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
May 16, 2010
- Chuckles, Shiva, COP15, COP16, Cochabamba, Oh Oh, Sinervo, GBO-3, Hartwell, QUB
- Subsidies, Eli's Retirement, Open Letter, Pro-IPCC, IAC Review, Post CRU
- Melting Arctic, Geopolitics, Antarctica
- Food Crisis, CCD, IP Issues, Food Production
- Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Aerosols, Climate Sensitivity
- Impacts, Forests, Extreme Weather, Tornadoes, Wildfires, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
- Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering
- Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, DIY Science, Gerlich & Tscheuschner, Mclean, Hansen
- UN, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
- International Politics: Law & Activism, Polls, Farming, Water Politics & Business, Education
- National Politics: America, Cuccinelli, EPA Rules, USAdmin, Congress, APA, Lobbyists
- Britain, Europe, Australia, India, China, Middle East, Africa, South America
- Canada, Ban's Visit, G20 Abortion, Theocons, Duceppe, Deep Sea Drilling, Synchronizing
- Syncrude, Fracking NB, Arctic Park, BC, Tar Sands, Ontario, North, Canadiana
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts
- Energy, Gee Whiz, Fracking, Wind, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Grid, Efficiency
- Cars, Energy Storage, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
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- 2010/05/14: ClimateP: (cartoon - Toles) 'Cuccinelli, baby, Cuccinelli'
- 2010/05/13: uComics: (cartoon - Auth) He Did It!
Vandana Shiva won the Sydney Peace Prize:
- 2010/05/10: ABC(Au): Physicist, environmentalist wins Sydney Peace Prize -- This year's Sydney Peace Prize has been awarded to Indian physicist and environmentalist Dr Vandana Shiva
More Copenhagen post mortems:
- 2010/05/13: PlanetArk: Countries Pledge Record $4.25 Billion For Environment
Donor countries on Wednesday pledged a record $4.25 billion over the next four years for the Global Environment Facility, the world's largest public green fund that helps developing countries tackle climate change. The commitments are a 52 percent increase in new resources for the GEF made by 30 countries at a pledging session in Paris, the group said in a statement. GEF Chief Executive Monique Barbut said the replenishment of funds is the first "tangible confirmation of financial commitments" made during international climate talks in Copenhagen in Dec - 2010/05/12: TCoE: It's (still) the (CO2) math, stupid
- 2010/05/12: SolveClimate: Work Continues on Technology Transfer, Key to Global Climate Deal -- Progress made in Copenhagen paving way toward December climate meeting in Cancun
- 2010/05/11: TerraDaily: Africa sceptical over funds to combat global warming
Africa on Tuesday expressed doubt over the capacity of developed nations to keep their financial commitments made during last year's Copenhagen summit to help poor countries deal with climate change. - 2010/01/29: NJM: Why Copenhagen Failed. [John Gorman]
Looking ahead to COP16 and future international climate negotiations:
- COP16 - MEXICO 2010
- 2010/05/14: TEC: Logistics for Cancun Climate Negotiations: Another Copenhagen?
- 2010/05/14: IndiaTimes: Climate of Scrutiny [COP16+]
How will India measure, report and verify its climate change actions when it is not yet sure of what actions it needs to take or the economic consequences of such moves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? This question is bound to hot up in the domestic arena as well as international climate talks over the year. Climate change negotiations have slipped off the radar after the Copenhagen meet but the series of negotiations held over the past five months have revealed that the stakes remain as high and India cannot afford to be lax. Increasingly, it is clear that the developed world wants to straight-jacket India and China into an international reporting regime. Just as they are required to report their climate change actions, they expect developing countries to follow suit. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change does not mandate it but the Copenhagen Accord has opened a window for such a move. - 2010/05/11: Recharge: Mexico seeks alliance with China before climate conference
Mexico is seeking to form a 'strategic alliance' with China in an attempt to achieve greater global consensus at the UN climate conference COP16, to be held in Cancun later this year. - 2010/05/11: SolveClimate: EU Climate Chief [Connie Hedegaard]: U.S. Climate Law Needed for Global Deal -- US inaction is key obstacle to international progress, she says
- 2010/05/09: Yahoo:AFP: India minister says chance of climate deal 'remote'
- 2010/05/09: FTimes: Big Asian powers sceptical on climate deal
India and China said it would be very difficult to achieve a strong international agreement on climate change at the summit in Mexico later this year that will be the follow-up to the Copenhagen conference last December. Jairam Ramesh, India's environment minister, said the discussions had reached "virtually a dead end", with the two largest emitters of carbon -- the US and China -- unwilling to take on any new commitments. "The prospect of a breakthrough in 2010 is very, very remote," Mr Ramesh said on Sunday, after attending a climate-change conference in Beijing at the weekend. After what many governments viewed as the failure at Copenhagen to achieve a strong deal, high hopes had been expressed that some of the thorniest issues could be resolved at the planned conference in Cancún this December. Xie Zhenhua, China's lead climate change negotiator, also sounded sceptical about the prospects for a more robust international agreement at Cancún. "Climate change negotiations have already made gradual progress, but there is still a relatively long way to go to reach a legally binding agreement," said Mr Xie, who is a vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, the main planning body. Mr Ramesh said that the failure to get Senate approval for climate change legislation in the US had undermined the authority of the Obama administration in the discussions. "The moral and political authority of the US has been completely eroded," he said. - 2010/05/10: HindustanTimes: Climate talks at dead-end, says India
- 2010/05/10: TEC: Prospects for a Global Climate Deal in 2010 Not Looking Good
Post Cochabamba:
- 2010/05/15: DVoice: Capitalism Is the Cause of Climate Illness! Global Movement Begins the Cure!
Presenting the People's Agreement -- "mother earth does not belong to us, we belong to it" -- worldwide was the first act of the Global People's Movement for Mother Earth. This was carried out in May by Bolivia's President Evo Morales and representative activists from five continents. Representing 35,000 people from 147 countries, they presented the conclusions of 17 workshops -- held April 19-21 at the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth (WPCCC) -- to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to the Non-Alignment Movement (now 130 Third World countries) plus China (the world's second greatest polluter), and then to leaders of the European Union. - 2010/05/11: Grist: The Yes Men send an intern to the Bolivia Climate Summit
- 2010/05/10: UPI: U.N. hails Bolivian climate efforts
- 2010/04/30: PWCCC: Proposal Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth
- 2010/05/05: PWCCC: Bolivia Throws Down Gauntlet, Demands Real Climate Action
Another one of those 'Oh Oh' papers:
- 2010/05/12: CSM: Global warming: Earth could become unbearably hot, researchers say
- 2010/05/11: SkeptiSci: Heat stress: setting an upper limit on what we can adapt to
- 2010/05/10: USAToday:SF: Report: Climate change could render much of world uninhabitable
The Sinervo et al. paper on lizard extinctions got a flurry of attention:
- 2010/05/14: Science: (ab$) Erosion of Lizard Diversity by Climate Change and Altered Thermal Niches by Barry Sinervo et al.
- 2010/05/15: SkeptiSci: Species extinctions happening before our eyes
- 2010/05/15: CBC:Q&Q: (mp3) Losing Lizards
- 2010/05/14: KSJT: Lots of Ink: Many lizards are hot-footing it into the shade -- of extinction
- 2010/05/14: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Lizards - the next canary in the global warming coal mine
- 2010/05/13: Reuters: Lizards face extinction from global warming: study
- 2010/05/14: WaPo: Global warming blamed for pattern of lizard deaths
- 2010/05/13: Guardian(UK): Global warming may kill off fifth of global lizard species by 2080: study
- 2010/05/13: MongaBay: Climate change devastating lizards worldwide: 20 percent estimated to face extinction
- 2010/05/13: NewScientist: Lost lizards validate grim extinction predictions
Predictions that climate change alone could lead to the extinction of more than one-fifth of plant and animal species before the end of the century have often come under fire, and not just from climate-change deniers. Some biologists are sceptical because the predictions are largely based on theoretical models. Now, the most detailed study yet of one group of species - lizards - suggests extinction levels could indeed be as bad as predicted. Crucially, the new forecast is based on actual data of what is driving lizards to extinction today on four continents. - 2010/05/13: Eureka: As global temperatures rise, the world's lizards are disappearing -- 20 percent of all lizard species could be extinct by 2080, researchers say
- 2010/05/13: NatureN: Lizards succumb to global warming -- Climate change is already sending reptile populations extinct worldwide
- 2010/05/13: SciNow: Climate Change Causing Lizards to 'Wink Out of Existence'
- 2010/05/13: Eureka: BYU lizard researcher dusts off 30-year-old field notes for worldwide climate change study -- Early work in Mexico foundational to Science paper showing local die-offs
- 2010/05/13: Eureka: Study documents widespread extinction of lizard populations due to climate change
International team of biologists, including Villanova University's Dr. Aaron Bauer, find alarming pattern of population extinctions attributable to rising temperatures - 2010/05/13: Eureka: Study documents widespread extinction of lizard populations due to climate change
The UN Global Biodiversity Outlook [GBO-3] was released this week:
- CBD: [link to 10 meg pdf] Global Biodiversity Outlook 3
- 2010/05/10: BBC: Nature loss 'to damage economies' [GBO-3]
- 2010/05/13: MoD: Biodiversity failure
- 2010/05/11: EurActiv: UN paints bleak outlook for global biodiversity
- 2010/05/10: MongaBay: Collapsing biodiversity is a 'wake-up call for humanity'
- 2010/05/11: NatureTGB: Biodiversity failures [GBO-3]
- 2010/05/10: TCoE: Global Biodiversity Outlook 3
- 2010/05/10: TwentyTen: Third edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook Launched!
- TwentyTen: The 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership is a global initiative to track progress towards achieving the "2010 biodiversity target" to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010
- 2010/05/10: UN: Press Conference on Third Global Biodiversity Outlook
- 2010/05/10: CBC: Planet still losing too many species: UN
- 2010/05/10: CNN: U.N. report: Eco-systems at 'tipping point'
Eco-systems around the world are experiencing continuing degradation - Economic costs of ignoring the worth of biodiversity are huge - U.N. spokesman estimates cumulative loss by 2050 could be $121 trillion - U.N. secretary general Ban Ki-moon calls for "new vision for biological diversity"
The world's eco-systems are at risk of "rapid degradation and collapse" according to a new United Nations report.
The third Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3) published by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) warns that unless "swift, radical and creative action" is taken "massive further loss is increasingly likely." - 2010/05/10: EarthTimes: Study: World risks irreversible biodiversity loss
The do nothing crowd got together to put out a manifesto:
- 2010/05/13: HotTopic: What becomes of the broken Hartwell?
- 2010/05/13: DM:80B: "Hartwell Paper" Is the Anti-Kerry-Lieberman; Says Carbon Targets Don't Work
- 2010/05/12: ScienceInsider: Do You Heart 'The Hartwell Paper'?
- 2010/05/11: NatureCF: New, 'relentlessly pragmatic' approach to climate change needed?
