Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

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Another Week of Climate Disruption News

Sipping from the Internet Firehose...

January 1, 2012

• Chuckles, HNY, Retrospectives, Oil & Sunlight, Ecuador, Cook, Post CRU
• Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
• Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food Crisis, Food Prices, Food vs. Biofuel, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, Sensitivity, Volcanoes
• Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Extreme Weather
• Wildfires, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration
• Journals, Other Docs , Hansen, Curry
• International Politics: Rio+20, Carbon Trade, Bank Tax
• Oil & Gas, Solar Spat, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz, Groundwater
• National Politics: America, BP Disaster, 2012, Keystone XL, EPA & Hg
• US Admin, US Congress, US Lobbyists. Britain, Europe
• Canada, E. May, Kyoto, Pipelines, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Ontario, North
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts
• Energy, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Fossil Fuel Corps, Pipelines, Biofuel
• Wind, Solar, Nukes, Efficiency, Cars, Gee Whiz, Energy Storage
• Business, Other Lists, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

It's always nice to start with a smile:

• 2012/01/01: uComics: (cartoon - Wiley) The Last Hurrah
• 2011/12/27: JoeMohrToons: (cartoon - Mohr) "Mean Joe Green's" Top 11 Environmental Cartoons of 2011

  So Happy New Year already!

• 2011/12/31: BRitholtz: (cartoon - Adams) One Random Point in the Space Time Continuum
• 2012/01/01: ITRacker: Happy New Year
• 2011/12/30: TMW: (cartoon - TomTom) Year in Review - Part 2
• 2011/12/30: TMW: (cartoon - TomTom) Year in Review - Part 1

  Your touch of strange for the day:

• 2012/01/01: CBC: Birds fall dead in Arkansas town - again

  Retrospectives by the dozen this week:

• 2011/12/30: FAO: 2011 in review -- For FAO, another busy year
• 2011/12/31: BNC: 2011 on Brave New Climate
• 2011/12/31: TP:JR: The Top 10 Anti-Environmental Things Congress Did in 2011
• 2011/12/31: Grist: Top 6 U.S. climate-policy happenings of 2011
• 2011/12/31: Wunderground: Top ten global weather events of 2011
• 2011/12/29: CER:RRapier: Top 10 Energy Related Stories of 2011
• 2011/12/30: CJR: Best of 2011: The Observatory -- From extreme weather to the crisis in Japan...
• 2011/12/30: TP:JR: Top 10 States Hit by Extreme Weather in 2011
• 2011/12/31: SkeptiSci: 2011 Year in Review (part 1) by MarkR
• 2011/12/30: PSinclair: 2011: A Year of Extreme Weather [video]
• 2011/12/30: TP:JR: Top Cities Stories of 2011
• 2011/12/30: Grist: Top 10 states ravaged by extreme weather in 2011
• 2011/12/30: al Jazeera: The weather of 2011
  With La Nina in effect we were expecting an tumultuous year, but 2011 went beyond the most dire predictions
• 2011/12/29: HotTopic: Shapes of things (2012 and all that)
• 2011/12/22: Grist: The good food news of 2011
• 2011/12/27: Grist: The bad food news of 2011
• 2011/12/26: Wunderground:RR: 2011 Climate Events: A time of troubles
• 2011/12/26: TP:JR: Top 5 Fisheries Stories of 2011: It's Not All Bad News
• 2011/12/29: Grist: 2011 sets all-time record for tornadoes: 199 in one day
• 2011/12/28: SciAm:Obs: Tornadoes in 2011 Set Deadly Records
• 2011/12/28: Wunderground: 2011: Year of the Tornado

  It seems spilled oil is surprisingly lethal to fish embryos in shallow, sunlit waters:

• 2011/12/30: SciNews: Sun-oil mix deadly for young herring -- Fish embryos surprisingly vulnerable to 2007 spill
• 2011/12/27: LA Times: Oil is more toxic than previously thought, study finds
• 2011/12/26: Eureka: NOAA scientists: spilled oil unexpectedly lethal to fish embryos in shallow, sunlit waters -- Study examines impact of 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill in San Francisco Bay
• 2011/12/26: Eureka: Sunlight and bunker oil a fatal combination for Pacific herring

  Looks like Ecuador swung their "pay me or I'll drill" deal:

• 2011/12/30: TreeHugger: Crowdfunding Temporarily Halts Oil Extraction From Key Tract of Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador
• 2011/12/30: Guardian(UK): World pays Ecuador not to extract oil from rainforest
  Governments and film stars join alliance that raises £75m to compensate Ecuador for lost revenue from 900m barrels

John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

• 2012/01/01: SkeptiSci: Science and Distortion - Stephen Schneider by Rob Honeycutt
• 2011/12/31: SkeptiSci: 2011 Year in Review (part 1) by MarkR
• 2011/12/30: SkeptiSci: Michael Mann, hounded researcher by Andy S
• 2011/12/28: SkeptiSci: A thoughtful conservative perspective on climate by Tom Smerling
• 2011/12/28: SkeptiSci: UAH Misrepresentation Anniversary, Part 2 - Of Cherries and Volcanoes by dana1981
• 2011/12/27: SkeptiSci: UAH Misrepresentation Anniversary, Part 1 - Overconfidence by dana1981

  Post CRU-Two ... boredom:

• 2011/12/31: IJISH: SwiftHack 1.0: how was realclimate.org breached?
• 2011/12/29: IJISH: Wayback has caches of RealClimate circa attack; UK police did "not fully" explain search warrant
• 2011/12/27: IJISH: Tattersall's phantom lawsuit against the Norfolk police -- not even phantom?

  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.
  Meanwhile...
  It is very difficult to know for sure what is really going on at Fukushima. Between the company [TEPCO], the Japanese government, the Japanese regulator [NISA], the international monitor [IAEA], as well as independent analysts and commentators, there is a confusing mish-mash of information. One has to evaluate both the content and the source of new information.
  How knowledgeable are they [about nuclear power and about Japan]?
  Do they have an agenda?
  Are they pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear?
  Do they want to write a good news story?
  Do they want to write a bad news story?
  Where do they rate on a scale of sensationalistic tendencies?
  Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down tendencies?
  One fundamental question I would like to see answered:
  If the reactors are in meltdown, how can they be in cold shutdown?

  Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

• 2012/01/01: JEB: [Jules pix] 1/01/2012 05:05:00 PM
• 2011/12/31: EneNews: Asahi: Top Japan radiation expert instructed by gov't not to go to Fukushima -- "Do not take any unauthorized action"
• 2011/12/30: GRC: Fukushima: Public health Fallout from Japanese Quake
  "Culture of cover-up" and inadequate cleanup. Japanese people exposed to "unconscionable" health risks
• 2011/12/30: EneNews: New Japan gov't report singles out "critical conditions of Unit 3" -- Explosions at reactors were "presumably" caused by hydrogen
• 2011/12/29: EneNews: Radiation forecasts withheld by gov't: Releasing it "would cause unnecessary panic" -- "Ministry DECIDED such data would be unavailable due to loss of power"
• 2011/12/29: EneNews: Fukushima Boss: "The worst-case scenario is a China syndrome" where fuels leaves containment -- Top Gov't Official: Strong possibility fuel outside containment
• 2011/12/28: EneNews: Document shows high-profile nuclear experts under Japan gov't surveillance
• 2011/12/27: STLToday: No-man's land attests to Japan's nuclear nightmare
• 2011/12/28: EneNews: Prime Minister Kan: If Fukushima reactors melted down, its severity "would far exceed that of the Chernobyl accident"
• 2011/12/27: EneNews: AP: Amount of radiation released from Fukushima is still unknown -- Recent studies suggest Japan continues to significantly underestimate scale of disaster
• 2011/12/27: EneNews: Busby: "A criminal event" that gov't failed to reveal true extent of radiation contamination -- "Criminal irresponsibility" -- "Quite a criminal affair" (video)
• 2011/12/28: APR: Fukushima / TEPCO update
• 2011/12/28: BBC: Shares of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) fell on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on fears that the utility provider may be nationalised
• 2011/12/26: EneNews: Confirmed: Tepco to drill hole in Reactor No. 2 containment vessel -- Will start in January (video)
• 2011/12/27: EneNews: Top Japan official: Very strong possibility there is nuclear fuel outside containment vessel (video)
• 2011/12/27: APR: Fukushima Daiichi - brief update
• 2011/12/27: BBC: TEPCO seeks an extra $9bn in aid to pay compensation
  Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has asked the government for an extra 690bn yen ($9bn; £5.6bn) to compensate victims of the nuclear crisis. The firm has already received $7.1bn in public funds, and reports suggest it may have to be nationalised.
  [...]
  TEPCO ... faces almost $100bn in compensation claims.
• 2011/12/26: al Jazeera: Japan nuclear disaster 'response failed'
  Report says workers were untrained to handle emergencies which comes nine months after tsunami-triggered nuclear crisis.
• 2011/12/26: BBC: Fukushima accident: disaster response failed - report
  A lack of preparedness for a disaster and failures in the response to it exacerbated the effects of the nuclear accident at Japan's Fukushima plant in March, a new report says. The government-commissioned study said plant operators and regulators had failed to adequately anticipate a huge tsunami and its likely impact. The interim findings were issued by an independent panel set up in May. More than 20,000 people were killed when an earthquake and tsunami struck.
• 2011/12/27: GRC: Announcement of "Cold Shutdown" of Fukushima Reactors Is Based On a Political Decision, Not Science
• 2011/12/26: CBC: Japan nuclear crisis response riddled with problems -- Report paints disturbing picture of chaos at Fukushima after tsunami damage
• 2011/12/26: CNN: Japan's nuclear response filled with errors, says [interim government] report
  Errors and miscommunication plagued Japan's nuclear response - Report says nuclear workers weren't trained well enough for nuclear accidents - A final report is expected in 2012
• 2011/12/26: NYT: Report Condemns Japan's Response to Nuclear Accident
  From inspectors who abandoned the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as it succumbed to disaster to a delay in disclosing radiation leaks, Japan's response to the nuclear accident caused by the March tsunami fell tragically short, a government-appointed investigative panel said on Monday. The problems, which the panel said had exacerbated the extent of the disaster, were outlined in a 500-page interim report detailing an investigation into Japan's response to the calamitous events that unfolded at the Fukushima plant after the March 11 quake and tsunami knocked out all of the site's power. Three of the plant's six reactors overheated and suffered fuel meltdowns, and hydrogen explosions blew the tops off three reactor buildings, leading to a massive leak of radiation at levels not seen since Chernobyl in 1986.
• 2011/12/26: EneNews: NYTimes: Devastating gov't failure -- Entire communities exposed to harmful radiation
• 2011/12/26: EneNews: Fukushima Probe: Nuclear disaster far from over -- Gov't evaded admitting meltdowns and delayed disclosure of radiation data
• 2011/12/26: EneNews: Chief investigator rips Japan nuke agency for evacuating Fukushima plant after quake -- 'Ordered' to return by gov't
• 2011/12/26: EneNews: Mainichi: No one believes gov't that Fukushima crisis is under control -- "Widespread mistrust"
• 2011/12/25: EneNews: Gundersen thinks melted core will get through containment and hit water (audio)

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

• 2011/12/28: SacBee: Report: US nuclear renaissance unlikely after Fukushima
• 2011/12/29: EneNews: Former NRC Member: US nuclear renaissance is imploding -- Fukushima should not be wished away
• 2011/12/28: EneNews: LA Times: US 'nuclear renaissance' short-circuited by Fukushima, study finds -- "Clear that we are witnessing not a revival but a collapse" says legal expert

  The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

• 2011/12/30: ASI: On the fringes

  That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

• 2011/12/29: GEP: Arctic Methane, Emergencies, and Alarmism
• 2011/12/29: ITracker: Revkin vs Revkin: the final battle
• 2011/12/28: KSJT: NYTimes DotEarth: The rest of that Siberian continental shelf methane story
• 2011/12/27: ITracker: Semiletov and Shakhova report
• 2011/12/25: ITracker: Alaska methane levels spike

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2011/12/28: TStar: Russia pulling ahead in the Arctic
• 2011/12/28: al Jazeera: The dragon looks north
  China grows hungry for Arctic resources and shipping routes as northern ice melts.

While in Antarctica:

• 2011/12/29: ScienceInsider: NSF Picks Lockheed for Huge Antarctic Support Contract
• 2011/12/28: NatureN: Tracking the magnetic south pole -- Return to Scott's Antarctic camp marks 100-year anniversary. [misc sci]
• 2011/12/27: P3: All Time Record at South Pole

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2011/12/30: GG&G: Heat, Humidity and Crop Yields
• 2011/12/29: ProMedMail: Bacterial ring rot, potato - Netherlands (South)
• 2011/10/11: IFPRI: [link to 3.7 meg pdf] 2011 Global Hunger Index

  Food Prices are still problematic:

• FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
• 2011/12/29: NBF: Billionaire investor [Jim Rogers] is bullish on agricultural commodities and bearish on all stocks for the next 2-3 years

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2011/12/29: CCurrents: Food For Fuel, A Sure Way Of Creating A Hunger Crisis

  So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

• 2011/12/31: TreeHugger: Another Shady Land Deal in Africa, This One Assisted By the U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania
• 2011/12/31: OpenDem: The great Ethiopian land-grab: feudalism, leninism, neo-liberalism ... plus ça change by René Lefort
  Land in Ethiopia is being leased to agro-industry investors on very long terms and below market rates. The beneficiaries have good political connections. But then land has been the play-thing of centralising authoritarians throughout Ethiopia's recent history.

