Another week of GW News, April 17, 2011

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

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Another week of Climate Disruption News

Information is not Knowledge...Knowledge is notWisdom

{Note: I have been offline due to illness. Coverage is spottier than usual, particularly early in the week. -het}

April 17, 2011

• Chuckles, Bangkok, COP17+, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy, Fukushima Talk
• Cochabamba+1, Power Shift, Howarth, UNGCF, Psych, Cook, FOIA
• Melting Arctic, Megafauna, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food Crisis, Food Prices, Food vs. Biofuel, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production
• Hurricanes, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures, Aerosols, Tipping Points, State of the Oceans, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Tornadoes Wildfires, Corals, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, REDD, Sequestration, Geoengineering
• Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, Christy, Lindzen, Muller
• Carbon Trade, Energy Race, Law & Activism, Activism, Water Politics & Business
• National Politics: America, BP Disaster, 2012, TVA, Budget Deal, Obama, USAdmin, Congress, Lobbyists
• Britain, Europe, Australia, Carbon War, Murray-Darling, New Zealand, China, Japan, South America
• Canada, Post G20, CFLs, Flooding, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, North, Canadiana
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts
• Energy, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas Oil & Gas Corps Peak Oil, Biofuel
• Wind, Solar, Nukes, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Gee Whiz, Energy Storage
• Business, FAQs, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

It's always nice to start with a smile, however dark:

• 2011/04/14: ClimateP: (cartoons - Matson & TomTom) Slogans and other viral language
• 2011/04/15: CJR: The Most Amazing Corporate Press Release in History -- Fisking the Yes Men's fake GE press release

  Some Bangkok retrospectives:

• 2011/04/05: PWCCC: G77+China, ALBA Back Bolivia in Climate Talks in Bangkok
• 2011/04/12: MLynas: Seven days in Bangkok
  It is embarrassing, I know. My kids should be wearing the T-shirt: 'My daddy went to Bangkok and all I got was this lousy agenda'. Was it really worth spending an entire week-long UN climate negotiating session, requiring the participation of flown-in delegates from over a hundred nations, just to agree an agenda?
• 2011/04/13: BBC:RB: Science and politics - a tale of two meetings -- More than 8,000km separate Vienna and Bangkok.

  Looking ahead to COP17 and future international climate negotiations:

• 2011/04/14: ERW: 2020 emissions gap 'has been underestimated'
  Projected emissions based on the pledges made by individual countries to reduce their emissions by 2020 may be overly optimistic because of discrepancies in historical emissions calculations, according to researchers in Switzerland and Germany.

Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

• 2011/04/17: PSinclair: Fukushima Entombment not a slam dunk. Hitachi Maps out 30 year process. Tepco: Cold Shutdown in 6 to 9 Months
• 2011/04/17: CBC: Japanese reactor will rage for up to 9 months -- New leaks feared after radiation levels rise sharpy
• 2011/04/17: BBC: Japan nuclear crisis 'over in nine months'
  The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has said it expects to bring the crisis under control by the end of the year. Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) aims to reduce radiation leaks in three months and to cool the reactors within nine months.
• 2011/04/16: PeakEnergy: Japanese Workers Braved Radiation for a Temp Job
• 2011/04/15: NatureTGB: Fukushima stable, but radioactive water problem continues
• 2011/04/15: BBC: The Japanese government has ordered the operator of the nuclear plant damaged by last month's quake and tsunami to pay compensation to affected families
• 2011/04/14: NatureTGB: Water goes out but comes in faster at Fukushima
• 2011/04/14: NatureTGB: Fukushima's "red alert" sparks questions about rating system [INES]
• 2011/04/12: DerSpiegel: Re-Evaluation of Radiation -- Fukushima Joins Chernobyl on Nuclear Disaster Scale
  Japanese officials on Tuesday increased the level of severity of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, placing it on a level with Chernobyl. Some have criticized the change, but an expansion of the no-go zone surrounding the plant underlines the likely long-term effects of the accident.
• 2011/04/13: BBC: Japan residents on raised nuclear threat level
• 2011/04/13: APR: APRA Special: Observations on Fukushima Daiichi
• 2011/04/12: al Jazeera: Japan raises nuclear alert to highest level
  Nuclear watchdog raises severity of Fukushima crisis to maximum level but plays down comparisons to Chernobyl disaster.
• 2011/04/11: ScienceInsider: Japan to Widen Evacuation Zone
• 2011/04/12: TreeHugger: Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Upgraded to INES Level 7, Like Chernobyl

  Post Fukushima, nuclear policies are in flux around the world:

• 2011/04/15: DerSpiegel: Saying Goodbye to Nuclear -- Merkel Takes First Steps toward a Future of Renewables
  When Angela Merkel declared a moratorium on nuclear energy after the recent disaster in Japan, critics accused her of playing politics. Now she appears to be serious. A national summit in Berlin has laid out a six-point plan to move Germany away from nuclear power.
• 2011/04/14: ENS: Japan's Nuclear Crisis Prompts Petition for U.S. Inquiry, Licensing Suspension
• 2011/04/14: WWI: [link to 2.9 meg pdf] Nuclear Power After Fukushima
• 2011/04/14: TCoE: Post-Fukushima nuclear power
• 2011/04/14: CBC: India steps up safety at nuclear plants
• 2011/04/15: PSinclair: What Japan Could Do if It Followed Germany's Lead on Renewable Energy
• 2011/04/10: NBF: Kazakhstan Plans to slow its Uranium output increase after 2013 and will raise its uranium reserves to 2.5 million tons

  And of course, the pundits. lobbyists and politicians have a lot to say:

• 2011/04/13: Tyee: Japan, Oil and the Fragility of Globalization
• 2011/04/15: MLynas: Opening speech at nuclear debate
• 2011/04/14: MLynas: How much of Japan's land area would be needed to replace nuclear with wind?
• 2011/04/10: LA Times: Why nuclear power is still a good choice by Mark Lynas
• 2011/04/13: ClimateP: Mark Lynas pens error-riddled, cost-less nuke op-ed [nuke policy]
• 2011/04/12: DemNow: Nuclear Catastrophe in Japan "Not Equal to Chernobyl, But Way Worse"
• 2011/04/13: DemNow: Expert: Despite Japanese Gov't Claims of Decreasing Radiation, Fukushima a "Ticking Time Bomb"
• 2011/04/14: TruthOut: Radioactive Human Embryos: Our Nuclear Legacy?
• 2011/04/11: Guardian(UK): How nuclear apologists mislead the world over radiation by Helen Caldicott
• 2011/04/14: EnergyBulletin: The road to Fukushima: The nuclear industry's wrong turn
• 2011/04/13: AlterNet: Fukushima Reactors Are a "Ticking Time Bomb," Japanese Govt in Denial
• 2011/04/13: TCoE: Photos of our true selves
• 2011/04/13: PlanetArk: Q+A: How Does Fukushima Differ From Chernobyl?
• 2011/04/12: DerSpiegel: Atomic Deserts -- A Survey of the World's Radioactive No-Go Zones
  Everyone knows about Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and, now, Fukushima. But what about Semipalatinsk, Palomares and Kyshtym? The world is full of nuclear disaster zones -- showing just how dangerous the technology really is.
• 2011/04/13: DerSpiegel: The World from Berlin -- 'Japan Could Have Recognized Scope of Fukushima Disaster Weeks Ago'
• 2011/04/12: APR: Fukushima Daiichi developments... Tuesday evening
• 2011/04/12: APR: NISA commentary on INES level 7
• 2011/04/09: EnergyBulletin: Monbiot Goes Strangelove
• 2011/04/12: BBC: Japanese authorities have raised the severity rating of their nuclear crisis to the highest level, seven
• 2011/04/12: CBC: Japan ups nuclear crisis rating to top level -- Evacuation zone around plant expanded as 2 more aftershocks rattle country
• 2011/04/10: BBC: Fukushima: What happened - and what needs to be done
• 2011/04/12: JapanToday: Gov't apologizes after raising nuclear crisis level to highest
  Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano apologized on Tuesday to residents near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and the global community after Japan raised the severity rating of its nuclear crisis to the highest level of 7. Despite the changed assessment that puts it on a par with the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe, Edano told reporters, ''Unlike in the case of Chernobyl, we have not seen cases of direct damage to health because of the accident.''
• 2011/04/11: EurActiv: Radiation risks from Fukushima 'no longer negligible'
  The risks associated with iodine-131 contamination in Europe are no longer "negligible," according to CRIIRAD, a French research body on radioactivity. The NGO is advising pregnant women and infants against "risky behaviour," such as consuming fresh milk or vegetables with large leaves. In response to thousands of inquiries from citizens concerned about fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Europe, CRIIRAD has compiled an information package on the risks of radioactive iodine-131 contamination in Europe.
• 2011/04/11: NakedCapitalism: WashingtonsBlog: Japan Considers Raising Nuclear Disaster from Level 5 to 7 Based on Extremely High Radiation Readings

