan Kalb, California Policy Manager, Union Of Concerned Scientists
- 2010/04/23: AlterNet: Green Detroit: Why the City Is Ground Zero for the Sustainability Movement
- 2010/04/20: DurangoHerald: Ritter OKs bill on natural-gas power plants
Flanked by two Southwest Colorado legislators, Gov. Bill Ritter on Monday signed into law a bill that could trade coal power plants for natural gas-powered ones. - 2010/04/22: SolveClimate: Regional Cap-and-Trade Programs May Be the Solution
- 2010/04/21: Grist: X Marks the Cut -- 'Save transit' rallies start up around U.S.
- 2010/04/22: CSW: Avatar director James Cameron calls out lawmakers for reluctance to talk in terms of climate change
- 2010/04/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Valero: Don't Fuel Up the Hype Machine about California's AB 32
- 2010/04/21: LA Times:GS: Terminate the ballot initiative to terminate the climate law?
- 2010/04/22: BostonGlobe: All states need to embrace bipartisan climate bill [Stavins]
- 2010/04/19: BSD: Would Poizner, Whitman, and the other anti-AB 32 people want the rest of the world to act like them?
- 2010/04/19: NYT: Appliance Discounts, for the Swift
- 2010/04/19: LA Times:GS: Will a ballot initiative overturn California's climate law?
- 2010/04/20: SacBee: Cash for Appliance rebate program launches Thursday
- 2010/04/19: CSM: Chicago: First US city to regulate coal plant air pollution?
- 2010/04/19: DeSmogBlog: Tea Party Supporters Wealtheir, More Educated - Still Bitter
- 2010/04/19: LA Times: Foes of California's global warming law pour money into a campaign to delay it
Opponents of the law, largely oil firms and conservative activists, miss a signature-gathering target date for putting an initiative on the November ballot, but get a cash infusion to keep trying. - 2010/04/18: ERabett: Eli can retire Part X - The grim reaper is a hot head
Massey Energy & Don Blankenship are still being kicked around:
- 2010/04/22: WVGazette:CT: Massey board again defends Don Blankenship
- 2010/04/22: NYT: 2 Mines Show How Safety Practices Vary Widely
- 2010/04/22: ClimateP: Coal disaster company Massey Energy denied time off for miners to attend their friends' funerals
- 2010/04/20: DVoice: Coalminer's Death Was Aggravated Murder for Profit
- 2010/04/20: ClimateP: Corporate front group funded by coal industry scorns widow of mine disaster: "Everyone wants free money" -- Later apologizes for distasteful and baseless comment, locks Twitter account
- 2010/04/19: SundayGazetteMail: John David: Toughen mining regulations now
- 2010/04/19: USAToday: Opposing view on coal mining: We're vigilant watchdogs
- 2010/04/20: Reuters: Massey Energy director [Lady Barbara Thomas Judge] resigns ahead of AGM
- 2010/04/19: WaPo: Mine blast means new realities for West Virginia Democrats in Congress
Must be a bunch of commies:
- 2010/04/21: Reuters: Military leads fight against climate change: Pew
The U.S. military, the government's largest fuel buyer, is leading the fight against climate change by investing in the "Great Green Fleet" and other ways of cutting dependence on oil and coal, according to a Pew Charitable Trusts report released on Tuesday. - 2010/04/20: TreeHugger: U.S. Navy Wants to Cut its Petroleum Use, Create "Green Strike" Groups
- 2010/04/19: EnergyBulletin: Pentagon alert from ... 2008: "Towards a "severe energy crisis"
The Obama chatter is nonstop:
- 2010/04/23: Yahoo:AP: White House: Oil spill no reason to stop drilling
- 2010/04/21: CSW: James McCarthy and Tim Wirth: Time for Obama to Set the Record Straight on Climate Change
- 2010/04/21: Guardian(UK): Obama's green agenda under attack from group linked to chemical industry
- 2010/04/20: WaPo: White House: Climate bill 'doable' this year
- 2010/04/20: NYT:GW: Obama Open to Trade Protections in Senate Climate Bill, Adviser Says
A top White House adviser confirmed today that President Obama is open to helping energy-intensive industries cope with the costs of climate legislation, including use of controversial border tariffs he had previously warned could spark a global trade war. Energy and climate adviser Carol Browner said the administration recognizes Congress' interest in using trade language as it works on climate legislation that addresses concerns from some of the country's industries that are most vulnerable to cheap foreign imports, including steel, cement, glass, pulp and paper. - 2010/04/20: BBerg: Polluting Nations Downplay Goals for Cancun Climate Conference [after MEF]
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
- 2010/04/23: PlanetArk: Jackson Riles Business, Lawmakers With Carbon Rules
From Texas lawmakers to top coal mining executives, a wide array of business and political interests would like to stop the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ambitious and solo plan to tackle climate change. But standing in the way is an energetic former chemical engineer who has vowed to press ahead with a raft of changes that only Congress or the courts can block. The first African-American to head EPA, Lisa Jackson is now the poster woman for 21st century environmentalism and standing firm against critics who say her agenda is too radical for an economy emerging from a steep recession. "I'm sick of the same old tired arguments," Jackson said in an interview with Reuters at her Washington office. "I don't buy into this idea that we can't have economic progress...and we can't have a strong environment. I believe it's a false choice." Although the Obama administration has said it would prefer that Congress address global warming through legislation, Jackson's agency could play a sweeping role in transitioning the United States to a low carbon economy if Congress is unable to get its act together. - 2010/04/21: TheHill:e2W: EPA prods Congress to act by issuing rules
- 2010/04/22: PlanetArk: White House Reviews EPA Rule On Industrial Carbon
The White House is reviewing an Environmental Protection Agency rule on which factories and power plants will be subject to greenhouse gas regulations, according to the Office of Management and Budget website. The measure, known as the "tailoring rule," would set emissions thresholds for big emitters of gases blamed for warming the planet. Regulated polluters could include coal-fired power plants and heavy energy users such as cement, glass and steel makers. - 2010/04/22: Grist: EPA intern offends sensitive meat-industry souls
- 2010/04/21: Grist: USDA downplays own scientist's research on ill effects of Monsanto herbicide
- 2010/04/21: Grist: Why it matters that the FDA Is beating USDA for control of food system
- 2010/04/20: SolveClimate: EPA's Biofuel Mandates Based on Shaky Assumptions, Scientists Say
- 2010/04/20: AutoBG: EPA still not settled on MPG labels for plug-ins, Volt unlikely to get 230 mpg
- 2010/04/19: ScienceInsider: Holdren's Old Shop: Energy R&D Boost Strong But Not Enough
- 2010/04/19: Reuters: U.S. unveils climate report in runup to Senate bill
The United States released a new draft report on climate change on Monday, one week before the expected unveiling of a compromise U.S. Senate bill that aims to curb heat-trapping greenhouse emissions. The report, a draft of the Fifth U.S. Climate Action Report that will be sent to the United Nations, says bluntly: "Global warming is unequivocal and primarily human-induced ... Global temperature has increased over the past 50 years. This observed increase is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases." - 2010/04/19: TreeHugger: 5th US Climate Action Report Released: "Global Warming is Unequivocal"
