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 Disruption News
Information overload is pattern recognition
June 27, 2010
- Chuckles, Post etc., G8/G20, APEC, MEF, Anderegg, Urban Heat
- Bottom Line, Subsidies, Weathermen, IPCC Review, IPCC 5 Authors, Post CRU, Late Comments
- Melting Arctic, Geopolitics, Antarctica
- Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Land Grabs, IP Issues, Food Production
- Hurricanes, GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures, Aerosols, Paleoclimate, ENSO, Solar, Satellites
- Impacts, Forests, Tornadoes, Wildfires, Corals, Acidification, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
- Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration
- Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, Hansen
- UN, Carbon Tax, Bank Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
- International Politics: Misc., Security, Law & Activism, Polls, Water Politics & Business
- National Politics: America, Anti-AB32, BP Gulf Disaster, Keystone-XL
- Obama, USAdmin, Congress, Climate Bill, Lobbyists, Al Gore
- Britain, Europe, Rudd Out, Gillard In, Australia, India, Asia, Russia, South America
- Canada, G8/G20, Women's Rights, Arctic Drilling, Arctic Park, Syncrude Trial, Coal
- Ignatieff, Apology, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Ontario, Maritimes, North, Canadiana
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts, GM Alfalfa, Moratorium
- Energy, Fracking, Wind, Solar, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
- Business, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
- 2010/06/25: Seppo: (cartoon - Seppo) A Midsummer Night's Dream!
- 2010/06/21: Seppo: (cartoon - Seppo) Enormous leak of brand new PB logos
- 2010/06/23: Grist: Big Pork squeals over unicorn-meat marketing. Yes, unicorn meat.
- 2010/06/22: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) And we'd like to aplogize...
- 2010/06/22: ClimateP: (cartoon - Toles) More BP humor...Barton apology
- 2010/06/22: MTobis: (cartoon - xkcd) Do the Media Inform?
- 2010/06/21: XKCD: (cartoon - xkcd) Public Opinion
- 2010/06/21: TCoE: (cartoon - Chappatte) Coming (soon?) to a planet near you
Post Bonn, post Copenhagen, post Yvo de Boer:
- 2010/06/24: TerraDaily: UN talks chief 'appalled' over climate change response
Outgoing UN climate chief Yvo de Boer said Thursday he was "appalled" at the international community's response to climate change, after the failure of last year's Copenhagen summit on global warming. "The one thing that has appalled me most is to witness the degree to which the international community is cutting off its nose to spite its face," he told a Hong Kong business conference sponsored by The Economist magazine. "(The world) is behaving as though climate change is somebody else's problem... This is in the collective interest and it's a collective challenge," the Dutch national said. "Unless we deal with that challenge ... we really are in big trouble." De Boer's blunt assessment came a week before steps down from the UN post to take a climate advisory job at international consulting firm KPMG. - 2010/06/23: TStar: Canada commits $400M to climate change fund [under Copenhagen Accord]
- 2010/06/21: Yale360: Despite Rough Ride on Climate, Yvo de Boer Departs an Optimist
Even after the failure to reach agreement on binding CO2 cuts in Copenhagen last December, the United Nations' outgoing chief climate negotiator is confident that the world is making progress on global warming. The key, he says, is convincing all nations, particularly developing ones, that tackling climate change is in their long-term economic interest. - 2010/06/25: UNDispatch: Canada, Maternal Health & the G8/G20
- 2010/06/26: Rabble:GS: Climate Action Network reacts to G8 communiqué
- 2010/06/26: DawgsBlawg: Best G20 poster so far
- 2010/06/25: EUO: Canadians object to G20's $1 billion bill
- 2010/06/25: TStar: [G8/G20] Talks could end deadlock on emissions deal
World leaders will give final approval on a plan to radically overhaul the global climate change debate at summit meetings in Toronto this weekend in the hope of breaking the deadlock in talks for an international emissions-reduction deal, the Toronto Star has learned. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has tried to downplay any talk of climate change at the meetings, preferring to focus on the economy. But environmental stalwarts Brazil and Germany are forging ahead with the creation of a high-level panel made up of heads of state, government ministers and eminent individuals to advance troubled negotiations to cut the world's greenhouse gas emissions and halt global warming. - 2010/06/24: Reuters: Green economy lags, G20 can be new spur-UNEP
- 2010/06/24: BizGreen: Leaked G20 text reveals prominent role for climate change -- But draft communiqué also suggests plan to phase out fossil fuel subsidies will be watered down
- 2010/06/25: EarthTimes: G8 summit divided over climate ambition, papers show
- 2010/06/24: EarthTimes: Environment group pushes G8 on climate funding
- 2010/06/24: PlanetArk: G20 Tackles Fuel Subsidies Again, With Caveats: Draft
- 2010/06/24: Grist: G20 may punt on fossil-fuel subsidies in Toronto
- 2010/06/24: Grist: Hoping for a shakeup at the G8/G20
- 2010/06/22: OPSEU: OPSEU to support Robin Hood Tax at G20 rally
- 2010/06/24: BuckDog: International Media Takes Note Of 'Billion Dollar Boondoggle' For G8/G20 Summit
- 2010/06/23: NRDC:SwitchBoard: G20 Leaders to Meet and Discuss Global Warming...but only a little bit
- 2010/06/23: EarthTimes: G20 summit to backtrack on fossil-fuel subsidies, Greenpeace says
- 2010/06/22: CBC: Europeans float bank tax -- Proposal comes ahead of Toronto G20 summit
APEC had a meeting in Fukui, Japan:
- 2010/06/19: APEC: Fukui Declaration on low carbon paths to energy security: cooperative energy solutions for a sustainable APEC
- 2010/06/23: SolveClimate: Without a High Price on Carbon, Energy Ministers' Wish for 'Clean Coal' Boom is Elusive
At [APEC] meeting in [Fukui, Japan] Asia, expectation of a long future for coal as a primary energy source - 2010/06/25: IndiaTimes: Top emitters [MEF] meet in Rome to iron out climate issues [June 30]
The Anderegg et al. study has generated a lot of comment:
- 2010/06/21: PNAS: Expert credibility in climate change by William R. L. Anderegg et al.
- 2010/06/26: BSD: Roger Pielke Jr. incorrectly ties flawed Inhofe list to a good study of climate researchers
- 2010/06/25: MongaBay: Most climate change doubters lack expertise
- 2010/06/25: Eureka: Scientific expertise lacking among 'doubters' of climate change, says Stanford-led analysis [Anderegg]
- 2010/06/24: MTobis: Jim Prall on Romm's
- 2010/06/24: QuarkSoup: The "Blacklist" Paper
- 2010/06/24: KSJT: Lots of Ink: Two stories in that PNAS report that says climate-is-changing crowd bigger, better than nay-sayers
- 2010/06/24: RealClimate: What do climate scientists think?
- 2010/06/23: QuarkSoup: Romm's Horrible Advice
- 2010/06/23: Stoat: I'm more cited [than] James!
- 2010/06/22: BBoard: Godwins Law: stasi-esque? yellow badges?
- 2010/06/23: BBoard: Skeptic Yellow Badge
- 2010/06/23: MTobis: Denyosphere Jumps the Shark
- 2010/06/22: SciAm: Experto Crede: Climate Expertise Lacking among Global Warming Contrarians
A majority of scientists who dispute global warming lack the climatological expertise to do so - 2010/06/23: TEC: Denyosphere Jumps the Shark
- 2010/06/23: HotTopic: Sceptics face yawning credibility gap
- 2010/06/22: GreenHerring: Early reactions to Anderegg et al in PNAS
- 2010/06/22: TCoE: This just in: Few deniers are real experts, but they sure can whine
- 2010/06/22: TWTB: Roger Pielke Jr. crying wolf. Again.
- 2010/06/22: ClassM: The credibility factor
- 2010/06/21: ClimateP: New study reaffirms broad scientific understanding of climate change, questions media's reliance on tiny group of less-credibile scientists for "balance"
- 2010/06/22: SkeptiSci: How many climate scientists are climate skeptics?
- 2010/06/22: ClimateShifts: Expert credibility in climate change: not all climate research and expertise are equal [Anderegg]
- 2010/06/21: ScienceInsider: Scientists 'Convinced' of Climate Consensus More Prominent Than Opponents, Says Paper [Anderegg]
- 2010/06/22: TreeHugger: 97% of Scientists Still Agree: Man is Causing Climate Change
- 2010/06/22: DM:CCM: The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change: Stronger and Stronger
- 2010/06/22: BBC: Study examines scientists' 'climate credibility'
- 2010/06/22: CanWest: Credibility of climate change skeptics disputed -- Unproven expertise; Many haven't had work peer-reviewed: study [Anderegg]
The hundreds of academics who sign warnings for politicians to delay action on slashing greenhouse gas emissions do not have the same expertise as those who say human activity is causing global warming, says a new study to be released today in the Proceedings of the U.S. National Academy of Scientists. - 2010/06/21: C-a-S: The Climate Experts
- 2010/06/21: DeSmogBlog: Stanford Study Exposes Lack of Credibility and Expertise Among Climate Skeptics
- 2010/06/21: Guardian(UK): Why don't we trust climate scientists?
New study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals huge disparities in the 'relative scientific credibility' of the opposing sides of the climate change debate A new study shows 97% of climate scientists agree that we are changing the climate. - 2010/06/21: UCSUSA: New Study Reaffirms Scientific Consensus on Climate Change
- 2010/06/21: CSW: New study finds striking level of agreement among climate experts on anthropogenic climate change
Here is a study that is apt to get misreported:
- 2010/06/23: EHP: Urban Form and Extreme Heat Events: Are Sprawling Cities more Vulnerable to Climate Change than Compact Cities? by Brian Stone et al.
- 2010/06/26: RA: Sprawling Cities Getting Hotter Faster
- 2010/06/24: TreeHugger: Sprawling US Cities Heating Twice as Fast as Dense Ones
- 2010/06/23: CBC: City heat outpaces countryside, study finds
A new British study suggests that cities are getting hotter faster than rural areas as populations increase amid general global warming. - 2010/06/21: TEC: Steve Zwick: Paying for nature's services
- 2010/06/21: AutoBG: What's the "real" cost of gas? Dollar figures don't tell the whole story
Who's getting the subsidies?
- 2010/06/25: BBC: India to scrap petrol subsidies
I'm sure there will be some chatter about this:
- 2010/06/26: PhysOrg: What Weathermen Know About Climate Change
Climate change is a topic that impacts the weather not only globally, but also locally. While some people may be concerned about the melting ice sheets at the far corners of the Earth, what most really want to know is "how will global warming affect me?" -- and they often turn to their local weatherperson to find out. A study released today study by the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication in Fairfax, Va., showed that 27 percent of broadcast meteorologists -- who are, according to the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, "often the most visible representatives of science in U.S. households" -- believe that global warming is a scam. - 2010/06/23: ERabett: Yet another modest suggestion
- 2010/06/22: ERabett: Eli has a small suggestion for changing the IPCC...
The IPCC has named the IPPC report 5 authors:
- 2010/06/23: USGS: USGS Scientists Among Lead Authors Named for Next IPCC Report
- 2010/06/25: CSW: IPCC, key target of war on climate science, announces 831 experts to author Fifth Assessment Report
- 2010/06/24: ClimateShifts: University of Queensland Scientist [Ove Hoegh-Guldberg] named Coordinating Lead Author for next IPCC report
- 2010/06/24: NatureTGB: IPCC appoints new experts
- 2010/06/23: Yahoo:AP: UN climate panel names authors for 5th report in 2014
The U.N. science body on climate change has released a list of 831 scientists who will write its fifth report on global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change received 3,000 nominations and the authors were drawn from fields including meteorology, physics, oceanography, statistics, engineering and economics, the Nobel Prize-winning body said. - 2010/06/25: Newsweek: Newspapers Retract 'Climategate' Claims, but Damage Still Done
- 2010/06/25: SolveClimate: 'Sorry' State of Affairs: Climate Scientists Collecting Official Apologies from Attackers
Demanding retractions for defamation or wrong accusations, scientists finding vindication, though damage has been done - 2010/06/24: DeSmogBlog: George Monbiot Rips UK Sunday Times For 'Amazongate' Lies And Stonewalling
- 2010/06/23: IJISH: SwiftHacker was searching for CRU e-mails about ... tree rings? And Michael Mann?
- 2010/06/22: ScienceInsider: As Climate Scientists Battle the Press, One Receives Rare Apology From Paper
- 2010/06/21: Guardian(UK): Sunday Times apologises for false climate story in a 'correction'
- 2010/06/21: ClassM: Oops. The Sunday Times apologizes
- 2010/06/21: MongaBay: Amazongate fraud
- 2010/06/21: NatureTGB: UK paper apologises for 'bogus' climate change claim
- 2010/06/21: Deltoid: Leakegate: Corrections needed from ...
- 2010/06/21: TreeHugger: File Under It's Never Too Late To Say You're Sorry. Sunday Times Apologizes to IPCC
- 2010/06/20: Deltoid: Sunday Times shamed by bogus Jonathan Leake story, retracts it
- 2010/06/21: WtD: A line in the sand: calling journalists to account via formal complaint processes
- 2010/06/21: HotTopic: Sunday Times apologises for "Amazongate" misinformation
- 2010/06/20: ClimateP: Sunday Times retracts and apologizes for shameful and bogus Amazon story smearing IPCC
- 2010/06/20: RealClimate: Leakegate: A retraction
Late coverage of the Beeville hoax:
- 2010/06/20: MTobis: A Touch of Beeville
- 2010/06/20: MTobis: See No Beeville, Hear No Beeville
Late Comment on IPBES:
- 2010/06/22: WorldChanging: IPBES -- A New Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:
- 2010/06/26: GEB: Sea Ice Loss Stuns Scientists
- 2010/06/25: CCP: DailyKos: Arctic Sea Ice Meltdown Accelerates
- 2010/06/24: CCP: Andrew Freedman: Arctic sea ice melting unusually fast
- 2010/06/24: ASI: Sea ice extent update 7: on your marks, get set...