  Cochabamba+1 is going down in Montreal this weekend:

• Cochabamba+1: Climate Justice and Ecological Alternatives [April 15-17]
• 2011/04/05: PWCCC: G77+China, ALBA Back Bolivia in Climate Talks in Bangkok
• 2011/04/16: Rabble: Pablo Solon opens Montreal Conference on the environment: Cochabamba +1

  Power Shift 2011 is happening in DC:

• 2011/04/15: TheHill:e2W: Gore to young advocates [at Power Shift 2011]: Battle industry lobbyists to turn the tide on climate
• 2011/04/16: CSW: Power Shift 2011 in Washington, DC, April 15-18: "Every Generation Needs a New Revolution"
• 2011/04/15: DeSmogBlog: Power Shift 2011- Youth Leaders Flock to DC

  The Howarth et al. Letter on fracking, shale gas and methane has upset the fossil fuellers who triggered a controversy:

• 2011/04/12: CC: (letter) Methane and the greenhouse-gas footprint of natural gas from shale formations by Robert W. Howarth et al
• 2011/04/15: NatureN: Natural gas greenhouse emissions study draws fire -- Gas industry dismisses claim that shale-derived natural gas is worse than coal for the climate
• 2011/04/16: RealClimate: Fracking methane
• 2011/04/15: TechRev: Just How Green Is Natural Gas?
  Not green at all, reports a study suggesting that the methane released by fracking and drilling makes it worse than coal.
• 2011/04/13: KSJT: Lots of Ink: Is Shale Gas Really More Climate Friendly Than Coal?
• 2011/04/13: ClimateP: Natural gas is mostly methane
• 2011/04/13: PlanetArk: Shale Gas Pollutes More Than Coal, Study Finds
• 2011/04/12: EnergyBulletin: [list] New report suggests shale natural gas is worse for climate than coal
• 2011/04/11: EnergyBulletin: Abstract: Will Natural Gas Fuel America in the 21st Century?
• 2011/04/11: DeSmogBlog: "Fracking" Shale Gas Emissions Far Worse Than Coal For Climate - Cornell Study
• 2011/04/12: BBC: Shale gas 'worse than coal' for climate
• 2011/04/12: NakedCapitalism: Gas From Fracking More Damaging to Climate Than Coal?

  The UNGCF crawls forward:

• 2011/04/15: UNEP: Governments agree on members for new Green Climate Fund
• 2011/04/15: UN: Parties to UN climate change convention appoint team to design new climate fund
  Parties to the United Nations climate change convention today announced the selection of a 40-member committee tasked with designing an international fund to manage resources mobilized to enable developing countries to address the effects of climate change. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said the transitional committee will prepare operational specifications for the Green Climate Fund in time for approval by the next UN Climate Conference in Durban, South Africa in December.

More of that old shrinkology:

• 2011/04/15: GreenGrok: Foul and Fair Weather Friends?

  John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

• 2011/04/16: SkeptiSci: Debunking Economic Myths from the Climate Hearing by dana1981
• 2011/04/15: SkeptiSci: What was it like the last time CO2 levels were this high?
• 2011/04/15: SkeptiSci: David Evans' Understanding of the Climate Goes Cold by dana1981
• 2011/04/14: SkeptiSci: Monckton Myth #16: Bizarro World Sea Level by dana1981
• 2011/04/13: SkeptiSci: More wind, bigger waves, changing marine ecosystems by John Bruno
• 2011/04/12: SkeptiSci: Solar Hockey Stick by dana1981
• 2011/04/11: SkeptiSci: Zebras? In Greenland? Really? by Daniel Bailey & mspelto

  Regarding FOIA as a weapon:

• 2011/04/15: ERabett: The blank check strategy
• 2011/04/15: CSW: In defense of academic freedom against denialist FOIA inquisition tactics
• 2011/04/14: UCSUSA: Groups Urge University of Virginia to Defend Academic Freedom in Response to Request for Scientist's Records
  Request for Scientist's Records Closely Mirrors Subpoena from VA Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
• 2011/04/12: AlterNet: How Far Will Conservatives Go To Thwart Academic Freedom?

  The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:

• 2011/04/13: ASI: Flushing out the Fjord [Jakobshavn Isbræ]
• 2011/04/11: ASI: First Forecasts 2: PIOMAS

  As for the charismatic megafauna:

• 2011/04/15: BBC: Polar bear and cub awake in 'building site'
  A polar bear and her cub emerged from hibernation on a remote Alaskan island, to find an oil company construction site over their snowy den. Workers on the new site for Italian oil firm Eni saw the bears on 18 March on Spy Island, a man-made island in the Beaufort Sea, north of Prudhoe Bay.
• 2011/04/12: KSJT: Lots of Ink: Commercial krill harvests, resurgent whales mean starvation for young penguins?
• 2011/04/12: SciNow: Melting Antarctic Ice Causing Penguins to Starve
• 2011/04/11: SciNews: Penguin declines may come down to krill
• 2011/04/11: Eureka: Penguins that shun ice still lose big from a warming climate -- New study concludes loss of ice contributes to diminished food supply
• 2011/04/12: BBC: Penguins suffer as Antarctic krill declines
• 2011/04/12: CBC: Penguins starving due to climate change

  That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

• 2011/04/16: GEB: Runaway Global Warming

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2011/04/14: Guardian(UK): BP gets extra time to rescue deal with Russia's Rosneft
• 2011/04/13: BBC: BP talks with Russian partner AAR 'close to collapse'

  While in Antarctica:

• 2011/04/13: SciNews: Antarctic lake hides bizarre ecosystem -- Bacterial colonies form cones like those on early Earth
• 2011/04/10: Eureka: West Antarctic warming triggered by warmer sea surface in tropical Pacific

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2011/04/15: UN: Lack of funds threatens UN food aid to millions of vulnerable Afghans
• 2011/04/14: BBC: India's much-loved Alphonso mango hit by poor weather
• 2011/04/14: Guardian(UK): Ugandan opposition leader shot amid fuel and food price protest
• 2011/04/12: Guardian(UK): El Alto, city of rural migrants whose crops failed when the climate changed
  Rural Bolivians migrate to El Alto when their crops fail because of droughts, erratic rainfall, heatwaves, frosts and floods. Climate change -- and Pachamama -- are driving them into the city
• 2011/04/12: NatureTGB: Nitrogen fertilizer: too much of a good thing
• 2011/04/11: KIT: Greenhouse Gases from Forest Soils
  Reactive Nitrogen Causes Much Higher Climate-damaging Nitrous Oxide Emissions in European Forests than Previously Estimated by the IPCC
• 2011/04/10: RWER: Graph of the week: number of Americans receiving food stamps
• 2011/04/10: BBC: Nitrogen pollution 'costs EU up to £280bn a year'
  Nitrogen pollution from farms, vehicles, industry and waste treatment is costing the EU up to £280bn (320bn euros) a year, a report says. The study by 200 European experts says reactive nitrogen contributes to air pollution, fuels climate change and is estimated to shorten the life of the average resident by six months. Livestock farming is one of the biggest causes of nitrogen pollution, it adds. It calls for changes in farming and more controls on vehicles and industry.