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

• 2011/12/27: KSJT: Post-holiday doldrums: Genetically modified corn a bust. Better luck w/ chicken-o-saurus

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

• 2011/12/28: FAO: Mozambique: Better seeds for better crops -- FAO and European Union help strengthen Mozambique's seed sector
• 2011/12/28: UN: New UN initiative to boost Mozambican crop yields
• 2011/12/27: UN: UN refugee agency distributes winter supplies to needy Afghan families
• 2011/12/27: AllAfrica:IRIN: WFP Buy Local Scheme Helps Farmers

  In the Indian ocean, Cyclone Benilde stayed at sea, while Cyclone Thane zapped the subcontinent:

• 2011/12/31: CNN: India death toll climbs in wake of Cyclone Thane
  Some 7,000 people seek refuge in emergency shelters in the district of Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu - The death toll in Cuddalore has risen to 27, a local official says - The storm has weakened and is now dousing Kerala and surrounding areas with heavy rain
• 2011/12/31: ABC(Au): Cyclone kills 33 in southern India
• 2011/12/31: CBC: Cyclone Thane kills 42 on India's southeast coast -- 20,000 people evacuated to relief camps
  Heavy rains and winds unleashed by a cyclone over India's southeastern coast killed at least 42 people and damaged hundreds of homes, officials and news reports said Saturday. Cyclone Thane struck Tamil Nadu state and the territory of Puducherry on Friday before weakening overnight, the India Meteorological Department said.
• 2011/12/31: al Jazeera: Death toll rises in southern India cyclone
  At least 33 people killed after Cyclone Thane hits the south, prompting the evacuation of many coastal villagers.
• 2011/12/30: CNN: Cyclone [Thane] pummels eastern Indian coast, kills 19
  The storm uprooted trees and sent debris flying through the air - Meteorologists forecast heavy rainfall and high winds across the region - Fisherman are told to stay at home for the day as Thane whips up high seas - Damage is expected to palm-thatched homes, trees and crops in coastal areas
• 2011/12/30: al Jazeera: Deadly Cyclone Thane hits southern India
  Eleven people killed as storm reaches wind speeds as high as 125kph, bringing with it tidal surges of up to 1.5 metres.

Typhoon Grant bothered the Northern Territory of Australia:

• 2011/12/28: al Jazeera: Australia has a wild Christmas
  Tropical Cyclone Grant brings Christmas day mayhem to northern Australia with wild weather for the Gold Coast and SE.
• 2011/12/27: ABC(Au): Cyclone Grant likely to reform over Gulf
  Ex-Tropical Cyclone Grant is expected to reform into a category one cyclone on Thursday as it moves across the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a new tropical cyclone watch which predicts Grant, about 95 kilometres south of Jabiru, will begin moving east tomorrow.
• 2011/12/27: ABC(Au): Two injured after train derails in cyclone flooding
  Two men have been injured after they were trapped in a freight train that was swept off a bridge near Katherine, south of Darwin. The 20-carriage train derailed near the Edith Falls River Crossing in floodwaters caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Grant.
• 2011/12/27: ABC(Au): Cyclone Grant downgraded to tropical low
• 2011/12/26: BBC: Train derailed, two swept from car in Australia floods
  A freight train has been derailed and two people were swept from their car in flooding that struck Australia's Northern Territory. Two crew members were hurt when the freight train was derailed from a bridge near Katherine, south of Darwin.

And the Philippines is still reeling from Tropical Storm Sendong, aka Typhoon Washi:

• 2011/12/29: CNN: Donations pour into Philippines in wake of deadly storm
  Foreign aid has reached $12.6 million - 19 nations across the world have made or pledged donations - 1,257 people died in the storm - Tropical storm Sendong struck the weekend of December 17
• 2011/12/28: UN: Philippines: UN grant enables agencies to give help to storm survivors
• 2011/12/27: UN: Philippines: UN targets children's needs in areas hit by deadly tropical storm
• 2011/12/27: ABC(Au): Philippines death toll rises after grim ocean find
• 2011/12/27: BBC: Philippines Typhoon Washi death toll reaches 1,249
• 2011/12/27: al Jazeera: Philippine flood death toll surges
  Figure jumps to [1,453], and likely to rise further, as many bodies remain buried in the debris in country's south.
• 2011/12/26: CBC: Philippines widens storm search as deaths pass 1,200 -- 60,000 homeless after villagers survive Christmas in packed schools
• 2011/12/26: CNN: Death toll mounts from storm in Philippines as bodies wash ashore [1,249 dead, 1,079 missing]
  The death toll from Tropical Storm Washi has risen to 1,249, a government official says - The authorities have enlisted the help of local fishermen to search for survivors - The number of people injured by the storm has more than doubled, the government says - The U.N. has made an appeal to raise $28 million to deal with the 'huge' humanitarian needs

As for GHGs:

• 2011/12/29: S&R: Climate Science for Everyone: Why 3% annually is actually a lot of carbon dioxide

  As for the temperature record:

• 2011/12/30: BBC: 2011 is UK's second warmest year on record - Met Office
• 2011/12/28: CBC: Temperature records fall in balmy B.C. -- Records tumble after standing for more than 30 years

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2011/12/26: Eureka: Over 65 million years North American mammal evolution has tracked with climate change -- Rise and fall of groups of fauna driven by temperature

  Regarding Climate Sensitivity:

• 2011/12/30: TSoD: Measuring Climate Sensitivity - Part Three - Eddy Diffusivity

  What's up with volcanoes this week?

• 2011/12/30: ABC(Au): Alaskan volcano belches cloud of ash

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2011/12/28: ITracker: Minor myths: Do some economists think global warming will be beneficial?

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2011/12/29: NatureN: Citizen scientists' climate-impact survey wraps up -- Forest-monitoring project has measured 150,000 trees and provided researchers with reams of data
• 2011/12/18: AlterNet: The Dark Side of Reforestation Programs: Planting 7,000 Trees a Day in Brutal Conditions [vid]

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2011/12/26: al Jazeera: Thousands lose power in storm-hit Scandinavia
  Strong winds sweep across Sweden, Norway and Finland in one of the region's worst storms in 30 years.
• 2011/12/25: BBC: Winds of up to 101mph recorded in the Northern Isles

  This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

• 2012/01/01: Grist: 'Like being on steroids': PBS links extreme weather to climate
• 2011/12/29: TP:JR: PBS Covers Link Between 2011's "Mind-Boggling" Extreme Weather and Global Warming: "It's Like Being on Steroids"
• 2011/12/26: TreeHugger: Is The Extreme Weather This Year Due To Climate Change?