- 2010/06/23: SolveClimate: NASA: May's Melting of Arctic Ice Close to Speed of July -- Ice is thinning, with holes like Swiss cheese, even faster than its area is shrinking
- 2010/06/24: Eureka: Sea ice in the Arctic does not recover
Researchers from German Alfred Wegener Institute and KlimaCampus present forecasts on September minimum - 2010/06/22: ARCUS: September Sea Ice Outlook: June Report
- 2010/06/24: SkeptiSci: September 2010 Arctic Ice Extent Handicapping Via ARCUS
- 2010/06/23: ASI: Animation 3: Beaufort Sea
- 2010/06/23: AFTIC: Arctic sea ice headed for a new record?
- 2010/06/22: ASI: SEARCH September sea ice outlook: June report
- 2010/06/22: CCP: Arctic Sea Ice Volume Anomaly from ICEsat data, June 16, 2010
- 2010/06/21: ASI: Sea ice extent update 6: a pinch of white
- 2010/06/20: ASI: Daily graphs and maps
As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:
- 2010/06/24: Ecologist: With all eyes on BP, others are busy drilling deep elsewhere...
While BP is facing billion-dollar lawsuits in the US, another British company, Cairn Energy, is beginning drilling off the coast of Greenland [in Iceberg Alley] - 2010/06/24: ProPublica: BP's Plan For Controversial Arctic Drilling Project
- 2010/06/23: NYT: BP Is Pursuing Alaska Drilling Some Call Risky
- 2010/06/24: ProPublica: Moratorium Won't Stop Unprecedented BP Project in the Arctic
- 2010/06/23: PlanetArk: Canada Set To Track Ships Using Northwest Passage
- 2010/06/22: CBC: Arctic vessels must register in Canada
Large ships entering Canada's Arctic waters will soon have to report to the Canadian Coast Guard, Fisheries Minister Gail Shea announced Tuesday. Under new regulations starting July 1, certain foreign and domestic vessels must register with the coast guard's Arctic marine traffic system, known as NORDREG. - 2010/06/23: Canoe: Harper deals with new Arctic rival: China
While in Antarctica:
- 2010/06/26: NewScientist: [Antarctica's Pine Island] Ice shelf was kept intact by underwater ridge
- 2010/06/23: SpaceDaily: New Light On Antarctica's Melting Pine Island Glacier
- 2010/06/21: DM:80B: Robot Sub Dives Deep for Clues to a Fast-Melting Antarctic [Pine Island] Glacier
- 2010/06/20: TCoE: News from beneath Antarctica -- Ridge clue to Antarctic ice loss
- 2010/06/20: BBC: Ridge clue to Antarctic ice loss
The discovery of an underwater ridge in West Antarctica could help explain why there has been an acceleration in the ice flowing from a glacier in the area. Researchers suggest that the base of Pine Island Glacier once sat on the ridge, but recently became detached from the feature. - 2010/06/22: WFP: Chad: More Than Half Of Families At Risk Of Hunger
- 2010/06/21: FAO: Urgent assistance for 2.8 million farmers and pastoralists in Niger -- FAO response to food crisis in Sahel
- 2010/06/24: CCurrents: Famine Imperils The Lives Of Millions In West Africa -- For The Abolition Of Class Society
- 2010/06/21: SeedDaily: Aid agencies appeal for funds to stop Africa food crisis
- 2010/06/22: WUSTL: In elevated carbon dioxide, soybeans stumble but cheatgrass keeps on truckin' -- Study raises concerns for agriculture
- 2010/06/22: BBC: Loss of bees could be 'a blow to UK economy'
If bees and other pollinators were to disappear completely, the cost to the UK economy could be up to £440m per year, scientists have warned. This amounts to about 13% of the country's income from farming. - 2010/06/21: UN: UN supports farming projects to alleviate grave food crisis in Niger
- 2010/06/20: BBC: Aid agencies launch Niger appeal
Two major aid agencies have launched $10m (£6.7m) appeals for drought-stricken Niger in West Africa. About seven million people - half of the country's population - face food shortages after crop failures last year. - 2010/06/25: SolveClimate: As Cars and People Compete for Grain, Price of Grain and Oil Move Together by Lester R. Brown
World's poorest 2 billion people have new risk of hunger - 2010/06/22: FAO: Alternatives to large land acquisitions in developing nations -- New report analyses how partnerships benefit both big investors and small farmers
Look out! the IP Rentiers are coming!
- 2010/06/22: DerSpiegel: 'Limits We Should Not Cross' -- Germany Takes Stand against Patents on Plants and Animals
German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner has spoken out against the patenting of varieties of livestock and plants. Her comments come as the European Patent Office prepares to rule in a test case with far-reaching implications for biological patents in Europe. - 2010/06/24: WFP: Ethiopia: Farmers Break Down Barriers To Markets
- 2010/06/24: WFP: Kyrgyzstan Operation Streams Food To Hungry
- 2010/06/25: FAO: Seeds for 100 000 farmers in Burkina Faso -- FAO and EU bolster support to drought ridden Sahel
- 2010/06/25: NBF: Perennial Grains Are Set to Transform Farming But Need Resources Equal to Biofuel Effort to Accelerate Development and Global Deployment
- 2010/06/25: UN: Burkinabè farmers receive better seeds as part of UN effort to bolster food security
- 2010/06/25: CBC: Toxic metals in whales threat to humans: study
- 2010/06/24: RawStory: Biologist: Ocean pollution 'threatening the human food supply'
- 2010/06/24: NewScientist: Vital fruit and berry collection set for destruction
- 2010/06/24: PhysOrg: Agriculture's next revolution -- perennial grain -- within sight
Earth-friendly perennial grain crops, which grow with less fertilizer, herbicide, fuel, and erosion than grains planted annually, could be available in two decades, according to researchers writing in the current issue of the journal Science. Perennial grains would be one of the largest innovations in the 10,000 year history of agriculture, and could arrive even sooner with the right breeding programs, said John Reganold, Washington State University (WSU) Regents professor of soil science and lead author of the paper with Jerry Glover, a WSU-trained soil scientist now at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. - 2010/06/23: UN: Niger: UN relief chief urges donors to respond quickly to food crisis
- 2010/06/22: Grist: Raising water productivity to increase food security [Lester Brown]
- 2010/06/22: TreeHugger: Raising Water Productivity to Increase Food Security
- 2010/06/22: Eureka: Environmental scandal in Chile [fish farming salmon]
- 2010/06/22: OilDrum: Energy Use in the US & Global Agri-Food Systems: Implications for Sustainable Agriculture
- 2010/06/21: PhysOrg: Increasing potato production: Using soil structure and chemistry to define yield influences
Despite sophisticated nutrient management of potato crops, quality and yield still see wide variability. Although nutrients are already well understood, the influence of other environmental factors remains understudied. - 2010/06/21: PhysOrg: Rice yields researched to tackle food security issues
A pioneering project in the Philippines, which aims to develop a new, higher-yielding rice plant which could ease the threat of hunger for the poor, is being led by an academic at the University of Sheffield. - 2010/06/21: CBC: Roundup-resistant weeds pose threat
When the weed killer Roundup was introduced in the 1970s, it proved it could kill nearly any plant, while still being safer than many other herbicides, and it allowed farmers to give up harsher chemicals and reduce tilling that can contribute to erosion. But 24 years later, a few sturdy species of weed resistant to Roundup have evolved, and that's forcing farmers to return to some of the less environmentally safe practices they abandoned decades ago. - 2010/06/25: Eureka: NASA infrared imagery shows well-defined eye in Category 5 Celia
- 2010/06/25: Eureka: GOES-13 captures 2 major hurricanes: Darby trailing Celia
- 2010/06/24: Eureka: NASA infrared imagery hinted Darby would become a hurricane
- 2010/06/23: Eureka: NASA's infrared satellite imagery sees Tropical Storm Darby form quickly
- 2010/06/24: TerraDaily: Celia upgraded to major hurricane, new Pacific storm [Darby] forms
- 2010/06/24: GlobalPost: Hurricane Darby forms in Pacific off Mexico
- 2010/06/23: PhysOrg: NASA satellites see Hurricane Celia strengthen and open an eye
- 2010/06/21: TerraDaily: Hurricane Celia gathers strength far off Mexican coast
- 2010/06/22: Eureka: NASA's TRMM satellite sees Hurricane Celia's moderate rainfall
- 2010/06/21: Eureka: NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites view Tropical Storms Blas and Celia
- 2010/06/20: BBC: First hurricane of 2010 Pacific season [Celia] forms off Mexico
Alex has spun up in the Caribbean:
- 2010/06/26: Wunderground: Tropical Storm Alex bears down on the Yucatan; extreme heat for Africa and Russia
- 2010/06/26: Wunderground: Act I, Scene I, Tropical Depression One of the Hurricane Season of 2010
- 2010/06/26: CBC: Tropical storm forms in Caribbean -- Unclear if it will affect Gulf oil spill
- 2010/06/26: CNN: Tropical storm, oil slick equal more fear, uncertainty
- 2010/06/26: EarthTimes: BP disaster region braces for tropical storm Alex
- 2010/06/26: OilDrum: Gulf of Mexico Storm Watch
- 2010/06/25: CBS: Gulf Coast Faces First Tropical Weather Test
Forecasters Eye Tropical Depression in the Atlantic, Officials Worry about Impact on the Oil Spill - 2010/06/25: PBPost: First tropical depression of the 2010 Atlantic season forms in the Caribbean
- 2010/06/25: McClatchyDC: A Gulf gale might halt BP oil collection efforts for two weeks
- 2010/06/25: DWWSJ: Trouble Brewing In The Western Caribbean?
- 2010/06/25: Wunderground: 93L near tropical depression strength
- 2010/06/25: EarthTimes: BP disaster region keeps wary eye on tropical storm
- 2010/06/25: Eureka: Expecting Tropical Depression Alex in the Caribbean [93L]
- 2010/06/25: CBC: Weather newest worry in Gulf oil cleanup
- 2010/06/24: Wunderground: 93L still disorganized; extreme heat wave hits the Middle East and Africa
- 2010/06/23: Wunderground: Little change to 93L; Brazilian floods kill 42
- 2010/06/22: Wunderground: 93L slow to develop, but bringing heavy rains to Haiti
- 2010/06/21: Wunderground: New Caribbean disturbance 93L a major concern; flooding in Asia kills over 200
- 2010/06/22: TGBeaver: BP... meet Invest 93L
- 2010/06/21: Wunderground: New Caribbean disturbance 93L a major concern; flooding in Asia kills over 200
While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
- 2010/06/25: CCP: OMG Moment - Sea surface temps near India, Southeast Asia, Western Pacific
- 2010/06/23: PlanetArk: WSI Ups 2010 Hurricane Forecast To 20 Named Storms
- 2010/06/21: TDG: How Destructive will the 2010 Hurricane Season Be?
As for GHGs:
- 2010/06/24: MTobis: Giving the Devil his Due
- 2010/06/22: TSoD: Venusian Mysteries -- Part Two
And in the carbon cycle:
- 2010/06/24: ASA: Scientists Question EPA Estimates of Greenhouse Gas Emissions -- Anaerobic manure treatment lagoons may release more methane than current rules allow
- 2010/06/23: PhysOrg: Researchers discover source of essential nutrients for mid-ocean algae
As for the temperature record:
- 2010/06/26: CCP: Satellite Temperatures, June 2010: MSU/AMSU Channel TLT Brightness Temperature Anomaly
- 2010/06/24: WtD: Nothing to see, move along (Part 3)
- 2010/06/23: PlanetJames: 2010 Shaping Up To Be Warmest Year
- 2010/06/23: MongaBay: 2010 the second hottest year on record through May
- 2010/06/22: CCP: NSIDC: June 6, 2010: Air Temperature Anomaly May 2010
Aerosols are making their presence felt:
- 2010/06/25: TreeHugger: Ignoring Soot Pollution Means We're 8 More Years Behind Schedule in Tackling Climate Change
- 2010/06/23: EurActiv: Black carbon's global warming role 'still unproven'
The fine dust particles emitted from burning wood or fuel, referred to as black carbon, are "likely to play a role in climate change" but should not divert attention away from carbon dioxide, EU officials said. - 2010/06/25: SciDaily: Global Wind Shifts May Have Ushered in Warmer Climate at End of Last Ice Age
- 2010/06/24: PhysOrg: Higher wetland methane emissions caused by climate warming 40,000 years ago
While on the ENSO front:
- 2010/06/22: NASA:JPL: Adios El Niño, Hello La Niña?
Regarding the solar hypothesis:
- 2010/06/21: CCP: Solar Dynamics Observatory's photos of the sun show end of solar minimum -- A Sleeping Giant Awakens
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
- 2010/06/22: NASA:JPL: NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 Mission
- 2010/06/22: BBC: Europe's next-gen polar weather satellites twin up
The next-generation of Europe's polar orbiting weather satellites will fly in a two-spacecraft configuration. Eumetsat, the organisation that operates Europe's weather observatories, took the decision at its latest council meeting in Rome.
[...]
