Another Week of GW News, December 18, 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

December 18, 2011

• Chuckles, Durban, Horn of Africa, Canada & Kyoto, AGU, Retro
• Bottom Line, Ecocide, Cook, Post CRU, FOI Weapon
• Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
• Melting Arctic, Megafauna, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food Crisis, Prices, Food vs. Biofuel, Land Grabs, GMOs, Production
• Hurricanes, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, Sensitivity, Extinctions, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Extreme Weather, Phenology
• Wildfires, Acidification, Glaciers, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Cities, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Restoration
• Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, DIY Science, Models, Rahmstorf, Humlum, Curry
• UN, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• International Politics: Misc., EU ETS & Airlines, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz, SW Tools
• National Politics: America, BP Disaster, 2012, Lightbulbs, Gore & Blood
• NRC, Keystone XL, Obama, USAdmin, Congress, Lobbyists
• Britain, Europe, Australia, Energy, MDBP, New Zealand, India, China, Africa, South America
• Canada, NEB, Kyoto, Durban, Pipelines, Nukes, Job Cuts, CWB, ISA
• BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Maritimes, Canadiana
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video
• Energy, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Biofuel
• Wind, Solar, FITs, Nukes, LENR, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Gee Whiz
• Business, FAQs, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous, Useful Links
• New Web Site, Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Oh yeah. That's funny. Unh huh:

1. 2011/12/16: uComics: (cartoon - Auth) The Pennsylvania Senate
2. 2011/12/13: JoeMohrToons: (cartoon - Mohr) The Last U.S. Poll on Climate Change
3. 2011/12/17: TP:JR: Open Thread Plus Newt Romney Cartoon
4. 2011/12/16: TreeHugger: New Banksy Graffiti in London is Satirical Slap at Consumerism
5. 2011/12/13: uComics: (cartoon - Auth) PA Gas

   And for those who enjoy challenging Poe's Law:

6. 2011/12/12: Wonkette: Science Suddenly Inconvenient For Obama; Higgs Boson Leads Iowa Polls

   ---

   My first reaction to the Durban agreement was that it was a face saving maneuver for the politicians. My second thought was that any agreement the Harper gang endorsed had to be worse than useless. [I see some oil companies are now endorsing it as well.] But I deferred judgement until I had actually read the document. Finally I found a copy, downloaded and printed it. Two pages? Two pages of high level fluff? Suffering succotash! We are headed for disaster and this is what the UNFCCC produces? Fasten your seat belts! We are in for a rough ride.

   ---

   Meanwhile there was a lot of Durban chatter:

7. 2011/12/11: UNFCCC: [157k pdf] Durban Platform
8. 2011/12/14: Nature: [Editorial] The mask slips -- The Durban meeting shows that climate policy and climate science inhabit parallel worlds.
   [...]
   It takes a certain kind of optimism -- or an outbreak of collective Stockholm syndrome -- to see the Durban outcome as a significant breakthrough on global warming, as many are claiming.
9. 2011/12/15: BWeek: Loophole Inserted in Climate Accord Augurs U.S.-China Clash
   The deal struck by United Nations envoys this week to fight climate change gives the biggest polluters three options for a wider agreement by 2015, setting the stage for renewed discord between rich and poor countries. Negotiators from more than 190 nations agreed Dec. 11 to spend up to four years drafting a "protocol, legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force" to take effect by 2020. While the European Union says that calls for a treaty to limit fossil-fuel emissions in all countries, two of the world's three biggest air polluters, China and India, signaled they expect to be assigned looser limits in the final accord. EU carbon permits are headed for their biggest weekly drop since June. "The phrase 'agreed outcome with legal force' is new," Lou Leonard, a lawyer and director of WWF's climate change program in Washington, said in an interview. "They just made it up. We don't know what it means."
10. 2011/12/15: ClimateSight: What Happened At Durban?
11. 2011/12/13: GreenGrok: Durban Climate Change Agreement: 'A Remarkable New Phase'?
12. 2011/12/12: MLynas: The verdict on Durban -- a major step forward, but not for ten years
13. 2011/12/12: WMO: Durban conference delivers breakthrough in international community's response to climate change
14. 2011/12/16: DVoice: The Two-Party System is a Charade
    Many people are under the misguided impression that The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, constituted a failure on the part of the world's leadership to come to terms with the implications of global warming. Nothing could be further from the truth. Their failure to reach an agreement was a forgone conclusion, and as predictable as Exon's profits in the coming quarter.
    It should be obvious at this point that neither the U.S. government, nor the corporate oligarchy (forgive the redundancy), is interested in formulating and carrying out solutions to the problems facing the world: poverty, inadequate health care, meaningful education at affordable prices, world peace, environmental protection, sustainability and justice, to name just a few.
    It is not that the powers-that-be disagree as to the ways to deal with these problems. On the contrary, there is total unity that meaningful solutions to the problems would affect corporate profits, and accordingly the parties simply agree to disagree. In that way, the status quo remains intact, assuring the destruction of the earth, the economic disenfranchisement of the masses of people, and the ongoing monopolization of wealth into the hands of the billionaires.
15. 2011/12/15: DerSpiegel: Leading German Climate Expert -- 'Kyoto Has Only Carrots and No Sticks'
    Global carbon dioxide emissions are continuing to grow, but prospects for a worldwide climate policy were diminished even further in Durban, South Africa, this week. In an interview, environmental policy expert Klaus Töpfer explains what steps need to be taken and why Germany will face greater challenges than most other countries in its battle against CO2.
16. 2011/12/15: SciAm:Obs: What Really Happened in Durban -- and Will It Be Enough to Combat Climate Change?
17. 2011/12/15: al Jazeera: Time for a new geopolitical climate bloc: Part 2
    Recent climate conferences have shown how bankrupt current geopolitical alliances have become.
18. 2011/12/14: Guardian(UK): On climate change, the message is simple: get it done
    Durban Climate Change Conference showed that Obama's pledge to restore the US to a position of leadership has fallen flat
19. 2011/12/14: HotTopic: The verdict on Durban -- a major step forward, but not for ten years
20. 2011/12/14: PlanetArk: Durban Just The Start Of Fight For EU Climate Chief [Connie Hedegaard]
21. 2011/12/14: PlanetArk: Analysis: Durban Deal May Do Little To Cool Heating Planet
22. 2011/12/14: PlanetArk: Q+A: What Does UN Climate Deal Mean For Green Investment?
23. 2011/12/13: UCSUSA: UCS at the Climate Talks in Durban -- Progress on several fronts, but ambition still too low
24. 2011/12/13: CCurrents: The Verdict On Durban -- A Major Step Forward, But Not For Ten Years
25. 2011/12/12: NewInt: Durban became a procrastinators' paradise
26. 2011/12/13: NUPGE: Durban climate talks fail to deliver
    Scientists and environmental groups have warned the delay to 2020 puts the planet, and people at great risk of irreversible damage from rising temperatures.
27. 2011/12/14: Rabble: Outcome of Durban climate talks called 'climate apartheid'
28. 2011/12/14: Rabble: Inequality and climate injustice: A Durban post-mortem
29. 2011/12/12: DemNow: The Lost Decade: Bolivian Pablo Solón Decries Climate Deal Postponing New Emissions Cuts Until 2020
30. 2011/12/12: DemNow: "Don't Kill Africa": Climate Activists Occupy Durban Talks Demanding Binding Emissions Cuts
31. 2011/12/12: DemNow: Climate Activists: Durban Deal is "Very Weak" Agreement, Lacks "Ambition, Equity, Justice"
32. 2011/12/12: G&M: Climate summit was a pathetic exercise in deceit
    It was an "emperor-has-no-clothes" moment. The 17-year-old youth delegate rose before the assembled participants at the Durban climate conference and looked them straight in the eye. "I speak for more than half the world's population," declared Anjali Appadurai of Maine's College of the Atlantic. "We are the silent majority. You've given us a seat in this hall, but our interests are not at the table. What does it take to get a stake in this game? Lobbyists? Corporate influence? Money?" "You have been negotiating all of my life. In that time, you've failed to meet pledges, you've missed targets, and you've broken promises." Ms. Appadurai nailed it. There's really only one label for the pathetic exercise we've just witnessed in South Africa: deceit. The whole climate-change negotiation process and the larger political discourse surrounding this horrible problem is a drawn-out and elaborate exercise in lying - to each other, to ourselves, and especially to our children. And the lies are starting to corrupt our civilization from inside out.
33. 2011/12/12: DerSpiegel: Lessons from Durban -- How To Create a Successful UN Climate Summit
    Once again, a UN climate summit has ended with limited results. In the end, the blockers and procrastinators prevailed. That's why the next global meeting must be transformed into a forum for mutual learning and not just one for haggling and meaningless legalese.
34. 2011/12/12: DerSpiegel: The World from Berlin -- The Durban Climate Agreement 'Is Almost Useless'
    The climate talks in Durban ended with an agreement to agree on a new agreement on emissions cuts in coming years. The outcome was hailed as historic by the organizers, but German commentators say the pledges remain too vague and the progress too slow -- while global warming is accelerating.
35. 2011/12/12: TCG: COP17 concludes with new negotiating process but signal to business and investors unclear
36. 2011/12/13: RStavins: Assessing the Climate Talks - Did Durban Succeed?
37. 2011/12/13: PEF: Inequality and Climate Injustice: A Durban Post-Mortem
38. 2011/12/13: CBC: Canadian oil companies offer praise for Durban deal
39. 2011/12/13: TP:JR: Stavins: Assessing the Climate Talks -- Did Durban Succeed?
40. 2011/12/13: EurActiv: Battle begins to decipher Durban climate deal
    As negotiators and campaigners flew home from the UN climate change summit in Durban, a battle was brewing over the meaning of the hard-fought text that they had signed up to.
41. 2011/12/13: ClassM: The Durban Deal: Everything and Nothing
42. 2011/12/13: PSinclair: Durban Debrief. A Win for Obama?
43. 2011/12/14: HotTopic: Science sidelined at Durban
44. 2011/12/13: NatureN: Watching the players at the climate poker table
    In two decades of covering climate-change negotiations, Frank McDonald, has seen youthful hope fight dark forces, and a distant threat become a reality.
45. 2011/12/13: NatureN: Climate deal leaves questions on green fund and tech transfer
    Little progress made on fund to help countries cope with climate change.
46. 2011/12/13: NatureN: Durban maps path to climate treaty
    Marathon talks enable Europe to break deadlock over global-warming deal with major greenhouse-gas emitters.
47. 2011/12/13: CSW: On the Durban climate conference, Part 2: The problem of international distributional equity
48. 2011/12/12: CSW: On the Durban climate conference, Part 1: US hard-nosed conservative negotiating position essentially prevails
49. 2011/12/13: UCSUSA: Outcome at Durban Climate Negotiations Offers Limited Progress
50. 2011/12/13: AllAfrica:RDNA: What Are the Outcomes of the Durban Climate Change Talks?
51. 2011/12/13: AllAfrica:IRIN: Progress in Durban, but Not Enough
52. 2011/12/12: CSM: After climate talks in Durban, a more truly global solution
53. 2011/12/13: 350orBust: Citizens Climate Lobby: Progress in Durban On Climate, But We Mustn't Wait To Act
54. 2011/12/13: BCLSB: Gruending On Canadian Churches, Climate Change, And Durban
55. 2011/12/12: Wunderground:RR: Durban - Conference of Parties - What Happened?
56. 2011/12/11: CassandraLegacy: Durban: good science always wins
57. 2011/12/12: Guardian(UK): Durban climate deal: the verdict
58. 2011/12/12: Guardian(UK): The Durban climate deal failed to meet the needs of the developing world
59. 2011/12/12: Guardian(UK): Durban climate talks: media in China and India cautiously upbeat
60. 2011/12/12: Guardian(UK): Durban climate conference agrees deal to do a deal -- now comes the hard part
61. 2011/12/12: Guardian(UK): [Editorial] Climate change: ambition gap
    What was nearly a complete failure to agree even to go on trying to agree became instead a plan about a plan
62. 2011/12/12: EnergyBulletin: Courage and cowardice at Durban
63. 2011/12/12: al Jazeera: Time for a new geopolitical climate bloc
    Durban could be a wake-up call for those who believed that Brazil would become a catalyst for environmental change.
64. 2011/12/11: CNN: Delegates at climate talks agree to extend efforts of Kyoto Protocol
    Delegates agree to a Green Climate Fund, which would help countries deal with effects of climate change - Oxfam says negotiators reached the "bare minimum deal possible" in the climate change talks - The Kyoto Protocol mandates that industrialized nations cut their greenhouse gas emissions - It was set to expire in 2012
65. 2011/12/12: EurActiv: UN climate talks wrap up with 2020 global pact
    Climate negotiators agreed a pact on Sunday (11 December) that would for the first time force all the biggest polluters to take action on greenhouse gas emissions, but critics said the action plan was not aggressive enough to slow the pace of global warming.
66. 2011/12/12: EUO: EU claims climate victory but global warming goes on
67. 2011/12/11: QuarkSoup: Where the Billion$ from Durban Should Be Going Instead
68. 2011/12/12: ITracker: "Climategate 2.0" a giant flop
69. 2011/12/11: P3: COP 17 Agrees to Agree to Something Later
70. 2011/12/10: NYT: In Glare of Climate Talks, Taking On Too Great a Task
71. 2011/12/11: TP:JR: 2C or not 2C: That Is the Question About the Durban Deal
72. 2011/12/12: TP:JR: Beyond Durban: There's More than One Way to Reduce Global Emissions
73. 2011/12/12: TP:JR: NY Times Gets Blunt: Climate Action Requires "Fundamental Remaking of ... The Sinews of Modern Life"
74. 2011/12/12: ABC(Au): UN climate talks: key points
75. 2011/12/12: PlanetArk: Climate Talks Mean Life Or Death For Island States
76. 2011/12/12: PlanetArk: Analysis: World Still In Arrears On Climate Change Pledges
77. 2011/12/12: PlanetArk: Private Sector Finance Eyed For U.N. Forest Projects
78. 2011/12/11: SciAm: Climate Talks Consensus: All Countries Should Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions--In Future
    In a frantic late night rush, a plan to come up with a plan for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of all countries passed muster at the UN's annual climate negotiations
79. 2011/12/10: MoJo: A Durban Deal -- Countries agree to legal pathway, but delay tough questions
80. 2011/12/11: CFR:ML: A Misplaced Climate Celebration In Durban
81. 2011/12/12: Grist: What exactly happened at Durban?
82. 2011/12/12: Grist: The top five takeaways from the Durban climate talks
83. 2011/12/11: UCSUSA: UCS Expert Offers Immediate Reaction on the Durban Climate Negotiations' Outcome
84. 2011/12/12: AllAfrica:IPS: Agreement for New Global Treaty to Reduce Emissions
85. 2011/12/11: TreeHugger: COP17 Closes: Long Live The Process, If Not Our Climate Or Our Future
86. 2011/12/12: SciAm:PI: Good and Possible: Climate Talks, Carbon Capture
87. 2011/12/12: AllAfrica:RDNA: Is Climate Fund Empty Shell?
88. 2011/12/12: OilChange: Picking over the "Corpse" of the Durban Deal
89. 2011/12/12: CSM: Amid Durban climate talks disappointment, China provides unexpected hope
90. 2011/12/12: InformedComment: Climate Change Disaster looms despite Durban Agreement
91. 2011/12/11: BBC: Durban: Winners and losers
92. 2011/12/11: AlterNet: Deal Reached in Durban But Scientists Say it Won't Avert Catastrophic Climate Change
93. 2011/12/11: al Jazeera: UN climate deal hailed as 'important advance'
    New accord will put all countries under the same legal requirements to control greenhouse gases by 2020 at the latest.
94. 2011/12/11: QuarkSoup: Durban Wrap-Up in Two Easy Pieces
95. 2011/12/11: TCoE: As the Durban smoke clears, we see mirrors
96. 2011/12/11: Guardian(UK): Climate deal salvaged after marathon talks in Durban
97. 2011/12/11: Guardian(UK): Durban climate deal struck after tense all-night session
98. 2011/12/11: Guardian(UK): Why Durban is different to climate change agreements of the past
99. 2011/12/11: Guardian(UK): Global climate change treaty in sight after Durban breakthrough
100. 2011/12/11: Guardian(UK): Durban talks: how Connie Hedegaard got countries to agree on climate deal
     The EU climate chief held her nerve to make US, China and India accept a legally binding agreement to cut carbon emissions
101. 2011/12/11: Guardian(UK): Durban deal will not avert catastrophic climate change, say scientists
102. 2011/12/11: Guardian(UK): Hope at last at the Durban conference on climate change