- 2010/04/19: TEC: Obama Administration Courts the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to Support Kerry-Graham-Lieberman
As for what is going on in Congress:
- 2010/04/23: HillHeat: Senate Budget Committee Passes Gregg Amendment To Prevent Clean Energy Reconciliation 16-6
- 2010/04/23: ClimateP: Lugar and Voinovich float "half-assed" alternative to comprehensive climate and clean energy jobs bill
- 2010/04/23: PlanetArk: Derivatives Bill Calls For U.S. Carbon Market Study
A tough new proposal to regulate U.S. markets calls for top regulators and government officials to conduct a study on transparency in emerging U.S. carbon markets as part of the financial reform package. - 2010/04/23: PlanetArk: Senators Struggling Over Climate Compromise
- 2010/04/22: HillHeat: Lugar And Voinovich Float Alternative to Comprehensive Climate Reform
- 2010/04/21: TP:WR: Lugar And Voinovich Float Alternative To Comprehensive Climate Reform
- 2010/04/21: TheHill:e2W: Pelosi tells Reid: Immigration bill before climate change is 'fine'
- 2010/04/21: EnergyBulletin: A new approach in the Senate to putting a price on carbon
- 2010/04/21: PlanetArk: Factbox: How The U.S. Farm Bill Process Works
- 2010/04/21: Grist: Let's set the record straight by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt)
As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day the most serious environmental problem that we face is not global warming or the pollution of our air, water, land and food. It is whether or not our country moves forward in developing public policy based on science or whether we make decisions based on politics and fear mongering. - 2010/04/20: NYT:GW: Senate Republicans Move to Bar NEPA Analysis of Climate Change Impacts
Republican senators introduced legislation today that would block White House efforts to require federal agencies to consider climate change in environmental analyses of proposed projects. The bill says the National Environmental Policy Act should not be used to document, predict or mitigate the climate effects of specific federal actions. Under the measure, NEPA reviews could not consider the greenhouse gas emissions of a proposed federal project nor climate change effects as related to the proposal's design, environmental impacts, or mitigation or adaptation measures. The measure comes after the White House in February issued draft guidance (pdf) that will require federal agencies to consider greenhouse gas emissions and climate change when carrying out NEPA reviews. The White House Council on Environmental Quality, or CEQ, is accepting public comment on the proposal through May 24. - 2010/04/20: SolveClimate: Taking Climate Bill Straight to Senate Floor Could Open Window for 'Cap-and-Dividend'
- 2010/04/20: ClimateP: Joe Conason: "There is nothing subtle about the Republican approach to frustrating reform, whether in healthcare, banking regulation or climate change."
- 2010/04/19: TheHill:e2W: Landrieu: 'There is not going to be any drilling unless there is revenue sharing'
- 2010/04/20: NYT:CW: As Senate Debates Climate Bill, House Members Wonder if They'll Be Asked to Take It or Leave It
- 2010/04/19: NatJo: Bingaman, Rockefeller Reject Offshore Royalty Plan [to share offshore oil drilling revenues with coastal states]
Kerry-Boxer, Waxman-Markey, KGL, Cantwell-Collins or whatever -- the future climate bill -- defines a battleline:
- 2010/04/25: BWeek: Graham Bolts From Climate Talks, Dimming Hopes for U.S. Bill
- 2010/04/24: Grist: Graham says he's going to bail on the climate bill
- 2010/04/24: TreeHugger: Sen. Graham Threatens To Walk Away From Climate Bill If Immigration Comes Next
- 2010/04/25: BBC: Row puts US climate bill on hold
Monday's unveiling of a climate bill in the US Senate has been postponed, after a row over immigration reforms. The announcement was made by Democratic Senator John Kerry, one of the authors of the bi-partisan bill. It came after Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a co-author, threatened to withhold support if the Democrats pushed ahead with an immigration bill. The climate bill reportedly aims to cut greenhouse gases to 17% below 2005 levels by 2020. - 2010/04/24: WaPo: Senators postpone climate bill unveiling
Monday's unveiling of a compromise Senate climate bill was postponed on Saturday, Democratic Senator John Kerry said, after a dispute arose over unrelated immigration reform legislation. - 2010/04/23: Wonkette: Oh Right That Thing [KGL]
- 2010/04/23: Grist: Watch out, Kerry -- Big Ag's not done with your climate bill
- 2010/04/22: TEC: Senate Climate Bill Trio Scrapping Oil and Gasoline Fee?
- 2010/04/23: TEC: Eyes on the Prize: Federal Climate Policy Should Preempt State and Regional Initiatives [Stavins]
- 2010/04/23: TEC: KGL resources ...
- 2010/04/22: MoJo: Kerry: Three Big Oil Companies Likely to Back Climate Bill -- The senator reveals long-awaited details on the legislation and its backers.
- 2010/04/22: CBPP: Policy Basics: Climate-Change Legislation and Low-Income Consumers
- 2010/04/21: ClimateP: Straight Up: What to look for in the bipartisan climate and clean energy jobs bill
- 2010/04/21: NYT:CW: Electric Utilities Have Reasons to Embrace -- and Fight Over -- Senate Climate Bill
- 2010/04/21: PlanetArk: Senator Kerry Hints At Changes In U.S. Climate Bill
- 2010/04/21: Grist: Perpetuating the myth that climate policy is all cost
- 2010/04/20: Grist: Raiding rainforest funds in climate legislation will turn cost projections into fantasy
- 2010/04/20: WaPo: White House: Climate bill 'doable' this year
- 2010/04/20: TreeHugger: How Much Compromise Would Make the Climate Bill Worthless?
- 2010/04/19: PlanetArk: Climate Bill Seen Raising Gasoline Prices
What are the lobbyists pushing?
- 2010/04/21: SolveClimate: Chemical Industry-Connected Group Joins Attack on Clean Air Act -- Corporate Opposition to U.S. Action on Climate Change Spreads
A secretive group linked to a leading European chemical company has joined the campaign to defeat Barack Obama's green agenda, taking the fight beyond the traditional players -- big oil and coal firms -- the Guardian has learned. The previously unknown Coalition for Responsible Regulation Inc. (CRR) is at the forefront of a strategy to strip the Obama administration of its powers to regulate greenhouse gas emissions should Congress fail to act on climate change. The group, which refuses to disclose its complete membership and which does not have a Web site, has joined more than a dozen states and a host of industry groups in 17 legal challenges to the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency. - 2010/04/19: ClimateP: Chamber of Commerce shuffles its Board in wake of departures
- 2010/04/19: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Duke Energy's CEO Jim Rogers Has Left the Chamber of Commerce Building
- 2010/04/19: AutoBG: Beyond 2016, automakers push for even stronger CAFE regulations, maybe a gas tax too
- 2010/04/19: AutoBG: Truckstop operators want their biodiesel back - and the $1-per-gallon tax credit
The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:
- 2010/04/22: CBC: U.S. to blame for climate summit failure: Gore
While in the UK:
- 2010/04/20: Guardian(UK): Heathrow aiport expansion will result in £5 billion loss
- 2010/04/19: BBC: As the UK faces the prospect of North Sea gas running out, could supply problems be eased by using gas made from human waste?