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2011/12/30: CSM: Forest fire cuts across Chilean Patagonia
• 2011/12/31: al Jazeera: Huge fire forces Chile to close national park Torres del Paine National Park, a popular tourist spot, will remain shut through January, the president announced.
• 2011/12/30: BBC: Chile forest fire ravages Torres del Paine Park - 85 sq km (21,000 acres) destroyed
  The authorities in Chile have closed one of the country's most popular national parks as a massive forest fire continues to rage through the area.
• 2011/12/30: BBC: Model unlocks human impact on Africa's fire regimes
  A model has helped shed light on how human-started fires shaped Africa's landscape, researchers report. Before human activity became widespread, most fires were caused by lightning strikes during the continent's wet seasons, they said. As the human population expanded, more fires occurred during the dry season, triggering a shift in the impact of fires on Africa's ecology, they added.

Glaciers are melting:

• 2011/12/30: NatureN: Taking the pulse of a shrinking glacier [Exploradores Glacier] -- Scientists in Chile hike over plains of snow to recover valuable data
• 2011/12/27: CDreams: No Time Left to Adapt to Melting Glaciers
• 2011/12/27: TreeHugger: Peru's Glaciers Melting, Decreasing Water Supply 20 Years Earlier Than Expected
• 2011/12/26: Grist: How climate change shows up in ancient, Tolkien-esque myths
• 2011/12/26: SciAm:HoG: Cursed Glaciers
• 2011/12/25: BBC: Taking the pulse of Ngozumpa
  Ngozumpa Glacier in Nepal snakes away from the sixth highest mountain in the world, Cho Oyo.
  [...]
  ...some 25km from the mountain, an enormous lake is growing behind a mound of dumped rock fragments. This lake, called Spillway, has the potential to be about 6km long, 1km wide and 100m deep. The concern is that this great mass of water could eventually breach the debris dam and hurtle down the valley, sweeping away the Sherpa villages in its path.

Sea levels are rising:

• 2011/12/30: CCP: A tide of concern is rising over risk of storm surges in New York City
• 2011/12/27: ArsTechnica: Under pressure: raising Venice above water (using... water?)

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2011/12/29: JFleck: A Positive Spin on Texas Drought?
• 2011/12/27: TP:JR: Portraits of the Southwest in the Shadow of Drought

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2011/12/29: QuarkSoup: Burton Richter Makes Sense
• 2011/12/28: ITracker: Let me count the ways

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2011/12/28: BBC: China bullet train crash 'caused by design flaws'
  A bullet train crash which killed 40 people in China in July was caused by design flaws and sloppy management, the Chinese government says. Almost 200 people were injured in the crash near the south-eastern city of Wenzhou. "Missteps" by 54 officials led to the disaster, the long-awaited official report says.
• 2011/12/27: CalcRisk: DOT: Vehicle Miles Driven declined 2.3% in October
• 2011/12/27: Grist: Driving has lost its cool for young Americans
• 2011/12/27: NBF: Test high speed train made of plastic reinforced with carbon fiber can hit 500 km/h

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

• 2011/12/27: TreeHugger: Classic Timbrel Vaults Built With Computers and 3D Routers, Reinventing A Minimalist Technology

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2011/12/26: PostMedia: Underground carbon-capture technique found to be safe - but costly
  An international team of scientists including Simon Fraser University groundwater special Dirk Kirske has proven that capturing carbon dioxide and storing it underground can be a safe and effective way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions over thousands, even millions of years.
  [...]
  An ExxonMobil study on future costs of the world's electricity shows that generating electricity from coal, now the cheapest source of electricity, would double in cost in a world of carbon capture and storage (CCS). It would become more expensive to capture CO2 from coal and store it underground than to do nothing and pay a $60 a tonne for carbon-emissions penalty...

Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2011/12/31: AGWObserver: Papers on new year fireworks and atmosphere
• 2011/12/27: PNAS: (ab$) Niche specialization of terrestrial archaeal ammonia oxidizers by Cécile Gubry-Rangin et al.
• 2011/12/27: PNAS: (ab$) Genome diversity in wild grasses under environmental stress by Timothy L. Fitzgerald et al.
• 2011/12/27: PNAS: (ab$) Resilience and stability in bird guilds across tropical countryside by Daniel S. Karp et al.
• 2011/12/27: PNAS: (ab$) Cumulative impacts of mountaintop mining on an Appalachian watershed by T. Ty Lindberg et al.
• 2011/12/27: PNAS: (ab$) Solar hydrogen-producing bionanodevice outperforms natural photosynthesis by Carolyn E. Lubner et al.
• 2011/12/27: PNAS: (ab$) Direct evidence of quantum transport in photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes by Gitt Panitchayangkoon et al.
• 2011/12/27: PNAS: (ab$) Carbon and sulfur back flux during anaerobic microbial oxidation of methane and coupled sulfate reduction by Thomas Holler et al.
• 2011/12/26: AGWObserver: New research from last week 51/2011

  And other significant documents:

• 2011/12/27: TCoE: Doc alert: Response to climate change in NY State
• 2011/10/11: IFPRI: [link to 3.7 meg pdf] 2011 Global Hunger Index

  Regarding Hansen:

• 2011/12/30: CCP: James Hansen: Limiting human-caused warming to 2 degrees is not sufficient. It would be a prescription for disaster

  Regarding Curry:

• 2011/12/30: CQ: Curry on dragonslaying
• 2011/12/30: ITracker: Curry, Burgess-Jackson & Pangloss (2011)
• 2011/12/28: CQ: Judith Curry on weak methodologies and important insights

  There is a steady dribble of 2012 Rio Conference news releases:

• 2011/12/29: CCurrents: Rio+20 Needs To Address The Downsides of Growth

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2011/12/29: Reuters: Analysts slash CO2 price forecasts as slowdown seen - poll
  Analysts have slashed their average price forecasts for European Union and U.N. carbon for next year and beyond as prospects of a slowing global economy and permit oversupply concerns persist, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday. Analysts cut their average forecasts for prices of EU Allowances (EUAs) in the first half of 2012 by 30 percent to 9.33 euros ($12.08) a tonne versus a poll a month earlier. Forecasts for EUA prices in the 2013-2020 trading period, known as the third phase, were reduced by nearly a third to 16.16 euros a tonne. Carbon prices have lost about half their value this year, as the euro zone's fiscal crisis crippled demand in a market that many analysts say is oversupplied with hundreds of millions of EUAs and U.N.-backed credits.
• 2011/12/30: BBerg: Record Surge in [UN] CO2 Credits May Hamper 2012 Price Rebound: Energy Markets

