Another Week of GW News, January 22, 2012

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

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Another week of Climate Instability News

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

January 22, 2012

• Chuckles, Horn of Africa, Keystone XL, WFES, Intimidation, Open Science
• Subsidies, Global Legal Framework, Cook
• Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
• Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food Crisis, Food Prices, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Aerosols, Ozone, Paleoclimate
• ENSO, Overshoot, Tipping Points, Extinctions, Volcanoes
• Impacts, Forests, Climate Refugees, Wacky Weather, Extreme Weather, Tornadoes
• Wildfires, Corals, Acidification, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Geoengineering, Restoration, Adaptation
• Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, Models, Hansen, Curry
• International Politics: Rio+20, UN, IPCC, Bank Tax
• Hormuz, Security, Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz, Education, Ethics
• National Politics: America, BP Disaster, 2012, Keystone, NCSE, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
• Britain, Europe, Australia, Wilkie, MDBP, New Zealand, India, China, Africa, South America
• Canada, Post G20, Offshore Drilling, Senate, Keystone, Northern Gateway
• NDP, Oliver, CWB, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Sask, Ontario, Maritimes, Canadiana
• Ecological Economics, Children, IPAT, Media, Books, Video, Courts
• Energy, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Fossil Fuel Corps, Pipelines, Peak Oil, Biofuel
• Wind, Solar, Nukes, Nuclear Waste, LENR, Grid, Efficiency, Cars
• Business, Insurance, FAQs, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

It's always nice to start with a larf:

• 2012/01/22: uComics: (cartoon - Wiley) Pierre of the North
• 2012/01/22: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Fossil Fuels & Climate Policy
• 1995/08/22: TMW: (cartoon - TomTom) In honor of Newt's very bad day
• 2012/01/20: uComics: (cartoon - Danziger) What did I say?
• 2012/01/18: JoeMohrToons: (cartoon - Mohr) "FUGMO": The Anti-GMO Mascot
• 2012/01/19: TMW: (cartoon - TomTom) Greetings Earth Penguin!
• 2012/01/18: TMW: (cartoon - TomTom) The Romdroids
• 2012/01/18: uComics: (cartoon - Wiley) In Heaven, Everything is Alright
• 2012/01/17: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Winter 2012
• 2012/01/17: uComics: (cartoon - Danziger) Stephen Colbert Will Run For President In South Carolina

  It's not solstice time, but this picture is notable in that respect:

• 2012/01/21: APOD: Days in the Sun

  The Horn of Africa drought and famine continues to be a major disaster:

• 2012/01/21: al Jazeera: Violence spurs Somali aid groups to cut back
  Six months after famine, millions of people still in need as humanitarian workers fear al-Shabab attacks.
• 2012/01/20: CBC: The 'deadly dilemma' in the Horn of Africa
• 2012/01/19: BBC: Somalia: MSF shuts two big medical centres in Mogadishu
  Two major medical centres run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the Somali capital have closed. The charity said it had taken the decision after two MSF workers, a Belgian administrator and Indonesian doctor, were killed last month. The announcement comes as at least two people were killed by a bomb in a Mogadishu refugee camp, officials say. Last August, Islamists militants withdrew from Mogadishu, which is controlled by the UN-backed government. About 300,000 people have since flooded into the city seeking famine relief.
• 2012/01/17: BBC: In pictures: Combating drought in the Horn of Africa
• 2012/01/19: al Jazeera: Somali refugees still fleeing famine
  Six months since famine was declared in Somalia, the Puntland region is struggling to cope with an influx of refugees.
• 2012/01/19: al Jazeera: Somalia: Hunger and homelessness
  As displaced Somalis flee conflict and starvation, the crisis in Mogadishu continues to deepen.
• 2012/01/18: CBC: Slow East Africa hunger response 'cost lives' -- Aid agency report comes amid signs of new hunger crisis in West Africa
• 2012/01/18: Guardian(UK): Why east Africa's famine warning was not heeded
• 2012/01/18: ABC(Au): Foreign Minister backs aid report on famine neglect
  Australia's Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd says the world has not done enough to help millions of people suffering in the Horn of Africa.
• 2012/01/18: CSM: Aid groups: Late drought response in Africa cost tens of thousands of lives
• 2012/01/18: CBC: Slow East Africa hunger response 'cost lives' -- Aid agency report comes amid signs of new hunger crisis in West Africa
• 2012/01/17: Guardian(UK): East Africa's drought: the avoidable disaster
• 2012/01/17: BBC: Slow response to East Africa famine 'cost 'lives'
  Thousands of needless deaths occurred from famine in East Africa last year because the international community failed to heed early warnings, say two leading British aid organisations. Oxfam and Save the Children say it took more than six months for aid agencies to act on warnings of imminent famine. Between 50,000 and 100,000 people died in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia.
• 2012/01/15: BBC: Somali famine 'will kill tens of thousands'
  The UN in Somalia says tens of thousands of people will have died of starvation by the time the famine in the Horn of Africa ends. The food crisis was declared in Somalia six months ago and levels of need are expected to remain high until July or August. UN aid chief in Somalia, Mark Bowden, told the BBC malnutrition rates there were the highest in the world. He said a quarter of a million Somalis were still suffering from the famine.

US President Obama has postponed Keystone XL construction. See also :

• 2012/01/19: al Jazeera: US president rejects [Keystone XL] oil pipeline from Canada
  Barack Obama says decision not a judgment on its merits but the arbitrary nature of a deadline set by the Republicans.
• 2012/01/18: BBC: US rejects Keystone XL Canada oil sands pipeline
• 2012/01/18: CBC: Keystone XL pipeline proposal rejected - for now -- TransCanada will apply again, CEO says
• 2012/01/18: BBerg: Obama Denies Keystone Permit, Will Allow Refile

  The World Future Energy Summit went down this week in Abu Dhabi:

• WFES: World Future Energy Summit
• 2012/01/15: UN: At Abu Dhabi forum [WFES], Ban calls for ensuring clean energy future for all
• 2012/01/16: TreeHugger: World Future Energy Summit 2012: A Glimmer of Clean Power Through an Oily Sheen

  More on the two-minute hates directed at climate scientists Emanuel and Hayhoe:

• 2012/01/19: DeSmogBlog: Who's Afraid of Kerry Emanuel? Why Republicans Are Attacking a Republican Climate Scientist
• 2012/01/17: Grist: Chatting with [Katharine Hayhoe] the climate scientist Newt dissed
• 2012/01/16: QuarkSoup: The Latest Cyberterrorism
• 2012/01/16: Independent(UK): Professor is happy with his message of doom -- Vilified by climate change deniers, Michael Mann manages to stay cheery.
• 2012/01/15: IJISH: (Digression) With all due respect, Kerry Emanuel, I think America is doomed
• 2012/01/15: TP:JR: MIT Climate Scientist's Wife Threatened in a "Frenzy of Hate" and Cyberbullying Fomented by Deniers

  Another whack at Open Science:

• 2012/01/16: NYT: Cracking Open the Scientific Process
• 2012/01/16: RealClimate: Open Climate 101 Online
• Free Science News
• Free Science Sources

  Who's getting the subsidies?

• 2012/01/21: CCurrents: Governments Spend $1.4 Billion Per Day To Destabilize Climate by Lester R. Brown
• 2012/01/20: TreeHugger: Governments Spend $1.4 Billion Per Day to Destabilize Climate by Lester Brown
• 2012/01/18: Guardian(UK): Fossil fuel subsidies: a tour of the data
• 2012/01/19: Guardian(UK): Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies 'could provide half of global carbon target'

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

• 2012/01/17: CCP: Trial convicts fossil fuel bosses of 'Ecocide'

  John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

• 2012/01/22: SkeptiSci: 2011 Hottest La Niña Year on Record, 11th-Hottest Overall by dana1981
• 2012/01/21: SkeptiSci: How do Climate Models Work? by Kate from Climate Sight
• 2012/01/20: SkeptiSci: A Comprehensive Review of the Causes of Global Warming by dana1981
• 2012/01/19: SkeptiSci: Arctic methane outgassing on the E Siberian Shelf part 2 - an interview with Dr Natalia Shakhova by John Mason
• 2012/01/18: SkeptiSci: Lessons from the Whitehouse-Annan Wager by dana1981
• 2012/01/17: SkeptiSci: New research from last week 2/2012 by Ari Jokimäki
• 2012/01/17: SkeptiSci: Patrick Michaels: Serial Deleter of Inconvenient Data by dana1981
• 2012/01/16: SkeptiSci: Puget Sound, Under Threat From Ocean Acidification, Put on "Waters of Concern" List by Rob Painting

  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 sensationalism?
  Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down-ness?
  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:

• 2012/01/21: SlashDot: Endoscopic Exam of Fukushima Reactor
• 2012/01/20: FDL: Aftershocking: Frontline's Fukushima Doc a Lazy Apologia for the Nuclear Industry
• 2012/01/21: Reuters: Tepco to be nationalised for 10 years-Kyodo
• 2012/01/20: EneNews: Yomiuri: Melted nuclear fuel heat causing water to rain down inside reactor No. 2?
• 2012/01/20: EneNews: Fukushima Worker: Too much liquid dripping inside reactor to be evaporated water -- Something must be open from damage
• 2012/01/20: PlanetArk: Olympus Endoscope Scrutinizes Leaking Nuclear Reactor
• 2012/01/19: EneNews: 'Major Mystery': Serious concern at Fukushima as Tepco doesn't know where melted fuel came to rest -Japan Times
• 2012/01/20: EneNews: Japan Times: Much of melted fuel is believed to have burned down to bottom of containment vessels -- At "last line of defense"
• 2012/01/20: EneNews: Japan nuclear professor warns melted fuel may NOT be covered by water at Reactor 2
• 2012/01/19: APR: Boroscope at Fukushima Daiichi No. 2 inconclusive
• 2012/01/20: BBC: New video of Fukushima nuclear reactor interior
  The first footage from inside one of Japan's tsunami-hit nuclear reactors at Fukushima has been released by the stricken plant's operator.
• 2012/01/19: TEPCO: Photos For Press
• 2012/01/19: ABC(Au): Japan 'betrayed citizens' over radiation danger
  Japan has been accused of betraying its own people by giving the American military information about the spread of radiation from Fukushima more than a week before it told the Japanese public. The mayor of a Japanese community abandoned because of its proximity to the Fukushima nuclear plant has told AM the government's actions are akin to murder. An official from Japan's science ministry, which was in charge of mapping the spread of radiation, has acknowledged to AM that perhaps the public should have been told about the dangers at the same time the US military was informed.
• 2012/01/19: CNN: Japanese company takes look inside nuclear reactor
  The endoscope takes pictures in the nuclear reactor - Power company says it will provide more details on the findings
• 2012/01/19: EneNews: Kyodo: Camera endoscope enters inside Fukushima Reactor No. 2 -- Difficulty finding melted fuel?
• 2012/01/19: EneNews: Fukushima Worker: Camera can resist 1000 sieverts, today it was broken -- Spots on images show radioactivity -- Tepco yet to measure radiation level (photos)
• 2012/01/20: PlanetArk: Japan's Push To Restart Nuclear Plants Sparks Public Anger
• 2012/01/17: BoingBoing: Truth and consequences: FRONTLINE's brilliant documentary on Fukushima
• 2012/01/17: BBerg: New Fukushima Investigation Promises to Dig Deeper Into Nuclear Crisis
• 2012/01/16: EneNews: NHK: Japan gov't gave SPEEDI [System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information] radiation forecasts to US military, NOT own citizens
• 2012/01/17: EneNews: NHK on Tepco's Big Problem: Hole drilled in Reactor 2 -- Trying to find the melted fuel -- Camera insertion to begin Thursday (video)
• 2012/01/17: BBC: TEPCO raises electricity prices for corporate clients
  Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has raised electricity prices for the first time in more than 30 years in a bid to offset higher fuel costs. Rates for corporate clients will rise by an average of 17% from 1 April. The earthquake and tsunami last year resulted in 15 of its 17 nuclear plants being closed, forcing TEPCO to turn to thermal stations for power generation. TEPCO said it was facing additional fuel costs of as much as 687bn yen ($9bn; £6bn) as a result.
• 2012/01/16: GRC: Fukushima: Radioactive Houses and Roads in Japan. Radioactive Building Materials Sold to over 200 Construction Companies
• 2012/01/17: GRC: Fukushima's Owner Adds Insult to Injury - Claims Radioactive Fallout Isn't Theirs
• 2012/01/17: PlanetArk: Special Report: Fuel Storage, Safety Issues Vexed Japan Plant
  When the massive tsunami smacked into Fukushima Daiichi, the nuclear power plant was stacked high with more uranium than it was originally designed to hold and had repeatedly missed mandatory safety checks over the past decade. The Fukushima plant that has spun into partial meltdown and spewed out plumes of radiation had become a growing depot for spent fuel in a way the American engineers who designed the reactors 50 years earlier had never envisioned, according to company documents and outside experts.
  
