Another week of GW News, December 19, 2010

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

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Another week of Global Warming News

Information Overload is Pattern Recognition

December 19, 2010

• Chuckles, Solstice, COP16, COP17+, UN GCF, CableGate, AGU, Amstrup, Weather, Pakistan
• Bottom Line, Subsidies, Year End, CSRRT, Cook, Post CRU, Shrinkology
• Melting Arctic, Megafauna, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food Crisis, GCDT, Food vs. Biofuel, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Feedbacks, Aerosols, Paleoclimate
• ENSO, Solar, Overshoot, State of the Oceans, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Climate Refugees, Desertification, Wacky Weather, Tornadoes
• Wildfires, Acidification, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, REDD, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, Wegman
• Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Bank Tax
• International Politics: Energy Race, Law & Activism, Activism, H2O Biz, Religioso
• National Politics: America, BP Disaster, BP Suit, Cal. Cap & Trade
• Sunflower, Ethanol, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
• Britain, Europe, Australia, Murray-Darling, New Zealand, China, Japan
• Canada, Post G20, Canadian GHGs, Pipelines, Polar Bears, RSC, MVP
• Canada & IPCC, Salmon, BC, Tar Sands, Sask, Maritimes, North, Canadiana
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Fixes, Media, Books, Video, Podcasts, Courts
• Energy, Fracking, Wind, Solar, FITs, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
• Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

• 2010/12/16: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Instant Messaging
• 2010/12/18: CCP: (cartoon - xkcd) Alternative Energy Revolution
• 2010/12/13: DCI: (cartoons - Cunningham) Climate Change
• 2010/12/15: HotTopic: (cartoon - Roberts) The ineluctable etiquette of international diplomacy
• 2010/12/15: GreenFyre: (cartoon - Cunningham) Albert the Knowledge Penguin
• 2010/12/15: DM:BA: (cartoon - Cunningham) Comic takedown of global warming denial

  Solstice rolls around this coming Tuesday with an eclipse:

• USNO: Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion, 2000-2020
• 2010/12/17: PhysOrg: Solstice lunar eclipse set for December 21st
• 2010/12/17: Eureka: A total lunar eclipse and winter solstice coincide on Dec. 21 -- A busy day on the celestial calendar

  Looking back at Cancun:

• 2010/12/13: PI:B: A long way from Copenhagen, but a long way left to go
• 2010/12/17: CCurrents: Climate Capitalism Wins At Cancún
• 2010/12/17: CCurrents: Cancun Agreement Stripped Bare By Bolivia's Dissent
• 2010/12/13: CJR: Show Him the Money! Reporter Joydeep Gupta asks tough questions at the Cancún climate conference
• 2010/12/16: Nation: Climate Clash in Cancún
• 2010/12/17: EnergyBulletin: Cancun agreement stripped bare by Bolivia's dissent
• 2010/12/14: GreenGrok: The Stuff of Climate Change: Negotiations and Cook Stoves
• 2010/12/17: TreeHugger: COP16: Cancun - Corporate and Complicit
• 2010/12/17: REA: Reflections on Cancún from a Local Government Perspective
• 2010/12/16: Stoat: Can'tcun
  [...]
  Cancun was the triumph of the negotiator-class: the parasites encouraged by all the process...
• 2010/12/16: Guardian(UK): How trust was restored at Cancún
  While Copenhagen was marked by acrimony, COP16 was different -- thanks to Mexico's gracious negotiation
• 2010/12/15: Guardian(UK): Cancun climate change talks 'anarchic' says Chris Huhne
• 2010/12/15: TreeHugger: GOP Was "Elephant in the Room" at Cancun Climate Talks, AP Says
• 2010/12/14: ENS: Cancun Climate Outcome 'Consistent With U.S. Objectives'
• 2010/12/13: CCurrents: Reading The Coca Leaves: Climate Change, Cancun And Bolivia
• 2010/12/13: CCurrents: The Climate Deal That Failed Us
• 2010/12/13: CCurrents: Bolivia Decries Adoption of Copenhagen Accord II Without Consensus
• 2010/12/13: CCurrents: Where The Cancún Climate Conference Leaves Us
• 2010/12/15: Bullet: 'Climate Capitalism' Won At Cancun -- Everyone Else Loses
• 2010/12/15: Rabble:VR: In the wake of Cancun
• 2010/12/13: DemNow: Young Environmentalists Challenge U.N. Climate Delegates: "Stop Talking. Start Planting"
• 2010/12/13: DemNow: Life or Death: Small Island Nation of Tuvalu Pleads for Climate Resolution
• 2010/12/13: DemNow: Groups Protest U.N. Climate Summit for Shutting Out Civil Society
• 2010/12/13: DemNow: Climate Deal Reached in Cancún: Will the Agreement Help Save the Planet?
• 2010/12/14: Guardian(UK): Why Cancún gives us hope
• 2010/12/14: UN: Cancún agreement puts climate change negotiations 'back on track' -- UN official
• 2010/12/14: ClimateP: The worst Cancun headline plus Stavins explains why the climate talks produced a "successful outcome"
• 2010/12/14: TreeHugger: The Creative, Colorful Climate Protests of Cancun 2010 (Photos)
• 2010/12/13: Belfer: What Happened (and Why): An Assessment of the Cancun Agreements
• 2010/12/14: StWR: Cancún Agreements Save Climate Talks But Not the Planet
• 2010/12/13: Guardian(UK): Does the Cancún agreement show climate leadership?
• 2010/12/13: Guardian(UK): Cancún climate agreements at a glance
• 2010/12/13: Guardian(UK): Grounds for hope for the climate change agenda by George Soros
• 2010/12/13: EurActiv: Modest steps in Cancún keep UN climate process alive
• 2010/12/13: EUO: Abandon hope for UN climate treaty, potential French president believes
  Former French environment minister and potential presidential candidate Jean-Louis Borloo believes Europe is obsessed with legally-binding treaties as a result of its post-war history and its experience in gradually ceding sovereignty to Brussels - a hang-up that is unnecessarily affecting the UN climate negotiation process, a US diplomatic cable has revealed. The cable's release by WikiLeaks on Friday (10 December) came just hours before EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard said much more work was needed if a legally-binding deal on cutting carbon emissions was to be achieved next year, as Europe hopes for. But in a meeting with US ambassador to France Charles Rivkin on 11 February, Mr Borloo said the key to advancing climate negotiations is to drop the notion of a legally binding treaty in favour of a system of national commitments, according to the cable.
• 2010/12/13: MongaBay: Climate agreement reached in Cancun
• 2010/12/13: ABC(Au): Warm praise for Cancun deal to stop logging
• 2010/12/13: NewScientist: Cancún analysis: Dawn breaks on low-carbon world [Pearce]
• 2010/12/13: PlanetArk: Cancun Deal Could Help Climate Efforts At Home: U.S.
• 2010/12/13: PlanetArk: Obama sees Cancun Meet As Advance In Climate Change Fight
• 2010/12/13: Grist: India played key role in Cancun climate talks
• 2010/12/13: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Spirit of Working Together Rules the Day in Cancun Global Warming Negotiations: Let's Hope it Continues
• 2010/12/13: NatureTGB: Cancun: and that's the way it was
• 2010/12/13: NatureN: Last-minute deal saves climate talks
• 2010/12/13: G&M: The post-Cancun climate challenge: putting words into actions
• 2010/12/13: ABC(Au): Warm praise for Cancun deal to stop logging
  One of the key agreements from the Cancun climate summit is a deal to pay poor countries to stop chopping down their rainforests. The agreement, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), was completed at the weekend. It is still unclear where the funds will come from, but some countries like Norway and Australia are already putting money into Indonesia to stop the destruction of rainforests.
• 2010/12/13: USAToday: Climate deal does little but prep for future talks
• 2010/12/12: EarthTimes: Bolivia threatens court action to halt Cancun climate deal
• 2010/12/12: TEC: COP16 Cancun: Progress, or false hopes?
• 2010/12/12: TEC: Joelle Westlund - Climate talks end in disappointment
• 2010/12/13: OilChange: From Life-Support to Life-Line [cop16]
• 2010/12/13: THW: Cancun: a Failure
• 2010/12/13: 350orBust: Cancun Climate Conference Ends, Falls Short of Science-Based Targets
• 2010/12/12: AlterNet: Baby Steps Made at Climate Summit Pale in Comparison to the Change Needed
• 2010/12/09: C&C: Cancun: Evo Morales Speaks on Climate Change and Capitalism
• 2010/12/13: Guardian(UK): Cancún climate summit: Yet another opportunity lost -- Any significance of the decisions taken vanishes when matched against the scale of things to come
• 2010/12/12: Guardian(UK): Cancún agreement rescues UN credibility but falls short of saving planet
• 2010/12/12: Guardian(UK): Climate change: human numbers don't add up
  The best way to cut emissions is to have fewer babies -- but you won't find it in the Cancún bulletin, or any politician's vision

Looking ahead to COP17 and future international climate negotiations:

• 2010/12/13: PressEurop: We need eco-democracies
  The major climate conferences aren't just about CO2 emissions. They're also about whether there are democratic ways to ward off an ecological catastrophe. Der Freitag champions environmental democracy over environmental autocracy.
• 2010/12/15: TMoS: There'll Never Be an Effective Global Warming Treaty. Here's Why.
• 2010/12/15: BBerg: Legally Binding Climate Deal Not Likely Anytime Soon, Stern of U.S. Says
• 2010/12/15: ABC(Au): Climate change treaty: the longer it takes the harder it gets
• 2010/12/14: PlanetArk: Japan: Will Keep Seeking Wider Climate Pact Than Kyoto
• 2010/12/14: PlanetArk: New Climate Battle Looms In South Africa In 2011
• 2010/12/13: BBerg: Global Warming Deal Decades Away as `Dysfunctional' U.S. Delays Commitment
• 2010/12/12: Reuters: New climate battle looms in South Africa in 2011
• 2010/12/12: Reuters: Analysis - Climate talks win lifeline, but may sink in 2012

  The UN Global Climate Fund will remain contentious:

• 2010/12/13: ClimateP: Paul Epstein: Building the Green Climate Fund

  The CableGate revelations are ongoing:

• 2010/12/18: OilChange: The "Great Oil Thief"
• 2010/12/17: Guardian(UK): WikiLeaks cables: the Dalai Lama is right to put climate change first
• 2010/12/17: Guardian(UK): US embassy cables: Cuba uses climate change summit to turn on Obama
• 2010/12/18: BCLSB: Dalai Lama On Climate Change
• 2010/12/17: TreeHugger: Wikileaks: Dalai Lama Says Tibet's Environmental Problems Cannot Wait, But Political Solution Can
• 2010/12/16: Guardian(UK): US embassy cables: India a 'raucous democracy' but 'true partner' of America
• 2010/12/16: Guardian(UK): WikiLeaks cables: Dalai Lama called for focus on climate, not politics, in Tibet
• 2010/12/16: Guardian(UK): US embassy cables: Dalai Lama says prioritise climate change over politics in Tibet
• 2010/12/15: Guardian(UK): WikiLeaks cables: BP suffered blowout on Azerbaijan gas platform [in September 2008]
  Embassy cables reveal energy firm 'fortunate' to have evacuated workers safely after blast similar to Deepwater Horizon disaster
• 2010/12/15: CCurrents: Hike Food Prices To Boost GM Crop Approval In Europe: Leaked Cable
• 2010/12/13: WtD: Climategate an act of cyber-terrorism? US knew of attacks leading to "Climategate"
• 2010/12/13: PSinclair: Wiki-Leaks: Climate Scientists subject to Cyber attack [wiki]
• 2010/12/13: Guardian(UK): US embassy cables: Gordon Brown pushed pet project [Tobin tax] during Thanksgiving call to US ambassador
• 2010/12/13: JKB: Wikileaks on cyber attacks against climate scientists as soon as June 2009
• 2010/12/13: CCP: French paper of record Le Monde publishes article on wikileaks cables mentioning cyber attacks against climatologists leading up to the Copenhagen conference
• 2010/12/13: CCP: "French WikiLeaks Coverage Reports Cyberattacks on Climate Scientists" by Carrie La Seur
• 2010/12/13: DeSmogBlog: [WikiLeaks] American diplomats anticipated Climategate hacks