Food Prices are still problematic:

• FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
• 2011/04/12: WFP: Rising Food Prices: 10 Questions Answered
• 2011/04/14: BBC: Food prices: World Bank warns millions face poverty
  The World Bank has warned that rising food prices, driven partly by rising fuel costs, are pushing millions of people into extreme poverty. World food prices are 36% above levels of a year ago, driven by problems in the Middle East and North Africa, and remain volatile, the bank said. That has pushed 44 million people into poverty since last June. A further 10% rise would push 10m more below the extreme poverty line of $1.25 (76p) a day, the bank said.
• 2011/04/13: EnergyBulletin: What's your game plan as corn prices skyrocket?

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2011/04/13: ScienceInsider: Report: Current European Biofuel Policies 'Unethical'
• 2011/04/13: TreeHugger: EU Biofuel Targets are 'Unethical', says Bioethics Council
• 2011/04/13: BBC: Biofuels targets are 'unethical', says Nuffield report
  EU biofuels targets are unethical, according to a report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. Its authors recommend the targets should be lifted temporarily until new safeguards are put in place for biofuels grown in Europe or imported. But they stop short of calling for a complete halt to biofuels, which some environmentalists want. And they hold out the hope that new technologies may be able to develop biofuels from cellulose. Crucially, they hope this could be done in a way that does not damage the environment or compete with food crops.

So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

• 2011/04/14: Nation: This Tax Day, 'Farms' Owned by the Rich Provide Massive Tax Shelter
• 2011/04/15: Guardian(UK): Small-scale farmers increasingly at risk from 'global land grabbing'

  Regarding the genetic modification of food:

• 2011/04/13: PlanetArk: EU Lawmakers Vote To Widen Proposed GM Crop Bans
  European Union governments should be allowed to ban the growing of genetically modified (GM) crops based on environmental concerns including the prevention of "super weeds," EU lawmakers said on Tuesday. Critics of GM crops say herbicides used in conjunction with the plants -- such as Monsanto Co's Roundup Ready -- promote widespread weed resistance, or super weeds. EU countries should also be free to ban GM crops to protect local plants, habitats and alternative farming practices such as organic production, the European Parliament's influential environment committee said in a vote in Brussels.
• 2011/04/13: TreeHugger: GM Crops Disrupt Animals' Livers & Kidneys, Research Review Finds

  And how are we going to feed 9 billion?

• 2011/04/12: FAO: Moving beyond subsistence farming in Sierra Leone -- Sparking economic growth through agriculture
• 2011/04/15: EnergyBulletin: 350 Challenge aims to fight climate change one garden at a time
• 2011/04/15: EnergyBulletin: Feeding the world: it's not about quantity
• 2011/04/13: BPA: Let's Protect our Soil, "the fertile legacy of thousands of years of geological processes"
• 2011/04/11: BPA: How does the need to double world crop production by 2050 compare with the growth in crop output of the last 40 years?
• 2011/04/12: TreeHugger: Sunless Farming Touted as Answer to World Food Problems

  Another relatively quiet week in the hurricane wars:

• 2011/04/15: Eureka: NASA sees Australian newborn Tropical Storm Errol's strongest T-storms off-shore
• 2011/04/12: ENS: 'Very Active' 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season Predicted

  And in the carbon cycle:

• 2011/04/14: Eureka: Data catches up with theory: Ocean front is energetic contributor to mixing
  Wind blowing on the ocean is a crucial factor mixing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the ocean depths and keeping it from going back into the atmosphere.

As for the temperature record:

• 2011/04/14: QuarkSoup: March GISS Temperature Anomaly is Fairly Large
• 2011/04/14: NOAANews: Earth had 13th warmest March on record
• 2011/04/13: RealClimate: The warm beer chart

  Aerosols are making their presence felt:

• 2011/04/14: Eureka: Climate change from black carbon depends on altitude

  Tipping points, aka planetary boundaries, put in an appearance:

• 2011/04/15: Eureka: Human rules may determine environmental 'tipping points'
• 2011/04/15: AlterNet: The Planet Strikes Back: Why We Underestimate the Earth and Overestimate Ourselves [Klare]

  And the State of the Oceans:

• 2011/04/14: BBC:RB: Exploring the 'oceans crisis'
• 2011/04/13: NSF: Death--Not Just Life--Important Link in Marine Ecosystems
  Carcasses of copepods--numerous organisms in world seas--provide insights into oceanic food webs

Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2011/04/14: ScienceInsider: Budget Cuts Mean '18-Month Gap' in Crucial Weather Data, Says Ocean Agency

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2011/04/15: BBC: Air pollution 'damaging Europe's wildlife havens'
  Air pollution is damaging 60% of Europe's prime wildlife sites in meadows, forests and heaths, according to a new report. A team of EU scientists said nitrogen emissions from cars, factories and farming was threatening biodiversity. It's the second report this week warning of the on-going risks and threats linked to nitrogen pollution.
• 2011/04/14: BBC: Red and Arctic foxes clash in Russia
  Russia's Arctic foxes are under threat from an expanding population of red foxes, according to scientists. For the first time, a red fox has been observed intruding on an Arctic fox breeding den in Russia's far north. The Arctic fox abandoned its den to the dominant intruder, leaving pups to fend for themselves. Researchers say this is evidence that red foxes are expelling Arctic foxes as a warming climate allows them to survive much further north.

And then there are the world's forests:

• 2011/04/15: TreeHugger: Indonesia's Deforestation Halt, Halted
• 2011/04/12: Guardian(UK): New rights challenge to Belo Monte dam in Brazil

  It looks like tornado season has started with a bang:

• 2011/04/17: CNN: Storms barrel north, leaving trail of destruction and dozens of deaths
  The three-day death toll hits 30 - A CNN meteorologist calls the outbreak of storms unusual - Two rotating storms prompt warnings from Richmond, Virginia, north to Baltimore - "This is a high-risk day," the CNN meteorologist says
• 2011/04/17: CBC: 25 die in southern U.S. storms
  A furious storm system that kicked up tornadoes, flash floods and hail as big as grapefruits has claimed at least 25 lives across the southern United States. Emergency crews spent the weekend searching for victims in hard-hit swaths of North Carolina, where 62 tornadoes were reported from the worst spring storm in two decades to hit the state. Authorities warned the death toll was likely to rise further Sunday as searchers probed shattered homes and businesses.
• 2011/04/16: CNN: Storms, tornadoes kill at least 17 across the South
  Tornado and thunderstorm warnings were issued for the Richmond, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., areas - Flood warnings were issued across portions of western Alabama Saturday - Hazardous weather warnings ended in Mississippi, the weather service reported - Survey teams spread out across Alabama, conducting aerial evaluations
• 2011/04/16: Wunderground: Tornadoes rip Alabama, Misssissippi; 17 dead in 2-day outbreak
• 2011/04/16: CSM: 7 killed in Ala. storms, bringing US toll to 16
• 2011/04/16: CBC: U.S. South storms death toll rises to 16
  'It's just been one catastrophe after another': Alabama emergency management head
  The death toll from powerful storms and tornadoes that have devastated parts of the U.S. South, toppling trees, smashing buildings and tearing up trailers, rose to at least 16 early Saturday. Seven deaths were reported in Alabama, including a man killed when the storm tossed a mobile home nearly across a state highway. In the deadliest storm of the season, three adult family members were killed around 11 p.m. Friday when a tornado ripped through homes in the Boone's Chapel community, north of the Alabama capital of Montgomery, said Autauga County Chief Deputy Sheriff Joe Sedinger.
• 2011/04/15: BBC: Arkansas and Oklahoma storms kill nine
• 2011/04/15: CNN: Storms spawn tornadoes in Mississippi and Alabama
  A tornado emergency is issued for towns in western Alabama - "Extensive damage" is reported in Clinton, Mississippi - The storm threatens tens of thousands of fans at Talladega speedway - Storms Thursday killed at least nine in two states
• 2011/04/15: Wunderground: Tornadoes, severe thunderstorms kill nine in OK, AR; more severe weather today
• 2011/04/15: CBC: U.S. storm system kills at least 7 [torandoes]
• 2011/04/11: Wunderground: Weekend tornado outbreak causes heavy damage in Virginia, Iowa

