Another Week of GW News, April 15, 2012

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

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Another Week of Anthropocene Antics

Sipping from the Internet Firehose...

April 15, 2012

• Chuckles, Rio+20, Elgin, Fretwell, March, Maldives, Shakun, SREX
• Subsidies, GFIs, Hype, Cook
• Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
• Melting Arctic, Polar Bears, Methane, Geopolitics
• Food Crisis, Food Prices, Food Riots, GMOs, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, Historical Climate
• Extinctions, Anthropocene, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Extreme Weather, Tornadoes
• Wildfires, Corals, Acidification, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, DIY Science, Open Science, Hansen, Spencer
• International Politics: UN, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Hormuz, South China Sea, EU ETS & Airlines, Food Weapon
• Rare Earths, Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz, Predictions
• National Politics: America, BP Disaster, 2012, Gas Prices, Keystone, Birth Control, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
• Britain, Europe, Australia, Carbon Law, Brown, MDBA, New Zealand, India, China, Asia, Africa, South America
• Canada, Post G20, Post Budget, CAFE, GHG Report, Northern Gateway, Kinder Morgan
• Wiebo Ludwig, Scorecard, Resignation, ISA, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Ontario, North, Canadiana
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Video, Podcasts, Courts
• Energy, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Oil & the Economy, Peak Oil, Biofuel
• Wind, Solar, Nukes, Nuclear Fusion, LENR, Hydrogen, Grid, Cars
• Insurance, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

More black humour in a climatic vein:

• 2012/04/13: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Mall Redesign Winner
• 2012/04/09: SMacmillan: (cartoon - Macmillan) Shaken Not Stirred
• 2012/04/14: CF:TI: (cartoon - Roberts) Meeting of minds
• 2012/04/15: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) The Other Stand Your Ground
• 2012/04/11: Grist: GOP's worst nightmare: Green Muslims
• 2012/04/10: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Washington Deadlock

  Looking ahead to Rio+20 :

• 2012/04/14: al Jazeera: What can we expect from Rio+20?
  We should engage in a global dialogue to envision the future we want - and devise an adaptive strategy to get us there.

In the Elgin gas leak, the funny funky names have started:

• 2012/04/14: BBC: Total reports 'significant progress' over Elgin gas leak
  Total has reported making "significant progress" in efforts to stem a gas leak on its Elgin platform in the North Sea. The operator said it had moved ahead with preparatory work for its planned well control operation and the drilling of primary and back-up relief wells. It added all operations to stop the leak were going according to plan.
• 2012/04/13: BBC: Expert team boards Total's Elgin gas leak platform in North Sea
  A team of 11 has boarded the Elgin platform in the North Sea as preparations continue to stem the leak of gas. Operator Total said it was part of its "well kill" plans which are likely to involve plugging the leak with mud. The experts flew out from Aberdeen on Thursday morning.
• 2012/04/11: OilChange: The $13 Billion Bill for Elgin Gas Spill
• 2012/04/10: PlanetArk: Total To Go Ahead On Work To Cap Leaking [Elgin] Gas Well
• 2012/04/09: BBC: Total gas leak: Specialist equipment to plug Elgin well
  Specialist equipment has arrived in Scotland to help stop the gas leak at the Elgin platform in the North Sea. A team from operators Total flew out to inspect the leak last week. The equipment, which will be used as part of the company's "dynamic kill" plan to plug the well with mud, was flown into Prestwick airport from Houston, Texas. The Scottish government is also starting its assessment of the environmental impact of the leak.

The Fretwell et al. paper caught some buzz because of the novelty and because penguins are charismatic:

• 2012/04/13: PLoS One: An Emperor Penguin Population Estimate: The First Global, Synoptic Survey of a Species from Space by Peter T. Fretwell et al.
• 2012/04/13: NSF: Scientists Determined First-ever Census for Emperor Penguins
  High-resolution satellite images estimate emperor penguin numbers in Antarctica
• 2012/04/13: Eureka: Scientists complete first-ever emperor penguin count from space -- Results provide an important benchmark for monitoring the impact of environmental change
• 2012/04/13: BBC: Emperor penguins counted from space
• 2012/04/13: Guardian(UK): Emperor penguins become first creatures to be counted from space [10 pix] [space]

  Lots of chatter about the warm North American March:

• 2012/04/11: al Jazeera: March is one for the record books
  15,000 weather records were broken across the United States last month
• 2012/04/10: Tamino: March Madness
• 2012/04/10: KSJT: Lots of Ink: Yes, again, that was one hot March for the USA. Which should suggest a yin for the yang...
• 2012/04/10: TP:JR: March Came In Like A Lamb, Went Out Like A Globally Warmed Lion On Steroids Who Smashed 15,000 Heat Records
• 2012/04/10: Wunderground: March 2012: warmest in U.S. history
• 2012/04/09: CCP: NOAA: U.S. records warmest March; more than 15,000 warm temperature records broken. First quarter of 2012 also warmest on record...
• 2012/04/09: WaPo: Not just March, but start of 2012 shatter US records for heat, worrying meteorologists
  It's been so warm in the United States this year, especially in March, that national records weren't just broken, they were deep-fried. Temperatures in the lower 48 states were 8.6 degrees above normal for March and 6 degrees higher than average for the first three months of the year, according to calculations by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That far exceeds the old records. The magnitude of how unusual the year has been in the U.S. has alarmed some meteorologists who have warned about global warming. One climate scientist said it's the weather equivalent of a baseball player on steroids, with old records obliterated.

Some talk about the Maldives, but nothing has changed:

• 2012/04/14: CCurrents: U.S. And Maldives Endure The Long, Hot March Of Climate Change
• 2012/04/12: Rabble: Climate change, politics and coup d'etats
• 2012/04/12: EnergyBulletin: The long, hot march of climate change
• 2012/04/12: Guardian(UK): The US and Maldives endure the long, hot March of climate change
• 2012/04/09: DemNow: From Political Prisoner to Climate Activist: Ousted Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed Speaks Out

  Late comment on Shakun et al.:

• 2012/04/12: GreenGrok: CO2 and the End of the Last Ice Age: Lag Redux

  Late comment on SREX:

• 2012/04/08: CSW: Assessing the risks of climate extremes in an already-stressed world

  Who's getting the subsidies?

• 2012/04/13: TP:JR: Top Three Ways That American Taxpayers Subsidize Dirty Coal Development

  What are the global financial institutions up to?

• 2012/04/09: SciAm: World Bank Pushes for 'Green Accounting' by Nations
  Many nations are part of an effort to account for the economic goods provided for free by nature--but not the U.S.