• 2012/01/16: ABC(US):B: Radioactive Concrete Is Latest Scare for Fukushima Survivors
• 2012/01/16: NatureNB: After Fukushima, emergency back-up equipment recommended for US nuclear reactors
• 2012/01/16: EneNews: Temps well above 100°C persisting at Reactor 2 gauge -- Tepco claims malfunction, but had been stable previously

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

• 2012/01/17: NRDC:SB: Phasing out the phased out phase-out: the third change of course for nuclear power in Germany
• 2012/01/20: PlanetArk: Japan To Allow 60-Year Reactor Lifespan Despite Fukushima
• 2012/01/19: EurActiv: Italian [Environment Minister Corrado Clini] says reject nuclear power, not research
• 2012/01/18: PlanetArk: Japan To Allow Reactors To Operate Up To 60 Years
  Japan will allow extensions of up to 20 years to a planned 40-year limit on the life of nuclear reactors, in line with U.S. standards, the government said.
• 2012/01/17: NBF: Siemens puts 1.7 trillion Euro price tag on Germany's nuclear exit
• 2012/01/17: PlanetArk: Japan's First Reactor Stress Tests Reach Key Stage

  The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

• 2012/01/18: QuarkSoup: 2011's Arctic Sea Ice Volume, Down Big Again
• 2012/01/16: ASI: A negative year

  That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

• 2012/01/21: CCP: Methane belches (?) from Laptev Sea, January 1 through January 21, 2012
• 2012/01/19: TP:JR: Arctic Methane Outgassing On The East Siberian Shelf: A Primer Plus an Interview with Dr. Natalia Shakhova
• 2012/01/19: ITracker: Methane: a worse worst-case scenario
• 2012/01/17: HuffPo: Methane in the Twilight Zone (Second Episode)
• 2012/01/16: CCP: On carbon transport and fate in the East Siberian Arctic land-shelf-atmosphere system" by Igor P. Semiletov et al., ERL 7 (2012) doi:10.1088/1748-9326/7/1/015201

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2012/01/21: PostMedia: Battle for sovereignty of the Arctic may be fought in scientific journals
  In the midst of a Cold War-esque spy scandal involving a Canadian naval officer accused of passing secrets to a foreign entity, Canadian scientists have quietly accomplished some-thing likely to prove far more effective than espionage or military posturing in affirming - and extending - Canada's sovereignty in the North: They've published two academic studies about Arctic Ocean geology that lend solid support to the country's ambitious claims to under-sea territory in the region. Canada's formal bid to take possession of vast stretches of Arctic Ocean seabed isn't due until the end of 2013, the dead-line for this country's submission to the United Nations agency responsible for approving new offshore territorial claims governed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. And under rules agreed to by all five Arctic coastal countries - Canada, Russia, the U.S., Norway and Denmark - scientific evidence compiled from decades of mapping and analyzing the Arctic sea floor will ultimately determine who controls the rich oil-and-gas deposits and other resources believed to lie below the rapidly retreating polar ice.
• 2012/01/18: PostMedia: Spy caper may be linked to Arctic claims -- Ex-CSIS agent says accused oversaw North Atlantic seas
• 2012/01/15: Eureka: Eyeing resources, India, China, Brazil, Japan, other countries want a voice on Arctic Council
  International experts to recommend key issues as Canada prepares to assume Arctic Council chair

While in Antarctica:

• 2012/01/18: NatureNB: Accidents highlight risks for Antarctic fishery
• 2012/01/18: ScienceInsider: All Eyes on Antarctic Drillers at Scott Expedition Centennial
• 2012/01/15: Eureka: Engineering team completes ambitious Antarctic expedition in the 'deep-field'
• 2012/01/16: BBC: Antarctic lake drilling mission edges closer

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2012/01/20: CCurrents: Hunger Is A 'Weapon of Mass Destruction', Says Jean Ziegler
• 2012/01/20: ProMedMail: White nose syndrome, bats - North America (02): update
• 2012/01/22: ProMedMail: Stripe rust, wheat - India: update
• 2012/01/22: ProMedMail: Bacterial blight, walnut - Australia: (NS)
• 2012/01/20: AllAfrica: ZimIndependent: Zimbabwe: Fertiliser Shortage Threatens Farmers
  Shortage of top dressing fertiliser and distribution challenges are threatening to negatively affect maize, tobacco and cotton production this year, the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) said. In its latest crop and livestock weekly report, ZFU said the shortage of fertiliser was affecting all provinces.
• 2012/01/18: EnergyBulletin: Bumper 2011 grain harvest fails to rebuild global stocks
• 2012/01/17: CBC: Up to 6.7 million bats dead of fungus -- White-nose syndrome found in four provinces and 16 U.S. states
• 2012/01/16: NBF: Food Security around the World
• 2012/01/16: AllAfrica: FinancialGazette: Zimbabwe: Maize Planting Falls
  Zimbabwe Planted 247 000 Hectares of Maize From November to January. The country's farmers planted 130 944 hectares of sorghum and other small grains, compared with 136 131 hectares, Agritex, said in a crop report handed out in Harare, this week. "It looks like this year is going to be a bad year, in terms of crop output," Seiso Moyo, the deputy Agriculture Minister, said in a phone interview from his office. "We will inform government at the end of this month or early next month on what needs to be done, but indications are that it will not be a good year." The United Nations said last month it was seeking US$268 million to help feed as many as 1,45 million people in the country this year.
• 2012/01/15: Musings: India's crisis of malnutrition

  Food Prices are still problematic:

• FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
• 2012/01/16: DerSpiegel: UN Food and Agricultural Chief -- 'Speculation Is an Important Cause of High Prices'
  In a Spiegel interview, José Graziano da Silva, 62, the new head of the United Nations aid organization FAO, discusses his plans to combat hunger as well as his efforts to limit speculation and the impact it has on dramatically fluctuating food prices.

So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

• 2012/01/17: CBC: Canada urged to stop Ethiopia from evicting villagers
  A rights' watchdog is urging Canada and fellow aid donors to pressure Ethiopia into ending an abusive and systematic practice of forcing rural villagers off their land. A report released Tuesday by New York-based Human Rights Watch blasts the Horn of Africa country for its "villagization" program that it says has forcibly relocated 70,000 indigenous people, and aims to move 1.5 million by next year.
  [...]
  Jan Egeland, a senior director at Human Rights Watch, said donor money is being used "directly or indirectly, to fund the villagization program." Donors have a responsibility to ensure that their donations are not being used for that purpose, added Egeland, the Norwegian-born diplomat, who became a high-profile United Nations humanitarian rights undersecretary. "The villagization program is being undertaken in the exact same areas of Ethiopia that the government is leasing to foreign investors for large-scale commercial agricultural operations," Egeland said in a statement. "This raises suspicions about the underlying motives of the villagization program."

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

• 2012/01/19: WiC: The very real danger of genetically modified foods
• 2012/01/16: NatureNB: BASF abandons GM crop market in Europe

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

• 2012/01/16: FAO: FAO-EC project to promote climate-smart farming -- Malawi, Vietnam and Zambia will benefit from collaborative effort
• 2012/01/20: DerSpiegel: Intolerable Stench -- Confronting the Threat of Industrial Pig Farms
  Tourists are increasingly discovering the rural charms of northern Germany. But with industrial pig breeding operations moving in, that charm may soon be destroyed by the stench of swine slurry. Locals are up in arms -- but factory farming may be the region's last chance to create jobs.
• 2012/01/20: AlterNet: Sugar High: The Dark History and Nasty Methods Used to Feed Our Sweet Tooth
• 2012/01/19: TreeHugger: How Farms Are Using Permaculture to Survive
• 2012/01/20: TreeHugger: Greenhouse Combines Crops With Solar Power
• 2012/01/19: NBF: Sustainable seaweed: Researchers explore algae-based animal feed
• 2012/01/18: EnergyBulletin: For farmers everywhere, small is (still) beautiful
  There is battle raging across the world over who can better feed its people: small-scale farmers practicing sustainable agriculture, or giant agribusinesses using chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
• 2012/01/19: EurActiv: Parliament pushes to slash food waste in Europe
  The European Parliament wants to cut food waste in half, warning that fresh and packaged foods tossed out every day pose a threat to Europe's environment and efforts to reduce global poverty.
• 2012/01/17: EnergyBulletin: One acre feeds a person
• 2012/01/16: EnergyBulletin: Back in the day, urban gardens everywhere
• 2012/01/16: EUO: Joint responsiblities in mackerel fishing

  We have a couple tropical storms in the Southern Indian Ocean:

• 2012/01/19: Eureka: NASA sees Tropical Cyclone Funso develop, threaten Mozambique
• 2012/01/19: Eureka: NASA satellite sees birth of Tropical Storm Ethel, now threatening Rodrigues [South Indian Ocean]

  As for GHGs:

• 2012/01/20: Eureka: Satellite observes spatiotemporal variations in mid-upper tropospheric methane over China

  And the temperature record:

• 2012/01/22: HotTopic: 2011: a hot cold year
• 2012/01/21: Tamino: 2011 Temperature Roundup
• 2012/01/20: KSJT: Natural fluctuation ink: NOAA and NASA have different climate analyses. Who you gonna believe?
• 2012/01/22: moyhu: December 2011 temp, small changes for NOAA, GISS
• 2012/01/19: NASA: NASA Finds 2011 Ninth-Warmest Year on Record
• 2012/01/19: QuarkSoup: NASA PR Sorta Spins 2011 Temperature, Says It's 9th-Warmest
• 2012/01/16: RIA Novosti: Russia warming at double world pace
• 2012/01/17: IndiaTimes: Russia warming at alarming pace
  Moscow: Temperatures in Russia in the past century rose at twice the rate of warming in the rest of the world, the emergencies ministry said. "Despite ongoing discussions in the scientific community about the nature and long-term outlook for global climate change, the fact of global warming itself is uncontroversial," the ministry said in its forecast of emergency situations in 2012.

Aerosols are making their presence felt:

• 2012/01/16: PlanetArk: Aerosol Particle Increase Linked To More Rainfall: Study

  As for ozone:

• 2012/01/18: KIT: Low Temperatures Enhance Ozone Degradation above the Arctic

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2012/01/20: CSM: Ancient tulip-like creature had bizarre gut
  A weird tulip-shaped creature discovered fossilized in 500-million-year-old rocks had a feeding system like no other known animal, researchers reported today (Jan. 18). The animal was a filter feeder, with a tulip-shaped body and a stem that anchored it to the seafloor. Named Siphusauctum gregarium, the creature was about the length of a dinner knife at 8 inches (20 cm) and had a bulbous structure that contained its feeding system and gut.
• 2012/01/19: CBC: Fossils of ancient sea creature discovered
  Toronto researchers make 500-million-year-old find in [the famous Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale] Tulip Beds in Canadian Rockies

While on the ENSO front:

• 2012/01/20: ABC(Au): La Nina shows signs of weakening
• 2012/01/16: CBC: La Nina linked to flu pandemics -- Weather pattern alters bird migration, promotes development of new flu strains
• 2012/01/16: BBC: La Nina events may make flu pandemics more likely, research suggests

  Intimations of Overshoot:

• 2012/01/18: TUT: The Limits to Growth at forty: Is collapse now inevitable?
  Forty years ago, a group of Scientists investigated what the world would look like if we continued on our path of exponential economic growth, with a continued growth in population, pollution and industry. The study resulted in the publishing of the eye opening book, The Limits to Growth, which would surely cause discomfort to even the most ardent of believers in the might of our growth dependent economic system.
  [...]
  The team of Scientists behind The Limits to Growth have stated that they will not be engaging in a sequel to their study, as starting from current conditions, there is now no plausible assumptions other than over shoot.

The cliff, aka tipping points, aka planetary boundaries, put in an appearance:

• 2012/01/19: WiC: A new tipping point on climate change
• 2012/01/19: CCP: Inuit hunters buttress theory Arctic Ocean is approaching 'tipping point'

  What's new on the extinction front?