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2011/04/14: CCentral: Fast Start to Fire Season as Wildfires Scorch Texas
• 2011/04/11: PlanetArk: Colorado Wildfires Force Hundreds Of Evacuations
• 2011/04/12: Wunderground: Driest March in Texas history fueling huge fires

  Corals are dying:

• 2011/04/12: ClimateShifts: First-time Bleaching in Ningaloo, Western Australia

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2011/04/12: TreeHugger: New York City May Get 20% More Sea Level Rise Than Global Average

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2011/04/12: USGS: Media Advisory: 2011--The Year of the Flood?
• 2011/04/15: PlanetArk: Drought Grows More Dire In [US] Southwest, Farms Hit
• 2011/04/16: CBC: Flooded prairie rivers set for steep rise
• 2011/04/15: CBC: Prairie flood fighters out in full force
• 2011/04/14: BBC: A mudslide caused by heavy rain has engulfed a bus in Colombia, killing at least 14 people, officials. say
• 2011/04/14: BBC: Cuba faces its worst drought for 50 years
  Cuba is facing its worst drought in half a century, with tens of thousands of families almost entirely reliant on water trucks for essential supplies. The drought started two years ago, and reservoirs are now down to a fifth of their normal levels. The government is providing road deliveries of water to more than 100,000 people in the worst affected areas of the capital, Havana.
• 2011/04/13: PlanetArk: North Dakota Set for Red River Crest; Rural Areas Awash

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2011/04/15: Eureka: When it comes to carbon footprints, location and lifestyle matter
  Online calculator allows households around the country to track -- and try to reduce -- carbon footprint

Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation has somehow seemed chimeric:

• 2011/04/14: GEP: Greenpeace Goes After McKinsey on REDD+
• 2011/04/11: CDialogue: REDD: Can we see the forest for the trees?
• 2011/04/12: TreeHugger: Is Consulting Firm McKinsey Using REDD to Accelerate Deforestation?

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2011/04/16: NBF: Carbon Capture and Sequestration status
• 2011/04/14: OSU: Carbon sequestration estimate in U.S. increased - barring a drought

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2011/04/15: GEP: Additional Information on Barrasso Direct Air Capture Bill
• 2011/04/10: ClimateP: ...Key 'geoengineering' strategy may yield warming, not cooling

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2011/04/12: CC: (letter) Methane and the greenhouse-gas footprint of natural gas from shale formations by Robert W. Howarth et al
• 2011/04/12: PNAS: (ab$) Geographic bias of field observations of soil carbon stocks with tropical land-use changes precludes spatial extrapolation by Jennifer S. Powers et al.
• 2011/04/12: PNAS: (abs) Urban growth, climate change, and freshwater availability by Robert I. McDonald et al.
• 2011/04/12: PNAS: (ab$) Rapid, global demographic expansions after the origins of agriculture by Christopher R. Gignoux et al.
• 2011/04/12: PNAS: (Letter$) Glacial demise and methane's rise by Richard J. Behl
• 2011/04/13: AGWObserver: Papers on gas leakage from natural gas industry
• 2011/04/11: AGWObserver: New research from last week 14/2011

  And other significant documents:

• 2011/04/14: WWI: [link to 2.9 meg pdf] Nuclear Power After Fukushima

  As for miscellaneous science:

• 2011/04/16: IsaacHeld: 8. The recalcitrant component of global warming
• 2011/04/11: JQuiggin: Lindzen, Davidson and statistical significance
• 2011/04/15: RealClimate: An Emerging View on Early Land Use by William Ruddiman

  Regarding Christy:

• 2011/04/13: SkeptiSci: Christy Crock #3: Internal Variability by dana1981 & Albatross

  Regarding Lindzen:

• 2011/04/14: DeSmogBlog: Lindzen Slipping from Ranks of "Credible" Scientists

  Regarding Muller:

• 2011/04/17: SkeptiSci: Muller Misinformation #3: Al Gore and polar bears by Brad Johnson
• 2011/04/15: SkeptiSci: Muller Misinformation #2: 'leaked' tree-ring data

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2011/04/16: TreeHugger: California On Starting the First U.S. Carbon Market

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

• 2011/04/12: Guardian(UK): China's green progress leaves US red-faced
  China pushes ahead with an emissions trading scheme, while American initiatives remain sunk in Congressional quicksand

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

• 2011/04/14: Guardian(UK): A history of police kettling
  Met officers were found to have acted unlawfully in surrounding G20 Climate Camp protesters -- with a tactic first used in 1990s
• 2011/04/12: ENS: New Zealand Threatens to Arrest Greenpeacers Blocking Oil Survey Ship

  What are the activists up to?

• 2011/04/17: TreeHugger: Tim DeChristopher Calls for More Civil Disobedience in Climate Fight (Video)
• 2011/04/14: ENS: Protesters Disrupt BP's First Shareholder Meeting Since Oil Spill

  Regarding Water Politics and Business:

• 2011/04/16: JFleck: California Water: Pricing the Externalities
• 2011/04/16: CSM: Answering the world's growing water problem
• 2011/04/15: JFleck: On that giant watershed

  And on the American political front:

• 2011/04/15: GreenFyre: Plutotocracy Rising, be very, very pi$$ed off
• 2011/04/15: QuarkSoup: Followup on the UCS Clean Air Act Ticker
• 2011/04/15: ClimateP: TN state Rep. says Einstein would teach creationism
• 2011/04/15: ClimateP: Montana Gov. Schweitzer blocks Tea Party's dirty water, dirty energy bills with 'VETO' branding iron [vid & us pol]
• 2011/04/15: ClimateP: Clean Air Act delivered $1.3 trillion in health and other benefits in 2010 alone at $53 billion cost
• 2011/04/15: CSM: Solar power plant lawsuit thrown out in Calif.
• 2011/04/15: TreeHugger: Montana Gov. [Brian Schweitzer] Vetoes Anti-Environment Bills with a Branding Iron (Video)
• 2011/04/13: AlterNet: Now the GOP Is Going After Sexual Health and the Pill -- And the Battle Is Just Beginning
• 2011/04/14: BPA: BRICs, Agricultural Trade, and the U.S. Balance Sheet
• 2011/04/13: Oregonian: [Governor John] Kitzhaber says it's time for a 10-year plan on clean energy in Oregon
• 2011/04/13: CitizensChallenge: "Let The Free Market Address Conservation" Say What?
• 2011/04/12: ENS: California Governor Signs Nation's Highest Renewable Energy Standard
• 2011/04/11: CalcRisk: $4 Gasoline, Again

  The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

• 2011/04/15: Guardian(UK): Emails expose BP's attempts to control research into impact of Gulf oil spill
• 2011/04/15: ERW: E-mails expose BP's attempts to control research into impact of Gulf oil spill
  BP officials tried to take control of a $500m fund pledged by the oil company for independent research into the consequences of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, it has emerged. Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show BP officials openly discussing how to influence the work of scientists supported by the fund, which was created by the oil company in May last year.
• 2011/04/16: NakedCapitalism: Guest Post: No, The Gulf Oil Spill Is NOT Old News
• 2011/04/15: ClimateP: As first anniversary approaches, Ken Salazar says GOP has "amnesia" on BP oil disaster
• 2011/04/15: TreeHugger: Warning: Photos of Newly Dead Gulf Sea Turtles Will Ruin Your [day]
• 2011/04/13: ProPublica: 'Spillionaires': Profiteering and Mismanagement in the Wake of the BP Oil Spill
• 2011/04/14: OilChange: One Year Later: BP's Contamination Continues
• 2011/04/11: AlterNet: One Year After Deepwater Horizon Disaster, Rig Operator Claims 'Best Year in Safety Performance,' Gives Execs Big Bonuses

  Do you want a corporate dweeb, or a sociopathic corporate dweeb? Your choice:

• 2011/04/15: Grist: Mitch Daniels has quacky climate views a la Michael Crichton
• 2011/04/13: TCoE: Pop quiz time, America

  The TVA came out with significant announcements this week:

• 2011/04/15: PlanetArk: TVA To Invest $3-$5 Billion To Settle EPA Claims
• 2011/04/14: ENS: Tennessee Valley Authority to Close 18 Coal-Fired Generating Units
• 2011/04/14: CSM: Coal power: TVA agrees to phase out 18 units, shift to cleaner fuels
  The Tennessee Valley Authority, one of America's largest utilities, said Thursday it plans to close 18 older coal-fired power generators at three plants as part of a court settlement in which it will pay $10 million in fines for violations of the federal Clean Air Act. When completed, the shutdowns will be one of the largest single closures of coal-fired units since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began, in the 1990s, to require emissions controls on older plants, observers say. The plan also marks a shift toward cleaner forms of energy, company officials said.