     The Horn of Africa drought and famine continues to be a major disaster, with disturbingly little coverage:

103. 2011/12/13: Guardian(UK): UN launches record £1.5bn appeal to combat Somalia crisis

     Canada officially opted out of Kyoto this week. See also:

104. 2011/12/14: DerSpiegel: The World from Berlin -- 'Canada Should Be Shunned for Kyoto Ignorance'
     Canada is under fire for exiting the Kyoto Protocol just one day after UN climate talks ended with an agreement to extend the treaty. Putting financial interests ahead of environmental commitments is an affront to global climate protection efforts, German papers write on Wednesday.
105. 2011/12/16: Guardian(UK): Russia supports Canada's withdrawal from Kyoto protocol
     Russia's foreign ministry has reaffirmed that Moscow will not take on new commitments
106. 2011/12/14: PlanetArk: Canada, Out Of Kyoto, Must Still cut emissions: U.N.
     Canada still has a legal obligation under United Nations rules to cut its emissions despite the country's pullout from the Kyoto Protocol, the U.N. climate chief said on Tuesday. Christiana Figueres also said the timing of Canada's move, a day after a deal to extend the protocol was clinched at a U.N. summit in South Africa, was regrettable and surprising.
107. 2011/12/13: Guardian(UK): What does Canada's withdrawal from Kyoto protocol mean?
108. 2011/12/13: Guardian(UK): Canada condemned at home and abroad for pulling out of Kyoto treaty
109. 2011/12/13: EurActiv: Canada becomes first country to quit Kyoto protocol
110. 2011/12/13: UN: Canada's withdrawal from Kyoto Protocol regrettable - UN climate official
111. 2011/12/13: Guardian(UK): Canada goes tabloid
     Withdrawing from the Kyoto protocol, banning the veil -- even splitting up gay penguins. What's happened to my country?
112. 2011/12/13: ABC(Au): Canada to pull out of Kyoto protocol
113. 2011/12/14: ABC(Au): China scathing of Canada's Kyoto withdrawal
     Canada's historic decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol has provoked heavy criticism from China, with Beijing saying the move went against international efforts to combat climate change.
114. 2011/12/13: Grist: Why is Canada withdrawing from Kyoto? Two words: Tar sands
115. 2011/12/13: Grist: Crazy Taiwanese animation explains Canada's Kyoto withdrawal
116. 2011/12/13: OilChange: "Dirty" Canada Dumps Kyoto Protocol
117. 2011/12/13: PostMedia: Canada will formally withdraw from the Kyoto accord on climate change, Environment Minister Peter Kent said Monday
118. 2011/12/13: CSM: Is Canada becoming a climate change renegade?
     Canada on Monday became the first country to announce it would withdraw from the Kyoto protocol on climate change, dealing a symbolic blow to the already troubled global treaty.
119. 2011/12/13: BBC: Canada under fire over Kyoto protocol exit
     Several countries have criticised Canada for formally withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. A spokesman for France's foreign ministry called the move "bad news for the fight against climate change", a sentiment echoed by other officials.
120. 2011/12/13: BBC: Canada to withdraw from Kyoto Protocol
     Canada will formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, the minister of the environment has said.
121. 2011/12/13: CNN: Canada: First out of a sinking Kyoto ship?
122. 2011/12/12: al Jazeera: Canada to withdraw from Kyoto Protocol
     Global accord on climate change "does not represent a way forward for Canada", the environment minister has said.
123. 2011/12/12: P3: Canada Quits Kyoto Protocol
124. 2011/12/12: DeSmogBlog: Canada Pulls Out of Kyoto Protocol
125. 2011/12/12: BBC: Canada to withdraw from Kyoto Protocol
126. 2011/12/12: CBC: Canada pulls out of Kyoto Protocol
127. 2011/12/12: Guardian(UK): Canada pulls out of Kyoto protocol
     Ministers argue process does not cover US and China -- the two biggest emitters -- and that Canada cannot meet targets

Some post-AGU discussion:

128. 2011/12/15: TDC: Analysis: A world apart [AGU vs COP]
129. 2011/12/12: CCP: John Nissen, AGU: argues for geo-engineering in the Arctic as soon as possible
130. 2011/12/12: ClimateSight: General Thoughts on AGU
131. 2011/12/11: RealClimate: AGU 2011: Day 5 and wrap-up
132. 2011/12/12: JEB: AGU 2011 aftermath

     The beginning of year end retrospectives:

133. 2011/12/17: TreeHugger: In A Year Of Big Environmental Stories, COP17 Rises Above Them All

     And on the Bottom Line:

134. 2011/12/13: CNN: Banker: Spending on climate change makes good business sense
     Sim Tshabalala is group deputy chief executive officer of Standard Bank - He says sustainability can be a business opportunity for companies - Lending money was the banking sector's biggest challenge this year, he says

The world inches toward creating a global legal framework for ecological crime:

135. 2011/12/13: TP:JR: Will Fossil Fuel Companies Face Liability for Climate Change and Their Disinformation Campaign?
136. 2011/12/12: EcoJustice: Getting tough on environmental crime?

     John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

137. 2011/12/16: SkeptiSci: Latest summary confirms death of [Bolivia's] Chacaltaya glacier, and acceleration of global glacier shrinkage in the 2000s by MarkR
138. 2011/12/18: SkeptiSci: NASA: Climate Change May Bring Big Ecosystem Changes by John Hartz
139. 2011/12/15: SkeptiSci: The End of the Hothouse [33.7 mya]] by John Mason
140. 2011/12/15: SkeptiSci: Is there a case against human-caused global warming in the peer-reviewed literature? Part 3 by Jim Powell
141. 2011/12/14: SkeptiSci: Ocean Acidification: Corrosive waters arrive in the Bering Sea by Rob Painting
142. 2011/12/13: SkeptiSci: Infrared Iris Never Bloomed by dana1981
143. 2011/12/12: SkeptiSci: Global carbon emissions reach record 10 billion tonnes - threatening two degree target by John Hartz

     Post CRU-Two ... boredom:

144. 2011/12/16: ScienceInsider: U.K. Police Seize Computers in Climate E-mails Investigation, U.S. Joins In
145. 2011/12/15: TP:JR: Climategate Investigation Warms Up Globally: UK Police Seize TallBloke's Computers, DOJ Tells U.S. Denier to Preserve Records
146. 2011/12/15: DeSmogBlog: Signs of Action On Climategate Hacker Investigation: DOJ and UK Police Probe Denier Bloggers
147. 2011/12/15: CBC: 'Climategate' police raid targets computer equipment -- No arrests during raid of West Yorkshire property
148. 2011/12/15: Guardian(UK): Hacked climate emails: police seize computers at West Yorkshire home
149. 2011/12/15: PSinclair: Get Popcorn. Stolen Emails Recipients Under Scrutiny
150. 2011/12/15: QuarkSoup: Movement on Climategate Investigation
151. 2011/12/15: CCP: Hacked climate emails: police seize computers at West Yorkshire home of Roger Tattersall, also known as TallBloke
152. 2011/12/15: Grist: Police seize computers in connection with Climategate hacking
153. 2011/12/15: BCLSB: Climate Change Denier Raided By Cops
154. 2011/12/14: DeSmogBlog: DeSmogger "Caught" in Climategate Emails

     More on FOI as a weapon:

155. 2011/12/13: ERabett: Getting it right

     A note on theFukushima disaster:

     It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.] We'll see. At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.

     Good news out of Fukushima, if you can believe it:

156. 2011/12/16: IAEA: Cold Shutdown Conditions Declared at Fukushima
157. 2011/12/16: ABC(Au): Fukushima plant reaches cold shutdown
158. 2011/12/16: CTV: Japan tsunami flotsam begins washing ashore in B.C.
159. 2011/12/16: EneNews: Time: Some worry that melted Fukushima fuel may "reignite"
160. 2011/12/16: BBC: Viewpoint: How Fukushima was stabilised
161. 2011/12/16: NatureNB: Fukushima reaches cold shutdown
162. 2011/12/14: Nature: [Editorial] Critical mass -- Even Japan's political leaders struggle to get answers regarding the Fukushima disaster. It is just the latest example of the government's lack of independent scientific advice.
163. 2011/12/16: Mainichi: 'Absolutely no progress being made' at Fukushima nuke plant, undercover reporter says
164. 2011/12/16: Independent(UK): Battle to control Fukushima has just 'stored up' dangers
     The operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant is expected to declare today that its crippled reactors have been stabilised, nine months after an earthquake and tsunami triggered the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years. But critics, including a journalist who worked undercover at the plant, have rubbished the claims by Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) that the crisis is over. And Japan's government admitted this week that dismantling the reactors and the 260-tonne lethal cargo of nuclear fuel will take up to 40 years.
165. 2011/12/16: EneNews: LA Times: Fukushima reactors to be encased in concrete -- "Critics say that continuing harm is being caused by the plant"
166. 2011/12/16: EneNews: NYT: Experts suspect melted fuel may be threatening groundwater -- "Battle of epic proportions" says Koide -- Concerns over recriticality
167. 2011/12/16: EneNews: Independent(UK): Giant concrete 'diaper' to be built under Fukushima plant in effort to stop radioactive substances leaking into ground -Nuclear experts
168. 2011/12/16: EneNews: Mainichi: Absolutely no progress being made at Fukushima plant says reporter -- "Japanese media have turned away from this issue" -- Story far from over
169. 2011/12/15: EneNews: Yomiuri: Meltdowns were advancing while being kept hidden from public for months -- Gov't "very cautious" about saying meltdown
170. 2011/12/16: CSM: Skeptics cast doubt on Fukushima status, even as Japan declares nuclear reactors 'stable'
171. 2011/12/16: BWeek: Fukushima Dismantling to Start as Cold Shutdown Announced
172. 2011/12/16: BBC: Japan PM says Fukushima nuclear site finally stabilised
     The crippled nuclear reactors at Japan's Fukushima power plant have finally been stabilised, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has announced.
173. 2011/12/16: CBC: Tsunami-hit nuclear plant now stable, Japan says
174. 2011/12/16: al Jazeera: Japan declares 'cold shutdown' at Fukushima
     Key milestone reached in efforts to bring under control reactors at tsunami-stricken nuclear plant.
175. 2011/12/15: Grist: Radioactive monkeys will patrol Fukushima
176. 2011/12/15: Nature: (ab$) Nuclear energy: Nationalize the Fukushima Daiichi atomic plant by Tomoyuki Taira & Yukio Hatoyama
     Only by bringing the nuclear power station into government hands can scientists find out what really happened, say Tomoyuki Taira and Yukio Hatoyama.
177. 2011/12/14: NBF: Fukushima Exclusion Zone
178. 2011/12/15: NHK: 40 years estimated to scrap Fukushima plant
179. 2011/12/14: NYT: Japan May Declare Control of Reactors, Over Serious Doubts
     Nine months after the devastating earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, causing a meltdown at three units, the Tokyo government is expected to declare soon that it has finally regained control of the plant's overheating reactors. But even before it has been made, the announcement is facing serious doubts from experts.
     [...]
     However, many experts fear that the government is declaring victory only to appease growing public anger over the accident, and that it may deflect attention from remaining threats to the reactors' safety. One of those -- a large aftershock to the magnitude 9 earthquake on March 11, which could knock out the jury-rigged new cooling system that the plant's operator hastily built after the accident -- is considered a strong possibility by many seismologists. They also said the term cold shutdown might give an exaggerated impression of stability to severely damaged reactors with fuel cores that have not only melted down, but melted through the inner containment vessels and bored into the floor of their concrete outer containment structures.
180. 2011/12/15: VoR: Dismantlement of Fukushima NPP to take 40 years
181. 2011/12/15: EneNews: Now 40 years to 'decommission' Fukushima reactors, says gov't timetable revealed by NHK - Pushed back 10 years (video)
182. 2011/12/14: EneNews: Newly released NRC email reveals radioactive technetium was detected outside Fukushima plant -- Over 240 km from meltdowns -- One of three principle radionuclides identified
183. 2011/12/13: EneNews: Japan nuclear expert blames U.S. for Fukushima -- the blind acceptance of the safety standards adopted in the United States
184. 2011/12/13: EneNews: WSJ: Many in Fukushima exposed to radiation well above permitted level, new research shows -- "Survey did NOT look at internal exposure"
185. 2011/12/13: EneNews: Shock? Major US paper [USA Today] runs pro-nuke editorial claiming Fukushima survived earthquake... AND tsunami! -- Says US should not close 'reliable' US nuclear plants
186. 2011/12/14: APR: Update to core cooling information at Fukushima Daiichi
187. 2011/12/13: APR: Fukushima Daiichi update
188. 2011/12/13: APR: Radioactive Emissions Measurement at Fukushima Daiichi - new TEPCO video
189. 2011/12/12: EneNews: Japan Times: Journalist says Tepco not telling truth -- Blacking out key docs -- Evidence mounting Fukushima meltdowns caused by quake -- Would delay reactor restarts "by years"
190. 2011/12/12: PlanetArk: Japan's Quake-Hit Nuclear Plant Scraps Plan To Dump Water Into Sea
191. 2011/12/12: EneNews: Report: "Confirmed that the wall of reactor 4 was lost on the south side" (photos)
192. 2011/12/12: EneNews: Iodine-131 detected in Tokyo at multiple locations during November -- 350 bq/kg at Kita garbage facility
193. 2011/12/12: EneNews: Radioactive iodine found in Gunma at 3 sewage plants -- "Possibility of recriticality again"