The present EPS has so far launched just the one platform, Metop-A, which went into space in 2006. Two reserve satellites, Metop-B and Metop-C, are built and held in storage. They are likely to fly in 2012 and 2016 to give continuity to the programme. - 2010/06/25: TP:WR: Global Boiling: June Brings Climate Destruction Predicted By Scientists
- 2010/06/25: NewScientist: Climate change is leaving us with extra space junk
- 2010/06/24: Eureka: Climate change complicates plant diseases of the future
- 2010/06/24: Eureka: Ecological change in the abyss -- the Amperima event
- 2010/06/23: Grist: Spotlight: David Inouye, ecologist -- Wildflower bloom times and climate change
- 2010/06/22: TDC: New England's stately oaks and hemlocks give way as the region warms
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2010/06/24: Yale360: In the Battle to Save Forests, Activists Target Corporations
Large corporations, not small-scale farmers, are now the major forces behind the destruction of the world's tropical forests. From the Amazon to Madagascar, activists have been directing their actions at these companies -- so far with limited success. - 2010/06/21: BBC: Edinburgh experts to monitor how trees absorb CO2
Scientists from Edinburgh University are to take to the skies to gain a clearer picture of how the world's forests could alleviate climate change. - 2010/06/24: CBC: Tornado rips through Midland, Ont. -- Environment Canada confirms destruction was wrought by a twister
- 2010/06/23: CBC: Suspected tornado hits Ont. community
At least five people were reportedly injured when what Environment Canada suspects was a tornado ripped through a trailer park in Midland, Ont., causing extensive damage. - 2010/06/22: WaPo: Storms spew funnel clouds, flash floods in Midwest
- 2010/06/21: BBC: Tornado rips roof off sports arena in [Billings] Montana
- 2010/06/21: WTSP: Billings tornado video, photos
Billings, Montana - A tornado that touched down in Billings caused heavy damage to parts of an expo center Sunday evening, a Montana Highway Patrol dispatcher said. - 2010/06/26: LasVegasSun: Wet winter set stage for big fire threat -- Extra inch of rain means there's lots more to burn
- 2010/06/25: FrederickNewsPost: [Md] Area heat wave shatters records
Day six of the over-90-degree heat wave continued Thursday with a new all-time high of 100 degrees, and the heat wave is leading to an increase in air conditioning unit purchases and an accompanying surge in power usage. - 2010/06/25: SciNow: For Global Warming, Tundra Fires' Effects May Be Skin Deep
- 2010/06/24: PhiladelphiaInquirer: Philly swelters in second heat wave
- 2010/06/23: WSOC: Charlotte, N.C. Heat Wave Gets Hotter
- 2010/06/21: CNN: Arizona wildfire forces animal shelter, national monument evacuations
8,800-plus acre Schultz Fire is wholly uncontained - At least 748 properties evacuated, including homes, animal shelter and 2 national monuments - Red Cross has set up a shelter at a middle school - A lesser wildfire, the Hardy Fire, also struck Flagstaff area this weekend - 2010/06/21: BBC: Raging wildfires force evacuations near Arizona city [of Flagstaff]
Corals are dying:
- 2010/06/22: ClimateShifts: Reply to Ridd et al.'s Technical Comment to Science: "Have coral calcification rates slowed in the last twenty years?"
Several denialists have sort to deliberately confuse the readership over the important evidence gathered by De'ath et al. (2009) on slowing coral calcification on the Great Barrier Reef. Given the recent resurgence in this misinformation, I thought it would be a good idea to post Dr Glenn De'ath, Dr Janice M. Lough and Dr Katharina E. Fabricius's recent reply to Dr Peter Ridd's confused and misleading claims. - 2010/06/25: CSW: Ocean Acidification in litigation, legislation, and research -- What's the status?
- 2010/06/23: SkeptiSci: Ocean acidification
- 2010/06/23: TreeHugger: United Kingdom Launches Projects to Study Ocean Acidification
- 2010/06/21: NOC: Southampton researchers awarded ocean acidification funding
Sea levels are rising:
- 2010/06/21: QuarkSoup: In Other Sea Level News....
- 2010/06/21: SMandia: Global Warming: A Sea Change
- 2010/06/21: KlimaZwiebel: IPCC - sea level meeting in Kuala Lumpur [Sea Level Rise and Ice Sheet Instabilities]
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2010/06/24: Reuters: Flood-hit China battles rain, 365 dead so far
- 2010/06/25: EarthWeek: Drought Bringing Famine to North-Central Africa
- 2010/06/25: JFleck: Dry Times Ahead in the West
- 2010/06/24: USAToday: Northern Wisconsin region suffering long dry spell
- 2010/06/24: TerraDaily: More rains lash flood-hit south China
- 2010/06/24: BBC: Water levels 'well below average' [in North-West England]
- 2010/06/25: CBC: Brazil flood toll climbs to 51 -- President [Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva] expected to skip G20 meetings
- 2010/06/25: BBC: Lula promises massive north-east Brazil flood aid
- 2010/06/24: CCP: More rains lash flood-hit south China: floods and landslides have killed over 200 people and forced millions to evacuate
- 2010/06/24: JFleck: River Beat: Chances of Mead Hitting 1075 [feet above sea level]
- 2010/06/24: CBC: Flooding stresses Prairie farmers
- 2010/06/23: CBC: Brazil flooding death toll rises
Brazilian rescuers searched Wednesday for 600 people declared missing after heavy rains caused torrential flooding in two states. The death toll rose to 44 after three bodies were found overnight. - 2010/06/22: TerraDaily: Job-hunting Syrians head for cities amid severe drought
A severe four-year drought is devastating Syria's rural communities, forcing them to abandon the country's traditional breadbasket in the northeast for cities in search of employment. Earlier this month, the World Food Programme started delivering food aid to nearly 200,000 people in the provinces of Al-Hasakeh, Al-Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, areas worst hit by the drought. - 2010/06/22: TerraDaily: 41 dead, up to 1,000 missing in Brazil floods
- 2010/06/23: EarthTimes: China battles more floods as death toll hits 211
- 2010/06/22: TET: Brazil's Emergency Cabinet Responds to Flood Victims
- 2010/06/22: CNN: Nearly 200 dead in China flooding, government says
- 2010/06/22: HotTopic: When the rain comes...
- 2010/06/21: JFleck: Meanwhile, on the Rio Grande...
- 2010/06/22: TerraDaily: Canyon Carved In Just 3 Days In Texas Flood
In the summer of 2002, a week of heavy rains in Central Texas caused Canyon Lake - the reservoir of the Canyon Dam - to flood over its spillway and down the Guadalupe River Valley in a planned diversion to save the dam from catastrophic failure. The flood, which continued for six weeks, stripped the valley of mesquite, oak trees, and soil; destroyed a bridge; and plucked meter-wide boulders from the ground. And, in a remarkable demonstration of the power of raging waters, the flood excavated a 2.2-kilometer-long, 7-meter-deep canyon in the bedrock. - 2010/06/22: EarthTimes: River dike bursts as China flood toll hits 200
- 2010/06/21: Reuters: At least 24 die in Ghana floods
Flooding caused by heavy rains killed at least 24 people, destroying homes and washing out roads, emergency officials in the West African country said on Monday. - 2010/06/22: BuckDog: TransCanada Highway Washed Out In Saskatchewan - Raw Video
- 2010/06/22: BBC: 'Hundreds missing' in Brazil floods
- 2010/06/22: BBC: Thousand people missing in north-east Brazil floods
Floods have engulfed two states in north-east Brazil, leaving about 1,000 people missing and forcing at least 100,000 to flee their homes. At least 38 people are known to have died so far in Alagoas and Pernambuco. Correspondents say the floods, brought on by nearly a week of rain, have washed away entire villages. - 2010/06/20: JFleck: River Beat: The Conversation About Limits [Colorado River water]
- 2010/06/20: TerraDaily: Drought adds to Vietnam's power woes
- 2010/06/21: EarthTimes: South China flood toll rises to 175 dead, 107 missing
- 2010/06/21: Google:AFP: China flood toll rises to 175 dead, more rain forecast
- 2010/06/21: BBC: Ghana's army and navy battle deadly Accra floods
Ghana's army and navy have been called out to help after flash floods around Accra left 23 people dead. - 2010/06/21: CBC: China flood death toll hits 175
Widespread flooding in southern China has caused 175 deaths, with 107 more people missing and more storms expected, the government said Monday. Thousands of houses have been destroyed and economic losses have topped $2.05 billion US, according to the Ministry of Water Resources. The toll was up from 132 on Sunday. Flooding has affected more than 10 million residents since torrential rains began June 13, according to a government report posted online. - 2010/06/21: CBC: Southern Alberta braces for more flooding -- States of emergency declared in Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Cardston and Coaldale
- 2010/06/21: CBC: Family alerts engineer to track washout -- Flood damage washed rails away on CP line
- 2010/06/20: MTobis: Floods Elsewhere
- 2010/06/20: CCP: NYT: A week of pounding rain in southern China has left at least 132 people dead
- 2010/06/20: BBC: Deadly floods kill twenty in north-east Brazil
At least 20 people have died in flooding in north-eastern Brazil after some areas saw more than 36cm (14 inches) of rainfall in three days. - 2010/06/20: BBC: Floods across southern China take heavy toll
Torrential rain and landslides in southern China have killed 132 people, with more heavy rain forecast. A further 86 people are missing and 800,000 residents have been evacuated. There have also been power cuts, collapsed reservoirs and widespread damage to roads. Millions are without drinking water supplies. Dozens of rivers have passed safety levels, including the Pearl River in Guangdong province. China's rainy season, which began in May, follows the worst drought in a century in the south-west. - 2010/06/20: Guardian(UK): China devastated by floods
Over 130 dead and 800,000 displaced after torrential rain sees rivers swell and houses hit by landslides - 2010/06/26: Grist: Charlotte [North Carolina] does light rail right
- 2010/06/25: CalcRisk: ATA Truck Tonnage Index declines in May
- 2010/06/23: CalcRisk: DOT: Vehicle Miles Driven increase in April [1.9% yoy]
- 2010/06/23: ClassM: Loving the polar bears to death [eco tourism]
- 2010/06/23: CSM: Air travel: Are there greener ways to fly?
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2010/06/25: TreeHugger: University of Florida's Entry At Solar Decathlon Mixes Old Ideas, New Technology
- 2010/06/22: LA Times: Newport Beach neighbors are glaring at solar panels
Newport Beach residents say the panels on a hillside home are reflecting too much sunlight and want them moved to the roof. The owners say that the panels are staying. - 2010/06/22: KSJT: New Scientist: Green machine: Bacteria will keep CO2 safely buried
- 2010/06/21: NewScientist: Green machine: Bacteria will keep CO2 safely buried
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2010/06/21: NERC:NORA: An investigation of recent decadal-scale storm events in the Eastern Irish Sea by Jennifer M. Brown et al.
- 2010/06/21: NERC:NORA: The gyre-scale circulation of the North Atlantic and sea level at Brest by P. L. Woodworth et al.
- 2010/06/21: NERC:NORA: Environmental impacts of tidal power schemes by J. Wolf et al.
- 2010/06/22: NERC:NORA: Population trends of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in the U.K.: assessing the evidence for a widespread decline in response to climate change by I.J. Winfield et al.
- 2010/06/22: NERC:NORA: Feedbacks on Convection from an African Wetland by Christopher M. Taylor
- 2010/06/23: NERC:NORA: The impact of extensive planting of Miscanthus as an energy crop on future CO2 atmospheric concentrations by J.K. Hughes et al.
- 2010/06/23: NERC:NORA: The European carbon balance. Part 4: integration of carbon and other trace-gas fluxes by E.D. Schulze et al.
- 2010/06/23: NERC:NORA: On the relative magnitudes of photosynthesis, respiration, growth and carbon storage in vegetation by Marcel Van Oijen et al.
- 2010/06/23: NERC:NORA: Aerogravity evidence for major crustal thinning under the Pine Island Glacier region (West Antarctica) by Tom Jordan et al.
- 2010/06/24: NERC:NORA: Down-welling circulation of the northwest European continental shelf: A driving mechanism for the continental shelf carbon pump by Jason Holt et al.
- 2010/06/25: NERC:NORA: Ground water security and drought in Africa : linking availability, access and demand by Roger Calow et al.
- 2010/06/25: ACP: Characterization of Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) CO2 for carbon cycle science by S. S. Kulawik et al.
- 2010/06/25: ACP: Co-located column and in situ measurements of CO2 in the tropics compared with model simulations by T. Warneke et al.
- 2010/06/25: ACPD: Improved measurement of carbonaceous aerosol in Beijing, China: intercomparison of sampling and thermal-optical analysis methods by Y. Cheng et al.
- 2010/06/25: ACPD: Chemical composition and aerosol size distribution of the middle mountain range in the Nepal Himalayas during the 2009 pre-monsoon season by P. Shrestha et al.
- 2010/06/25: TCD: A new model for quantifying subsurface ice content based on geophysical data sets by C. Hauck et al.
- 2010/06/20: NatureGeoSci: [Letter$] Observations beneath Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica and implications for its retreat by Adrian Jenkins et al.
- 2010/06/23: EHP: Urban Form and Extreme Heat Events: Are Sprawling Cities more Vulnerable to Climate Change than Compact Cities? by Brian Stone et al.
- 2010/06/24: CD: Albedo enhancement of marine clouds to counteract global warming: impacts on the hydrological cycle by G. Bala et al.
- 2010/06/25: CP: Millennium-long summer temperature variations in the European Alps as reconstructed from tree rings by C. Corona et al.
- 2010/06/25: Science: (ab$) Natural Gas From Shale Bursts Onto the Scene by Richard A. Kerr
- 2010/06/25: PLoS:One: Open Access to the Scientific Journal Literature: Situation 2009 by Bo-Christer Björk et al.
- 2010/06/25: Science: (ab$) Could East Antarctica Be Headed for Big Melt? by Douglas Fox
- 2010/06/23: ACP: Aerosols in the tropical and subtropical UT/LS: in-situ measurements of submicron particle abundance and volatility by S. Borrmann et al.