  The AGU meeting gave rise to several reports:

• 2010 AGU Fall Meeting 13-17 December
• 2010/12/19: JEB: AGU part 2
• 2010/12/19: SEasterbrook: AGU talk: Tim Palmer on Building Probabilistic Climate Models
• 2010/12/18: SEasterbrook: AGU talk: Michael Oppenheimer on how to communicate science
• 2010/12/17: SEasterbrook: AGU talk: Julia Slingo on Vulnerability to Natural Hazards
• 2010/12/16: AGU:B: Senate staffer gives tips to stop science from becoming politicized
• 2010/12/17: KSJT: Discovery News, MSNBC, etc: At the AGU, a transformer submarine to get to the bottom of Ross Ice Shelf
• 2010/12/17: ScienceInsider: Going Green, Top British Climate Lab Sends Only Three Scientists to [AGU] U.S. Meeting
• 2010/12/16: JEB: More AGU...some highlights and lowlights from the first two days...
• 2010/12/16: ScienceInsider: Princeton Scientist Tells Earth Researchers: Speak Out
• 2010/12/16: ScienceInsider: All-Star 'Memorial Celebration' for Climate Scientist [Steven Schneider] Brings Powerpoints, Guitars, and Wine
• 2010/12/16: NOAANews: NOAA Scientist Awarded Revelle Medal at AGU
• 2010/12/16: NASA:JPL: American Geophysical Union Honors NASA's Bill Patzert
• 2010/12/15: KSJT: Rocks, jolts, heat, probes, solar storms and paleostuff: AGU fills a press room in SF
• 2010/12/14: QuarkSoup: Incredible -- Mooney on AGU Board!
• 2010/12/14: SEasterbrook: AGU session on Software Engineering for Climate Modeling

  The Amstrup paper was notable for the two-headed spin it generated -- no Arctic tipping point and saving the bears:

• 2010/12/15: Nature: (ab$) Greenhouse gas mitigation can reduce sea-ice loss and increase polar bear persistence by Steven C. Amstrup et al.
• 2010/12/15: NewScientist: No tipping point for polar bears' Arctic ice
• 2010/12/15: PhysOrg: Arctic icecap safe from runaway melting: study
• 2010/12/15: USGS: Projected Losses of Arctic Sea-Ice and Polar Bear Habitat may be Reduced if Greenhouse Gas Emissions are Stabilized
• 2010/12/17: ClimateSight: An Unlikely Priority
• 2010/12/16: KSJT: Lots of Ink: Polar bear habitat will shrink, but not disappear -- with a very large IF
• 2010/12/16: ABC(Au): Emissions cuts can save polar bears, study finds
• 2010/12/15: SpaceDaily: Arctic icecap safe from runaway melting: study [Amstrup]
• 2010/12/16: TerraDaily: Polar Bears Extinction Can Be Averted [Amstrup]
• 2010/12/15: CSM: Polar bear 'doomed'? Only if greenhouse-gas emissions aren't cut.
• 2010/12/15: BBC: Polar bears can be saved by emissions cuts, study says
• 2010/12/15: Guardian(UK): Polar bear could be saved if emissions are cut, says new study
• 2010/12/15: CBC: Hope for polar bears -- Greenhouse gas reduction could save northern mammals, study suggests
• 2010/12/15: NatureN: Polar bears could survive on persisting ice -- But Arctic ice must be protected from oil and pollution
• 2010/12/15: SciNow: How to Save Polar Bears
• 2010/12/15: SciNews: Climate action could save polar bears -- Cutting fossil fuel emissions would retain enough sea ice habitat, study concludes
• 2010/12/15: Eureka: Polar bears: On thin ice? Extinction can be averted, scientists say -- Cutting greenhouse gases now is the key
• 2010/12/15: Eureka: Polar bears still on thin ice, but cutting greenhouse gases now can avert extinction

  The inclement weather in Europe and elsewhere triggered some discussion:

• 2010/12/18: EarthTimes: Snow disrupts travel across Europe as three die in Italy
• 2010/12/17: DerSpiegel: Snow Chaos -- Petra Brings Germany to a Slippery Standstill
  Blizzards continued to batter Germany Friday as the cold-weather front "Petra" brought highways to a halt, closed airports and caused chilly mayhem across the country.
• 2010/12/18: CBC: Heavy snow in Europe causes travel chaos
• 2010/12/18: CCP: Steve Scolnik: Arctic Air Attack Registers Records: Precipitation, Not Temperature, the Real Story
• 2010/12/17: RealClimate: Cold winter in a world of warming?
• 2010/12/17: CBC: Snow disrupts travel in Europe -- U.K. cold snap closes schools
• 2010/12/16: BBC: Arctic air bringing ice and snow back to the UK
  Temperatures are plummeting across the UK with widespread ice and snow set to return, according to forecasters.
• 2010/12/14: Wunderground: Florida shivers; Hot Arctic-Cold Continents pattern is back
• 2010/12/14: CCP: Negative Arctic Oscillation -- here we go again -- December 2010
• 2010/12/14: CCP: Jeff Masters: Hot Arctic-Cold Continents -- Hemispheric Impacts of Arctic Change by Jim Overland
• 2010/12/14: CCP: Kevin Trenberth: recent weather events partly related to higher SSTs
• 2010/12/13: UN: Heavy snows in Europe underline need to prepare for climate hazards - UN official
• 2010/12/12: ClimateP: NASA explains how Europe can be so cold amidst the hottest November and hottest year on record

  Pakistan is still dealing with last summer's monsoon floods:

• 2010/12/18: People's Daily: Global warming causes flash floods in Pakistan
• 2010/12/16: WFP: Pakistan: Cash Cards Bring Flood Families Back To Market
• 2010/12/13: UN: Iraq donates wheat flour to UN food aid operation for flood-affected Pakistanis

  And on the Bottom Line:

• 2010/12/13: EnergyBulletin: Ecosystem services: Pricing to peddle

  Who's getting the subsidies?

• 2010/12/15: TreeHugger: US Energy Subsidies by the Numbers (Infographic)

  The year end summaries are starting:

• 2010/12/18: Grist: Top 10 green stories of 2010

  A CSRRT alert:

• 2010/12/14: SMandia: Press Release from the Climate Science Rapid Response Team
• 2010/12/14: CCP: The Climate Science Rapid Response Team has upgraded its Web presence

  John Cook and friends continue their counterpoint articles:

• 2010/12/18: SkeptiSci: Stratospheric Cooling and Tropospheric Warming - Revised

  Post CRU theft, controversy & inquiry:

• 2010/12/13: WtD: Climategate an act of cyber-terrorism? US knew of attacks leading to "Climategate"
• 2010/12/13: DeSmogBlog: [WikiLeaks] American diplomats anticipated Climategate hacks

  Late Comment on that psych report:

• 2010/12/13: PhysOrg: We believe experts who confirm our beliefs
  Turns out that Average Joe doesn't rate the credibility of an expert based on rigor, clarity, prestige, reputation or the diplomas he or she holds, but rather on whether or not the expert says what we want to hear!

The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:

• 2010/12/16: SkeptiSci: Greenland Ice Sheet outlet glaciers ice loss: an overview

  As for the charismatic megafauna:

• 2010/12/18: PostMedia: On thin ice
  The survival of the polar bear depends on seals that they hunt on sea ice. The future of the sea ice is uncertain. So too is the future for the bears
• 2010/12/18: ABC(Au): Canada to put price on polar bears
• 2010/12/16: CSM: Where polar bears might go if climate change doesn't slow
• 2010/12/16: ABC(Au): Emissions cuts can save polar bears, study finds
• 2010/12/16: NewScientist: Drone has Arctic seals in its sights [An ex-military drone used to track Arctic seals]
• 2010/12/15: CSM: Melting Arctic ice heralds new polar hybrids: Pizzlies and more
• 2010/12/16: Independent(UK): Arctic's vanishing sea ice presents polar bear with a new danger -- grizzlies
  Fears for future of gene pool as interbreeding between vulnerable species driven together by global warming gathers pace
• 2010/12/15: CBC: Arctic hybrids not a good sign, warn scientists
  The two grizzly-polar bear hybrids discovered in Canada's North in recent years may be the tip of the iceberg, warn a trio of U.S. scientists who say the bears are a sign that Arctic biodiversity is at risk. Pointing to other Arctic hybrids -- an apparent bowhead-right whale photographed in the Bering Sea in 2009, a suspected narwhal-beluga found west of Greenland in the late 1980s, as well as various confirmed hybrid porpoises and seals -- they argue governments must manage hybrids before interbreeding leads to the extinction of rare species.
• 2010/12/13: PSinclair: Late Freeze means Hardship for Polar Bears of Hudson Bay

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2010/12/13: PostMedia: China elbows its way into discussions over Arctic future
  While it does not have an Arctic coastline, China is making sure it has connections with countries that do
  There was little fanfare at the end of last month when the China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) signed a long-term cooperation agreement with Russia's most experienced company on shipping oil and gas through the Arctic, Sovcomflot (SCF). However, this deal is but the latest in accumulating indications of a Chinese strategy to elbow its way into the opportunities for both shipping and resource development afforded by expectations of the melting Arctic ice cap.

While in Antarctica:

• 2010/12/17: CCP: Unstable Antarctica: Ted Scambos, Robert Bindschadler analysis -- increasing westerlies of the Antarctic circumpolar winds
• 2010/12/17: NatureTGB: Research trip to the Antarctic: Antarctic goes viral
• 2010/12/17: ScienceInsider: 'Come Hell or High Water': How U.S. and U.K. Scientists Got to Map East Antarctica
• 2010/12/16: PhysOrg: Unstable Antarctica: What's driving ice loss?
• 2010/12/15: ClimateP: Deep ocean heat is rapidly melting Antarctic ice
• 2010/12/15: NatureTGB: Research trip to the Antarctic: Antarctic krillers
• 2010/12/14: DM: Antarctic Melting as Deep Ocean Heat Rises
  Big melting along the Antarctic coast has researchers realizing that the deep sea has been holding Earth's warming.
• 2010/12/15: BBC: Giant icebergs head to watery end at island graveyard -- South Georgia is the place where colossal icebergs go to die
• 2010/12/14: NatureTGB: Research trip to the Antarctic: Invisible carbon pumps

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
• 2010/12/15: IRIN: In Brief: Food security in northern Sri Lanka remains fragile
• 2010/12/15: TEC: Southern farmers contend with abnormally dry weather
• 2010/12/13: ProMedMail: Crazy Soybean II - Brazil: new disease susp
• 2010/12/13: ProMedMail: Leaf rust, wheat - New Zealand: new strain susp.

  Late coverage of the Global Crop Diversity Trust Project:

• 2010/12/13: TreeHugger: Wild Progenitors of Key Domesticated Food Crops To Be Collected, Catalogued & Saved in Vault
• 2010/12/13: EarthTimes: Scientists unite in global hunt for climate change-resistant crops

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2010/12/14: Eureka: The ethics of biofuels -- Paper asks hard questions about biofuel production

  So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

• 2010/12/16: BBC: Land grab fears for Ethiopian rural communities
  A controversial new farms policy has led to a political clampdown in a remote lowland region of Ethiopia, the BBC has been told. Opposition activists claim that a number of arrests and the killings of 10 local farmers are as a direct result of the new policy. "You cannot speak freely about the land issue now," one local man says, speaking on condition of anonymity. "You can be arrested or even killed for this. "This is a dark period for all indigenous people living in the south-west of the country."