• 2012/01/19: CDreams: US Thirst for Fossil Fuels is Decimating Nature's Wildlife: Report
  Beyond the polar bear: Survey of endangered species highlights animals, large and small, often neglected in popular discourse
• 2012/01/19: UCopenhagen: The biodiversity crisis: Worse than climate change
  Biodiversity is declining rapidly throughout the world. The challenges of conserving the world's species are perhaps even larger than mitigating the negative effects of global climate change. Dealing with the biodiversity crisis requires political will and needs to be based on a solid scientific knowledge if we are to ensure a safe future for the planet. This is the main conclusion from scientists from University of Copenhagen, after 100 researchers and policy experts from EU countries were gathered this week at the University of Copenhagen to discuss how to organise the future UN Intergovernmental Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, IPBES - an equivalent to the UN panel on climate change (IPCC).
• 2012/01/16: ABC(Au): Thylacine passes extinction test

  What's up with volcanoes this week?

• 2012/01/16: BBC: Ash closes Argentina airport days after its re-opening
  A cloud of ash caused by a volcano in Chile has closed an airport in neighbouring Argentina just days after it had re-opened. The closure of the airport in Bariloche comes three days after flights had resumed following a seven-month suspension due to the ash.

More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2012/01/20: Eureka: Ecologists gain insight into the likely consequences of global warming
• 2012/01/19: BCLocalNews: Global warming impact to be tested on Arrowsmith
  We'll have to wait an additional five years to find out how plant life on Mt. Arrowsmith is reacting to global warming, but the data collected by then will be far more valuable.
  [...]
  The project is part of a worldwide study called the Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine environments, or GLORIA, with the aim of establishing a long-term observation network across the planet to monitor the reaction of alpine vegetation to global climate change, as well as temperature variations at higher elevations.
• 2012/01/16: Eureka: Climate adaptation difficult for Europe's birds

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2012/01/21: SciNews: Boxwood blight invades North America -- Devastating fungus has already stripped shrubbery in Europe and New Zealand
• 2012/01/19: KSJT: Time, Scientific American, etc: Amazon Basin shifting from carbon sink, to source?
• 2012/01/16: RawStory: Fire destroys 3,500-year-old tree, arson suspected
  Authorities in Florida suspect that an arsonist destroyed one of the oldest cypress trees in the world. The 3,500-year-old tree, known locally as "The Big Tree," went up in flames early Monday morning, according to The Orlando Sentinel. It was officially named "The Senator" after former state Sen. Moses Oscar Overstreet donated the land for Big Tree Park to Seminole County in 1927.

Climate refugees are becoming an issue:

• 2012/01/21: ITracker: Preparations in the meantime
• 2012/01/19: ERW: Migration can boost social resilience to environmental change
  Money sent back home by migrant workers could boost the resilience of families to environmental change. But the effect on ecological resilience -- for example, through soil and water conservation practices -- is unclear.
• 2012/01/19: CCurrents: Managing Disasters And Displacement
• 2012/01/20: UN: Record number of refugees, migrants risked lives to reach Yemen in 2011 - UN
• 2012/01/15: HotTopic: Climate Change and Migration

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2012/01/20: Wunderground: Flooding, heavy snow, ice storm, and fires hit the Western U.S.
• 2012/01/19: QuarkSoup: Soggy Oregon
• 2012/01/19: Wunderground: Major flooding in Oregon, heavy snows in Washington and California
• 2012/01/18: CBC: Winter storm wallops parts of Washington, Oregon -- Flood threat rises as mix of snow and rain expected Thursday
• 2012/01/18: Wunderground: Major winter storm pounds Pacific Northwest
• 2012/01/18: al Jazeera: Wild winter weather
  A major snowstorm is hitting the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Heavy snow and widespread travel disruption are expected.

This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

• 2012/01/20: GreenGrok: Global Warming and Severe Weather: Is There a Link?
• 2012/01/19: NOAANews: NOAA: 2011 a year of climate extremes in the United States
  NOAA announces two additional severe weather events reached $1 billion damage threshold, raising 2011's billion-dollar disaster count from 12 to 14 events
• 2012/01/19: Grist: Buckle up for more weather weirdness, America
• 2012/01/18: PhysOrg: Climate and the statistics of extremes
  Swiss mathematicians have shown that the risk of extreme climate events is largely underestimated. They are developing a model for better understanding the impact of climate change.

On the tornado front:

• 2012/01/19: LDEO: Scientists Make Progress in Assessing Tornado Seasons -- Study Offers First Step in Short-Term Forecasting

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2012/01/20: CNN: Nevada fire burns 3,900 acres near Reno
• 2012/01/20: CBC: Reno brush fire forces thousands to flee -- Cause of blaze unknown
  Firefighters worked early Friday to hold the line on a fast-moving brush fire that forced more than 10,000 people in Nevada to flee and destroyed more than 20 homes. Fire officials said one person was dead. The blaze started shortly after noon Thursday, and about 2,000 people remained under evacuation orders late Thursday, Reno Fire Chief Michael Hernandez said.
• 2012/01/19: ABC(Au): Clearing reduces risk of bushfire threat: study
  Bushfire risk Clearing trees within 40 metres of a house is the most effective way to reduce the probability of it being destroyed in a bushfire, according to new research.
• 2012/01/18: Eureka: Black Friday provides bushfire answers
  Clearing vegetation close to houses is the best way to reduce impacts of severe bushfires, according to a team of scientists from Australia and the USA who examined house loss after as a result of Black Saturday, when a series of fires raged across the Australian state of Victoria, killing 173 and injuring 414. The research involving 12,000 measurements at 500 houses affected by the Black Saturday fires was only made possible by the sheer size of the devastation of February 7, 2009.

Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:

• 2012/01/20: ABC(Au):TDU: Killing the Great Barrier Reef for short-term profit

  Acidification is changing the oceans:

• 2012/01/21: ClimateShifts: The economic costs of ocean acidification and molluscs
• 2012/01/16: CoralCOE: Carbon dioxide is "driving fish crazy"
• 2012/01/16: ABC(Au): Carbon dioxide affecting fish brains: study
• 2012/01/15: SciNews: Rising carbon dioxide confuses brain signaling in fish -- Nerve cells respond to acidifying waters

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2012/01/20: DM:GB: The Canary in the Himalayas
• 2012/01/16: Olympian: Olympic National Park glaciers are shrinking, study says - 1 now gone

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2012/01/18: Eureka: Climate balancing: Sea-level rise vs. surface temperature change rates

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2012/01/22: Guardian(UK): Urgent action needed to prevent England's rivers drying up
  New report by Environment Agency says river levels may fall by 80% as a result of climate change and the growing population
• 2012/01/20: PlanetArk: At Least 5 Killed In Southeast Africa Floods
• 2012/01/19: al Jazeera: Flooding hits southern Mozambique
  Tropical Depression Dando brings damaging winds and torrential rain
• 2012/01/19: CCP: Russian rivers freshening the water of Alaska's Beaufort Sea

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2012/01/17: NBF: New York Times gets behind fixing Soot as a major climate change mitigation first step
• 2012/01/17: ClassM: The lukewarmer fallacy
• 2012/01/17: NatureN: Pollutants key to climate fix -- Governments look to reduce methane and black carbon as a way to slow warming

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2012/01/19: Eureka: NJIT high speed rail expert to address DC conference next week
• 2012/01/18: NBF: China will put 3956 miles of high speed rail into service in 2012
• 2012/01/17: JQuiggin: Cars

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

• 2012/01/20: EnergyBulletin: The passive house revolution (documentary)
• 2012/01/19: TP:JR: Top 10 Residential Green Building Trends to Watch in 2012
• 2012/01/17: Grist: Survey: The American dream home is energy-efficient

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2012/01/16: GEP: New Cool Roofs Toolkit

  What's new in restoration?

• 2012/01/17: Grist: Why we need to relocate animals threatened by climate change

  While on the adaptation front:

• 2012/01/20: al Jazeera: Thailand unveils flood-prevention plan
  PM announces $9.4bn series of water-management schemes to prevent repeat of last year's devastating flood disaster.

Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2012/01/16: AGWObserver: New research from last week 2/2012
• 2012/01/20: ACP: Isoprene in poplar emissions: effects on new particle formation and OH concentrations by A. Kiendler-Scharr et al.
• 2012/01/20: ACPD: Enhanced solar energy absorption by internally-mixed black carbon in snow grains by M. G. Flanner et al.
• 2012/01/20: ACPD: A Tropospheric ozone maximum over the equatorial southern Indian Ocean by L. Zhang et al.
• 2012/01/19: GMD: The 1-way on-line coupled atmospheric chemistry model system MECO(n) - Part 3: Meteorological evaluation of the on-line coupled system by C. Hofmann et al.
• 2012/01/19: GMD: The 1-way on-line coupled atmospheric chemistry model system MECO(n) - Part 2: On-line coupling with the Multi-Model-Driver (MMD) by A. Kerkweg & P. Jöckel
• 2012/01/19: GMD: The 1-way on-line coupled atmospheric chemistry model system MECO(n) - Part 1: Description of the limited-area atmospheric chemistry model COSMO/MESSy by A. Kerkweg & P. Jöckel
• 2012/01/18: GMD: Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project Experiment 1: implementation strategy and mid-Pliocene global climatology using GENESIS v3.0 GCM by S. J. Koenig et al.
• 2012/01/18: OSD: On the chemical dynamics of extracellular polysaccharides in the high Arctic surface microlayer by Q. Gao et al.
• 2012/01/18: OSD: Particle aggregation in anticyclonic eddies and implications for distribution of biomass by A. Samuelsen et al.
• 2012/01/18: OSD: On the Atlantic cold tongue mode and the role of the Pacific ENSO by R. A. F. De Almeida & P. Nobre
• 2012/01/20: TC: A three-dimensional full Stokes model of the grounding line dynamics: effect of a pinning point beneath the ice shelf by L. Favier et al.
• 2012/01/19: TC: Geochemical characterization of supraglacial debris via in situ and optical remote sensing methods: a case study in Khumbu Himalaya, Nepal by K. A. Casey et al.
• 2012/01/20: TCD: Simulating melt, runoff and refreezing on Nordenskiöldbreen, Svalbard, using a coupled snow and energy balance model by W. J. J. van Pelt et al.
• 2012/01/19: TCD: Statistical adaptation of ALADIN RCM outputs over the French alpine massifs -- application to future climate and snow cover by M. Rousselot et al.
• 2012/01/19: ESD: Vertical and horizontal processes in the global atmosphere and the maximum entropy production conjecture by S. Pascale et al.
• 2012/01/20: CP: Impact of oceanic processes on the carbon cycle during the last termination by N. Bouttes et al.
• 2012/01/19: CP: Change in dust variability in the Atlantic sector of Antarctica at the end of the last deglaciation by A. Wegner et al.
• 2012/01/19: JHansen: (686k pdf) Global Temperature in 2011, Trends, and Prospects by J. Hansen et al.
• 2012/01/19: ACP: Impacts of near-future cultivation of biofuel feedstocks on atmospheric composition and local air quality by K. Ashworth et al.
• 2012/01/19: ACP: Influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation on air pollution transport by T. Christoudias et al.
• 2012/01/17: ACP: Possible effect of extreme solar energetic particle event of 20 January 2005 on polar stratospheric aerosols: direct observational evidence by I. A. Mironova et al.
• 2012/01/19: ACPD: Simulation of solar-cycle response in tropical total column ozone using SORCE irradiance by K.-F. Li et al.
• 2012/01/19: ACPD: Introduction to the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) and observed atmospheric composition change during 1972-2009 by K. Tørseth et al.
• 2012/01/19: ACPD: Strong sensitivity of aerosol concentrations to convective wet scavenging parameterizations in a global model by B. Croft et al.
• 2012/01/18: ACPD: Summertime weekly cycles of observed and modeled NOx and O3 concentrations as a function of land use type and ozone production sensitivity over the Continental United States by Y. Choi et al.
• 2012/01/17: ACPD: Calibration of column-averaged CH4 over European TCCON FTS sites with airborne in-situ measurements by M. C. Geibel et al.
• 2012/01/17: ACPD: Impact of aerosol composition on cloud condensation nuclei activity by Q. Zhang et al.
• 2012/01/16: ACPD: Assessing large-scale weekly cycles in meteorological variables: a review by A. Sanchez-Lorenzo et al.
• 2011/12/30: GRL: (ab$) Arctic winter 2010/2011 at the brink of an ozone hole by B.-M. Sinnhuber et al.
• 2011/10/12: RSPA: Geostatistics of extremes by A. C. Davison & M. M. Gholamrezaee
• 2012/01/18: PLoS One: A New Stalked Filter-Feeder from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale, British Columbia, Canada by Lorna J. O'Brien & Jean-Bernard Caron
• 2012/01/17: PNAS: (ab$) Evolution of human-driven fire regimes in Africa by Sally Archibald et al.
• 2012/01/17: PNAS: (ab$) End-Cretaceous marine mass extinction not caused by productivity collapse by Laia Alegret et al.
• 2012/01/17: PNAS: (ab$) Large-scale, spatially-explicit test of the refuge strategy for delaying insecticide resistance by Yves Carrière et al.
• 2012/01/17: PNAS: (ab$) Cenozoic climate change influences mammalian evolutionary dynamics by Borja Figueirido et al.
• 2012/01/17: PNAS: (abs) Mid-latitude afforestation shifts general circulation and tropical precipitation by Abigail L. S. Swann et al.
• 2012/01/17: GMD: A web service based tool to plan atmospheric research flights by M. Rautenhaus et al.
• 2012/01/17: GMDD: Implementation and evaluation of online gas-phase chemistry within a regional climate model (RegCM-CHEM4) by A. K. Shalaby et al.
• 2012/01/17: TC: A minimal model for reconstructing interannual mass balance variability of glaciers in the European Alps by B. Marzeion et al.
• 2012/01/16: OSD: Atlantic transport variability at 25° N in six hydrographic sections by C. P. Atkinson et al.
• 2012/01/16: OSD: The analysis of large-scale turbulence characteristics in the Indonesian seas derived from a regional model based on the Princeton Ocean Model by K. O'Driscoll & V. Kamenkovich
• 2012/01/11: ACEEE: [link to pdf] The Long-Term Energy Efficiency Potential: What the Evidence Suggests by John A. "Skip" Laitner et al.