- 2010/05/11: BBC: After the crash - a new direction for climate policy
Does the failure of December's UN climate conference mean the world needs a completely new approach to tackling climate change? It does, a group of academics is arguing this week - and one of them, Mike Hulme, explains why, and what it is that they are recommending. - 2010/05/11: BBC: Academics urge radical new approach to climate change
A note from the recipient of the QUB FOI order:
- 2010/05/11: Guardian(UK): Tree-ring patterns are intellectual property, not climate data by Michael Baillie
Subsidies, tax exemptions, loan guarantees & grants weave a difficult to penetrate web:
- 2010/05/16: ClimateP: Eliminating tax subsidies for oil companies
- 2010/05/10: TP:WR: Exxon CEO Whines About Push To Cut Big Oil's Subsidies, After Making $6.3 Billion Last Quarter
Eli is still tracking EPA comments:
- 2010/05/13: ERabett: Eli can retire Part XII - The commenters get something right
Regarding _Climate Change and the Integrity of Science_:
- 2010/05/10: OCC: Open letter of US NAS members on climate change and the integrity of science
- 2010/05/14: CCP: Open letter: Climate change and the integrity of science -- Full text of an open letter from 255 members of the US National Academy of Sciences in defence of climate research
- 2010/05/12: MoD: Climate Change and the Integrity of Science [Part 3]: thousands of scientists push back against denier claims
- 2010/05/11: MoD: Climate Change and the Integrity of Science [Part 2]
- 2010/05/11: TEC: Turning Point in Attack on Climate Science
Pro IPCC:
- 2010/05/14: Guardian(UK): Rajendra Pachauri says glaciers mistake in IPCC report was 'human failure'
- 2010/05/14: PhysOrg: UN science chief [Rajendra Pachauri] defends work, welcomes review
- 2010/05/09: GreenHerring: Thousands of scientists worldwide push back against attacks on integrity of climate science
The IAC review of the IPCC kicked off this week:
- 2010/05/13: BBC: [IAC] Review of IPCC workings set to open
Post CRU theft, controversy & inquiry:
- 2010/05/14: DerSpiegel: The Climategate Chronicle -- How the Science of Global Warming Was Compromised
The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:
- 2010/05/13: ClimateP: Will we see a fourth straight year of record low Arctic ice volume?
- 2010/05/13: Guardian(UK): [Catlin] Arctic explorers take first-ever water samples at north pole
- 2010/05/09: Reuters: Greenland glacier slide speeds 220 percent in summer
A glacier in Greenland slides up to 220 percent faster toward the sea in summer than in winter and global warming could mean a wider acceleration that would raise sea levels, according to a study published Sunday. - 2010/05/15: CanWest: Beaufort Sea: Let's talk, Cannon tells U.S -- Polar seabed rich with resources
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon has issued an open invitation to the U.S. to begin serious negotiations with Canada to end their decades-old territorial dispute in the Beaufort Sea - a development hailed by one of Canada's leading Arctic experts as a "clear" and "important" push to quickly settle the maritime boundary between the two countries ahead of potential offshore oil and gas development. - 2010/05/13: Yahoo:Reuters: Canadian legislators grill BP over Arctic drilling
While in Antarctica:
- 2010/05/10: SpaceDaily: How Does Antarctic Ice Flow?
The food crisis is ongoing:
- 2010/05/14: LA Times: Plant study dims silver lining to global warming
Some biologists thought rising levels of carbon dioxide might stimulate plant growth, but a UC Davis study finds the greenhouse gas inhibits nitrate absorption. The finding carries significant implications for agriculture worldwide. - 2010/05/15: TreeHugger: Extreme Spring Weather Kills Valuable US Ginseng Crop For Chinese Export
- 2010/05/13: PhysOrg: Rising CO2 levels threaten crops and food quality
Rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide interfere with plants' ability to convert nitrate into protein and could threaten food quality, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis. The scientists suggest that, as global climate change intensifies, it will be critical for farmers to carefully manage nitrogen fertilization in order to prevent losses in crop productivity and quality. - 2010/05/13: Reuters: Salt killing crops, driving migration in storm-hit southern Bangladesh
- 2010/05/13: EnergyBulletin: Peak soil: it's like peak oil, only worse
- 2010/05/13: CCentral: Plants and Climate Change: It's Not That Simple
- 2010/05/12: AllAfrica: SW Radio: Zimbabwe: Food Assessment Remains Bleak as Winter Months Approach
- 2010/05/12: Guardian(UK): Feast and famine
As the world is hit by a food crisis, the markets see nothing immoral in skimming off a profit - 2010/05/10: CCurrents: The Century Of Famine
- 2010/05/10: AllAfrica: ZimStandard: Zimbabwe: Hunger Stalks Buhera Villagers
Along a narrow dusty road from Muzokomba to Zangama village in Buhera district are patches of lifeless and sun-burnt crops in the small fields. Even in the morning breeze, the dry maize leaves make a crackling sound under the feet while some tear-off in the blowing wind. The crops wilted in the scorching heat and never reached maturity. In one of the fields, Sosana Mhongoyo of Murairwa Village is busy harvesting a few roundnuts with other family members. Like in other fields along this strip road, her millet and sorghum crops also withered in the scorching heat. "This is all that we have," she said while picking her roundnuts. "This millet did not do quite well but we have to survive with what we have." Mhongoyo's field epitomises the situation in the district where most households are facing serious food shortages after their crops wilted because of a prolonged dry spell that hit most parts of the country. - 2010/05/15: TreeHugger: "Nicotine Bees" Population Restored With Neonicotinoids Ban
- 2010/05/13: PeakEnergy: Fears for crops as figures from America show scale of bee catastrophe
Look out! the IP Rentiers are coming!
- 2010/05/13: EnergyBulletin: Companies put restrictions on research into GM crops
A battle is quietly being waged between the industry that produces genetically modified seeds and scientists trying to investigate the environmental impacts of engineered crops. Although companies such as Monsanto have recently given ground, researchers say these firms are still loath to allow independent analyses of their patented -- and profitable -- seeds. - 2010/05/11: Grist: For the agrichemical industry, organic cotton is a pest
- 2010/05/11: CCurrents: Early Warning French Professor Under Severe Attack By Agro-Biotechnology Lobby
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
- 2010/05/13: FAO: Economic crisis threatens Europe's progress on hunger - action needed -- Agriculture helped 50 million in region out of poverty
- 2010/05/13: CCurrents: US Farmers Are Bailed Out, Indian Farmers Are Left To Die
- 2010/05/14: UN: If music be the food..., play on: UN launches song in war on hunger in Africa
- 2010/05/14: UN: Independent UN expert urges legal reforms to boost right to food
- 2010/05/14: PeakEnergy: The End of the Line -- documentary on the state of the world's fish stocks
- 2010/05/13: NatureN: GM crop use makes minor pests major problem -- Pesticide use rising as Chinese farmers fight insects thriving on transgenic crop
- 2010/05/11: EurActiv: EU to support small-scale farming in developing world
Food security assistance to developing countries should focus on supporting small-scale food production and farmers, EU development ministers said yesterday (10 May) - 2010/05/11: UN: With global hunger a top concern, UN launches online drive to spur action
- 2010/05/11: ProMedMail: Wheat streak mosaic & barley yellow dwarf, wheat - USA
- 2010/05/11: Eureka: No-till farming improves soil stability
- 2010/05/10: ProMedMail: Stripe rust, wheat - USA: (AR) new strains, alert
There were no cyclones, but some talk, amidst troubling signs:
- 2010/05/15: Wunderground: Record Atlantic SSTs continue in the hurricane Main Development Region
- 2010/05/13: PhysOrg: New research reveals Hurricane Katrina's impact on ecological and human health
- 2010/05/13: Wunderground: Solar impacts on hurricanes
- 2010/05/12: ABC(Au): Hurricane could worsen US oil spill
While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
- 2010/05/12: Wunderground: Hurricane tracks, changes in hurricane clustering, and other notes from Tucson
- 2010/05/: AMS: 29th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology [May 10-14]
- 2010/05/10: Eureka: Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology, University of Arizona Tip Sheet -- May 10-14, 2010, Tucson, Ariz.
As for GHGs:
- 2010/05/14: GreenGrok: On the Greenhouse Gas Emission Roller Coaster
- 2010/05/14: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Increasing Transparency: India Releases GHG Inventory
- 2010/05/12: BBerg: India's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Grew 52% From 1994 to 2007
- 2010/05/12: SciDev: India's GHG emissions up by 58 per cent [between 1994 and 2007]
- 2010/05/11: BBC: India's carbon emissions increase
India's annual greenhouse gas emissions increased by nearly 60% between 1994 and 2007, a government study says. The government says that emissions grew from 1.2bn tonnes in 1994 to 1.9bn tonnes in 2007, confirming India as one of the world's biggest emitters. India argues its per capita emissions are far lower than that of most industrialised nations. - 2010/05/11: CBC: India's emissions swelling: report
India is the world's fifth-biggest polluter, a new study says, with its greenhouse gas emissions growing by more than three per cent annually between 1994 and 2007. The Asian giant also is suffering from the effects of global warming such as higher temperatures and rising sea levels along its coasts. The study released Tuesday is the first update to an assessment of India's air emissions done 16 years ago. More than 80 scientists from 17 institutions across India were involved in the study, said Jairam Ramesh, the country's environment minister. - 2010/05/16: BSD: Warmest Jan-April in NASA GISS temp records, this year
- 2010/05/14: BCLSB: Do Surface Stations Located Near Airports Give Corrupt Temperature Readings?
- 2010/05/10: Yahoo:LS: South Pole Has Warmest Year on Record
Aerosols are making their presence felt:
- 2010/05/12: PlanetArk: Norway Should Limit Arctic Soot To Slow Warming
Regarding Climate Sensitivity:
- 2010/05/13: MoD: Climate more sensitive that previously thought
- 2010/05/10: SkeptiSci: Estimating climate sensitivity from 3 million years ago
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2010/05/11: GreenGrok: Too Darn Hot: Climate Change, Heat Stress, Human Life
- 2010/05/14: NatureTGB: Catch 'em while you can [UK moth decline]
- 2010/05/13: PlanetArk: Silent Spring For Mongolians After Winter Kills Herds
- 2010/05/12: ABC(Au): Fears climate change may wipe out threatened species
A James Cook University (JCU) researcher says longer heatwaves and pollution could contribute to the extinction of a variety of endangered species in north Queensland - 2010/05/12: UCSUSA: A Changing Climate Worsens Allergy Symptoms
- 2010/05/11: ABC(Au): Researchers from some of Australia's leading science agencies will this week hear first-hand the effects of climate change on rock lobster fishermen on the Abrolhos Islands off Western Australia
- 2010/05/10: NewsCorp: Stingers warming to longer NT stay
The deadly bags of toxin that infest Top End waters are tipped to start amassing earlier than the official stinger season thanks to global warming, a study warns. - 2010/05/14: EurActiv: Investors wary of 'green' forestry
- 2010/05/10: TEC: Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazon: Threats to Wilderness, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Peoples
This week in extreme weather:
- 2010/05/09: TerraDaily: Toll from China storms hits 70
Meanwhile in tornado alley:
- 2010/05/13: PhysOrg: CU Engineers Make First 'Supercell' Storm Intercept With Unmanned Aircraft System (w/ Video) [VORTEX2]
- 2010/05/11: Wunderground: Tornadoes rip Oklahoma, killing 5; oil spill headed towards Texas
- 2010/05/11: EarthTimes: US tornadoes kill 15, injure dozens, destroy houses in Oklahoma
- 2010/05/11: CSM: Deadly tornadoes hit Oklahoma, cause damage in Kansas
- 2010/05/11: CBC: Tornadoes kill 5 in Oklahoma
- 2010/05/11: WpgFP: 5 dead, dozens injured as tornadoes, hail hit central US, flattening homes, toppling cars
- 2010/05/11: Yahoo:AP: 5 dead, dozens injured as tornadoes hit Plains
- 2010/05/10: BBC: A storm system moving east into the Great Plains region of the United States on Monday was forecast to bring with it a high risk of severe weather and tornadoes
As for heatwaves and wild fires:
- 2010/05/15: CBC: Fire north of Edmonton still out of control
- 2010/05/15: DailyIndia: Heat wave continues unabated in North India
- 2010/05/14: CBC: Alberta wildfire doubles in size -- Fire grows to more than 2,500 [hectares] ...