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

194. 2011/12/17: BNC: Fukushima and nuclear power, 9 months on
195. 2011/12/14: BWeek: China May Approve Nuclear Projects After Revising Safety Rules
196. 2011/12/14: BBerg: Japan Traders Eye $200 Billion Power Market Post-Fukushima
197. 2011/12/09: BWeek: UN Atomic Agency Money Goes to Terror Fight, Not Nuclear Safety
198. 2011/12/10: EneNews: Bloomberg exposes IAEA: Safety division is a "marketing channel" for nuclear technology, reveals secret US docs
199. 2011/12/10: EneNews: Congressman releases blockbuster report detailing NRC conspiracy in wake of Fukushima

     The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:

200. 2011/12/12: CCP: 2010 Spike in Greenland Ice Loss Lifted Bedrock, GPS Reveals
201. 2011/12/11: TP:JR: 2010 Spike in Greenland Ice Loss Lifted Bedrock, Implying "We'll Experience Pulses of Extra Sea Level Rise"

     As for the charismatic megafauna:

202. 2011/12/17: CBC:Q&Q: (mp3) Polar Bears
203. 2011/12/15: CBC: Polar bears may endanger humans as climate changes
204. 2011/12/13: TStar: Ontario polar bears doomed, expert says
     Say goodbye to Ontario's polar bears.
     Warmer weather will likely make it impossible for the iconic bears to survive on the shores of Hudson's Bay in Ontario and Manitoba in 20 to 30 years, says the world's best-known polar bear expert. The warning should not be taken lightly, considering Ian Stirling has studied polar bears as a biologist and adjunct University of Alberta professor for 41 years -- longer than anyone else in the field. "It's not speculation," Stirling said in an interview Tuesday. "By the middle of the century, we're likely to have lost two thirds of the world's polar bears."
205. 2011/12/12: CCP: NewScientist: Mystery disease has killed 200 Arctic ringed seals since July

     That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

206. 2011/12/15: QuarkSoup: Kilometer-sized Methane Bubbles Seen in Arctic Ocean
207. 2011/12/16: ITracker: Andrew Revkin on methane -- Reassuring, but inaccurate
208. 2011/12/17: ITracker: NYTimes: As Permafrost Thaws, Scientists Study the Risks
209. 2011/12/15: CCurrents: Methane Time Bomb In Arctic Seas: Apocalypse Not [Revkin]
210. 2011/12/15: IrregularTimes: Gigantic Methane Plumes Found In Melting Arctic
211. 2011/12/15: Grist: Arctic methane turns out to be a huge problem after all
212. 2011/12/15: TreeHugger: Is The Arctic Methane Situation Really As Bad As Headlines Make It?
213. 2011/12/14: ITracker: Remember that clathrate gun? Huge methane plumes found in the Arctic
214. 2011/12/13: Grist: Methane in the Arctic: The end of the world, or what?
215. 2011/12/14: PeakEnergy: Shock as retreat of Arctic sea ice releases greenhouse gas
216. 2011/12/14: OilChange: Methane Leaks Alarm Scientists
217. 2011/12/13: CCP: [link to 3.5 meg pdf] Shakhova & Semiletov: First results of monitoring of methane release from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS): achievements and gaps
218. 2011/12/13: CCP: 2011 AGU: Arctic Methane Workshop: An assessment of threats to Arctic and global warming; and an evaluation of techniques to counter these threats
219. 2011/12/13: CCP: Polar vortex splits in two in winter, sucks up methane and carries it at high altitude to other regions of North America
220. 2011/12/13: ASI: Arctic methane: Russian researchers report
221. 2011/12/13: KSJT: Independent: A cruise outside the AGU press room finds a disturbing report on Arctic methane bubbles
222. 2011/12/13: Independent(UK): Shock as retreat of Arctic sea ice releases deadly greenhouse gas
     Russian research team astonished after finding 'fountains' of methane bubbling to surface
223. 2011/12/13: Grist: Methane in the Arctic: the end of the world, or what?
224. 2011/12/12: ERabett: Bubble, bubble, natural gas is trouble
225. 2011/12/12: CCP: Igor Semiletov: Shock as retreat of Arctic sea ice releases deadly greenhouse gas. Russian research team astonished after finding 'fountains' of methane bubbling to surface

     Regarding the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

226. 2011/12/15: NOAANews: U.S.-Canada Arctic Ocean survey partnership saved costs, increased data -- 2011 mission concludes joint seafloor survey operations
227. 2011/12/17: CBC: Feds deny export permit for Arctic shipwreck -- Norwegian group wants to reclaim Amundsen's Maud for museum

     While in Antarctica:

228. 2011/12/17: SciAm:HoG: Geology of the Mountains of Madness
229. 2011/12/14: BBC: Norway marks Amundsen's south pole feat 100 years on
     Dozens of scientists and explorers have joined the Norwegian prime minister [Jens Stoltenberg] to mark 100 years since Roald Amundsen led the first expedition to the south pole.

The food crisis is ongoing:

230. 2011/12/14: BPA: Trend: Farms with over $1 Million in Production Continue to Gain Market Share
231. 2011/12/17: BBC: UK fishing fleets get higher fish quotas but less time at sea
     British fishing fleets will be able to land more fish, but face fewer days at sea, following EU talks in Brussels. The British government says it achieved victory for the UK fishing industry in the annual Common Fisheries Policy negotiations, which ended at 04:00 GMT. The Scottish government was less happy, saying it faced "huge frustration". The BBC's Andy Moore says Britain had French and German support in battling against cuts that could have been disastrous for the UK fishing fleet.
232. 2011/12/16: WSWS: US hunger, homelessness soar amid cuts in social spending -- Half of Americans either poor or low-income
233. 2011/12/16: al Jazeera: Fears rise of food shortages in West Africa
     UN bodies say 11 million people in five countries will face a food crisis if early warning systems are ignored. Millions of people in up to five West African countries will face a food crisis in early 2012 if early warning systems are ignored, the United Nations and aid officials say. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), together with the World Food Programme (WFP) and British charity Oxfam, said this week that failed harvests and low food reserves in the Sahel, and particularly the countries of Chad, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Mali, would affect up to 11 million people.
234. 2011/12/13: BPA: Global Wheat Stocks are at their Highest Level in Twelve Years

     Food Prices are still problematic:

235. FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
236. 2011/12/14: CCurrents: Soaring Oil And Food Prices Threaten Affordable Food Supply
     Advance version, for publication in UNCTAD Trade and Environment Review 2011/2012 (February 2012).
     Abstract: The current global food system is highly fuel- and transport-dependent. Fuels will almost certainly become less affordable in the near and medium term, making the current, highly fuel-dependent agricultural production system less secure and food less affordable. It is therefore necessary to promote food self-sufficiency and reduce the need for fuel inputs to the food system at all levels.

The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

237. 2011/12/16: BPA: An Update on the Percent of Corn Crop Being Converted into Ethanol and Other Repercussions of the Corn Ethanol Program
     [...]
     Here are the latest percentages of corn being turned into ethanol domestically and globally, based upon the last WASDE report data:
     * U.S. corn crop being turned into ethanol: 40.6%
     * Percent of the global corn crop being turned into ethanol here in the U.S.: 14.6% (Note that this doesn't include corn ethanol being made outside of the U.S.)

So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

238. 2011/12/14: Guardian(UK): Kenya's Samburu tribe evicted from their land - in [11] pictures
239. 2011/12/14: Guardian(UK): Kenya's Samburu people 'violently evicted' after US charities buy land
240. 2011/12/13: NatureNB: Land grabbing in Africa continues to harm the poor
241. 2011/12/12: UN: Corruption leading to unequal access, use and distribution of land - UN report

     Regarding the genetic modification of food:

242. 2011/12/14: TGBeaver: Monsanto's superweeds . . .
243. 2011/12/14: EUO: EU food agency criticised over GMO lobbying
244. 2011/12/13: Grist: The bugs that ate Monsanto
245. 2011/12/12: NPR: NPR food: Safety concerns linger around genetically modified salmon

     And how are we going to feed 9 billion, 10 billion, 15 billion?

246. 2011/12/14: CCurrents: Permaculture Pioneers: Stories From The New Frontier
247. 2011/12/13: Eureka: Scientists forecast crops that adapt to changing weather
     Crops that can cope with sudden fluctuations in the weather could be developed, thanks to fresh discoveries about the survival mechanisms of plants
248. 2011/12/12: Eureka: Wheat can't stop Hessian flies, so scientists find reinforcements
249. 2011/12/12: TreeHugger: NH2: New Holland Unveils a 'Farm Ready' Hydrogen Fuel Cell Tractor
250. 2011/12/12: Eureka: Strip-till improves nutrient uptake and yield
251. 2011/12/11: NBF: How to Feed the World in 2050

     In the Western Pacific, Tropical Storm Washi zapped the Philippines:

252. 2011/12/18: al Jazeera: Philippines steps up flood relief efforts
     Frantic search for survivors continues after torrential rains claim the lives of 652 people, with 808 others missing.
253. 2011/12/18: CBC: Philippine flood toll climbs past 600 -- Hundreds remain missing, officials say
     The death toll from storm-triggered flash floods that devastated a wide swath of the country's south has risen to 652, the Philippine Red Cross says. The death toll would most likely rise, Philippine Red Cross Secretary General Gwendolyn Pang said Sunday, with 808 people still missing and many villages remaining isolated and unreached by overwhelmed disaster-response personnel.
254. 2011/12/18: al Jazeera: Tropical Storm Washi - why was it so bad?
     The death toll from TS Washi exceeds 500. Why is this toll so high?
255. 2011/12/17: BBC: Philippines steps up search for flood survivors
     Rescuers are continuing the search for survivors after floods killed more than 400 people and left many others missing in the southern Philippines.
256. 2011/12/17: Guardian(UK): Philippines floods: victims tell of panic as wall of water hit cities
     Death toll passes 400 and may rise as rescuers find bodies washed out to sea
257. 2011/12/17: Guardian(UK): Philippines tropical storm kills hundreds
     Southern Philippines storm kills more than 400 people, many of whom were swept away while they slept
258. 2011/12/17: Guardian(UK): Flash floods in southern Philippines - in [18] pictures
259. 2011/12/17: CNN: At least 436 dead after storm pummels Philippines
     Emergency officials are distributing food rations, blankets and mosquito nets - The Philippine death toll jumps to 436 - Officials estimate 100,000 people are displaced - Officials are investigating reports that an entire village was swept away
260. 2011/12/16: Eureka: NASA sees Tropical Storm Washi's rainfall intensify over larger area
261. 2011/12/17: BBC: Philippines storm triggers deadly flash floods
262. 2011/12/17: BBC: Flash floods kill nearly 200 in the Philippines
263. 2011/12/17: BBC: In pictures: Philippines storm
264. 2011/12/17: CBC: Philippines storm kills at least 200 -- Tropical Storm Washi brings 12 hours of continuous rain
265. 2011/12/17: al Jazeera: Philippines storm triggers deadly floods
     At least 213 people killed as flash floods hit Iligan and the island of Mindanao following tropical storm Washi.
266. 2011/12/15: Eureka: NASA eyes power in Tropical Storm Washi, warnings in the Philippines
267. 2011/12/12: al Jazeera: Another tropical system heads towards Vietnam
     More flooding to come for Vietnam, despite the fact that the rains should now be easing.

While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

268. 2011/12/14: Wunderground: Tropical Storm Lee's flood in Binghamton: was global warming the final straw?

     As for the temperature record:

269. 2011/12/15: NOAANews: Global temperatures 12th warmest on record for November -- La Niña expected to continue through winter

     While in the paleoclimate:

270. 2011/12/15: TreeHugger: Melting Swedish Glaciers Show Treeline Was 600m Higher Just 4,400 Years Ago
271. 2011/12/15: SkeptiSci: The End of the Hothouse [33.7 mya]] by John Mason

     Regarding Climate Sensitivity:

272. 2011/12/14: TP:JR: Must-See Hansen and Caldeira on Sensitivity: Paleoclimate Record Points Toward Potential Rapid Climate Changes

     What's new on the extinction front?

273. 2011/12/14: SciAm:GP: Finding Nemo Isn't Easy: Film's Stars Threatened with Extinction

     Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

274. 2011/12/12: al Jazeera: Japan launches new spy satellite
     Rocket carrying radar satellite will help gather intelligence on North Korea and monitor natural disasters.

More GW impacts are being seen:

275. 2011/12/15: Guardian(UK): For Haiti, climate change is more present fear than horrible imagining
276. 2011/12/14: NASA:JPL: Climate Change May Bring Big Ecosystem Changes
     21st Century Ecological Sensitivity - Changes in Plant Species Predicted percentage of ecological landscape being driven toward changes in plant species as a result of projected human-induced climate change by 2100.
277. 2011/12/16: CBC: Acid rain could kill maples in region, scientists say
     The Great Lakes Region sugar maples are most at risk, according to experts
278. 2011/12/15: CCP: Mike Tidwell: The hottest issue: Climate change dwarfs other problems. AIDS, poverty, war --- none of them will matter if the atmosphere warms by 11 degrees in a century
279. 2011/12/12: QuarkSoup: Intel warns that fourth-quarter results will be below previous forecasts because of hard-drive supply shortages [Thailand]

     And then there are the world's forests:

280. 2011/12/16: BBC: Brazil dam company wins Belo Monte appeal
     A judge in Brazil has revoked a decision which had halted work on the Belo Monte dam in the Amazon region.
281. 2011/12/16: NatureNB: Amazon forest code vote delayed
282. 2011/12/14: TP:JR: The Case of the Dying Aspens: "A Widespread Climate-Induced Forest Die-Off" from a "Global Change-Type Drought"
283. 2011/12/12: TreeHugger: 2000 Year Old Food Forest [in Morocco] Feeds 800 Farmers (Video)
284. 2011/12/12: Eureka: Climate change blamed for dead trees in [the Sahel region of] Africa

     Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

285. 2011/12/14: al Jazeera: A wet and windy week for the UK
     Wild weather batters the UK with snow over the highest ground
286. 2011/12/12: BBC: Severe weather warnings issued for UK
287. 2011/12/11: al Jazeera: Scotland takes a battering as UK braces for more storms
     Winds in excess of 200 kph battered Scotland last week. Here are some of the most dramatic images from that storm.

This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

288. 2011/12/17: Wunderground: Our extreme weather: Arctic changes to blame?
289. 2011/12/12: CCP: NRDC: Extreme weather map for the U.S.

     Changes in natural cycles are showing up:

290. 2011/12/12: Eureka: As climate change sets in, plants and bees keep pace
291. 2011/12/12: Eureka: Spring's rising soil temperatures see hormones wake seeds from their winter slumber

     As for heatwaves and wild fires:

292. 2011/12/14: SciAm:LU: A Planet on Fire
293. 2011/12/12: ABC(Au): Lantana fuels rainforest fires

     Acidification is changing the oceans:

294. 2011/12/13: SciNews: Acid test points to coming fish troubles -- Young fish can suffer severe damage from the ocean acidification expected within this century
295. 2011/12/12: NatureN: Acidic oceans threaten fish -- Stocks could suffer as seas soak up more carbon dioxide

     Glaciers are melting:

296. 2011/12/16: SkeptiSci: Latest summary confirms death of [Bolivia's] Chacaltaya glacier, and acceleration of global glacier shrinkage in the 2000s by MarkR

     As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

297. 2011/12/15: al Jazeera: 'Hobbit' filming cut short by NZ floods
     State of emergency in New Zealand as torrential rain brings floods and mudslides.
298. 2011/12/13: al Jazeera: The 'Age of Thirst' in the American West
     Coming to a theatre near you: the greatest water crisis in the history of civilisation.
299. 2011/12/12: Wunderground: Wettest year on record in Philadelphia; 2011 sets record for wet/dry extremes in U.S.

     Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

300. 2011/12/15: SaskBoy: One. Stop Subsidizing Fossil Fuels [Two. Put a price on carbon.]
301. 2011/12/16: SciAm:PI: Geoengineering? The Earth Doesn't Need to Change -- We Do [an argument for mitigation]
302. 2011/12/13: USDA:ARS: Findings on Biochar, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Ethylene

     Can cities take up the slack when nations shirk their responsibilities?

303. 2011/12/16: Grist: Bloomberg: Mayors hold key to climate change progress

     Consider transportation & GHG production:

304. 2011/12/17: VoxEU: Trade and greenhouse-gas emissions: How important is international transport? by Anca Cristea et al.
     It is well known that international trade leads to greenhouse-gas emissions but policymakers often focus their attention on the production of goods and not their shipment. This column presents findings based on a unique database that allows researchers to calculate emissions for every dollar of world trade. It suggests that international transport emissions warrant serious attention in current climate-change negotiations.
305. 2011/12/14: TreeHugger: Maersk Container Ship Testing Algae Biofuel On Europe-India Route
306. 2011/12/14: JCMorton: Public transit is a core government function
307. 2011/12/12: Guardian(UK): Cycle like the Danes to cut carbon emissions, says study
308. 2011/12/12: EurActiv: 'Pedal power' study assesses cycling's climate impact
     If all Europeans cycled as much as the Danes, the EU could meet more than a quarter of its 2050 target for a 60% cut in carbon dioxide emissions in the transport sector, according to the first study of cycling's CO2 mitigation potential.

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

309. 2011/12/17: TP:JR: Cities vs. Suburbs: Which are Thriving Now and What Will Climate Change Mean for Them?
310. 2011/12/16: TreeHugger: Building Green Is No Longer Enough, It is Time To Build Resilient
311. 2011/12/12: CNN: The greenest buildings of 2011
     CNN presents a selection of eco-friendly buildings that were honored this year - Eco-friendly buildings include schools, homes, sports arenas and office buildings - Awarded by Royal Institute of British Architects and American Institute of Architects among others

As for carbon sequestration:

312. 2011/12/15: Grist: Sucking carbon out of the air: Probably not an option
313. 2011/12/13: ABC(Au): New study reignites carbon storage debate
     Locked away? New research beneath farmland in Australia's Otway Basin suggests carbon capture and storage is a safe and effective option, say researchers, but not all are convinced.
314. 2011/12/12: TreeHugger: Financial, Energy Costs of Scrubbing CO2 Directly From Atmosphere Grossly Underestimated

     Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

315. 2011/12/14: Eureka: Removing sulfur from jet fuel cools climate
316. 2011/12/14: GEP: Post-Durban Wrap-Up
317. 2011/12/09: ChinaDaily: Expansion of man-made rain program to secure grain targets
     China will begin four regional programs to artificially increase precipitation across the country before 2015, according to the newly released 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) for meteorological development.
318. 2011/12/12: NS: Call for Arctic geoengineering as soon as possible
319. 2011/12/12: CCP: John Nissen, AGU: argues for geo-engineering in the Arctic as soon as possible
320. 2011/12/12: Telegraph(UK): Sir David Attenborough says geo-engineering solutions to climate change are 'fascist'
     Sir David Attenborough, the wildlife presenter, has described high-tech "geo-engineering" solutions to climate change as "fascist" because they put too much power in the hands of advanced nations.
321. 2011/12/12: PlanetArk: Geo-Engineering: A Bad Idea Whose Time Has Come?
322. 2011/12/11: NBF: Desalting The Oceans--The Next Forty Thousand Years

     What's new in restoration?

323. 2011/12/17: ERabett: The Status Quo is Never Ante

     Meanwhile in the journals:

324. 2011/12/16: Science: (ab$) Peak External Photocurrent Quantum Efficiency Exceeding 100% via MEG in a Quantum Dot Solar Cell by Octavi E. Semonin et al.
325. 2011/12/15: ESD: The magnitudes and timescales of global mean surface temperature feedbacks in climate models by A. Jarvis et al.
326. 2011/12/16: CPD: Annual layering in the NGRIP ice core during the Eemian by A. Svensson et al.
327. 2011/12/14: CPD: The role of orbital forcing, carbon dioxide and regolith in 100 kyr glacial cycles by A. Ganopolski & R. Calov
328. 2011/12/13: CPD: Tracking climate variability in the western Mediterranean during the Late Holocene: a multiproxy approach by V. Nieto-Moreno et al.
329. 2011/12/12: CPD: Past environmental and climatic changes during the last 7200 cal yr BP in Adamawa plateau (Northern-Cameroun) based on fossil diatoms and sedimentary carbon isotopic records from Lake Mbalang by V. F. Nguetsop et al.
330. 2011/12/12: CPD: Distinct responses of East Asian summer and winter monsoons to astronomical forcing by Z. G. Shi et al.
331. 2011/12/16: CPD: Correlation of Greenland ice-core isotope profiles and the terrestrial record of the Alpine Rhine glacier for the period 32-15 ka by M. G. G. De Jong et al.
332. 2011/12/12: CPD: Precipitation changes in the South American Altiplano since 1300 AD reconstructed by tree-rings by M. S. Morales et al.
333. 2011/12/16: CCP: Methane measurements off Barrow, Alaska: 2001-2011
334. 2011/12/16: CCP: (cartoons) A little dark humor to warm our beleaguered souls...
335. 2011/12/12: NERC:NORA: Overturning cells in the Southern Ocean and subtropical gyres by Polton et al.
336. 2011/12/13: NERC:NORA: Understanding the structure of the subtropical thermocline by Jeff A. Polton et al.
337. 2011/12/15: NERC:NORA: Counting the cost of carbon in bioenergy systems: sources of variation and hidden pitfalls when comparing life cycle assessments by Rebecca Rowe et al.
338. 2011/12/15: NERC:NORA: On the robustness of predictions of sea level fingerprints by J. X. Mitrovica et al.
339. 2011/12/16: ACP: Interpreting elevated space-borne HCHO columns over the Mediterranean Sea using the OMI sensor by A. Sabolis et al.
340. 2011/12/16: ACP: Solar response in tropical stratospheric ozone: a 3-D chemical transport model study using ERA reanalyses by S. Dhomse et al.
341. 2011/12/16: ACP: Climatology and trends in the forcing of the stratospheric zonal-mean flow by E. Monier & B. C. Weare
342. 2011/12/16: ACP: Modelled and measured effects of clouds on UV Aerosol Indices on a local, regional, and global scale by M. Penning de Vries & T. Wagner
343. 2011/12/16: ACPD: Total depletion of ozone reached in the 2010-2011 Arctic winter as observed by MIPAS/ENVISAT using a 2-D tomographic approach by E. Arnone et al.
344. 2011/12/16: ACPD: Stable carbon isotope fractionation in the UV photolysis of CFC-11 and CFC-12 by A. Zuiderweg et al.
345. 2011/12/16: ACPD: Analysis of IASI tropospheric O3 data over Arctic during POLARCAT campaigns in 2008 by M. Pommier et al.
346. 2011/12/14: GMDD: Evaluation of the sectional aerosol microphysics module SALSA implementation in ECHAM5-HAM aerosol-climate model by T. Bergman et al.
347. 2011/12/15: TC: Utility of late summer transient snowline migration rate on Taku Glacier, Alaska by M. Pelto et al.
348. 2011/12/14: TC: Forcing the snow-cover model SNOWPACK with forecasted weather data by S. Bellaire et al.
349. 2011/12/15: OSD: Transport of warm upper circumpolar deep water onto the Western Antarctic Peninsula Continental Shelf by D. G. Martinson
350. 2011/12/14: arXiv: Solar Energy Generation in Three Dimensions by Marco Bernardi et al.
351. 2009/10/: SGR: [link to pdf] Science and the Corporate Agenda -- The detrimental effects of commercial influence on science and technology by Chris Langley & Stuart Parkinson
352. 2011/12/15: ACP: Exploring the vertical profile of atmospheric organic aerosol: comparing 17 aircraft field campaigns with a global model by C. L. Heald et al.
353. 2011/12/15: ACP: Aerosol shortwave direct radiative effect and forcing based on MODIS Level 2 data in the Eastern Mediterranean (Crete) by N. Benas et al.
354. 2011/12/15: ACP: A statistical analysis of North East Atlantic (submicron) aerosol size distributions by M. Dall'Osto et al.
355. 2011/12/13: ACP: Sources of carbonaceous aerosols and deposited black carbon in the Arctic in winter-spring: implications for radiative forcing by Q. Wang et al.
356. 2011/12/12: ACP: Emission controls versus meteorological conditions in determining aerosol concentrations in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games by Y. Gao et al.
357. 2011/12/12: ACP: Long-term impacts of aerosols on precipitation and lightning over the Pearl River Delta megacity area in China by Y. Wang et al.
358. 2011/12/14: ACPD: Fast cloud parameter retrievals of MIPAS/Envisat by R. Spang et al.
359. 2011/12/13: ACPD: Spatial and temporal variation of anthropogenic black carbon emissions in China for the period 1980-2009 by Y. Qin & S. D. Xie
360. 2011/12/12: ACPD: Interpretation of FRESCO cloud retrievals in case of absorbing aerosol events by P. Wang et al.
361. 2011/12/12: ACPD: Shortwave radiative forcing and efficiency of key aerosol types using AERONET data by O. E. GarcÃa et al.
362. 2011/12/15: Nature: (ab$) Nuclear energy: Nationalize the Fukushima Daiichi atomic plant by Tomoyuki Taira & Yukio Hatoyama
     Only by bringing the nuclear power station into government hands can scientists find out what really happened, say Tomoyuki Taira and Yukio Hatoyama.
363. 2011/12/13: PNAS: (abs) Global food demand and the sustainable intensification of agriculture by David Tilman et al.
364. 2011/12/13: PNAS: (abs) Synthesis of three advanced biofuels from ionic liquid-pretreated switchgrass using engineered Escherichia coli by Gregory Bokinsky et al.
365. 2011/12/13: PNAS: (ab$) Geographical analysis of the role of water supply and sanitation in the risk of helminth infections of children in West Africa by Ricardo J. Soares Magalhães et al.
366. 2011/12/13: PNAS: (abs) Ecological mechanisms underlying the sustainability of the agricultural heritage rice-fish coculture system by Jian Xie et al.
367. 2011/12/13: PNAS: (letter$) Rice, fish, and the planet by J. Stephen Lansing & James N. Kremer
368. 2011/12/13: PNAS: (letter$) On the triggering mechanism of Heinrich events by Jorge Alvarez-Solas & Gilles Ramstein
369. 2011/12/13: GMDD: The ACCENT-protocol: a framework for benchmarking and model evaluation by V. Grewe et al.
370. 2011/12/12: GMDD: Toward a minimal representation of aerosol direct and indirect effects: model description and evaluation by X. Liu et al.
371. 2011/12/02: GRL: (ab$) Observed decreases in oxygen content of the global ocean by Kieran P. Helm et al.
372. 2011/12/12: AGWObserver: New research from last week 49/2011

     And other significant documents:

373. 2011/12/14: PI: [link to 14.8 meg pdf] Ontario Feed-in-Tariff: 2011 Review
374. 2011/12/16: PI: [link to 1.3 meg pdf] Responsible Action? An assessment of Alberta's greenhouse gas policies
375. 2011/12/15: EC: [several pdfs] Europe 2020 initiative - Energy Roadmap 2050
376. 2011/12/14: Australia:RET: [links to many pdfs] Draft Energy White Paper 2011 - Strengthening the Foundation for Australia's Energy Future
377. 2011/12/13: CCP: [link to 3.5 meg pdf] Shakhova & Semiletov: First results of monitoring of methane release from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS): achievements and gaps
378. 2011/12/11: UNFCCC: [157k pdf] Durban Platform

     As for miscellaneous science:

379. 2011/12/16: HotTopic: Oceanographers win PM's science prize for climate work

     More DIY science:

380. 2011/12/16: moyhu: Google Map problem fixed
381. 2011/12/18: moyhu: Significant trend differences
382. 2011/12/15: Tamino: Data and Code for Foster & Rahmstorf 2011

     What's new in models?

383. 2011/12/14: ClimateSight: The Software Architecture of Global Climate Models

     Regarding Rahmstorf:

384. 2011/12/12: ERabett: Eli can retire, the EPA on Africa Gate
385. 2011/12/12: Stoat: Rahmstorf, the Journo and the African drought

     Regarding Humlum:

386. 2011/12/15: RealClimate: Curve-fitting and natural cycles: The best part

     Regarding Curry:

387. 2011/12/15: CQ: Curry on model tuning, part II

     While at the UN:

388. 2011/12/17: UN: UN launches Decade on Biodiversity to stem loss of species and ecosystems
389. 2011/12/16: WMO: WMO and UNCCD work on the foundations to build national drought policies

     And on the carbon trading front:

390. 2011/12/15: EurActiv: Energy bosses demand urgent carbon price action
     Leaders of some of Europe's biggest energy companies have written to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso demanding urgent action to stop a complete collapse of the carbon price.
391. 2011/12/15: PlanetArk: EU, U.N. Carbon Prices Tumble To New Record Lows
392. 2011/12/15: PlanetArk: EU Carbon Plunges 10 Percent To Record Low Of 6.30 Euros
393. 2011/12/15: BBC: Firms say low carbon price threatens EU green targets
     Some of Europe's biggest energy and manufacturing firms say the EU must act to raise the price of carbon and ensure that CO2 emissions targets are met. A letter to the European Commission from the industry group warns that the future of the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is at stake. The EU Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change (EUCLG) includes Royal Dutch Shell, Enel, Alstom and Acciona. EU carbon permits have dropped 55% in price this year, to 6.45 euros (£5.40).
394. 2011/12/12: Yahoo:Reuters: Carbon markets still on life support after climate deal

     The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

395. 2011/12/13: PSinclair: US Conservatives Crack the Door on the Carbon Tax

     The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets, auction vs. allocation, cap and trade, cap and dividend, tradable energy quotas and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:

396. 2011/12/15: BVerheggen: What are the pros and cons of reducing CO2 vs other warming agents?
397. 2011/12/14: P3: Alternative scenario: Reducing non-CO2 forcings first?