This week's hype:

• 2012/04/13: ERabett: Pie Pushers

  John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

• 2012/04/15: SkeptiSci: Global Warming in a Nutshell by LarryM
• 2012/04/14: SkeptiSci: Why David Archibald is wrong about solar cycles driving sea levels (Part 1B) by Alex C
• 2012/04/12: SkeptiSci: Linking Weird Weather to Rapid Warming of the Arctic by Daniel Bailey
• 2012/04/12: SkeptiSci: NASA Climate 'Skeptics' Respond with Science! Just Kidding. by dana1981
• 2012/04/11: SkeptiSci: DeConto et al: Thawing permafrost drove the PETM extreme heat event by Andy S
• 2012/04/10: SkeptiSci: New research from last week 14/2012 by Ari Jokimäki
• 2012/04/10: SkeptiSci: Shakun et al. Clarify the CO2-Temperature Lag by dana1981

  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:

• 2012/04/13: NBF: Japan government and agencies declare two reactors safe for restart
• 2012/04/14: EneNews: Asahi: New photos show extensive damage at No. 3 fuel pool -- 35-ton machine that appears to be on fuel racks is a crane
• 2012/04/14: BBC: Japan plans to restart reactors at Ohi nuclear plant
  Two of Japan's nuclear reactors have been declared safe and should be restarted to combat looming power shortages, the government says.
• 2012/04/14: NakedCapitalism: Fukushima Dai-Ichi No. 4: An earthquake before spent fuel rods are moved to safe storage would be "the end"
• 2012/04/12: EneNews: Kyodo: Possible Leak at Unit No. 4 - Spent fuel pool cooling system halted after alarm sounds
• 2012/04/13: EneNews: Kyodo: Tepco finds 35-ton machine fallen in No. 3 fuel pool - Appears to have dropped on nuclear fuel racks (video)
• 2012/04/12: EneNews: Ex-Fukushima Daiichi Reactor Operator: Fuel rods still active and alive - Most worried about recriticality - Tepco must measure neutrons near core (video)
• 2012/04/10: BRitholtz: Fukushima to Burn Highly-Radioactive Debris
• 2012/04/09: al Jazeera: Calls for nuclear compensation grow in Japan
  Radioactive contamination in shiitake mushrooms has raised public clamour for compensation.
• 2012/04/07: WashingtonsBlog: The Top Short-Term Threat to Humanity: The Fuel Pools of Fukushima

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

• 2012/04/09: FuturePundit: The Avoidability Of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Failures
• 2012/04/09: EneNews: "It was a failure": Ex-Prime Minister Murayama apologizes for supporting nuclear power - Says gov't yet to tell public why Fukushima Daiichi crisis occurred

  The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

• 2012/04/10: ERW: Insight: plant biomass in Arctic tundra has increased
  The aboveground live biomass of Arctic tundra vegetation has increased by 19.8%, on average, throughout the circumpolar North since 1982, according to a study by researchers from the University of Virginia and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, US
• 2012/04/11: CCP: Arctic Sea ice undergoing spring breakup two months early
• 2012/04/11: RealClimate: Arctic Sea Ice Volume: PIOMAS, Prediction, and the Perils of Extrapolation
• 2012/04/10: ASI: Another source of info on MYI
• 2012/03/01: NASA:EO: Oldest Arctic Sea Ice is Disappearing

  As for the charismatic megafauna:

• 2012/04/13: PlanetArk: U.S. And Russian Scientists Launch Ice Seal Survey
• 2012/04/11: BCLSB: Polar Bear Potpourri
• 2012/04/09: ProMedMail: Die-off, marine wildlife - USA (02): (AK) polar bears
• 2012/04/09: PostMedia: Top polar bear scientists warn population isn't as 'abundant' as reported
  Two of Canada's top polar bear scientists have warned that recent attempts to justify an increase in the hunting of the storied animal in western Hudson Bay could lead to trade sanctions against Canada. University of Alberta scientists Ian Stirling and Andrew Derocher say the population is neither as "abundant" nor as "healthy" as a Nunavut Inuit organization claimed last week when it used the preliminary results of a recent survey to justify an increase in the annual harvest.
• 2012/04/09: CBC: 4 issues keeping polar bears in the spotlight
• 2012/04/09: MediaMatters: Scientist Responds To Misleading Polar Bear Coverage
• 2012/04/09: CCP: Canadian polar bear researcher, Steven Amstrup, responds to misleading aerial survey study of polar bear population west of Hudson Bay...
• 2012/04/09: KSJT: Alaska Press: First seals, then walruses, and now polar bears getting skin disease

  That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

• 2012/04/10: ArcticNews: High methane levels in Arctic - April 2012
• 2012/04/11: CCP: Triggering permafrost meltdown is closer than we think by Climate Code Red

  Lloyd's Of London had something to say about the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2012/04/13: Mining: Melting Arctic is nothing but good news for the mining industry: Lloyd's/Chatam House
• 2012/04/14: CCurrents: Arctic Oil Rush Will Ruin Ecosystem, Warns Lloyd's Of London
• 2012/04/13: EnergyBulletin: Arctic Opening: Opportunity and Risk in the High North (report)
• 2012/04/12: CCP: Arctic oil rush will ruin ecosystem, warns Lloyd's of London
• 2012/04/12: CBC: Arctic development risks need study, Lloyd's says -- Canada urged to lead in regulating economic activity
• 2012/04/12: TP:JR: Insurance Giant Lloyd's of London Warns Of 'Unique And Hard-To-Manage Risk' Of Arctic Ocean Oil Drilling

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2012/04/12: UPI: Climate change said to threaten Asia's 'Rice Bowl'
• 2012/04/14: GRC: Somalia: Famine for profit and the East African food crisis
• 2012/04/11: Reuters: U.S. farmland price boom to slow but not plateau
  The surge in farmland prices, which doubled in a decade amid an agricultural boom, should cool in the coming year as prices bump against the ability of cropland to pay for itself, said a panel of experts on Wednesday.
• 2012/04/12: CBC: Mali crisis raises West Africa famine threat -- Canada can help by co-ordinating donors, Oxfam says
• 2012/04/12: Eureka: Southeast Asia's billion dollar cassava industry at high risk due to climate change
  Key crop for tapioca, animal feed and biofuels faces pest risks, according to new research discussed at Climate Smart Agriculture conference in Bangkok
• 2012/04/10: NSF: Climate Change Boosts Then Quickly Stunts Plants, Decade-long Study Shows
• 2012/04/11: CSM: Famine relief in Somalia: a view from Mogadishu
• 2012/04/10: CBC: Bat die-off blamed on invasive European fungus
• 2012/04/10: BBC: White-nose syndrome in bats continues to spread
  A fungal disease that has killed more than 5.5 million bats is continuing to spread across North America. White-nose syndrome, first recorded in New York in 2006, is now present in 20 states and four Canadian provinces. Research just published provides further evidence that the disease is caused by the fungus, and that it originated in Europe.
• 2012/04/10: Guardian(UK): Chad's malnourished children offer stark illustration of Sahel food crisis
  Rising therapeutic feeding centre admissions highlight growing urgency of situation in one of Sahel's driest, most remote areas

Food Prices are still problematic:

• FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
• 2012/04/11: UN: UN General Assembly told of need to curb volatility of global food prices
• 2012/04/11: BBerg: Wheat Seen Declining as Stockpiles Expand to Record: Commodities
  Wheat prices are falling for a second year as a glut of supply expands global stockpiles to an all-time high and farmers prepare to reap the third-biggest harvest on record. Inventories will gain 7.1 percent to 210 million metric tons this year and output in the next year of 681 million tons will have been exceeded only twice in history, the London-based International Grains Council predicts.