About that budget deal...:

• 2011/04/13: NYT: In Budget's Fine Print, Real and Illusory Cuts
• 2011/04/15: PlanetArk: 2011 Budget Deal Would Slash EPA Budget 16 Percent
• 2011/04/15: ScienceInsider: Federal Funds for Climate Panel Saved, But Foe Plans New Assault
• 2011/04/14: CSW: NOAA Climate Service blocked in 2011 budget -- Will Obama and Democrats let this happen again in 2012?
• 2011/04/14: ScienceInsider: Budget Cuts Mean '18-Month Gap' in Crucial Weather Data, Says Ocean Agency
• 2011/04/13: NYT:GW: EPA Budget Deal Slams State, Regional Programs
  The spending deal brokered last week by President Obama and Congress to avert a government shutdown would balance most its $1.6 billion in cuts to U.S. EPA's budget on the backs of state regulators and local environmental projects, according to details of the bill that were released by appropriators early this morning. Three-quarters of the cuts, totaling $1.19 billion, would come from State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG), which mainly fund water infrastructure upgrades and state plans to comply with new federal rules. That includes a $997 million cut from a pair of revolving funds that finance local drinking water projects and efforts to clean up polluted bodies of water.
• 2011/04/12: Grist: Hungry kids and the environment hit hard by USDA budget cuts
• 2011/04/12: ScienceInsider: Budget Battle Leaves Applied Energy Research Relatively Unscathed
• 2011/04/12: ScienceInsider: Energy Department's National Labs Avoid Major Disruptions
• 2011/04/12: ScienceInsider: As Congress Slashes EPA Budget, Research Least Harmed
• 2011/04/12: ScienceInsider: NSF Gets 1% Trim in 2011, but New Budget Battle Looms
• 2011/04/12: TreeHugger: Budget Cuts Kill New NOAA Climate Agency
• 2011/04/12: ClimateP: Budget battle torpedoes NOAA Climate Service
• 2011/04/12: NatureTGB: US budget deal -- A (science) first look

  The Obama chatter is nonstop:

• 2011/04/17: ClimateP: President Obama meets with youth climate leaders -- twelve young leaders from across the country that are in town for Power Shift 2011
• 2011/04/15: EnergyBulletin: What if your President's just not that into you? [McKibben]

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2011/04/15: PlanetArk: U.S. Government To Review Plans To Develop [US] Oil Shale, Tar Sands
• 2011/04/13: ProPublica: U.S. Nuclear Regulator [NRC] Lets Industry Help With the Fine Print
• 2011/04/14: AutoBG: DOE to hand out $112.5 million under SunShot solar power inititative
• 2011/04/13: NYT:GW: EPA Wears Many Hats in Sprawling Environmental Justice Initiative
• 2011/04/11: CSW: "This report will be attacked" - Statement to the National Climate Assessment committee

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2011/04/17: ClimateP: The GOP's '21st-Century' budget slashes investments in education, infrastructure and science
• 2011/04/14: Nation: How Climate Science Was Saved -- For Now
  During the recent budget showdown, as House Republicans made their boldest effort yet -- and failed, at least for now -- to repeal mainstream climate science, Democratic Representative Ed Markey of Massachusetts managed to find some dark comedy in the situation. It's customary during legislative debates for members of Congress to preface their remarks with "I rise" in support of (or opposition to) the bill under consideration. As the GOP majority on the House Energy and Commerce committee prepared to pass a bill prohibiting the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating carbon pollution, Markey said that although he opposed the bill, "I won't rise physically, because I'm worried that Republicans will overturn the law of gravity, sending us floating around the room." After provoking more chuckles by asking whether Republicans also planned to excommunicate Galileo's finding that the earth revolves around the sun, Markey predicted that HR 910 would pass the full House but be "dead in the Senate." And so it was.
• 2011/04/15: GEP: Additional Information on Barrasso Direct Air Capture Bill
• 2011/04/13: NYT:GW: Rand Paul Crusades Against Energy Efficiency Standards
• 2011/04/15: PlanetArk: Republicans Push Bills To Boost Offshore Oil Drilling
• 2011/04/15: SeattlePI: Fossils in D.C. defend fossil fuels
  Asked why America is moving so slowly to treat its addiction to coal and oil, Rocky Mountain Institute founder Amory Lovins uses a stinging truism: "Not all fossils are in the fuel." Proof of this came during budget debate in the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., sponsored an amendment simply stating: "Congress accepts the scientific findings of the Environmental Protection Agency that climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for public health and safety." The amendment failed by a vote of 184 to 240.
• 2011/04/13: ClimateP: Boston Globe slams Scott Brown for anti-climate vote
• 2011/04/12: SMandia: Congressman Rohrabacher's Paper Tiger
• 2011/04/10: CSW: Extreme Texas drought and wildfires sharpen contrast between Texas Congressional delegation's climate views and conditions at home

  What are the lobbyists pushing?

• 2011/04/15: iWN: Energy dollars fueled campaigns of Democrats who defected on EPA vote
  Foes of greenhouse gas authority got almost as much as all other Democrats
• 2011/04/11: DeSmogBlog: Gas Industry Spent Record Amount Of Money Lobbying To End New York Fracking Moratorium

  While in the UK:

• 2011/04/15: EurActiv: UK businesses face extra costs with carbon price floor plan
  Britain's plan to introduce a price floor for carbon emissions permits from 2013 could push the UK carbon price to 54 euros a tonne by 2020 and harm UK businesses, Point Carbon analysts said.
• 2011/04/13: EurActiv: Britain set to veto EU carbon tax plans
  The British government is "highly likely" to block European Commission proposals for a carbon tax contained in a widely-circulated draft version of the Energy Taxation Directive, EU diplomatic sources said yesterday (12 April). "Without saying that we will definitely kill this thing before it is born, I think it is highly likely that we will block it," a diplomat from one member state told EurActiv. The draft directive, seen by EurActiv and expected to be presented today, proposes separate carbon dioxide and consumption taxes on fuel to advance the EU's climate goals for 2020.
• 2011/04/12: Eureka: Scots carbon emissions could be halved in decades, study suggests

  And in Europe:

• 2011/04/13: DerSpiegel: Green Headache -- Resistance Mounts to Germany's Ambitious Renewable Energy Plans
  The German government plans to replace nuclear reactors with thousands of wind turbines and thousands of kilometers of high-voltage "monster masts" in a move that will deface vast swathes of territory. Germans, though desperate to phase out atomic energy, are gearing up to protest against the green revolution.
• 2011/04/15: EurActiv: Europe can make 30% emissions cuts, EU figures show
• 2011/04/15: PlanetArk: French Government Backs Off Shale Gas Rethink
• 2011/04/13: ScienceInsider: Report: Current European Biofuel Policies 'Unethical'
• 2011/04/13: EurActiv: Future EU budget must target energy efficiency, says Hedegaard
  The EU's commissioner for climate action, Connie Hedegaard, has told regional leaders that energy efficiency must be given "bigger priority" in the coming years and the EU budget should be used to leverage investments in energy-saving measures.
• 2011/04/12: EurActiv: Shale gas drilling likely to be banned in France
• 2011/04/13: EUO: EU proposes 'greener' energy tax
• 2011/04/13: PlanetArk: EU Lawmakers Vote To Widen Proposed GM Crop Bans
• 2011/04/13: NatureN: Biofuels need enforceable ethical standards -- Europe's renewable energy targets have 'backfired'
• 2011/04/11: DerSpiegel: Paying for the Energy Revolution -- German Nuclear Companies Stop Eco-Fund Contributions
  Chancellor Angela Merkel's about-face on atomic energy policy is getting expensive. Four companies which operate nuclear reactors in Germany have ceased paying into a fund meant to promote renewable energies -- even as the eco-revolution is to be accelerated.
• 2011/04/13: BBC: Biofuels targets are 'unethical', says Nuffield report
• 2011/04/11: PlanetArk: Minister Wants Germany To Drop Nuclear Extension
  The German government should scrap its plans to extend nuclear energy by an average of 12 years as a result of the disaster in Japan, Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said in an interview published on Sunday.

Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2011/04/16: SMH: Rising passions of the right
• 2011/04/15: ABC(Au): The NSW Minerals Council says it is surprised the Hunter Valley's coal industry has rated poorly in an independent community survey
• 2011/04/15: JQuiggin: Labor's Conservative Tilt
• 2011/04/13: ABC(Au): Prime Minister Julia Gillard has approved the construction of the southern hemisphere's largest solar power project on Queensland's western Darling Downs
• 2011/04/13: ABC(Au): The Greens Deputy Leader Christine Milne has underlined her party's commitment to Australia's steel industry...

  The Australian carbon war rages on:

• 2011/04/17: ABC(Au): Business warned to stop carbon tax attack
  Climate Change Minister Greg Combet is putting pressure on businesses to stop making public claims about the carbon tax and instead negotiate privately with the Government. The Australian Workers Union and steel makers last week spoke out about the tax, saying they want steel to be excluded to prevent job losses. Mr Combet has told ABC1's Inside Business the time for "grand statements" by industry leaders has passed.
• 2011/04/16: SMH: Carbon tax, GST and the win-win scenario
• 2011/04/15: ABC(Au): Steelmaker echoes calls for carbon compo
  One of Australia's largest steelmakers says jobs will be lost if the industry is not fully compensated for a carbon tax. Yesterday, Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes said the steel industry was facing unique challenges and should be exempt from the carbon tax or fully compensated for it.
• 2011/04/15: ABC(Au): Climate Change Minister Greg Combet is playing down talk of a split between the Federal Government and the union movement over the proposed carbon tax
• 2011/04/15: ABC(Au): The high-profile head of Australia's biggest manufacturing union has warned it will withdraw support for the Federal Government's carbon tax if "a single job" is lost under the scheme
• 2011/04/13: ABC(Au): The Federal Opposition is "missing the point" about a carbon tax compensation package, the Climate Institute said.
  [...]
  Climate Institute chief executive John Connor says the Opposition is "missing the point" of the scheme, which was about making large carbon-emitting industries take responsibility for their pollution. "It's about changing investment and power generation decisions which has consequences that are passed down the chain to households," he said. Mr Connor says a carbon price is the only way to get big-polluting companies to "clean up their act" and he welcomes the household compensation package.
• 2011/04/13: ABC(Au): Millions to be 'better off' under carbon tax
  More than 50 per cent of money raised under the carbon tax will go towards compensating households for extra costs it will bring. The Government says most money will go towards pensioners and low-income households and that "millions of households will be better off" under the policy.
• 2011/04/13: ABC(Au): Combet to detail carbon tax compo
  The Federal Government is poised to pledge millions of dollars in sweeteners for Australian households who are facing the possibility of higher bills under the proposed carbon tax. Climate Change Minister Greg Combet will use a speech at the National Press Club later today to release key details of the proposed compensation for households under the scheme.
• 2011/04/12: ABC(Au): The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has vowed to fight Federal Government plans to introduce a carbon price
• 2011/04/11: ABC(Au): LNG giants push for carbon tax exemptions
• 2011/04/11: ABC(Au): Enemies on all sides in the carbon price war

  After a 10 year drought and recent massive flooding, water usage planning is controversial and difficult:

• 2011/04/15: ABC(Au): Next month's state budget will include $19.7 million to fix Victorian parks and reserves damaged by floods and heavy rain
• 2011/04/15: ABC(Au): A third dam engineer is expected to testify at the Queensland floods inquiry today, in the fifth day of public hearings in Brisbane
• 2011/04/14: ABC(Au): Forum calls for better dam management
  Murrumbidgee Valley farmers fear a disaster if the Murrumbidgee's storage dams are kept full in the lead up to the wetter winter months.
• 2011/04/14: ABC(Au): Massive low a very big event, flood inquiry hears
  The weather bureau's regional director, Jim Davidson, has told Queensland's flood inquiry that an upper low in January was the most extensive he had seen at that time of year. The Commission of Inquiry is examining the lead-up, response and aftermath of the flood disaster, which affected about 70 per cent of Queensland. Mr Davidson took the stand again today as the Commission of Inquiry moves into the fourth day of public hearings today.

And in New Zealand:

• 2011/04/17: HotTopic: Return of the Climate Clueless(TM): there's none so blind....

  While in China:

• 2011/04/15: NatureTGB: Chinese science ministry reveals budget
• 2011/04/12: ScienceInsider: China's Scientific Output Rises -- To Some Consternation

  And in Japan:

• 2011/04/12: NatureN:Japan faces power struggle -- Climate goals in doubt as fossil fuels come to the fore in fight to meet electricity demand

  And South America:

• 2011/04/13: Guardian(UK): 'Indigenous thinking can solve climate crises,' says Bolivia's foreign minister
• 2011/04/10: Guardian(UK): Bolivia enshrines natural world's rights with equal status for Mother Earth
  Law of Mother Earth expected to prompt radical new conservation and social measures in South American nation

In Canada, climate change has barely been mentioned in the May 2nd election campaign:

• 2011/04/13: PI: Carbon pricing: comparing federal party platforms
• 2011/04/10: PI: Pembina reacts to New Democratic Party platform
• 2011/04/11: PI: Pembina reacts to the Bloc Québécois election platform
• 2011/04/12: Tyee: Food Now on Plate for All Federal Parties
  For the first time national food policies, from GM seeds to school lunches, are part of five parties' platforms.
• 2011/04/14: BCLSB: Curious Going's On At The National Research Council (More Leaked Documents!)
• 2011/04/13: CBC: Should Canada have a cap-and-trade system?
• 2011/04/11: TStar: Oilsands out of sight, out of mind
  There has been hardly any public discussion of the oilsands during this snooze of an election campaign. No doubt that's just what the party leaders want; but is it what most Canadians want? All the parties, except the Conservatives, have mentioned the oilsands in their platforms but the mentions are brief or buried.