     Meanwhile on the international political front:

398. 2011/12/15: Guardian(UK): US threatens tariff war with China
     White House suggests it may retaliate after Chinese impose series of tariffs on SUVs and other large cars from US
399. 2011/12/14: BBC: Morocco bans EU fishing vessels amid Western Sahara row
     Morocco has ordered foreign fishing boats operating in its waters under an EU deal to leave immediately. The moves comes after the European Parliament voted not to extend a deal under which the EU paid Morocco for access to its fish stocks. MEPs said the deal was illegal as it did not benefit the people living in the disputed Western Sahara, off which most of the fishing took place.
400. 2011/12/13: Guardian(UK): Developing world leads the way in global aid -- Countries such as Brazil and Bolivia emerge as providers of humanitarian relief

     As the deadline for applying the EU-ETS to airlines draws near, we will see who is serious about reducing carbon emissions:

401. 2011/12/15: EurActiv: Chinese group urges airlines to defy EU emissions rule
     Chinese airlines are being urged not to cooperate with a controversial scheme that will force them to buy carbon credits for all flights entering Europe starting on 1 January, the head of the country's aviation industry group said. Wei Zhenzhong, secretary-general of the China Air Transport Association (CATA), said he has asked all domestic airlines to refuse to participate in the scheme, according to a report by the official China News Service today (15 December). He has also requested domestic airlines not to submit carbon dioxide monitoring plans to European officials or to enter into negotiations for preferential treatment, the report said. Starting in January, all airlines landing in Europe will be subject to a carbon cap and will be obliged to cover surplus emissions through the purchase of credits on the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The China Air Transport Association says the scheme will cost Chinese airlines 800 million yuan (E94.7 million) in the first year and more than triple that by 2020. Airlines across the world have criticised the scheme as "unilateral" and "protectionist", and have threatened legal action, saying it violates the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, the Kyoto Protocol and the rules of the World Trade Organisation.

What are the activists up to?

402. 2011/12/16: CCurrents: Why Is It So Easy To Save The Banks, But So Hard To Save The Planet?
403. 2011/12/16: Guardian(UK): Why is it so easy to save the banks -- but so hard to save the biosphere?
404. 2011/12/14: TreeHugger: #Occupy & 350.org Stage "Human Oil Spill" at John Boehner's Office
405. 2011/12/13: Grist: Climate change for sale: How climate activists can wake up the American public

     Polls! We have polls!

406. 2011/12/14: Guardian(UK): British public strongly support renewable energy, survey says
407. 2011/12/13: ITracker: Pew poll shows climate denial in retreat

     Regarding Water Politics and Business:

408. 2011/12/17: JFleck: A drought of the Lower Colorado River Basin's own making
409. 2011/12/16: WiC: The scandal of the Alabama poor cut off from water
410. 2011/12/15: PlanetArk: Analysis: No Stopping Big Hydro Projects, Despite Lao Veto [on Mekong]
411. 2011/12/12: F&WW: Are Privatized Water Utilities in Cahoots With Shale Gas Companies?
412. 2011/12/11: JFleck: ...New Mexico water law needs to catch up with reality

     As for SW tools:

413. 2011/12/13: UN: UN mobile app lets users calculate size of carbon footprint

     And on the American political front:

414. 2011/12/15: GEP: California to Allow Forestry Offsets in AB 32
415. 2011/12/12: CER:RRapier: Why Some Republicans are Delusional About Oil and Energy Policy
416. 2011/12/16: DVoice: The Two-Party System is a Charade
417. 2011/12/14: NYT: As Gas Drilling Spreads, Towns Stand Ground Over Control
418. 2011/12/16: WSWS: US hunger, homelessness soar amid cuts in social spending -- Half of Americans either poor or low-income
419. 2011/12/14: AlterNet: Woman Jailed, Ostracized After Resorting to Self-Administered Abortion: What Is This, Puritan America?
420. 2011/12/13: LanguageLog: The assholocracy
421. 2011/12/14: TP:JR: Cap and Trade Gives Massachusetts Economy Critical Boost, Creating 3,800 Jobs Since 2008
422. 2011/12/12: Grist: Might and Maine: One state brings renewable power back to the people
423. 2011/12/12: Grist: The frog and the polar bear: The real reasons Americans aren't buying climate change
424. 2011/12/11: AlterNet: Meet 8 Right-Wing Groups Practicing Scorched-Earth Anti-Choice Nuttery Against Women
425. 2011/12/11: AlterNet: Massey [Energy] Gets Away With Murder: Time To Revoke their Charter

     The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

426. 2011/12/17: DeSmogBlog: Report Partially Blames Federal Government For Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Explosion
427. 2011/12/16: CBC: BP settles for $250M in Gulf of Mexico oil spill -- Maker of failed blowout preventer agrees to pay after rig disaster
     BP PLC says it will be paid $250 million by the maker of the blowout preventer that failed to halt oil spewing from BP's busted well in the Gulf of Mexico. Under the agreement announced Friday, BP and Cameron International Corp. will drop all claims against one another. BP says the money will be deposited into the $20-billion fund set up to compensate victims of the April 2010 spill.
428. 2011/12/16: BBC: Oil giant BP has agreed a settlement with contractor Cameron International over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill
429. 2011/12/14: DeSmogBlog: BP Returns to Deepwater Offshore Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico
430. 2011/12/14: PlanetArk: U.S. Green Groups Challenge Offshore Oil Lease Sale
     U.S. environmental groups on Tuesday filed a lawsuit challenging the Interior Department's first offshore lease sale since last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill, saying the department has done too little to prevent another disaster. The department has received bids to develop more than a million acres offered in the western Gulf lease sale on Wednesday, but the groups said the offshore regulator has yet to apply lessons from the nation's largest offshore oil spill.

On the 2012 campaign trail:

431. 2011/12/17: MoJo: Quote of the Day: Herman Cain for Defense!
432. 2011/12/16: RawStory: Rick Perry 'retires' to collect state pension while still governor
433. 2011/12/17: AntiWar: With Friends Like Gingrich, Does Israel Need Enemies?
     My God, what a bizarre lot these Republican aspirants for the US presidency are! What a sorry bunch of ignoramuses and downright crazies. Or, at best, what a bunch of cheats and cynics! (With the possible exception of the good doctor Ron Paul). Is this the best a great and proud nation can produce? How frightening the thought that one of them may actually become the most powerful person in the world, with a finger on the biggest nuclear button!
434. 2011/12/16: LFR: Deep Thought: If Gingrich thinks delaying the Keystone pipeline is "utterly irrational", then it must be totally rational
435. 2011/12/16: PostMedia: Delaying Keystone pipeline 'utterly irrational,' says GOP front-runner Gingrich
436. 2011/12/14: TreeHugger: New Attack Ad Hits Gingrich for Talking Climate Change with Nancy Pelosi (Video)
437. 2011/12/13: AlterNet: Newt Gingrich: Be Careful What You Wish For
438. 2011/12/14: DWR: Rick Perry and The Vagina Bill
     Is it just me or does every republican politician preach racism, sexism and bigotry to appeal to the wack-a-loon conservative "value voters" ( *sproing* my irony meter just imploded) and once their votes are secured by promising to disenfranchise demonized minority X (women, homosexuals, PoC, etc) they promptly ignore said base and continue to happily cement the budding plutocracy.
439. 2011/12/13: AlterNet: A Challenger for Obama? Progressive Former Mayor Rocky Anderson Enters Race With New Third Party
440. 2011/12/13: AlterNet: Gingrich Proposed the Death Penalty for Pot Smokers -- Even Though He Admitted to Smoking it Himself
441. 2011/12/13: KSJT: Washington Post examines Rick Perry's claim of growing scientific skepticism that humans cause climate change
442. 2011/12/12: AlterNet: Secretive Millionaires Funding Online Primary For 'Independent' White House Run
443. 2011/12/12: TP:JR: Rick Perry Thinks "Solynda" Is a Country (Really)

     Regarding energy efficiency:

444. 2011/12/16: Grist: Death of 'lightbulb ban' greatly exaggerated
445. 2011/12/16: TreeHugger: Light Bulb Standards Killed: Who's Running This Country, Barack Obama or Michele Bachmann?

     A missive from Al Gore & David Blood:

446. 2011/12/14: WSJ: A Manifesto for Sustainable Capitalism by Al Gore & David Blood
     How businesses can embrace environmental, social and governance metrics.

Squabbles in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission became public this week:

447. 2011/12/16: PlanetArk: Analysis: Hard To Fix U.S. Nuclear Agency After Inner Turmoil
448. 2011/12/14: NBF: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Hearing has charged testimony
449. 2011/12/14: EneNews: NRC Commissioner on NRC's own statement: Someone reading this would think every reactor in U.S. is a time bomb waiting to go off - Attempted to prevent release of Fukushima report to public, Congress
450. 2011/12/14: APR: House Oversight Committee / NRC hearing, Dec. 14
451. 2011/12/13: UCSUSA: NRC Commissioners' Spat Obscures Longstanding Agency Failure to Ensure Nuclear Safety, Science Group Says
452. 2011/12/14: CSM: Fight among nation's top nuclear regulators gets airing before Congress
     A political dogfight over new recommendations for boosting safety at US nuclear power plants in the wake of Fukushima is moving from behind closed doors at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission into the nation's Capitol. Front and center is NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko, who is set to be grilled in hearings before the House Wednesday and in the Senate Thursday over his management style.
453. 2011/12/13: DemNow: Ex-Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson, Former Democrat, Launches Third Party Presidential Bid Against Obama, GOP
454. 2011/12/13: APR: The situation at the NRC
455. 2011/12/13: NBF: White House get Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Jackzo to Apologize
456. 2011/12/12: EneNews: Leader of 'coup' at NRC worked as TEPCO consultant -- Would most likely succeed Jaczko as chairman
457. 2011/12/12: PlanetArk: Private Spat Within U.S. Nuclear Agency Laid Bare
458. 2011/12/12: PlanetArk: Provocative U.S. Nuclear Chief Faces Political Test
459. 2011/12/10: EneNews: Congressman releases blockbuster report detailing NRC conspiracy in wake of Fukushima

     The Keystone XL review has been 'attached' to the payroll tax relief extension:

460. 2011/12/17: TreeHugger: Senate Approves Fast-Tracking Keystone XL Decision - Will It Actually Doom The Project?
461. 2011/12/17: Grist: Pipeline power game: Why the GOP wants to humiliate Obama
462. 2011/12/17: CBC: U.S. bill requires decision on XL pipeline
     A U.S. payroll tax bill, containing a provision requiring President Barack Obama to make a decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project in 60 days, has passed the American Senate.
463. 2011/12/16: PlanetArk: TransCanada Bets Expansion Plan Will Help Keystone
464. 2011/12/16: TreeHugger: 'Red Alert': Obama May Cave on Keystone XL, Speed Approval of Tar Sands Pipeline
465. 2011/12/16: TP:JR: GOP Threaten to Harm the Economy If Obama Won't Embrace Tar Sands Pipeline
466. 2011/12/16: BBC: US Congress strikes deal linking payroll tax to pipeline
     [...]
     Compromise was reached after the White House backed away from a threat to veto the Republican-backed pipeline clause.
467. 2011/12/16: Grist: The return of the Keystone XL pipeline
468. 2011/12/15: TreeHugger: How Big Oil's Back Room Dealing with the GOP Revived the Keystone XL
469. 2011/12/14: PlanetArk: Congress Cannot Accelerate Keystone Decision: State Department
470. 2011/12/14: OilChange: "Gas & Oil Party" passes Keystone XL poison pill
471. 2011/12/13: CSM: Keystone pipeline, now a political football, won't determine oil sands endgame
472. 2011/12/12: CCP: Nebraskans Outraged Over Rep. Lee Terry's Keystone XL 'Fast-Track' Bill
473. 2011/12/12: TP:JR: Keystone Cops: State Department Says if Congress Forces a Rapid Decision, It Will Be Forced to Reject Pipeline Permit

     The Obama chatter is nonstop:

474. 2011/12/13: Guardian(UK): Obama promised to listen to scientists -- so why restrict the morning-after pill?
475. 2011/12/11: AlterNet: Obama's Woman Problem

     The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

476. 2011/12/17: ScienceInsider: EPA Ordered to Do Outside Reviews of Toxicology Database
477. 2011/12/15: Grist: Finally: New air toxics rules for power plants
478. 2011/12/14: iWatchNews: Environmental injustice: EPA neglects discrimination claims from polluted communities
479. 2011/12/12: TP:JR: Obama Administration Can't Quit That Mountain of Coal
480. 2011/12/13: NOAANews: "The Weather-Ready Nation Charge" by Jane Lubchenco
481. 2011/12/07: NOAANews: 'Predicting and Managing Extreme Events' by Jane Lubchenco [AGU]
482. 2011/12/12: Eureka: Hundreds of threatened species not on official US list
483. 2011/12/12: DeSmogBlog: A Democrat Undermines Science [Plan B]

     As for what is going on in Congress:

484. 2011/12/16: P3: Things Continue to Unravel
485. 2011/12/16: TP:JR: Republican House of Representatives Put Profits over Public Health 191 Times and Counting
486. 2011/12/16: TP:JR: Dim Bulbs: Budget Deal Keeps GOP's Anti-Consumer, Anti-Business, Pro-Pollution Rider Blocking Lighting Standards
487. 2011/12/16: OilChange: Mitch McConnell Stands Up for Big Oil, Holding Middle Class Tax Cuts Hostage
488. 2011/12/15: CSW: Sen. Franken's colloquy with Sen. Whitehouse on climate change
489. 2011/12/16: TreeHugger: In 2011, Congress Averaged More Than One Anti-Environment Vote a Day
490. 2011/12/16: Grist: America must not back down on sustainable energy by Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator John Kerry & Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
491. 2011/12/15: QuarkSoup: Inhofe's Inhofeian Statement
492. 2011/12/15: TP:JR: L.A. Times: Earth's Top 10 Biggest Enemies in Congress
493. 2011/12/14: ScienceInsider: 14 Senators Protest HHS's Plan B Decision
494. 2011/12/14: ScienceInsider: [Rep] Ralph Hall (R-Tx) Speaks Out on Climate Change
495. 2011/12/13: P3: Inhofe to debate Markey on Climate
496. 2011/12/13: Grist: GOP tries to force Big Coal's poison pill on tax cut bill
497. 2011/12/13: Grist: Here's what Republicans are trying to shove into must-pass bills

     What are the lobbyists pushing?

498. 2011/12/15: Tyee: How Big Oil and Canada Thwarted US Carbon Standards
     Emails show how a Washington lobbyist enlisted Canadian officials to beat back climate regulation.

While in the UK:

499. 2011/12/16: OpenDem: Science and the corporate university in Britain
500. 2011/12/15: Guardian(UK): Green measures will not lead to 'astronomical' energy bills: analysis
501. 2011/12/15: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Climate changes for renewable energy
502. 2011/12/15: BBC: Low-carbon technology 'will not mean big bill rises'
     Claims that the costs of wind farms and other low-carbon technology will lead to sharp rises in fuel bills are wrong, government advisers say. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) says increases in bills over the past few years have been largely due to higher wholesale gas costs.
503. 2011/12/14: Guardian(UK): Ahead of our targets on climate change? Not by this measurement...
     We are not getting the full picture on emissions because the figures exclude imports
504. 2011/12/12: EurActiv: UK customers bitter about energy bills, complaints soar
     Britons' complaints about their energy suppliers rose by 26% from July to September, says a report published by Consumer Focus, a leading UK consumer watchdog.