  And other significant documents:

• 2012/01/20: USFWS: [links to several pdfs] The Public Review Draft of the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy

  As for miscellaneous science:

• 2012/01/22: moyhu: Lapse rates and entropy
• 2012/01/21: IsaacHeld: 22. Ultra-fast responses
• 2012/01/17: WHRC: New report reviews U.S. nitrogen pollution impacts & solutions -- Highlights new research, and offers solutions for a nitrogen-soaked world
• 2012/01/17: KSJT: Miller-McCune: In the Bighorn Basin rigs have been drilling. Not all for fossil fuel either.
• 2012/01/17: UMass: Climate Researchers Find Evidence of Past Southern Hemisphere Rainfall Cycles Related to Antarctic Temperatures

  What's new in models?

• 2012/01/16: Guardian(UK): Include trees in climate modelling, say scientists

  Regarding Hansen:

• 2012/01/19: CCP: Global Temperature in 2011, Trends, and Prospects by James Hansen, Reto Ruedy, Makiko Sato and Ken Lo

  Regarding Curry:

• 2012/01/16: ITracker: Curry's monopolar uncertainty

  There is a steady dribble of 2012 Rio Conference news:

• 2012/01/13: GreenPeace: The future we want? Between hope and despair on the road to the Rio Earth Summit
• 2012/01/11: UK Parliament: Preparations for the Rio +20 Summit: Government Response to the Committee's Eighth Report of Session 2010-12 - Environmental Audit Committee

  While at the UN:

• 2012/01/16: WMO: WMO highlights importance of radio frequencies for Earth observations -- Weather, climate and water services depend on radio frequency bands
• 2012/01/20: UN: Ban appoints Brazilian environment official [Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias] as UN biodiversity chief
• 2012/01/20: UNFoundation: National Council for Science and the Environment Presents Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland
• 2012/01/19: UN: UN invites proposals for host of new climate technology centre
• 2012/01/17: UN: Industrial energy efficiency vital for sustainable development -- UN report
• 2012/01/17: UN: Ertharin Cousin of United States appointed as head of UN World Food Programme
• 2012/01/16: UN: UN calls for achieving sustainable energy for all as International Year kicks off
  As the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All kicked off today, United Nations officials called on governments, the private sector and civil society to help expand energy access, improve efficiency and increase the use of renewables. Globally, one person in five still lacks access to modern electricity and twice that number -- three billion people -- rely on wood, coal, charcoal, or animal waste for cooking and heating.

The Fifth IPCC report is coming up:

• 2012/01/20: QuarkSoup: Most IPCC AR5 ZOD files Are Up
• 2012/01/19: QuarkSoup: First ZOD is Up
• 2012/01/18: QuarkSoup: More on the IPCC Takedown Notices
• 2012/01/18: QuarkSoup: Where to find the ZODs?
• 2012/01/17: QuarkSoup: Don't Remove the ZODs

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

• 2012/01/20: EUO: French bankers say Paris abandons unilateral Tobin tax [after days of pressure from the country's top banks]
• 2012/01/19: EUO: Czech Republic joins opponents of Tobin tax [Denmark, Sweden and the UK]
• 2012/01/18: EurActiv: Doubts over finance tax worry aid advocates
  Plans for an EU-wide tax on financial trading remain uncertain amid growing concerns that introducing such a fee in troubled economic times could harm recovery efforts. EU finance ministers are set to discuss the proposal at their next meeting on 24 January.
• 2012/01/17: EUO: Spain backs financial transaction tax
• 2012/01/16: SwissInfo: Swiss to be big winners from future Tobin tax
  As debate over a financial transaction tax, a so-called Tobin tax, swirls around Europe, Swiss experts agree that to work it must be adopted globally. If the European Commission proposal to tax stock, bond and derivatives trades is introduced, Switzerland would also benefit hugely, they add. The levy may raise billions of dollars in badly needed revenue. But the concept has drawn fierce criticism. Forty years ago American Nobel laureate James Tobin proposed a tax on currency transactions to discourage speculation. His idea was largely ignored until recently.

On the international political front, tensions continue as the USA leans on Iran:

• 2012/01/17: al Jazeera: The cost of Iranian oil
  As pressure mounts on China to reduce its reliance on Iranian oil, will Arab countries be able to pick up the slack?
• 2012/01/17: EnergyBulletin: Iranian oil embargo by James Hamilton
• 2012/01/16: OilChange: British LNG Imports at Risk in Gulf Crisis
• 2012/01/16: BBC: Iran warns Gulf nations against boosting oil production
• 2012/01/15: CalcRisk: Hamilton: Implications of Iranian oil embargo

  Climate Change is a threat multiplier exacerbating existing conflicts in food, energy, water, race, ideology ... etc.:

• 2012/01/20: al Jazeera: Hotspots of potential conflict in the geo-energy era [Klare]
  Tensions are rising at potential flashpoints, as new bottlenecks for the flow of energy are identified.

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

• 2012/01/19: BBC: Met Police wins appeal over G20 kettling tactics
  The Metropolitan Police (Met) has won its appeal against a High Court ruling over kettling tactics used during the G20 demonstrations. The High Court ruling had been won by Hannah McClure, a student, and Josh Moos, a campaigner for Plane Stupid. They challenged the legality of restraint methods used against them in April 2009 when they were contained by officers in Bishopsgate. But the Court of Appeal has now ruled against the High Court's decision. Mr Moos said it was "a shame" the appeal judges could not see that the police were "out of control".

What are the activists up to?

• 2012/01/20: QuarkSoup: Climate Winner of the Week

  Polls! We have polls!

• 2012/01/19: DeSmogBlog: 72 Percent of Ohioans Want A Fracking Moratorium, Citing Need For More Study
• 2012/01/18: WNN: Fukushima a 'temporary blip' for UK support
  Support for nuclear energy in the UK has returned to levels seen a few months prior to the Fukushima accident in Japan, a new public opinion poll indicates. A similar poll conducted in June 2011 had shown a significant drop in support following the accident.

Regarding Water Politics and Business:

• 2012/01/20: OpenDem: Mega dams: campaigning against the plans of the Indian government
  In demonstrations barely reported in the media, peasants and students in the Northeastern Indian state of Assam are fighting together against a proposed gargantuan network of dams across the upper reaches of its rivers in Arunachal Pradesh, one of the world's six most seismically active regions. The movement has gathered impressive momentum against a project that threatens devastating environmental, demographic and socio-economic impact.
• 2012/01/20: CNN: Counting the carbon cost of bringing water to the desert
  UAE consumes 550 liters of water per head each day -- more than any other country - With no fresh water supplies, it depends on carbon-intensive desalination process - Resource experts talk to CNN about their concerns for UAE's future water security
• 2012/01/18: JFleck: Arizona's cost of moving water could be about to go up
• 2012/01/18: JFleck: Stuff I wrote elsewhere: first steps for Navajo-Gallup pipeline
• 2012/01/19: Eureka: Efforts to control the 'Mighty Mississippi' result in flooded farmland and permanent damage
• 2012/01/18: TreeHugger: Turkey's Dam Plans Make New Problems With Neighbors
• 2012/01/18: Eureka: 'Miracle tree' substance produces clean drinking water inexpensively and sustainably
• 2012/01/16: JFleck: The Jevons Paradox and greywater reuse
• 2012/01/18: Grist: Biggest output of U.S. oil and gas industry is dirty water

  Regarding science education. See also:

• 2012/01/16: LA Times: Climate change skepticism seeps into science classrooms
  Some states have introduced education standards requiring teachers to defend the denial of man-made global warming. A national watchdog group says it will start monitoring classrooms.

Ethics? You want to talk about ethics?

• 2012/01/17: HoTopic: Climate ethics and the reckless endangerment of denial

  And on the American political front:

• 2012/01/21: CCP: Forecast The Facts Exposes America's Climate-Denier TV Weathermen
• 2012/01/21: TP:JR: Time for a Massive U.S. Investment in Energy Efficiency
• 2012/01/18: Salon: The real beneficiaries of energy subsidies
  Don't buy the GOP's claims. Oil companies, not green alternatives, are making a killing from the government
• 2012/01/19: DeSmogBlog: Citizens United Protesters Rename Supreme Court the "U.S. Supreme Koch"
• 2012/01/18: TP:JR: Oil and Gas Jobs Increase by 75,000 Under Obama -- 69,000 More Than Would Be Created By Keystone XL
• 2012/01/18: Grist: Taxpayer dollars squandered in Virginia climate scandal
• 2012/01/18: Grist: Tea Party mayor gets spanked for rejecting public transit
• 2012/01/18: AutoBG: U.S. ethanol subsidy expiration may be driving up gas prices
• 2012/01/17: TP:JR: Bombshell and Dud: [Michael] Gerson Says Burning Fossil Fuels "Is Not a Moral Good" But Repeats Myth Gore Polarized Climate Debate
• 2012/01/17: TP:JR: Renewable Energy Standards: If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It
• 2012/01/17: Grist: North Carolina gets great clean air news
• 2012/01/17: NatureN: Database tallies US emissions -- Environment agency launches searchable public log of major greenhouse-gas emitters
• 2012/01/16: NBF: California High Speed Rail and Keystone XL Pipeline
• 2012/01/16: AlterNet: New Tool Reveals Country's Most Polluted Places: How Close Do You Live?
• 2012/01/15: AlterNet: Is Your Senator Representing Charles and David Koch?