I have not paid much attention to the UK election:
- 2010/04/23: Guardian(UK): Climate sceptic BNP views immigrants as pollution. No surprises there, then
- 2010/04/22: NewScientist:TSW: UK election: Who will tackle climate change?
- 2010/04/22: NatureCF: Election 2010: Climate debate 'hots' up
- 2010/04/21: Guardian(UK): Labour, Conservatives and Lib Dems clash over environment policies
- 2010/04/20: Guardian(UK): General election 2010 -- Green policy: We need a seismic shift in thinking
- 2010/04/20: NYT:CW: Amid a Fog of Green Rhetoric, U.K. Climate Issues Sail Into 'Uncharted Waters' Election
- 2010/04/19: NatureCF: Election 2010: the parties on climate change
And in Europe:
- 2010/04/24: EarthTimes: Protesters form 120-km human chain against German nuclear energy
- 2010/04/22: DerSpiegel: Revolt of the Sun Kings -- Solar Industry Fights to Save Subsidies
Government subsidies for solar energy in Germany have reached absurd proportions, as ordinary consumers pay out billions to support solar power. Now plans to reduce the subsidies are encountering massive resistance from the industry and a number of German states, which benefit from the current arrangement. - 2010/04/23: EurActiv: New EU wind farms held back by procedure
The length of time wind farm developers must wait to receive building permits varies wildly from one EU country to another, jeopardising the bloc's chances of meeting its 2020 renewables goal, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) said yesterday (22 April). It takes an average of three-and-a-half years to win consent to build a wind farm in the EU, an EU funded project coordinated by EWEA has found. But there are huge differences between countries from eight months in Finland to over 58 months in Portugal, the initial results show. - 2010/04/23: EurActiv: Finland plans more nuclear, renewables
The Finnish government yesterday (21 April) unveiled plans for two new nuclear reactors as part of the country's drive to meet the EU's climate obligations and free itself completely from Russian imports. Finnish Trade and Industry Minister Mauri Pekkarinen said two permits to build nuclear reactors would be granted to power companies Teollisuuden Voima and Fennovoima, but an application from half government-owned Fortum was rejected. Ministers emphasised that the plan should allow Finland to become entirely independent of electricity imports by 2020. - 2010/04/23: PlanetArk: German Coalition Agrees On Solar Power Cuts: Sources
Germany's ruling coalition will only make slight changes to planned reductions in solar power incentives, sources told Reuters late Thursday, with the brunt of the cuts to remain unchanged. The sources said parliamentary experts in Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right administration agreed that so-called feed-in tariffs for new rooftop solar installations will be cut by 16 percent from July as planned. Most open-field installations will be cut by 15 percent, with support for farmland solar systems to be scrapped completely, the sources said. - 2010/04/23: PlanetArk: Spain Renewables Industry Fears Subsidy Cuts
- 2010/04/22: EurActiv: Solar industry divided over EU toxic substances law
Solar panel manufacturers are fighting for an exemption from EU legislation restricting the use of dangerous chemicals in electronic products. But some voices are calling for greater scrutiny of the industry, sparking a technology war between rival companies. The European solar industry has begun a campaign to exclude photovoltaic solar panels from the recast directive on the restriction of certain hazardous substances (RoHS), which is currently being debated by the EU institutions. - 2010/04/22: EurActiv: Lobby chief wants to open 'new chapter' for solar PV
Europe's photovoltaic industry wants to focus more on generating and supplying electricity in the coming years, according to its new president, marking a shift from its current emphasis on technological development. - 2010/04/22: PlanetArk: Once-Hidden EU Report Reveals Damage From Biodiesel
Biofuels such as biodiesel from soy beans can create up to four times more climate-warming emissions than standard diesel or petrol, according to an EU document released under freedom of information laws. The European Union has set itself a goal of obtaining 10 percent of its road fuels from renewable sources, mostly biofuels, by the end of this decade, but it is now worrying about the unintended environmental impacts. Four major studies are under way. - 2010/04/21: EurActiv: France awaits clearer EU strategy on e-cars
- 2010/04/21: EurActiv: EU aligns energy-saving laws with Lisbon Treaty rules
EU member states and the European Parliament have agreed changes to two key energy efficiency directives in order to make them compatible with Lisbon Treaty requirements on delegated acts, which will now come under MEPs' scrutiny. - 2010/04/20: PhysOrg: Finland plans 'massive' renewable energy boost
- 2010/04/20: EurActiv: EU, Poland move to settle carbon quota row
- 2010/04/20: EUO: Commission approves Polish CO2 plan after lengthy legal tussle
The European Commission on Monday gave the green light to Poland's plan for handing out CO2 emissions permits to its power and industrial sectors following a long-drawn-out battle between Brussels and Warsaw. The EU executive "took a decision on the new national allocation plan (NAP) submitted by Poland for distributing carbon dioxide emission allowances for the 2008-2012 trading period of the EU Emissions Trading System," it said in a statement. "It did not raise any objections." Climate action commissioner Connie Hedegaard said: "I warmly welcome the decision by Poland to submit an allocation plan consistent with the methodology used for all other member states." - 2010/04/19: EarthTimes: EU approves Polish emissions plan after lengthy battle
- 2010/04/20: BBC: EU can afford to increase its climate ambition
The EU is not doing enough to deliver meaningful cuts in its emissions, says Bryony Worthington. In this week's Green Room, she says the economic recession has resulted in a sharp fall in emissions, meaning the 27-nation bloc can hit current targets with little effort and little investment in green technologies. - 2010/04/23: ABC(Au): Greens campaigner takes on coal industry
Queensland Greens campaigner Drew Hutton says he is quitting his post to take on the coal seam mining industry in southern Queensland. - 2010/04/23: ABC(Au): No wind farm for Smeaton -- Origin Energy has scrapped plans to build a 19-turbine wind farm near Smeaton, north of Ballarat
- 2010/04/22: ABC(Au): Free carbon permits plan a $20 billion waste: report
A review of the Federal Government's emissions trading scheme has described its plans for free carbon permits to heavy emitters as a $20 billion waste of money. - 2010/04/22: ABC(Au): Insulation businesses 'will be lost'
There is a new blow for the insulation industry with the Federal Government shelving plans to set up a new scheme to replace the one it scrapped in February. - 2010/04/20: PeakEnergy: The Minister for coal out of step with climate change action
- 2010/04/20: PeakEnergy: It's back to the bowser in the race to the future
- 2010/04/19: ABC(Au): It will be mandatory soon [from September] for all new houses in South Australia to have a six-star energy efficiency rating
And in New Zealand:
- 2010/04/20: HotTopic: 10:10NZ campaign launches
- 2010/04/20: HotTopic: Beatin' the heat
While in China:
- 2010/04/22: PlanetArk: China Invests Heavily In ... Green Autos ...