And in Europe:

505. 2011/12/16: EurActiv: Report sheds light on Europe's energy-guzzling homes
     A quarter of Europe's energy-related greenhouse gas emissions come from homes, says a new analysis by the European Environment Agency (EEA). The EU number-crunchers found that while homes in the EU only emitted 12 % of energy emissions directly, that figure rose to 25% when related emissions from power plants and district heating were taken into account. Monica Frassoni, president of the non-profit European Alliance to Save Energy, said that the report findings underlined the "pressing need" for the EU to step up its regulatory efforts.
506. 2011/12/16: PlanetArk: Renewables Need Not Cost More: EU Energy Chief
507. 2011/12/15: EurActiv: EU energy roadmap for 2050 seen as a 'missed opportunity'
     European clean energy advocates criticised the European Commission's energy roadmap for 2050, published today (15 December), as a "missed opportunity" for omitting intermediate targets from the final text. "We will only achieve the needed decarbonisation of the energy sector by 2050 if a coherent framework is put in place post-2020," Christine Lins, the director of REN21, an international renewable energy policy network, told EurActiv. "There is a need for 2030 commitments and the lack of reference to that here definitely misses an opportunity," she said.
508. 2011/12/15: EurActiv: Energy efficiency directive in limbo
     The purpose of the Energy Efficiency Directive is to save energy and boost growth, but the means through which it will simultaneously achieve both are still to be fleshed out. "We are working hard to get compromises on this directive," British MEP Fiona Hall (Liberal Democrats) told EurActiv.
509. 2011/12/15: EurActiv: Parliament backs limits on phosphates
     The European Parliament yesterday (14 December) overwhelming approved measures to restrict the phosphate content of household cleaning products.
510. 2011/12/15: EUO: The press aren't doing their homework on 'costly' renewables
511. 2011/12/13: EuroParl: Fish-friendly laundry and dishwasher detergents
     Washing powders and dishwasher detergents will need to be almost phosphorus-free in future, following a vote in the European Parliament on Wednesday. The measures aim to protect aquatic life in waterways and seas around the EU.
512. 2011/12/13: OpenDem: Poland's politics of abortion
     A citiziens' initiative seeking a reform of Poland's abortion law is facing a crucial test in parliament. This is the latest phase of a long struggle over women's reproductive rights. It is also part of a changing Poland's wider debate about what kind of country it should be, says Agnieszka Mrozik.
513. 2011/12/13: Guardian(UK): Europe has brought about a new phase in global climate policy
514. 2011/12/13: EurActiv: Czechs, Slovaks call for lighter REACH chemicals law
     The Czech and Slovak governments are pressuring European leaders to reconsider "excessive" safety regulations on the chemicals industry that they contend hurt smaller businesses and undermine economic growth.
515. 2011/12/13: EurActiv: Commission gives new 'LIFE' to environment financing
     The European Commission yesterday (12 December) called for a 52% increase in funding for the Financial Instrument for the Environment and an expansion of the programme to combat climate change.
516. 2011/12/13: NatureNB: EU ITER funding proposals set to stir budget row
517. 2011/12/13: ScienceInsider: Ireland's Science Budget Avoids the Ax

     Meanwhile in Australia:

518. 2011/12/16: ABC(Au): Wet season drilling worries green group
     Conservationists in Western Australia have raised concerns about oil and gas drilling continuing in the Kimberley during the wet season. The Wilderness Society of WA says Buru Energy is being unsafe by planning to drill for the resources in the Canning Basin during the cyclone season.
519. 2011/12/17: ABC(Au): [NSW Environment Minister, Robyn] Parker moves to amend NSW logging laws
     New South Wales Environment Minister Robyn Parker is moving to amend laws which will allow Forests NSW to harm the endangered population of the yellow-bellied glider on the state's far south. The documents show Ms Parker is planning changes to the Threatened Species Conservation Act which "authorises harm to the endangered population of the yellow-bellied glider of the Bago Plateau". Opposition environment spokesman Luke Foley says it is disgraceful.
520. 2011/12/15: ABC(Au): The issue of coal seam gas (CSG) mining is dividing the Gloucester council
521. 2011/12/15: ABC(Au): Hartcher to hear CSG fears
     A meeting is underway between the state Energy and Resources Minister, Chris Hartcher, and an anti-coal seam gas (CSG) group from Gurley, near Moree. The chairwoman of the Bellata-Gurley Coal Seam Gas Action Group, Penny Blatchford, has been given 45 minutes with Mr Hartcher in Sydney today. The main topic of discussion is Petroleum Exploration Licence 470, operated by Leichhardt Resources.
522. 2011/12/14: ABC(Au): Taree council takes stand against CSG mining
523. 2011/12/13: ABC(Au): Deal aims to ease carbon tax negatives
     Federal Regional Development Minister Simon Crean and his Victorian counterpart, Peter Ryan, are signing an agreement today in the Latrobe Valley. Mr Crean and Mr Ryan are launching a reference group and a committee to try to counteract any negative effects on the region from the carbon tax.
524. 2011/12/13: ABC(Au): Greens fear rash of CSG wells
     The Greens fear that 500 or more coal seam gas (CSG) wells are planned for the New South Wales north coast.
525. 2011/12/13: ABC(Au): Council takes stance against CSG projects
     A central western New South Wales council has endorsed a new policy of refusing coal seam gas (CSG) developments. The Warrumbungle Shire says based on the current information and technology, it will not support the controversial form of mining.
526. 2011/12/13: ABC(Au): Spotlight put on CSG
     Coal seam gas (CSG) will again be the topic of conversation when politicians and farmers gather in Mullaley for an information session today.
527. 2011/12/13: ABC(Au): Howard launches 'anti-warmist manual' for kids

     The 2011 Draft Energy White Paper was released this week:

528. 2011/12/14: Australia:RET: [links to many pdfs] Draft Energy White Paper 2011 - Strengthening the Foundation for Australia's Energy Future
529. 2011/12/16: PeakEnergy: The energy paper's peculiar logic about nuclear power
     Crikey's Bernard Keane has a look at energy minister Martin Ferguson's inexplicable obsession with expensive and unnecessary nuclear power...
530. 2011/12/14: PeakEnergy: Australia's energy challenge
531. 2011/12/14: BNC: Draft Energy White Paper -- Discussion Thread

     The Murray-Darling Basin Plan controversy continues:

532. 2011/12/16: ABC(Au): Basin authority challenged over water cuts
533. 2011/12/16: ABC(Au): Community [Griffith] unites against basin water cuts
534. 2011/12/14: ABC(Au): State of the Lake report
     Lake Macquarie has topped the state for the uptake of climate change rebates for the second year in a row. 13,350 rebates were paid to residents last financial year, which saved an equivalent of more than 22,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and more than 120,000 kilolitres of water. The State of the Lake Environment report also shows more people participated in community engagement programs like Landcare and Clean-up Australia day.

And in New Zealand:

535. 2011/12/16: HotTopic: Powerman: solar PV, net metering and seeing the light in New Zealand

     While in the Indian subcontinent:

536. 2011/12/15: CCurrents: Deploying Renewable Energy To Protect Us From Nuclear Accidents
537. 2011/12/15: CCurrents: Need To Revisit The Role Of Nuclear Power For India 's Energy Security

     And in China:

538. 2011/12/12: TreeHugger: Record-Breaking Air Pollution in Beijing is Beyond 'Hazardous': It's Off the Charts
     Smog in Beijing has recently risen from 'hazardous' levels to something closer to 'get-the-hell-out-of-town apocalyptic'. Flights were grounded over the weekend due to poor visibility, and air quality was determined to oscillate between 'very unhealthy' and 'hazardous' (the most extreme ranking).

While in Africa:

539. 2011/12/16: AllAfrica: FinancialGazette: Country, Climate Change Phenomena
     Despite being significantly impacted by global warming, Zimbabweans are taking their sweet time to implement policies that can mitigate the impact of climate change, which is already taking its toll on agriculture, the country's mainstay. Environmentalists have made recommendations at various gatherings about how global warming could be mitigated but nothing has been translated into action. Zimbabwe has also pledged to do the same to the world yet nothing is happening on the ground to achieve this.

And South America:

540. 2011/12/16: TreeHugger: Half of Brazilians in Fear of War Over the Amazon
     As more and more places in the developed world join those already heavily reliant on non-domestic resources, it's no wonder that folks in some developing nations might be worried about the future -- and in Brazil, they are. According to the results of a new poll, half of all Brazilians surveyed are either certain, or strongly believe that within the next 20 years an attack will be waged on their homeland for control of the resource-rich Amazon rainforest. But who would do such a thing? Well, 37 percent say the United States is a likely aggressor

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

541. 2011/12/13: Far-n-Wide: Is Stephen Harper a Denier?
542. 2011/12/14: CBC: Uranium mine ownership rules may ease
     A Saskatchewan MP, Brad Trost, has introduced federal legislation that would allow for more foreign investment in Canadian uranium mines. Trost's bill would allow foreign investors to purchase and own the entirety of Canadian uranium mines and properties. Current rules limit foreign interest to a maximum of 49 per cent.
543. 2011/12/13: CBC: Is Canada on the right track when it comes to climate change?
544. 2011/12/13: CBC: Environment Canada struggling to enforce law
     The federal environment commissioner warned Tuesday that Environment Canada is struggling to enforce environmental protection regulations, and those who break the law aren't always properly punished.
545. 2011/12/12: CBC: Environmental law shows 'pattern of non-enforcement' -- Ecojustice study says number of investigations falling despite increase in enforcement officers
     In the United States, someone concerned about the environmental effects of the smokestack down the street can go to a single website and find out everything the government is doing to keep the smokestack's operators in line. In Canada, it takes a law office, a team of 10 law students and two years of combing through reams of paper to find the answer. And even then, it's not complete.

The NEB came out with some Arctic drilling rules this week:

546. 2011/12/15: NEB: Filing Requirements for Offshore Drilling In the Canadian Arctic
547. 2011/12/16: PlanetArk: Canada Regulator Keeps Arctic Drilling Provisions
     Canada's National Energy Board said on Thursday that any company that wants to drill for oil and gas in Arctic waters will need to demonstrate it has the capacity to sink a relief well in the same drilling season to cope with possible well blowouts. In the conclusion to a review launched following BP Plc's Macondo blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, the board said it decided to maintain the same-season provision despite a request from BP and Exxon Mobil Corp that it be waived.
548. 2011/12/15: CBC: Energy board releases Arctic offshore drilling rules
     The National Energy Board says applicants looking to drill offshore in the Canadian Arctic will be required to make public their safety, contingency, emergency response and environmental protection plans, part of new rules released Thursday. The NEB's new filing process follows a review of its requirements for Arctic offshore drilling that was begun in 2010, following the massive BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Harper gang made their climate irresponsibility official this week:

549. 2011/12/17: G&M: Canada's message: The world and its climate be damned
550. 2011/12/13: PI:B: Canada's Kyoto math doesn't add up
551. 2011/12/15: CAW: Kyoto Pull-Out Sets Canada on Wrong Economic Track, CAW says
552. 2011/12/16: Rabble: Kyoto: The Conservative government's shameful action
553. 2011/12/16: TheCanadian: Serious Financial Costs and Trade Implications for Canada from Abandoning Kyoto
554. 2011/12/15: TMoS: The Reviews Are In. Canada Sucks.
555. 2011/12/14: MSimon: Global Warming and the Bubbles of the Apocalypse
556. 2011/12/14: G&M: Quitting Kyoto could cost Canada down the road
557. 2011/12/14: 350orBust: Backing Out Of the Kyoto Accord: Part Of Canada's Shame-Based Heritage [Rick Mercer]
558. 2011/12/13: TreeHugger: Hey Canada, Which Is More Ethical: Abandoning the Kyoto Protocol or Shilling Tar Sands?
559. 2011/12/13: CCurrents: Canada's Exit From The Kyoto Protocol: Selling Dirtiest Oil At All Cost
560. 2011/12/13: DriveByPlanet: Canada's Kyoto cop out
561. 2011/12/14: THW: Harper and Kyoto a Bad History
562. 2011/12/14: Independent(UK): Kyoto, the veil and guns... Canada shifts to the right
563. 2011/12/13: TStar: Canada must do better
     Canadians may not be the biggest greenhouse gas polluters in the world, putting out a bare 2 per cent of global emissions. But that doesn't relieve us of the obligation to come up with a credible plan to address the problem now that we have formally abandoned the seriously flawed Kyoto process. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government would be wise to chart a new and more ambitious course that the public understands and supports, or risk this country being cast as a chronic environmental shirker.
564. 2011/12/14: G&M: Life after Kyoto: Half a loaf can still be wholesome
565. 2011/12/14: iPolitics: Government's climate-speak evokes memories of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
566. 2011/12/13: CBC: May accuses Harper of breaking law over Kyoto
     Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government are breaking the law by withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said Tuesday. "Not only has Canada just ended our commitments under an international treaty, I believe we are in violation of domestic law," May told a news conference on Parliament Hill. "The Kyoto Implementation Act was passed by the House of Commons in 2007 and has royal assent. It requires Canada to continue reporting and doing its job, fulfilling its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol," she said. "I wonder that the prime minister of this country thinks he can withdraw us from an international treaty which was ratified by the House of Commons with no discussion in the House, and violate a domestic law with no discussion in the House."
567. 2011/12/13: SaskBoy: Heads In the Sand, or Rolling?
568. 2011/12/13: Guardian(UK): Canada goes tabloid
     Withdrawing from the Kyoto protocol, banning the veil -- even splitting up gay penguins. What's happened to my country?
569. 2011/12/13: ABC(Au): Canada to pull out of Kyoto protocol
570. 2011/12/13: PushedLeft: Well the S.O.B. Did it. Canada Officially Out of Kyoto
571. 2011/12/12: G&M: Kyoto withdrawal shames us all
572. 2011/12/12: TGBeaver: Making enemies

     Regarding Canada at Durban:

573. 2011/12/14: ICS: Peter Kent denies being a "piece of shit"
574. 2011/12/16: EnergyBulletin: An open letter to Peter [POS] Kent, Canada's Minister of the Environment by James Johnston
575. 2011/12/17: NorRe: Punishing the Young
576. 2011/12/15: DawgsBlawg: Is Peter Kent a POS?
577. 2011/12/15: iPolitics: Trudeau's stinkbomb fits the cursed times
     "Trudeau impression of Peter Kent much higher than my own." That was the response of one sarcastic online poster to Justin Trudeau's defecatory defamation of the environment minister. "Perhaps Peter Kent will try to sue Trudeau for definition of character," wrote another wag. And, given the reaction of foreign governments to Canada's backing out of the Kyoto accord, a third predicted that, "Peter Kent would be called much worse if he were to walk the streets of Europe, Japan or China." With his fuddle-duddle moment, Justin Trudeau, initially at least, appeared to be winning the p.r. war. Not bad for calling a minister of the crown a piece of excrement.
578. 2011/12/14: CBC: Justin Trudeau apologizes for swearing at Kent
     [Warning: This story contains graphic language that may be offensive] Liberal MP Justin Trudeau said he lost his temper in the House of Commons during question period when he swore at Environment Minister Peter Kent, which he later apologized for. "I lost my temper and used language that was most decidedly unparliamentary and for that I unreservedly apologize and withdraw my remark," Trudeau said once question period had concluded Wednesday. The commotion began when NDP MP Megan Leslie was questioning Kent about Canada's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol. Kent suggested that Leslie should have been in Durban, South Africa, for the recent UN climate change conference, which prompted howls from the opposition benches because opposition MPs were banned from being part of Canada's delegation at the conference. Kent's response was interrupted by heckling, and Trudeau could be heard shouting, "You piece of shit" at the environment minister.
579. 2011/12/14: SaskBoy: POS Canadian Government
     [...]
     I'm proud of Justin Trudeau's outburst in Question Period today. He called the Environment Minister Peter Kent a "piece of shit" for blaming an NDP MP for not attending Durban's climate change conference, while it was Kent's government that denied attendance to opposition MPs!
580. 2011/12/11: CBC: Environment minister expects new climate deal by 2015 -- Proposed Durban Platform follows 13 days of UN negotiations

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

581. 2011/12/16: TStar: [TransCanada] Pipeline caught in 'death spiral' of rising costs
582. 2011/12/15: CBC: Oilsands pipelines would boost economy, study says
     Building oil pipelines to new markets would boost Canadian economic growth by $131 billion between 2016 and 2030, according to a University of Calgary study released Thursday.
583. 2011/12/13: PostMedia: B.C. won't endorse Northern Gateway until environmental assessment complete: Clark
     B.C. Premier Christy Clark praised Tuesday the importance of the oilsands industry to Canada's economy but refused to budge from her fence-sitting position on the controversial proposed Northern Gateway pipeline from Alberta to Kitimat, B.C.