- 2010/06/22: ACP: Quantifying the clear-sky temperature inversion frequency and strength over the Arctic Ocean during summer and winter seasons from AIRS profiles by A. Devasthale et al.
- 2010/06/21: ACP: Cirrus clouds in a global climate model with a statistical cirrus cloud scheme by M. Wang & J. E. Penner
- 2010/06/21: ACP: The role of the particle size distribution in assessing aerosol composition effects on simulated droplet activation by D. S. Ward et al.
- 2010/06/21: ACP: Spectral optical properties of long-range transport Asian dust and pollution aerosols over Northeast Asia in 2007 and 2008 by J. Jung et al.
- 2010/06/23: ACPD: The complex dynamics of the seasonal component of Earth's surface temperature by A. Vecchio et al.
- 2010/06/22: ACPD: A critical look at spatial scale choices in satellite-based aerosol indirect effect studies by B. S. Grandey & P. Stier
- 2010/06/21: ACPD: Aircraft observations of enhancement and depletion of black carbon mass in the springtime Arctic by J. R. Spackman et al.
- 2010/06/21: ACPD: Saharan dust and ice nuclei over Central Europe by H. Klein et al.
- 2010/06/23: AGWObserver: Papers on atmospheric water vapor
- 2010/06/22: PNAS: Peak water limits to freshwater withdrawal and use by Peter H. Gleick & Meena Palaniappan
- 2010/06/22: PNAS: Predicting global atmospheric ice nuclei distributions and their impacts on climate by P. J. DeMott et al.
- 2010/06/22: PNAS: Space observations of cold-cloud phase change by Yong-Sang Choi et al.
- 2010/06/22: PNAS: [Letter$] Reply to Sutton et al.: Relationship between temperature and conflict is robust by Marshall B. Burke et al.
- 2010/06/22: PNAS: [Letter$] Does warming increase the risk of civil war in Africa? by Alexandra E. Sutton et al.
- 2010/05/19: CC: (ab$) The feasibility of low CO2 concentration targets and the role of bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) by Christian Azar et al.
- 2010/06/21: PNAS: Expert credibility in climate change by William R. L. Anderegg et al.
And other significant documents:
- 2010/06/26: MIT:EI: [link to 4.9meg (interim) pdf] The Future of Natural Gas: An Interdisciplinary MIT Study
- 2010/06/22: TCoE: Doc alert: Black carbon impacts
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2010/06/25: QuarkSoup: What Evidence Would Support AGW?
- 2010/06/25: C-a-S: The Unbearable Lightness of Bias
- 2010/06/25: NatureTGB: One fifth of 2008's research papers now open access
- 2010/06/25: ScienceInsider: Writer Wendell Berry Takes Aim at the Modern Research University
- 2010/06/25: ORNL: Climate change scientists turn up the heat in Alaska
Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are planning a large-scale, long-term ecosystem experiment to test the effects of global warming on the icy layers of arctic permafrost. - 2010/06/24: JEB: When is the mean better than all models?
- 2010/06/24: KSJT: Reuters, NatureNews : Africa moving up a bit, Japan & US down a tad, China up up and away in science output [misc sci]
- 2010/06/23: JEB: Climate of the Past is 5 years old !!!!
- 2010/06/23: PhysOrg: Soil moisture study aims for climate change insights
A new $26-million NASA project led by a University of Michigan researcher aims to help clarify how ecosystems exchange carbon with the atmosphere, an important piece of missing knowledge in the quest to understand and predict climate change. The project's goal is to help determine whether the North American continent is a net source or sink of carbon. Researchers from U-M, NASA, Harvard, MIT, Oregon State, and Purdue are participating. Over the next five years, a radar instrument called the Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (AirMOSS) will measure root zone soil moisture in nine North American regions from aboard a Gulfstream-III aircraft. The radar can penetrate up to four feet beneath the ground surface. Root-zone soil moisture levels show how well a plant is functioning, said principal investigator Mahta Moghaddam, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. - 2010/06/22: JEB: That multi-model mean result again
- 2010/06/22: SciDaily: Citizen Science: Birders Contribute Valuable Data on Invasive Plant Species
In an effort to assess ties between birds' feeding habits and the spread of nonnative invasive plants, researchers provided ornithologists from four U.S. states with questionnaires on daily bird-plant encounters. The 1,143 unique interactions reported by the birders laid the groundwork for a study on the role of native birds in the seed dispersal of invasive plants throughout the U.S. - 2010/06/21: BBC: Edinburgh experts to monitor how trees absorb CO2
Scientists from Edinburgh University are to take to the skies to gain a clearer picture of how the world's forests could alleviate climate change. - 2010/06/21: NatureTGB: The Bering Sea Project: Water, mud and critters
Hansen wins the Sophie prize:
- 2010/06/22: EarthTimes: US climate researcher James Hansen accepts Norwegian [Sophie] prize
While at the UN:
- 2010/06/22: BBerg: UN May Complete Review of Hydro-Fluorocarbon Emission Credits by August
The United Nations may complete by August its review on the awarding of carbon credits for the emission of greenhouse gases more damaging than carbon dioxide, an official said. A UN panel will present its findings on the methodology for issuance of carbon credits for hydro-fluorocarbon (HFC) combustion plants when the UN Clean Development Mechanism board meets in Bonn in end-July, Clifford Mahlung, chairman of the UN CDM executive board, said in an interview today. HFC credits make up about half the total CDM supply since 2005. - 2010/06/22: Reuters: UN panel chair says may need to adjust HFC projects
The most profitable projects under a U.N. carbon offset scheme may have claimed excessive emissions cuts and the amount issued to them could be adjusted, the head of a panel that governs the scheme said on Tuesday. The $2.7 billion scheme under the Kyoto Protocol allows developing countries to claim carbon offsets for emissions cuts, and sell these to polluting companies in the developed world. The most lucrative projects are those that destroy a very powerful greenhouse gas called hydrofluorocarbon-23 (HFC-23), earning them a large number of offsets in return. But such projects may have allowed their factories to generate more of the greenhouse gas, a waste by-product from manufacturing refrigerants, than necessary. - 2010/06/25: EurActiv: EU carbon tax proposal delayed
- 2010/06/24: EUO: EU carbon tax kicked into the long grass
- 2010/06/23: EarthTimes: EU backs off from 'green tax' on fuels after commission debate
- 2010/06/21: EurActiv: Commission to revive EU carbon tax debate
European commissioners will start talks on introducing minimum tax rates for carbon on Wednesday (23 June). But it is still unclear when and if Tax Commissioner Algirdas Iemeta's suggestions will develop into a formal proposal. - 2010/06/21: Guardian(UK): Manufacturers appeal for simplified carbon tax
The proposed G20 Bank Tax is turning into a tussle:
- 2010/06/22: OPSEU: OPSEU to support Robin Hood Tax at G20 rally
- 2010/06/22: CBC: Europeans float bank tax -- Proposal comes ahead of Toronto G20 summit
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:
- 2010/06/22: TreeHugger: What's the Best Way to Price Carbon Emissions: Cap and Trade, Cap and Dividend, or Carbon Tax?
- 2010/06/20: ClimateShifts: Is cap and trade the solution? Don't bank on it!
Meanwhile on the international political front:
- 2010/06/23: EarthTimes: China-Pakistan nuclear deal should be within IAEA purview, says EU
- 2010/06/21: VietnamNet: Japan, France commit US$134 million for fighting climate change in Vietnam
- 2010/06/20: BBC: Nuclear powers set for Pakistan showdown
A row is looming between Beijing and Washington over China's proposed sale of two nuclear power-generating reactors to Pakistan. - 2010/06/26: C-a-S: Security Experts Step Into the Climate Fray
- 2010/06/24: NYT:CW: Defense Experts Want More Explicit Climate Models
Tell us what you don't know. That's the message military and national security experts gathered here want to send to climate scientists. While political leaders on Capitol Hill seek definitive answers about how quickly the world's climate will change, military and national security experts say they're used to making decisions with limited information. But as they turn their attention to the geopolitical implications of climate change, they're pressing scientists to help them understand the risk and uncertainty inherent in forecasts of future environmental shifts. - 2010/06/25: Guardian(UK): Aberdeen airport climate change protesters found guilty
Plane Stupid activists face fines or jail after jury finds that direct action is not justified by fight against climate change - 2010/06/24: HotTopic: Defending the future: scientists take the stand
- 2010/06/23: Guardian(UK): UK emission cuts 'not radical enough', airport protest trial told
Climate scientist giving evidence for the Plane Stupid defence says 80% target will not prevent 'dangerous' climate change - 2010/06/24: ClimateP: Yet another major poll finds strong public support for global warming action, "even if it means an increase in the cost of energy"
- 2010/06/24: TreeHugger: Listen Up Senate: Majority of Americans Want Clean Energy Reform
- 2010/06/21: ENS: Poll: Small Business Owners Support Clean Energy Legislation
- 2010/06/21: AutoBG: Poll: 73% of Americans believe that reducing dependency on fossil fuels is important
- 2010/06/21: NYT: Poll Finds Deep Concern About Energy and Economy
Overwhelmingly, Americans think the nation needs a fundamental overhaul of its energy policies, and most expect alternative forms to replace oil as a major source within 25 years. Yet a majority are unwilling to pay higher gasoline prices to help develop new fuel sources. - 2010/06/20: G&M: Most Canadians support international access to safe abortions: poll
Regarding Water Politics and Business:
- 2010/06/25: Guardian(UK): How water raises the political temperature between countries
- 2010/06/25: Guardian(UK): Battle for the Nile as rivals lay claim to Africa's great river
With crises of population and resources upstream, there is now deadlock over who owns the Nile - 2010/06/25: Guardian(UK): Egypt's Nile: nation puts great river at heart of its security
Threatened by a cut in Nile water supply, Egypt sees its leading regional role draining away and its desert farms running dry - 2010/06/25: PlanetArk: Africa's Water Most Precarious, Iceland Best: Study
- 2010/06/24: EarthTimes: Egypt renews pressure against recent Nile basin treaty
- 2010/06/23: WorldChanging: Paper Industry is Waking Up to the Size of its Water Footprint
- 2010/06/22: PlanetArk: As Tiny UAE's Water Tab Grows, Resources Run Dry
- 2010/06/20: TerraDaily: Israel to build massive desalination plant
- 2010/06/20: TerraDaily: Arsenic in water poisoned 77 million Bangladeshis: report
- 2010/06/18: TerraDaily: Turks cancel project to sell Israel water
- 2010/06/21: TreeHugger: Companies Are Saving Millions By Conserving Water
- 2010/06/21: EarthTimes: India's Assam state for German expertise to tame River Brahmaputra
And on the American political front:
- 2010/06/25: NRDC:SwitchBoard: The usual hysteria: a gas tax, a gas tax, the sky is going to fall
- 2010/06/26: TreeHugger: AARP Dumbs Down Maryland's Important Smart Grid Initiative
- 2010/06/25: SolveClimate: West Virginia Coal Industry $100 Million Budget Drain, Report Says -- Mining is costing taxpayers more than it contributes, and trend expected to worsen
- 2010/06/25: ClimateP: Sarah 'The Qwitterer' Palin encourages followers to read column warning that the BP escrow fund could lead to a Nazi-like dictatorship
- 2010/06/24: UCSUSA: California Renewable Electricity Bill Comes Back To Life, Passes First Assembly Committee
- 2010/06/23: CDreams: America Can't Solve Crises Because It's a Company-Owned Town
- 2010/06/24: Grist: The real options for U.S. climate policy
- 2010/06/24: LA Times: California alternative energy legislation gets broad backing
A compromise bill in the Legislature would require privately and publicly owned electric utilities to generate a third of their power from wind, solar and other clean sources by 2020. - 2010/06/23: Belfer: The Real Options for U.S. Climate Policy by Robert Stavins
- 2010/06/24: EconView: "The Real Options for U.S. Climate Policy" [Stavins]
- 2010/06/23: EnergyBulletin: Towards a new economy and a new politics by Gus Speth
In Brief: The U.S. political economy is failing across a broad front -- environmentally, socially, economically, and politically. Deep, systemic change is needed to transition to a new economy, one where the acknowledged priority is to sustain human and natural communities. Policies are available to effect this transformation and to temper economic growth and consumerism while simultaneously improving social well-being and quality of life, but a new politics involving a coalescing of progressive communities is needed to realize these policies. - 2010/06/23: EnergyBulletin: Letters from America by Rahul Goswami
[An agriculture student from a small North Indian village writes home to his sister about the bizarre way of life he encounters during a stay in America.] - 2010/06/23: OilDrum: A Road Not Taken: Solar Panels, Jimmy Carter, and Missed Opportunities for Change
- 2010/06/23: PeakEnergy: America's Magical Thinking on Energy
- 2010/06/22: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Where's there's a will...
- 2010/06/22: NOAANews: New NOAA Website Highlights Economic and Ecological Value of America's Coast
- 2010/06/21: AlterNet: How You Pay the Tax Bills of Oil and Gas Investors
- 2010/06/22: NakedCapitalism: Wallace C. Turbrville: The Second Energy Revolution
- 2010/06/21: BLongstaff: How is the U.S. not a banana republic?