- 2010/04/19: NRDC:SwitchBoard: A Clear-Eyed Look at China's Climate Target
In Japan:
- 2010/04/23: LA Times: Tokyo's goal: Be the greenest
It's been reducing solid waste, requiring factories and offices to cut carbon emissions, giving cash incentives to install solar panels, toughening building standards and planning more greenery. - 2010/04/21: PlanetArk: Japan Eyes Households To Help Cut CO2 Emissions 25 Pct
And elsewhere in Asia:
- 2010/04/23: EarthTimes: Taiwan to launch 50 low-carbon communities
- 2010/04/22: BBC: Pakistan to tackle energy crisis
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has launched a national energy policy to tackle the country's massive power crisis. Measures include extending the official weekend from one to two days, early closure of street markets, and a 50% cut in power to government offices. Pakistan's energy crisis is due to a surge in demand and a failing power distribution infrastructure. The shortages have crippled industry and led to rioting across Pakistan. - 2010/04/19: EarthTimes: World Bank urges East Asia to stabilize carbon emissions
In the Middle East:
- 2010/04/19: NYT:GW: Emirate Channeling Oil Wealth Into Bid for Green Economy
And South America:
- 2010/04/22: TerraDaily: Brazilian president defends controversial dam project
- 2010/04/22: ABC(Au): Indians to march on Amazon dam site
Boats carrying 150 Native Americans have been dispatched to occupy the area where the Brazilian government wants to build a controversial hydro-electric dam, an indigenous chief said. - 2010/04/22: NatureTGB: Brazil rebuffs critics, contracts for Amazon dam
- 2010/04/21: TerraDaily: Indigenous groups sent to occupy Amazon dam site: chief
- 2010/04/21: NewScientist: World's third-largest dam gets the go-ahead -- The controversial Belo Monte dam on the Xingu river in the Brazilian Amazon
- 2010/04/21: Grist: Brazil awards dam contract despite environmental protests
- 2010/04/20: BBC: Brazil awards Amazon dam contract
A consortium of nine companies has won the right to build a hydroelectric dam on a tributary of the Amazon in Brazil. Brazil's electricity regulator said the Norte Energia consortium would build the Belo Monte dam, to which indigenous groups and environmentalists object. - 2010/04/20: Grist: Brazil suspends bidding for controversial dam
- 2010/04/20: BBC: Huge Brazil dam auction on hold
Bidding for contracts to build a huge hydroelectric dam on a tributary of the Amazon in Brazil has been stopped for a second time. A court granted an injunction halting the auction due later in the day. The government says the Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River is crucial for economic development. Indigenous groups and environmentalists oppose the dam, saying thousands of people will be displaced and a sensitive ecosystem damaged. The latest development came just a day before Tuesday's planned auction and it is highly likely there will be further legal wrangling. - 2010/04/19: OilChange: Ecuador accuses oil firms of "abusing" country
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
- 2010/04/24: CBC: Atlantic provinces get climate change money
Atlantic Canada's provinces are joining forces with the federal government to fund projects aimed at helping communities adapt to climate change. Atlantic Canadian communities will receive a combined $8.2 million. The money will fund an initiative called the Atlantic Climate Adaptation Solutions Project and will target issues such as coastal erosion, flooding and ground water resource management. The initiative will involve 64 partners across the Atlantic region in local projects. - 2010/04/23: CBC: Mackenzie pipeline hearings conclude
The National Energy Board must now decide whether to approve a natural gas pipeline through the Northwest Territories' Mackenzie Valley, after it wrapped up its final hearings Thursday in Inuvik, N.W.T. Members of the independent federal agency, which regulates parts of Canada's energy industries, have until September to decide if the 1,200-kilometre Mackenzie Valley pipeline should be built, and under what conditions. Since 2006, the NEB has been holding hearings into the $16.2-billion pipeline, spearheaded by a consortium of companies led by Calgary-based Imperial Oil. - 2010/04/19: CBC: Arctic leaders: Lancaster Sound plans in conflict
Officials in some of Nunavut's most northerly communities say they're getting mixed messages about Lancaster Sound, where the federal government has separate plans to create a conservation area and explore for oil and gas. High Arctic residents have recently learned of a proposal by the Geological Survey of Canada to conduct seismic testing for potential oil and gas resources this summer in Lancaster Sound, located at the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage. At the same time, the federal government is studying the idea of making a national marine conservation area there, in order to protect marine mammal and bird species as well as assert Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic. - 2010/04/21: CBC: Staff, vehicle shortage kept Syncrude from protecting ducks -- Not enough people, trucks to erect scarecrows, air cannons: employee statements
Recently released statements by employees of Syncrude reveal new details about equipment and staff shortages that may have contributed to the deaths of hundreds of ducks at one of the Alberta company's oilsands sites two years ago. About 1,600 ducks died on April 28, 2008, after they landed on Syncrude's Aurora tailings pond in northern Alberta, which collects the byproducts of bitumen extraction from oilsands. The migratory birds got stuck in the toxic sludge of bitumen remnants, clay, sand and metals that makes up the pond and sank to the bottom. Transcripts of statements obtained by the CBC on Wednesday suggest a lack of vehicles and available staff kept waterfowl deterrents from being set up in the days leading up to the deaths. The employee statements, made to provincial and federal environmental officials in the weeks following the deaths, were released after a provincial court judge ruled against a company request to prevent the media from publicizing their contents. - 2010/04/20: CBC: Syncrude worker statements on duck deaths released -- Judge allows media to report what employees told investigators in April 2008
An Alberta provincial court judge ruled Tuesday that media can have access to statements that Syncrude employees gave to investigators probing the deaths of 1,600 ducks on one of the oil company's tailings ponds two years ago. The ruling comes after a lawyer for the Edmonton Journal and CBC fought a request by Syncrude lawyer Robert White to bar the media from reporting on what 28 employees told investigators at the time. The media is expected to get access to the statements by the end of the week. - 2010/04/22: CBC: B.C. emitting more greenhouse gases
- 2010/04/21: CBC: Farmer vows to fight Site C Dam
Some farmers in northeastern B.C. say they are going to fight a plan to build a massive hydroelectric dam that will flood the Peace River Valley. This week, the B.C. government announced it wants to go ahead with the Site C dam, near Fort St. John to generate electricity. But some farmers in the flood zone are vowing to stand their ground. "We'll be here until the water comes up at least to knee level," said Ross Peck, whose family has farmed the rich soil of the Peace River Valley for nearly 100 years. The proposed reservoir for the Site C Dam would flood 83 kilometres of the valley, covering the land where homes and farms belonging to family's like Peck's have stood for generations. - 2010/04/21: G&M: Site C dam laying groundwork for surge in energy exports