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

• 2010/12/17: PlanetArk: Amid Court Pressure, USDA Eyes GMO Alfalfa Compromise
• 2010/12/16: ENS: Green Groups Jump the Gun on Europe's Million Signature Law [gmos]
• 2010/12/15: CCurrents: Hike Food Prices To Boost GM Crop Approval In Europe: Leaked Cable
• 2010/12/13: NatureTGB: Controversial plant biotech patents overturned

  And how are we going to feed 9 billion?

• 2010/12/13: WFP: Millennium Challenge Corporation and WFP Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Improve Global Food Security
• 2010/12/15: SciAlert: Renewing our focus on food [Julian Cribb]
• 2010/12/16: Grist: Fertilizer prices putting manure in the limelight
• 2010/12/15: EnergyBulletin: Better than a food bank
• 2010/12/15: EnergyBulletin: Food: Tackling the oldest environmental problem: Agriculture and its impact on soil
• 2010/12/14: NewScientist: Lice found not guilty of salmon decline
• 2010/12/13: StWR: Guaranteeing Food Security in a Changing Global Climate
• 2010/12/13: EnergyBulletin: An agriculture that stands a chance: perennial polyculture & the hard limits of post-carbon farming

  Only one numbered storm this week:

• 2010/12/17: Eureka: NASA satellite tracks soaking System 91S in western Australia

  As for GHGs:

• 2010/12/15: TreeHugger: Official Emission Reduction Calculations Only Give 50-50 Chance of Avoiding Climate Catastrophe

  As for the temperature record:

• 2010/12/16: Tamino: Comparing Temperature Data Sets
• 2010/12/16: HotTopic: NIWA's new NZ temperature series: plus ça change...
• 2010/12/14: Guardian(UK): 2010: probably the hottest year ever recorded
• 2010/12/15: MongaBay: NASA releases global warming map
• 2010/12/13: MTobis: Is This So Difficult?
• 2010/12/13: WtD: Deep red: pretty maps, but oh so scary
• 2010/12/13: TreeHugger: NASA Temperature Maps: Notice Anything Different?
• 2010/12/13: Eureka: Decline of West Coast fog brought higher coastal temperatures last 60 years

  Yes we have feedbacks:

• 2010/12/15: TerraDaily: Clouds Likely Created Positive Climate Feedback In Past Decade

  Aerosols are making their presence felt:

• 2010/12/14: SciNow: Cutting Soot Counteracts Warming in California

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2010/12/17: Eureka: 550 million years ago rise in oxygen drove evolution of animal life
• 2010/12/16: CBC: Mummified Arctic forest may yield climate clues
• 2010/12/15: SpaceDaily: Bering Sea Was Ice-Free And Full Of Life During Last Warm Period
• 2010/11/29: OSU: Ancient forest emerges mummified from the Arctic
• 2010/12/14: BBC: Life may have survived 'Snowball Earth' in ocean pockets
• 2010/12/14: SciNews: Gassy volcanoes tied to mass extinction -- Chemicals from Siberian eruption may have triggered history's greatest catastrophe [paleo]
• 2010/12/14: TerraDaily: The Day The Algae Died [Permian-Triassic extinction event]
• 2010/12/13: Eureka: Bering Sea was ice-free and full of life during last warm period, study finds

  While on the ENSO front:

• 2010/12/17: Azimuth: This Week's Finds (Week 307)
• 2010/12/17: TSoD: Azimuth

  Regarding the solar hypothesis:

• 2010/12/16: NatureTGB: Sunny days for CLOUD experiment
• 2010/12/14: CCP: Temperature versus Solar Activity: 1880-2009

  Intimations of Overshoot:

• 2010/12/16: SeedDaily: Report: Humanity 'pushing' plant resources

  And the State of the Oceans:

• 2010/12/14: ClimateShifts: The oceans' SOS
  The planet's great communal resource provides protein sources and oxygen and is used for transportation, recreation and inspiration. It's time to put it at the center of the climate change discussion.

Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2010/12/16: PhysOrg: SORCE's solar spectral surprise
  Two satellite instruments aboard NASA's Solar Radiation & Climate Experiment (SORCE) mission -- the Total Solar Irradiance Monitor (TIM) and the Solar Irradiance Monitor (SIM) -- have made daily measurements of the sun's brightness since 2003.
• 2010/12/16: Wunderground: Key weather relay satellite survives encounter with ZombieSat
• 2010/12/15: Eureka: Satellites give an eagle eye on thunderstorms
• 2010/12/13: Eureka: Satellite data provide a new way to monitor groundwater in agricultural regions
• 2010/12/13: PhysOrg: Satellite data provide a new way to monitor groundwater aquifers in agricultural regions
• 2010/12/13: PhysOrg: Satellites pinpoint drivers of urban heat islands in the northeast
• 2010/12/13: BBC: Flash new space tools to monitor lightning
  Cameras to detect lightning on Earth are to be placed high up in space by the US and Europe this decade.
  [...]
  "Lightning is a very good proxy for severe weather. In fact, it is a lead indicator - you often get lightning just before you get heavy rain, hail and even big gusts of wind," explained Dr Jochen Grandell from the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (Eumetsat).

More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2010/12/19: Scotsman: Scottish cod stocks hit by food shortage
• 2010/12/19: TheAge: Facing the hard local realities of a warming world
  [...]
  Across Victoria, the climate is changing - not just in models of the future but also in observed events. These have already altered the landscape, forcing us to change the way we interact with it. This process has created both winners and losers.
  Victoria University professor Roger Jones said these changes all flow back to two facts: maximum daily temperatures have risen almost 1 degree on average in the past 14 years, while average annual rainfall has dropped 15 per cent in that time.
• 2010/12/15: Guardian(UK): Climate change calculations put millions at risk, says new [FOE] report
• 2010/12/15: Reuters: Climate change affects toads, salamanders: study
  Climate change is affecting the breeding cycles of toads and salamanders, researchers reported on Tuesday, in the first published evidence of such changes on amphibians.
• 2010/12/15: Eureka: Elevated zinc concentrations in Colorado waterway likely a result of climate change
• 2010/12/14: Stoat: Facing up to 4 degree C?
• 2010/12/13: SolveClimate: In Remote Town in Mali, Africa's Climate Change Future is Now -- The debate around Africa and aid will shift from charity to environmental justice
• 2010/12/13: PhysOrg: Thoreau's study of birds at Waldon Pond aids biologists in climate change research
  Boston University biology professor Richard Primack, graduate student Elizabeth Ellwood, and recent graduate Michelle Talmadge completed an analysis of the changing arrival dates of migratory birds to Concord, Massachusetts that includes observations by Henry David Thoreau from the 1850's. This research builds on earlier work by Primack and his students showing plants in Concord respond rapidly to temperature and are now flowering 10 days earlier than in the time of Thoreau.
• 2010/12/13: Eureka: Jellyfish counterattack in winter
  A study carried out over 50 years by an international team, with the participation of the Balearic Oceanography Centre of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) has confirmed an increase in the size and intensity of proliferations of the jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca. There are several complex reasons for this - over-fishing and the current increase in sea water temperatures.

And then there are the world's forests:

• 2010/12/19: MongaBay: Climate change could cut premontane forests of Argentina and Bolivia in half
• 2010/12/13: USGS: Southwestern Forests at Increased Risk from Climate Warming and Drought
• 2010/12/17: SciNews: Bugged forests bad for climate -- Trees savaged by pine beetles slow to recover function as greenhouse gas sponges
• 2010/12/17: BBC: Indian mines company accused of unlawful deforestation
  A subsidiary of the Vedanta mining group in India has cleared forest land apparently in violation of Supreme Court orders, the BBC has learned.
• 2010/12/16: PhysOrg: German research protects the Amazon rainforest
• 2010/12/14: BBC: The Russian government has announced that a project to build a motorway through the Khimki forest near Moscow will go ahead
• 2010/12/14: PlanetArk: Russia Rules Disputed Road Go Ahead, Despite Protests
• 2010/12/13: Eureka: Team of scientists predicts continued death of forests in southwestern US due to climate change
• 2010/12/13: Eureka: Drought and rising temperatures weaken southwest forests

  Climate refugees are becoming an issue:

• 2010/12/17: G&M: On the move in a warming world: The rise of climate refugees
• 2010/12/13: BBC: Amnesty International has condemned Libya and the EU over co-operation to try to prevent African migrants crossing from North Africa to Europe

  Desertification looms as a threat:

• 2010/12/16: Guardian(UK): Desertification is greatest threat to planet, expert warns
  UN's top drylands official says people must be paid via global carbon markets for preserving the soil
• 2010/12/16: NatureTGB: Focus on forests has neglected drylands

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2010/12/13: BBC: Stormy weather in Egypt kills at least 18
• 2010/12/12: TerraDaily: Sand, snow, lightning storms wreak Mideast havoc
• 2010/12/13: EarthTimes:Winter storm wreaks havoc on several Mideast countries
  Stormy weather conditions in different areas of Egypt have left at least 18 people dead and 58 injured, as a fierce winter storm hitting the Middle East entered its third day. The storm brought with it heavy rains and fierce winds, came amid unusually low temperatures in many areas, with some parts of the region getting a rare dose of snow.

As for tornado alley:

• 2010/12/14: SciNow: ScienceShot: Twisters Spread Out
  Tornado Alley just got bigger. A swath of the Great Plains between west Texas and Minnesota, the loosely defined region gets its nickname from the substantial amount of tornado activity that occurs there. But now researchers have found that many locales in Dixie are more twister-prone than Kansas.

As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2010/12/16: PhysOrg: Soil responsible for heat waves
• 2010/12/13: EarthTimes: Northern Wildfires Threaten Runaway Climate Change
• 2010/12/12: AlaskaDispatch: Are Alaska's wildfires accelerating global warming?