  The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

• 2012/01/19: TreeHugger: Most of Deepwater Horizon Spill's Oil Never Reached the Surface
• 2012/01/16: PlanetArk: BP CEO Dudley Says Committed To Gulf After Spill
• 2012/01/11: McClatchyDC: Gulf oil-spill responders say they're still fighting for payments

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

• 2012/01/21: Grist: Old dog, Newt tricks: Gingrich's views on climate, EPA, and 'green conservatism'
• 2012/01/22: al Jazeera: Gingrich wins South Carolina primary
  Former US house speaker raises the possibility of a lengthy campaign by beating the Republicans' favourite, Romney.
• 2012/01/21: CBC: Gingrich takes South Carolina primary
• 2012/01/21: Wonkette: Wingnuts 'Uniting Behind Santorum,' Obviously
• 2012/01/21: TP:JR: Clean Energy Defunder Wins South Carolina Primary
• 2012/01/20: Grist: Seeing red: Where do the GOP candidates stand on urban issues?
• 2012/01/20: PlanetArk: In Keystone Wake, Obama Campaign Touts Energy In First Ad
• 2012/01/20: Grist: Newt Gingrich thinks riding the subway is for fancy people
• 2012/01/18: NYT:PK: The FOF Theory of the GOP Primary
  [...]
  ...to be a good Republican right now, you have to affirm your belief in things that any halfway intelligent politician can see are plainly false. This leaves room for only two kinds of candidates: those who just aren't smart and/or rational enough to understand the problem, and those who are completely cynical, willing to say anything to get ahead.
• 2012/01/19: Grist: Obama's first ad focuses on green jobs
• 2012/01/19: al Jazeera: Perry 'drops out' of Republican race
  Texas governor to end White House bid and endorse Newt Gingrich in Saturday's South Carolina primary, US media reports.
• 2012/01/18: S&R: Loons, goons, and buffoons: welcome to The Marvelous GOP Unreality Show
• 2012/01/16: BBC: Jon Huntsman drops out of Republican presidential race

  The Keystone XL saga rolls on:

• 2012/01/19: GreenGrok: Obama 'Takes Stand,' Rules Against the Keystone XL Pipeline
• 2012/01/21: TSA: Big News: Obama rejects Keystone XL -- but we can't stop here. [McKibben]
• 2012/01/19: Tyee: What the Keystone Rejection Really Reveals -- The ruthless, evolving nature of energy politics
• 2012/01/21: CCurrents: How The Pipeline Died And How To Bury It For Good
• 2012/01/19: DemNow: Obama Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline under GOP Deadline, But Opponents Prepare for Long-Term Fight
• 2012/01/19: NYT:PK: Say's Law For Thee But Not For Me
• 2012/01/20: TP:JR: To Infinity and Beyond: Keystone XL Champions Wildly Inflate Jobs Numbers
• 2012/01/19: Grist: Keystone surprise: Greens stronger & GOP dumber than predicted
• 2012/01/19: CSW: Obama's denial of Keystone XL tar sands pipeline permit was an easy decision, for now
• 2012/01/19: HuffPo: Why the Keystone XL Rejection Won't Stop Tar Sands Development
• 2012/01/19: BBC: Is Keystone a Touchstone?
  On the face of things, Barack Obama's decision to reject the planned Keystone XL oil pipeline is quite a significant shift for a president who for the last year at least has seemed reluctant to endorse any policy with a green tinge.
• 2012/01/19: DeSmogBlog: To Infinity and Beyond: Media Matters Exposes Echo Chamber On Bogus Keystone XL Jobs Claims
• 2012/01/19: PSinclair: Pipeline Blocked. Keystone Kops in pursuit. Suspect is Middle-aged Black Male.
• 2012/01/19: EnvEcon: nana nana boo boo, stick your head in doo doo
• 2012/01/19: KSJT: Lots of Ink: Keystone oil pipeline get nixed for now. What's it mean?
• 2012/01/19: TP:JR: Keystone XL News Round-Up...
• 2012/01/19: PlanetArk: New [K XL] Pipeline Study Would Take Minimum 12-18 Months
• 2012/01/18: Grist: Keystone XL decision is a big win - for now [McKibben]
• 2012/01/18: Grist: Keystone XL shot down, Republicans whine about it
• 2012/01/18: NYT: A Good Call on the Pipeline
• 2012/01/18: NYT: Rejecting Pipeline Proposal, Obama Blames Congress
• 2012/01/18: WiC: Keystone XL decision is a big win -- for now
• 2012/01/19: 350orBust: The Myth of Keystone Jobs Must Give Way To Real Job Opportunities For Canadians & Americans
• 2012/01/19: CBC: Keystone decision rekindles U.S. fight over pipeline -- TransCanada says new proposed route could be ready by fall
• 2012/01/18: TCoE: Keystone XL is a lesson waiting to be learned
• 2012/01/18: DeSmogBlog: Without Facts on Their Side, Oil Shills Try to Buy Keystone Support on Twitter
• 2012/01/18: Guardian(UK): Keystone XL pipeline: Obama rejects controversial project
• 2012/01/18: TP:JR: Obama Denies Keystone XL Permit, But Allows TransCanada to Reapply With Alternate Pipeline Route
• 2012/01/18: Grist: Ride the line: What one activist learned biking the Keystone XL route
• 2012/01/18: TreeHugger: Obama Administration To Reject Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
• 2012/01/18: DeSmogBlog: Keystone XL Pipeline Would Increase Oil Prices in Midwest
• 2012/01/18: Grist: Clean energy policies create more jobs than Keystone
• 2012/01/18: OilChange: Pssst! Don't tell anyone...Big Oil Makes Money!
• 2012/01/18: OilChange: Keystone XL: Undermining Energy Security and Sending Tar Sands Overseas
• 2012/01/17: EnvEcon: "Jobs take center stage in Keystone fight" - Sigh (E2-Wire)
• 2012/01/17: TP:JR: Pipeline Protest: The 99% Strike Back Against Keystone XL
• 2012/01/15: Guardian(UK): About the Keystone XL pipeline, my reservation
  I learned about the tar sands oil pipeline that threatens our land from my children -- appropriately, since it's their future at stake

The National Center For Science Education is launching a climate education campaign:

• 2012/01/20: TreeHugger: Climate Educators Defend Themselves Against Political Attacks
• 2012/01/18: TP:JR: National Center For Science Education Launches Fight Against Climate Change Denial In Schools
• 2012/01/17: ScienceInsider: Education Advocates [NCSE] Enter the Climate Tempest
• 2012/01/17: DeSmogBlog: The Classroom Climate Battle: A New Heavy Hitter Joins the Fray
• 2012/01/16: NatureN: Evolution advocate [NCSE] turns to climate
  Education centre known for battling creationists aims to help science teachers convey understanding of global
• 2012/01/16: SciAm:EEL: NCSE [National Center for Science Education] Picks Fight Against Climate Science Deniers

  The Obama chatter is nonstop:

• 2012/01/17: Grist: Situation normal, all fracked up: Obama embraces fracking

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2012/01/21: NOAANews: NOAA launches Weather-Ready Nation emergency response project in Louisiana -- Mobile weather capability to be tested as part of emergency operations in the region
• 2012/01/20: TP:JR: Mercury Pollution Cuts Won't Harm Electricity Reliability, Congressional Research Service Confirms
• 2012/01/20: ACLU: Obama Administration Protects Birth Control Access for Women
• 2012/01/20: CSW: "Obama Proposal Could Weaken Key Climate Agency"
• 2012/01/15: NRDC:SB: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Why NOAA Shouldn't Be Moved to the Interior Department
• 2012/01/18: NOAANews: Dr. Robert Detrick named new assistant administrator of NOAA research office
• 2012/01/17: CSW: Don't disrupt NOAA's climate change activities with Obama's proposed agency re-shuffle
• 2012/01/18: OilChange: A Road Map to Renewal or Ruin?
• 2012/01/16: Wunderground: Bill Read to retire as director of the National Hurricane Center

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2012/01/21: CCP: Brad Johnson: Meet The 40 Members of The Congressional Koch Caucus
• 2012/01/20: 350orBust: "Ethical" Oil? House Speaker Boehner Promotes Keystone Pipeline While Investing In It
• 2012/01/20: PlanetArk: Bill Adds Natgas, Coal As Renewable Fuel Source
  Ethanol derived from natural gas and coal would compete with corn-based ethanol for a share of the U.S. motor fuel market under a bill unveiled by six U.S. House members on Wednesday.
• 2012/01/18: Grist: A farm bill in 2012? Don't hold your breath
• 2012/01/18: TP:JR: 2011 Review: House of Representatives, Polluter Lobbying, and More Air Pollution

  While in the UK:

• 2012/01/20: EurActiv: Fossil fuels are sub-prime assets, Bank of England governor warned
  The huge reserves of coal, oil and gas held by companies listed in the City of London are "sub-prime" assets posing a systemic risk to economic stability, a high-profile coalition of investors, politicians and scientists has warned the Bank of England's governor, Mervyn King.
• 2012/01/20: Stoat: Fossil fuels are sub-prime assets, Bank of England governor warned?
• 2012/01/20: BBC: UK 'subsidising nuclear power unlawfully'
  Green energy campaigners are attempting to block new nuclear power stations in the UK by complaining to the European Commission that government plans contravene EU competition regulations. They say financial rules for nuclear operators include subsidies that have not been approved by the commission.
• 2012/01/19: Guardian(UK): Fossil fuels are sub-prime assets, Bank of England governor warned
  Open letter to Sir Mervyn King says overexposure to high-carbon assets by London-listed companies risks creating a 'carbon bubble'
• 2012/01/19: InformedComment: Scotland to the Rescue: Seeks 100% Renewable Energy by 2020
• 2012/01/17: BBC: Public request for climate hedgehog study
  UK wildlife charities are asking for people's help in examining if hedgehogs are being affected by climate change. Retired hedgehog expert Dr Pat Morris performed a study 40 years ago showing that temperature affects when the animals emerge from hibernation. With the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and People's Trust for Endangered Species, he wants to see if warming since then has changed things. Hedgehog numbers fell in the last 50 years, largely due to land use change. From an estimated 30 million in the 1950s, the UK population shrank to about 1.5 million in 1995, and has almost certainly fallen further since then.
• 2012/01/17: TreeHugger: Scotland Guns for 100% Renewable Energy by 2020

  And in Europe:

• 2012/01/20: DerSpiegel: The World from Berlin -- Solar Energy Row Is an 'Undignified Spectacle'
  The future of solar subsidies has pitted members of Chancellor Merkel's cabinet against each other. But instead of politicizing the issue, German commentators on Friday urge the country's leaders to focus on consumers and what best serves Germany's energy needs.
• 2012/01/20: PlanetArk: German Solar Industry In Favour Of Limits: Executive
  A goal of limiting new installations of solar panel capacity to 3,500-5,000 megawatt (MW) a year makes sense, Frank Asbeck, board member at BSW, Germany's largest solar industry association, said on Thursday. "This would have worked in 2011, if the German market had not been flooded by Chinese modules at dumping prices by the end of the year," he said. German solar industry representatives meet with Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen later on Thursday to discuss ways to address soaring demand for solar modules. New solar installations reached a record 7.5 gigawatts (GW) in Germany in 2011, playing into the hands of advocates for steeper cuts in tariff subsidies.
• 2012/01/20: TRR: Saving Solar Power in Germany
• 2012/01/19: EurActiv: EU: A 30% CO2 cut would be cheaper than we thought
  Raising the European Union's 2020 emission reduction target from 20% to 30% would be much less costly than was assumed in 2008, and the effort could be shared fairly among governments, according to a draft EU document.
• 2012/01/19: PlanetArk: Cost Of 30 Percent EU Carbon Cut Less Than Thought: Draft
• 2012/01/18: Guardian(UK): Tougher 30% emissions cut would be cheaper than expected: report
  Chris Huhne's support for higher 30% emissions cut target gets boost as European Commission analysis concludes it would actually save money over a smaller cut
• 2012/01/18: PlanetArk: France's Hollande Softens Nuclear Closure Stance
• 2012/01/18: DerSpiegel: Solar Subsidy Sinkhole -- Re-Evaluating Germany's Blind Faith in the Sun
  The costs of subsidizing solar electricity have exceeded the 100-billion-euro mark in Germany, but poor results are jeopardizing the country's transition to renewable energy. The government is struggling to come up with a new concept to promote the inefficient technology in the future.
• 2012/01/18: DerSpiegel: Interview with Michael Fuchs -- Solar Subsidy 'Insanity' Will Cost Consumers
  In a Spiegel interview, deputy parliamentary floor leader for the conservative Christian Democrats, Michael Fuchs, discusses the mistakes made in Germany's subsidy policy for solar energy.
• 2012/01/16: EurActiv: Bulgarian protestors demand ban on shale gas
  Thousands of Bulgarians have protested against exploration for shale gas over fears it could poison underground water, trigger earthquakes and pose serious public health hazards.

Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2012/01/21: ABC(Au): Major coal dam gets green nod
  A major dam and pipeline to support the coal industry in central and northern Queensland has won environmental approval. Queensland Coordinator-General Keith Davies has granted conditional environmental approval for water infrastructure developer SunWater's $1.2 billion Connors River Dam and Pipelines project, which will be situated east of Moranbah.
• 2012/01/20: ABC(Au): NSW environment boss [Lisa Corby] quits
  The head of New South Wales Office and Environment and Heritage has quit, in another blow to Environment Minister Robyn Parker.
• 2012/01/17: JQuiggin: Cars
• 2012/01/17: ABC(Au): Arrow stands ground despite CSG protests
  The company at the centre of a coal seam gas protest south of Brisbane says it is not about to scrap the project. Demonstrators have been picketing Arrow Energy's exploration project near Beaudesert since last Thursday. Farmers and residents living in the Beaudesert area fear CSG mining will damage the water table.

Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie withdrew from the Gillard government... over slot machines of all things:

• 2012/01/22: ABC(Au): Wilkie withdraws support over broken pokies deal
  Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has withdrawn his support from the Government after the Prime Minister broke her agreement on poker machine reform. Mr Wilkie says he had no choice but to walk away from the Government after Julia Gillard broke the deal she made with him on pre-commitment technology in the wake of the last election. The move plunges the Government back to a one seat majority...
• 2012/01/22: ABC(Au): Broken pokies deal: what's next for Labor?
  Independent MP Andrew Wilkie's decision to withdraw support for the Government puts Labor back to a one-seat majority but is unlikely to lead to an early election. Mr Wilkie says he had no choice but to walk away from the Government after Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced a watered down version of their post-election agreement to overhaul poker machine laws.
• 2012/01/21: ABC(Au): Cabinet ditches pokies reform deadline
  Federal Cabinet has announced it is formally abandoning a deadline to introduce mandatory pre-commitment technology for poker machines. Labor had a deal with independent MP Andrew Wilkie to form government, which involved changing poker machine laws by May 8. At a press conference this afternoon, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin announced they will begin a national trial of the technology from next year.
• 2012/01/21: BBC: Australia government loses MP's support over slot machines
  Australian PM Julia Gillard's minority government has lost the support of an independent MP, leaving her with control of just 75 out of 150 seats. Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie withdrew his backing after the prime minister broke her promise to bring in new controls on slot machines or "pokies". The MP said he had no option but to end his relationship with the government. Ms Gillard's Labor Party does still have a one-seat buffer as the non-voting speaker is an opposition MP.

The Murray-Darling Basin Plan controversy continues:

• 2012/01/22: ABC(Au): Record rain fails to boost dam levels
  Perth's wettest start to Summer on record has made little difference to dam levels. Almost 92 millimetres of rain have fallen in Perth since the start of December. But The Water Corporation says dam levels are still only about a third full.
• 2012/01/20: ABC(Au): Concerned Scientists query draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan
• 2012/01/20: ABC(Au): Both side of Murray-Darling Basin plan happy - for now
• 2012/01/18: Budanga: Scientists say the Draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan should be scrapped
• 2012/01/18: ABC(Au): Scientists want 'manipulated' basin plan scrapped
  An independent group of scientists say the Federal Government should scrap the draft Murray-Darling Basin plan, which they say "manipulated science" in an "attempt to engineer a predetermined political outcome". The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists says the plan does not provide enough information on how much water is needed to return the basin to health and does not prepare for the effects of climate change and future droughts. The group has spent two months analysing the draft, which drew criticism from environmentalists and farmers alike when it was released in November.
• 2012/01/16: al Jazeera: One year after the floods
  Australia remembers the damage caused by last summer's incessant rain

And in New Zealand:

• 2012/01/19: HotTopic: The wrong road to take

  While in the Indian subcontinent:

• 2012/01/20: OpenDem: Mega dams: campaigning against the plans of the Indian government
  In demonstrations barely reported in the media, peasants and students in the Northeastern Indian state of Assam are fighting together against a proposed gargantuan network of dams across the upper reaches of its rivers in Arunachal Pradesh, one of the world's six most seismically active regions. The movement has gathered impressive momentum against a project that threatens devastating environmental, demographic and socio-economic impact.

And in China:

• 2012/01/21: BBC: Authorities in the Chinese capital Beijing have started releasing more detailed data on air quality
• 2012/01/19: TreeHugger: Chinese Climate Change Report Says Environmental Future "Grim"
• 2012/01/18: Reuters: China report spells out "grim" climate change risks
  Global warming threatens China's march to prosperity by cutting crops, shrinking rivers and unleashing more droughts and floods, says the government's latest assessment of climate change, projecting big shifts in how the nation feeds itself. The warnings are carried in the government's "Second National Assessment Report on Climate Change," which sums up advancing scientific knowledge about the consequences and costs of global warming for China -- the world's second biggest economy and the biggest emitter of greenhouse gas pollution.
• 2012/01/16: PlanetArk: China Orders 7 Pilot Cities And Provinces To Set CO2 Caps

  While in Africa:

• 2012/01/18: Guardian(UK): Nigeria reels after oil subsidy row turns into country's biggest ever protest
• 2012/01/17: CSM: President backs down on fuel price increases, but it is still winter in Nigeria
• 2012/01/16: BBC: Nigeria's unions have suspended their strike after the president agreed to cut the cost of petrol following a week of protests
• 2012/01/16: CBC: Nigeria reinstates fuel subsidy to end strike -- 'Provocateurs' have hijacked the protests, president says
• 2012/01/16: al Jazeera: Nigerian unions call off national strike
  Decision comes after President Jonathan said he would bring down fuel price hikes that have sparked protests.
• 2012/01/15: BBC: Nigeria fuel prices: Weekend talks fail to reach deal
  The latest round of talks between Nigeria's president and trade unions have ended with no sign of a compromise over the removal of fuel subsidies.
• 2012/01/15: Guardian(UK): Fears of oil shutdown as Nigerian strike continues
  Threat of shutdown in fifth-largest oil exporter to US could shake oil futures amid concern about worldwide supply

And South America:

• 2012/01/19: ScienceInsider: For Its New Science Minister Brazil Picks ... A Scientist

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

• 2012/01/21: QuarkSoup: Canada's Cost from Climate Change
• 2012/01/16: Tyee: Stephen Harper and the Big Oil Party of Canada
  Now that petro interests reign supreme, even other corporate sectors lose their sway.
• 2012/01/19: Tyee: Harper's Former Schoolmate Now on His Enemies List
  'Radical foreign' oil sands foe Bill McKibben attended Toronto elementary school with Stephen Harper.
• 2012/01/21: QuarkSoup: Steven Harper on Canadian Oil Sands
• 2012/01/20: Rabble:B: The Harper government, Ethical Oil and Sun Media connection
• 2012/01/21: TGBeaver: Stevie's Oil Ugliness . . .
• 2012/01/20: Slate: Saudi Arabia. Nigeria. Venezuela. Canada? Is our neighbor to the north becoming a jingoistic petro-state?
• 2012/01/20: BuckDog: The Oil Industy IS NOT A 'Jobs Machine' - No Matter What Stephen Harper & His Oil Party Say!
• 2012/01/20: DeSmogBlog: Friends with Benefits: The Harper Government, EthicalOil.org and Sun Media Connection
• 2012/01/18: 350orBust: Conservative Party Of Canada's Unethical Ties To EthicalOil.Org
• 2012/01/17: MSimon: The Oil Pimp and the Dalai Lama

  The G20 controversy lingers:

• 2012/01/20: PaiD: The G20 Beating of Adam Nobody: Toronto Constable Michael Adams and His Thuggish Colleagues
• 2012/01/20: CBC: Police union vows to block G20 charges
• 2012/01/21: OrwellsBastard: Police accountability in Toronto
• 2012/01/20: LFR: Police watchdog: 5 cops who beat Adam Nobody should be charged
• 2012/01/19: CBC: Charge G20 officers, police watchdog orders -- 5 constables involved in Adam Nobody arrest finally identified
  Ontario's top police complaints watchdog has concluded five officers involved in the now infamous arrest of G20 protester Adam Nobody should be charged with misconduct for using unnecessary force and for discreditable conduct, CBC News has learned. CBC News has obtained a report produced by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) on Nobody's violent takedown on the lawn of Queen's Park in Toronto on June 26, 2010. The report, which was given last week to Toronto police Chief Bill Blair, orders him to lay disciplinary charges against five Toronto constables: Michael Adams, Geoffrey Fardell, David Donaldson, Oliver Simpson and Babak Andalib-Goortani.

Questions and debate about offshore and Arctic drilling continue:

• 2012/01/20: CBC: Shell to spend $1B on N.S.'s offshore oil and gas

  What's the use of being PM if you can't pack the senate with your favourite dinosaurs?

• 2012/01/21: PostMedia: Climate skeptics gathering influence in Tory Senate seats
  Some of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's newly-appointed senators are emerging as global-warming skeptics in the wake of aggressive government positions to abandon the Kyoto Protocol, slam environmentalists and downplay potential damage caused by Canadian oil and gas exploration.

The ramifications of the various Keystone XL decisions are being argued:

• 2012/01/19: PI:B: U.S. decision on Keystone XL pipeline took climate consequences into account
• 2012/01/18: PI: Pembina reacts to Obama administration's denial of Keystone XL pipeline
• 2012/01/18: CEP: Obama's decision on Keystone XL opens door for Canada [to create a sustainable energy policy]
• 2012/01/19: TStar: Pipeline politics in Canada and U.S. a peril for Stephen Harper
• 2012/01/19: G&M: Producers still back Keystone XL, TransCanada says
• 2012/01/19: MSimon: Stephen Harper's Great Pipeline Humiliation
• 2012/01/19: CBC: TransCanada CEO says shippers still want Keystone XL
• 2012/01/18: G&M: To Harper's 'profound disappointment,' Obama rejects Keystone
• 2012/01/17: TheHill:e2W: Canadian PM plays Iran card in Keystone push
  Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, joining Capitol Hill Republicans and business groups, said Iran's threat to block a major oil shipping lane builds the case for U.S. approval of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.
• 2012/01/16: LFR: The Conservative Communist Manifesto: Keystone pipeline edition

  The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

• 2012/01/21: PRP: Stephen Harper Will Not Be Permitted to Brush us Aside
• 2012/01/16: Tyee: How Enbridge Sawed Off Good Relations with BC First Nations
  Killing Haisla's sacred trees just one way firm has undercut dealings with aboriginals on Pacific Gateway route.
• 2012/01/19: Tyee: A New Award for Pseudo-Satire, The Swiftys
• 2012/01/19: PI:B: Market access just one hurdle facing oilsands pipeline proponents
• 2012/01/20: BLongstaff: One pipeline down, one to go
• 2012/01/20: Macleans: Crack in the Northern Gateway pipe dream -- 'Foreigners' are not the project's only obstacle
• 2012/01/20: BCLSB: Paul Wells On Northern Gateway
• 2012/01/20: iPolitics: Leadership, honesty, principle in short supply on pipeline debate
• 2012/01/19: Rabble:TM: An essay on respect
• 2012/01/19: TRM: A long story and an action item
• 2012/01/19: TGBeaver: Northern Gateway, Northern Wall
• 2012/01/18: CBC: Enbridge pipeline deal with B.C. First Nation collapses -- Public hearings continue to assess impact of pipeline
  Enbridge, the company behind the controversial Northern Gateway Pipeline project, is conceding that an agreement with a B.C. First Nation has officially collapsed, after chiefs voted to reject the deal on Tuesday. The deal, which would have seen the Gitxsan community receive an equity stake in the $5.5-billion project and at least $7 million in profit, was first announced in December by the band's chief negotiator Elmer Derrick. However, other Gitxsan leaders disagreed, a blockade was set up outside the treaty office and there were claims Derrick had been fired from his position.
• 2012/01/17: Tyee: Ethical Oil My Gas! Enbridge pipeline cheerleaders full of hypocrisy in criticizing 'foreign intervention.'
• 2012/01/18: DeSmogBlog: Unaccountable Oil: Is Enbridge Already Polluting the Canadian (Political) Environment?
• 2012/01/18: PostMedia: Professors say Harper misreads role of National Energy Board
  Prime Minister Stephen Harper has provided an unclear portrayal of the federal government's relationship with the independent agency that will rule on the proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline, two academics said Tuesday.
  [...]
  "Harper did not represent the structure of authority in this case correctly," said George Hoberg, a professor at the University of B.C.'s department of forest resources management. He said the Joint Review Panel that is assessing the project under both the NEB Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act "is the final decision-maker, not the cabinet." He said the NEB can't give the project the go-ahead by issuing a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity without cabinet approval, which means the government could overrule a positive decision. "But cabinet can't overrule a 'No' decision without new legislation," Hoberg said.
• 2012/01/18: TStar: Are the Conservatives making Northern Gateway pipeline hearings irrelevant?
• 2012/01/17: PostMedia: Geological expert disputes need for Northern Gateway
  The proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline will jeopardize Canada's long-term energy security while at the same time leading to an unprecedented expansion of the oilsands with its dangerous social and environmental impacts, a former senior federal government geologist says. David Hughes, who worked as a petroleum geologist for the Geological Survey of Canada for 32 years, says in his 30-page study of the pipeline proposal that Canada already has enough pipeline capacity to supply current and near-future needs.
• 2012/01/17: PostMedia:B: China has our forests, now we're sending our oilfields too
• 2012/01/16: BCLSB: Northern Gateway Proponents Play Dirty!
• 2012/01/16: BCLSB: Fake "Supports Northern Gateway Pipeline" Facebook Pages

  The NDP leadership contest is still simmering in the background:

• 2012/01/21: G&M: Amid 'violent' agreement, NDP excitement's at a premium
  Nathan Cullen, an NDP leadership candidate from northern B.C., put matters well: The candidates, he said, "violently agree" on just about everything. When candidates agree, it's great for party unity. But it means the contest is not much about policy differences but rather about style, nuance, geography, organization and, dare we say it, electability.