Well, well. The question of G8/G20 funding came back as an election scandal:

• 2011/04/14: CBC: Blue Jays, ballet, strippers seeking G20 compensation
• 2011/04/12: SSteve: Conservatives Left Twisting in the Wind by Media on G8/G20
• 2011/04/12: CBC: Councillor slams feds over G20 compensation
  Toronto Councillor Adam Vaughan is apoplectic over what he calls the federal government's poor treatment of downtown businesses that lost money during last summer's G20 summit protests even as millions were funnelled to Muskoka ahead of the G8 summit. "The federal government has let down businesses in this city in a way that I just think that are beyond shameful," Vaughan told CBC's Metro Morning on Tuesday.
• 2011/04/12: CBC: Tories used praise for Liberals to defend summit costs: Fraser
• 2011/04/12: TStar: PM's bitter G8 harvest
  Did Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government pull a fast one on Parliament in the runup to the G8/G20 summits last summer to win approval for a $50-million fund that poured money into dubious projects in a Conservative riding? That's the question left hanging following publication of bits of a draft report by Auditor General Sheila Fraser. She has been looking into Ottawa's $1 billion spending on the Group of Eight summit in Huntsville and the Group of 20 debacle in Toronto. She was to have tabled her final report on April 5, but the election got in the way. The Canadian Press dropped an incendiary bomb on an otherwise torpid campaign on Monday, reporting that an early draft of Fraser's report found that "Parliament was misinformed" about some of the spending. It indicated that the government asked Parliament to okay $83 million for a fund to reduce border congestion, while intending to use $50 million of it to spruce up Industry Minister Tony Clement's Huntsville riding, far from any border. Transport and Infrastructure Minister John Baird says the damning three words aren't in the final report. But the damage was done.
• 2011/04/11: G&M: The G8 facts must speak, immediately
• 2011/04/12: G&M: Auditor-General affair stirs debate pot
• 2011/04/11: G&M: The G8 legacy: millions mismanaged, Parliament misled

  Oh. Look at what just happened to pop up in the middle of an election campaign:

• 2011/04/15: CBC: Energy-efficient light bulb deadline delayed
  The federal government wants to delay by two years its deadline requiring all new light bulbs sold in Canada to be energy efficient. A newly published notice says the current deadline in 2012 would be pushed off by two years to allow time to allay concerns from consumers about new light bulbs. Canadians have the next 75 days to comment on the proposal.

All across the Prairies, rivers are flooding:

• CBC:Manitoba: Flood 2011
• CBC: Saskatchewan: Flood 2011
• 2011/04/12: USGS: Media Advisory: 2011--The Year of the Flood?
• 2011/04/16: CBC: Flooded prairie rivers set for steep rise
• 2011/04/15: CBC: Prairie flood fighters out in full force
• 2011/04/14: CBC: Prairie provinces fight rising floodwaters
• 2011/04/13: CBC: Hundreds evacuated from flooded Peguis reserve
  Flooding has forced 255 people out of Peguis First Nation in Manitoba, and another 515 have been identified as at risk. The reserve, home to about 7,200 people, is located 190 kilometres north of Winnipeg on the Fisher River. Officials declared a state of emergency on Tuesday.
• 2011/04/13: CBC: Flood forces 230 from Sask. reserve
  About 230 people on Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan had to be rushed out of their homes in the face of rapidly-rising flood waters. About 60 homes in a low-lying subdivision of the reservation, about 160 kilometres east of Regina, were evacuated Tuesday night.
• 2011/04/13: PlanetArk: North Dakota Set for Red River Crest; Rural Areas Awash
• 2011/04/13: CBC: Medicine Hat declares state of emergency
• 2011/04/10: CBC: Swift Current braces for flooding
• 2011/04/12: CBC: Emergency declared in Riverton, Man.
• 2011/04/12: CBC: Sask. highways under water, sections closed

  With the Liberals choosing Clark and the NDP deciding today [April 17], how long until the election?

• 2011/04/17: CBC: B.C. NDP face agonizing choice -- British Columbia's New Democrats choose a new leader Sunday...
• 2011/04/14: PostMedia: B.C. has become straggler in battle against greenhouse gases
  Province has yet to decide whether to join California and Quebec in Western Climate Initiative
  British Columbia and Ontario have become stragglers in the Western Climate Initiative and the ambitious plans of its member provinces and U.S. states to start carbon trading and reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases. California, the initiative's de facto leader, on Tuesday, reaffirmed its commitment to begin an aggressive cap-and-trade system for its carbon emissions starting in 2012 as Governor Jerry Brown announced the system will be extended to British Columbia and Quebec. However, B.C. hasn't yet made the decision to sign on in part because of the recent change in government leadership with Premier Christy Clark taking over from Gordon Campbell and the new priorities that change has introduced. And Ontario has said it won't be ready by the Jan. 1, 2012 start date.
• 2011/04/13: CBC: B.C. premier announces May 11 byelection
  B.C. Premier Christy Clark has called a byelection -- in which she plans to run -- for the riding of Vancouver-Point Grey on May 11.

Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2011/04/08: AlterNet: Is There Such a Thing as 'Ethical Oil'? Canada Claims it Has Lots and the US Is Buying It
• 2011/04/15: CBC: Suncor fined $275K for environmental charge
  Suncor Energy has been handed a $275,000 environmental fine for failing to comply with its Water Act approval. The oilsands giant pleaded guilty on Friday morning in a Fort McMurray courtroom to one count under the Water Act. Calgary-based Suncor Energy has been fined $275,000 for failing to follow the water management plan set out for its Voyageur Upgrader site.Calgary-based Suncor Energy has been fined $275,000 for failing to follow the water management plan set out for its Voyageur Upgrader site. Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press The province charged Suncor in September 2010 for failing to follow the water management plan set out for its Voyageur Upgrader site, north of Fort McMurray.

Also in Alberta:

• 2011/04/13: Tyee: Alberta's Oil Wealth and the Big Question for Harper
  PM's favourite province squandered its petro profits like a 'banana republic.' Is this any way to run an economy?
• 2011/04/12: CBC: Stop slagging oilsands, Alta. premier warns
  Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach is warning federal party leaders against exploiting the province's oilsands for political gain in the election campaign.

Ontario has it's Green Energy Act, now comes the implementation:

• 2011/04/14: PI: Pembina reacts to Ontario's 90 per cent reduction in coal-fired power since 2003

  While in la Belle Province:

• 2011/04/13: CBC: 8 arrested at Quebec anti-nuclear protests
  Protest targets public hearings into future of Quebec's sole nuclear power plant
• 2011/04/10: DeSmogBlog: Strike Three for Shale Gas Fracking In Québec, Is A Moratorium Imminent?

  In the North:

• 2011/04/15: CBC: North mulls nuclear solution to rising power costs -- Micro-reactors may be answer to powering northern lights

  As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

• 2011/04/12: PostMedia: Households to pay $950 more each this year for gas -- Most will drive just as much but reduce other spending, analyst predicts
  The surge in gasoline prices, if sustained, will cost the average household an extra $950 this year, according to a report issued Monday. CIBC World Markets said the 25-per-cent rise in pump prices since September would, at current levels, cost Canadian consumers an extra $12 billion over the course of 2011, equivalent to an average income tax hike of about seven per cent.

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

• 2011/04/16: DVoice: Alternatives to Free-Market Capitalism
• 2011/04/15: DVoice: Dissecting Laissez-Faire "Theory"
• 2011/04/14: AlterNet: Vision -- Urban Roots: Detroit's Industrial Collapse Gives Birth to Flourishing City Gardening Movement
• 2011/04/13: EnergyBulletin: The economy: Possible scenarios for the future 2

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

• 2011/04/13: AlterNet: Now the GOP Is Going After Sexual Health and the Pill -- And the Battle Is Just Beginning

  Apocalypso anyone?

• 2011/04/15: EnergyBulletin: The planet strikes back

  As for how the media handles science:

• 2011/04/16: JFleck: The problem with drought rhetoric
• 2011/04/14: WottsUWT: "Get Carter" campaign grows on Australia's ABC radio & TV
• 2011/04/12: ERabett: Beyond Churnalism

  Here is something for your library:

• 2011/04/16: HotTopic: [Book Review] _Engaging the Public with Climate Change_ edited by Lorraine Whitmarsh, Saffron O'Neill & Irene Lorenzoni

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2011/04/15: GreenFyre: The Machinery of Climate Anti-Science [John Mashey]
• 2011/04/15: SkeptiSci: Video on why record-breaking snow doesn't mean global warming has stopped
• 2011/04/14: TCoE: Climate Show 11
• 2011/04/14: HotTopic: The Climate Show #11: a trillion tonnes of trouble

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2011/04/15: CSM: Solar power plant lawsuit thrown out in Calif.
  California's supreme court refused to consider a lawsuit filed by an influential environmental group seeking to delay construction of a solar plant because it might harm rare plant and animal species. The state supreme court said it would not review the Sierra Club's complaint against the Calico Solar Project -- one of a string of lawsuits accusing solar power plant projects across the largest U.S. state of harming the environment. The court offered no explanation.