Despite insisting dam's 900-megawatt capacity is needed for domestic used, government would allow B.C. to export more power - 2010/04/19: TerraDaily: British Columbia to go ahead with multi-billion-dollar [Site-C] dam
- 2010/04/19: CBC: Site C criticized by environmental groups
First Nations in northeast B.C. and some prominent environmental organizations are critical of the province's announcement Monday that it's going ahead with the Site C dam. The Council of Treaty 8 Chiefs, representing First Nations in the Peace region, said that when combined with forestry, oil and gas and mining projects, the dam would cause irrevocable damage to fish, wildlife and local agriculture. The Sierra Club of B.C. said the Site C dam would destroy forest and farmland, hurt wildlife and increase carbon emissions, while the David Suzuki Foundation said too many questions about the project remain unanswered for it to proceed. - 2010/04/19: CBC: Massive B.C. [Site C] dam project approved
- 2010/04/19: CanWest: Column: Site C will be a hard sell as green power
Premier Gordon Campbell will announce the construction of the massive Site C dam Monday, a plan not just to erect a $6-billion hydro dam but also make British Columbia self-sufficient in energy and create a multibillion-dollar green-power export industry. The kilometre-long dam will flood 83 kilometres of the Peace River Valley in northern B.C., destroying farms and forest. Bet on one of the largest environmental backlashes we've seen here in decades. But the Liberal government has decided the mega-dam must be part of its future green energy strategy: to make B.C. self-sufficient in power and use its surplus, renewable energy to become one of the continent's major exporters of green, clean energy. But hold on a second. Will that new hydro power really be seen as green? - 2010/04/19: CBC: Massive B.C. dam project approved
The B.C. government has approved a $6.6-billion plan to build a massive new hydroelectric dam on the Peace River, nearly 40 years after it was first proposed. Premier Gordon Campbell and Energy Minister Blair Lekstrom announced the approval of the Site C dam project on Monday morning... - 2010/04/23: CBC: Oilsands tailing ponds approved
Alberta's energy watchdog has approved plans submitted by oilsands operators Fort Hills and Syncrude to deal with waste from their projects. But the Energy Resources Conservation Board has slapped some conditions on the tailings pond proposals of Fort Hills, as well as Syncrude Canada Ltd.'s Mildred Lake and Aurora sites, all north of Fort McMurray. Tailings are the byproduct of the oilsands extraction process and contain water, sand, silt, clay and residual bitumen. The ERCB estimates tailings ponds now cover about 170 square kilometres across northern Alberta. - 2010/04/22: CBC: The shadow over solar -- Keeping the public onside is key as Ontario's move to renewables raises prices
- 2010/04/21: OilChange: Avatar director: Tar sands Are "Black Eye" to Canada
- 2010/04/21: WpgFP: New peril in oilpatch
The Alberta oilpatch recently took two more giant steps toward controlling Canada's climate, environmental and energy policies. Under the heading "Modernizing the Regulatory System," the 2010 federal budget removed all energy projects from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and placed environmental reviews in the hands of the Calgary-based, oil and gas industry-friendly National Energy Board. Shortly thereafter, the federal environment minister -- Calgary Centre-North MP Jim Prentice -- was endowed with vastly enhanced regulatory powers to break apart the environmental assessments of contentious projects so they can be handled piecemeal with no overall evaluation of their impact on land, water and air quality, not to mention climate change and human and other life. Both changes come as Ottawa and Alberta are preparing to spend $140 million and $2 billion respectively on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and its supposed bonus side-benefit of enhanced oil recovery (EOR.) - 2010/04/21: CBC: Alberta oilsands not a horror flick: [Alberta] enviro minister [Renner]
- 2010/04/20: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Europeans Say No to Tar Sands Oil
- 2010/04/20: DeSmogBlog: Oil Sands Newest PR Push Doomed to Fail - Again
Ontario has it's Green Energy Act, now comes the implementation:
- 2010/04/22: CBC: Ottawa waste-to-energy plant almost ready: CEO
The CEO of Plasco Energy Group expects to sign a deal with the City of Ottawa in May to begin directing household garbage to its waste-to-energy plant. Plasco has been testing its technology, a process called plasma gasification, on a large scale in Ottawa since firing up its Trail Road demonstration facility three years ago. A possible contract with the company has the support of Mayor Larry O'Brien, who sees the technology as part of the solution to managing the city's garbage. But delays in getting the testing plant up and running have forced the city to delay any deal with the company. Plasco CEO Rod Bryden said Wednesday the wait is almost over, with the demonstration plant needing to pass one final emissions test to satisfy the provincial Ministry of Environment. - 2010/04/24: ChronicleHerald: Report: Fish farming worth billions -- But industry harming wild species, native group says
A new report by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans says Canada's aquaculture industry generates $2.1 billion for the economy each year and contributes thousands of jobs in coastal and rural communities. But the report, to be released Friday by DFO, is being met with skepticism by fish farm opponents who allege the industry has decimated commercial fisheries. They say it's done far more harm than good for small communities, and they question the study's intentions. - 2010/04/25: VoxEU: Can China save the world by consuming more? by Hans Genberg & Wenlang Zhang
Would an increase in Chinese domestic demand meaningfully reduce global imbalances and improve US and European employment prospects? This column says that Chinese policy has a relatively small impact on developed economies' macroeconomic circumstances. It estimates that major reduction in Chinese saving would improve US employment by less than one quarter of a percentage point. - 2010/04/22: SCN: Is it time to limit growth?
- 2010/04/23: PhysOrg: Megatrends and megashocks: a new view of our future world
A new report from CSIRO identifies five global megatrends and eight megashocks that are changing the world. - 2010/04/19: OilDrum: Excerpts from "Energy, Growth, and Sustainability: Five Propositions" by Steve Sorrel
- 2010/04/19: PeakEnergy: If All Chinese Had Wheels
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2010/04/24: AlterNet: Why Are We [USA] Still Funding Abstinence-Only Sex Ed?
- 2010/04/19: BBC: Britain's looming population pressures
Since 1997, record levels of immigration have boosted our population by more than 2 million, accounting for half the total estimated rise in population of about 4 million. - 2010/04/22: EnergyBulletin: When does surplus = resilience?