- 2010/06/21: SolveClimate: Transportation Pact Could Give 11 Eastern States Leg Up on Federal Dollars -- Yet another regional effort to reduce emissions while Congress tarries
- 2010/06/14: MillerMcCune: The Real Science Gap
It's not insufficient schooling or a shortage of scientists. It's a lack of job opportunities. Americans need the reasonable hope that spending their youth preparing to do science will provide a satisfactory career. - 2010/06/24: PlanetArk: Gloves Off In California Over Greenhouse Gas Law
- 2010/06/23: NRDC:SwitchBoard: California Crossroads
The fight to protect California's environment entered a new round yesterday when Secretary of State Deborah Bowen announced that the backers of the initiative to repeal our landmark law to combat global warming, AB 32, had qualified their dirty energy proposition for the November ballot. - 2010/06/23: CCP: Bid to suspend California's global warming law qualifies for November ballot. The battle over the initiative, launched by Texas oil giants Valero and Tesoro, will pit that industry against environmentalists and the state's clean-tech businesses
- 2010/06/22: Grist: California's climate law in peril, Governator pissed
- 2010/06/23: LA Times: Bid to suspend California's global warming law qualifies for November ballot
The battle over the initiative, launched by Texas oil giants Valero and Tesoro, will pit that industry against environmentalists and the state's clean-tech businesses. - 2010/06/24: DM:80B: Will Methane Gas in Gulf Waters Create a Massive Dead Zone?
- 2010/06/23: ClimateShifts: Chemosynthesis: dark water communities in the Gulf of Mexico live off crude oil as a primary food source
- 2010/06/23: EnergyBulletin: BP-style extreme energy nightmares to come by Michael Klare
- 2010/06/22: NYT:GW: Would a Push to Curb Carbon Really Reduce U.S. Dependence on Oil?
President Obama and congressional Democrats cite the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster as a powerful reason to pass climate legislation, but economists see a flaw with the link: Leading Senate measures would do little to curb petroleum use. Legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions largely targets electric utilities. Although it would affect oil refiners, economists said, proposed policies would trigger only minor fuel price increases, too small to alter how much people drive, whether they buy airline tickets or what kind of vehicles they purchase. - 2010/06/22: AlterNet: Four Possible BP-Style Extreme Energy Nightmares to Come
- 2010/06/22: DeSmogBlog: Americans' Energy Hopes Mix No Better than the Oil and Water in the Gulf
The Keystone-XL pipeline project is under fire:
- 2010/06/24: SolveClimate: 50 Members of Congress Warn State Dept Against Rubberstamping 2,000-Mile Oil Sands [Keystone-XL] Pipeline
- 2010/06/23: NRDC:SwitchBoard: House Members say proposed tar sands pipeline will undermine clean energy future
- 2010/06/23: BCLSB: Somewhat Counterintuitive [US anti-Keystone XL pipeline campaign]
The Obama chatter is nonstop:
- 2010/06/23: C411: Lesson from The Climate War: the missing ingredient is presidential leadership
- 2010/06/23: Yahoo:AFP: Obama delays meeting on climate, energy
President Barack Obama indefinitely postponed meetings that were set for Wednesday with lawmakers from both parties on efforts to pass a climate change and energy bill. - 2010/06/23: TWM: A delay in energy talks...rescheduled for early next week
- 2010/06/23: Grist: Obama delays White House meeting on climate and energy bill
- 2010/06/21: TheHill:e2W: Obama to 'bridge some differences' at energy chat with senators
- 2010/06/16: TruthDig: A Green 'New Deal' Now
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
- 2010/06/25: Grist: Greening homes requires credit, which Fannie and Freddie should understand
- 2010/06/23: Grist: Fannie and Freddie attack clean-energy plan
- 2010/06/24: REA: FERC Proposes New Transmission Cost Allocation Principles
- 2010/06/23: Berkeley:E&E: Fannie and Freddie delinquent on climate change and clean energy
- 2010/06/23: SolveClimate: EPA Petitioned to Regulate Release of Coal Mine Methane
Safety issue number one for miners and a powerful greenhouse gas that has slipped through the cracks of clean air regulations - 2010/06/23: ScienceInsider: Scientific Integrity Is Already in Force Despite Tardy Report, Says Holdren
- 2010/06/21: TheHill: EPA pushes Congress to revive Superfund tax on oil, chemical companies
- 2010/06/21: ENS: Tough New Rules Replace Bush Laxity at Renamed Bureau of Ocean Energy
- 2010/06/21: PlanetArk: Tests delay U.S. Ruling On Ethanol Blends
- 2010/06/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: EPA to hold public meetings on the scientific study of hydraulic fracturing impacts on drinking water
- 2010/06/21: AutoBG: RFA [Renewable Fuels Assoc.] says the EPA delaying E15 decision is "a dereliction of duty"
As for what is going on in Congress:
- 2010/06/26: TWM: Negotiating with those who oppose their own principles...
- 2010/06/25: NYT: Democrats Fix Strategy for Undefined Climate and Energy Bill
- 2010/06/25: Grist: Are Senate Dems going to go for it on climate?
- 2010/06/24: Grist: Senate Dems plan last-minute push on climate and energy bill
- 2010/06/23: ClimateP: Joe Barton is the sorriest man in town. He retracts the retraction of the apology for his apology to BP
- 2010/06/23: EnergyBulletin: Joe Barton & the coming of peak oil
- 2010/06/22: BBerg: Democrat Brown Pushes for U.S. Loans to Manufacturers in Energy Measure
- 2010/06/23: ClimateP: As Maine goes so goes the climate bill: Olympia Snowe is open to cap on utility emissions, while Susan Collins is as incoherent as Lindsey Graham
- 2010/06/23: NRDC:SwitchBoard: The Real Oil Shakedown is of US Taxpayers
- 2010/06/22: ENS: Global Conservation Bill Would Require Rescue of Natural Resources
Lawmakers from both parties have introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate that would, for the first time, place the strategic and diplomatic resources of the U.S. government behind efforts to address extinction and natural resource depletion worldwide. The Global Conservation Act of 2010 would coordinate the work of all U.S. agencies involved in international conservation and establish a national strategy for promoting conservation initiatives that strengthen global security, health and economies. - 2010/06/22: AutoBG: Promoting Electric Vehicles Act of 2010 under discussion on the Hill now
- 2010/06/21: NatJo: Senate Dems Pick Thursday For Energy Talk
- 2010/06/21: SolveClimate: Senate Could Double Job Creation in Two Bills by Improving Energy Efficiency Requirements -- Six easy fixes show route to cheapest available energy source
- 2010/06/20: TheHill:e2W: Lieberman warns against 'false' energy bill, sees 20 swing votes on carbon caps
- 2010/06/21: Grist: Obama and Senate finally dive in on climate and energy bill
Kerry-Boxer, Waxman-Markey, KGL, Cantwell-Collins, the APA or whatever -- the future climate bill -- defines a battleline:
- 2010/06/26: ClimateP: One brief shining moment: Happy one-year birthday, Waxman-Markey. R.I.P.
- 2010/06/25: ClimateP: The 'energy-only bill' mirage -- Why an energy bill could fail without pollution reduction measures or revenue
- 2010/06/25: UCSUSA: Senate Proposal for Clean Energy Bank Needs Significant Improvement to Protect Taxpayers
- 2010/06/21: NYT:CW: White House, Lieberman Considering Utility-Only Bill
- 2010/06/21: ClimateP: It's alive! An energy bill that puts a price on carbon is now officially undead
- 2010/06/22: PlanetArk: Scenarios: Climate Bill Backers Enter Critical Week
With time running out for the U.S. Senate to debate complicated and controversial climate change legislation, key players will huddle this week to try to come up with a plan for passing an energy/environment bill this year. On Wednesday, President Barack Obama holds a meeting at the White House with Democratic and Republican senators who either have been active on legislation or who could play an instrumental role if a bill is debated in the Senate in July. On Thursday, Senate Democrats will hold their second meeting in a week to discuss what kind of legislation might be presented to the full Senate. - 2010/06/21: Grist: Is a 'utility-only' cap-and-trade bill worth passing?
What are the lobbyists pushing?
- 2010/06/23: TheHill:e2W: Climate advocates plan $11 million ad campaign targeting 'key senators'
- 2010/06/24: NRDC:SwitchBoard: NRDC and others slam ethanol tax credit give away to oil in new ad
Everyone who thinks Big Oil should get $31 billion from U.S. taxpayers, please sign on the dotted line. - 2010/06/21: DeSmogBlog: BP funds full court press by DC lobbyists
The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:
- 2010/06/26: TPMM: Anon. Gore Friend To WaPo: Portland Massage Occurred 'Without Incident'
- 2010/06/23: CNN: Police: 'Not enough evidence' in accusations against Gore
- 2010/06/24: QuarkSoup: The Police Reports on Al Gore
While in the UK:
- 2010/06/26: Guardian(UK): Eiris review names Britain as 'dirty man of Europe'
Survey of Europe's top 300 companies reveals UK as worst offender in terms of corporate impact on global warming - 2010/06/25: Grist: Britain's Green Deal to unlock billions for home energy efficiency
- 2010/06/24: BBerg: U.K. Needs a `Meaningful Carbon Price' for Investors, Energy Minister [Chris Huhne] Says
- 2010/06/24: Guardian(UK): [UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary] Chris Huhne's efficiency drive to turn wasteful houses green
Energy firms and councils to insulate drafty houses - Cost of upgrades paid in savings, not by families - 2010/06/22: Guardian(UK): Budget 2010: Green policies 'sidelined', campaigners say
- 2010/06/21: Guardian(UK): Green agenda is the glue holding the coalition together
Living up to its promise to be 'the greenest government ever' will be a major test for the Cameron-Clegg government - 2010/06/19: Telegraph(UK): Firms paid to shut down wind farms when the wind is blowing -- Britain's biggest wind farm companies are to be paid not to produce electricity when the wind is blowing
- 2010/06/21: Guardian(UK): Manufacturers appeal for simplified carbon tax
Britain's manufacturers have condemned the government's climate change policy as "chaotic, overcrowded and complicated" and are calling on George Osborne to use his emergency budget to introduce an economy-wide carbon tax. The manufacturers' organisation EEF says a new single levy based on energy usage to replace the existing mix of climate measures would simplify the system, allow businesses to budget more easily and encourage them to move towards cleaner energy. - 2010/06/25: EurActiv: EU carbon tax proposal delayed
Proposals for a European carbon tax have been kicked into the long grass following a debate between EU commissioners, who face divisions between member states whilst the effects of the financial crisis are still being felt. A suggested tax of 20 euros per tonne of C02 contained in fuels had been made by Taxation and Customs Union Commissioner Algirdas Iemeta at a 23 June meeting of the 27 EU commissioners in Brussels. But it has now been put back indefinitely after Iemeta was asked to investigate the economic impact of the tax. The commissioners agreed that an updated impact assessment taking into account the economic downturn is required before going any further. - 2010/06/25: PlanetArk: Italy Plans Solar Incentives Cuts Of 18% In 2011
- 2010/06/25: PlanetArk: Europe Moves Closer To Electric Car Infrastructure
- 2010/06/25: BizSpectator: EU mulls 12 years more state aid for coal
- 2010/06/24: EurActiv: EU faces uphill battle in CO2 law for vans
Proposed EU legislation to set CO2 reduction targets for vans is in for a rocky ride as divisions remain over its expected impact on Europe's car manufacturing industry. - 2010/06/24: EurActiv: Poland 'needs more time' to meet EU climate target
As 94% of Poland's electricity comes from coal, the country says it needs ''more time than others'' to meet its CO2 reduction targets outlined in the 'Europe 2020' strategy. Polish industry is even more critical of the goals. EurActiv Poland reports. - 2010/06/24: EurActiv: EU plans 'transition subsidies' for coal sector [until 2023]
- 2010/06/24: EUO: EU carbon tax kicked into the long grass
European commissioners are in a holding pattern over whether to introduce a tax on carbon across the EU, a proposal that if backed by the EU executive could prove to be one of the most controversial and bitterly fought over pieces of legislation Brussels has mooted in years. Under initial proposals by taxation commissioner Algirdas Semeta, from 2013, sources of greenhouse gases that are not currently covered by the EU's flagship environmental endeavour, the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) - sectors such as agriculture, as well as transport and households - would see a flat, minimum fee of between 4 euros and 30 euros per tonne.
[...]
EU commissioners held an initial debate on the issue on Wednesday (23 June). Ultimately the idea was kicked into the long grass, with the commissioners only resolving to engage in a second impact assessment of the proposal taking into account the ramifications such a move would have in a climate of economic crisis. - 2010/06/22: EurActiv: EU waters down industrial pollution law
The EU has struck an agreement on a planned Industrial Emissions Directive, imposing stricter limits on air, soil and water pollution but allowing coal-fired plants derogations until mid-2020. - 2010/06/18: Reuters: EU states give 14 more years to dirty coal plants
Coal-fired power plant operators can avoid having to cut the emissions that cause acid rain if they promise to shut down altogether by 2024, European Union countries agreed on Friday, disappointing environmentalists. Power stations that operate into 2024 and beyond must start cutting out pollutants such as sulphur and nitrogen oxides that damage human health and soil and water quality, under the deal on the Industrial Emissions Directive. Though the rules do not cover carbon dioxide emissions, they have an indirect impact by allowing big emitters to keep going. - 2010/06/22: Reuters: EU CO2 offset limits from 2013 harm investment-Deutsche [Bank]
EU should scrap plans to limit carbon offsets-Deutsche - Plans will dent clean energy investment, raise costs
European Commission plans to restrict certain U.N.-backed carbon offsets [certified emissions reductions (CERs)] from 2013 could slow the pace and scale of new investments and increase costs under the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), Deutsche Bank said. - 2010/06/24: TerraDaily: Kevin Rudd, Australia's long-time love dumped in an instant
- 2010/06/24: Guardian(UK): Why Labor ditched Kevin Rudd
Australia's governing party lost patience with a lacklustre leader, preferring to fight the next election with its first female PM - 2010/06/24: CBC: Australia's ruling party ousts Rudd, appoints woman PM
Australia's Labor Party ousted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Thursday in a historic move that resulted in the country getting its first female prime minister. Julia Gillard, 48, was elected leader of the party in an uncontested vote just hours after she surprised party members by challenging Rudd, in an apparent bid to shore up support for the floundering party. - 2010/06/24: Time: Australia's Kevin Rudd Dumped by His Own Party
- 2010/06/24: AFTIC: Kevin Rudd is gone
- 2010/06/24: Crikey: Rudd's brutal execution
- 2010/06/24: TheAge: Gillard becomes Australia's first female PM after Rudd goes down without fight
- 2010/06/24: WtD: The coming political instability: new politics for a new planet
- 2010/06/24: ABC(Au): Rudd's golden honeymoon ends in bitter divorce
- 2010/06/24: ABC(Au): Gillard ousts Rudd in bloodless coup
And what will Julia's climate policies be?