  Acidification is changing the oceans:

• 2010/12/16: moyhu: Acidification

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2010/12/19: EarthTimes: Glaciers in meltdown
• 2010/12/17: SciNow: What Makes Glaciers Shake?
• 2010/12/13: SfEN: Report: Patagonian and Alaskan glaciers melting faster than Europe glaciers

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2010/12/17: ABC(Au): Maps detail sea level rise 'risk'
  The Bass Coast Shire says it is not surprised by new data which shows several of its coastal townships could be affected by sea level rises by 2011. The Federal Government released a series of maps this week showing parts of San Remo, Caldermeade, Bass and Queensferry could be inundated if sea levels rise by 1.1 metres.
• 2010/12/16: CCP: Doubled rate of sea-level rise continues
• 2010/12/15: SMH: Rising sea a billion-dollar threat -- Buyers already asking about rising seas
• 2010/12/15: ABC(Au): Maps predict future floods for cities
  Rising sea levels are likely to cause serious and regular flooding in Australian coastal cities by the end of the century, according to maps released by the Federal Government today. The maps for low-lying areas in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Newcastle, the New South Wales' central coast and south-east Queensland show significant levels of inundation by the year 2100. The maps show three different scenarios, with the lowest rise of 50 centimetres representing a situation which is likely to be unavoidable. The medium level map shows a rise of 80cm and the highest level of 1.1 metres shows the flooding risk identified in the most recent climate change research.
• 2010/12/15: NRDC:SwitchBoard: New Study Forecasts Rising Sea Level Impacts on New York
• 2010/12/15: ABC(Au): New sea level rise maps released for Newcastle
  Hunter Councils will be better equipped in future flooding events, with today's release of new sea level rise maps.
• 2010/12/14: PhysOrg: Sea level rise a 'challenging issue' that needs to be addressed: scientists

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2010/12/17: CBC: N.B. flood damage 'beyond imagination': Alward -- Number of flooded N.B. roads down to 70 from 120 earlier this week
• 2010/12/16: TerraDaily: Colombia faces rising death toll in floods
• 2010/12/16: PhysOrg: Fatal floods in Africa
  When natural disasters claim human lives, it's important to determine whether the problem is geophysical or cultural. A new study shows that the large upswing in flood deaths in Africa over past decades is chiefly the result of population settlement patterns, and is not a consequence of changing climate.
• 2010/12/15: JFleck: Climate Change and Southwest Drought -- Is It Happening Now?
• 2010/12/16: CBC: N.S. cleans up after torrential storm -- Section of Cabot Trail still closed, Annapolis Valley power to be restored Thursday
• 2010/12/15: CBC: N.B. flood waters still rising
• 2010/12/15: CBC: Gaspé towns on high alert for more flooding -- Conditions 'starting to get scary,' resident says
• 2010/12/14: CCP: Andrew Glikson: Antarctic blues and the Australian drought
• 2010/12/14: CCP: PNAS, Climate Change and Water in Southwestern North America Special Feature
• 2010/12/14: ClimateP: U.S. southwest could see a 60-year drought like that of 12th century -- only hotter -- this century
• 2010/12/13: JFleck: Cadillac Desert Revisited
• 2010/12/14: TreeHugger: US Southwest May Enter Into Permanent Drought-Like Conditions by Mid-Century
• 2010/12/13: SciDaily: Southeastern U.S., With Exception of Florida, Likey to Have Serious Water Scarcity Issues
• 2010/12/13: SfEN: Special: Climate Change and Water in SW North America (via PNAS)
• 2010/12/13: EarthTimes: Hundreds left homeless as floods hit Ukraine
• 2010/12/13: Eureka: Hot with decades of drought: Expectations for the Southwest -- A 60-year drought like that of the 12th Century could be in our future

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2010/12/17: Wunderground:RR: A Trillion Tons: Stabilization of Carbon Dioxide
• 2010/12/17: Azimuth: Stabilization Wedges (Part 3)

  Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation has somehow seemed chimeric:

• 2010/12/13: PlanetArk: Finland To Fund Sustainable Energy From Forests In Indonesia
• 2010/12/12: PS: Seeing REDD on Climate Change by George Soros

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2010/12/14: PhysOrg: High-speed trains pollute 29 percent less than traditional trains
• 2010/12/14: EarthTimes: Investment in high-speed rail makes environmental, as well as economic, sense

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

• 2010/12/13: PI:B: Eight B.C. local governments call for greener building standards
• 2010/12/13: TreeHugger: Quote of the Day: British Energy Expert Blasts Gizmo Green Design
• 2010/12/13: EarthTimes: Living Buildings: Cladding buildings to help combat effects of climate change

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2010/12/13: Eureka: Earthshaking possibilities may limit underground storage of carbon dioxide
  Storing massive amounts of carbon dioxide underground in an effort to combat global warming may not be easy to do because of the potential for triggering small- to moderate-sized earthquakes, according to Stanford geophysicist Mark Zoback.

Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2010/12/17: TerraDaily: China to step up efforts to control Mother Nature
• 2010/12/12: BSD: Ice911.org presentation

  While on the adaptation front:

• 2010/12/12: Reuters: Analysis: Next climate test: how to adapt

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2010/12/15: CP: Late Holocene climate variability in the southwestern Mediterranean region: an integrated marine and terrestrial geochemical approach by C. MartÃn-Puertas et al.
• 2010/12/15: CP: The Impact of the Little Ice Age on Coccolithophores in the Central Mediterranea Sea by A. Incarbona et al.
• 2010/12/14: CP: Bayesian analysis of rapid climate change during the last glacial using Greenland ?18O data by D. Peavoy & C. Franzke
• 2010/12/16: CPD: Pollen, biomes, forest successions and climate at Lake Barombi Mbo (Cameroon) during the last ca. 33 000 cal yr BP -- a numerical approach by J. Lebamba et al.
• 2010/12/14: CPD: Modeling geologically abrupt climate changes in the Miocene by B. J. Haupt & D. Seidov
• 2010/12/16: ACP: Variability of aerosol vertical distribution in the Sahel by O. Cavalieri et al.
• 2010/12/14: ACP: Retrieval of atmospheric parameters from GOMOS data by E. Kyrölä et al.
• 2010/12/13: ACP: Cloud thermodynamic phase inferred from merged POLDER and MODIS data by J. Riedi et al.
• 2010/12/16: ACPD: Sources of variations in total column carbon dioxide by G. Keppel-Aleks et al.
• 2010/12/14: ACPD: The influence of solar variability and the quasi-biennial oscillation on sea level pressure by I. Roy & J. D. Haigh
• 2010/12/14: ACPD: Ionization effect of solar particle GLE events in low and middle atmosphere by I. G. Usoskin et al.
• 2010/12/13: ACPD: Impact of model grid spacing on regional- and urban-scale air quality predictions of organic aerosol by C. A. Stroud et al.
• 2010/12/16: AGWObserver: Papers on Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and climate
• 2010/12/16: GRL: (ab$) Flood fatalities in Africa: From diagnosis to mitigation by Giuliano Di Baldassarre et al.
• 2010/12/14: PNAS: (ab$) Cost-effectiveness of dryland forest restoration evaluated by spatial analysis of ecosystem services by Jennifer C. Birch et al.
• 2010/12/14: PNAS: (ab$) Effects of Pleistocene glaciations and rivers on the population structure of Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) by Natasha Arora et al.
• 2010/12/14: PNAS: (ab$) Antarctic lakes suggest millennial reorganizations of Southern Hemisphere atmospheric and oceanic circulation by Brenda L. Hall et al.
• 2010/12/14: PNAS: (ab$) Considerations for parameter optimization and sensitivity in climate models by J. David Neelin et al.
• 2010/12/14: PNAS: (ab$) Vulnerability assessment of climate-induced water shortage in Phoenix by Patricia Gober & Craig W. Kirkwood
• 2010/12/14: PNAS: (ab$) Forest responses to increasing aridity and warmth in the southwestern United States by A. Park Williams et al.
• 2010/12/14: PNAS: (ab$) A 1,200-year perspective of 21st century drought in southwestern North America by Connie A. Woodhouse et al.
• 2010/12/14: PNAS: (ab$) Greenhouse warming and the 21st century hydroclimate of southwestern North America by Richard Seager & Gabriel A. Vecchi
• 2010/12/14: PNAS: (ab$) Future dryness in the southwest US and the hydrology of the early 21st century drought by Daniel R. Cayan et al.
• 2010/12/14: PNAS: (ab$) Roadmap for sustainable water resources in southwestern North America by Peter H. Gleick
• 2010/12/14: PNAS: (ab$) Reclaiming freshwater sustainability in the Cadillac Desert by John L. Sabo et al.
• 2010/12/14: PNAS: (ab$) Water, climate change, and sustainability in the southwest by Glen M. MacDonald
• 2010/12/15: Nature: (ab$) Greenhouse gas mitigation can reduce sea-ice loss and increase polar bear persistence by Steven C. Amstrup et al.
• 2010/12/13: OS: Stability and forcing of the Iceland-Faroe inflow of water, heat, and salt to the Arctic by B. Hansen et al.
• 2010/12/13: OS: Retroflection from a double-slanted coastline: a model for the Agulhas leakage variability by V. Zharkov et al.
• 2010/12/13: TC: A sea-ice thickness retrieval model for 1.4 GHz radiometry and application to airborne measurements over low salinity sea-ice by L. Kaleschke et al.
• 2010/12/13: AGWObserver: New research from last week 49/2010

  And other significant documents:

• 2010/12/13: PI: [link to 2 meg pdf] Encouraging On-Site Renewable Energy [in BC]
• 2010/12/16: PI: [link to 1.7 meg pdf] Pipeline to Nowhere? Uncertainty and unanswered questions about the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline
• 2010/12/15: RSC: [links to several pdfs] Environmental and Health Impacts of Canada's Oil Sands Industry

  As for miscellaneous science:

• 2010/12/14: ABC(Au): Round-the-clock robots to explore Tasmania's ocean waters
• 2010/12/14: NatureN: Hydrogen production comes naturally to ocean microbe -- Cyanobacterium gives off hydrogen as by-product of day-to-day processes
• 2010/12/14: NOAANews: New NOAA Buoy to Help Close Gap in Climate Understanding South of Africa
• 2010/12/13: PhysOrg: Planet Earth's playhouse
  At Biosphere 2, scientists can move things around, control the climate, turn off certain parameters and run others full tilt.

Regarding Wegman:

• 2010/12/14: DeSmogBlog: GMU Paralyzed by Plagiarism Investigation

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2010/12/16: NewScientist: Carbon trading tempts firms to make greenhouse gas [Pearce]
• 2010/12/16: JapanToday: Japan to postpone launch of emissions trading from 2013
• 2010/12/15: BBerg: UN Issues 2 Million Carbon Offsets to China's HFC-23 Project
• 2010/12/15: PlanetArk: U.N. Panel Continues HFC-23 Carbon Offset Issuance
  A United Nations panel issued nearly 2 million carbon offsets to a hydrofluorocarbon-23 destruction project in China on Wednesday, it said on its website.
• 2010/12/13: Yale360: 'Perverse' CO2 Payments Send Flood of Money to China
  To offset their own carbon emissions, European companies have been wildly overpaying China to incinerate a powerful greenhouse gas known as HFC 23. And in a bizarre twist, those payments have spurred the manufacture of a harmful refrigerant that is being smuggled into the U.S. and used illegally.

The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2010/12/14: NewsCorp: Carbon tax 'cheaper' way to clean up
  The case for a carbon price has been boosted by an analysis that has found it is a much cheaper way of cleaning up the environment than governments handing out taxpayers' money to isolated green projects. A report by the Grattan Institute also shows that environmental targets are usually met at significantly lower cost than predicted after industries are charged for pollution.
• 2010/12/13: SolveClimate: A Carbon Tax in 2011 for Fiscal Conservatives?

  The proposed Bank Tax refuses to die:

• 2010/12/13: Guardian(UK): US embassy cables: Gordon Brown pushed pet project [Tobin tax] during Thanksgiving call to US ambassador

  The energy race between China and the USA is on, or is it?

• 2010/12/15: NYT: China's Push Into Wind Worries U.S. Industry
• 2010/12/14: CSM: Why Shanghai schooled the US: Americans think they're too smart to work hard

  The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:

• 2010/12/17: PlanetArk: Danish Court Rules Climate Summit Arrests Illegal
  A Danish court ruled on Thursday that police illegally detained 250 demonstrators during last year's U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen. Nearly 2,000 protesters were detained during the December 2009 summit, and 250 took their case to court claiming their civil rights were abused. Ruling the detentions illegal, the Copenhagen city court ordered the police to pay compensation of 5,000-9,000 Danish crowns ($887.6-$1,598) to each of the plaintiffs. The Copenhagen police said they would lodge an appeal against the decision.
• 2010/12/16: Guardian(UK): Why did Ratcliffe defence fail where Kingsnorth Six succeeded?
  Two separate trials of environmental activists that both targeted coal-fired power stations produced different results. Lawyer Mike Schwarz examines the reasons why
• 2010/12/16: TreeHugger: UK Anti-Coal Activists Found Guilty, Despite Supporting Testimony From NASA's James Hansen
• 2010/12/16: BBC: Copenhagen police detained climate protesters illegally
  A court in Denmark has ordered police to pay compensation to 250 protesters who were arrested during last year's UN climate change summit in Copenhagen. The court said they were entitled to between 5,000 (£569) and 9,000 kroner (£1,025) for "illegal deprivations of liberty" and "inhumane" treatment. A lawyer for the Copenhagen Police Department said it would appeal.
• 2010/12/14: ENS: Russian Police Use Force to Break Up [a peaceful and legal] Environmental Rally
• 2010/12/14: Guardian(UK): James Hansen's evidence to the Ratcliffe coal trial [video]
  NASA scientist James Hansen's statement in the trial of 20 environmental activists who planned to shut down Ratcliffe power station in Nottinghamshire
• 2010/12/14: Guardian(UK): Ratcliffe coal trial: James Hansen gives court a crash course in climate change
  NASA scientist tells jury he began speaking out about global warming for the sake of his grandchildren
• 2010/12/14: Guardian(UK): Ratcliffe activists found guilty of coal station plot

  What are the activists up to?