Regarding the food factor in the ongoing revolutions:

• 2012/04/11: NewTrib: Climate change is the unseen player in the Arab Spring [Friedman]

  Regarding the genetic modification of food:

• 2012/04/11: AlterNet: Millions Against Monsanto: The Food Fight of Our Lives
• 2012/04/10: Wonkette: Monsanto Threatens To Sue Entire State Of Vermont Over Food Labeling Bill

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

• 2012/04/12: FAO: A new deal to rid Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia of obsolete pesticides
  The EU and FAO invest in model for hazardous waste management and sustainable crop protection
• 2012/04/12: CBC: Curb on antibiotics in animals urged
• 2012/04/12: Eureka: Strip-till improves soybean yield
• 2012/04/12: Eureka: Determining total fertility in strip-tilled fields
• 2012/04/11: S&R: Pointing out the glaringly obvious to the USDA
• 2012/04/11: TreeHugger: Open Source Permaculture On Its Way to the Internet
• 2012/04/11: Eureka: Tackle fungal forces to save crops, forests and endangered animals, say scientists
• 2012/04/10: BPA: Comprehensive Update on Farmland/Cropland Cash Rent Rates for the Midwest
• 2012/04/10: ABC(Au): Fire-free farming in pre-Columbian Amazon
  Amazon farming Farming without fire in tropical regions, like indigenous populations did before 1492, may be the key to both feeding people and managing land more sustainably, according to new research.
• 2012/04/10: Grist: Detroit residents are turning the city into suburbs

  Another quiet week in the hurricane wars:

• 2012/04/13: NOAANews: "Irene" retired from list of Atlantic Basin storm names

  As for GHGs:

• 2012/04/11: DM:80B: Is Natural Gas Cleaner Than Coal? It Depends on Leaks --- and There's a Huge One in the North Sea
• 2012/04/11: TreeHugger: Natural Gas Vehicles Less Climate-Friendly Than Thought, Methane Leaks To Blame
• 2012/04/09: TP:JR: Natural Gas Is A Bridge To Nowhere Absent A Carbon Price AND Strong Standards To Reduce Methane Leakage

  As for the temperature record:

• 2012/04/14: moyhu: US temperature trends
• 2012/04/10: TreeHugger: You Have Just Experienced the Hottest US Winter on Record

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2012/04/10: TUN: Duck-billed dinosaurs endured long, dark polar winters
• 2012/04/09: SciNow: [Asia to North America] Land Bridge Caused Wild Temperature Swings
• 2012/04/08: JFleck: Recreating the flow of the Indus

  And in historical times:

• 2012/04/10: SciAm:HoG: April 10, 1815: The Eruption that Shook the World [Tambora - the year without a summer]

  What's new on the extinction front?

• 2012/04/11: Eureka: First mass extinction [end-Ordovician] linked to marine anoxia
• 2012/04/10: CakTech: What Triggers a Mass Extinction?
  Caltech researchers say habitat loss and tropical cooling were to blame for [Late Ordovician] mass extinction [450 mya]

Oh look! The Anthropocene came up again:

• 2012/04/10: CCurrents: "To Undo The Folded Lie": Resisting Palliatives In An Age Of Oligarchic Excess And Anthropocene Age Devastation

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2012/04/13: NatureN: Workhorse climate satellite goes silent
  Loss of contact with Europe's Envisat monitor raises worries about gaps in environmental data.
• 2012/04/12: NOAANews: NOAA retires GOES-7 after 25 years as a weather and communications satellite
• 2012/04/13: BBC: Battle to save flagship Envisat spacecraft
• 2012/04/12: CCP: BBC: Contact has been lost with the European Space Agency's (ESA) flagship Earth observation mission -- Envisat
• 2012/04/12: BBC: Contact lost with flagship Envisat spacecraft
  Contact has been lost with the European Space Agency's (Esa) flagship Earth observation mission - Envisat. Controllers stopped receiving data from the eight-tonne spacecraft on Sunday, and have not as yet been able to re-establish communications. Envisat was launched in 2002 and is already operating five years beyond its planned mission lifetime. Esa was expecting to turn off the spacecraft in 2014, once the first in a series of follow-ons had been launched. A recovery team, which includes experts from industry, is now working to try to re-establish contact with the platform.

More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2012/04/09: OSU: Loss of predators affecting ecosystem health

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2012/04/09: SciAm: Rising Ocean Temperatures Prime Amazon Rainforest for Fire
  Scientists used to think the Amazon was too wet to burn, but a warming Atlantic Ocean is drawing moisture away from the rainforest
• 2012/04/10: BBC: Bolivia 'to end Brazil firm's contract for Amazon road'
  Bolivian President Evo Morales says he is rescinding the contract of a Brazilian firm to build a controversial road through the Amazon rainforest. He accused the firm, OAS, of not complying with the terms of the deal. The announcement casts further doubt on a road project that provoked angry anti-government protests last year.
• 2012/04/09: USDA:PSRS: New Report Assesses Impact of Climate Change on Forest Diseases
• 2012/04/09: NHMU: 800-Year-Old Farmers Could Teach Us How to Protect the Amazon
• 2012/04/09: UCSB: UCSB Study Shows Forest Insects and Diseases Arrive in U.S. Via Imported Plants

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2012/04/13: Grist: Texas got a CRAZY amount of hail
• 2012/04/12: AP: Storm dumps waist-high hail in Texas Panhandle
• 2012/04/13: CSM: 4 feet of hail? Massive hail storm hits Texas panhandle
• 2012/04/12: CCP: msnbc: 4 feet of hail near Amarillo, Texas? Reports, photos cause quite a storm

  This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

• 2012/04/13: al Jazeera: Damaging hail sweeps across China
  Severe weather damages crops, houses and causes dozens of injuries.
• 2012/04/12: Wunderground: Damaging freeze hits the Midwest U.S.
• 2012/04/09: P3: American Mainstream TV on the "Year Without A Winter"
• 2012/04/11: TP:JR: Climate On Steroids: More Mainstream Media Coverage Of Extreme Weather And Climate Change

  On the tornado front:

• 2012/04/15: Wunderground: Damaging Tornadoes Slam Plains
• 2012/04/15: CBC: U.S. Midwest tornadoes kill 5 in Oklahoma -- Baseball-sized hail shatters windows and damages houses
• 2012/04/15: CNN: Twisters kill 5 in Oklahoma; tear through Kansas, Iowa
  The mayor of Oklahoma town says warning siren failed - Kansas' governor declares a state of disaster emergency - Five people die from storm-related injuries in Oklahoma, an official says - A tornado hits hospital in Iowa; no serious injuries reported
• 2012/04/15: al Jazeera: Tornado warning remains for parts of the US -- This time Wisconsin is most at risk
• 2012/04/15: al Jazeera: Deadly tornadoes strike US Midwest
  Five reportedly dead after National Weather Service warned of potentially "life-threatening" severe storms. At least five people have died as a result of heavy weather in the state of Oklahoma after a tornado alert was issued across the Midwest of the US. Dozens of tornadoes swept through parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa overnight. The five deaths were reported when a twister struck the northwest city of Woodward early on Sunday morning after lightning apparently disabled its storm warning system, Mayor Roscoe Hill said.
• 2012/04/15: Reuters: Tornadoes pound U.S. Plains, region braces for more
  Tornadoes pummeled Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas on Saturday and severe weather struck a hospital in Iowa as residents of the U.S. Central and Southern Plains states hunkered down for a predicted major outbreak of twisters that could continue into the night.
• 2012/04/14: CBC: 'Life-threatening' weather moves into U.S. Midwest -- Overnight storms could spawn fast-moving tornadoes
• 2012/04/13: Wunderground: Dangerous tornado outbreak expected Saturday; Gulf of Mexico SSTs warmest on record
• 2012/04/14: CSM: As Midwest storm bears down, forecasters use more urgent voice in tornado warnings
• 2012/04/14: BBC: US Midwest put on tornado watch
  A severe storm threatens to bring tornadoes to a vast swathe of the Midwestern US, forecasters are warning. States ranging from Texas to Minnesota have been put on alert...
• 2012/04/14: al Jazeera: Tornado warning issued in the US -- Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska are all in the firing line
• 2012/04/09: Wunderground: First U.S. billion-dollar disaster of 2012: March 2-3 tornado outbreak