As for how the media handles the science of climatology:
- 2010/04/23: TreeHugger: News Corp. Going Carbon Neutral, Fox News Still Going Nuts
- 2010/04/22: ClimateShifts: Science and the fight against mainstream media bias
- 2010/04/23: MoJo: Fair and...Carbon Neutral? Inside Rupert Murdoch's unlikely effort to make News Corp. totally green (Fox News included)
- 2010/04/22: TreeHugger: The New York Times's Green Inc. Has a New Name and Mission
- 2010/04/22: HotTopic: Garth goes off the deep end
- 2010/04/19: TCoE: The Climate Desk
- 2010/04/19: Deltoid: Johann Hari on Journalismgate
- 2010/04/19: TDC: It's not the weather
Why can't we rally around a paradigm shift on energy policy? And why can't media get the story straight? - 2010/04/22: SolveClimate: Communicating the Risks of Climate Change -- How to Get Facts Through the Static of an Emotionally Charged Culture War
Here is something for your library:
- 2010/04/: Fernwood: [Book Plug] _The Global Fight for Climate Justice - Anticapitalist Responses to Global Warming and Environmental Destruction_ Edited by Ian Angus
- 2010/04/22: CCP: D. Zenghelis reviews 3 books on climate by James Hansen, Stephen Schneider and James Hoggan (with Richard Littlemore)
_Science as a Contact Sport: Inside the Battle to Save Earth's Climate_ by Stephen H. Schneider
_Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth about the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity_ by James Hansen
_Climate Cover-up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming_ by James Hoggan with Richard Littlemore - 2010/04/22: CSW: Straight Up: Must-read book by Joe Romm of Climate Progress on climate change, policy, and the media
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2010/04/23: TDC: Blue Man Group in 'Earth to America' [video]
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2010/04/23: ACSB: Federal Courts Host Attacks on Climate Change
- 2010/04/23: OilChange: Chevron in the Dock Again
- 2010/04/20: Telegraph(UK): Worker wins £50,000 after 'environmental discrimination'
A worker has won over £50,000 because his firm discriminated against his environmental views after a landmark legal ruling placed them on a par with religious beliefs. - 2010/04/20: Slate: Attractive Nuisance -- Can federal courts help tackle global warming?
- 2010/04/21: MoJo: Tuvalu v. ExxonMobil? The coming tide of transnational climate lawsuits
Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:
- 2010/04/25: BNC: Santos chief's gassy vision Part 1 -- Australian natgas reserves
- 2010/04/25: PeakEnergy: Coal giants and gas firms set for clash
- 2010/04/23: PhysOrg: Magnesium: Alternative Power Source
- 2010/04/24: PhysOrg: Indonesia aims to tap volcano power
Indonesia has launched an ambitious plan to tap the vast power of its volcanoes and become a world leader in geothermal energy, while trimming greenhouse gas emissions. - 2010/04/23: SolveClimate: 23 Energy Policies That Could Save Americans $5 Billion a Year -- Same Climate-Friendly Policies Would Create 2.5 Million Jobs, Study Finds
- 2010/04/23: TEC: Eating the Seed Corn
- 2010/04/23: PeakEnergy: Tidal Power: Generating Megawatts Like Clockwork
- 2010/04/20: RigZone: Platts: China's March Oil Demand Up 12.8%
- 2010/04/22: EnergyDaily: Microbial Fuel Cell: A New Source Of Green Energy
- 2010/04/22: OilDrum: Renewables out of the bottle
- 2010/04/22: PeakEnergy: Europe Finds Clean Energy in Trash, but U.S. Lags
- 2010/04/22: PeakEnergy: US Geothermal power generation grows 29% in 2009
- 2010/04/22: BBC: Pakistan to tackle energy crisis
- 2010/04/22: BNC: IFR FaD 4 -- a lifetime of energy in the palm of your hand
- 2010/04/21: PhysOrg: Harnessing Sunlight to Convert Carbon Dioxide to Liquid Fuel
A startup company, Joule Biotechnologies, Inc., has developed an alternative solution of producing liquid fuel by harnessing sunlight to directly convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into liquid energy (SolarFuel). This eco-friendly system requires no agricultural land or fresh water and is capable of producing more than 20,000 gallons of renewable ethanol or hydrocarbons per acre annually. - 2010/04/21: PeakEnergy: Siemens: Picture the Future
- 2010/04/20: NBF: North Dakota Hits New Daily Production Record 261,088 Barrels Per Day. Double What it Was Just Over Two Years Ago
- 2010/04/18: G&M: A contrarian makes another call -- this time, natural gas
Henry Groppe was a lonely voice when he forecast the right oil price. He's now going against the grain on another fuel, David Parkinson writes
When it comes to predicting the price of oil CL-FT, Henry Groppe has made a long career out of zigging when others were zagging. So why should he be any different when talking about natural gas NG-FT? Mr. Groppe -- the octogenarian patriarch of Texas petroleum industry analysts Groppe Long & Littell -- doesn't buy the prevailing wisdom that New York Mercantile Exchange natural gas prices are dead in the water, stuck around $4 to $5 (U.S.) per million British thermal units even as demand recovers, awash in supplies and with much more on the way. No, his analysis (and more than 50 years of experience) tells him that gas inventories are about to get a lot tighter, that new supplies are overstated, and that prices are headed north of $8 by the end of summer. Why is he so sure he's got it right and most everyone else has it wrong? Because, he contends, shale gas -- the previously unattainable source of vast gas supplies that has been unlocked by new high-tech horizontal drilling advancements -- is not the holy grail it's been cracked up to be. Not even close. - 2010/04/19: Grist: This Earth Day we need more than a celebration, we need a clean energy revolution
- 2010/04/15: EnergyMatters: A World Run On Low Carbon Energy No Pipe Dream
- 2010/04/20: PeakEnergy: Geothermal energy feels the heat
- 2010/04/19: NewScientist: Green machine: Power from the people
- 2010/04/19: TEC: Electric Cars and Natural Gas
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
- 2010/04/23: BBerg: Shale-Gas Drilling in U.S. May Stall as Below-Production Prices Erode Cash
- 2010/04/23: NRDC:SwitchBoard: State's NYC watershed announcement not all it's cracked up to be
- 2010/04/23: ProPublica: New York Puts Brakes on Drilling in NYC Watershed, Clears Way for Upstate Wells by Next Spring
- 2010/04/20: GreenGrok: Holy Gas Seep, Batman
- 2010/04/23: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Largest organization of water professionals endorses federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing
- 2010/04/20: NBF: Natural Gas and Oil Booming in Texas With Revived Granite Wash Field and New Eagle Ford Shale
- 2010/04/19: EnergyBulletin: Natural Gas Boom Gets Put On Hold
- 2010/04/19: EnergyBulletin: A Miracle In the Marcellus Shale?