• 2010/12/17: CCurrents: Manufacturing Discontent
• 2010/12/17: EnergyBulletin: Everything is negotiable, except with Nature: you can't bargain about global warming with chemistry and physics [McKibben]
• 2010/12/16: TCoE: A letter from Bill McKibben
• 2010/12/16: EarthTimes: Nuclear rail transport halted by protesters
• 2010/12/12: EarthTimes: Hundreds form human chain round German nuclear storage site

  Regarding Water Politics and Business:

• 2010/12/17: SolveClimate: Unlike California, Australia Has No Choice But to Desalinate Their Sea Water
  The main difference for Australia is that they 'truly ran out of water'
• 2010/12/16: JFleck: California Water Tunnel Gains Support
• 2010/12/16: SolveClimate: Desalination No Silver Bullet for California's Water Woes
  Measures such as conservation and water reuse could better meet the state's future water needs, experts say
• 2010/12/16: CCP: Shama Perveen, 2010 AGU: "Quantifying the Dimensions of the Water Crisis in India"
• 2010/12/15: SolveClimate: Desalination Boom Nears for Arid California, but Obstacles Remain
  Despite lengthy approval and permitting processes, California is the likely bellwether for the future of seawater desalination in the United States

Among the world's religions:

• 2010/12/18: TreeHugger: Religious Group Puts Out 12 DVD Series on Environmentalists' "Spiritual Deception"
• 2010/12/17: Grist: Environmentalism is a plot to take over the world, says coalition of Evangelical Christians
• 2010/12/14: AlterNet: Christian, Jewish and Muslim Fundamentalists Agree that Natural Disasters Are God's Revenge on the Modern World

  And on the American political front:

• 2010/12/19: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Washington Lobbyists and Prophets of Doom
• 2010/12/16: TPMM: Coal Interests Fueling Gingrich's Cash-Burning 527
• 2010/12/16: TheHill:e2W: EIA: Coal will be the 'dominant fuel' for generating electricity through 2035
• 2010/12/17: TEC: Christmas for Renewables
• 2010/12/16: VWoM: Cheap Shots Aimed at Scientists: A Political Movement?
• 2010/12/14: TEC: "Violent Agreement: The United States Needs a Complete Energy Plan"
• 2010/12/16: AutoBG: Report: Truckers upset over LA 'clean rig' legislation ready to take fight to Supreme Court
• 2010/12/15: NYT: U.S. Called Vulnerable to Rare Earth Shortages
• 2010/12/15: SolveClimate: California Climate Law Details to Get Grand Unveiling
  Answers to key questions about state's cap and trade and energy efficiency programs to come out of separate meetings tomorrow
• 2010/12/14: NYT:GW: Court Order on Greenhouse Gas Rules Provides Comfort to Industry Challengers
• 2010/12/14: EnergyBulletin: Oil limits lead to state budget squeezes
• 2010/12/14: ClimateP: Train, train, go away: Tea Party Governor-elect Walker compels business to leave state after he kills high-speed rail in Wisconsin
• 2010/12/14: TreeHugger: First Filibuster Reform, then Climate Action

  The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

• 2010/12/18: CSW: Minerals Management Service rebuffed Congress on BP Atlantis and offshore drilling concerns before Gulf oil blowout
• 2010/12/17: ScienceInsider: Politics Buried Science in Louisiana Sand Berms, Oil Commission Finds
• 2010/12/17: NOAANews: Federal Oil Spill Response Transitions to Regional Structure, Releases Scientific Report
• 2010/12/16: NYT: Records Show Concerns About Another BP Rig
• 2010/12/17: ClimateP: Berm notice: Oil Spill Commission staff finds Jindal's sand piles were "Underwhelmingly Effective, Overwhelmingly Expensive"
• 2010/12/15: Guardian(UK): WikiLeaks cables: BP suffered blowout on Azerbaijan gas platform [in September 2008]
  Embassy cables reveal energy firm 'fortunate' to have evacuated workers safely after blast similar to Deepwater Horizon disaster
• 2010/12/14: TheHill:e2W: Green finance group seeks greater SEC disclosure of offshore drilling risks
• 2010/12/15: PhysOrg: Deepwater lessons
• 2010/12/15: OilChange: Deepwater's Forgotten Villain [Anadarko]

  The DOJ sued BP & 8 other companies for damages arising from the Deepwater disaster:

• 2010/12/16: Guardian(UK): BP and Eric Holder's Deepwater suit
• 2010/12/16: Guardian(UK): What the lawsuit against BP can achieve
• 2010/12/15: EarthTimes: US sues BP, eight others for oil spill damages
• 2010/12/16: OilChange: Another $20 Billion Bill for BP
• 2010/12/15: BBC: The US is suing BP and eight other firms for allegedly violating federal safety regulations in connection with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill
• 2010/12/15: CBC: BP, 8 others sued by U.S. for Gulf oil spill
• 2010/12/15: ClimateP: Justice Department files suit 'without limit' against BP, other oil disaster companies
• 2010/12/15: ABC(Au): The United States is to sue the oil company BP and other companies in connection with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill
• 2010/12/15: Grist: U.S. sues BP, nine others over Gulf oil spill
• 2010/12/15: TreeHugger: US Sues BP Over Gulf Oil Spill - Seeks All Clean Up & Damage Costs
• 2010/12/15: ENS: U.S. Government Sues BP for Gulf Oil Spill

  California adopted cap-and-trade this week:

• 2010/12/18: NatureTGB: California adopts cap-and-trade climate regulations
• 2010/12/17: Grist: California approves first broad U.S. climate plan
• 2010/12/17: CBC: Emissions cut rules OK'd by California
• 2010/12/17: Guardian(UK): California approves first US cap and trade scheme
• 2010/12/17: MongaBay: California approves cap-and-trade under global warming law
• 2010/12/17: DM:80B: California Blazes a Trail With the First U.S. Carbon Trading Program
• 2010/12/17: TreeHugger: California Passes Cap & Trade Bill - Creates World's Second Largest Emission Trading Scheme
• 2010/12/17: STimes: Calif. regulators OK major greenhouse gas rules
  Hoping other states will follow suit, California regulators overwhelmingly approved the nation's most extensive system giving owners of power plants, refineries and other major polluters financial incentives to emit fewer greenhouse gases.
• 2010/12/17: BBC: California approves first US carbon-trading scheme
• 2010/12/15: Mercury: California to adopt 'cap and trade' to combat climate change
  Taking the lead where Washington has wavered, California today is expected to adopt the nation's most ambitious plan yet to curb global warming. The California Air Resources Board is all but certain to vote to approve comprehensive "cap and trade" regulations designed to cut greenhouse gases. The regulations would impose limits, or "caps," on emissions from large industrial polluters through permits, or allowances, that could be traded on a market.

The Kansas Sunflower coal plant saga grinds on:

• 2010/12/17: SolveClimate: Kansas Permit for Embattled Coal Plant Faces EPA Review, Legal Scrutiny
  The permit for the Sunflower plant is issued to beat the start date of new federal greenhouse rules in January, and critics claim foul play

The Senate has extended the ethanol subsidy for another year:

• 2010/12/16: PlanetArk: Senate Votes To Extend Ethanol Subsidy For 2011
• 2010/12/15: Reuters: Senate votes to extend ethanol subsidy for 2011
  The Senate on Wednesday voted in favor of a one-year extension of the ethanol tax credit and the ethanol import tariff at existing rates, despite complaints the subsidies were wasteful.
• 2010/12/13: Grist: Corn lobby cashes in on tax compromise
• 2010/12/13: PlanetArk: Senate tax Bill Extends Ethanol Credit, Tariff

  The Obama chatter is nonstop:

• 2010/12/16: WiC: Bill McKibben: Why Obama and Cancún miss the point
• 2010/12/17: WaPo: Obama administration issues guidelines designed to ensure 'scientific integrity'
• 2010/12/17: ScienceInsider: White House Releases Long-Awaited Guidance for Scientific Integrity
• 2010/12/18: ERabett: The Policy Mill Grinds Fine
• 2010/12/17: UCSUSA: Scientific Integrity Directive "Articulates a Broad Vision for Defending Science from Political Interference"
• 2010/12/16: Grist: Hey, Obama: You can't bargain with the climate [McKibben]
• 2010/12/15: EnergyBulletin: How peak oil could save Obama's presidency
• 2010/12/14: ScienceInsider: White House's Scientific Integrity Guidelines Coming Soon

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2010/12/16: Grist: New report confirms, again, that new EPA regulations won't hurt power system reliability
• 2010/12/16: ENS: Solar Energy Zones Identified in Six Western States
• 2010/12/15: DeSmogBlog: Groups Question Clinton Ties to Oil Lobby & Impact on State Department Keystone Tar Sands Pipeline Decision
• 2010/12/15: SolveClimate: Spotlight on Clinton Ties to Pipeline Lobbyist in Permit Battle
  TransCanada lobbyist once worked for her presidential campaign; company says permit review will unavoidably be based on the merits
• 2010/12/13: CCP: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has named Waleed Abdalati the agency's chief scientist and principal adviser to the NASA administrator on agency science programs, strategic planning and the evaluation of related investments
• 2010/12/13: ScienceInsider: NASA Picks New Chief Scientist [glaciologist Waleed Abdalati]
• 2010/12/13: CSW: DC District Court of Appeals rejects bid to stay EPA GHG regs

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2010/12/17: TheHill:e2W: Inhofe bashes Rockefeller's claim that GOP abandoned block-EPA effort
• 2010/12/17: Reuters: No Senate vote seen this year on EPA carbon rules
  Legislation imposing a two-year pause on Environmental Protection Agency regulation of carbon dioxide pollution from smokestacks appeared to be dead for this year as Senator John Rockefeller accused Republicans on Friday of withholding their needed support.
• 2010/12/18: ClimateP: Rockefeller: Preventing action on global warming "is too important for us to delay any further"
• 2010/12/16: Yahoo:Reuters: Senator to seek vote stopping EPA carbon rules
  Senator John Rockefeller of West Virginia on Thursday said he would seek a vote before the end of the current congressional session on his bill to postpone Environmental Protection Agency regulation of smokestack carbon dioxide emissions for two years.
• 2010/12/16: BellinghamHerald: Liquid-coal tax break riles environmental groups
• 2010/12/16: BBickmore: Explaining Orrin Hatch
• 2010/12/14: BBickmore: Orrin Hatch on the Gas of Life
• 2010/12/16: Reuters: Senate bill would stop biomass crop subsidy
  A mammoth government funding bill awaiting a Senate vote would cut off funding for a program that pays farmers to experiment with biomass crops. Spending on the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, or BCAP, would be halted less than two months after the Obama administration unveiled rules for it. The Agriculture Department, which runs BCAP, urged senators on Wednesday "to make the corrections necessary so there are resources to continue building a sustainable biofuels industry."
• 2010/12/16: CCP: Rep. Markey (D-Mass.) selected to lead Democrats on Natural Resources Committee
• 2010/12/16: ClimateP: In 2007, Mike Huckabee supported cap and trade -- now he denies it
• 2010/12/16: NRDC:SwitchBoard: The Liquid Coal Tax Credit: An Environmental and Financial Time Bomb
• 2010/12/15: CCP: GOP leadership stacks Energy & Commerce with climate zombies, many bought and paid for by Koch, will affect national security issues
• 2010/12/13: ClimateP: Senate adds key clean energy program to tax bill -- But let's not raise taxes on advanced energy manufacturing!
• 2010/12/13: SolveClimate: A Carbon Tax in 2011 for Fiscal Conservatives?
• 2010/12/13: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Senate Tax Bill a Major Step Backwards for the Environment