- 2010/06/26: Guardian(UK): How Australia's postwar promise of a land of opportunity came true for Julia Gillard's family
Julia Gillard's family were among the 1.6 million Britons lured by the Australian government's '10 pound pom' scheme - 2010/06/25: Reuters: Major Australia investors urge quick action on climate
- 2010/06/25: PlanetArk: New Australian PM Vows To Revive Carbon Debate
- 2010/06/25: ABC(Au): Gillard told to start from scratch on mining tax
The Goldfields Esperance Development Commission has called on the new Prime Minister to scrap the proposed super profits tax. - 2010/06/24: TerraDaily: Gillard to pick up Rudd's slack on climate
- 2010/06/24: ENS: Australia's Leadership Change Rekindles Hope for Climate Health
- 2010/06/24: Reuters: New Australian PM backs price on carbon
- 2010/06/24: NatureTGB: Climate change and Australia's new prime minister
- 2010/06/24: Guardian(UK): Gillard bids to revive Australia's stalled carbon trading scheme
New Australian PM pledges more consultation with industry and voters to win support for an issue that has divided the nation - 2010/06/24: TreeHugger: Australia's New Prime Minister on Climate Change
- 2010/06/24: CSM: Julia Gillard takes helm in Australia after Kevin Rudd ouster
- 2010/06/24: BBerg: Gillard Takes Australia Leadership After Rudd Resigns
- 2010/06/23: CBC: Australia has 1st female prime minister
Australia has its first female prime minister after the ruling Labour Party dumped Kevin Rudd and installed his deputy as leader. Julia Gillard will lead the government to the next general elections, set for later this year. Gillard, 48, stood unopposed at a vote of the party's 112 lawmakers Thursday, hours after a revolt against Rudd. - 2010/06/24: NZHerald: Gillard sworn in as first female Australian PM
- 2010/06/23: BBC: Australia's Julia Gillard has become the country's first female prime minister after Kevin Rudd stood aside from a party ballot
- 2010/06/24: ABC(Au):TDU: Leadership challenge: how has it come to this?
- 2010/06/24: ABC(Au): Gillard 'truly honoured' at rise to power
Prime Minister-designate Julia Gillard says she is "truly honoured" to be given the chance to become Australia's first female Prime Minister after ousting Kevin Rudd in an unopposed Labor leadership spill. - 2010/06/23: Guardian(UK): Australia's gets new PM in British-born Julia Gillard as Rudd steps down
Otherwise in Australia:
- 2010/06/26: PeakEnergy: Australian Renewable Energy target Increased to 20%
- 2010/06/26: PeakEnergy: Australian Companies told to get smart on power
- 2010/06/25: REA: Australian Parliment Pushes Renewable Support Through
- 2010/06/25: WtD: Yes we can: is moving Australia to zero emissions by 2020 possible?
- 2010/06/25: ABC(Au): Blanchett launches theatre green energy project
Cate Blanchett donned a hard hat, commando boots and a smart grey jacket to spruik the green credentials of the Sydney Theatre Company. - 2010/06/24: ABC(Au): Council talks up environmental commitment
The Augusta Margaret River Shire Council says it is doing its part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the region. The shire has spent more than $3.5 million on environmental initiatives in the 2009/2010 period. - 2010/06/24: ABC(Au): Donaldson Coal says there will be minimal impact on the environment from a major expansion of is its Abel mine at Black Hill, west of Newcastle
- 2010/06/24: ABC(Au): Buildings to get energy efficiency tick
Landlords will soon have to disclose the energy efficiency of buildings to potential tenants or buyers. Federal Parliament has passed new laws today which mean from July 1 anyone leasing or buying a property in a commercial building must be provided with a current energy efficiency certificate. - 2010/06/23: Reuters: Australian Senate passes renewable energy laws
- 2010/06/23: PeakEnergy: 100pc green energy possible [for Australia] by 2020: report
- 2010/06/22: ABC(Au): 100 per cent green energy possible by 2020: report
A Melbourne University report says all of Australia's energy could come from renewable sources by 2020 as opposed to the Federal Government's target of 20 per cent. The Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan was launched in Canberra this morning by Coalition Senator Judith Troeth, independent Senator Nick Xenophon and Greens Senator Christine Milne. - 2010/06/22: ABC(Au): Queensland ethanol plant put into administration
While in the Indian subcontinent:
- 2010/06/24: NRDC:SwitchBoard: "Building Solar India": Phase I Guidelines
- 2010/06/24: Reuters: Tussle over forests shows India's growth dilemma
- 2010/06/25: BBC: India to scrap petrol subsidies
And elsewhere in Asia:
- 2010/06/23: EarthTimes: Asian Development Bank to raise funding for clean energy programme
And in Russia:
- 2010/06/24: NewScientist: Vital fruit and berry collection set for destruction
And South America:
- 2010/06/23: TreeHugger: Brazil's Lula Slams "Gringo" Protests of Amazon Dam
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
- 2010/06/24: PI: Federal government out of step with leading thinkers on sustainability, climate and energy issues: survey
- 2010/06/26: CanWest: Majority wants fossil fuels on table -- Canadians back push to cut oil, gas, coal subsidies: poll
Two out of three Canadians want the Harper government to show leadership at the G8 and G20 summits and announce plans to eliminate subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, according to results of a poll released on Friday. The survey, commissioned for Climate Action Network, coincides with ongoing G20 discussions about phasing out the incentives as part of a clean-energy strategy for the economic recovery. - 2010/06/26: TStar: First 'secret law' arrestee plans Charter challenge -- Lawyers say law's creation is reminiscent of a 'police state'
- 2010/06/26: TStar: Police powers too sweeping
- 2010/06/26: DawgsBlawg: Best G20 poster so far
- 2010/06/25: EUO: Canadians object to G20's $1 billion bill
- 2010/06/25: CBC: Include abortion in G8/G20 agenda: Martin
A former prime minister is criticizing the current prime minister's signature maternal health initiative as Stephen Harper is set to host two major world summits back to back. Former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin, who as finance minister promoted and helped establish the G20 which meets in Toronto this weekend, says Harper should have included abortion in his flagship policy proposal for the G8, which meets Friday north of the city. - 2010/06/25: TStar: G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people
The province has secretly passed an unprecedented regulation that empowers police to arrest anyone near the G20 security zone who refuses to identify themselves or agree to a police search. - 2010/06/20: G&M: Most Canadians support international access to safe abortions: poll
This would be funny if it weren't so tragic:
- 2010/06/23: CanWest: Canada 'furious' over U.S.-backed women's rights super agency
Canada is "furious" at the United States over Washington's role in creating a new $1-billion super agency at the United Nations for women's rights, Canwest News Service has learned. In a dispute that could spill over into the G20 and G8 summits in Canada this week, the U.S. has broken ranks with other western countries... - 2010/06/22: CanWest: Too little known about Arctic to risk oil spills, scientists warn
Oil companies may see shrinking Arctic ice as an opening for new oil and gas exploration. But scientists caution they do not know enough about the Arctic to prevent disasters like the blowout of BP's Deepwater Horizon offshore platform, which continues to spew crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. - 2010/06/23: CBC: Arctic seismic tests scaled back
Federal scientists say they are changing their plans to conduct seismic testing in Lancaster Sound this summer, due to concerns raised in Arctic communities. Natural Resources Canada has been planning to map out underwater geographical features in Lancaster Sound and several other Arctic waterways in, potentially revealing hydrocarbon resources there. But officials say they have had to adjust their plans because of "unequivocal concerns" raised in Nunavut communities about the effects seismic testing could have on marine life in Lancaster Sound. - 2010/06/25: BBC: Oil giant Syncrude Canada guilty over 1,600 duck deaths
Oil giant Syncrude Canada has been found guilty of causing the deaths of 1,600 ducks that landed in a toxic settling pond in northern Alberta. The ducks died after being coated in a toxic lather when they landed in the waste pond in April 2008. - 2010/06/25: DeSmogBlog: Syncrude Guilty in Duck Deaths
- 2010/06/25: CBC: Syncrude guilty in Alberta duck deaths
Oilsands giant Syncrude was found guilty Friday on both environmental charges it was facing in connection with the April 2008 deaths of 1,600 ducks in one of its northern Alberta tailings ponds. Syncrude was charged under the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act with failing to protect migratory birds from a toxic tailings pond. - 2010/06/25: CBC: Ottawa OKs China Syncrude deal
The federal government has approved the deal to have the Chinese state-owned oil company, Sinopec, acquire a stake in the giant Syncrude oilsands project in northern Alberta. Sinopec is paying $4.65 billion US for the 9.03 per cent share of the consortium, taking over the stake held by Houston-based ConocoPhillips. - 2010/06/25: OSW: Syncrude found guilty, but has justice been served?
- 2010/06/25: CanWest: Syncrude found guilty in duck deaths
Syncrude Canada Ltd. was found guilty Friday of failing to properly protect waterfowl. "Syncrude did not deploy deterrents early enough" in the spring of 2008, when 1,606 died in a bitumen-laced tailings pond, said Provincial Court Judge Ken Tjosvold. While the judge found the oil sands company guilty on both federal and provincial charges, he has yet to determine whether the company will be convicted on both charges, given their similarities. Sentencing will be determined another day. - 2010/06/25: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Tar sands found guilty in dead duck case - but will clean up ever happen?
- 2010/06/25: CBC: Syncrude duck trial verdict expected [Friday]
The Tories announced coal power reductions to mixed reviews:
- 2010/06/24: CleanBreak: Federal coal plant announcement another government greenwashing exercise
- 2010/06/23: TStar: Ottawa planning stricter coal emission standards
- 2010/06/23: CBC: Ottawa to get tough on coal plants
Ottawa plans to phase out dirty, coal-fired power plants in favour of cleaner alternatives in the next several years, Environment Minister Jim Prentice said Wednesday. The government will soon introduce legislation... - 2010/06/22: CTV: Ottawa plans to phase out coal-fired plants
Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff, came out with a surprising (to me at least) policy this week:
- 2010/06/22: BCLSB: Iggy On Oil
- 2010/06/22: Impolitical: Ignatieff's oceans announcement yesterday in BC
- 2010/06/22: CanWest: Ignatieff promises B.C. oil-tanker-traffic moratorium -- Enbridge warns that a ban would cost B.C. revenue and jobs
Two Alberta scientists received an unequivocal apology:
- 2010/06/21: CBC: Scientist apologizes to oilsands researchers
A scientist who works for the Alberta government has apologized to two scientists for calling their research "a lie." Dr. Preston McEachern, an environmental effects biologist who works for the government of Alberta, issued a letter of apology and retraction to Kevin Timoney, a researcher with Treeline Ecological Research, and Peter Lee, executive director with Global Forest Watch Canada. Timoney's and Lee's lawyer had contacted him after he said in a presentation at the University of Alberta in March that the two "chose to remove data" from a study about the environmental impact of the oilsands, and called their findings a "lie.""You did not lie," McEachern wrote. "You did not choose to remove data from your study. You did not actually remove data from 1985, 2003 and 2004. The statements in my presentation that you did these things were false and I regret very much that I made these statements. I unequivocally retract them."
Timoney and Lee published the study "Does the Alberta Tar Sands Industry Pollute? The Scientific Evidence," which suggested the physical and ecological changes that result from oilsands industrial activities are detectable. One of the conclusions in the study is that the ecological and health effects of these activities deserve immediate and systematic study. - 2010/06/22: CanWest: Scientists receive apology for claim they lied
Two Alberta scientists have won a retraction and apology after a senior provincial government scientist alleged they lied in their research about the oilsands industry. - 2010/06/26: TheBullet: British Columbia's Fossil Fuel Superpower Ambitions
- 2010/06/22: Rabble: British Columbia's fossil fuel superpower ambitions [Part 1]
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
- 2010/06/25: OilChange: Clean tar sands and safe deepwater drilling "more PR than reality."
- 2010/06/23: OSW: If the oil sands aren't high carbon, why do oil sands proponents spend so much time fighting low carbon fuel standards?
- 2010/06/25: NBF: New Oil Sand projects to boost production as they return from backburner
- 2010/06/26: AlterNet: G20 Protests Put the Pressure on Canada's Mining and Tar Sand Industries
- 2010/06/24: G&M: The oil sands: redeemed by fire?