The answer my friend...:
- 2010/04/25: PeakEnergy: Wind's latest problem: it ... makes power too cheap
- 2010/04/23: EurActiv: New EU wind farms held back by procedure
- 2010/04/23: PhysOrg: Homespun power: Energy solution blows in wind with turbine
- 2010/04/21: NBF: Kitegen Making Progress to 3 Megawatt Kite Wind Generator
- 2010/04/21: CSM: How to determine if wind power is for you
- 2010/04/20: BBerg: Iberdrola Plans World's Largest Wind Farm in Romania [1,500 megawatts]
- 2010/04/19: PlanetArk: Lack Of [offshore wind tower building] Ships May Hinder UK Wind Power Targets: EON
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2010/04/25: PeakEnergy: Nuclear Giant Areva Predicts Solar Thermal Boom
- 2010/04/22: SolveClimate: U.S. Powers Up on Solar as Manufacturing and Installation Costs Fall -- 2 Years of Price Declines Have Spurred Demand for Photovoltaics
- 2010/04/22: PhysOrg: Students using solar power to create sustainable solutions for Haiti, Peru
- 2010/04/22: Eureka: New solar concentrator design -- Cheaper solar concentrator with fewer photovoltaic cells
- 2010/04/20: PhysOrg: Advance made in thin-film solar cell technology
- 2010/04/20: PlanetArk: LG Electronics, Hyundai Heavy Join U.S. Solar Power Deal
- 2010/04/20: TreeHugger: Solar Industry Created 17,000 US Jobs, 441 MW in 2009
On the coal front:
- 2010/04/23: IoD: The challenge posed by coal
- 2010/04/20: PlanetArk: Spain Coal Plans To Halt Imports, Lift Power Costs
- 2010/04/19: BBerg: Coal India Defers Plan to Import 10 Million Tons of Fuel
- 2010/04/18: OilDrum: Tech talk: The formation of coal and its forms
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2010/04/23: FuturePundit: Soy Biodiesel Worse For Global Warming?
- 2010/04/22: Telegraph(UK): Biofuels cause four times more carbon emissions
Green fuels made from soy beans cause four times more climate-warming emissions than standard diesel or petrol, according to a European report into biofuels. - 2010/04/21: PhysOrg: New Biofuel Technique Could Have Huge Impact on Chemical Industry
A new method of converting biomass feedstock into sustainable fuel developed by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and University of Minnesota has the potential to have a profound effect on the chemical industry. The "gasification" process developed by this team of researchers not only greatly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, but doubles the amount of fuel that can be made from an acre of biomass feedstock, says Paul J. Dauenhauer of the UMass Amherst chemical engineering department. [...] The new method, when perfected in as few as two years, would be... - 2010/04/22: PlanetArk: Once-Hidden EU Report Reveals Damage From Biodiesel
- 2010/04/22: Eureka: Production of biofuels could benefit by controlling the types of cells that develop in plants
- 2010/04/22: Eureka: Calculating crop and ethanol yields and irrigation needs in 4 easy steps
- 2010/04/19: TE: Commission study establishes 'tipping point' for effectiveness of biofuels
A study undertaken by the European Commission into the potential for biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport has found that reductions can be made as long as biofuels are produced in small quantities, but after a certain point, the indirect effects of growing biofuel crops cause galloping increases in emissions. The findings help put the concept of 'indirect land-use change' on the EU's political map, and further question the viability of the EU's 10% renewable fuels target for transport. - 2010/04/20: BBerg: Scientists Try Algae 'Alchemy' to Grow Oil in Paddies
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2010/04/23: NBF: Vietnam Plans to Build Eight 1000 MW Nuclear Reactors by 2030 and UAE Makes Progress to Four Nuclear Reactors
- 2010/04/23: OilPrice: Saudi Arabia to Build the First Nuclear Power Station in the Gulf States
- 2010/04/23: EurActiv: Finland plans more nuclear, renewables
- 2010/04/23: SolveClimate: Coalition: Design for New Nuclear Reactor Less Safe Than America's Current Fleet -- Report Raises Questions Over Safety of Global Nuclear 'Renaissance'
- 2010/04/21: NYT:CW: [US] Edging Back to Nuclear Power
- 2010/04/19: STimes: Safe, secure nuclear energy must be part of climate change solution
- 2010/04/15: SciAm: Is Reprocessing the Answer to Eliminating Fissile Materials from Bombs and Nuclear Waste?
Burning plutonium and other fissile materials in nuclear reactors may be a good way to get rid of the dangerous materials - 2010/04/23: CCurrents: The Imminent Crash Of Oil Supply: Be Afraid
- 2010/04/23: Guardian(UK): Peak oil predictions
The peak oil debate has always been about reserves and costs. But it's clean, green technologies that now spell oil's demise - 2010/04/21: Grist: Our other fertilizer problem -- Foreign Policy mag spotlights 'peak phosphorous'
- 2010/04/21: OilDrum: Tipping Point: Near-Term Systemic Implications of a Peak in Global Oil Production--Principle Mechanisms Driving Collapse
- 2010/04/21: DerSpiegel: Essential Element Becoming Scarce -- Experts Warn of Impending Phosphorus Crisis
The element phosphorus is essential to human life and the most important ingredient in fertilizer. But experts warn that the world's reserves of phosphate rock are becoming depleted. Is recycling sewage the answer? - 2010/04/20: EnergyBulletin: A 'watershed month for the truth about peak oil'
- 2010/04/20: TreeHugger: U.S. Navy Wants to Cut its Petroleum Use, Create "Green Strike" Groups
- 2010/04/19: EnergyBulletin: When the U.S. energy secretary spoke of "peak oil" ...
- 2010/04/19: EnergyBulletin: Pentagon alert from ... 2008: "Towards a "severe energy crisis"
- 2010/04/19: PeakEnergy: Peak Oil is Soooo .... May of 2008
- 2010/04/18: EnergyBulletin: Forever and a day
More people are talking about the electrical grid:
- 2010/04/21: TEC: More smart grid insight
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
- 2010/04/22: FuturePundit: Energy Efficiency Offers Profitable Returns
- 2010/04/22: GreenGrok: Energy Efficiency in the South: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
- 2010/04/20: CBC: LED lighting -- Consumer lights could get boost from green technology
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2010/04/24: CalcRisk: Vehicle Sales: Fleet Turnover Ratio
- 2010/04/22: PlanetArk: China Invests Heavily In ... Green Auto ...
- 2010/04/21: Eureka: A smart way to charge up [an electric car]
- 2010/04/20: TCoE: Underestimating EVs
- 2010/04/20: AutoBG: Ford executive chairman says electric vehicles will be a game changer
- 2010/04/20: CalcRisk: DOT: Vehicle Miles Driven Decline in February
- 2010/04/19: Eureka: Electric drive concepts for the cars of the future
As for Energy Storage:
- 2010/04/25: PeakEnergy: Big Energy Storage in Thin Films
- 2010/04/23: AutoBG: Hitachi develops new manganese cathode, could double life of li-ion batteries
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2010/04/23: TreeHugger: 'Just What We Needed' Department: How To Make Big Money Off Climate Change
- 2010/04/19: Grist: risk mismanagement -- Corporations love to talk about going green, but not many are planning for a changing climate
Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:
- 2010/04/20: G&M: How not to get greenwashed -- As environmentally friendly claims multiply, consumers struggle to distinguish the truly green
Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:
- 2010/04/23: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for April 23...