There are still some reactions to Minister Oliver's diatribe:

• 2012/01/16: PI:B: The truth about our funding
• 2012/01/17: Straight: David Suzuki: What's so radical about caring for the Earth and opposing Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline?
• 2012/01/17: DeSmogBlog: The Enbridge Board: A foreign Special Interest Group
• 2012/01/16: DVoice: On Getting Rich as a Tree Hugger -- The Wages of Radicalism
• 2012/01/17: PostMedia: Minister turns down rhetoric in Northern Gateway speech
  Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver turned down the rhetorical volume Monday in defending the oilpatch against criticism from the environmental movement.
• 2012/01/17: CBC: Harper says pipeline debate should be left to Canadians
• 2012/01/15: TStar: The foreigners are coming!
• 2012/01/15: SixthEstate: Ottawa Besieged by Foreign Money, Billionaire Non-Socialists

  Meanwhile in the CWB saga:

• 2012/01/20: Rabble: Judge reserves decision on injunction against Bill C-18
• 2012/01/19: PostMedia: Decision reserved on wheat board challenge
  A Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench judge reserved his decision Wednesday on whether to grant an injunction that would halt implementation of Ottawa's new grain marketing law. Eight former Canadian Wheat Board directors brought the application before Justice Shane Perlmutter, who presided over a two-day hearing.
• 2012/01/18: CBC: Ex-CWB directors seek court injunction
  Former directors of the Canadian Wheat Board have asked a Manitoba judge to stop the federal government from removing the board's monopoly over western wheat and barley sales. The ex-directors' lawyers appeared in Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench Tuesday to argue the government violated its own law -- The Canadian Wheat Board Act -- by not holding a plebiscite among producers before making the change.
• 2012/01/18: PostMedia: Ending wheat board monopoly will cause 'irreparable harm,' court hears
  Ottawa's failure to give Prairie farmers a vote before ending the Canadian Wheat Board's sales monopoly - as required by law - is "an affront to society," a Manitoba court heard Tuesday. Colin MacArthur, representing eight former CWB directors, also argued that ending the grain seller's single desk would cause "irreparable harm" to western growers. The former directors, all farmers, are seeking an injunction preventing the implementation of the government's Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act until its validity can be determined. They made their application Tuesday in Winnipeg before Justice Shane Perlmutter of Court of Queen's Bench. Federal lawyers will oppose the application in arguments Wednesday.
• 2012/01/16: CBC: Canadian Wheat Board layoffs begin

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

• 2012/01/18: AlexandraMorton: Marine Harvest Pleads Guilty

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2012/01/19: HuffPo: Why the Keystone XL Rejection Won't Stop Tar Sands Development
• 2012/01/20: Macleans: Canada's crude awakening
  Paul Wells on why unlocking Alberta's vast petroleum riches will be anything but easy
• 2012/01/20: BCLSB: Do Tar Sands Have Libel Lawyers?
• 2012/01/19: PlanetArk: In Montana, A Rough Road For Oil Sands Equipment
• 2012/01/18: WCEL: Ethical Oil attack ads expose un-"fairness" of Vivian Krause
• 2012/01/18: NI/P: Regulators throwing loaded dice
• 2012/01/18: PlanetArk: New Study To Probe Corrosiveness Of Canada Oil
• 2012/01/16: PushedLeft: So This is Ethical Oil?
• 2012/01/15: DeSmogBlog: Ethical Oil, the Sub-Prime Mortgage Scandal and The Next Great Generation

  Also in Alberta:

• 2012/01/19: PostMedia: Alberta urged U.S. regulator to ignore emissions -- EPA told to ignore carbon footprint, letters reveal
  The Alberta government has acknowledged that the Obama administration had accurate information about environmental impacts of oilsands development, but unsuccessfully urged it to disregard the industry's footprint on the planet's climate in an evaluation of the Keystone XL pipeline project, newly released correspondence has revealed. The letters, exchanged between Alberta Environment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Canada's U.S. Ambassador Gary Doer, reveal new aspects of a Canadian lobbying campaign to persuade the Americans to exclude climate change from its final decision about the expansion of TransCanada's proposed Keystone pipeline expansion project.
• 2012/01/16: PostMedia: Canadian energy strategy key to Alberta's future: Redford -- Premier will push for national plan at leaders' conference

  While in Saskatchewan:

• 2012/01/20: SaskBoy: Get Mad At SaskPower
• 2012/01/17: CBC: Potash price volatility expected
  Canada's potash industry could be in for a rocky few years as supply and demand are unlikely to move up and down in unison over the next decade, a report said Tuesday. Research firm DBRS Ltd. said potash companies are likely to see strong demand over the long term, but profitability may not follow a straight line higher. Potash is the common name for a variety of water-soluble mineral salts that provide potassium to agricultural crops. It's become one of the world's most sough-after fertilizers due to its ability to increase yields, or, the amount of food produced per acre. Spot prices for potash have more than doubled since 2007.

In Ontario, a card falls from the last election:

• 2012/01/18: BCLSB: Wind Concerns Busted!

  In the Maritimes:

• 2012/01/19: CBC: Premier 'hypocritical' says abortion coalition
  P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz is hypocritical to be co-chairing a national committee on health-care innovation when he refuses to provide abortions on P.E.I., says the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada.
• 2012/01/16: CBC: Seals blamed for lack of cod recovery
  A huge seal population is preventing cod stocks from rebounding off Nova Scotia, two former directors of science at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography say. The work of Bob O'Boyle and Mike Sinclair backs what fishermen have argued for years.

And then there is the miscellaneous Canadiana:

• 2012/01/19: Eureka: Climate change invites alien invaders -- Is Canada ready?
• 2012/01/19: EneNews: Lawmaker: Serious questions arising about why Canada gov't failed to alert public about radioactive rain after Fukushima
• 2012/01/16: HillTimes: 'Intense discomfort' in public service as civil servants wait for knife to come down
• 2012/01/16: CBC: Kyoto exit leaves climate fight up to provinces -- Here's what regions are doing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• 2012/01/18: PostMedia: Federal wind turbine rules coming -- New guidelines will recommend minimum safe distances between homes and wind towers
• 2012/01/18: iPolitics: Nuclear power's defenders are doing the Safety Dance

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

• 2012/01/21: CCurrents: Ecology And The Pathology Of Capitalism
• 2012/01/19: CCurrents: Global Energy And Resources
• 2012/01/19: EnergyBulletin: Dancing on history's edge: Why this is an amazing time to be alive
  [...]
  We know an evolution is needed. We know that evolution is being birthed within the crumbling of the old ways of being and doing that for so long have not served us or our earth. We see shapes of what is rising, the many new ways of thinking, feeling, being and doing now being created and embraced by increasing numbers of people. Yet much of what will evolve is still blocked from our view. It is a time of complexities, challenges and deep hope.
• 2012/01/17: EnergyBulletin: eCOOLnomics
• 2012/01/15: AlterNet: The Essentials for the Necessary Transition to a Renewable Energy Economy

  What do we tell the children?

• 2012/01/20: CCurrents: Open Letter To Children Everywhere

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

• 2012/01/20: ACLU: Obama Administration Protects Birth Control Access for Women
• 2012/01/19: CBC: Premier 'hypocritical' says abortion coalition
• 2012/01/19: BBC: Dangerous abortions 'on the rise', says WHO
  A rising proportion of abortions worldwide are putting women's health at risk, researchers say. The World Health Organization study suggests global abortion rates are steady, at 28 per 1,000 women a year. However, the proportion of the total carried out without trained clinical help rose from 44% in 1995 to 49% in 2008.
• 2012/01/18: TreeHugger: David Attenborough Urges Corporations to Help Reverse Population Expansion
• 2012/01/16: CBC: Selective abortions prompt call for ultrasound rules -- Canadian Medical Journal says new rules could curb female feticide in certain groups

  How do the media measure up?

• 2012/01/18: OfTwoMinds: You Can't Fool Mother Nature For Long: Mainstream Media
• 2012/01/20: QuarkSoup: Oh, Come On!
• 2012/01/19: P3: The Intransigence of the Press on Climate
• 2012/01/18: MediaMatters: How CBS Helped Bill O'Reilly Misinform His Audience About Clean Energy
• 2012/01/18: EneNews: NYTimes: Coal produces more radiation and deaths than nuclear -- PBS special on Fukushima could have used George Monbiot or the like
• 2012/01/17: APR: Frontline on PBS: "Nuclear Aftershocks."
• 2012/01/17: DM:NRS: Every scientists-versus-journalists debate ever, in one diagram
• 2012/01/16: HotTopic: Cranking it out: NZ papers conned by denier media strategy
• 2012/01/15: AlterNet: New York Times Public Editor Asks Whether Paper Should Fact-Check Politicians; Gets Resounding "Yes!"

  While activists search for effective communication techniques:

• 2012/01/18: Grist: Climate vigilantes: How to get real facts into media coverage of climate
• 2012/01/17: RealClimate: The dog is the weather

  Here is something for your library:

• 2012/01/17: TP:JR: [Book Review] _A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest_ by Williams DeBuys

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2012/01/21: CSW: "Greedy Lying Bastards" -- forthcoming film a "searing indictment" of the fossil fuel industry
• 2012/01/20: DeSmogBlog: Rick Mercer's Hilarious Takedown of the "Radical Foreign Interests" Echo Chamber
• 2012/01/20: Guardian(UK): Greedy Lying Bastards: US filmmaker attacks oil industry
  Craig Rosebraugh's new documentary highlights the 'influence, deceit and corruption' of fossil fuel industry
• 2012/01/18: Independent(UK):B: It's a girl: The three deadliest words in the world
• 2012/01/16: TP:JR: Video: Global Warming Goes to the Dogs or the Difference Between Weather and Climate
• 2012/01/16: PSinclair: Climate Deniers, Creationists, and the Practice of Science Denial

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2012/01/21: CNN: Chevron appeals $8.6 billion ruling
  Chevron's appeal continues 19 years of litigation - The fine will double if Chevron does not apologize, an appeals court has ruled - The company says the case is fraudulent - It does not believe the ruling is enforceable
  Chevron filed an appeal with Ecuador's National Court to review a ruling that it must pay billions of dollars in damages for oil pollution in the Amazon rain forest.
• 2012/01/19: NYT: A Judge Rules Vermont Can't Shut Nuclear Plant
• 2012/01/13: SolarTwin: UK Solar PV FITs Court Case Update. We Take The Wrappers OFF!