Several articles on nukes:

584. 2011/12/16: PostMedia: Why Canada's nuclear cleanup will cost billions and take decades
     It lights our Christmas trees, drives industry, makes medicine, heats our homes and is carbon-free. Nuclear power has a back end, too. Radwaste. More than 240,000 tonnes of intensely radioactive civilian waste has piled up around the globe since the dawning of the atomic age. Sixty years on, no one is sure yet how to safely and permanently dispose of the stuff, much of it harmful to living organisms for thousands of years. Canada's share of the high-level heap stands at 44,000 tonnes. Virtually all is spent uranium fuel bundles - 2.3 million of them - that powered the commercial and research reactors that made Canada a leading nuclear nation.
585. 2011/12/14: CBC: Radioactive water spill downplayed -- Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission investigating
586. 2011/12/13: CBC: Bruce Power dropping Alberta nuclear plant proposal
     Bruce Power announced Monday it will no longer go ahead with a controversial nuclear power plant proposed for Peace River, Alta.
587. 2011/12/13: Guardian(ca): Radioactive water spilled at Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in New Brunswick
588. 2011/12/13: CBC: Radiation spill at Point Lepreau nuclear plant probed -- Facility evacuated as a precautionary measure

     The Harper gang is is busy getting rid of "everybody who knows more than they do.":

589. 2011/12/14: ChronicleHerald: Union: Scientists scared to talk about DFO cuts
     Employees fear they could face sanctions or suspension for remarks on job losses Scientists are worried about cuts at Fisheries and Oceans Canada but cannot speak out for fear of being blackÂlisted, their union says. On Monday, Fisheries and Oceans notiÂfied about 400 people that their jobs could be eliminated. About half the people put on notice were scientists.
590. 2011/12/12: PostMedia: Strategic review at Fisheries and Oceans to affect 400 employees
     About 400 Fisheries and Oceans employees across Canada are to receive letters from managers Monday informing them their jobs will be affected as the department rolls out reductions from last year's strategic review. The written notices are going to employees who work in the seven regions where the department operates. More than 200 of those receiving notices are biologists and other scientists and the vast majority work outside the capital in areas of ocean management, fish habitat management, hydrography and aquaculture. Another 39 positions are being cut from the Coast Guard following a re-organization. It's unclear how many of those "affected" will end up losing their jobs. Officials from one of the unions representing workers say they are braced for between 150 and 280 jobs to permanently disappear.

Meanwhile in the CWB saga:

591. 2011/12/17: PostMedia: Manitoba court denies initial challenge to wheat board law
     Ottawa's newly minted law eliminating the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly powers to market Prairie wheat and barley has survived its first legal challenge. Late Friday, a Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench judge denied a motion by eight former wheat board directors that would have temporarily prevented the Harper government from implementing the new law, which received royal assent on Thursday. "I am not satisfied that there is sufficient urgency to justify the consideration of an interim injunction at this stage," Mr. Justice Shane Perlmutter ruled. He will hear more detailed arguments on an injunction against the controversial law in Winnipeg on Jan. 17-18. For now, though, the Harper government's Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act (Bill C-18) remains in effect.
592. 2011/12/16: CBC: Wheat board changes kick in, directors out
593. 2011/12/16: CBC: Wheat board bill becomes law
     The Harper government's legislation to strip the Canadian Wheat Board of its monopoly over Prairie wheat and barley sales received royal assent to become law late Thursday.
594. 2011/12/15: PostMedia: Bill to kill Wheat Board clears Senate, receives royal assent
     It took nearly seven years in government but Prime Minister Stephen Harper has finally achieved his goal of passing legislation to eliminate the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on Prairie grain sales. But whether he can act on it is still up in the air.
595. 2011/12/15: CBC: The embattled Canadian Wheat Board has been ordered by a Manitoba court to pay more than $4.6 million to an Italian company, in a wheat sale case dating back to the 1980s.
596. 2011/12/15: CBC: Wheat board bill passes in Senate
     The Senate has passed the Harper government's legislation to strip the Canadian Wheat Board of its monopoly over Prairie wheat and barley sales. The bill received third reading and final approval in the upper chamber Thursday afternoon.
597. 2011/12/14: CBC: Wheat board seeks court injunction to stop bill -- Court asked to declare C-18 invalid and stop all changes until the case is heard
598. 2011/12/13: CBC: Wheat board fight not over, chairman says

     The Cohen Commission took a kick at the ISA can this week and all hell broke loose:

599. 2011/12/17: CBC: Government email makes waves at salmon inquiry -- Cohen Commission extended after news influenza-like virus detected in B.C.
600. 2011/12/15: CBC: Salmon virus in B.C. for decades, say biologists -- World experts defend sample results
     Department of Fisheries (DFO) biologists have told a federal inquiry that fish samples, dating back more than two decades have tested positive for a virus potentially lethal to wild sockeye salmon -- but that fact wasn't publicly reported. Dr. Kristi Miller, the head of molecular genetics for DFO in Nanaimo, told the Cohen Commission on Thursday that frozen samples dating back to 1986 have been tested, and show infectious salmon anemia (ISA) has been in B.C. waters for at least 25 years. The public inquiry into the decline of the Fraser River sockeye salmon stocks was extended for three extra days after ISA was detected in wild B.C. salmon two months ago by Simon Fraser University Prof. Rick Routledge.
601. 2011/12/12: WpgFP: Scientists fear reprisals after their research on a possibly deadly fish virus
602. 2011/12/15: TheCanadian: Salmon Virus Has Been in BC for at Least 25 Years, Dr. Kristi Miller Tells Cohen Commission
603. 2011/12/16: TheCanadian: ISA Virus Researcher Faced Political Pressure Due to Positive Test Results
604. 2011/12/16: TheCanadian: Kristi Miller Steals Show Again as Salmon Inquiry Rocked by New Virus Bombshells
605. 2011/12/16: G&M: Federal agency accused of intimidation over salmon disease
     Scientists who uncovered the first signs that infectious salmon anemia is present on the West Coast have found themselves shunned and intimidated by federal government officials, the Cohen Commission has heard. Fred Kibenge, chair of the department of pathology and microbiology at the University of Prince Edward Island, said the credibility of his laboratory came under attack shortly after he reported getting two positive tests for the ISA virus in 48 sockeye salmon samples. Those samples were sent to him in October by a Simon Fraser University researcher, Rick Routledge, who was trying to figure out why so many salmon were dying on B.C.'s Central Coast.
606. 2011/12/17: TheCanadian: Winning the Salmon PR "War"? Emails Reveal Government Scientists Acting Like Flacks
607. 2011/12/13: AlexandraMorton: Atlantic Salmon - how did this happen to British Columbia?
608. 2011/12/16: AlexandraMorton: The Canadian Fish Health Agency wins the war .... against us
609. 2011/12/16: AlexandraMorton: DFO covers up disease in wild salmon - day one of explosive testimony at the Cohen Inquiry into ISA virus
610. 2011/12/15: G&M: Virus present in B.C. salmon for decades, inquiry told
     Infectious salmon anemia, a virus that has triggered devastating disease outbreaks in stocks of farmed Atlantic salmon around the world, appears to have been in British Columbia wild salmon for at least 25 years, the Cohen commission of inquiry has heard. The ISA virus -- or a new variation of it -- has been found repeatedly in samples of wild sockeye and pink salmon, as well as in samples of farmed chinook taken from one West Coast aquaculture operation. That revelatory evidence was given on Thursday, by Kristi Miller, head of molecular genetics at the federal Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo.
611. 2011/12/16: TheCanadian: Kristi Miller Steals Show Again as Salmon Inquiry Rocked by New Virus Bombshells

     In BC, the stage is set. Now what will Clark and Dix do?

612. 2011/12/16: CTV: Japan tsunami flotsam begins washing ashore in B.C.
613. 2011/12/15: EnergyBulletin: US study casts pall over BC's shale gas biz
614. 2011/12/12: CBC: Kyoto withdrawal not ruffling B.C. government
     The B.C. government won't condemn Ottawa for pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, says provincial Environment Minister Terry Lake. "I understand the federal position," said Lake, who attended last week's climate change summit in Durban, South Africa.
615. 2011/12/13: Tyee: BC's 'Cleaner' Fuel Standard: Reality Check
     How a law supposed to require low carbon gasoline and diesel spares the oil sands at the atmosphere's expense.
616. 2011/12/12: BCLocalNews: B.C. initiates clean energy vehicle incentive program

     Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

617. 2011/12/12: PI:B: Attacks on environmental group supporters are disingenuous and disturbing
618. 2011/12/16: CBC: Oilsands' carbon emissions rising
     The intensity of oilsands carbon emissions -- the amount of greenhouse gases created per every barrel of oil produced -- increased by two per cent between 2009 and 2010, according to an industry report. The 2010 Responsible Canadian Energy progress report by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) also found that overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the oilsands rose 14 per cent in the same time period as the number of oilsands operations expanded.
619. 2011/12/16: CBC: Harper says oilsands critics spreading 'misinformation' -- Chiquita said Thursday it would avoid using fuel from oilsands
620. 2011/12/16: CBC: Tarsands' carbon emissions rising
621. 2011/12/15: TreeHugger: Tar Sands Oil is Already Everywhere (Map)
622. 2011/12/17: MSimon: The Oil Sands and the Banana War
623. 2011/12/16: SaskBoy: Withdrawn Outrage
624. 2011/12/11: EnergyBulletin: Deconstructing "ethical oil"

     Also in Alberta:

625. 2011/12/16: PI: New report finds Alberta must strengthen emissions rules to meet climate commitments
626. 2011/12/16: PI: [link to 1.3 meg pdf] Responsible Action? An assessment of Alberta's greenhouse gas policies
627. 2011/12/17: PostMedia: Alberta lags on emissions: think-tank -- Province must 'set the bar higher'
     Alberta is failing to meet its targets to reduce greenhouse gas, a new report says. A Pembina Institute study made public Friday says all of Alberta's climate-change strategies put together will cut emissions 14 megatons by 2020, less than one-third the goal of 50 megatons.
628. 2011/12/15: CBC: Oil drilling booms in Alberta -- Provincial revenue from sales of drilling rights hits record
629. 2011/12/11: CBC: Canada's Suncor pulls out of Syria -- Syria produces less than one per cent of global oil output

     In Manitoba:

630. 2011/12/14: CBC: Manitoba flood cost soars to $815M -- Latest pricetag of $100M more than previous estimate

     Ontario is still wrestling with its energy policy:

631. 2011/12/14: PI: [link to 14.8 meg pdf] Ontario Feed-in-Tariff: 2011 Review
632. 2011/12/12: BCLSB: Wind Concerns Ontario Shuts Down Blog
633. 2011/12/12: CBC: Saugeen Shores shows interest in storing nuclear waste
     A community on the shores of Lake Huron has cracked open the door to southern Ontario's becoming the permanent storage site for Canada's spent, but still dangerously radioactive, nuclear fuel. Until now, only nine communities in remote areas of northern Saskatchewan and northern Ontario were in the running to host the $24-billion project for a mammoth underground facility. Now, to the consternation of some, one of southern Ontario's premier tourist destinations is on the radar, although how it got there is already the subject of dispute.

While in la Belle Province:

634. 2011/12/15: CBC: Quebec to introduce cap-and-trade system -- Province will be the first in Canada to enforce such regulations.
     The Quebec government is introducing a cap-and-trade system in an effort to reduce carbon emissions in the province. Quebec will join the state of California and be the first Canadian province to start enforcing cap-and-trade regulations for carbon emissions. Environment Minister Pierre Arcand said as of Jan. 1, 2013 the ceiling for allowable emissions will gradually become stricter.
635. 2011/12/15: PI: Pembina reacts to finalization of Quebec's cap-and-trade regulations

     In the Maritimes:

636. 2011/12/15: G&M: With the fishery in tatters, Newfoundlanders fight over the scraps

     As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

637. 2011/12/16: DeSmogBlog: Andy Revkin Interviews Franke James On Dot Earth: Canada's Approach To Inconvenient Art
638. 2011/12/13: CBC: Western premiers want to talk energy with Ottawa

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

639. 2011/12/16: EnergyBulletin: Worker-owners of America, unite: Will cooperative workplaces democratize U.S. economy?
640. 2011/12/12: EnergyBulletin: An outline of benefits from a lower energy civilization

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

641. 2011/12/15: Guardian(UK): [UNEP] chief: 'with 7 billion people we've run out of new forests and rivers'
     Achim Steiner says population growth makes sustainability essential, as he prepares for green economy talks at Rio+20
642. 2011/12/14: AlterNet: Woman Jailed, Ostracized After Resorting to Self-Administered Abortion: What Is This, Puritan America?
643. 2011/12/14: WtD: Of Plan B and the Hail Mary Pass on emissions: our non-renewable future
644. 2011/12/13: OpenDem: Poland's politics of abortion
     A citiziens' initiative seeking a reform of Poland's abortion law is facing a crucial test in parliament. This is the latest phase of a long struggle over women's reproductive rights. It is also part of a changing Poland's wider debate about what kind of country it should be, says Agnieszka Mrozik.
645. 2011/12/12: DeSmogBlog: A Democrat Undermines Science [Plan B]
646. 2011/12/11: AlterNet: Meet 8 Right-Wing Groups Practicing Scorched-Earth Anti-Choice Nuttery Against Women
647. 2011/12/11: AlterNet: Obama's Woman Problem

     Apocalypso anyone?

648. 2011/12/15: EnergyBulletin: Occupying Post-Collapse America: What if the industrial death-urge lived on?

     How do the media measure up?