  While in the UK:

• 2010/12/16: Guardian(UK): Chris Huhne unveils plans for reform of UK energy market
• 2010/12/16: TEC: UK Electricity Reform to Introduce New Feed in Tariff
• 2010/12/16: BBC: Energy firms to get new low-carbon incentives
  The government is to guarantee prices for electricity to persuade the private sector to invest in new low-carbon forms of generation.
• 2010/12/15: Guardian(UK): 'I am very happy to be the Tesco of the energy industry,' says Chris Huhne
• 2010/12/15: Guardian(UK): Chris Huhne admits green bank may be scaled back
• 2010/12/15: Guardian(UK): Scaled-down green investment bank is a disaster

  And in Europe:

• 2010/12/16: ENS: Green Groups Jump the Gun on Europe's Million Signature Law
• 2010/12/15: Reuters: EU plans to tackle unwanted impacts of biofuels
• 2010/12/16: EurActiv: EU gets draft deal to curb gas-guzzling vans
  The European Union struck a provisional deal yesterday (15 December) to improve the fuel efficiency of vans and curb emissions blamed for climate change. But the deal was not formally approved by EU member states, most notably Europe's top van maker Germany, and will be put to the vote again by ministers in Brussels on Monday (20 December). EU negotiators agreed to cut van emissions by around 14% to an average of 175 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre by 2017. That target was not contested as it is widely seen as unambitious...
• 2010/12/16: EurActiv: Italy shields companies from CO2 cuts, says NGO
  Italian taxpayers are set to pay 1.7 billion euros for unnecessary international carbon credits to meet the country's obligations under the Kyoto Protocol while Italy's government hands out free allowances to companies, according to climate NGO Sandbag
• 2010/12/16: ScienceInsider: Europe's ITER Budget Deal Falls Through, Threatening Fusion Project
• 2010/12/16: EarthTimes: Brussels approves flood aid for Central Europe states
• 2010/12/15: EarthTimes: EU agrees to water down new CO2 emission standards for vans
• 2010/12/16: BBC: Nuclear fusion finance plan rejected by EU Parliament
  A plan to rescue European financing of the ITER nuclear fusion reactor project has been rejected at the final hurdle.
• 2010/12/16: CBC: Paris to launch electric car-sharing program
• 2010/12/14: EurActiv: Green stats to drive EU resource-efficiency push
• 2010/12/14: PlanetArk: German Opposition Backs New Cuts For Solar Power Aid

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2010/12/19: ABC(Au): Bligh scraps 'clean coal' power station plans
  The Queensland Government has scrapped plans for a multi billion dollar 'clean coal' power station in central Queensland. Premier Anna Bligh says the ZeroGen project into carbon capture technology is not viable at the moment.
• 2010/12/17: SolveClimate: Unlike California, Australia Has No Choice But to Desalinate Their Sea Water
  The main difference for Australia is that they 'truly ran out of water'
• 2010/12/17: ABC(Au): Maps detail sea level rise 'risk'
• 2010/12/18: ABC(Au): The Federal Environment Department has given a frank assessment of its failings in implementing Government programs like the home insulation scheme
• 2010/12/17: ABC(Au): Greens back Combet's revised ETS outline
  Climate Change Minister Greg Combet has outlined a way Australia could put a price on carbon. He has proposed Australia adopt an emissions trading scheme (ETS) with an initial fixed price for carbon until a more flexible scheme kicks in. Although similar to Kevin Rudd's ETS model, Mr Combet's plan has won the support of the Greens.
• 2010/12/17: ABC(Au): Far west schools benefit from solar funding
• 2010/12/16: ABC(Au): Council rejects rising sea level forecast
  The Gold Coast City Council in south-east Queensland says new Federal Government maps that show the likely effects of sea level rises are inaccurate.
• 2010/12/15: ABC(Au): Qld Government backs commercial solar projects
  The State Government has pledged up to $100 million to help build two new commercial-scale solar power projects in Queensland.
• 2010/12/15: ABC(Au): Maps predict future floods for cities
  Rising sea levels are likely to cause serious and regular flooding in Australian coastal cities by the end of the century, according to maps released by the Federal Government today. The maps for low-lying areas in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Newcastle, the New South Wales' central coast and south-east Queensland show significant levels of inundation by the year 2100. The maps show three different scenarios, with the lowest rise of 50 centimetres representing a situation which is likely to be unavoidable. The medium level map shows a rise of 80cm and the highest level of 1.1 metres shows the flooding risk identified in the most recent climate change research.
• 2010/12/14: PlanetArk: U.N. Talks Up Pressure On Australia's Climate Target

  The Murray-Darling Basin Plan controversy continues:

• 2010/12/14: ABC(Au): Forecast service predicts river, dam levels
  Australian Government scientists have developed a new tool to predict how much water might flow into rivers and catchments up to three months in advance.
• 2010/12/15: ABC(Au): Water allocations for South Australian irrigators will remain at 67 per cent until the end of June

  And in New Zealand:

• 2010/12/13: HotTopic: Can you dig it?

  While in China:

• 2010/12/14: NYT:GW: To Conquer Wind Power, China Writes the Rules

  And Japan:

• 2010/12/16: JapanToday: Japan to postpone launch of emissions trading from 2013

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

• 2010/12/12: CSW: The state of politics and climate change -- A Northern update
  Canada's conservative government, led by Stephen Harper, seems to be working hard to build up a reputation for irresponsibility in the international community. And they are succeeding...
• 2010/12/14: PI: Why should Canada act on climate?
• 2010/12/13: ClimateP: Canada's attempt to block U.S. carbon regulations

  The G20 controversy lingers:

• 2010/12/18: TStar: G20 case studies: 400 official complaints, little satisfaction
  Geoffrey Bercarich was beaten by police. Sean Salvati was strip-searched and left naked in a cell. Swathi Sekhar saw a teenager pepper sprayed so badly he was left twitching on the ground. These allegations are just three of the 400 complaints filed with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) since violence broke out during the G20 summit in June. But six months later, not a single police officer has been reprimanded for the broken bones and bruised bodies civilians endured that weekend.
• 2010/12/16: MediaCoop: G20 police training exaggerated powers outside fence: files -- Cops told to be on guard for 'bagpipe players,' 'young people' and 'first aid equipment'
• 2010/12/17: DawgsBlawg: Black Watch
• 2010/12/14: Rabble: Vindication for G20 protesters
• 2010/12/12: MSimon: The G20 and the Day of Infamy

  Environment Canada reported on GHGs:

• 2010/12/17: BSun: Environment Canada says Alberta top industrial greenhouse gas emitter
  New figures on greenhouse gases in Canada suggest Alberta's economy is dangerously dependent on carbon-emitting industries, experts say. Environment Canada figures released late Thursday show that emissions from the province's industrial plants make up half of the country's greenhouse gases from industrial facilities, even though Alberta has just over 10 per cent of its population. The report, which tracks facilities that emit more than 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year, shows that between coal-fired power plants and oilsands facilities, Canada's top four emitters are in Alberta.

The battle over the Keystone XL and Northern Gateway pipelines rages on:

• 2010/12/16: PI: [link to 1.7 meg pdf] Pipeline to Nowhere? Uncertainty and unanswered questions about the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline
• 2010/12/16: PI: New report highlights gaps in Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline application
• 2010/12/16: G&M: B.C. Indian bands give thumbs-down to Enbridge [Northern Gateway] pipeline
• 2010/12/16: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Public deserves a chance to review new analysis of tar sands [Keystone XL] pipeline environmental impacts
• 2010/12/15: DeSmogBlog: Groups Question Clinton Ties to Oil Lobby & Impact on State Department Keystone Tar Sands Pipeline Decision
• 2010/12/14: DeSmogBlog: Legislation Introduced To Ban Oil Tanker Traffic On B.C.'s North Coast

  Environment Canada is trying to decide whether to declare polar bears endangered:

• 2010/12/18: ABC(Au): Canada to put price on polar bears
• 2010/12/17: CBC: What is the price of a polar bear? Government wants to know impact of adding bears to list of at-risk species

  The Royal Society of Canada survey report on the tar sands stirred a lot of comment:

• 2010/12/15: RSC: [links to several pdfs] Environmental and Health Impacts of Canada's Oil Sands Industry
• 2010/12/17: PI:B: Royal Society's sharp criticism of government mismanagement right on target
• 2010/12/15: PI:B: What to look for in the [RSC] federal report on monitoring pollutants in the Athabasca River
• 2010/12/15: PI: Pembina reacts to Royal Society of Canada's report on oilsands impacts
• 2010/12/17: TEC: Sustainability: The Crux of the Matter with Alberta's Oil Sands
• 2010/12/15: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Troubling failures in tar sands monitoring, oversight and regulation
• 2010/12/16: TreeHugger: Tar Sands Not Most Destructive Project on Earth, But Very Far From Benign: Royal Society of Canada
• 2010/12/15: CBC: Oilsands [RSC] report welcomed by Alta. minister
• 2010/12/15: CBC: Oilsands not boosting cancer levels: scientists
• 2010/12/15: PlanetArk: Regulation Is Deficient In Canada's Oil Sands: [RSC] Study
• 2010/12/15: NatureN: Impacts of Canada's oil-sands operations 'exaggerated' -- [RSC] Report rebuts cancer claims and recommends changes to oversight and monitoring
• 2010/12/15: CBC: Tarsands not boosting cancer levels: [RSC] scientists
• 2010/12/15: G&M: Oil-sands report criticizes all stakeholders
  Cutting through rhetoric that so often dominates debate over Canada's oil sands, a new report by a prominent academic group is a comprehensive snapshot of the failings and successes of all the industry's stakeholders and raises hope for a new era of oversight. The peer-reviewed report, to be published Wednesday by the Royal Society of Canada, takes aim at oil companies, governments and environmental groups alike while recommending steps to improve environmental monitoring in the economically vital industry.

The NEB delivered their Mackenzie Valley Pipeline ruling this week:

• 2010/12/17: PlanetArk: Canadian Gas Megaproject [MVP] Gets Nod But Future Cloudy
• 2010/12/16: NEB: Mackenzie Gas Project - Reasons for Decision
• 2010/12/16: CBC: Mackenzie gas pipeline OK'd by NEB
• 2010/12/16: CBC: 3 decades of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline plan
• 2010/12/15: CBC: Mackenzie pipeline decision coming Thursday
• 2010/12/13: CBC: Mackenzie pipeline decision coming soon
  The Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline faces a key decision this week as the National Energy Board is expected to say whether it approves the proposed project.

Here is a particularly cynical take on Canada's engagement with the IPCC:

• 2010/12/17: PostMedia: Climate role helps national image: memo
  Canada should continue its involvement with an embattled international panel on global warming in order to maintain the country's reputation as a leader in researching climate change science, the Harper government was urged at the beginning of the year. In an internal memorandum, obtained by Postmedia News, a senior Environment Canada bureaucrat told the staff of former environment minister Jim Prentice that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change produces reports through a "rigorous" review process with the help of dozens of Canadian scientists who play a "prominent" role in the process.