- 2010/05/10: Missoulian: Fire center: Northern Rockies face big wildfire season
Glaciers are melting:
- 2010/05/11: USAToday: Glacier National Park turns 100, but may not last another 10
- 2010/05/12: SeattelPI: Glacier park turns 100, but age has not been kind
[...]
[U.S. Geological Survey scientist, Dan] Fagre said that based on geologic evidence, the park had about 150 glaciers in 1850, the end of the so-called Little Ice Age. Most would have still been around when the park was established in 1910. Only about 25 named glaciers are left, and they could be gone by 2020, Fagre said. - 2010/05/12: PhysOrg: Greenland glacier study will help improve sea level forecasts
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2010/05/15: JFleck: On blaming "drought"
- 2010/05/13: USGS: Cumberland River Crest Highest in 73 Years -- Flooding in Tennessee
- 2010/05/13: UN: Afghanistan: UN helps rush in aid to thousands of flood victims
- 2010/05/13: CCP: Cumberland River Crest Highest in 73 Years: May 2010 flooding in Tennessee
- 2010/05/12: MTobis: Nashville Flood: Dubious Analysis by Nielsen-Gammon
- 2010/05/12: TerraDaily: UN urges 18 million dollars aid for Mongolia's severe cold
The UN warned on Wednesday that a drought which has devastated Mongolia during one of the worst winters for decades could continue for another year, as it appealed for 18.1 million dollars in aid. - 2010/05/11: PlanetArk: Over 100 Afghans Die, Thousands Homeless After Rains
- 2010/05/10: TP:WR: Biblical Floods Devastate Nashville As Tennessee Senators Fiddle On Climate
Elsewhere on the mitigation front:
- 2010/05/10: UPI: Strategy outlined to limit global warming
Consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2010/05/12: CalcRisk: Rail Traffic "Recovering at moderate pace"
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2010/05/15: WaPo: Energy efficiency codes mean lower utility bills, but not all builders are sold
- 2010/05/13: TreeHugger: Renovation Turns Old House Into Green Healthy House With Near Zero Heating Bills
- 2010/05/11: NewScientist: Green machine: Cementing greener construction
- 2010/05/11: TreeHugger: Solar Panels vs Caulk: When Does the Techno-Fix Make Sense?
As for carbon sequestration:
- 2010/05/13: Eureka: Strategies for increasing carbon stored in forests and wood -- Scientists review the benefits and tradeoffs of current methods in forest carbon storage
- 2010/05/11: PhysOrg: Creating a Captivating Cage for Carbon
A tough, hard-working particle known as ZIF-8 that can selectively remove carbon dioxide from a complex mixture of gases was designed by scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Similar materials available today are very delicate, unable to tolerate exposure to water and air. The hexagonal crystals are far from delicate, but the crystals were designed using a straightforward approach that relies on three readily available chemicals. - 2010/05/11: NYT: A Town's Lonely Struggle Shows CO2 Fears Here to Stay
[...]
For the past two years, Barendrecht, now a city of nearly 50,000, has been one of the world's most outspoken opponents of carbon dioxide storage, fighting a proposal from the Dutch government and the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC to store 10 million tons of CO2 in empty natural gas reservoirs more than a mile beneath the town. The storage effort is a keystone of the country's aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. But instead of a smooth success, the Barendrecht project, still alive but delayed by three years or more thanks to protests and early national elections, has become a watchword for how not to approach carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. - 2010/05/10: Eureka: New insights show promise for emissions capture, storage
PNNL shares research highlights at Ninth Annual Conference on Carbon Capture and Sequestration in Pittsburgh - 2010/05/15: PeakEnergy: Bill Gates Announces Funding for Seawater-Spraying Cloud Machines
- 2010/05/14: Guardian(UK): Bill Gates' cloud-whitening trials 'a dangerous experiment' [ETC Group]
- 2010/05/12: NatureTGB: Geoengineering experiment ready - or not [Gates]
- 2010/05/12: TEC: Boys with toys: Bill Gates funds geoengineering projects
- 2010/05/12: CanWest: Plans to cool planet heat up geoengineering debate -- [ETC Group] Critics say one of the world's richest men and his 'cronies' have no right to change our climate
- 2010/05/10: DM:80B: Bill Gates Funds "the Most Benign Form of Geoengineering": Ships That Spray Seawater To Seed Clouds
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2010/05/10: NERC:NORA: Greenhouse gas inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: 1990-2007 by Joanna Jackson et al.
- 2010/05/10: NERC:NORA: The impact of controlled injection of CO2 on the soil ecosystem and chemistry of an English lowland pasture by J.M. West et al.
- 2010/05/11: NERC:NORA: The new world of the Anthropocene by Jan Zalasiewicz et al.
- 2010/05/13: NERC:NORA: New and established techniques for surface gas monitoring at onshore CO2 storage sites by D.G. Jones et al.
- 2010/05/15: AGWObserver: Papers on stratospheric water vapor
- 2010/05/12: TC: Response of the ice cap Hardangerjøkulen in southern Norway to the 20th and 21st century climates by R. H. Giesen & J. Oerlemans
- 2010/05/12: OSD: A global comparison of Argo and satellite altimetry observations by A.-L. Dhomps et al.
- 2010/05/14: Science: (ab$) Erosion of Lizard Diversity by Climate Change and Altered Thermal Niches by Barry Sinervo et al.
- 2010/02/02: GES: Validity of the fossil fuel production outlooks in the IPCC Emission Scenarios by M. Höök et al.
- 2010/05/12: CPD: Climate change and the demise of Minoan civilization by A. A. Tsonis et al.
- 2010/05/11: CPD: On misleading solar-climate relationship by B. Legras et al.
- 2010/05/14: GRL: (ab$) Comment on "Influence of the Southern Oscillation on tropospheric temperature" by J. D. McLean, C. R. de Freitas, and R. M. Carter by G. Foster et al.
- 2010/05/14: PLoS One: Evaluating the Relative Environmental Impact of Countries by Corey J. A. Bradshaw et al.
- 2010/05/12: ACP: Observed and simulated global distribution and budget of atmospheric C2-C5 alkanes by A. Pozzer et al.
- 2010/05/12: ACP: A global perspective on aerosol from low-volatility organic compounds by H. O. T. Pye & J. H. Seinfeld
- 2010/05/10: ACP: Analysis of snow bidirectional reflectance from ARCTAS Spring-2008 Campaign by A. Lyapustin et al.
- 2010/05/12: ACPD: Dust aerosol effect on semi-arid climate over Northwest China detected from A-Train satellite measurements by J. Huang et al.
- 2010/05/10: ACPD: Long-term trends of black carbon and sulphate aerosol in the Arctic: changes in atmospheric transport and source region emissions by D. Hirdman et al.
- 2010/05/11: AGWObserver: Papers on AGW denialism
- 2010/05/11: PNAS: Design and analysis of synthetic carbon fixation pathways by Arren Bar-Even et al.
- 2010/05/11: PNAS: Quantification of global gross forest cover loss by Matthew C. Hansen et al.
- 2010/05/11: PNAS: Decreased winter severity increases viability of a montane frog population by Rebecca M. McCaffery & Bryce A. Maxell
- 2010/05/11: PNAS: Calcium isotope constraints on the end-Permian mass extinction by Jonathan L. Payne et al.
- 2010/04/11: Nature: (ab$) Biologically templated photocatalytic nanostructures for sustained light-driven water oxidation by Yoon Sung Nam et al.
- 2010/05/10: TC: Modelling snowdrift sublimation on an Antarctic ice shelf by J. T. M. Lenaerts et al.
And other significant documents:
- 2010/05/10: DOE:EIA: [many pdfs] Annual Energy Outlook 2010
- 2010/05/10: LSE: [link to 4 meg pdf] The Hartwell Paper: a new direction for climate policy after the crash of 2009
- CBD: [link to 10 meg pdf] Global Biodiversity Outlook 3
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2010/05/15: RealClimate: What we can learn from studying the last millennium (or so)
- 2010/05/14: C-a-S: Eco-Inventor Angst
- 2010/05/14: PhysOrg: Scientists measure impact of volcanic ash on ocean biology
- 2010/05/13: MTobis: How Deep is this Result?