649. 2011/12/12: MediaMatters: 3,500 Words On "Climategate" Sequel, But The Weekly Standard Still Comes Up Empty
650. 2011/12/15: MediaMatters: Misinformer Of The Year: Rupert Murdoch And News Corp
651. 2011/12/14: CJR: Inside COP17 -- Why UN climate summits like the one in Durban are challenging, but worth covering
652. 2011/12/16: ERabett: Telephone Churnalism
653. 2011/12/18: NI: Vancouver Sun: FAIL!
654. 2011/12/15: EUO: The press aren't doing their homework on 'costly' renewables
655. 2011/12/14: PSinclair: Why Climate Change Denial is Like "the War on Christmas"
656. 2011/12/14: P3: American Exceptionalism
657. 2011/12/13: MediaMatters: Callous Climate: Conservative Media Deride Adaptation Aid For World's Poor
658. 2011/12/13: TP:JR: The Bizarro World of Bjorn Lomborg and the NY Times' "Post-Pollution" Solution to Climate Change
659. 2011/12/12: Guardian(UK): Britain's press are fighting a class war, defending the elite they belong to
     It's not just Rupert Murdoch and his crooks. All the corporate barons who corrupted our political system must be unmasked
660. 2011/12/12: PSinclair: Discovery Channel Discovers Testicles. Will Air Climate Change Doc in US
661. 2011/12/12: WtD: Discovery and the missing Frozen Planet episode... no longer keeping viewers out in the cold

     While activists search for effective communication techniques:

662. 2011/12/16: P3: "Narrative"
663. 2011/12/16: Grist: 'Brutal logic' and climate communications

     Here is something for your library:

664. 2011/12/16: EnergyBulletin: Top 10 peak oil books of 2011

     And for your film & video enjoyment:

665. 2011/12/16: PSinclair: John Cook: Master De-Bunker from Down-Under at AGU
666. 2011/12/15: Guardian(UK): My favourite film: Koyaanisqatsi
667. 2011/12/14: 350orBust: Backing Out Of the Kyoto Accord: Part Of Canada's Shame-Based Heritage [Rick Mercer]
668. 2011/12/12: P3: Brief Interview with Barry Brook
669. 2011/12/14: 350orBust: Reinventing Fire: Fuel Without Fear, Climate Change, & Oil Spills
670. 2011/12/12: PeakEnergy: Bruce Sterling: Climate Change Is Now A 'Melancholy And Tiresome Reality'

     Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

671. 2011/12/15: TreeHugger: Solar Power Becomes Cheaper Than Diesel Generators in India
672. 2011/12/14: NBF: New Elemental Cookbook Guides Efficient Thermoelectric Combinations
673. 2011/12/14: EnergyBulletin: Can tides turn the tide?
674. 2011/12/14: SciAm:PI: Natural Gas - Leading Retirements, New Capacity
675. 2011/12/12: PeakEnergy: Ethiopia Launches Geothermal Power Project

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

676. 2011/12/14: NYT: As Gas Drilling Spreads, Towns Stand Ground Over Control
677. 2011/12/15: AlterNet: The Mysterious Death of Dunkard Creek: Is Fracking to Blame for One of the Worst Ecological Disasters in the East?
678. 2011/12/15: EnergyBulletin: US study casts pall over BC's shale gas biz
679. 2011/12/15: Grist: Infographic: Fracking violations in Pennsylvania
680. 2011/12/14: SP:B: The questionable economics of shale gas
681. 2011/12/12: F&WW: Are Privatized Water Utilities in Cahoots With Shale Gas Companies?
682. 2011/12/14: Grist: Shale gas 'profits' are based on accounting trickery
683. 2011/12/14: TreeHugger: Colorado and Texas to Require Disclosure of Fracking Chemicals
684. 2011/12/13: AlterNet: Air Too Dangerous to Breathe: How Gas Drilling Can Turn Rural Communities Into Industrial Wastelands [With Photos]
685. 2011/12/11: AlterNet: Feds Link Water Contamination to Fracking for the First Time
686. 2011/12/02: CBC: Ex-oil worker blasts shale gas industry
687. 2011/12/12: PeakEnergy: Feds Link Water Contamination to Fracking for the First Time

     On the coal front:

688. 2011/12/15: TP:JR: Facebook Unfriends Coal, Partners with Greenpeace for Clean Energy Future
689. 2011/12/12: Grist: Market forces, not EPA standards, killing new coal plants
690. 2011/12/12: NatureNB: Evidence grows against mountaintop mining
691. 2011/12/11: AlterNet: Massey [Energy] Gets Away With Murder: Time To Revoke their Charter

     On the gas and oil front:

692. 2011/12/16: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
     OIL (US$/bbl)
     Nymex Crude Future...93.53
     Dated Brent Spot.....104.06
     WTI Cushing Spot.....93.53
693. 2011/12/16: AutoBG: ExxonMobil sees 90% of all transportation still running on petroleum in 2040
694. 2011/12/18: OilDrum: Tech Talk - Future oil and natural gas production from Azerbaijan
695. 2011/12/15: TP:JR: Oil Companies' Investments in Dirty Fuels Outpace Clean Fuels by Fifty Times
696. 2011/12/15: NBF: IEA reports World Oil liquids supply at 90.0 million barrels per day in November
697. 2011/12/14: BBerg: Chevron Halt Sought by Brazil Prosecutors as Remedy to Spill
698. 2011/12/14: BBC: Chevron faces $10.6bn Brazil legal suit over oil spill
699. 2011/12/14: Grist: Chevron admits that it hasn't been able to stop the Brazil oil leak
700. 2011/12/14: Grist: Oil companies have invested 50 times more in tar sands than in renewables
701. 2011/12/13: TreeHugger: Chevron Admits Oil Leak in Brazil Hasn't Stopped
702. 2011/12/13: CBC: Oil spikes above $100 US
703. 2011/12/12: OilDrum: The Bakken Boom - A Modern-Day Gold Rush

     Biofuel bickering abounds:

704. 2011/12/14: Grist: E. coli can now make three kinds of fuel out of grass
705. 2011/12/14: TreeHugger: Asian Pulp & Paper's Environmental Claims "Mostly Hogwash", WWF Report Shows

     The answer my friend...:

706. 2011/12/15: EnvEcon: Breaking wind
     The developer of the largest wind farm ever proposed in North Carolina says the project has stalled because no utility wants to buy the power the project would produce.
707. 2011/12/12: BCLSB: Birds And Wind Turbines

     Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

708. 2011/12/16: PlanetArk: China Scales Up Solar Power Capacity Plan By 50 Percent [to 15 gigawatts by 2015, with wind power capacity to hit 100 GW]
709. 2011/12/16: NBF: 3-D Photovoltaics Could Revolutionize Solar Power
710. 2011/12/16: NBF: Tiny Solar Cell Could Make a Big Difference
711. 2011/12/16: Grist: Fundamental breakthrough could double electricity from solar panels
712. 2011/12/15: SciNow: Solar Cells Capture Lost Energy
713. 2011/12/18: Grist: Harnessing the sun's energy for water and space heating by Lester Brown
714. 2011/12/15: PlanetArk: German Solar Firms Go From Boom To Bust
715. 2011/12/15: PlanetArk: U.S. PV Solar Installations Soar 40 Percent In 3rd Quarter
716. 2011/12/15: TreeHugger: The Solar Industry's Dead? Not Hardly, US Installations Set New Record
717. 2011/12/13: Grist: Alexi Arango: Teaching solar to take a quantum-dot leap
718. 2011/12/12: TreeHugger: Algeria Becomes Third Nation To Sign Desertec Deal
719. 2011/12/12: PeakEnergy: Harnessing the desert sun to power Europe [Desertec]
720. 2011/12/11: Guardian(UK): Could the desert sun power the world?
     Green electricity generated by Sahara solar panels is being hailed as a solution to the climate change crisis

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

721. 2011/12/14: TP:JR: A Properly Designed Feed-in Tariff Can Lower the Cost of Capital and Keep Electric Rates Down

     The nuclear energy controversy continues:

722. 2011/12/16: PeakEnergy: The energy paper's peculiar logic about nuclear power
723. 2011/12/14: CBC: Radioactive water spill downplayed -- Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission investigating
724. 2011/12/13: Eureka: Small reactors could figure into US energy future
725. 2011/12/14: NBF: Small nuclear reactors and the US Energy Future
726. 2011/12/13: Guardian(ca): Radioactive water spilled at Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in New Brunswick
727. 2011/12/13: CBC: Radiation spill at Point Lepreau nuclear plant probed -- Facility evacuated as a precautionary measure
728. 2011/12/11: BBC: France nuclear giant to announce big loss - minister
     France's state-owned nuclear reactor maker Areva is set to announce large losses, the French industry minister says. In an interview with a radio station, Eric Besson said: "I can confirm that Areva will announce losses. In all likelihood they will be big." Areva's financial position was badly weakened in the aftermath of Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster in March.

The Rossi Energy Catalyzer keeps coming up:

729. 2011/12/17: NBF: Energy catalyzer planned higher volumes and lowering unit prices

     More people are talking about the electrical grid:

730. 2011/12/12: TP:JR: Hottest Issues in Smart Grid, Part 3: Electric Vehicles

     And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

731. 2011/12/16: BBC: LEDs offer a brighter future, says report
     A field trial of LED light fittings in social housing says the new technology can deliver huge energy savings, reduce costs and makes residents feel safer. The study, carried out by the Energy Saving Trust (EST), measured the performance of more than 4,250 LED light fittings installed at 35 sites. The EST said it carried out the trial because an increasing number of LED lights were now commercially available. It is predicted the technology could dominate the lighting market by 2015.
732. 2011/12/14: QuarkSoup: Why Energy Efficiency Isn't Enough

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

733. 2011/12/16: PubliCola: Hybrids Aren't the Reason Gas Taxes Are Declining [in Washington State]
734. 2011/12/14: TreeHugger: Ford Begins Production of the 2012 Focus Electric in Michigan Assembly Plant
735. 2011/12/12: CNN: Can motors in wheels spark electric car revolution?
     SIM-LEI car has an electric motor in each of its four wheels - Makers say it can go from 0 to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds - Car featured at this week's Tokyo Motor Show
736. 2011/12/12: BBC: Japan extends tax breaks on fuel-efficient vehicles
     Japan has extended tax breaks for fuel-efficient vehicles, in a bid to help its struggling domestic car industry.

This week in the Gee Whiz File:

737. 2011/12/15: UTexas: Discovery of a 'Dark State' Could Mean a Brighter Future for Solar Energy
738. 2011/12/15: NBF: Discovery of a 'Dark State' Could increase maximum solar cell efficiency from 31% to 66%

     The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

739. 2011/12/16: TreeHugger: Kraft Foods Studies and Publishes Its Total Environmental Footprint

     Who's fielding the FAQs?

740. 2011/12/15: Guardian(UK): How will climate change affect rainfall?
741. 2011/12/14: Guardian(UK): If the world is warming, why were the past two winters so cold?

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

742. 2011/12/15: TP:JR: December 15 News...

     Other (weekly) lists:

743. 2011/12/16: EnergyBulletin: ODAC Newsletter
744. 2011/12/12: BPA: Agriculture News

     The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

745. 2011/12/15: BobPark: What's New?
     1. Hacks: shoddy press coverage of science.
     2. Ignorance: there's plenty more where that came from.
     3. Let me count the ways: pseudoscience is an enormous field
746. 2011/12/16: BBickmore: The Monckton Files: Inspector Monckton Looking for a Clue
747. 2011/12/15: Tyee: How Big Oil and Canada Thwarted US Carbon Standards
     Emails show how a Washington lobbyist enlisted Canadian officials to beat back climate regulation.
748. 2011/12/15: QuarkSoup: Roy Spencer's Minimalized Government
749. 2011/12/15: WtD: Ian Plimer really needs new material...
750. 2011/12/15: DeSmogBlog: 'Consumer Energy Alliance' Front Group Exposed by The Tyee and Salon
751. 2011/12/15: ITracker: Coward deniers continue threats
752. 2011/12/15: Deltoid: Plimer suffers from crank magnetism
753. 2011/12/14: Guardian(UK): So the Frozen Planet polar bear exposes the BBC's sinister ways. Really? [Monbiot]
754. 2011/12/14: PSinclair: Is Nero a Hero to Climate Deniers?
755. 2011/12/13: WottsUWT: Pielke Junior on: The climate debate is 'over'
756. 2011/12/13: WtD: Teach the controversy: former PM Howard takes a leaf from the creationist playbook
757. 2011/12/13: TP:JR: Sorry, Deniers, Study of "True Global Warming Signal" Finds "Remarkably Steady" Rate of Manmade Warming Since 1979
758. 2011/12/13: DeSmogBlog: Climate Science Denier Ian Plimer Recruits Former Australian PM To Launch Book Targeting Children
759. 2011/12/12: HotTopic: Prat Watch #1: columnated ruins domino
760. 2011/12/11: Deltoid: Monckton debunks Monckton

     As for climate miscellanea:

761. 2011/12/14: GreenGrok: Global Warming: What Happens When You Factor Out the Other Factors
762. 2011/12/14: CassandraLegacy: It gets boring running around being a Cassandra [Sterling]
763. 2011/12/18: CCP: David Roberts, Grist: The doctor and the life coach: A question for Andy Revkin
764. 2011/12/14: Grist: The doctor and the life coach: A question for Andy Revkin
765. 2011/12/15: ClimateSight: A Little Bit of Hope
766. 2011/12/15: ScienceInsider: Dublin Science Gallery to Take Vision Global
767. 2011/12/15: Stoat: Common software engineering terms
768. 2011/12/15: DeSmogBlog: Can Fact Checking be Politically "Neutral," When Facts Are Not Equally Distributed Across the Political Spectrum?
769. 2011/12/14: ClassM: Are the winds shifting?
770. 2011/12/14: TP:JR: Which Countries Fail the Most at Climate Leadership?
771. 2011/12/14: Tamino: The Value of Data
772. 2011/12/13: NewInt: We messed up, but you can still save the planet
773. 2011/12/12: TP:JR: Youth in Revolt: Younger Generations Step up the Pressure on Climate
774. 2011/12/13: TheBullet: Greening Work in an Age of Uncertainty: Is There Something Worse than Climate Change Denial?
775. 2011/12/13: ClimateSight: Labels
776. 2011/12/13: Guardian(UK): Ireland's biggest ever wave recorded off Donegal coast
     A 20.4-metre wave is recorded by a buoy 60 miles off Ireland's coast as a force ten storm rages
777. 2011/12/11: SEasterbrook: Resources for Climate Literacy
778. 2011/12/11: P3: The Best Thing Written Last Week

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

779. SGR: Scientists for Global Responsibility
780. Gitxsan Against Enbridge
781. EC: Emissions Trading System (EU ETS)
782. International Land Coalition
783. RMI: [Book Site] Reinventing Fire
784. The Climate Group
785. Earth System Governance - Tokyo Conference: Complex Architectures, Multiple Agents -- United Nations University, Tokyo, 28-31 January 2013
786. The Royal Society: Science News
787. NYRAD: New York Residents Against Drilling
788. FracTracker - Marcellus Shale Data Tracking -- Tracking the impacts of Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling in PA, NY & WV
789. Wiki: Lichen
790. Wiki: Symbiosis
791. Wiki: History of Ecology
792. Wiki: Primary Producers
793. Wiki: Photosynthetic efficiency
794. Wiki: Primary Production
795. BBickmore: Anti-Climate Change Extremism in Utah

     ---

     Low Key Plug

     My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.

     <regards>
     

     -het

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

     I notice moyhu has set up a monster index to old AWoGWN on AFTIC.

     ---

     "Sorry! The lifestyle you ordered is currently out of stock." -Banksy

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