  The Robin Hood tax, aka the Tobin tax, aka the Bank tax, aka the Financial Transaction tax keeps coming up:

• 2011/12/25: Reuters: Schaeuble vows to push for financial transaction tax
  German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble vowed in an interview published on Sunday to push ahead for a financial transaction tax in the European Union in 2012 despite objections from Britain that it could harm London as a global financial centre.
• 2011/12/25: CalcRisk: Germany's Schaeuble pushes for Financial Transaction Tax

  Several oil &/ gas stories on the international political front:

• 2011/12/29: EUO: Cyprus discovers gas at first search
• 2011/12/28: PeakEnergy: Chinese to develop Afghan oil field
• 2011/12/31: BBC: Obama signs Iran sanctions bill into law
  US President Barack Obama has signed into law a major defence bill including tough new sanctions against Iran
• 2011/12/28: NBF: Iran threatens Strait of Hormuz but US Fifth Fleet says disruption will not be tolerated
• 2011/12/27: WiC: Iran threatens to close Strait of Hormuz if West imposes oil sanctions

  While in the solar trade war between China and the USA:

• 2011/12/28: PlanetArk: U.S. Delays Decision In China Solar Case Until Feb
  The U.S. Commerce Department is giving itself an extra month to investigate charges of unfair Chinese government subsidies in a case brought by the U.S. unit of German solar energy company SolarWorld, a department official said on Friday.

What are the activists up to?

• 2011/12/29: CCurrents: Confessions Of A Recovering Environmentalist

  Polls! We have polls!

• 2011/12/29: NI/P: Majority supports Keystone XL, or do they?

  Regarding Water Politics and Business:

• 2011/12/31: JFleck: Finishing out a dry 2011
• 2011/12/31: BPA: Why are we Depleting and Polluting the Ogallala Aquifer to Manufacture Ethanol?
• 2011/12/29: NYT: China Proceeds on Plan for Disputed Yangtze Dam
• 2011/12/29: JFleck: Housing and water: a year later, are we closer to an answer?
• 2011/12/29: Grist: Can the 2012 Farm Bill protect the Ogallala Aquifer?
• 2011/12/11: AlterNet: The Shocking Republican Attack on the Environment and Our Drinking Water

  And on the groundwater front:

• 2011/12/28: TCoE: Tracking water on the move [groundwater]

  And on the American political front:

• 2011/12/31: TreeHugger: Energy Independence is Dead And You'll Never Hear "Drill Baby Drill" Again
• 2011/12/31: Grist: Top 6 U.S. climate-policy happenings of 2011
• 2011/12/30: P3: Texas's Environment in 2011
• 2011/12/30: QuarkSoup: America's Science Decline - Neil deGrasse Tyson
• 2011/12/30: RE: Lights Going off in US Cities in Order to Save Money
• 2011/12/29: NYT: Darker Nights as Some Cities Turn Off the Lights
• 2011/12/28: AutoBG: Three federal electric vehicle incentives expiring at end of 2011
• 2011/12/26: McClatchyDC: Book examines America's turn from science, warns of danger for democracy
• 2011/12/27: CCP: Virginia conspiracy theorists oppose preparations for climate-related sea-level rise, attempt to derail long-range planning mitigation and adaptation efforts [US pol]
• 2011/12/27: TreeHugger: Vermont Plans For 90% Of Its Energy From Renewable Sources By 2050
• 2011/12/11: AlterNet: The Shocking Republican Attack on the Environment and Our Drinking Water

  The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

• 2011/12/29: CSM: Gulf oil spill could result in criminal charges for BP employees

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

• 2011/12/31: Grist: Gingrich scraps planned book chapter on climate change
• 2011/12/29: TheHill:e2W: GOP candidates urged to accept climate change by scientists
  Fifty New Hampshire scientists Thursday called on the Republican presidential candidates to accept the "overwhelming" scientific evidence behind climate change. The scientists issued the joint statement just weeks before the Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary, a key early test for the GOP White House hopefuls.
• 2011/12/28: WiseLaw: Scary, Dumb Republicans
• 2011/12/27: AutoBG: Mitt Romney: Chevy Volt an "idea whose time has not come"
• 2011/12/27: CSM: Could Romney 'train' be derailed by Gingrich? Perry? Someone new?
• 2011/12/27: BDL: Rick Perry: "State's Rights? We Don't Need No Stinking State's Rights!"
• 2011/12/27: Guardian(UK): Vote Obama -- if you want a centrist Republican for US president
  Because Barack Obama has adopted so many core Republican beliefs, the US opposition race is a shambles
• 2011/12/26: AlterNet: 5 Reasons Newt Gingrich Will Be Nothing But a Footnote in History
• 2011/12/24: SST: Ron Paul - No.

  The Keystone XL decision is still in play:

• 2011/12/30: Rabble: No time to sleep on the Keystone XL pipeline
• 2011/12/30: DeSmogBlog: The Year In Dirty Energy: Keystone XL
• 2011/12/29: NI/P: Majority supports Keystone XL, or do they?
• 2011/12/29: CBC: Nebraska issues map of sensitive Sandhills area
  TransCanada says map will help pin down alternate route for Keystone XL pipeline
• 2011/12/27: JaredB: The Key to Keystone
• 2011/12/26: Grist: As Keystone XL victory looms, a 'top enviro' games out how to lose
• 2011/12/27: PostMedia: Keystone XL pipeline a saga full of twists
  Oil pipelines used to rank up there with Ed Stelmach's speeches at the top of the Bore-O-Meter scale. No longer. The battle over the fate of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipe-line has yielded more twists than a Hollywood thriller. Once dubbed a "no-brainer" by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the proposed $7-billion pipeline to transport as much as 830,000 barrels a day of oilsands crude from northern Alberta to the Gulf Coast was expected to win U.S. approval by the end of 2011. But that was before a media-savvy coalition of Nebraska ranchers, U.S. environmentalists and Hollywood activists pressured President Barack Obama to delay a decision until after the 2012 presidential election.