More DIY science:
- 2010/05/09: CC&G: Tracking Long Term and Recent UAH Channel 5 Anomally Trends
Regarding Gerlich & Tscheuschner:
- 2010/05/08: CPF: Published comment, and reply, on Gerlich and Tscheuschner 2009
Regarding Mclean:
- 2010/05/14: JEB: Comment on "Influence of the Southern Oscillation on tropospheric temperature" by J. D. McLean, C. R. de Freitas, and R. M. Carter
More Hansen:
- 2010/05/12: Google:AFP: 'Climate dice' now dangerously loaded: leading scientist
- 2010/05/12: TerraDaily: 'Climate dice' now dangerously loaded: leading scientist
Evidence for global warming has mounted but public awareness of the threat has shrunk, due to a cold northern winter and finger-pointing at the UN's climate experts, a top scientist warned Wednesday. James Hansen, a leading NASA scientist whose testimony to the US Congress in 1988 was a landmark in the history of climate change, said he was worried by "the large gap" in knowledge between specialists and the public, including politicians. "That gap has increased substantially in the last year," Hansen told a press conference during a visit to Paris. "While the science was becoming clearer, the public's perception became less clear, in part because of the unusually cold winter in both North America and Europe, and in part because of the inappropriate over-emphasis on small minor errors in IPCC documents and because of the so-called Climategate." - 2010/05/15: PI: The Offsetters' Paradox: Wind mills in China highlight incurable problem with international carbon credits
The controversy last December over the awarding of carbon credits to Chinese wind projects highlights one of the core problems with the United Nation's international carbon credit program, say researchers Richard K. Morse and Gang He at Stanford University. Unless what Morse and He call the 'Offsetters' Parardox' is solved, regulators in the developing world -- particularly China and India -- will be able to game the carbon market by manipulating domestic policies. An 'Offsetters' Paradox' occurs when regulators in the developing world (the offsetters) have an incentive to lower their subsidies and tweak power prices to make their country's CO2-reducing investments look uneconomic -- allowing them to qualify for international funding from UN carbon credits to pay for those investments. Such manipulation has the effect of replacing domestic subsidies with international ones. This paradox made international headlines in December when the body in charge of overseeing UN-issued carbon credits -- the Clean Development Mechanism's (CDM) Executive Board (EB) -- decided to review Chinese wind projects after it observed that Chinese regulators might be intentionally lowering wind tariffs (subsidies) so wind developers could become eligible for international carbon credits. Until that time, Chinese wind projects had been considered a great success story, the gold standard of carbon credits, often commanding a premium to credits from other projects. - 2010/05/14: EurActiv: Investors wary of 'green' forestry
- 2010/05/14: EurActiv: Bulgaria suspended from CO2 emissions trading
Bulgaria will be suspended from carbon emissions trading under the Kyoto Protocol as a result of poor transparency and untrustworthiness, the country's environment minister said on 13 May. The decision represents a heavy blow for the government in Sofia, which expected to receive 250m euros in revenue from the scheme this year, according to Dnevnik, EurActiv's partner publication in Bulgaria. Bulgaria will be suspended from the scheme as of 30 June if a United Nations' committee revokes its accreditation under the treaty. A formal decision is expected by the end of June. Environment Minister Nona Karadzhova said there was no chance of any reversal. The suspension, which is expected to last until at least November, comes after UN checks had shown that Bulgaria's national system for recording greenhouse gas emissions, which is key for ensuring compliance under Kyoto, was not transparent and trustworthy, Karadzhova explained. - 2010/05/14: PlanetArk: Investors Wary Of "Green" Forestry
Forests have a growing value as a result of climate policies, but the complexity of carbon markets coupled with the effects of the financial crisis are deterring investment, investors and analysts said in London on Thursday. - 2010/05/13: Google:AFP: Suspension from Kyoto carbon trading looms for Bulgaria
- 2010/05/13: PlanetArk: Global Cap And Trade Decades Off, U.S. Unveils Plan
- 2010/05/11: PlanetArk: EU Carbon Closes Down 2 Percent On German Power, UK Gas
- 2010/05/10: EurActiv: Carbon auctioning rules spark EU controversy
The European Commission is coming under pressure to revise its draft regulation on emissions allowance auctioning, which would provide multiple auctioning platforms but not enough oversight, according to critics. - 2010/05/10: ChinaDaily: Carbon tax likely, expert forecasts
China may start levying a carbon tax and further boost prices of fossil fuel for the next five years as a crucial incentive to cut greenhouse gas emissions and help realize green targets, a government-affiliated expert forecast. - 2010/05/10: BSD: Garlic ice cream and Sean Casten's anti-cap-and-dividend rant
The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world as nations scramble to deal with climate change:
- 2010/05/11: SinoDaily: China environmentalist [Wu Lihong] alleges brutal treatment in jail
- 2010/05/10: ABC(Au): Charges against Greenpeace withdrawn, ship's captain fined
Charges against the international environmental organisation Greenpeace over a protest at the north Queensland coal port of Hay Point south of Mackay last year have been dropped. - 2010/05/15: TreeHugger: What the? Americans Support Even More Offshore Drilling, WSJ/NBC Poll Finds
- 2010/05/13: Grist: Poll results on energy, climate, and offshore drilling are all over the map
- 2010/05/11: RawStory: Poll: Ten percent of Americans believe environmentalists intentionally caused oil spill
- 2010/05/13: TreeHugger: What's Crazier, 9% of Americans Thinking Enviros Caused the Oil Spill or 22% Being Not Sure?
- 2010/05/13: TCoE: Breaking: American sanity index down to 69%
- 2010/05/13: PhysOrg: Opinion polls underestimate Americans' concern about the environment, study finds
- 2010/05/13: Stanford: Majority of Americans Continue to Believe that Global Warming Is Real -- Polling question masks the public's true concern about environmental issues
Regarding farm practices and global warming:
- 2010/05/10: EurActiv: EU agriculture employs fewer workers
New statistics show that employment in the agricultural sector has fallen by 25% since 2000, with drops ranging from 2.6% fewer jobs in Greece to 55% fewer in Estonia. - 2010/05/14: EarthTimes: Nile basin countries divided over water deal
- 2010/05/14: BBC: East Africa seeks more Nile water from Egypt
Four East African states have signed an agreement to seek more water from the River Nile - a move strongly opposed by Egypt and Sudan. Under colonial-era accords, the two countries get 90% of the river's water. Upstream countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia say it is unfair and want a new deal but nothing has been agreed in 13 years of talks. A further three countries were represented at the meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, and may sign up later. - 2010/05/14: CanWest: Cross-border water plan won't plug leaks, critics say -- Conservatives move to strengthen ban on bulk exports
- 2010/05/12: TerraDaily: Nile nations split on proposed water-sharing pact
Seven African nations are expected to push through a new and more equitable deal this week on sharing the waters of the Nile despite strong opposition from Egypt and Sudan. "What we are doing is launching the signing. Any country that feels they cannot sign now but may be ready to sign later will have one year," Jennifer Namuyangu Byakatonda, Uganda's state minister for water told AFP. The nine nations that directly benefit from the Nile's resources have for years been negotiating a new pact to replace a 1959 deal between Egypt and Sudan giving them more than 90 percent control of the water flow. Burundi, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have agreed on terms for a new pact and could ink the deal when it opens for signature on Friday in Entebbe, Uganda. - 2010/05/11: TerraDaily: Estonia's Witch's Well at centre of environmental battle
Regarding science education:
- 2010/05/16: ClimateP: We invest in research, but what about teaching? Improving science education requires rethinking academic priorities
- 2010/05/11: AutoBG: Mechatronics engineers in extremely short supply as automakers prepare for EV future
And on the American political front:
- 2010/05/15: NRDC:SwitchBoard: A second look at CBO's employment study: Climate legislation and a healthy economy can go hand in hand
- 2010/05/14: NorthJersey: New Jersey's solar rebate program deluged
The office that doles out state solar energy rebates for residential installations has been deluged with applications from people afraid that the program will run out of funds after Governor Christie took the money from it to help plug the state's budget gap. With future funds for the program uncertain, in a single day recently more than 1,100 people applied for $6 million in rebates for their residential solar installations, forcing the state Board of Public Utilities to cut off the application process. - 2010/05/13: RRapier: Annual Energy Outlook 2010
- 2010/05/14: TCoE: WWtFFD (What Would the Founding Fathers Do)
- 2010/05/13: ArkansasNews: Supreme Court upholds decision that voided coal plant permit
Little Rock - The state Supreme Court today upheld a ruling by the state Court of Appeals that voided Southwestern Electric Power Co.'s permit to build a coal-fired power plant in Southwest Arkansas. If the ruling stands, SWEPCO will have to apply again for a permit for the $1.6 billion John W. Turk Jr. plant currently under construction near Fulton in Hempstead County. The parties have 18 days to request a rehearing. The state's highest court ruled unanimously that the state Public Service Commission erred when it considered SWEPCO's need for a new power source in a separate hearing instead of considering it in the same hearing in which other issues, such as environmental impact and the suitability of the site, were debated. - 2010/05/14: WarmingLaw: Southern Environmental Groups Challenge Permits for Two (More) Georgia Coal-Fired Power Plants
- 2010/05/14: NRDC:SwitchBoard: The Missing Piece in the Effort to Secure California's Water Future -- a Federal Climate Bill
- 2010/05/14: OilDrum: Understanding the Ethanol Tariff Issue
- 2010/05/12: TEC: Making Sense of Climate Policy
- 2010/05/11: SolveClimate: California Makes Green Housing Affordable -- Solar installations and green development bring sustainable housing to low-income families
- 2010/05/11: PlanetArk: Pentagon Focused On Developing Alternative Energy
- 2010/05/10: Reuters: TransCanada makes case for bigger loan guarantee
TransCanada Corp's (TRP.TO) top Alaska official said on Monday that an expanded federal loan guarantee is critical to the success of a huge North Slope natural gas pipeline that state, federal and industry officials have promoted for decades. Tony Palmer, TransCanada vice president of Alaska development, told the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce that the existing $18 billion federal loan guarantee that Congress approved in 2004 is not adequate to support the massive project, which today exists only on paper. - 2010/05/11: OilChange: Voters demand clean energy as Big Oil squabbles over spill
- 2010/05/10: TP:WR: Exxon CEO Whines About Push To Cut Big Oil's Subsidies, After Making $6.3 Billion Last Quarter
The Cuccinelli witch hunt is still on:
- 2010/05/14: CDP: University may fight Cuccinelli demand
The University of Virginia has hired a law firm to explore its options in responding to a demand by state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli that UVa turn over documents and correspondence related to a former climatology researcher. - 2010/05/13: Nature: Science subpoenaed
- 2010/05/14: DeSmogBlog: Nature Pens Scathing Editorial On Virginia A.G. Cuccinelli Witch Hunt of Michael Mann
- 2010/05/13: Grist: Baby Got Backlash -- Virginia's AG slammed for 'witch hunt' against climate scientist Michael Mann
- 2010/05/13: DM:CCM: Wash Post Hits Cuccinelli Once Again
- 2010/05/12: ClimateP: Nature rains on Cuccinelli: "The University of Virginia should fight a witch-hunt by the state's attorney general."
- 2010/05/11: TPMM: UVA Suggests It May Not Comply With Cuccinelli Climate-Gate 'Witch Hunt'
- 2010/05/10: WaPo:VP: U-Va. "exploring options" on Cuccinelli climate change subpoena
- 2010/05/10: RREUEB: Virginia AG Cuccinelli is not only trying to kill Academic Freedom, he is trying to kill America's economic advantage
- 2010/05/09: SolveClimate: Scientists Respond to 'McCarthy-Like Threats of Criminal Prosecution' -- Politicians Harassing Climate Researchers to 'Avoid Taking Action'
- 2010/05/09: ClimateP: Caldeira slams anti-scientific witchhunts: "Are American politicians following in the footsteps of Stalin?"