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2012/04/14: DD: A glance at fire season prospects for U.S. West -- 'Fire season is just about year-round now'
• 2012/04/12: PlanetArk: Wildfires Engulf Tennessee, Probed In New Jersey, New York

  Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:

• 2012/04/13: CBC: Corals used to heat waves may weather global warming
• 2012/04/15: CBC:Q&Q: (mp3) Hot Coral [Dr. Simon Donner] -- Bats Fight European Invader

  Acidification is changing the oceans:

• 2012/04/12: KSJT: Seattle times, Forbes, NYTimes: Did a surge of acidified ocean kill northwest's oysters? Study says yes.
• 2012/04/11: NSF: Ocean Acidification Linked With Larval Oyster Failure in Hatcheries
  Increase in ocean acidification led to collapse of oyster seed production at Oregon hatchery
• 2012/04/12: Oregonian: Oregon State research traces oyster larvae die-off to increasing ocean acidity
• 2012/04/11: STimes: Acidity in ocean killed NW oysters, new study says
  Researchers said Wednesday they have conclusive evidence that ocean acidification is at least partly responsible for killing oysters on the West Coast.
• 2012/04/11: OSU: Hatchery, OSU scientists link ocean acidification to larval oyster failure
• 2012/04/11: Eureka: Study shows adaptive capacity of reef corals to climate change may be widespread
  Global survey of corals using high sensitivity genetic analysis shows many species can host multiple symbionts

As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2012/04/12: USGS: Poor Spring Rain Projected in Africa
• 2012/04/11: USAToday: Drought expands throughout USA
• 2012/04/14: DD: Colorado entering worst drought in 250 years -- Water supplies for fire suppression to get priority
• 2012/04/11: TreeHugger: London "Suffers" Through Drought Restrictions
• 2012/04/11: BBC: Environment Agency warns of flash flood risk in drought
  Drought conditions affecting much of England could increase the risk of flash flooding in heavy rain, the Environment Agency has warned.
• 2012/04/11: CBC: Haiti flooding kills 6, displaces hundreds

  First, stop subsidizing fossil fuels
  Second, put a price on carbon
  And elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2012/04/13: Grist: New climate strategy: Buy the damn coal and keep it in the ground
• 2012/04/12: Grist: The only good coal is coal left in the ground
• 2012/04/13: EnergyBulletin: Getting the market to tell the truth by Lester Brown
• 2012/04/13: Guardian(UK): Eat less meat to prevent climate disaster, study warns
• 2012/04/12: TreeHugger: To Lower Emissions Climate Coalitions Should Start Buying Fossil Fuel Rights & Not Use Them
• 2012/04/11: Eureka: Buy coal? New analysis shows purchasing fossil fuel deposits best way to fight climate change
  [...]
  The new study, "Buy Coal! A Case for Supply-Side Environmental Policy," suggests that the single best policy for a multi-national climate coalition is to purchase the extraction rights of dirty fossil fuels in non-participating countries (also called "third countries"), and then conserve rather than exploit the deposits.

Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2012/04/09: Grist: Young people drive 23 percent less, bike 40 percent more than they used to

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

• 2012/04/09: Grist: Building codes: Small rules that help homeowners save big on energy

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2012/04/10: GEP: Scotland Aims at CCS for All Coal Plants by 2025
• 2012/04/13: Stoat: All Scottish coal plants to use carbon capture by 2025?

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2012/04/12: SciNow: ScienceShot: Bright Roofs, Cool World
• 2012/04/12: NBF: Lighter roofs and roads would offset 130 to 150 billion tons of CO2
• 2012/04/: ChiefScientist(Au): Occasional Paper Series Issue 1: Geoengineering
  The Office of the Chief Scientist has launched the first report in its Occasional Paper Series, examining the risks and benefits of geoengineering to mitigate the effects of climate change.
• 2012/04/12: GEP: Australia's Chief Scientist Advocates Research [on geoengineering]

  While on the adaptation front:

• 2012/04/13: CSM: Thailand's blueprint to rein in fallout from floods and drought