Still some talk about the EPA's new mercury rules:

• 2011/12/28: TP:JR: New EPA Mercury Rules Are a Bona Fide Big Deal
• 2011/12/24: SF Gate: EPA curb, at last, on coal emissions is welcome
• 2011/12/26: EnvEcon: Something good from Krugman this morning

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2011/12/29: AutoBG: EPA boosts production goal for advanced, cellulosic biofuels by more than a third
• 2011/12/28: Grist: Scrooged: FDA gives up on antibiotic restrictions in livestock
• 2011/12/29: TreeHugger: FDA Backtracks On Anti-Antibiotics Pledge - All While Public Is Distracted By Holidays
  Making the Twitter rounds this morning thanks to @MichaelPollan is the news that the FDA has backtracked on a pledge to withdraw its approval of putting penicillin and tetracyclines in animal feeds; and apparently didn't want to make a big deal of the reneging, not announcing the move, just publishing it in the Federal Register right before Christmas holiday--when no one in the public and few in the news media are paying attention to much of anything other than the holiday itself.
• 2011/12/27: CSW: NOAA scientific integrity policy, Part 2: Stronger whistleblower protections still needed
• 2011/12/26: CSW: NOAA scientific integrity policy, Part 1: Scientists' communication freedom still limited by Commerce Dept restrictions
• 2011/12/25: AzCentral: Solar [PV] project would use less land, water
  The federal government has approved a proposal to build a solar-energy project near Buckeye, a decision wilderness advocates cheered for safeguards to land use and water. The project, to be built in the Rainbow Valley near Arizona 85, will produce 300 megawatts of electricity at full power...

As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2011/12/31: TP:JR: The Top 10 Anti-Environmental Things Congress Did in 2011
• 2011/12/27: TPM: Congress Actually Ends Taxpayer Funding Of Ethanol Subsidies
• 2011/12/25: TheHill:e2W: As winter approaches, Congress cuts funds for home heating help
• 2011/12/26: Grist: Politics blocks scientists from explaining why this year's weather was record bad
• 2011/12/25: AlterNet: Frozen Out: Is Congress About to Slash Heating Assistance Funds Just as Temperatures Plummet?

  What are the lobbyists pushing?

• 2011/12/27: Grist: Pepsi spends $3 million a year so laws don't come between corn syrup and your kids

  While in the UK:

• 2011/12/30: Guardian(UK): UK investment in green energy stagnates at £2.5bn
• 2011/12/30: BBC: UK issues offshore drilling licences
  The UK government has awarded 46 new exploratory drilling licenses to firms, including Shell and Centrica, looking for oil and gas. The awards were initially held back due to environmental concerns. However the government says it is now confident exploring in the regions, including the English Channel, North Sea and West of Shetland, is safe.
• 2011/12/28: Guardian(UK): UK switch to low-carbon energy will cost £5,000 per person a year
  Prediction using unique calculator challenges view that sustainable energy means higher costs
• 2011/12/27: BBC: World 'dangerously unprepared' for future disasters
  Some countries' failure to pay into a UN disaster relief fund is leaving the world "dangerously unprepared" for future crises, Andrew Mitchell says. The [UK International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell] said several countries had not donated to the Central Emergency Response Fund, aimed at speeding-up relief delivery.

And in Europe:

• 2011/12/29: Guardian(UK): EU warns wasting environmental resources could spark new recession
  Janez Potocenik, European Union commissoner for green affairs, says unless habits change scarcity could see prices spike

In Canada, a touching bit of honesty from Stephane Dion:

• 2011/12/30: PostMedia: Canada's climate change plan 'farce,' says Stephane Dion [interview]

  Green Party leader, Elizabeth May, looks ahead:

• 2011/12/19: GreenPoC: Looking Ahead by Elizabeth May

  Regarding Canada and Kyoto:

• 2011/12/28: PostMedia: A climate victory we may regret
  The year 2011 had better not go down in history as one in which Canada skated progress on climate change into the boards. Because if it does, the Harper government has made an all-in wager that global warming is not being aggravated by human beings, and that proof positive of this fact will soon be established in a new global consensus. And if that reckless Texas hold'em bet proves a loser, there won't enough public relations firms on the planet to sell a more positive picture of Alberta's energy industry, or of our Canadian commitment to fighting change to the political, environmental and meteorological environment on which our prosperity depends.
• 2011/12/13: GreenPoC:EMay: Kyoto withdrawal: There must be a political price to be paid

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

• 2011/12/26: TheCanadian: Beyond Cohen: Salmon Issue Must Follow Path of Oil Tanker Resistance - Uniting First Nations, Conservationists, Citizens
• 2011/12/30: NI/P: Vancouver Sun practices conscious deceit
• 2011/12/27: PostMedia: Ottawa concerned about slow pace of Northern Gateway pipeline hearings
  Federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver is "concerned about excess delays" in the public hearing process for a proposed pipeline that would carry Alberta oil to tankers off the west coast of British Columbia. In an email Tuesday, Oliver responded to questions about newly public documents that show as recently as September politicians in Ottawa expected hearings on the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project to be completed by mid-2012. In December, the joint review panel evaluating environmental and safety impacts of the pipeline released a hearing schedule which makes room for as many as 4,000 people to present evidence between January 2012 and April 2013. The new schedule pushes any final decision on Gateway back by at least a year.
• 2011/12/28: LFPress: Keystone pipeline strategy up in smoke
• 2011/12/26: NI/P: More Enbridge mischief exposed
• 2011/12/27: PostMedia: Keystone XL pipeline a saga full of twists
  Oil pipelines used to rank up there with Ed Stelmach's speeches at the top of the Bore-O-Meter scale. No longer. The battle over the fate of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipe-line has yielded more twists than a Hollywood thriller. Once dubbed a "no-brainer" by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the proposed $7-billion pipeline to transport as much as 830,000 barrels a day of oilsands crude from northern Alberta to the Gulf Coast was expected to win U.S. approval by the end of 2011. But that was before a media-savvy coalition of Nebraska ranchers, U.S. environmentalists and Hollywood activists pressured President Barack Obama to delay a decision until after the 2012 presidential election.

BC is wrangling over energy:

• 2011/12/28: ProPublica: Oh, Canada's Become a Home for Record Fracking
• 2011/12/28: NI/P: BC Government: Frack the barriers to pollution
• 2011/12/28: TiaW: Fracking Gone Wild
• 2011/12/26: CBC: Tsunami debris already arriving, B.C. mayor says -- Debris field size of California washing across Pacific Ocean

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2011/12/29: PostMedia: Alberta sees oilsands tours as way to educate skeptics -- Visits extended to December in bid to counter criticism
• 2011/12/28: CBC: Athabasca's MacKay River oilsands project OK'd
  Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. says it has received full approval from Alberta regulators for the MacKay River oilsands project, a joint venture between the company and a Chinese energy giant. Athabasca said Wednesday that the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board and Alberta Environment and Water had approved the MacKay River commercial oilsands project in northern Alberta. The project is 40 per cent owned by Athabasca (TSX:ATH) and 60 per cent by PetroChina International Investments Co. Ltd.
• 2011/12/28: TP:JR: Satellite Photos Illustrate Dramatic Expansion of Canadian Tar Sands
• 2011/12/29: PostMedia: Chiquita's backtracking is too little, too late
• 2011/12/28: SciAm:PI: Growth of the Alberta tar sands from 1984 to 2011
• 2011/12/22: NatGeo: Pictures: Satellite Views of Canada's Oil Sands Over Time

  Also in Alberta:

• 2011/12/25: G&M: In [Premier Alison] Redford's Alberta, tailpipe emissions a bigger concern than oil sands pollution

  Ontario has it's Green Energy Act, the election is over...now comes the implementation:

• 2011/12/13: TStar: Anti-wind power website goes silent
• 2011/12/27: BCLSB: Whither Wind Concerns?