- 2010/05/09: EconoSpeak: Virginia AG Cuccinelli Out To Kill Academic Freedom
- 2010/05/09: MoD: University of Virginia stands up for Mann, warns of chilling effect
The EPA finalized regulations for industrial greenhouse gases this week:
- 2010/05/14: WaPo: EPA finalizing emissions rule that would lessen impact on small businesses
- 2010/05/13: NRDC:SwitchBoard: EPA Carbon Pollution Rule Clears Up "Murky" Problem
- 2010/05/13: Google:AP: EPA moves to regulate industrial greenhouse gases
- 2010/05/13: NYT: The E.P.A. Announces a New Rule on Polluters
- 2010/05/13: NatJo: EPA Finalizes Tailoring Rule
- 2010/05/14: Reuters: US EPA issues rules on biggest carbon polluters
EPA action could push lawmakers to support climate bill - Climate bill would likely preempt EPA from regulating - 2010/05/13: ENN: EPA Announces Thresholds for Greenhouse Gas Permitting Requirements
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
- 2010/05/14: TerraDaily: EPA issues new rules on greenhouse gases
- 2010/05/15: AutoBG: Department of Energy announces $20M for new geothermal ideas
- 2010/05/14: PeakEnergy: Budget 2010: renewable energy gets peanut money, spread thin
- 2010/05/13: AutoBG: Department of Energy invests $62M into Concentrating Solar Power
- 2010/05/12: TreeHugger: Potentially Game-Changing Zinc-Air Battery Tech Gets ARPA-E Financing
- 2010/05/12: AutoBG: Las Vegas man falsified emissions tests, added to EPA's most wanted list
- 2010/05/12: C-a-S: Chu on Coal & China & Green Peas
- 2010/05/11: TCoE: Dept. of Energy: Still crazy, after all these years
- 2010/05/11: Guardian(UK): White House aims to use Deepwater disaster to win votes for US climate bill
- 2010/05/11: SolveClimate: EPA Moves to Replace Super Greenhouse Gases in Appliances -- Rule could mark start of HFC phase out
- 2010/05/11: PhysOrg: US transport chief rides 300-mph Japanese maglev
- 2010/05/11: Yahoo:AP: [US Climate] Envoy [Todd Stern]: US may have no climate bill by Cancun talks
- 2010/05/11: BBC: US energy agency to be broken up
The Obama administration is to break up an interior department agency that oversees offshore drilling, in response to the Gulf Coast oil spill. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar proposes dividing the Minerals Management Service, which inspects oil rigs at the same time as overseeing drill leases. - 2010/05/10: SolveClimate: DOE Still Disavows Peak Oil Forecast, Despite New Studies -- Gulf oil spill adds pressure for release of "proprietary database" behind DOE's optimism
As for what is going on in Congress:
- 2010/05/14: NatureTGB: Science research and education falls victim to elections
Folks are still scratching their heads about the US House of Representatives' vote on Thursday to scuttle legislation extending the 2007 America COMPETES Act, which called for a doubling of research funding in the physical sciences. Democrats had already scaled back the bill in response to concerns about the federal deficit, but they were surprised to see pornography (among other things) convert what had been a fairly bipartisan effort into an election-year campaign issue. House Science Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (Democrat, Tennessee) offers a quick summary of what happened here, but the Tennessean nicely captured Gordon's anger during the debate. Here's an outtake: "EveryÂbody raise your hand that's for pornogÂraÂphy. Come on, raise your hand. Nobody? Nobody is for pornogÂraÂphy? Well, I'm shocked." Ranking Republican Ralph Hall of Texas explains the Republican position here. The Republican proposal would have frozen authorization at the Energy Department, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Science and Technology beginning in fiscal 2011. The amendment also would have zeroed out the budget of the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy, a new effort to promote high-risk high-reward energy research. Once it became clear that the amendment was going to pass, Gordon told Democrats to go ahead and vote for it so that Republicans wouldn't be able to portray Democrats as voting for pornography in the run up to the elections in November. He then yanked the bill off the floor, reserving the right to try again later. - 2010/05/14: NatureN: Science research and education falls victim to elections (and porn)
- 2010/05/13: Grist: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Exxon Valdez) opposes forcing oil companies to pay to clean up oil spills
- 2010/05/10: BBerg: Senate Might Take Up 'Smaller' Energy Bill This Year, Reid Says
- 2010/05/11: TEC: Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md) Op-Ed: No New Offshore Drilling, Pass the Clean Energy Bill
- 2010/05/10: TheHill:e2W: Reid opens the door to 'smaller' energy bill
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has opened the door to moving a scaled-back energy bill rather than a broader climate change package if the [KL] climate bill can't attract GOP support. - 2010/05/15: TreeHugger: Darth Vader Throws His Weight Behind The Senate Climate Bill
- 2010/05/14: SF Gate: Coal-fired Utilities Win More Free Permits in [APA] New Carbon Plan
- 2010/05/14: C411: Senators' reactions to the American Power Act
- 2010/05/12: Pembina: Pembina reacts to Kerry-Lieberman climate bill
- 2010/05/13: CDreams: 350 Goal Will Never Be Achieved With Kerry-Lieberman
- 2010/05/13: BSD: I'm supporting Kerry-Lieberman
- 2010/05/13: GreenGrok: The Kerry-Lieberman Climate Bill: Ch-Ch-Changes and Lots of Loose Change
- 2010/05/14: NRDC:SwitchBoard: The Clean Energy Bill Is No Place For Dirty Energy Attacks on Public Health
[...]
The draft legislation creates a roving commission that gives power plant polluter lobbyists a platform to make unsupported claims about supposed conflicts between protecting health and cutting carbon pollution. - 2010/05/13: Economist: Once more unto the breach -- A new energy and climate bill appears in the Senate. Does it have a chance?
- 2010/05/14: WorldChanging: US Climate Bill: The Good, Bad and Boring Details
- 2010/05/14: TEC: American Power Act needs More International Financing
- 2010/05/14: TEC: Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act
- 2010/05/14: PeakEnergy: Senate Energy Bill [APA] Unveiled
- 2010/05/13: WaPo: Sens. Kerry and Lieberman introduce compromise climate bill
- 2010/05/12: NYT: Senate Gets a Climate and Energy Bill, Modified by a Gulf Spill That Still Grows
- 2010/05/12: DM:80B: Skip the Political Blabbing: Here Is What Kerry-Lieberman Climate Bill Says
- 2010/05/13: DM:CV: Esoteric Knowledge
- 2010/05/12: SolveClimate: Greens Take Aim at Offshore Drilling Allowance in Senate's New Climate Bill
- 2010/05/13: SolveClimate: Greenpeace & Center for American Progress Debate the Senate Climate Bill
- 2010/05/13: PlanetArk: Global Cap And Trade Decades Off, U.S. Unveils Plan
- 2010/05/13: PlanetArk: U.S. Senate Climate Bill Sees Big Cut In Oil Imports
- 2010/05/13: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Solid at the Core: The Integrity of the Emission Limits in the American Power Act
- 2010/05/12: NatureN: US climate bill arrives in Senate -- New legislation represents delicate compromise between politicians and industry
- 2010/05/13: Time: Senate Climate Bill: A Last Chance for Cap and Trade
- 2010/05/13: TreeHugger: John Kerry & Greenpeace Both Right On The Climate Bill? Yes, Unfortunately
- 2010/05/12: TEC: Swift action unlikely on climate bill
- 2010/05/12: TEC: The American Power Act: "First Read" of the Kerry-Lieberman Climate and Energy Legislation
- 2010/05/13: TEC: Climate Bill reactions
- 2010/05/13: AutoBG: Climate Bill details unveiled: emissions, clean coal, transportation and much more at stake
- 2010/05/13: CSM: Senate energy bill is at the mercy of political climate change
- 2010/05/13: DemNow: Greenpeace [Radford] v. Center for American Progress [Romm]: A Debate on the [APA] Kerry-Lieberman Climate Bill
- 2010/05/12: EconView: "The American Power Act"
Will this pass? If it does pass, will it meet the goals described below? I see the chances of it passing as about 50-50 right now, and a lower chance that the legislation will reduce greenhouse gas emissions as much as hoped - 2010/05/12: Reuters: Kerry unveils climate bill
- 2010/05/12: ClimateP: Obama on American Power Act: "The challenges we face -- underscored by the immense tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico -- are reason to redouble our efforts to reform our nation's energy policies"
- 2010/05/13: ABC(Au): Obama backs [APA] climate change bill
- 2010/05/12: Grist: Introducing the American Power Act by Senator John Kerry
- 2010/05/12: Grist: A roundup of reax to the Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act
- 2010/05/12: ScienceInsider: Kerry/Lieberman 'American Power Act' Released
- 2010/05/12: UCSUSA: New Senate Climate and Energy Bill Crucial Step Forward, but Senators Must Hold the Line on Important Provisions
- 2010/05/12: TEC: Clean Energy Bill [APA] Released: Now It's Time for Leadership
- 2010/05/12: TP:WR: A First Look At The Details Of The Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act
- 2010/05/11: TP:WR: Leaked Overview Of Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act
- 2010/05/12: BBC: Senators to unveil climate bill
The details of a long-awaited US bill on climate change are to be made public later, but analysts are warning it faces a tough battle to be made law. The bill, backed by Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, will propose cutting US carbon emissions by 17% by 2020. But it is also expected to propose easing restrictions on offshore oil drilling - likely to face opposition after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Legislation on climate is a key part of US President Barack Obama's agenda. But the bill has been repeatedly delayed amid Republican opposition. - 2010/05/11: ClimateP: Climate bill has new drilling protections -- Plus a higher starting floor price for carbon dioxide
- 2010/05/10: Grist: Where things stand on the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill
- 2010/05/09: TheHill:e2W: Lieberman on climate bill: 'I think we've got a real shot at this'
- 2010/05/10: ClimateP: Senate climate and clean energy jobs bill is coming Wednesday. Lieberman and Kerry are optimistic, Graham is incoherent
- 2010/05/10: Grist: Why it's worth passing a crappy climate bill
- 2010/05/10: NRDC:SwitchBoard: How will Comprehensive Clean Energy and Climate Legislation Move Us Beyond Petroleum?
What are the lobbyists pushing?
- 2010/05/13: NYT:CW: Venture, Clean-Tech Sectors Brace for $50 Million Attack on Climate Law
- 2010/05/10: NYT:CW: Energy Interests Spend Millions for Their Seat at the Climate Table
In the UK, a LibDem-Con coalition takes over:
- 2010/05/15: BBerg: Ed Miliband Formally Enters U.K. Labour Leader Race
- 2010/05/14: Grist: What to expect from Britain's new coalition government
- 2010/05/14: Guardian(UK): Cameron: I want coalition to be the 'greenest government ever'
- 2010/05/13: Reuters: UK nuclear power back on table as Lib Dems relent
- 2010/05/13: Guardian(UK): Coalition environment ministers: who's who
- 2010/05/13: PlanetArk: Britain's New Government Will Abstain From Nuclear Votes
Britain's new coalition government, led by the Conservatives' David Cameron, plans to set a minimum price for emitting climate-warming carbon, while Liberal Democrat MPs would abstain from a parliamentary vote on building new nuclear power stations, it said on Wednesday. Under the deal, the Lib Dems will speak against the upcoming national planning statement (NPS) on new nuclear plants in Britain but will not vote on it. - 2010/05/12: Grist: How green is the U.K.'s new government?
- 2010/05/13: ScienceInsider: British Science and Climate/Energy Ministers Named
- 2010/05/13: BBC: Coalition sets out plans on runways and nuclear -- third runway at Heathrow cancelled
- 2010/05/13: TreeHugger: New UK Coalition Commits to 10% Government CO2 Cuts in One Year
- 2010/05/13: TEC: Liberal Conservative Coalition -- What has been Agreed on Energy and Climate Change?
- 2010/05/12: Guardian(UK): What the coalition means for environmental policies
- 2010/05/12: Guardian(UK): Coalition pledges to cut central government emissions by 10%
- 2010/05/12: Guardian(UK): Too much coal in this coalition, but I was expecting worse [Monbiot]
- 2010/05/11: BBC: Conservative leader David Cameron has become the UK's new prime minister...