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

• 2011/04/16: DVoice: A Simple Alternative to Ethanol
• 2011/04/15: EnergyBulletin: A new Pickens plan: Good for the U.S. or just for T. Boone?
• 2011/04/15: ClimateP: The best remedy for the price of gas
• 2011/04/04: LLNL: Hydrocarbons in the deep earth
• 2011/04/14: Oregonian: BPA, wind developers argue over looming problem of too much power from renewables
• 2011/04/14: NBF: IEA OECD Electricity Production January 2011
• 2011/04/12: EnergyBulletin: The limits to solar thermal energy

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

• 2011/04/17: OilDrum: Tech Talk - the new EIA Shale gas report
• 2011/04/16: NYT: Chemicals Were Injected Into Wells, Report Says
  Oil and gas companies injected hundreds of millions of gallons of hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals into wells in more than 13 states from 2005 to 2009, according to an investigation by Congressional Democrats. The chemicals were used by companies during a drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, which involves the high-pressure injection of a mixture of water, sand and chemical additives into rock formations deep underground.
• 2011/04/13: GreenGrok: The Shale Quandary
• 2011/04/14: CleanBreak: Dirty shale gas = lower gas prices = oilsands boom = double-barrelled emissions increase
• 2011/04/14: CleanBreak: Worldwatch Institute reserves judgement on shale gas debate, still sees benefits of natural gas
• 2011/04/15: ClassM: The natural gas question: A best-case scenario
• 2011/04/15: PlanetArk: French Government Backs Off Shale Gas Rethink
  The French government will support parliamentary motions to cancel permits issued for shale gas drilling in order to avoid potential environmental risks, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Wednesday. The government has already imposed a freeze on exploration of shale gas and oil until June pending the results of reports it has commissioned into the environmental impact of the extraction method of drilling into rock.
• 2011/04/13: Guardian(UK): Shale gas is not a credible 'new green message'
• 2011/04/14: DeSmogBlog: Leaked Talking Points Show Oil Companies Dont Give A Frack About The Truth
• 2011/04/13: AlterNet: Revealed: Confidential Document Shows Oil Company's Strategy to Con Landowners into Giving up Drilling Rights
• 2011/04/12: EurActiv: Shale gas drilling likely to be banned in France
• 2011/04/13: PlanetArk: Shale Gas Pollutes More Than Coal, Study Finds
• 2011/04/12: ClassM: Natural gas won't save us
• 2011/04/12: AlterNet: "They Are Afraid Their House Could Blow Up": Meet the Families Whose Lives Have Been Ruined by Gas Drilling [Photos By Award-Winning Photographer Nina Berman]

  On the coal front:

• 2011/04/16: Grist: The real cost of coal: even higher than we think [US$343 billion per year]

  On the gas and oil front:

• 2011/04/15: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Nymex Crude Future..109.66
  Dated Brent Spot....124.06
  WTI Cushing Spot....109.66
• 2011/04/15: OilDrum: Saudi Arabia did not make up for Libyan oil
• 2011/04/13: G&M: Where is Saudi's excess capacity when you need it?
• 2011/04/13: ClimateP: Goldman Sachs says speculation behind much of recent oil price rise, tells clients to "sell"

  In the gas and oil corps:

• 2011/04/14: ENS: Protesters Disrupt BP's First Shareholder Meeting Since Oil Spill

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2011/04/14: EnergyBulletin: Review of IMF analysis, "Oil Scarcity, Growth, and Global Imbalances"

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2011/04/15: KSJT: E&E Greenwire: Can Cyanobacteria break the solar biofuel barriers that algae have not?
• 2011/04/13: NBF: Algae could replace 17% of U.S. oil imports

  The answer my friend...:

• 2011/04/15: NBF: 20 megawatt wind turbine designs based on modified conventional designs could be built by 2020

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2011/04/16: PeakEnergy: Solar Power: Desert Dawn
• 2011/04/16: PeakEnergy: Areva steps into the sun in Queensland
• 2011/04/14: Eureka: Toward a more efficient use of solar energy
  Fundamental findings about the processes in photoelectrochemical cells published by KIT scientists in Physical Review Letters
• 2011/04/13: GizMag: Google invests US$168 million in world's largest solar power tower plant - 392 MW Ivanpah in the Mojave Desert
• 2011/04/13: ABC(Au): Prime Minister Julia Gillard has approved the construction of the southern hemisphere's largest solar power project on Queensland's western Darling Downs
• 2011/04/11: Eureka: Device proves solar cell potential of high bandgap inorganic nanowire arrays -- 'Quantum coaxial cable' nanostructure efficiently harvests visible wavelength light using stable, high bandgap semiconductors

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2011/04/13: Grist: Three ways to make nuclear power compete on the free market

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

• 2011/04/13: Eureka: Toward a 'green grid' for delivering solar and wind-based electricity

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2011/04/10: TCoE: Comparing apples now to apples later

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

• 2011/04/15: AutoBG: DOE: Plug-in vehicle sales to total 1.2 million in U.S. by 2015
• 2011/04/13: ABC(Au): A new environmental rating system is needed for vehicles because its current model is flawed and irrelevant in Australia, according to university research

  This week in the Gee Whiz File:

• 2011/04/14: NBF: Rossi and Focardi Energy Device - Commercial and Patent update
• 2011/04/11: NBF: How can 30% of nickel in Rossi's reactor be transmuted into copper and other information on the Energy Catalyzer

  As for Energy Storage:

• 2011/04/16: PeakEnergy: ARPA-E backs compressed air energy storage project
• 2011/04/16: NBF: Smaller batteries for e-bike and micro-hybrids fuel a $30 billion market according to Lux Research
• 2011/04/15: Grist: Texas to install world's largest wind energy storage system
• 2011/04/14: AutoBG: Maxwell Technologies doubles ultracapacitor production

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2011/04/15: PlanetArk: Green Funds Rebound But Face Turbulence
• 2011/04/15: PlanetArk: New Energy Crisis; New Investment Choices

  Who's fielding the FAQs?

• 2011/04/14: Guardian(UK): What are 'outsourced emissions'?

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

• 2011/04/15: ClimateP: April 15 News...
• 2011/04/14: ClimateP: April 14 News...
• 2011/04/13: ClimateP: April 13 news...

  Other (weekly) lists:

• 2011/04/15: CCentral: This Week in Climate Science: Iceberg Tsunamis, Economics of Geoengineering, Arctic Ecosystems
• 2011/04/11: BPA: Agriculture News

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2011/04/15: CBrief: Analysing the '900 papers supporting climate scepticism': 9 out of top 10 authors linked to ExxonMobil
• 2011/04/14: WottsUWT: "Get Carter" campaign grows on Australia's ABC radio & TV
• 2011/04/12: MTobis: Getting them Nodding
• 2011/04/11: WottsUWT: Help asked for Dr. Tim Ball in legal battle with Dr. Mann
• 2011/04/11: ERabett: The Rhetoric of Rejection: Part II
• 2011/04/10: ERabett: The Rhetoric of Rejection

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2011/04/15: TCoE: Physics, chemistry, politics, timing
• 2011/04/15: TreeHugger: Permaculturalists Get Social: Worldwide Permaculture Network Launches
• 2011/04/15: DemNow: As Congress Slashes EPA, Climate Funding, Author Mark Hertsgaard on "Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth"
• 2011/04/13: DeSmogBlog: Gambling when we don't have to

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

• Carbon Brief: Blogs
• Sustainable Cities Collective: An urban sustainability, green building, and alternative transportation community
• Cochabamba+1: Climate Justice and Ecological Alternatives [April 15-17]
• iWN: iWatch News - Center for Public Integrity
• Worldwide Permaculture Network
• CBC:Manitoba: Flood 2011
• CBC: Saskatchewan: Flood 2011
• APR: Atomic Power Review
• WMO: Severe Weather Information Centre
• Clean Technica
• CO2 Now
• Solve Climate
• TDC: The Daily Climate

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.

"Not all fossils are in the fuel." -Amory Lovins

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