- 2010/04/22: ClimateP: Energy and Environmental News for April 22...
- 2010/04/21: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for April 21...
- 2010/04/20: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for April 20...
- 2010/04/19: ClimateP: Energy and Climate Change News for April 19...
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2010/04/25: HotTopic: Leaked! - NZ talks at Heartland crankfest
- 2010/04/24: Deltoid: The Australian's War on Science 49
- 2010/04/22: UNDispatch: On Green-Bashing
- 2010/04/24: ClimateP: Re-discredited climate denialists in denial
- 2010/04/24: APSmith: Is Richard S. Lindzen deliberately lying, or just deluded?
- 2010/04/24: AFTIC: More conspiracy theories from Lindzen
- 2010/04/19: QuarkSoup: Anthony Watts' Ignorance
- 2010/04/22: ERabett: Spot the Blog
- 2010/04/23: HuffPo: McCarthyism and Climate Change by Clive Hamilton
- 2010/04/23: TEC: Deniers declare war
- 2010/04/22: DVoice: Road Rage
- 2010/04/23: HotTopic: In the land of Gray (and pink)
- 2010/04/22: MoD: Climate deniers and a flat earth
- 2010/04/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Valero: Don't Fuel Up the Hype Machine about California's AB 32
- 2010/04/21: ERabett: In which in is shown how the NIPCC and Fred Singer omit, distort, and yes, flat out lie about sea level rise estimates
- 2010/04/21: Stoat: Flat earth - and Piers too!
- 2010/04/21: CSW: Cooler Heads Coalition serves up tired denialist fare at Hill "Climategate" lunch briefing
- 2010/04/20: Guardian(UK): Lord Monckton throws his safari helmet in the ring as Ukip candidate [and then withdraws]
- 2010/04/20: ABC(US): Climate Science Skepticism: 5 Controversial Claims -- Is Earth Really Warming? Are Humans Responsible? Why Climate Skeptics Doubt
- 2010/04/19: DeSmogBlog: Tim (C-A-B-A-L) Ball: Climate Science is All a Conspiracy!
- 2010/04/19: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Debunked Climate Hoax: Letting Go is So Hard to Do
- 2010/04/18: ClimateShifts: Where's the Apology From the Right for Lying About 'Climategate'?
- 2010/04/19: DeSmogBlog: Squadron of Oil Industry Executives on Fraser Institute Board
- 2010/04/18: BSD: Ira Flatow correctly equates climate and evolution denialism
- 2010/04/18: DeSmogBlog: When the Skeptics Cry "Global Cooling," It's Proof They Don't Know Their Ash From A Hole in the Ground
Meanwhile in the 'clean coal' saga:
- 2010/04/23: TP:WR: The Deadly Toll Of The 'Safe' And 'Clean' Coal And Oil Industry
- 2010/04/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Cancer in coal country: study links health of streams with health of people
- 2010/04/22: MTobis: Take Action on the Fast Half [IGSD]
- 2010/04/19: ClimateP: The most unintentionally ironic ad of 2010: Coal front group compares mining coal to fighting in a war zone
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2010/04/23: UNDispatch: Climate Science is Complicated
- 2010/04/23: Grist: The good news about the very bad news (about climate change)
- 2010/04/22: Green Herring: It's so not easy being green
- 2010/04/22: MTobis: Weird Events and Social Fragility
- 2010/04/22: SkeptiSci: Skeptical Science Housekeeping: flags, printable versions, icons & links... lots of links
- 2010/04/22: AlterNet: Five Ways You Can Help Save Life on Earth
- 2010/04/21: UN: UN-supported study reports promising gains towards low-carbon economy
- 2010/04/21: CCP: "Mainstream Greens Cave In On Climate: Dangerously Allow Industry to Set Agenda" by Gary Houser and Cory Morningstar
- 2010/04/20: YaleCMF: Transparency 'Makes Democracy Work' -- Low-Carbon Investments Expert Backs Index
- 2010/04/20: SkeptiSci: Where is global warming going?
- 2010/04/19: Straight: It's time to clear up your climate change confusion
- 2010/04/19: TCoE: Climate change's long reach
- 2010/04/19: MoD: Quote of the day
- 2010/04/19: ClimateP: TV weathercasters know which way the wind blows -- Weather reporters can teach climate science
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- CaS: Collide-a-scape -- Keith Kloor's Blog -- Where Nature and Culture Intersect
- PWCCC: World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth
- HOME: Hands Off Mother Earth
- Plasco Energy Group
- iFixit
- GSI: Global Subsidies Initiative
- Wiki: Pacific decadal oscillation
- The Climate Desk
- Goldman Prize - For Excellence in Protecting the Environment - 2010
- Gateway to the UN System's Work on Climate Change
- NSIDC:SOTC: Glaciers
- NSIDC: World Glacier Inventory [information for over 67,000 glaciers worldwide]
- Wiki: Global Nuclear Energy Partnership
- US DOE: GNEP: Global Nuclear Energy Partnership
- Wind-Works by Paul Gipe
- UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
- Skeptical Science: Examining Global Warming Skepticism
More black humour in a climatic vein:
North American corporate media ignored Cochabamba, so you know it mattered:
In striking contrast to Cochabamba, the MEF conference in Washington was held in private:
I had been going to flag these memes with a chunk of salt, but luckily James Hrynyshyn had just the right seasoning:
Who's getting the subsidies?
Late coverage of Medapi:
McKibben is flogging a book:
The food crisis is ongoing:
So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?
As for GHGs:
Sea levels are rising:
As for carbon sequestration:
More DIY science:
While at the UN:
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:
Polls! We have polls!
If Obama is such an internationalist, why is he trying to derail the UNFCCC talks?
Meanwhile in Australia:
The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline hearings wrapped up this week:
Do you think this is deliberate, or is it mere incompetence?
The Syncrude trial, which has been grinding on, got a spurt of publicity this week with the release of employee statements:
With the Site C announcement this week, the wrangling over energy in BC got real:
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
As for miscellaneous Canadiana:
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
Apocalypso anyone?
Regarding effective communication:
Yes we have peak everything:
Low Key Plug
My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.
<regards>
P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.
"The problem is not in the science, or with scientists at all, nor with a culture gap between science and the media. The problem is with this third group, the disinformers, who have completely dominated the framing of the story, and how honest journalists have been completely taken in by this framing." - Steve Easterbrook
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