- 2010/05/10: BizGreen: Low carbon policies on the cards as Lib Dems edge towards coalition decision
Negotiating teams discuss environmental and climate change policy, alongside economic issues and electoral reform - 2010/05/12: Reuters: U.S. lags China on climate change: Europe climate chief [Connie Hedegaard]
- 2010/05/11: Guardian(UK): Connie Hedegaard seeks 30% carbon cuts target for Europe
- 2010/05/10: Reuters: Spain's nuclear plants seen running for decades
Spain may join Germany in relaxing a pledge to scrap nuclear power and let plants run on for decades, softening an anti-nuclear stance that was one of the firmest in Europe. - 2010/05/14: ABC(Au): A Wimmera development official says he is hopeful the region could become home to a part of a major solar power development in Victoria
- 2010/05/14: ABC(Au): Climate action argument the nude ball of politics
- 2010/05/12: AstroBlog: An Open Letter to the Honourable Tony Abbott, Leader of the Oppostion
- 2010/05/14: Deltoid: Tony Abbott and the Roman Warm Period
- 2010/05/14: PeakEnergy: Radical new plan would blow wind power out of Victoria
- 2010/05/13: ABC(Au): Prominent economist Ross Garnaut says China has shown more leadership in tackling climate change than Australia
- 2010/05/13: ABC(Au): 300-dish outback solar plant moves closer
The Federal Budget has provided more certainty for a 40-megawatt solar thermal power plant being planned at Whyalla in South Australia. Federal funding of $60 million is being provided towards the project, under the Renewable Energy Demonstration Program - 2010/05/13: ABC(Au): Opposition seizes on Rudd outburst
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been accused of "losing it" during a fiery exchange over his climate change record with 7.30 Report host Kerry O'Brien last night. - 2010/05/12: Reuters: Australia parliament debates amended green power laws
- 2010/05/12: ABC(Au): Former Australian of the Year Professor Tim Flannery has criticised the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, for breaching the trust of the electorate on climate change
- 2010/05/12: ABC(Au): Darwin faces 2 degree heat rise by 2030
- 2010/05/12: ABC(Au): Green groups attack 'mean' budget
The Federal Government's budget announcement to use funds from the shelved ETS to pay for clean energy programs has been attacked by the Greens and environment groups. - 2010/05/13: ABC(Au): Wind farm promises to lure 'significant investment'
A company [Epuron] behind $2 billion plans to build a wind farm at Coolah says the proposed site is an excellent source of wind energy. - 2010/05/12: ABC(Au): The chief executive of the National Irrigators Council, Danny O'Brien, has welcomed a report by the CSIRO on flows in the Murray-Darling Basin
- 2010/05/12: ABC(Au): Big [73-turbine Gullen Range] wind farm gets nod
The group opposing one of Australia's biggest wind farm projects says it is disappointed the development has been given the green light, but admits some important concessions have been won. - 2010/05/12: PeakEnergy: A Few Rays Of Sunshine For Clean Energy In The Australian Budget
- 2010/05/11: ABC(Au): Shelved ETS funds clean energy programs
The Government remains committed to its controversial emissions trading scheme "over the medium term", but in the meantime it will be concentrating on providing more support for Australia's renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors. - 2010/05/10: NewsCorp: Climate scientists cross with Abbott for taking Christ's name in vain [it was warmer "at the time of Julius Caesar and Jesus..."]
And in the Indian subcontinent:
- 2010/05/13: HindustanTimes: Prime Minister wants Ramesh to continue as environment minister
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has turned down Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh's offer to step down because of the latter's remarks on Chinese imports, and asked him not to speak out against other ministries. "Yes, the minister (Ramesh) had clarified his position to the PM (prime minister). He had also offered to quit. But the offer has been turned down for the moment," a senior official in Prime Minister's Office said. - 2010/05/12: BBerg: India's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Grew 52% From 1994 to 2007
- 2010/05/12: PlanetArk: Power Sector Helps Drive Jump In India CO2 Emissions
- 2010/05/12: SciDev: India's GHG emissions up by 58 per cent [between 1994 and 2007]
- 2010/05/11: Google:AFP: India's greenhouse gas emissions jump
While in China:
- 2010/05/14: Guardian(UK): China telecom sector claims 48.5m tonne carbon saving
Low-carbon telecom solutions saved emissions equivalent to that of Sweden in 2008, WWF and China Mobile report says - 2010/05/13: EarthTimes: Jordan appraising three offers for nuclear plant
While in Africa:
- 2010/05/11: People's Daily: Africa refining strategies for int'l negotiations on climate change
Representatives of the Conference of the 10 African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) met on Tuesday at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa to streamline Africa's negotiating team and refining strategies towards international negotiations on climate change. - 2010/05/14: Grist: Agribiz giant ADM gets taste of Hugo Chavez's wrath
- 2010/05/10: IPSNews: Argentina: Adding More Coal to the Fire
Bucking recommendations to build up renewable energy sources, Argentina is forging ahead with a plan that will increase its dependence on coal, regarded as the most polluting fossil fuel. - 2010/05/12: BLongstaff: Climate change denial ... let me count the whys
- 2010/05/10: TreeHugger: Canadian Environment Minister Gloats While Gulf Oil Spill Spreads
Ban Ki-moon came to Ottawa pleading for climate change to be on the G20 agenda & Harper said no:
- 2010/05/13: Xinhuanet: UN chief urges climate change on G8, G20 agenda
The United Nations Secretary-General pressed here Wednesday for putting climate change on the agenda of the G8 and G20 summits which Canada hosts in Toronto in June. Ban Ki-moon, who arrived here for a one-day working visit, also pressed Ottawa to live up to the greenhouse-gas reduction targets it negotiated under the Kyoto Protocol. - 2010/05/12: CTV: Harper rejects plea to put climate change on G20 agenda
- 2010/05/13: LeDaro: Stephen Harper gives cold shoulder to Ban Ki-Moon on Climate Change
- 2010/05/12: CBC: UN chief presses Harper on climate change
- 2010/05/12: CTV: Harper rejects plea to put climate change on G20 agenda
Canada brushed aside a direct public demand Wednesday by the visiting United Nations chief and reiterated that it will not make climate change a priority agenda item when it hosts the G20 summit next month. Prime Minister Stephen Harper stuck to his G20 plan to keep the summit's focus squarely on the global economic recovery after he met UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his Parliament Hill office. Ban said he wanted climate change front and centre on the agenda when Canada hosts the G20 summit next month in Toronto. Ban also exhorted the Conservatives to live up to the greenhouse-gas reduction targets Canada negotiated under the Kyoto Protocol. - 2010/05/12: CBC: UN chief presses Harper on climate change
- 2010/05/12: G&M: Put environment on G20 agenda, UN chief tells Harper -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says Canada has essential role to play in fighting climate change
Harper is fanning the G20 abortion issue for his theocon base:
- 2010/05/16: TStar: PM reignites abortion fight
Abortion has been a settled issue in Canada for a quarter-century. That said, the current consensus is by no means unanimous and never will be. Many who oppose the status quo will continue to agitate for change, as they did in their annual demonstration on Parliament Hill last week. The pro-life camp has attracted scant attention until now. The difference this time is that they understandably believe they have an ally in Prime Minister Stephen Harper and he will heed their cries for help. This may be a vain hope, given the legal and political obstacles, but it is a hope based on the Prime Minister's own words and actions. - 2010/05/11: Feministing: Why Canadian Feminists Cannot Afford to "Shut the fuck up"
- 2010/05/13: ETP: Why Canadian Feminists Cannot Afford To "Shut The Fuck Up"
- 2010/05/10: G&M: What's really at play in PM's focus on maternal health [a lower priority for the fight against AIDS]
Which raised the issue of Tories, neocons and theocons:
- 2010/05/14: S4Liberty: Conservatives.. we aren't a front for the religious right, ARE WE?
- 2010/05/14: DawgsBlawg: Paying the Christ tax
- 2010/05/14: BCLSB: Money For Missionaries
In case you were wondering about the Tories and the G20 Abortion issue linkage:
- 2010/05/12: ACR: Just answer the F*cking question, fembots.
Yesterday Gilles Duceppe stood up in Parliament and asked the $800,000 question: WTF are the Harpercons doing spending thousands of dollars to translate bibles into different dialects in other countries? At the same time cutting organizations that are actually helping women in third world countries? - 2010/05/12: SSM: Atta Boy, Gilles, You Tell 'em Where it's at!
- 2010/05/12: BCLSB: Duceppe In Flames
Harper says it can't happen here, meanwhile in Parliament:
- 2010/05/14: PlanetArk: Canadian Legislators Grill BP Over Arctic Drilling
Exasperated Canadian legislators grilled the head of BP Plc Canadian unit on Thursday, concerned about the risks of the company's plans to drill in Arctic waters after the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill. But Anne Drinkwater, president of BP Canada, offered few answers at a hearing at Parliament's Standing Committee on Natural Resources on the safety of drilling in the Far North. - 2010/05/13: Yahoo:Reuters: Canadian legislators grill BP over Arctic drilling
- 2010/05/13: CanWest: Canadian spill would be costly -- Companies have limited liability; Major offshore leak cleanup could land at taxpayers' feet if rules not tightened
The federal government would likely have to dig deep into public coffers to fund the cleanup of an offshore oil spill on the scale of the Gulf Coast disaster, since oil companies in Canada are only liable for up to $40 million in cleanup costs. - 2010/05/12: RigZone: Chevron Canada Spuds Deepest Oil Well
Chevron Canada has begun drilling the country's deepest offshore oil well, as the firm sought to soothe fears over a repeat of the massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico. The exploratory well in the North Atlantic, a prospect known as Lona 0-55, is set to establish a new record in Canada with water depth at 2,600 meters, Chevron said. The Stena Carron drill ship is sinking the well. - 2010/05/13: CanWest: U.S. environment bill not a factor: Prentice
A new U.S. Senate proposal to tackle energy and climate change, endorsed by President Barack Obama, isn't going to force the Harper government to unveil its own plan to tackle global warming pollution from industry, Environment Minister Jim Prentice said Wednesday. "Our understanding is that it's doubtful that (the U.S. bill) would pass the Senate very quickly, and certainly we'll continue to study it and determine how it fits with the path that we've been going down in pursuit of our Copenhagen (agreement) objectives," Prentice said after the daily question period in the House of Commons. - 2010/05/12: CBC: Syncrude duck deaths an accident: lawyer -- Defence makes closing arguments at Alberta trial
Oh Joy! They're going to be fracking in NB:
- 2010/05/11: CBC: Major natural gas find in N.B.: Halifax company
A Halifax-based mining company claims it has found more natural gas in southern New Brunswick than is available in all of western Canada's proven reserves.
[...]
The gas deposit was almost missed by the mining company. The well Corridor drilled near Sussex was initially considered a dud. Miller's company abandoned the original hole 11 years ago before technology improved to be able to extract gas from beds of shale. "What may seem to be failure may turn out to be a success later," he said. "That's what happened in the shale play. We considered the well a failure so we plugged and abandoned." - 2010/05/10: CBC: Arctic seismic tests could help marine park plans
A federal government proposal to conduct seismic tests for oil and gas resources in Lancaster Sound, Nunavut, could support other government plans to create a marine conservation area there, according to the tests' proponents. The Geological Survey of Canada wants to conduct seismic testing for potential oil and gas resources this summer in the Lancaster Sound area, located at the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage, as part of its proposed Eastern Canadian Arctic Seismic Experiment. The Nunavut Impact Review Board is screening the proposal, and accepted public feedback until the end of last month. The board is expected to complete the screening process by the end of this week. - 2010/05/14: KN: Grasslands -- thriving or dying? Conference hears predictions about global warming
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
- 2010/05/: Polaris: Corporate Profile of Enbridge Inc. -- New Report Exposes Enbridge Inc's Destructive Gamble on Eve of Annual Meeting of Shareholders
- 2010/05/13: CBC: China in another oilsands deal -- Sovereign wealth fund paying a total of $1.25B
Calgary-based Penn West Energy Trust has reached a deal with the Chinese state investment fund to form a partnership to develop the firm's oilsands assets in the Peace River area of northern Alberta. Penn West will contribute assets worth $1.8 billion and the China Investment Corp. (CIC) will invest $817 million, giving it a 45 per cent stake in the partnership. The Chinese fund will also inject about $435 million into Penn West itself by buying 23.5 million units of the income trust. The assets include 96,000 hectares of oilsands leases, with current production of about 2,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The deal is due to close around June 1. - 2010/05/13: G&M: China in billion-dollar oil patch move -- Unit of China Investment Corp. will buy 45% stake in Penn West assets
Penn West Energy Trust PWT.UN-T said Thursday a unit of China Investment Corp. will invest more than $1-billion in the Calgary-based company, marking China's latest foray into Alberta's oil patch. In the first part of the deal, the companies have formed a joint venture to develop Penn West's bitumen assets in the Peace River area of northern Alberta. The agreement will see CIC invest a total $817-million to buy a 45-per-cent interest in the partnership. Separately, CIC will pay about $435-million for about 5 per cent of Penn West's units. Energy-hungry China has been bolstering its presence in the oil patch lately. In April, state-owned China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, agreed to pay $4.65-billion (U.S.) for a 9-per-cent stake in Syncrude Canada Ltd. Alberta, meantime, has been wooing more foreign-investment from Asia in its resources sector. - 2010/05/12: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Resolved: Tar sands are an expensive and risky investment
- 2010/05/11: Guardian(UK): Canada's tar sands: a dangerous solution to offshore oil
- 2010/05/10: NRDC:SwitchBoard: New tar sands pipeline means high gas prices, over-capacity, and losing supply to Europe
- 2010/05/10: OilChange: Putting Tar Sands in Your Tank ...