- 2010/06/24: Berkeley:E&E: Alberta's tar sands a slow-motion equivalent of the Gulf disaster
- 2010/06/24: TreeHugger: Tar Sands Poised to Become the Next Fossil Fuels Disaster
- 2010/06/23: TEC: Canadian Oil Sands Could Lead U.S. Oil Imports This Year
- 2010/06/23: DeSmogBlog: [Suncor President & CEO] Rick George Defends Oil Industry's Poor R&D Record
- 2010/06/22: Macleans: [John] Podesta: "green oil sands" like "error-free deepwater drilling"
- 2010/06/23: ClimateP: [John] Podesta: Canada's "green tar sands" like our "error-free deepwater drilling" and "clean coal"
- 2010/06/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Tar sands leave us aghast and committed to clean energy path
- 2010/06/22: TreeHugger: What Goes Into (And Comes Out of) A Barrel Of Tar Sands Oil
- 2010/06/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Let's not play three card monte with our fossil fuels
Also in Alberta:
- 2010/06/22: CanWest: Alberta, Ottawa at odds over oilsands exports to China
The federal and Alberta governments are mired in a sticky oilsands battle over exporting the resource, with Ottawa maintaining it will prohibit bitumen shipments to countries like China with lax climate-change policies. - 2010/06/25: CleanBreak: Ontario program to cover up to 70 per cent of industrial energy efficiency projects
- 2010/06/23: AutoBG: Ontario launches plug-in vehicle rebate program, first 10,000 applicants get up to $8,500 back
- 2010/06/23: REA: SunEdison To Develop 2.1-MW of PV in Ontario
In the Maritimes:
- 2010/06/21: CleanBreak: A setback for tidal power in Nova Scotia
- 2010/06/25: CBC: Tidal power still has a future in N.B.: Keir -- Energy minister says tidal technology still not commercially viable
New Brunswick's quest for tidal power isn't dead despite Irving Oil's decision to pull the plug on its research project, according to Energy Minister Jack Keir. Keir said Thursday he wasn't given a reason why Irving Oil opted to abandon its tidal research project in the Bay of Fundy, including parts of Passamaquoddy Bay, Cape Enrage and the Cape Spencer area near Saint John. The energy minister said he doesn't think the technology to generate electricity from the tides is commercially viable right now, and that may have led to the company's decision. He also points to the challenges Nova Scotia Power is facing with a test turbine that broke earlier this month in Minas Passage. "It's six storeys high, the size of a football field and I think it generates -- when it's working -- one megawatt of electricity. You know it's just -- the technology just isn't there yet," Keir said. - 2010/06/24: CBC: Irving Oil Ltd. cancels N.B. tidal research project
In the North:
- 2010/06/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Big Shock: Nunavut is Opposing Polar Bear Conservation
As for miscellaneous Canadiana:
- 2010/06/21: TEC: The New Entrepreneurs vs. Canada's natural resources economy
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
- 2010/06/25: EnergyBulletin: Defining the mountain
- 2010/06/24: EnergyBulletin: The lost civilization: Finding a reality-based frame of reference in the age of delusion
- 2010/06/24: OilDrum: Relocalization - Thinking about Imports from the Less Developed World
- 2010/06/24: PeakEnergy: Monbiot On Dark Mountain
- 2010/06/21: OpenDem: Dark side of the mountain
The Dark Mountain Project says mainstream environmentalism has been assimilated by capitalism. Douglas Strang attended the project's recent festival in Wales and argues these controversial ideas should not be dismissed as utopian - 2010/06/20: TEC: Sustainability: Searching and Not Finding
And in the Transition movement:
- 2010/06/18: AlterNet: Life After Oil: Cuba Can Teach Us How to Live Without Our Dirty Fossil Fuel Addiction
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2010/06/26: Grist: The GINK Chronicles -- Women who can't get birth control spotlighted in new film; watch it here
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2010/06/23: PhysOrg: Humans will be extinct in 100 years says eminent scientist [Frank Fenner]
- 2010/06/22: CCurrents: The Coming Dark Age
- 2010/06/22: CCurrents: The Anguish Of The Age: Emotional Reactions To Collapse
- 2010/06/22: CDreams: The Anguish of the Age: Emotional Reactions to Collapse
- 2010/06/22: ERabett: Death, doom and disaster coming soon to a planet in your neighborhood
- 2010/06/22: TMoS: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the... Well, You Know
As for how the media handles the science of climatology:
- 2010/06/24: DeSmogBlog: George Monbiot Rips UK Sunday Times For 'Amazongate' Lies And Stonewalling
- 2010/06/24: ClimateP: Record heat sweeps DC, nation, and world -- Washington Post staff sleepwalks through the story
- 2010/06/24: CCP: George Monbiot: Sunday Times admits 'Amazongate' story was rubbish. But who's to blame?
- 2010/06/21: Guardian(UK): Sunday Times apologises for false climate story in a 'correction'
- 2010/06/21: ClassM: Oops. The Sunday Times apologizes
- 2010/06/21: Deltoid: Leakegate: Corrections needed from ...
While scientists search for effective communication techniques:
- 2010/06/26: CJR: Bringing Energy Home -- Can local reporting help break the cycle of inaction?
- 2010/06/24: AGU: Climate experts available to answer journalists' science questions
On useful discussion in the blogosphere:
- 2010/06/25: RRapier: The Climate Change Thought Police
- 2010/06/22: PhysOrg: Newspaper [Buffalo News] takes stand against 'comment trolls'
- 2010/06/21: Tamino: Silence
Here is a fine piece of irony:
- 2010/06/08: Google:WebCache: [The deleted Tamino post] Your Right to Say It
- 2010/06/23: BBoard: Development: Tamino deletes post
Here is something for your library:
- 2010/06/25: JFleck: [Book Plug] Climate Change for Kids
- 2010/06/23: TreeHugger: [Book Review] _Heatstroke_ by Anthony Barnosky
- DMPIBooks: [Book Site] Tar Sands -- Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent by Andrew Nikiforuk
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2010/06/21: PRWatch: "Gasland" Movie Explosive for Drilling Industry
- 2010/06/25: CCP: Peter Sinclair: Climate Crock Sacks Hack Attack: The Wrap -- Climate Denial Crock of the Week
- 2010/06/25: WorldChanging: Movie Review: Human Footprint
- 2010/06/24: DeSmogBlog: Climate Denial Crock of the Week: Sinclair Rocks!
- 2010/06/21: OilDrum: Gasland the Movie: How much to believe?
- 2010/06/20: DWWSJ: The Climate Denial Crock of The Week
- 2010/06/20: BSD: Visual proof that CO2 absorbs infrared radiation [video]
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2010/06/26: ChicagoTrib: First U.S. offshore wind energy project faces lawsuit
Environmental groups plan to file suit in federal court, accusing the Obama administration of violating the Endangered Species Act with its approval of the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound. - 2010/06/25: NatureTGB: UK loses Atlantic seabed bid
Britain's attempts to claim thousands of square kilometres of seabed around a remote Atlantic island have been thrown out by the United Nations. The UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf ruled that the UK had not successfully shown that the area around Ascension Island met the criteria necessary to establish a claim under international law. The ruling, which came out in April and is reported today in the Guardian, is a blow for the UK and for oil exploration companies who might have hoped to drill around Ascension... - 2010/06/22: HuffPo: Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster: Massey Sues Mine Safety Regulator For Allegedly Violating Its Constitutional Rights
- 2010/06/22: SolveClimate: The Man Who Makes Greenhouse Gas Polluters Face Their Victims in Court -- Attorney Matt Pawa has applied tort law to global warming and provoked groundbreaking rulings
- 2010/06/21: ENS: Conservationists Hit BP With $19 Billion Clean Water Act Lawsuit
The ruling on GM alfalfa had both parties claiming victory?
- 2010/06/23: NatureTGB: Ban overturned on genetically modified alfalfa
- 2010/06/22: CCurrents: SCOTUS lifts partial ban on GM alfalfa in Monsanto v Geertson Seed, Condemns District Court for taking "middle course" instead of "extreme action"
- 2010/06/22: NewScientist: Hollow victory for Monsanto in alfalfa court case
Monsanto is notching it up as a victory -- on Monday the US Supreme Court found that a 2007 ban on selling the firm's genetically modified alfalfa was "unjustified". But whether this will actually lead to the seeds being sold remains unclear -- so organic farmers are claiming victory is theirs. In 2007, organic farmers sued Monsanto, winning an injunction that prevented the firm selling its Roundup Ready alfalfa. The farmers argued the GM alfalfa had not been properly checked by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its environmental impact. Monsanto appealed, and on Monday the Supreme Court ruled that the lower court had been "unjustified" in imposing its ban. However, it also ruled that the USDA had broken the law by allowing the seeds to be sold in 2005 in the first place. This means the genetically modified alfalfa cannot be sold until the USDA carries out an impact assessment. "That could take years," says John Bianchi, a spokesman for the Center for Food Safety in Washington DC, which is representing the farmers. - 2010/06/21: ScienceInsider: U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Ban on GM Alfalfa
- 2010/06/22: ENS: U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Ban on Monsanto's Biotech Alfalfa
- 2010/06/21: BBC: Monsanto GM seed ban is overturned by US Supreme Court
The bio-tech company Monsanto can sell genetically modified seeds before safety tests on them are completed, the US Supreme Court has ruled. - 2010/06/21: PhysOrg: US Supreme Court overturns ban on GM crop
In a landmark first ruling on genetically modified crops, the US Supreme Court overturned Monday a four-year ban on alfalfa seeds engineered by biotech giant Monsanto to resist weed killer. A California district judge voided in 2007 the Department of Agriculture's authorization of the seeds, finding that a proper environmental review had not been conducted. The decision was upheld on appeal in 2009. But justices voted 7-1 Monday to reverse the ruling, saying the injunction overstepped the mark and prevented the agency from carrying out a "partial deregulation" of the crop, known as Roundup Resistant Alfalfa (RRA). - 2010/06/21: Grist: Supreme Court's ruling on Monsanto's GE alfalfa: Who won?
The offshore oil drilling moratorium and contra ruling has raised controversy:
- 2010/06/26: ClimateP: Judge who ruled against moratorium owned stock in Exxon, other drilling companies
- 2010/06/24: PRWatch: Just the Facts on Judge Martin Feldman's Financial Investments
- 2010/06/23: PRWatch: Impeach the Oil-Investing Judge Who Declared Deep Sea Drilling Ban Void
- 2010/06/24: EarthTimes: Judge denies request to keep drilling moratorium
- 2010/06/24: EarthTimes: US government appeals court defeat on drilling moratorium
Washington - The US government sought to keep its moratorium on offshore oil drilling in place, filing an appeal against an earlier court order to end the ban. The government on Wednesday also asked federal Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans to put his order from Tuesday on hold or issue a temporary stay until the appeals court hears its request for an emergency stay, the Bloomberg financial news agency reported. - 2010/06/23: CCP: Joseph Romm (on Grist): federal Judge Feldman rules against offshore drilling moratorium while investing in oil industry
Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:
- 2010/06/25: TreeHugger: Natural Gas Use to Double in US in Coming Decades: MIT Report
- 2010/06/24: PhysOrg: Hot rocks fire up energy from the depths
Scientists at Newcastle University have completed the first phase of a giant central heating [twin borehole] system that will harness heat from deep underground. - 2010/06/24: TreeHugger: Hydropower Without Dams: Alaskan Village Powered Entirely by New Hydrokinetic River Turbine
- 2010/06/24: OilDrum: Natural gas, the green choice?
- 2010/06/24: PeakEnergy: Kenya Starts Generation at New 35-Megawatt Geothermal Plant
- 2010/06/23: EurActiv: Belarus stops gas transit to the West
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko yesterday (22 June) called a halt to gas flows to Lithuania, Poland and Germany following a payment dispute with Russian monopolist Gazprom, speaking of a "gas war," the press in the region reported. - 2010/06/23: CCurrents: The Coming Era of Energy Disasters by Michael T. Klare
- 2010/06/23: CBC: Oil demand forecast hiked by IEA -- Predicts emerging economies' needs will grow
- 2010/06/22: Eureka: Turning off the air conditioning helps save fuel
- 2010/06/21: EnergyBulletin: Interview with Jeff Rubin
- 2010/06/21: TreeHugger: The Persistent Myth of the Internet as Energy Hog
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
- 2010/06/26: NatureN: For climate relief, US will turn to gas -- New study finds untapped shale reserves set to displace coal if carbon pricing enforced
- 2010/06/23: Tyee: How to Attack a 'Fracking' Film
Documentary 'Gasland' shows flaming tap water caused by gas drillers 'fracking.' Industry speed dials its PR flaks. - 2010/06/21: PRWatch: "Gasland" Movie Explosive for Drilling Industry
- 2010/06/25: GreenGrok: HBO Documentary: It's a Gas
- 2010/06/24: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Hydraulic fracturing suspected in two more cases of drinking water contamination in Pennsylvania
- 2010/06/24: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Incidents where hydraulic fracturing is a suspected cause of drinking water contamination
- 2010/06/25: TreeHugger: Burning Tap Water and More: GASLAND Exposes the Natural Gas Industry
- 2010/06/25: AlterNet: A New Generation of Natural Gas Drilling Is Endangering Communities From the Rockies to New York
- 2010/06/23: ChinaDaily: China to tap more unconventional gas to ease energy shortage
- 2010/06/21: OilDrum: Gasland the Movie: How much to believe?