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

• 2012/01/21: CleanBreak: Marnoch Thermal Power: a new type of heat engine for tapping into lower temperatures
• 2012/01/21: CSM: The natural gas glut is reshaping electricity markets
• 2012/01/16: TribDem: Coal losing ground as fuel source for power plants [because of cheap nat gas]
• 2012/01/19: PlanetArk: Renewables To Play Small Role In 2030 Energy: BP
• 2012/01/19: TreeHugger: In Government Support of Renewables, Predictability is as Important as Subsidies
• 2012/01/19: BNC: Burning energy questions -- ERoEI, desert solar, oil replacements, realistic renewables and tropical islands
• 2012/01/18: KSJT: AP joins the local press: In central Oregon, a geothermal test in hot dry rock is coming
• 2012/01/17: BBerg: Electricity Declines 50% as Shale Spurs Natural Gas Glut: Energy
• 2012/01/17: OilDrum: Warm and Fuzzy on Geothermal?
• 2012/01/15: SeattlePI: Project to pour water into volcano to make power
• 2012/01/16: NBF: Energy news in China, Ukraine, United States and Germany
• 2012/01/18: Eureka: The great gas hydrate escape
  Computer simulations revealing how methane and hydrogen pack into gas hydrates could enlighten alternative fuel production and carbon dioxide storage industries

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

• 2012/01/20: SciAm: Fracking Would Emit Large Quantities of Greenhouse Gases
  "Fugitive methane" released during shale gas drilling could accelerate climate change
• 2012/01/20: EconView: "Fracking Would Emit Large Quantities of Greenhouse Gases" -- Another reason to be suspicious of fracking
• 2012/01/19: Platts: Global hydraulic frac market seen up 19% this year: consultant
• 2012/01/19: PhiladelphiaInquirer EPA to deliver water in Dimock
• 2012/01/19: EnvEcon: Is anyone else fracking confused by this?
• 2012/01/19: TreeHugger: Bulgaria Bans Fracking - Second Nation In World To Restrict Natural Gas Extraction Technique
• 2012/01/19: BBC: Bulgaria bans shale gas drilling with 'fracking' method
  Bulgaria has become the second European country after France to ban exploratory drilling for shale gas using the extraction method called "fracking".
• 2012/01/17: DeSmogBlog: Permission Denied: Bulgaria Says "No" To Chevron's Exploratory Fracking
• 2012/01/16: TreeHugger: After The Fracking: Will More Southern Workers Move To Pittsburgh, Will Air Quality Worsen?
• 2012/01/17: OilChange: Fracking Causes Blowouts too
• 2012/01/11: Wired(UK): Fracking is 'pretty safe', says British Geological Survey
• 2012/01/16: Independent(UK): Ministers slammed over fracking
  Earthquakes, poisoning fears, demonstrations, but still no top-level talks on suspect gas technique
• 2012/01/16: EcoWatch: Cornell Study Links Fracking Wastewater with Mortality in Farm Animals
• 2012/01/16: PlanetArk: After Earthquakes, Ohio City Questions Future Fracking Wells
• 2012/01/16: PlanetArk: Bulgarians Protest, Seek Moratorium On Shale Gas

  On the coal front:

• 2012/01/21: Grist: Picturing international coal trends
• 2012/01/17: Oregonian: Two coal companies want to export coal through the Port of St. Helens

  On the gas and oil front:

• 2012/01/20: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Nymex Crude Future....98.33
  Dated Brent Spot.....109.63
  WTI Cushing Spot......98.46
• 2012/01/20: AutoBG: Oil companies pay $6.8 million in fines for not using cellulosic biofuels that don't exist
• 2012/01/22: OilDrum: Tech Talk - The potential for future production from Romania
• 2012/01/20: OilChange: West Africa oil boom overlooks tattered environmental safety net
• 2012/01/20: BBC: Oil rig arrives in Cuba to begin deep water exploration
  A large oil rig has arrived off the coast of Cuba to begin searching for offshore oil deposits.
• 2012/01/18: EnergyBulletin: With Gas so Cheap and Well Drilling Down, Why is Gas Production so High?
• 2012/01/19: BBC: Offshore drilling in UK waters 'falls by a third'
  Offshore drilling activity in UK waters fell by a third last year to its lowest level since 2003, a report has found. Deloitte said 49 new wells were drilled in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) in 2011, compared with 74 in 2010. The firm's Petroleum Services Group said the figures were unexpected in a year when the average oil price had remained high.
• 2012/01/18: EarlyWarning: The Significance of the Al-Naimi Price Comment
• 2012/01/18: Grist: Biggest output of U.S. oil and gas industry is dirty water
• 2012/01/17: PlanetArk: Inpex, Total Approve $34 Billion LNG Project In Australia
• 2012/01/15: CalcRisk: Oil Prices and Economic Growth

  In the fossil fuel corps:

• 2012/01/16: CBC: Pembina buying Provident for $3.2B in shares
• 2012/01/16: BBerg: Pembina Pipeline Buys Canada's Provident for $3.1 Billion

  And in pipeline news:

• 2012/01/16: PlanetArk: Mexico Pipeline Oil Spill May Take Month To Clean

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2012/01/21: EnergyBulletin: Australian Peaky Leaks goes mainstream

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2012/01/17: ERW: More intensive oil-palm farming may not spare rainforest
• 2012/01/16: CER:RRapier: Venture Socialism?
• 2012/01/19: SciNews: Seaweed study fuels bioenergy enthusiasm -- Engineered E. coli can convert cell wall component into ethanol
• 2012/01/19: NBF: Technology to Efficiently Convert Seaweed to Renewable Fuels and Chemicals
• 2012/01/19: CSM: Custom-mutated bacteria converts seaweed to fuel
• 2012/01/20: ABC(Au): Modified bugs turn seaweed into biofuel
• 2012/01/19: Guardian(UK): GM microbe breakthrough paves way for large-scale seaweed farming for biofuels
• 2012/01/19: NatureN: Biofuel from beneath the waves -- Engineered bacterium can produce ethanol directly from seaweed
• 2012/01/19: Eureka: Findings prove Miscanthus x giganteus has great potential as an alternative energy source
• 2012/01/17: UIllinois: From field to biorefinery: Computer model optimizes biofuel operations
• 2012/01/16: RTCC: US Navy tests genetically modified algal fuel

  The answer my friend...:

• 2012/01/18: MLynas: In defence of offshore wind
• 2012/01/19: TP:JR: There is "No Evidence" that Wind Turbine Syndrome Exists, Concludes Expert Panel
• 2012/01/19: OilDrum: Obstacles Facing US Wind Energy
• 2012/01/03: LLNL: Power generation is blowing in the wind
• 2012/01/16: PlanetArk: China To Construct Largest Offshore Wind Farm Near Hebei: Report

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2012/01/19: ERW: Nanotube bundles could boost solar cells
• 2012/01/20: UBuffalo: In Solar Cells, Tweaking the Tiniest of Parts Yields Big Jump in Efficiency
  Company led by university researchers employs charged quantum dots to increase the efficiency of solar cell technology
• 2012/01/19: TP:JR: Polysilicon Prices To Drop in 2012, Bringing Solar PV Prices to 70 Cents a Watt
• 2012/01/19: PlanetArk: Analysis: New Technology [CPV] Focuses The Sun To Cut Solar's Cost
• 2012/01/21: InformedComment: Can Solar Energy in Mideast Stop a Gas War?
• 2012/01/18: EnergyBulletin: Basking in the sun
• 2012/01/18: PlanetArk: Solar Frontier To Supply World's Largest CIGS Solar Plant
• 2012/01/18: PlanetArk: MEMC Says Has No Firm Plans For Japan Solar Projects
  MEMC Electronic Materials Inc said on Tuesday it has not firmed up plans to build solar power plants in Japan because the government there has yet to determine a key solar subsidy.
• 2012/01/18: TreeHugger: Twin 50 MW Solar Thermal Plants Go Online in Spain; Each Can Run 7.5 Hours After Nightfall
• 2012/01/16: PlanetArk: German Funds Plan $2 Billion Oman Solar Project

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2012/01/19: MLynas: In defence of nuclear power
• 2012/01/20: WPTZ: Yankee Opponents Pin Hopes on PSB -- Court Ruled Plant Will Remain Open
• 2012/01/18: iPolitics: Nuclear power's defenders are doing the Safety Dance
• 2012/01/17: TreeHugger: Kirk Sorensen: "If Thorium is Good Enough for the Moon, It's Good Enough for Earth"
• 2012/01/16: WNN: Saudi Arabia widens horizons

  Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:

• 2012/01/18: USAToday: Problems plague cleanup at Hanford nuclear waste site
  Seven decades after scientists came here during World War II to create plutonium for the first atomic bomb, a new generation is struggling with an even more daunting task: cleaning up the radioactive mess.
• 2012/01/17: EneNews: NPR: Newly leaked report warns plutonium levels at Hanford may be much higher than claimed -- "The Columbia River is at stake, all of that area and its vitality" says Washington Governor
• 2012/01/17: PlanetArk: Special Report: Fuel Storage, Safety Issues Vexed Japan Plant

  The Rossi Energy Catalyzer keeps coming up:

• 2012/01/19: EnergyBulletin: The peak oil crisis: cold fusion update
• 2012/01/16: NBF: Rossi Interview Claims Energy Catalyzer submitted for UL product certification
• 2012/01/16: NBF: NASA Zawodny clarifies his views on Rossi and Low Energy Nuclear reactions
  "There have been many attempts to twist the release of this video into NASA's support for LENR or as proof that Rossi's e-cat really works. Many extraordinary claims have been made in 2010. In my scientific opinion, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. I find a distinct absence of the latter. So let me be very clear here. While I personally find sufficient demonstration that LENR effects warrant further investigation, I remain skeptical. Furthermore, I am unaware of any clear and convincing demonstrations of any viable commercial device producing useful amounts of net energy."

More people are talking about the electrical grid:

• 2012/01/17: TP:JR: How Time-of-Use Electricity Pricing Can Boost Distributed Solar

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2012/01/20: Grist: Energy efficiency: still awesome, still ignored
• 2012/01/20: TP:JR: Energy Experts Call on Breakthrough Institute to Retract or Fix Its Deeply Flawed Energy Rebound Report
  CO2 Scorecard Also Calls Out Roger Pielke, Jr. for His Inconsistent Stance on Grey Literature
• 2012/01/16: TP:JR: "Thinking Big" on Efficiency Could Cut U.S. Energy Costs up to $16 Trillion, Create up to 1.9 Million Net Jobs by 2050

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

• 2012/01/18: FuturePundit: Car Friction Reduction Could Save Substantial Energy
• 2012/01/20: AutoBG: Average U.S. vehicle age rises 12% in the last five years
• 2012/01/19: CleanBreak: The better use of natural gas: Waste Management pushes forward on CNG fleet conversion
• 2012/01/18: AutoBG: First hearing on 54.5 mpg proposal reveals widespread support
• 2012/01/18: Grist: How plug-in cars can face up to winter's challenges
• 2012/01/17: AutoBG: Consumer groups back 54.5 mpg standard as hearings commence
• 2012/01/15: AutoBG: U.S. plug-in vehicle interest driven down by high pricetags

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2012/01/18: TP:JR: Leading Global Investors Call the False Dichotomy Between Economy and Environment "Nonsense"
• 2012/01/16: EurActiv: Investors say private sector must tackle climate change
  Institutional investors with a collective $26 trillion under management have opened a new front in the fight against climate change, urging the private sector to mobilise and find new technologies to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2012/01/19: PSinclair: Climate Disasters Jack Up Insurance Rates

  Who's fielding theFAQs?

• 2012/01/16: Guardian(UK): How long do greenhouse gases stay in the air?

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

• 2012/01/20: TP:JR: January 20 News...
• 2012/01/19: TP:JR: Keystone XL News Round-Up...
• 2012/01/18: TP:JR: January 18 News...
• 2012/01/17: TP:JR: January 17 News...

  Other (weekly) lists:

• 2012/01/20: TreeHugger: Energy News Recap...
• 2012/01/18: TreeHugger: Energy News Recap...

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2012/01/20: ERabett: W/O Comment
• 2012/01/20: QuarkSoup: Another Bastardi Failed Prediction
• 2012/01/20: WottsUWT: Regulatory Czar wants to use copyright protection mechanisms to shut down rumors and conspiracy theories
• 2012/01/20: Stoat: Aiiee, the stupid, it burns!
• 2012/01/19: ERabett: Chip Clips
• 2012/01/18: Maribo: You've got mail, skeptical mail
• 2012/01/17: TP:JR: Koch-Funded Americans For Prosperity Spends $6 Million on Another Bogus Solyndra Campaign
• 2012/01/16: Stoat: Tweaking the wackos, part II
• 2012/01/15: HotTopic: Prat Watch #3: through the looking glass
• 2012/01/16: Deltoid: More fraud from Pat Michaels

  Meanwhile in the 'clean coal' saga:

• 2012/01/17: TreeHugger: Wisconsin Town Legally Prevented From Tightening Coal Ash Regulations

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2012/01/19: USGS: Acid Rain Study Show Substantial Decreases, But More Progress Is Needed
• 2012/01/19: TreeHugger: Tradeoff Between Environment and Economy is "Nonsense" Says GE Executive

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

• Food Democracy Now
• Forecast the Facts
• Fueling Extinction: How Dirty Energy Drives Wildlife to the Brink
• The Burgess Shale
• MassDEP: Expert Panel on Potential Heath Impacts Associated with Exposure to Wind Turbines
• The Great Change
• Daily Impact
• EcoWatch
• WNN: World Nuclear News
• WFES: World Future Energy Summit
• RTCC: Responding to Climate Change
• NOAA:CSC: Historical Hurricane Tracks
• Wiki: Agulhas Current
• ERW: Environmental Research Web News
• Geoengineering Politics
• Wiki: South-North Water Transfer Project

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.

"Scientists have to recognise that they are in a street fight." -Michael Mann

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