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2012/04/13: ESDD: Enhanced Atlantic subpolar gyre variability through baroclinic threshold in a Coarse Resolution Model by M. Mengel et al.
• 2012/04/13: CP: Extreme pointer years in tree-ring records of Central Spain as evidence of climatic events and the eruption of the Huaynaputina Volcano (Peru, 1600 AD) by M. Génova
• 2012/04/11: CPD: A 250 ka oxygen isotope record from diatoms at Lake El'gygytgyn, far east Russian Arctic by B. Chapligin et al.
• 2012/04/11: NERC:NORA: Modelling the ocean circulation beneath the Ross Ice Shelf by David M. Holland et al.
• 2012/04/13: ACPD: Reconstruction of the carbon isotopic composition of methane over the last 50 yr based on firn air measurements at 11 polar sites by C. J. Sapart et al.
• 2012/04/13: GMDD: Quality assessment concept of the World Data Center for Climate and its application to CMIP5 data by M. Stockhause et al.
• 2012/04/11: TC: Albedo of the ice covered Weddell and Bellingshausen Seas by A. I. Weiss et al.
• 2012/04/12: TCD: A simple inverse method for the distribution of basal sliding coefficients under ice sheets, applied to Antarctica by D. Pollard & R. M. DeConto
• 2012/04/13: PLoS One: An Emperor Penguin Population Estimate: The First Global, Synoptic Survey of a Species from Space by Peter T. Fretwell et al.
• 2012/03/30: PLoS One: Historical Temperature Variability Affects Coral Response to Heat Stress by Jessica Carilli et al.
• 2010/09/16: ERL: Geoengineering as an optimization problem by George A Ban-Weiss & Ken Caldeira
• 2002/11/26: GRL: (ab$) Impact of geoengineering schemes on the terrestrial biosphere by B. Govindasamy et al.
• 2012/04/11: ACP: Tropical biomass burning smoke plume size, shape, reflectance, and age based on 2001-2009 MISR imagery of Borneo by C. S. Zender et al.
• 2012/04/11: ACP: Modelling atmospheric structure, cloud and their response to CCN in the central Arctic: ASCOS case studies by C. E. Birch et al.
• 2012/04/10: ACP: Climatic effects of 1950-2050 changes in US anthropogenic aerosols - Part 2: Climate response by E. M. Leibensperger et al.
• 2012/04/10: ACP: Climatic effects of 1950-2050 changes in US anthropogenic aerosols - Part 1: Aerosol trends and radiative forcing by E. M. Leibensperger et al.
• 2012/04/11: ACPD: An analysis of fast photochemistry over high northern latitudes during spring and summer using in-situ observations from ARCTAS and TOPSE by J. R. Olson et al.
• 2012/04/10: ACPD: Carbon and hydrogen isotopic ratios of atmospheric methane in the upper troposphere over the Western Pacific by T. Umezawa et al.
• 2012/04/10: PNAS: (ab$) Trading-off fish biodiversity, food security, and hydropower in the Mekong River Basin by Guy Ziv et al.
• 2012/04/10: PNAS: (letter$) Fossils, molecules, divergence times, and the origin of Salamandroidea by Jason S. Anderson
• 2012/04/10: PNAS: (letter$) Dam choices: Analyses for multiple needs by Peter M. Kareiva
• 2012/04/11: ERL: High sensitivity of future global warming to land carbon cycle processes by Ben B B Booth et al.
• 2012/04/11: AGWObserver: Papers on Russia 2010 heatwave
• 2012/04/10: OSD: Assimilation of SLA along track observations in the Mediterranean with an oceanographic model forced by atmospheric pressure by S. Dobricic et al.
• 2012/04/10: OSD: TOPAZ4: an ocean-sea ice data assimilation system for the North Atlantic and Arctic by P. Sakov et al.
• 2012/04/10: TC: Repeat optical satellite images reveal widespread and long term decrease in land-terminating glacier speeds by T. Heid & A. Kääb
• 2012/04/10: TC: Seasonal speed-up of two outlet glaciers of Austfonna, Svalbard, inferred from continuous GPS measurements by T. Dunse et al.
• 2012/03/11: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Trends and seasonal cycles in the isotopic composition of nitrous oxide since 1940 by S. Park et al.
• 2012/04/10: PNAS: (ab$) Role of the Bering Strait on the hysteresis of the ocean conveyor belt circulation and glacial climate stability by Aixue Hu et al.
• 2012/04/08: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Adaptive evolution of a key phytoplankton species to ocean acidification by Kai T. Lohbeck et al.
• 2012/04/09: AGWObserver: New research from last week 14/2012

  And other significant documents:

• 2012/04/14: PI: [link to 450k pdf] Weakening regulations could reduce their effectiveness by more than half
• 2012/04/11: Pew: [link to 4 meg pdf] Who's Winning the Clean Energy Race? 2011 Edition
• 2012/04/11: TCoE: Doc alert: Land carbon cycle processes
• 2012/04/11: AlexandraMorton: [link to 1.3 meg pdf] Download Briefing on Two Viruses
• 2012/03/20: CfRR: [link to 303k pdf] Whose Right to Life? Women's Rights and Prenatal Protections under Human Rights and Comparative Law

  As for miscellaneous science:

• 2012/04/14: JEB: Fight Club
• 2012/04/12: Nature: Policy: Bold strategies for Indian science by Gautam R. Desiraju
• 2012/04/10: P3: On the Absence of a Model
• 2012/04/10: Grist: New science reveals agriculture's true climate impact
• 2012/04/10: SciAm:Exp: Alaskan North Slope Snow LiDAR Campaign: SnowSTAR-2012
• 2012/04/10: Eureka: Miniature Sandia sensors may advance climate studies
• 2012/04/09: IsaacHeld: 26. Relative humidity in "cloud resolving" models

  More DIY science:

• 2012/04/11: moyhu: March 2012 temperatures up 0.1°C

  What developments in the ongoing struggle for Free Science?

• 2012/04/09: Guardian(UK): Wellcome Trust joins 'academic spring' to open up science
  Wellcome backs campaign to break stranglehold of academic journals and allow all research papers to be shared free online
• 2012/04/14: ERabett: Welcome News
• 2012/04/10: BBC: Trust pushes for open access to research
  One of the world's largest research charities, the Wellcome Trust, is to support efforts by scientists to make their work freely available for all. The Trust is to establish a free, online publication to compete with established academic journals. They say their new title could be a "game changer" forcing other publishing houses to increase free access. More than 9,000 scientists are boycotting a leading paid-for publisher for restricting access to their papers. The Wellcome Trust's move is the latest salvo in a battle about ownership of, and access to, the published work of scientists that has been simmering underneath the sedate surface of scientific research for years.
• 2012/04/05: CHE: 3 Major Publishers Sue Open-Education Textbook Start-Up
• 2012/04/09: SlashDot: Major Textbook Publishers Sue Open-Education Textbook Start-Up

  Regarding Hansen:

• 2012/04/09: P3: Public Perception of Climate Change and the New Climate Dice by James Hansen, Makiko Sato & Reto Ruedy
• 2012/04/12: CCP: BBC: NASA scientist Dr James Hansen says the UK should not build any more coal-fired power stations
• 2012/04/11: BBC: NASA scientist Dr James Hansen says no to coal-fired power
  A world climate change expert has said the UK should not build any more coal-fired power stations. NASA scientist Dr James Hansen was speaking to BBC Scotland ahead of being awarded the prestigious Edinburgh Medal at the city's Science Festival. Plans have been put forward for coal-fired facilities at Grangemouth and Hunterston in Ayrshire. Dr Hansen said a mixture of new-build nuclear and renewables was the best combination to prevent climate change.
• 2012/04/08: CSW: Hansen: Climate science and moral responsibility

  Regarding Spencer:

• 2012/04/15: Tamino: Roy Spencer, man of mystery

  While at the UN:

• 2012/04/10: UN: UN warns lack of funds threatens response to food crisis in Africa's Sahel region

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2012/04/12: BBerg: ArcelorMittal, Tata Lead Europe Emitters With CO2 Permit Surplus
  ArcelorMittal and Tata Steel Ltd. (TATA) were given 62.4 million more free carbon permits than the two steelmakers used last year, the most of any European companies. The European Union allowances, awarded by governments, are worth 839 million euros ($1.1 billion), assuming a value of 13.45 euros each, the average price on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange of the December 2011 contract in the 12 months to expiry. That's a 36 percent increase in permits from a year earlier, according to preliminary European Union data compiled by Bloomberg.

The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2012/04/12: EconView: Lower Growth Can Be Better Than Higher Growth

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

• 2012/04/13: TP:JR: Innovation Is Not Enough: Why Polluters Must Pay
  An economist argues we must cap emissions or put a price on carbon in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change

On the international political front, tensions continue as the USA and Israel lean on Iran:

• 2012/04/14: DailyTimes(Pk): India replaces China as Iran's top oil client
• 2012/04/13: DerSpiegel: Iran Nuclear Talks -- Six Powers to Pursue Selfish Interests in Istanbul
  Is a new war on the horizon in the Middle East? This weekend the international community will undertake diplomatic efforts to convince Iran to back down in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. A speedy agreement remains unlikely because the biggest world powers are focused on one thing -- their own interests.
• 2012/04/11: DerSpiegel: Preemptive Move Ahead of Talks -- Iran Stops Oil Exports to Germany
  Iran has halted oil exports to Germany, according to Iranian television, in an apparent effort to strengthen its position ahead of a fresh round of nuclear talks with Western powers in Istanbul on Saturday. It stopped crude exports to Spain and Greece on Tuesday to preempt the EU's embargo on oil imports, which come into force in July.
• 2012/04/10: AntiWar: Ahmadinejad: Iran Can Withstand Embargo for 2-3 Years -- Whether Iran admits it or not, the unjustified oil blockade is hurting both the government and the people
• 2012/04/10: BBC: India and Qatar ink oil and gas pact amid Iran pressure
  India and Qatar have signed a pact to increase cooperation in the field of oil and gas exploration. The deal comes as India looks for more sources of oil and gas to meet its growing energy demands. India has also been facing pressure to reduce its imports of Iranian oil amid nuclear sanctions against Tehran.