Ontario has it's Green Energy Act, now comes the implementation:
- 2010/05/12: CBC: Solar panel plant to start up in Windsor -- Facility could employ 500 within 3 years
- 2010/05/11: CBC: Privacy concerns surround Ontario's Smart Grid plan
In the North:
- 2010/05/14: CBC: Unravelling the mercury mystery -- How does a warming climate boost toxic metals in Arctic foods?
- 2010/05/12: CBC: Northern bug study tracks climate change
Teams of researchers and students from three Canadian universities are heading north this summer to study how climate change is affecting insect populations. Teams from the University of Toronto, McGill University and the University of Prince Edward will travel to several locations -- including Lake Hazen, Nunavut; Goose Bay, N.L.; and Churchill, Man. -- to replicate a study done 60 years ago. The results can then be compared to fit another piece into the puzzle of what impact climate change is having on the ecosystem in Northern Canada. - 2010/05/11: CanWest: Green energy not profitable -- yet
The movement toward ecologically based economics is glacial:
- 2010/05/14: CCurrents: The Rape Of The Earth And The Human Ego
- 2010/05/14: TEC: On Externalities, regulation and technological improvements
- 2010/05/13: OpenEcon: Collier on Economists, Environmentalists, and the "Value Gulf"
- 2010/05/14: Guardian(UK): Yes, we can change society before global crises overwhelm us
We should be neither too pessimistic nor complacent about environmental collapse - 2010/05/12: EnergyBulletin: Reforming seigniorage: the key to a sustainable economy
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2010/05/14: EnergyBulletin: Response to "Who's to blame for the population crisis?" in Mother Jones
- 2010/05/13: Grist: The GINK Chronicles -- Birth-control opponents greenwash their message
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2010/05/10: CCurrents: Dmitry Orlov On Why The U.S. Is Headed Toward Soviet-Style Collapse
- 2010/05/09: CCurrents: Don't Wait Until The $#!+ Hits The fan
- 2010/05/09: CCurrents: The Imminent Collapse Of Industrial Society
The collapse of modern industrial society has 14 parts, each with a somewhat causal relationship to the next. (1) Fossil fuels, (2) metals, and (3) electricity are a tightly-knit group, and no industrial civilization can have one without the others. The decline in fossil-fuel production is the most critical aspect of the collapse, and most of the following text will be devoted to that topic. As those three disappear, (4) food and (5) fresh water become scarce; grain and wild fish supplies per capita have been declining for years, water tables are falling everywhere, rivers are not reaching the sea. Matters of infrastructure then follow: (6) transportation and (7) communication ? no paved roads, no telephones, no computers. After that, the social structure begins to fail: (8) government, (9) education, and (10) the large-scale division of labor that makes complex technology possible. After these 10 parts, however, there are four others that form a separate layer, in some respects more psychological or sociological. We might call these "the four Cs." The first three are (11) crime, (12) cults, and (13) craziness -- the breakdown of traditional law; the ascendance of dogmas based on superstition, ignorance, cruelty, and intolerance; the overall tendency toward anti-intellectualism; and the inability to distinguish mental health from mental illness. There is also a final and more general part that is (14) chaos, resulting in the pervasive sense that "nothing works any more." These are cascading dominoes; all parts of the collapse have more to do with causality than with chronology, although there is no great distinction to be made between the two. If we look at matters from a more purely chronological viewpoint, however, we can say that there is a clear division into two time periods, two phases. The first phase will be merely economic hardship, and the second will be entropy. In the first phase the major issues will be inflation, unemployment, and the stock market. The second phase will be characterized by the disappearance of money, law, and government. In more pragmatic terms, we can say that the second phase will begin when money is no longer accepted as a means of exchange. - 2010/05/10: Guardian(UK): I share their despair, but I'm not quite ready to climb the Dark Mountain
To sit back and wait for the collapse of industrial civilisation is to conspire in the destruction of everything greens value - 2010/05/14: AFTIC: Willie Soon gets grilled by the Examiner
- 2010/05/14: MoD: Newspapers reject open letter from 255 NAS member, routinely publish deniers nonsense
- 2010/05/13: ClimateP: NY Times, WSJ, and Washington Post all rejected op-ed/letter from 255 National Academy of Sciences members defending climate science integrity
- 2010/05/12: Grist: Thoughts on journalism in an age of ecological calamity
- 2010/05/10: C-a-S: Climate Journalism Q & A
- 2010/05/10: AutoBG: Video: Fox News reportedly refusing to air ad denouncing dependence on foreign oil
Here is something for your library:
- 2010/05/13: TimesArgus: The triple crises of civilization [book list]
- 2010/05/14: DWWSJ: Two Excellent Books- Astrophysics and Climate Change
_Storms Of My Grandchildren_ by Dr. James Hansen
_Wonders of the Solar System_ by Brian Cox - 2010/05/13: TCoE: A missive from Eaarth [Book Review] _Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet_ by Bill McKibben
- 2010/05/10: HotTopic: [Book Review] _Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet_ by Bill McKibben
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2010/05/14: PeakEnergy: The End of the Line -- documentary on the state of the world's fish stocks
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2010/05/14: CCurrents: Debt vs. Localization: Climate Justice In The New Economy
- 2010/05/12: AlterNet: What If BP Were A Human Being?
- 2010/05/14: TreeHugger: Federal Court Orders "Crude" Director to Turn Over His Footage to Chevron - Filmmakers Rally in Support
- 2010/05/14: HuffPo: Chevron's "Crude" Attempt to Suppress Free Speech
- 2010/05/10: DemNow: Court Orders Documentary Filmmaker to Hand Ecuador Footage to Chevron
- 2010/05/10: BBroughton: National Post sued, and it's about time [Weaver]
Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:
- 2010/05/15: OilDrum: Summer Gasoline is Here Again
- 2010/05/15: PeakEnergy: Brazil Announces Large Offshore Oil Find
- 2010/05/15: AlterNet: 10 Reasons to Be Alarmed About Our Catastrophic Oil Addiction
- 2010/05/13: RRapier: Annual Energy Outlook 2010
- 2010/05/13: PhysOrg: Turning CO2 into fuel
With new fossil fuel power stations being built every week, and the idea of burying CO2 [carbon sequestration] regarded by many scientists as unproven or even unworkable, coming up with an alternative solution to what to do with CO2 is more pressing than ever. - 2010/05/12: HotTopic: Offshore wind beats oil
- 2010/05/12: EurActiv: Solar to generate 25% of world's electricity by 2050, IEA predicts
- 2010/05/12: ClimateP: Heritage concocts flawed analysis to demonstrate supposed harms of using renewable energy
- 2010/05/12: PlanetArk: GM And Hawaiian Gas Company Link For Hydrogen Fuel
General Motors Co and The Gas Company, a unit of Macquarie Infrastructure Co, will work together to develop a hydrogen fuel infrastructure to serve fuel cell vehicles in Hawaii, the companies announced on Tuesday. The Gas Company plans to separate hydrogen from its utility synthetic natural gas stream that runs through a 1,000-mile network of pipelines in Hawaii. Using this pipeline, the company could establish delivery points for hydrogen that could help start a fuel station network, the two companies said. - 2010/05/12: TreeHugger: Offshore Wind, Not Offshore Oil [Lester Brown]
- 2010/05/12: PeakEnergy: PG&E Dives Headlong Into Wave Power Project
- 2010/05/10: DemNow: Peter Maass on "Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil"
- 2010/05/10: Google:AFP: Arab world 'to remain key global energy source' [say Arabs]
- 2010/05/11: NewScientist: Plenty of wave energy to be harvested close to shore
- 2010/05/10: TEC: How Fast a Transition from Oil?
- 2010/05/11: PeakEnergy: City of Sydney embraces tri-generation power
This week in the Gee Whiz File:
- 2010/05/13: CBC: Scientists split water molecules by copying plants -- MIT research could lead to more efficient hydrogen fuel cells
- 2010/05/12: PhysOrg: MIT researchers harness the sun's power
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
- 2010/05/11: FuturePundit: Bright Future For Natural Gas From Shale Rock?
- 2010/05/12: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Another state reported to have poor enforcement of oil and gas rules: Colorado
- 2010/05/11: CBC: Major natural gas find in N.B.: Halifax company
The answer my friend...:
- 2010/05/15: BBerg: Suzlon Energy Sees 'Great Potential' for Middle East Wind Power
- 2010/05/12: Reuters: Suzlon sees down year for wind energy industry
Suzlon Wind Energy Corp, the world's third-largest maker of wind turbines, is facing a disappointing year in 2010, primarily due to reluctance by developers to move on new wind projects amid diminished demand. - 2010/05/12: BizGreen: Expanded offshore wind farms to power 1.4 million extra homes
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2010/05/14: SolveClimate: IEA Says U.S. Could Become Desert Solar Leader - With Right Incentives -- As Senate considers climate law, report says desert solar farms can be as cheap as coal by 2025
- 2010/05/12: PlanetArk: Solar Results Reflect Strong Demand, SunPower Slips
U.S. solar company SunPower posted a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, while German solar companies and a Chinese rival benefited from brisk demand for the renewable energy source. But solar stocks fell across the board as looming cuts in Germany's industry subsidies weighed on expectations. - 2010/05/12: PlanetArk: [China's JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd] Flips To Profit, Raises Outlook
- 2010/05/12: PlanetArk: Solar Can Provide 22 Percent World's Power By 2050: IEA
- 2010/05/12: TreeHugger: Breakthrough: 'Light Pipes' Increase the Performance of Organic Solar Cells by More than 100%
- 2010/05/11: WorldChanging: Worldchanger in Brazil: Jose Alano and DIY Solar Water Heaters
- 2010/05/12: PeakEnergy: Abengoa Begins Operation of 50MW Concentrating Solar Power Plant [in Spain]
- 2010/05/11: PeakEnergy: Solar Thermal Electricity
- 2010/05/10: GizMag: New metamaterial could lead to more efficient solar cells -- A negative-index metamaterial that bends light in the 'wrong' direction...