I haven't heard anything of the Cohen Commission lately, but this study undoubtably interests them:

• 2010/12/13: CBC: Pacific salmon not affected by lice: study

  With Campbell and James both out, BC politics is in a tizzy:

• 2010/12/18: TStar: B.C. NDP to hold leadership vote in April
  British Columbia's New Democrats will hold a leadership vote on April 17 to choose a successor to Carole James.
• 2010/12/13: PI:B: Eight B.C. local governments call for greener building standards
• 2010/12/13: PI: [link to 2 meg pdf] Encouraging On-Site Renewable Energy [in BC]

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2010/12/17: NBF: Suncor plans to increase [tarsand] production to 1 million barrels of oil per day and other canadian oil expansions
• 2010/12/16: NYT:CW: Alberta's Fight to 'Clean' Its Tar Sands [Image]
• 2010/12/17: CBC: Suncor partners with Total on oilsands
  Suncor Energy Inc. has launched a $1.75-billion development agreement in Canada's oilsands with Total E&P Canada Ltd., a division of France's Total SA. The two industry giants -- Suncor is Canada's largest energy company -- said they would pair on three projects in Alberta, which has become a major target for foreign investors. Terms have been set for Suncor and Total to jointly develop the Fort Hills and Joslyn oilsands mining projects and restart construction of the Voyageur upgrader at Suncor's oilsands operations north of Fort McMurray, Alta.
• 2010/12/17: G&M: Ottawa kept in dark on abnormal fish found in oil-sands rivers
  Hundreds of deformed fish found in rivers running through the Alberta oil sands have been collected and documented by an industry-led monitoring body, The Globe and Mail has learned, but the findings were not shared with the public or key decision makers in government. That body, the Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (RAMP), has been criticized in scientific quarters as secretive and is under the scrutiny of three reviews. Former environment minister Jim Prentice ordered one of those reviews after being shown photos this fall of a few malformed fish, and it was delivered Thursday to Environment Canada.
• 2010/12/14: DeSmogBlog: Encana: Creepy, manipulative PR with icing on top
• 2010/12/13: CBC: Tarsands companies vow to reduce tailings

  In Saskatchewan, a potash aftermath:

• 2010/12/18: PostMedia: BHP deal: facts point to political factors
• 2010/12/18: BuckDog: Saskatchewan Political Columnist Catches Harper And Conservatives Playing Games With The Truth -- BHP Potash deal: Facts Point To Political Factors
• 2010/12/15: CBC: PotashCorp CEO forecasts higher demand
• 2010/12/14: G&M: Tony Clement denies Potash 'fable'
• 2010/12/14: CBC: Clement denies PotashCorp deal influenced by politics

  In the Maritimes:

• 2010/12/17: CBC: Irving dam criticized after N.B. flooding
  Some flood victims in St. George, N.B., are questioning whether the disaster could have been prevented if J.D. Irving had released water from its Lake Utopia hydroelectric dam before the worst of this week's storm.
• 2010/12/16: CBC: N.B. flood waters drop: EMO
• 2010/12/16: CBC: Gaspé flood victims to get emergency funding -- Ministers overwhelmed by damage seen on helicopter tour
• 2010/12/16: CBC: N.S. cleans up after torrential storm -- Section of Cabot Trail still closed, Annapolis Valley power to be restored Thursday

  In the North:

• 2010/12/14: CBC: N.W.T. hydro proposal goes back to review board

  As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

• 2010/12/16: CBC: Western ministers ink energy pact
  Officials from the three western provinces are hailing an agreement announced on Thursday as one that will solidify Canada's place as an energy powerhouse in the global economy. The Energy Memorandum of Understanding (EMOU) was signed in Calgary by the energy ministers of Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C.
• 2010/12/15: PostMedia: Entrepreneur makes bid for AECL's Candu unit
  A former aviation-industry executive has submitted an 11th-hour bid to acquire the Candu unit of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., saying he believes the Crown corporation's nuclear reactors still have a market in Canada and around the world. The offer put together by Canadian entrepreneur Andrew Day is the only bid thus far focused solely on building and marketing new Candu reactors, whose technological roots track back more than six decades.
• 2010/12/13: Tyee: The New Class Warfare over Bicycles
  Don Cherry and Rob Ford twist it backwards. The elitists are pro-car politicians, slowing up a better life for the working class.

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

• 2010/12/18: MTobis: Infinite Growth and the Crisis Cocktail by Neven
• 2010/12/15: CCurrents: Wealth Is No Protection Against Future Dangers - Part 1

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

• 2010/12/17: S&R: How women's rights could actually save the planet
• 2010/12/16: TreeHugger: Is Birth Control the Cheapest Answer to Climate Change?
• 2010/12/16: TreeHugger: On The Elephant In The Room: Population And The Environment
• 2010/12/16: BBC: The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Irish abortion laws violated the rights of one of three women who sought terminations in Britain
• 2010/12/16: CBC: Ireland's abortion ban violates rights: EU court
• 2010/12/14: Grist: The GINK Chronicles -- How the childfree can be parents too
• 2010/12/12: Guardian(UK): Climate change: human numbers don't add up
  The best way to cut emissions is to have fewer babies -- but you won't find it in the Cancún bulletin, or any politician's vision

Apocalypso anyone?

• 2010/12/17: Yale360: Arctic 'Ice Refuge' Envisioned As Region Warms Rapidly in 21st Century
• 2010/12/15: EnergyBulletin: Peak energy, climate change, and the collapse of global civilization: the current peak oil crisis

  Okay hot shot, how are we gonna fix this?

• 2010/12/17: MTobis: Summertime Blues

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2010/12/18: Deltoid: The Australian's War on Science 55: Michael Asten
• 2010/12/17: Guardian(UK): How offensive does Richard North have to be to alienate his loyal readers?

  The leak of a FoxNews manager's memo on climate kicked off controversy:

• 2010/12/17: USAToday: Survey: More Fox News, more climate doubts
• 2010/12/16: GreenGrok: Foxy Treatment of Global Warming [Open Letter to Bill Sammon]
• 2010/12/17: ClimateP: Warning: "Greater exposure" to Fox News will lead to "increased misinformation" on policy issues, especially climate science
• 2010/12/16: CCP: Critics Slam Fox News for Distorting Global Warming Debate (since December 2009, during the Copenhagen conference)
• 2010/12/16: ClimateP: Disinformers defend Foxgate email saying unequivocal warming of the climate should always be disputed
  Discredited WattsUpWithThat blogger makes up more stuff, while scientists and media critics slam Fox News
• 2010/12/15: Guardian(UK): Fox News chief enforced climate change scepticism -- leaked email
• 2010/12/15: WtD: Fox News: their idea of fair and balanced is to deny global warming (or the Murdoch war on science)
• 2010/12/15: CM: Fox Boss
• 2010/12/14: TheHill:e2W: Fox News editor reportedly directed staff to cast doubt on climate science
• 2010/12/15: CCP: FOX News reporter, Wendell Goler, tells truth about climate change, results in orders from bureau chief Bill Sammon to reporters that they must always create doubt about climate science news
• 2010/12/15: KSJT: Politico: On Fox's news editor who tells reporters all global temperature trends are "notions," never facts.
• 2010/12/15: ClimateP: Foxgate: Leaked email reveals Fox News boss Bill Sammon ordered staff to cast doubt on climate science
• 2010/12/15: Grist: Memo: Fox News reporters ordered to promote Climategate conspiracy theory
• 2010/12/15: ClimateShifts: Fox News staff ordered to cast doubt on climate science
• 2010/12/15: MediaMatters: FoxLeaks: Fox boss ordered staff to cast doubt on climate science
• 2010/12/15: UCSUSA: Leaked Fox News Memo Reveals Network's Anti-Science Bias in Climate Coverage
• 2010/12/15: TreeHugger: Fox News Boss Ordered Reporters To Emphasize Climate Skeptic Views
• 2010/12/15: DeSmogBlog: Fox News Director Demanded Bias in Climate Coverage
• 2010/12/15: TWM: Fox news gets instructions on climate talk...
• 2010/12/15: TPMM: Fox News Bureau Chief Told Staff To Cast Doubt On Climate Change

  Here is something for your library:

• 2010/12/13: HotTopic: [Book Review] _Renewable Energy: The Facts_ by Dieter Seifried & Walter Witzel
• 2010/12/13: EnergyBulletin: [Book Review] _The Biochar Solution_ by Albert Bates

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2010/12/17: PSinclair: Wake Up, Freak Out, Then Get a Grip...
• 2010/12/17: CCP: Cindy Comics in the Ionosphere, a bit hit at the 2010 Fall AGU: Space Dogs and the Electric Atmosphere [video]
• 2010/12/17: AFTIC: Climate Sensitivity: not so much?
• 2010/12/16: PSinclair: Greening the Desert, Food Forests, and Sustainability
• 2010/12/16: GreenFyre: Double the CO2, half the literacy
• 2010/12/16: PSinclair: Why the US Military is concerned about Climate Change
• 2010/12/15: PSinclair: Potholer on the Newest Climate Denialist's Crock
• 2010/12/09: SH: Hans Rosling Shows You 200 Years of Global Growth in 4 Minutes
• 2010/12/13: PSinclair: I, for One, Welcome our New Gelatinous Overlords

  As for podcasts:

• 2010/12/17: PoI: Why Facts Fail - Brendan Nyhan

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2010/12/14: PI:B: U.S. court gives green light to greenhouse gas regulations while Canada stands still
• 2010/12/17: BBC: Nigeria drops Dick Cheney bribery charges
  Nigeria has dropped charges against former US Vice-President Dick Cheney over a 1990s bribery scandal, anti-corruption officials say. The case focused on bribes paid by engineering firm KBR while it was a subsidiary of Halliburton, a firm headed by Mr Cheney at the time. Nigerian officials said Halliburton agreed an out-of-court deal worth $250m (£160m). The firm has not commented.
• 2010/12/16: Reuters: Judge grants injunction halting California solar plant
  A federal judge has granted the Quechan Indian Tribe's request to halt work temporarily on a massive California solar plant under development by NTR's Tessera Solar.
• 2010/12/15: EarthTimes: US sues BP, eight others for oil spill damages
• 2010/12/14: CNN: Cheney, Halliburton may settle Nigerian charges
  Energy firm, former vice president charged with bribery - They may agree to plea deal requiring payment of $250 million, Nigerian official says - Case involves allegations of bribes to Nigerian officials for natural gas project - Halliburton pleaded guilty to bribery charges in U.S. last year
• 2010/12/15: Wonkette: Halliburton Paying $250 Million To Nigeria For Dick Cheney Bribery
• 2010/12/13: SPRLaw: Court Denies Stay of EPA Climate Rules
• 2010/12/14: PlanetArk: Sierra Club Sues Exxon Over Baytown Plant Pollution
• 2010/12/13: NatureTGB: Controversial plant biotech patents overturned
• 2010/12/13: CSW: DC District Court of Appeals rejects bid to stay EPA GHG regs

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

• 2010/12/19: OilDrum: Tech Talk: When oil isn't crude and gas isn't gas, the Eagle Ford Shale play
• 2010/12/18: NBF: OECD electricity usage from Jan to Sep 2010
• 2010/12/18: EnergyBulletin: By lanternlight in rural Asia
• 2010/12/17: Grist: Feeding our wood stove in winter
• 2010/12/16: TEC: Fraud charges filed against AEHI
• 2010/12/16: EurActiv: Chinese giant strides into renewable technologies
• 2010/12/16: Eureka: Report: Policies to spur renewable energy can lower energy costs
• 2010/12/15: JBI Global: JBI, Inc. Plastic2Oil Process Commences Commercial Operation
• 2010/12/16: SlashDot: JBI's Plastic To Oil Gets Operating Permit
• 2010/12/15: BBC: The West African nation of Ghana has begun to pump its first commercial oil after the discovery of the offshore Jubilee Field three years ago
• 2010/12/13: UWNews: Calculating tidal energy turbines' effects on sediments and fish
• 2010/12/13: EarthTimes: Powered by alternatives: Lessons from Sweden
• 2010/12/13: UWNews: Assessing the environmental effects of tidal turbines
• 2010/12/13: OilDrum: Applying Time to Energy Analysis
• 2010/12/12: OilDrum: Tech Talk: OGPSS - Some limits to oil fungibility
• 2010/12/13: PeakEnergy: Breaking oil's grip
• 2010/12/13: REA: Pew: Clean Power Industry Worth Trillions by 2020
• 2010/12/13: NBF: Hydropower now and in the Future

  Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!