In the faceoff between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea, oil and fish are the issues:

• 2012/04/14: al Jazeera: Chinese fishing boats end Philippine standoff
  Manila says talks still deadlocked, but South China Sea confrontation between warships and fishing boats has ended.
• 2012/04/13: Asia Times: Hidden depths in South China Sea tensions
• 2012/04/12: Yahoo:AFP: Philippines deploys second ship in China standoff
• 2012/04/11: BBC: Philippine warship 'in stand-off' with Chinese vessels
  The Philippines says its main naval vessel is engaged in a stand-off with Chinese surveillance ships at a disputed South China Sea shoal. The Philippines said its warship tried to arrest Chinese fishermen anchored at the Scarborough Shoal, but was blocked by the two surveillance boats. Both countries dispute the ownership of the shoal, which lies off the Philippines' northwestern coast.
• 2012/04/11: al Jazeera: Philippine navy in standoff with China ships
  Manila summons Beijing's ambassador for talks over confrontation between warship and Chinese vessels in South China Sea.

India is threatening the world over the EU-ETS applied to airlines:

• 2012/04/12: Guardian(UK): EU airlines emissions law is 'deal-breaker for climate talks'
  India's environment minister says the scheme to charge airlines for carbon emissions is unacceptable
• 2012/04/12: EurActiv: India says EU CO2 law could scupper global climate talks
  An EU scheme that charges airlines for carbon emissions is "a deal-breaker" for global climate change talks, India's environment minister said, hardening her stance on a scheme that has drawn fierce opposition from non-EU governments.
• 2012/04/12: PlanetArk: EU CO2 Law Could Scupper Global Climate Talks
  A European Union law that charges airlines for carbon emissions is "a deal-breaker" for global climate change talks, India's environment minister said, hardening her stance on a scheme that has drawn fierce opposition from non-EU governments. From January 1, all airlines using EU airports have come under the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), prompting a volley of retaliatory threats, including of a possible trade war. U.S. airlines have said they would grudgingly comply, but China has barred its carriers from participating unless they are given permission to do so. India on Wednesday formally forbad its airlines from participating having earlier said it would boycott the scheme. "For the environment ministry, for me, it is a deal-breaker because you simply cannot bring this into climate change discourse and disguise unilateral trade measures under climate change," Jayanthi Natarajan said on Wednesday.
• 2012/04/11: EUO: India: no global CO2 deal unless EU bins airline tax

  Food as a weapon, redux:

• 2012/04/13: AntiWar: US Cancels Food Aid to North Korea -- Threatens More Sanctions After Satellite Launch Failure
• 2012/04/14: al Jazeera: US suspends North Korea food aid
  Plans to send aid to North Korea called off, after failed rocket launch attempt contravened previous agreements.

In the Rare Earths' tussle:

• 2012/04/10: EurActiv: China sets up group to 'clean up' rare earth industry
  China has established a rare earth industry association, state media reported, in a move to speed up consolidation of its sprawling industry that has drawn fire for what overseas trade partners call unfair export quotas.
• 2012/04/10: PlanetArk: China Sets Up Rare Earth Body To Shake Up industry
• 2012/04/08: BBC: China sets up rare earth body to streamline the sector

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

• 2012/04/12: ABC(Au): Report claims ASIO spying on coal protesters

  What are the activists up to?

• 2012/04/11: Grist: 'I withdraw': A talk with climate defeatist [Dark Mountain man] Paul Kingsnorth
• 2012/04/10: Grist: Ohio fracking is latest target for anti-Keystone activists
• 2012/04/10: TreeHugger: 350.org, Josh Fox and Friends Announce Don't Frack OH Action
• 2012/04/08: TCoE: Must-read McKibben interview

  Polls! We have polls!

• 2012/04/12: TP:JR: Gallup: Public Understanding Of Climate Science Continues Rebounding
• 2012/04/11: GLaden: Americans on Energy: New UT Study
• 2012/04/11: TreeHugger: Majority of Americans Support Clean Energy & Climate Action, Even While Politicians Don't
• 2012/04/10: EnvEcon: A problem with polls
• 2012/04/10: TP:JR: Gallup: 65% of Americans Have More Guts Than Obama, Support 'Imposing Mandatory Controls On CO2 Emissions'

  Regarding Water Politics and Business:

• 2012/04/13: Grist: Turbine makes fresh water out of thin air in the desert
• 2012/04/11: JFleck: Nearly half of last year's Colorado River "bonus water" will be gone by the end of the year
• 2012/04/10: SciAm:GB: A river rams through it: Argentina's Rio Nuevo portends problems to come in South America
• 2012/04/10: JFleck: "Insufficient water to meet needs"
• 2012/04/10: BBC: Welsh Water should sell its water 'like oil' during hosepipe ban
  A former head of Welsh Water has claimed Wales should profit from transferring water to England. John Elfed Jones, former chairman and chief executive of the company, says water is a business and, like oil, it should be sold to make money.

Who's making predictions this week?

• 2012/04/11: PlanetArk: Europe In For Cool, Unsettled Spring: Meteorologist
  Weather through the rest of April and May will be cool and changeable in western, northern and central Europe, German meteorologist Georg Mueller said in a seasonal update released on Tuesday, citing low pressure in the region. Mueller said he expected temperatures to be partly below normal, with frequent precipitation especially over northern and central Europe, while the UK still would not get major rain so the locally dry situation might extend into late spring.

And on the American political front:

• 2012/04/13: TP:JR: Top Three Ways That American Taxpayers Subsidize Dirty Coal Development
• 2012/04/13: ERabett: The Butcher's Bill
• 2012/04/14: TP:JR: SoCal's New Sustainability Strategy Is An Impressive Step Forward
• 2012/04/13: TreeHugger: Tennessee Passes Law Allowing Creationism, Climate Denial to be Taught in Classroom
• 2012/04/12: Grist: Fossil-fuel subsidies are the real job killers
• 2012/04/11: NatureN: Tennessee 'monkey bill' becomes law
  A second US state lets schools 'teach the controversy' surrounding politically charged topics in science
• 2012/04/12: UCSUSA: UCS Publishes New Science-Based Guide Offering Practical Steps Americans Can Take to Cut Their Carbon Emissions
• 2012/04/11: SBO: Portland carbon emissions down 26 percent since 1990
• 2012/04/12: al Jazeera: 'The Republican Brain': Probing the limits of Left and Right
  Republicans are increasingly anti-science, but Democrats are clueless about what to do.
• 2012/04/11: TP:JR: Tennessee Enacts 'Monkey Bill' To Dumb Down Kids In Biology And Physics, Undermine Their Future
• 2012/04/11: Grist: GOP's worst nightmare: Green Muslims
• 2012/04/11: LA Times: Tennessee enacts evolution, climate change law
  Critics say the measure allows public school teachers to challenge the topics without fear of sanction. Gov. Bill Haslam expresses misgivings about the law.
• 2012/04/11: ScienceInsider: Confusion Reigns in Tennessee
• 2012/04/11: DM:BA: Tennessee passes law allowing creationism in the classroom
• 2012/04/11: UCSUSA: On the Road to Clean Energy in Germany: Lessons for the United States - Part 3
• 2012/04/11: TreeHugger: Texas Republicans Attack Agenda 21, Smart Growth, Sustainable Development and All of Europe
• 2012/04/11: CrossCut: Coos Bay's dirty little (coal) secret
  The port of Coos Bay, Ore. admits it's in talks with a company interested in developing the site into a coal terminal, but it won't say who. Critics of the shadowy project say the port is trying to avoid facing the potential health and environmental impacts.
• 2012/04/10: TP:JR: Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich's Stunning Comments: 'I Believe There Is A Problem' With Our Climate
• 2012/04/10: Grist: Chris Christie's strategy for killing public transit: Lies, lies, and lies
• 2012/04/09: TP:JR: LA Approves Feed-in-Tariff Program: A Cost Effective Solution To Building Stable Clean Energy Markets
• 2012/04/09: TP:JR: Pew Poll: Clean Energy Is A Political Wedge Among Republicans
• 2012/04/09: TreeHugger: With ALEC Exposed, It's Time to Punish Politicians Who Let Corporations Write Laws

  The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

• 2012/04/13: PlanetArk: U.S. To Give BP Evidence On Size Of Gulf Oil Spill
  BP Plc will gain access to U.S. government documents that may shed light on the size of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a crucial issue in determining the oil company's liability. According to a Wednesday court filing, the government agreed to produce the documents after BP had accused it two weeks ago of unfairly withholding them because they were privileged.
• 2012/04/13: PlanetArk: Shell Says Gulf Of Mexico Sheen Dissipating
• 2012/04/14: HoustonChronicle: Atlantis papers show familiar BP pattern
  We now know why BP wanted to keep information about its massive Atlantis platform in the Gulf of Mexico a secret. Thousands of pages of internal documents and emails, recently released in a long-running lawsuit, reveal ongoing safety issues, deficient design documents and a pattern of problems that are disturbingly similar to some of the company's past operating failures. The documents came to light in a lawsuit filed in 2009 by Kenneth Abbott, a former BP contractor and industry veteran. Abbott claims BP didn't comply with almost 90 percent of the necessary engineering inspections for Atlantis.
• 2012/04/12: PlanetArk: Transocean Seeks To Block CSB Oil-Spill Probe
  Myriad agencies have investigated BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but the owner of the rig that exploded and sank wants to draw the line at the one designated by Congress to probe disasters involving deadly chemical blasts and releases. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which investigates chemical explosions in the same manner the National Transportation Safety Board investigates airplane crashes, launched its first offshore investigation shortly after the 2010 explosion killed 11 workers and allowed more than 4 million barrels of crude to foul the gulf.
• 2012/04/12: Eureka: Gulf Coast residents say BP Oil Spill changed their environmental views, UNH research finds
• 2012/04/12: CSM: Coast Guard checks 10-mile oil sheen near Shell oil wells in Gulf [of Mexico]
• 2012/04/10: TreeHugger: Mass Die-Off of Hundreds of Dolphins After BP Spill is "Unprecedented"

  On the 2012 campaign trail:

• 2012/04/14: LA Times: Oil- and coal-backed groups far outpace Obama, allies on energy ads
• 2012/04/13: NakedCapitalism: Does the 2012 Presidential Election Matter?
• 2012/04/12: AlterNet: Mitt Romney's Plan to Woo Female Voters: Pretend Women Are Very Stupid
• 2012/04/12: TP:JR: Pro-Oil Outside Groups Spend More Than $16 Million On Energy Attack Ads Since January
• 2012/04/11: Grist: Karl Rove's super PAC attacks Obama for preventing oil spills
• 2012/04/11: Grist: 'All of the above' is popular, but hides partisan divide on energy
• 2012/04/10: TreeHugger: Santorum is Out; World's Climate Dodges Bullet
• 2012/04/10: Wonkette: Wonkette Bookmaker: For What Cabinet Position Will Mitt Romney 'Tap' Loser Rick Santorum?
• 2012/04/10: CSM: Rick Santorum bows out of 2012 presidential race

  Gas Prices look to remain a major issue in the election:

• 2012/04/13: DeSmogBlog: Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS Doubles Down On Gas Price Talking Points
• 2012/04/13: EnergyBulletin: Let's hear it for higher gasoline prices
• 2012/04/11: TP:JR: Karl Rove Group That Absurdly Blames Obama For Rising Gas Prices Was Bankrolled By Top Oil Speculator
• 2012/04/10: TheHill:e2W: Poll shows Obama's gas price troubles persist

  The Keystone XL saga rolls along:

• 2012/04/12: TheHill:e2W: House GOP hopes to revive Keystone fight with tie to highway bill extension
• 2012/04/13: TreeHugger: The Keystone XL is Back on the Menu. Again.
• 2012/04/11: LincolnJS: Keystone XL pipeline bill wins approval
  Lawmakers voted 44-5 Wednesday to give final approval to a bill (LB1161) that will allow Nebraska to proceed with a $2 million study to find a route for TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline through the state.

Regarding birth control and the GOP War on Women:

• 2012/04/11: RawStory: States with 'abstinence-only' sex ed programs rank highest in teen pregnancies
• 2012/04/09: AlterNet: When Libertarians Stand for Medieval Control Instead of Freedom
  Debates on birth control in the US show how modern conservatism is just a neoliberal gloss on medieval domination.
• 2012/04/11: Wonkette: States With 'Abstinence Only' Sex-Ed Continue To Knock Their Teens Up The Biggest
• 2012/04/09: Reuters: Oklahoma, weighing "personhood" law, may be next abortion flashpoint
  A proposed law in Oklahoma that would grant embryos full rights as people from the moment of conception may represent the next big challenge to the constitutional right to abortion in the United States.
• 2012/04/09: RawStory: Limbaugh: Obama is the 'generalissimo' in the 'real' war on women
• 2012/04/07: RawStory: Maddow to GOP: Women notice when you try to take away our rights
• 2012/04/08: RawStory: DNC chair: GOP 'callous and insensitive' towards women

  The Obama chatter is nonstop:

• 2012/04/09: AlterNet: Obama's Biggest Environmental 'Victory' Was Really a Big Win for Gas Drillers