- 2010/05/10: TEC: Solar Photovoltaics for the U.S. Commercial Market -- New WRI Working Paper
On the coal front:
- 2010/05/13: ArkansasNews: Supreme Court upholds decision that voided coal plant permit
- 2010/05/10: IPSNews: Argentina: Adding More Coal to the Fire
- 2010/05/11: OilDrum: China's coal bubble...and how it will deflate U.S. efforts to develop "clean coal" [Heinberg]
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2010/05/10: RRapier: Some Random Notes of Algal Fuels
- 2010/05/12: Eureka: Biofuel combustion chemistry more complex than petroleum-based fuels
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2010/05/15: TEC: Commercial Nuclear Ships: A New Market for Uranium
- 2010/05/15: Ph&Ph: Case For Nuclear Power Plants In The US
- 2010/05/12: Reuters: Mexico eyes up to 10 new nuclear plants by 2028
- 2010/05/13: SciDaily: New Project Aims for Fusion Ignition: Ignitor Reactor Could Be World's First to Reach Major Milestone
- 2010/05/13: BNC: Pamphlets, talks and tweets on nuclear power and climate change
- 2010/05/12: CBC: North Korea claims success in nuclear fusion
- 2010/05/11: PhysOrg: New project aims for fusion ignition [Ignitor fusion reactor]
Russia and Italy have entered into an agreement to build a new fusion reactor outside Moscow that could become the first such reactor to achieve ignition, the point where a fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining instead of requiring a constant input of energy. The design for the reactor, called Ignitor, originated with MIT physics professor Bruno Coppi, who will be the project's principal investigator. - 2010/05/10: NBF: World Nuclear Power 2009 and 2010
Yes we have peak everything:
- 2010/05/15: ClimateP: Peak oil production coming sooner than expected -- Media, public, governments unprepared...
- 2010/05/15: TEC: It's The End of the World (As We Know It)
- 2010/05/14: EnergyBulletin: How long will the coal last?
- 2010/05/13: EnergyBulletin: Peak soil: it's like peak oil, only worse
- 2010/05/10: CCurrents: Peak Relationships: The End Of Suburbia Up Close And Personal
- 2010/05/11: CCurrents: It's Worse Than You Think: Plotting Global Hydrocarbon Collapse
- 2010/05/11: EnergyBulletin: It's worse than you think: plotting global hydrocarbon collapse
More people are talking about the electrical grid:
- 2010/05/13: Tyee: Here Comes the 'Smart Grid' Way to Save Power
- 2010/05/15: PeakEnergy: Building a North Sea Supergrid
- 2010/05/13: PeakEnergy: PG&E admits to flaws in some smart meters
- 2010/05/10: SciAm: The Start-Up Pains of a Smarter Electricity Grid
- 2010/05/12: TEC: The smart grid and the need for privacy protection, now rather than later
- 2010/05/12: DerSpiegel: Smart Grid 2.0 -- Building the Internet of Energy Supply
The electricity industry is spending billions on building new, transnational power lines to harness electricity from renewable energy sources. The intelligent grid is designed to make distribution more reliable and efficient, but are consumers playing along? - 2010/05/15: SciDaily: New Energy-Efficient Insulation for Electrical Wires
- 2010/05/13: SolveClimate: Explosive Growth for LED Lights in Next Decade, Report Says
- 2010/05/13: TreeHugger: OLED Chandelier Brings a New Level of Fancy to Homes
- 2010/05/12: KSJT: CNET, FastCompany, etc: A new LED lightbulb. It's efficient. It's EXPENSIVE. It's a story we've heard before, will hear again.
- 2010/05/10: SciAm: A Spin on Efficiency: Generating Tomorrow's Electricity from Better Turbines
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2010/05/13: FuturePundit: Pluggable Prius Conversion -- Dexter Ford drives a converted plug-in hybrid Toyota Prius
- 2010/05/15: PeakEnergy: Electric Vehicles: Charging Ahead
- 2010/05/13: BBerg: Suzuki to Make Plug-In Hybrids Using Sanyo Batteries
Suzuki Motor Corp., Japan's second- largest minicar maker, plans to introduce a plug-in hybrid version of its Swift compact car using batteries supplied by Sanyo Electric Co., the automaker said. Suzuki dealerships in Japan will test 60 units of the car in the second half of this year, the company said in a statement in Tokyo today. The vehicle runs 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) on a fully charged battery and will have a 0.66 liter engine to generate electricity, Suzuki said, without saying when or where the car may go on sale. - 2010/05/12: AutoBG: Will more electric cars lead to disappearance of hybrids? Not for a good long while
- 2010/05/12: AutoBG: AFVI 2010: E-Max electric scooters are apparently "loved by nature"
- 2010/05/10: CSM: Can electric cars break out of niche status in US, China market?
- 2010/05/10: AutoBG: Think thinks electric car buyers are ready to trade range for price
Lou puts his finger on a vital question:
- 2010/05/14: AutoBG: New study expects electric vehicles to only be 2-5% of market by 2020
- 2010/05/14: TEC: Projecting EV market share
[...]
What did the consulting company assume the price of gasoline would be in 10 years? - 2010/05/12: TreeHugger: Potentially Game-Changing Zinc-Air Battery Tech Gets ARPA-E Financing
- 2010/05/12: AutoBG: Oregon-based Revolt Technology receives $5 million from DOE to develop zinc-air batteries
- 2010/05/11: AutoBG: Study: The future of electric vehicles could ride on lithium-air batteries
Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:
- 2010/05/14: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for May 14...
- 2010/05/13: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for May 13...
- 2010/05/12: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for May 12...
- 2010/05/11: ClimateP: Energy and Environmental News for May 11...
- 2010/05/10: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for May 10...
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2010/05/16: CIP: An Answer For Lumo and Neutrino -- More on lapse rates of planetary atmospheres [Motl alert]
- 2010/05/14: DeepClimate: How to be a climate science auditor, part 2: The forgotten climategate emails
- 2010/05/14: CIP: About Lapse Rates in Planetary Atmospheres [Motl alert]
- 2010/05/15: HotTopic: Doug digs denial
- 2010/05/14: MoD: Denier Facepalm of the day
- 2010/05/14: IJISH: Climate inactivist Tom Harris totally misses the point
- 2010/05/14: CCP: Remarkable Insight Into the Climate Denial Machine
- 2010/05/14: Deltoid: Tony Abbott and the Roman Warm Period
- 2010/05/13: Guardian(UK): Glenn Beck holds up Maurice Strong as evidence of 'global government' conspiracy
- 2010/05/13: ClassM: The fuss over the Photoshopped polar bear ...
- 2010/05/13: KSJT: Telegraph: Readers scoff, even worse than usual, at news tying climate change to total disaster in a few hundred years
- 2010/05/13: Deltoid: Monckton's PCC complaint rejected
- 2010/05/13: DeSmogBlog: Denial-a-palooza Round 4: 'International Conference on Climate Change' Groups Funded by Exxon, Koch Industries
- 2010/05/12: CIP: Venus if you will [Motl alert]
- 2010/05/12: CC: Goddard's world [Venus]
- 2010/05/12: ClimateP: Heritage concocts flawed analysis to demonstrate supposed harms of using renewable energy
- 2010/05/11: DeepClimate: How to be a climate auditor, part 1: Pretty pictures
- 2010/05/12: Deltoid: Rose and McIntyre
- 2010/05/11: AFTIC: Many Matters Monckton
- 2010/05/11: Deltoid: Camille Paglia is an idiot
- 2010/05/10: ERabett: The very dry, very adiabatic lapse rate
- 2010/05/10: Deltoid: Roy Spencer's Great Photoshop Blunder
- 2010/05/10: Tamino: Goddard's Folly
- 2010/05/09: CSW: The Denial Machine: Interview on KPFK-FM Los Angeles
- 2010/05/09: Deltoid: Monckton's testimony to Congress
- 2010/05/09: EnergyBulletin: Climate change science and denial [NAS "Stabilization Targets for Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Concentrations" report]
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2010/05/15: EnergyBulletin: Open letter: How to get to 350ppm by Joanne Poyourow
- 2010/05/15: JEB: Climate Physics forum
- 2010/05/10: Euractiv: Brown: US climate bill or not, the world is on track
- 2010/05/14: SolveClimate: New Study Measures Total Environmental Degradation, Not Just CO2 Pollution -- Country by country analysis yields unexpected rankings, suggests new policy directions
- 2010/05/13: Grist: 16 tips for avoiding climate burnout
- 2010/05/10: CCurrents: Earth Still Needs A Chance
- 2010/05/10: DVoice: All Earth is Alive and Akin
- 2010/05/11: ClassM: Hot enough for you?
- 2010/05/11: EurActiv: Climate guru: US bill or not, the green economy is on track
Leaders did not deliver an international agreement in Copenhagen and the US is dragging its feet on a climate bill, but all is not lost as positive action on reducing carbon emissions is developing quickly and we are rapidly approaching the climate-energy tipping point, American climate guru Lester Brown told EurActiv in an exclusive interview. "If we can get a good climate bill [in the US], then great. If we don't get one, it is not the end of the world, because we will still be closing coal-fired power plants and we are still going to be building wind farms,"Brown said, speaking ahead of the Brussels launch of his new book, Plan B 4.0. According to Brown, who founded Washington-based think-tank the Worldwatch Institute and heads now the Earth Policy Institute, international negotiations to deliver a global deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol are "obsolete", as the key driver for lowering emissions will instead be genuine competition in developing new energy technology. - 2010/05/10: NYT:CW: When Clean Energy Grants Run Out, Will a 'Green Bank' Take Over?
- 2010/05/10: LA Times: Climate change is the true crisis
West Virginia's mining disaster and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill were disastrous and investigations are justified, but the real threat is much worse. - Adopt a Negotiator -- tracking climate negotiators on the road to Copenhagen
- COP16 - MEXICO 2010
- The Dark Mountain Project
- CPF: Climate Physics Forums
- Catlin Arctic Survey
- One Billion Hungry
- moyhu
- The Science of Doom -- Putting Climate Science in Perspective
- Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
- World Radiation Centre
- NGDC.NOAA: Solar Irradiance Data
- Exxpose Exxon
- IPCC: National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme
Here's a chuckle for ya:
As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:
Regarding Colony Collapse Disorder:
As for the temperature record:
And then there are the world's forests:
Sea levels are rising:
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
While at the UN:
And on the carbon trading front:
The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:
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!
Regarding Water Politics and Business:
Kerry-Lieberman introduced the American Power Act [APA] this week:
And in Europe:
Meanwhile in Australia:
In the Middle East:
And South America:
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
The Tories are not going to budge until the Yanks tell them what to agree to:
The Syncrude Trial drags on:
More on that two-headed Arctic Park proposal:
What are the climate change impacts in BC?
As for miscellaneous Canadiana:
As for how the media handles the science of climatology:
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
As for Energy Storage:
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
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.
<merde alors!>
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 casual reader might have the impression that there are real doubts about whether emissions can be reduced without inflicting severe damage on the economy. In fact, once you filter out the noise generated by special-interest groups, you discover that there is widespread agreement among environmental economists that a market-based program to deal with the threat of climate change -- one that limits carbon emissions by putting a price on them -- can achieve large results at modest, though not trivial, cost." -Paul Krugman
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