• 2010/12/17: PeakEnergy: Coal seam gas a risk: JPMorgan
• 2010/12/14: OilChange: USA Becomes A Fractured Nation
• 2010/12/14: TheHill:e2W: New York governor halts 'fracking,' but environmentalists see a 'loophole'
  New York Gov. David Paterson signed an executive order this weekend temporarily halting a controversial natural-gas drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing in order to give the state more time to study the practice. But, in signing the executive order, Paterson also vetoed legislation approved by the New York State Assembly that would have imposed a wider ban on natural-gas drilling.
• 2010/12/14: Grist: New York's fracking ban is a mixed bag
• 2010/12/13: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Governor Paterson Calls for New Environmental Review of Fracking, But Cuomo Must Take the Time to Get it Right
• 2010/12/13: CNN: New York governor [David Paterson] pauses 'fracking'
  New York governor signs order halting drilling process alleged to taint water until July 1 - Also known as "fracking," it's a controversial method of drilling for natural gas - The EPA is reviewing position on whether fracking contaminates groundwater - Industry leaders say the process is safe

The answer my friend...:

• 2010/12/17: Yahoo:AP: Study: Wind could be 24 pct. of New England power
• 2010/12/17: TreeHugger: World's Biggest Wind Farm Gets US Funding, Coming to Oregon
• 2010/12/17: SciDaily: An Answer to Green Energy Could Be in the Air [high altitude turbines]
• 2010/12/15: TEC: T. Boone Pickens Drops Wind Power From His Energy Plan
• 2010/12/15: DM:DB: Are Gun-Toting Climate Skeptics Taking Pot Shots at Wind Turbines?
• 2010/12/13: TEC: Texas wind transmission route to avoid crossing scenic canyon
• 2010/12/13: TEC: Chinese wind power company seems to understand American political capitalism

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2010/12/18: NBF: Berkeley Lab Report Shows that the Installed Cost of Solar Photovoltaic Systems in the U.S. Began a Steep Decline in 2010
• 2010/12/16: TEC: Daniel Fielding - Next Generation of Solar Panels?
• 2010/12/16: Inhabitat: California's First Molten Salt Solar Energy Project Gets Green Light
• 2010/12/15: Grist: Fossil fuel giant [NRG Energy] is betting on a bright future in solar
• 2010/12/16: REA: The Big Question: What Does the Future Hold for Concentrating PV?
• 2010/12/14: SolveClimate: With No Policy Incentives, Turkey's Solar Entrepreneurs Wait Out in the Cold
• 2010/12/14: TreeHugger: Biggest Solar PV Farm in U.S. Goes Online in Nevada

  Feed-In-Tariffs are being variously implemented around the world:

• 2010/12/16: TEC: UK Electricity Reform to Introduce New Feed in Tariff

  On the coal front:

• 2010/12/19: MLive: Future of coal: Debate heats up over Michigan's coal-fired power plants
• 2010/12/16: TheHill:e2W: EIA: Coal will be the 'dominant fuel' for generating electricity through 2035
• 2010/12/15: OilDrum: The Coal Question, Revisited
• 2010/12/13: Grist: Huge wave of coal plant closures coming, new reports find
• 2010/12/13: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Liquid Coal: A Pipe Dream Turned Nightmare for Our Environment

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2010/12/15: TEC: Saskatchewan Biodiesel Research Shows Positive Results
• 2010/12/15: PhysOrg: Seaweed as biofuel? Metabolic engineering makes it a viable option
  Is red seaweed a viable future biofuel? Now that a University of Illinois metabolic engineer has developed a strain of yeast that can make short work of fermenting galactose, the answer is an unequivocal yes.

The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2010/12/17: NatureTGB: ITER feels the squeeze
• 2010/12/17: ScienceInsider: Message to ITER Fusion Project: Keep Calm and Carry On
• 2010/12/16: BBC: Nuclear fusion finance plan rejected by EU Parliament
  A plan to rescue European financing of the ITER nuclear fusion reactor project has been rejected at the final hurdle.
• 2010/12/14: EurActiv: Belarus nuclear power plant 'worries' Lithuania
  Plans by Belarus to build a nuclear power plant 50 kilometres away from Vilnius are a worry for Lithuania, the country's foreign minister, Audronius Aeubalis, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.
• 2010/12/13: TEC: Howard Shaffer - Vermont's nuclear debate, continued

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2010/12/15: EnergyBulletin: Oil supply emergencies: An annotated bibliography
• 2010/12/15: EnergyBulletin: Preparedness for fuel supply disruptions
• 2010/12/15: EnergyBulletin: Peak energy, climate change, and the collapse of global civilization: the current peak oil crisis
• 2010/12/14: EconView: "Peak Oil is Stupid"

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

• 2010/12/14: EarthTimes: Malta to link to European energy grid by 2013

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2010/12/16: TreeHugger: Qnuru 6.4W and 9.2W LED Lightbulbs (Product Review)
• 2010/12/15: Grist: If efficiency hasn't cut energy use, then what? [Jevons]

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

• 2010/12/16: AutoBG: Automakers testing both large- and small-format battery cells in today's electric cars
• 2010/12/16: CBC: Paris to launch electric car-sharing program
• 2010/12/14: CBC: California to set up electric car infrastructure
• 2010/12/14: CBC: Calif. to set up electric car infrastructure
• 2010/12/14: SolveClimate: London Black Cabs Will Be Electric by 2020
• 2010/12/13: BBC: Nine electric cars will be eligible for subsidies [in UK]
• 2010/12/13: EurActiv: Auto industry 'scepticism' biggest obstacle to electric cars
• 2010/12/12: AutoBG: Dismal hybrid, electric vehicle sales in China concern automakers
• 2010/12/12: LA Times: Electric vehicles may bring new sticker shock: multiple mileage ratings
  How do you gauge fuel economy when there's no gasoline? Government agencies can't agree.

As for Energy Storage:

• 2010/12/15: TEC: Underground pumped storage plants: Green power from the mines
• 2010/12/16: REA: Gridflex Proposes 300MW [pumped hydro] Energy Storage Project for Hawaii
• 2010/12/15: AutoBG: U.S. researchers discover one cause of lithium-ion battery aging
• 2010/12/13: NBF: Thermal Energy Storage for concentrated solar power

  Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:

• 2010/12/18: ClimateP: Weekend News Update...
• 2010/12/17: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for December 17...
• 2010/12/16: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for December 16...
• 2010/12/15: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for December 15...
• 2010/12/14: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for December 14...
• 2010/12/13: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for December 13...
• 2010/12/12: ClimateP: December 12 energy and climate news...

  Other (weekly) lists:

• 2010/12/17: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Climate, Energy and Environment News from Latin America: 12.13 - 12.17.2010
• 2010/12/16: Grist: A walk through the week's climate news -- The Climate Post: Cancun climate talks limp to a compromise at close of hottest year on record
• 2010/12/17: NRDC:SwitchBoard: India Climate Change and Energy News - December 5 to December 12, 2010
• 2010/12/15: AFTIC: Moving along....

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2010/12/18: TreeHugger: Religious Group Puts Out 12 DVD Series on Environmentalists' "Spiritual Deception"
• 2010/12/14: SciAlert: The Nazi threat and climate-change denial
• 2010/12/17: Guardian(UK): The Register demonstrates how climate myths are created
• 2010/12/17: QuarkSoup: Watts Up With This Error?
• 2010/12/17: SkeptiSci: Debunking this skeptic myth is left as an exercise to the reader
• 2010/12/16: BBickmore: Explaining Orrin Hatch
• 2010/12/14: BBickmore: Orrin Hatch on the Gas of Life
• 2010/12/16: AlterNet: Top 10 Climate-Change Denier Arguments Debunked: Part 1
• 2009/01/21: BRitholtz: Agnotology
• 2010/12/14: CNN: Cheney, Halliburton may settle Nigerian charges
  Energy firm, former vice president charged with bribery - They may agree to plea deal requiring payment of $250 million, Nigerian official says - Case involves allegations of bribes to Nigerian officials for natural gas project - Halliburton pleaded guilty to bribery charges in U.S. last year
• 2010/12/15: WottsUWT: Warmest year ever? -- 2010: An Unexceptional El Nino Year
• 2010/12/15: WottsUWT: New peer reviewed paper shows just how bad the climate models really are
• 2010/12/14: HuffPo: Climate Fraud and Hypocrisy
• 2010/12/14: ClimateP: Still Bjorn: Now that his movie has bombed, Lomborg is back to telling folks "Go Ahead and Guzzle"
• 2010/12/14: DeSmogBlog: Monbiot: The Astroturf Threat To Democracy
• 2010/12/13: GreenFyre: Hallelujah! ... Bjorn again
• 2010/12/13: BBickmore: Another Red Herring Survey
• 2010/12/13: Tamino: Odd Man Out
• 2010/12/13: Atlantic: The Danger of Cosmic Genius
• 2010/12/13: Guardian(UK): Weatherwatch: Climate change

  Meanwhile in the 'clean coal' saga:

• 2010/12/19: ABC(Au): Bligh scraps 'clean coal' power station plans
  The Queensland Government has scrapped plans for a multi billion dollar 'clean coal' power station in central Queensland. Premier Anna Bligh says the ZeroGen project into carbon capture technology is not viable at the moment.
• 2010/12/15: TreeHugger: Legal Questions Over Use of Coal Ash to Fill Abandoned Mines in Pennsylvania

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2010/12/18: EnvEcon: Joe Romm vs Matt Kahn [author of Climatopolis]
• 2010/12/17: BNC: OzEA -- The second story
• 2010/12/16: MTobis: Global Warming Superheroism
• 2010/12/16: ClimateP: Review: Climatopolis: How our cities will thrive in the hotter future by Matthew Kahn is not a good book
  Memo to economists: Please read the scientific literature before opining on the impacts of global warming
• 2010/12/13: RealClimate: Responses to McShane and Wyner
• 2010/12/14: SkeptiSci: A new resource - high rez climate graphics
• 2010/12/13: ClimateP: Lonnie Thompson on why climatologists are speaking out: "Virtually all of us are now convinced that global warming poses a clear and present danger to civilization"
• 2010/12/13: HotTopic: New developments for two companies
• 2010/12/12: MTobis: On Happy Endings

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

• WMO: Bulletin
• The Adaptation Fund
• SORCE: Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment
• The Earth Institute, Columbia University - blogs
• UColorado: Mean Sea Level
• SPR Environmental Law Blog
• Signs From Earth Notes
• Crikey: Cable Crunch: Climate change
• NSIDC:SOTC: Glaciers
• NSIDC: World Glacier Inventory [information for over 67,000 glaciers worldwide]
• Wiki: Global Nuclear Energy Partnership
• US DOE: GNEP: Global Nuclear Energy Partnership
• Wind-Works by Paul Gipe
• UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Skeptical Science: Examining Global Warming Skepticism

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(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.

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

"Mother Nature doesn't do bailouts. One day, Mother Nature shows up and blows out your knee caps." -Denis Hayes

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