- 2010/06/22: ProPublica: Fracking Tales: Stories From the Frontlines of Gas Drilling
- 2010/06/21: VanityFair: A Colossal Fracking Mess -- The dirty truth behind the new natural gas
- 2010/06/22: VanityFair: Know the Drill [fracking video]
- 2010/06/20: CorrenteWire: Life in the Gas Lane: Living with Drilling, Part II-c
- 2010/06/13: PittsburghPG: Marcellus Shale gas drilling put under microscope -- Moratorium weighed as towns, people wary of potential mishaps
- 2010/06/21: NYT: 'Gasland' -- The Costs of Natural Gas, Including Flaming Water
- 2010/06/20: ClimateP: As Wyoming goes, so goes the nation? WY commission votes to disclose fracking chemicals
- 2010/06/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: New information on spills from natural gas operations in Pennsylvania
The answer my friend...:
- 2010/06/25: REA: Siemens Secures Dong Energy Offshore Turbine Order
Jutland, Denmark -- Siemens Energy has secured an order from Dong Energy to supply 111 wind turbines for what will be Denmark's largest offshore wind power plant. - 2010/06/23: NewsMiner: Wind farm could produce cheaper power, GVEA says
- 2010/06/23: DerSpiegel: Offshore Embarrassment -- Shoddy Parts Trip Up Major North Sea Wind Farm
Germany's first offshore wind park was dealt a blow with the failure of two turbines due to inferior materials. The rough patch has energy executives scurrying to reassure Berlin and banks scrutinizing their billions in offshore wind energy investments. - 2010/06/22: PlanetArk: Wind Turbine Maker Vestas Gets 50 MW Chinese Order
- 2010/06/22: REA: Iberdrola Opens 404-MW Penascal Wind Farm [in Texas]
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2010/06/24: NewScientist: Hot electrons could double solar cell efficiency
- 2010/06/24: REA: Solarbuzz: Nine Countries To Have 250 MW PV Markets in 2010
- 2010/06/24: REA: SunPower Sets Solar Cell Efficiency Record at 24.2%
- 2010/06/24: NBF: Hot Electrons Capture Using Quantum Dots Could Eventually Lead to 66% Efficient Solar Cells But This is NOT Related to Evolution Solar
- 2010/06/23: PeakEnergy: Will Ivanpah [in California] Be The World's Most Efficient Solar Plant?
- 2010/06/21: Eureka: Life of plastic solar cell jumps from hours to 8 months
- 2010/06/21: TEC: Solar's strange bedfellows
- 2010/06/21: EurActiv: EU sees solar power imported from Sahara in five years
- 2010/06/21: PlanetArk: EU Sees Solar Power Imported From Sahara In 5 Years [Desertec]
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2010/06/22: RRapier: Range Fuels' Number One Critic
- 2010/06/24: NYT: As Ethanol Booms, Critics Warn of Environmental Effect
- 2010/06/25: PhysOrg: Green energy from algae
Visitors to this year's UK Royal Society Summer Exhibition will have a chance to discover how scientists from the University of Cambridge are studying ways to harness algae as a renewable energy source. - 2010/06/24: Economist: The campaign against palm oil -- The other oil spill
Palm oil is a popular, cheap commodity, which green activists are doing their best to turn into a commercial liability. Companies are finding them impossible to ignore - 2010/06/24: PhysOrg: Researcher develops green, bio-based process for producing fuel additive [isobutylene]
- 2010/06/24: PlanetArk: Scenarios - Outlook For US Ethanol Market As EPA Delays
- 2010/06/23: PlanetArk: Analysis: Ethanol Blend Rise May Revive Auto Industry
- 2010/06/22: ABC(Au): Queensland ethanol plant put into administration
Australia's first grains-to-ethanol plant at Dalby on the Darling Downs in southern Queensland has gone into voluntary administration. The owners of the Dalby Bio-Refinery went into administration on Friday and creditors have now appointed Ernst and Young to review the business. Receiver Adam Nikitins says the bio-refinery owes more than $80 million to creditors. - 2010/06/22: REA: Biomass Power Association Responds to [EWG] Report
- 2010/06/21: AutoBG: Kudzu keeps growing, but plans to make it into biofuel have stalled
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2010/06/25: UCSUSA: Christine Todd Whitman, Patrick Moore Fail to Disclose They are Paid to Promote Nuclear Energy
- 2010/06/23: NBF: Vietnam Plans 13 Nuclear Reactors by 2030 to Generate up to 16 Gigawatts
- 2010/06/22: Yahoo:AP: Nebraska. N-plant declares low-level emergency state
Brownville, Neb. - A nuclear power plant near Brownville in southeast Nebraska notified public and federal regulators early Tuesday that it was in a low-level emergency state because of flooding from the rising Missouri River nearby. The Cooper Nuclear Station declared a "Notification of Unusual Event" at 2:06 a.m. CDT. The plant said in a statement that there was no threat to plant employees or the public. The plant owner, Nebraska Public Power District, said the plant was operating safely. - 2010/06/22: Reuters: UN watchdog [IAEA] backs Egypt nuclear power plant plans
Yes we have peak everything:
- 2010/06/24: EnergyBulletin: Peak oil -- a crisis postponed
- 2010/06/23: EnergyBulletin: Joe Barton & the coming of peak oil
- 2010/06/21: NYT:GW: USGS's Lithium Find Means Little for Mythical Shortfall
Proponents and critics of electric vehicles both talk about how a global shortage of lithium might hinder adoption of battery-based auto technologies. But experts say new lithium finds are largely irrelevant to advanced battery production, as concerns over a shortage of the material are overblown. - 2010/06/21: AutoBG: High demand for rare earth metals may drive hybrid and EV prices way up
More people are talking about the electrical grid:
- 2010/06/26: TreeHugger: AARP Dumbs Down Maryland's Important Smart Grid Initiative
- 2010/06/24: SolveClimate: Botched Smart Meter Roll Outs Provoking Consumer Backlash
Higher bills, security and health concerns, and questions about fairness cloud the promise of the smart grid - 2010/06/23: NYT:CW: Md.'s Veto of Advanced Meter Deployment Stuns Smart Grid Advocates
A utility proposal to install smart meters throughout Maryland has been rejected by the state's Public Service Commission, jeopardizing if not ending what had been one of the Obama administration's leading investment commitments to smart grid technologies and consumer energy conservation. The decision by Maryland's PSC late Monday is a sharp rebuff to Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., the state's largest utility and part of the Constellation Energy Group, in a state where politicians and power companies have feuded for years. - 2010/06/25: SciAm: Wrangling Renewables and the Smart Grid: How Can the Federal Government Change the Future of Electricity?
The commissioner of [FERC] the federal agency responsible for electricity supply in the U.S. explains the ongoing transformation of the energy sector - 2010/06/24: TreeHugger: Security Is Next Multi-Billion Dollar Boom for Smart Grid
- 2010/06/23: PeakEnergy: Landis + Gyr to Install a Million More [smart] Meters in Texas
- 2010/06/22: PeakEnergy: Local power: tapping distributed energy in 21st-century cities
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
- 2010/06/23: NBF: NREL Makes SuperEfficient Air Conditioner
- 2010/06/23: TEC: The Jevons Paradox: Time to Send it The Way of the Dodo?
- 2010/06/11: NREL: Energy Saving A/C Conquers All Climates
[...]
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has invented a new air conditioning process with the potential of using 50 percent to 90 percent less energy than today's top-of-the-line units. It uses membranes, evaporative cooling and liquid desiccants in a way that has never been done before in the centuries-old science of removing heat from the air. - 2010/06/26: AutoBG: Automotive X-Prize: teams dropping fast now, only four left in the mainstream class
- 2010/06/24: AutoBG: Study: Light commercial electric vehicle market ready to heat up, especially in Europe
- 2010/06/24: AutoBG: Toshiba to build electric motors in Texas for Ford hybrids and plug-ins
- 2010/06/23: AutoBG: Ford pushes for 25% of its vehicles to feature electric power by 2020
As for Energy Storage:
- 2010/06/26: NewScientist: Capacitors roll up for power on the nanoscale
- 2010/06/21: NBF: carbon nanotubes in a lithium battery can increase energy capacity up to Ten Times
- 2010/06/21: TechRev: Nanotubes Give Batteries a Jolt -- Lithium-ion batteries with nanotube electrodes could go longer between charges
- 2010/06/20: SciDaily: Using Carbon Nanotubes in Lithium Batteries Can Dramatically Improve Energy Capacity
Batteries might gain a boost in power capacity as a result of a new finding from researchers at MIT. They found that using carbon nanotubes for one of the battery's electrodes produced a significant increase -- up to tenfold -- in the amount of power it could deliver from a given weight of material, compared to a conventional lithium-ion battery. - 2010/06/26: Guardian(UK): Eiris review names Britain as 'dirty man of Europe'
Survey of Europe's top 300 companies reveals UK as worst offender in terms of corporate impact on global warming - 2010/06/25: Guardian(UK): FTSE index to highlight investor climate risk
- 2010/06/20: G&M: Few Canadian companies disclose environmental practices
Major pension funds are demanding more environmental data about the businesses they've invested in, but most companies are still not giving them key information about things such as energy and water consumption, according to a new review of corporate social responsibility in Canada. - 2010/06/25: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for June 25...
- 2010/06/24: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for June 24...
- 2010/06/23: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for June 23...
- 2010/06/22: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for June 22...
- 2010/06/21: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for June 21...
Other (weekly) lists:
- 2010/06/26: Grist: A walk through the week's climate news -- The Climate Post: Who wants to be a climate scientist?!
- 2010/06/22: CSW: Climate Science Watch Weekly Update
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2010/06/25: DeSmogBlog: Christopher Monckton humiliated yet again
- 2010/06/25: Tamino: It's the Trend, Stupid
- 2010/06/25: DeSmogBlog: US Defense Establishment: No Marching Orders for Skeptics
- 2010/06/25: TreeHugger: Margaret Thatcher Hailed as Champion for Climate Skeptics
- 2010/06/24: APSmith: McIntyreGate
- 2010/06/23: Guardian(UK): Maurice Strong: Ignore Glenn Beck -- I don't want to rule the world
What I do want, says the man self-labelled 'the planet's leading environmentalist', is for nations to co-operate fully on issues they cannot deal with alone - 2010/06/23: Guardian(UK): [interview] Maurice Strong on climate 'conspiracy', Bilberberg and population control
- 2010/06/23: WtD: Rage against the science: Jo Nova calls scientists "witch doctors" in her most venomous post to date
- 2010/06/23: SkeptiSci: How Jo Nova doesn't get past climate change
- 2010/06/22: ERabett: Eli is a friendly bunny [rude characters doing drive bys on Eli and Tamino]
- 2010/06/23: WtD: Watts down under, bit of a fizzer... and do sceptics really want a debate?
- 2010/06/22: DeSmogBlog: Christopher Monckton's Lies Exposed (Again) By The Guardian
- 2010/06/22: WtD: Guest Post: A Scientist Replies to ...Christopher Monckton
- 2010/06/22: Guardian(UK): Thatcher becomes latest recruit in Monckton's climate sceptic campaign
Monckton's use of Britain's former PM illustrates that climate denialism is about politics, not science - 2010/06/22: DeSmogBlog: Who are the spindoctors behind the attack on Gasland?
- 2010/06/20: SkeptiSci: How Jo Nova doesn't get the CO2 lag
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2010/06/25: SkeptiSci: Irregular Climate podcast: episode 5
- 2010/06/25: HotTopic: Which is the greater crime?
- 2010/06/24: Stoat: Dumb America
- 2010/06/24: TCoE: Smarter lighting, made easy
- 2010/06/25: BNC: Take real action on climate change -- Part 2 -- the FAQ
- 2010/06/24: Grist: Acid rain is back, and thanks to [nitrogen oxide emissions from factory] farming, worse than ever
- 2010/06/23: DM:SRK: Food For Thought
- 2010/06/22: EnergyBulletin: Optimism, pessimism and rationality
- 2010/06/21: PhysOrg: Green Infrastructure is Cheaper and Better for Stormwater Control: Study
- 2010/06/22: TerraDaily: A History Of Climate Change
- 2010/06/21: DVoice: Global Climate Change and Colonialism
- 2010/06/21: BNC: Take real action on climate change -- Part 1
- 2010/06/20: MongaBay: Methane and Climate Change: From the Amazon to the Gulf of Mexico
- 2010/06/18: NOC: Ocean stirring and plankton patchiness
Computer simulations performed by researchers at the National Oceanography Centre and the University of Glasgow show how oceanic stirring and mixing influence the formation and dynamics of plankton patches in the upper ocean. - 2010/06/20: C-a-S: Citizen (Climate) Science at a Crossroads
- 2010/06/20: BCLSB: How To Misquote A Scientist
- 2010/06/20: EnergyBulletin: Memo to Kurzweil: The human-machine hybrid already happened and the results are pretty scary
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- SEARCH: Study of Environmental Arctic Change
- SolarBuzz
- TechPulse 360
- The Blackboard
- NOAA: National Ocean Service
- Wiki: Precautionary principle
- New Scientist
- Nature Science Update
- Science Daily
- Eureka Alert
- CDIAC CO2 Info Analysis Centre
- Real Climate
- Wikipedia: Global warming
- WGMS: World Glacier Monitoring Service
- BAS: The British Antarctic Survey
It's always nice to start with a chuckle:
The G8/G20 is on this weekend:
The Major Emitters Forum is meeting in Rome next week:
And on the Bottom Line:
To improve IPCC processes:
Post CRU theft, controversy & inquiry:
The food crisis is ongoing:
The conflict between biofuel and food persists:
So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
Blas faded, but Celia and Darby are still blowing around the Eastern Pacific:
While in the paleoclimate:
More GW impacts are being seen:
Central North America got zapped, again:
As for heatwaves and wild fires:
Acidification is changing the oceans:
Consider transportation & GHG production:
As for carbon sequestration:
The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:
As for GW, energy & security:
The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:
Polls! We have polls!
The anti-AB32 proposition in California has qualified for a November vote:
The BP Gulf disaster has American politics in a vise:
And in Europe:
Meanwhile in Australia, Kevin Rudd got the axe:
Regarding the G8/G20 meetings:
Questions and debate about offshore and Arctic drilling continue:
The two headed Arctic Park proposal continues to draw fire:
Syncrude was found guilty; sentencing to happen in August:
BC is still wrangling over energy:
Ontario has it's Green Energy Act, now comes the implementation:
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:
Low Key Plug
My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.
<regards>
P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.
"The Four Laws of Ecology are:
Everything goes somewhere.
All things are connected.
There's no such thing as a free lunch.
Nature bats last."
-Ernst Colombec
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