  In the North:

• 2011/12/26: PostMedia: RCAF eyes Resolute Bay for new Arctic base
  The Royal Canadian Air Force has looked at a major expansion of Resolute Bay as it considers transforming it into a key base for Arctic operations, according to documents obtained by the Citizen.

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

• 2011/12/29: SciDevNet: Corporate monopolies 'may dominate green economy'
• 2011/12/30: EnergyBulletin: In with the new: part III of "As economic growth fails, how do we live?"
• 2011/12/28: EnergyBulletin: The future needs an attitude adjustment

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

• 2011/12/29: CCurrents: Population Growth: The Problem In Real Terms
• 2011/12/28: AlterNet: 5 Dirty Tricks Right-Wing Zealots Will Likely Try Next in Their Battle to Control Women
• 2011/12/28: CBD: "Hump Smarter Hotline" Puts You in the Mood to Save Endangered Species
• 2011/12/27: AlterNet: The GOP's 10 Most Extreme Attacks on Women

  Apocalypso anyone?

• 2011/12/30: Grist: The city, stripped down: How ruin porn can help rebuild the Rust Belt
• 2011/12/26: ERabett: End of the year odds - Eli cleans the attic

  How do the media measure up?

• 2011/12/31: MTobis: Opinion: Narrative and Story
• 2011/12/30: NI/P: Vancouver Sun practices conscious deceit
• 2011/12/27: HC: Michael Buerk what a berk

  Here is something for your library:

• 2011/12/28: HotTopic: [Book Review] _Politics of Climate Justice: Paralysis Above, Movement Below_ by Patrick Bond
• 2011/12/28: WiC: Book examines America's turn from science, warns of danger for democracy

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2011/12/30: PSinclair: 2011: A Year of Extreme Weather
• 2011/12/30: PSinclair: "Occupy Coal" in China
• 2011/12/28: TP:JR: Two Senate Climate Hawks Team Up for a Must-See Colloquy
• 2011/12/27: AFTIC: Science and Distortion [Schneider]

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2011/12/30: TreeHugger: California's Low Carbon Fuel Rule Rejected By Federal Judge As Unconstitutional
• 2011/12/30: BBerg: California Low-Carbon Fuel Standard is Blocked by U.S. Judge
• 2011/12/30: AutoBG: CARB's "extreme" low-carbon fuel rules deemed unconstitutional
• 2011/12/29: CBC: California's low-carbon fuels mandate blocked
  A federal judge moved Thursday to block California from enforcing its first-in-the-nation mandate for cleaner, low-carbon fuels, saying the rules favor biofuels produced in the state. The lawsuit challenging the state regulations, which were adopted as part of the state's landmark 2006 global warming law, was filed in federal court last year by a coalition including the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association and the Consumer Energy Alliance. Fresno-based U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence O'Neill's written ruling Thursday said the low-carbon fuel rules violated the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause by discriminating against crude oil and biofuels producers located outside California.

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

• 2011/12/30: TP:JR: Creative Ways Utilities Are Attracting Customers
• 2011/12/28: PeakEnergy: Giant tidal device set for tests off Orkney
• 2011/12/27: NBF: Nuclear, coal and other energy news
• 2011/12/27: SoberLook: Six common myths about global and US energy issues
• 2011/12/26: SwissInfo: Heat from the ground, it's there for the taking
  To heat a building using the least energy possible, simply use its foundations to draw heat from the earth. It's an idea gaining traction thanks to a Swiss laboratory.

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

• 2011/12/31: G&M: Fracking wastewater might have caused Ohio quake
• 2011/12/31: QuarkSoup: Some Blame Hydraulic Fracturing for Earthquake Epidemic - NYTimes.com
• 2011/12/31: DeSmogBlog: The Year In Dirty Energy: Fracking
• 2011/12/29: Slate: What the Frack?
  Is there really 100 years' worth of natural gas beneath the United States?
• 2011/12/29: Grist: Don't count on that shale gas revolution
• 2011/12/28: ProPublica: Oh, Canada's Become a Home for Record Fracking

  On the coal front:

• 2011/12/29: DeSmogBlog: The Year In Dirty Energy: Coal

  On the gas and oil front:

• 2011/12/30: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Nymex Crude Future...98.83
  Dated Brent Spot.....107.58
  WTI Cushing Spot.....98.83
• 2012/01/01: OilDrum: Tech Talk - Some Thoughts on Current and Perceived Oil and Natural Gas Supply
• 2011/12/28: CCurrents: Saving Gas: A New Look At The Oil-Economy Connection
• 2011/12/27: DemNow: Oil Slick from Massive Spill in Nigeria Threatens Coastline, May Be Largest Spill in a Decade
• 2011/12/26: EnergyBulletin: Bakken shale and U.S. oil production

  In the fossil fuel corps:

• 2011/12/27: BBC: Petroplus shares fall 40% after $1bn credit freeze
  Petroplus Holdings, Europe's largest independent oil refiner, has revealed its lenders have frozen $1bn (£638m; 764m euros) in credit facilities. In a statement, the Swiss-based firm said the revolving credit lines were "critical" for business. Petroplus shares fell as much as 40% on Tuesday and have lost 83% since the start of the year. It said it was "evaluating strategic options" in order to try to maintain its refining and marketing operations. Demand for fuels has weakened in the sluggish global economy, cutting profits and leading to temporary closures, sales and conversion of refineries into storage sites.

And in pipeline news:

• 2011/12/31: BBC: Putin brings forward South Stream gas pipeline build
  Russia has brought forward to late 2012 from 2013 the start date for building a pipeline to transport gas to Europe under the Black Sea, bypassing Ukraine.
• 2011/12/29: EUO: Moscow reaches Southstream agreement with Ankara
• 2011/12/28: BBC: South Stream pipeline gets Turkey green light
  Turkey has given permission for the South Stream gas pipeline to be built across its territories, giving the project a clear run into the lucrative energy markets of Europe. The pipeline will transport Russian gas to Europe under the Black Sea. It will now be able to bypass Ukraine, which had failed to reach an agreement with the pipeline's owners. Gazprom has a 50% stake in the project, Italy's Eni 20% and France's EDF and Germany's Wintershall 15% each.

Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2011/12/29: BRitholtz: End of Corn Ethanol?
• 2011/12/28: ERabett:BDS: Ending ethanol subsidies, still working on the technology
• 2011/12/27: AutoBG: 30-year-old corn ethanol subsidy nixed by Washington

  The answer my friend...:

• 2011/12/30: DerSpiegel: Stress on the High Seas -- Germany's Wind Power Revolution in the Doldrums
  The construction of offshore wind parks in the North Sea has hit a snag with a vital link to the onshore power grid hopelessly behind schedule. The delays have some reconsidering the ability of wind power to propel Germany into the post-nuclear era.
• 2011/12/25: PostMedia: Winds of change blowing for turbine makers
  Huge overcapacity and weak demand mean Chinese wind turbine makers, among the world's largest, are set for lower revenue and profits for at least the next two years. China had more than 80 wind turbine makers as of 2010, capable of producing over 40 Gigawatts, yet wind equipment demand is expected to be just 15 GW a year.
• 2011/12/26: TechRev: Flying Windmills -- A small company is taking an unusual tack to produce cheaper wind energy

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2011/12/30: al Jazeera: Solar power lights up Bangladesh
  Much of Bangladesh's rural population lived without electricity until low power solar systems transformed their lives.
• 2011/12/29: TreeHugger: Germany's Solar Power Output Up 60% in 2011
• 2011/12/28: PlanetArk: Total Merges Solar Units, Ups SunPower Stake
  U.S. solar panel maker SunPower Corp, a unit of French oil major Total, said it had agreed to buy Total-owned Tenesol for $165.4 million in cash in an expected deal that will regroup the French group's solar business under one umbrella.
• 2011/12/28: Grist:Map shows when rooftop solar will be cheaper than grid electricity
• 2011/12/27: TreeHugger: Large-Scale Solar Continues to Proliferate. 10 Major Announcements Last Week
• 2011/12/28: TreeHugger: Pay-As-You-Go Solar Power Brings Clean Electricity To Off-The-Grid India
• 2011/12/23: SciAm: Quantum Dots and More Used to Beat Efficiency Limit of Solar Cells
  New approaches, not yet ready for a rooftop near you, explore simple designs that are different from what's out there
• 2011/12/27: TreeHugger: Black Silicon Solar Tech Comes Of Age

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2011/12/26: JapanToday: Genkai No. 4 reactor shut down; only 6 [of 54] reactors now operating in Japan

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2011/12/29: TP:JR: Broader + Deeper = Greater Savings in Energy Efficiency
• 2011/12/27: TP:JR: Turbocharging Energy Efficiency 1: Utility Efficiency Program Budgets Double to $5.4 Billion

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

• 2011/12/30: AutoBG: Chevy Volt is paid for and fueled by solar power
• 2011/12/29: SciAm:Obs: First Fast-Charging Station for E-Cars Goes Live as Part of 'Electric Highway'
• 2011/12/28: AutoBG: Three federal electric vehicle incentives expiring at end of 2011
• 2011/12/27: AutoBG: IHRA officially recognizes electric vehicles, adopts drag racing rules
• 2011/12/26: Grist: New York City to test electric taxis
• 2011/12/26: AutoBG: Bad math makes claim that each Volt cost taxpayers $250,000 go viral
• 2011/12/25: CSM: Electric cars 101: What does MPGe mean, exactly?

  This week in the Gee Whiz File:

• 2011/12/28: TCoE: The Wave Disk Generator

  As for Energy Storage:

• 2011/12/26: FuturePundit: Electric Battery Start-ups And Manufacturing Challenges

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2011/12/29: AutoBG: VW promises 25% cleaner manufacturing around the world by 2018

  A couple of lists pointing at top energy and climate stories:

• 2011/12/28: QuarkSoup: Just Stuff
• 2011/12/26: BPA: Agriculture News

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2011/12/30: 350orBust: As Fossil Fuel Interests Sway Politicians, The Political Will To Act On Climate Change Disappears As Fast As Arctic Ice
• 2011/12/27: DeSmogBlog: The Year In Dirty Energy: Money, Corruption, And Misinformation
• 2011/12/27: DeSmogBlog: The Year In Dirty Energy: The Koch Brothers
• 2011/12/26: ITracker: Steven Mosher explained
• 2011/12/26: WottsUWT: A controversial look at Blackbody radiation and Earth minus GHG's
• 2011/12/26: TSoD: The Genius of Mr. Cotton

  Joe reposted the SkS Debunking Handbook series this week:

• 2011/12/26: TP:JR: The Debunking Handbook Part 1: The First Myth About Debunking
• 2011/12/27: TP:JR: The Debunking Handbook, Part 2: The Familiarity Backfire Effect
• 2011/12/28: TP:JR: The Debunking Handbook Part 3: The Overkill Backfire Effect
• 2011/12/29: TP:JR: The Debunking Handbook Part 4: The Worldview Backfire Effect
• 2011/12/30: TP:JR: The Debunking Handbook Part 5: Filling the Gap With an Alternative Explanation

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2011/12/29: TheRealNews: Where is the Urgency About Climate Change?
  Patrick Bond: Global elites not interested in changes effective policy requires
• 2011/12/27: NBF: Global Research and development will grow 5.2% in 2012
• 2011/12/27: 350orBust: It's Time To Be Conscientious Objectors To The War On Our Children's Future
• 2011/12/26: WtD: Skeptic Politics beta: under development

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

• GHG Emissions Trading
• 690Films: Sleeping Giant of The Arctic -- Could Thawing Methane Trigger Runaway Global Warming?
• Wiki: Wave disk engine
• CCL: Citizens Climate Lobby Canada
• CCL: Citizens Climate Lobby (International)
• CSNE: Carbon Solutions New England
• Water 50/50
• GreenPoC: Elizabeth May's blog
• Skeptic Politics -- The politics of climate skeptics
• Wiki: IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (2013)
• Climate Code Foundation
• Sustainable Energy - without the hot air
• Amazon Watch
• Big Picture Agriculture
• USDA: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [aka Food Stamps]

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

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

"One can never convince the conspiracy theorists among us, but some of us are actually concerned about the potential for a climate catastrophe --- greenhouse gas emissions are not being cut fast enough or deeply enough to make us feel sanguine about the future.

In the event of a climate catastrophe, some of the technologies discussed in the BPC report may be able to save lives, reduce human suffering, and diminish environmental damage. It may be that this view is mistaken, but that can only be established through scientific and technical research and not by armchair pontification." -Ken Caldeira

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