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2012/04/13: TreeHugger: Protecting Americans from Natural Gas Air Pollution
• 2012/04/10: GreenGrok: Two for Tuesday: The Latest on Common Pesticide and Coal Ash
• 2012/04/13: TP:JR: EPA Introduces Historic New Standards To Limit Industrial Carbon Pollution
• 2012/04/12: P3: Wingnut Push on Chu?
• 2012/04/12: CBC: Curb on antibiotics in animals urged
  U.S. regulator, Canadian Medical Association want to require veterinarians to prescribe the drugs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration called on drug companies to help limit the use of antibiotics in farm animals, a decades-old practice that scientists say has contributed to a surge in dangerous, drug-resistant bacteria. Antibiotic drugs like penicillin are routinely mixed with animal feed and water to help livestock, pigs and chickens put on weight and stay healthy in crowded barns. Scientists have warned that such use leads to the growth of antibiotic-resistant germs that can be passed on to humans.
• 2012/04/11: NatureNB: US agency seeks voluntary restrictions on animal antibiotics
• 2012/04/11: UCSUSA: FDA to Establish Voluntary, Largely Secret Program to Reduce Antibiotic Overuse in Agriculture
• 2012/04/11: S&R: Pointing out the glaringly obvious to the USDA
• 2012/04/10: SciAm: EPA Cancels Grant Applications for $20 Million Green Chemistry Program
  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stunned scientists by canceling the four-year program less than three weeks before the deadline for grant proposals
• 2012/04/10: PlanetArk: Marathon Agrees To Cap Flared Gas Volumes: EPA

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2012/04/12: Grist: Farm Bill 2012: 'It's a mess, but it's our mess' [congress]
• 2012/04/11: TP:JR: [Former Michigan Governor] Jennifer Granholm Pushes Boehner On Wind Tax Credits: 'Mr. Speaker, This Is Your Lucky Day' To Create Jobs
• 2012/04/10: TP:JR: GOP Rep. Stephen Fincher: 'We Must Cut The EPA's Legs Off'
• 2012/04/09: TP:JR: Grant Program Supported Up To 75,000 Wind And Solar Jobs: Congress Killed It Anyway

  While in the UK:

• 2012/04/13: BBC: The UK is to hold talks with Iceland [in May] about harnessing the power of its volcanoes to import energy
• 2012/04/12: EurActiv: Iceland's volcanoes may power UK
  The volcanoes of Iceland could soon be pumping low-carbon electricity into the UK under government-backed plans for thousands of miles of high-voltage cables across the ocean floor. The energy minister, Charles Hendry, is to visit Iceland in May to discuss connecting the UK to its abundant geothermal energy.
• 2012/04/11: BBC: New prize fund from UK government for marine energy
  The UK government has funded a prize intended to encourage Britain's first full-scale wave energy projects. Bids have been invited for the £20m prize.
• 2012/04/10: BBC: Energy companies will be required to let customers know what their best deal is, in a move which ministers say could save households up to £100 a year. [UK pol]
• 2012/04/10: Guardian(UK): Greg Barker calls for 30% emissions reduction target
  The climate change minister says the UK should boost its emissions target -- but only if Europe does the same
• 2012/04/10: Guardian(UK): Austerity has not made people care less about the environment
  The British public understands the complex role the environment plays in our lives - for the economy, our jobs and our future
• 2012/04/10: BBC: Severn Trent could supply Anglian Water homes
  Water could be pumped 80 miles east from Birmingham in emergency plans to help out drought-hit areas of England. Severn Trent Water is discussing plans to sell excess supplies to Anglian Water, which has imposed its first hosepipe ban for 20 years. Under the deal, 30 million litres of water, enough to supply 100,000 homes, would be flowed daily to Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, Severn Trent said. David Essex, water strategy manager, said the move could happen in June.

And in Europe:

• 2012/04/13: CSM: Germany's solar woes dim the promise of green jobs
• 2012/04/12: EUO: EU says clean energy is key to ending poverty
• 2012/04/12: PlanetArk: Italy Puts New Caps On Renewable Energy Incentives
  Italy will scale back financial incentives for solar and other renewable energy that have inflated consumer power bills more than expected, and also will raise national renewable energy targets for 2020, two ministers said on Wednesday.
• 2012/04/11: EurActiv: EU report questions conventional biofuels' sustainability
  Conventional biofuels like biodiesel increase carbon dioxide emissions and are too expensive to consider as a long-term alternative fuel, a draft EU report says.
• 2012/04/10: EurActiv: Energy efficiency negotiations enter final phase
  The energy efficiency bill is entering its final round of amendments, as the first talks between the European Commission, Parliament and Council will commence in an informal meeting tomorrow (11 April).

Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2012/04/13: ABC(Au): Verve sheds light on 'clean, green' solar farm
  The first of 150,000 panels needed to run Australia's largest solar farm, which will power a south-west Western Australian desalination plant, have been installed at its site in the mid-west. The Minister for Energy, Peter Collier, attended the ceremony at the $50 million Greenough River Solar Farm to lay down the first two panels. The project, about 50 kilometres south-east of Geraldton, was financed by Verve Energy and GE Energy, as well as a contribution from the State Government's Royalties for Regions fund.
• 2012/04/12: ABC(Au): Coalition won't drop renewable energy targets: Hunt
• 2012/04/12: GEP: Australia's Chief Scientist Advocates Research [on geoengineering]
• 2012/04/15: ABC(Au): Large-scale bids for ACT solar
  A range of proposals have been put to the ACT Government for setting up Australia's first large-scale solar power facility supported by a feed-in tariff. The Government's reverse auction attracted 49 bids to establish at least two large-scale facilities that would deliver up to 40 megawatts of electricity.
• 2012/04/12: ABC(Au): Gillard announces plans to cut 'green tape'
  The Government has announced plans to streamline 'green tape' regulations that are affecting major projects, but Queensland Premier Campbell Newman says the plans do not go far enough.
• 2012/04/12: ABC(Au): Fears bipartisan support for green energy collapsing
  Key industry players are concerned that bipartisan support for green energy is collapsing after calls from the NSW Government to abolish national renewable energy targets.
• 2012/04/12: ABC(Au): Report claims ASIO spying on coal protesters
  Greens leader Bob Brown is outraged at reports that ASIO is spying on mining protesters and says such action is a misuse of the spy agency's resources. The revelations were reported in Fairfax newspapers this morning and are based on a Freedom of Information request to the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism that was reportedly rejected because it involved "an intelligence agency document". Senator Brown says Federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson should release the documents in question.
• 2012/04/11: ABC(Au): Climate change debate a war of hot air
• 2012/04/10: ABC(Au): Coal deposit potential better than forecast
  An Australian resource company has released details of a prospective thermal coal deposit in western Queensland. International Coal has been exploring as part of its 'South Blackall' project in an area north-west of Charleville.
• 2012/04/11: ABC(Au): A black day predicted for the [Tasmanian] forest peace deal
• 2012/04/10: ABC(Au): Petrol prices headed for record highs
  CommSec says petrol prices are set to head toward three-and-a-half-year highs by the end of the week. The Australian Institute of Petroleum says the national average price of unleaded petrol rose one cent a litre to 151.6 cents last week.
• 2012/04/08: PlanetJ: It's the climate, stupid
  It is now clear that the Australian Government's main priorities for this year are getting the budget into surplus, and removing regulations to appease businesses. Both objectives are leading the Government to cut climate change and renewable energy policies. It seems they have chosen to completely ignore the climate crisis.

The carbon bill is law. Now comes the implementation:

• 2012/04/13: PlanetJ: Business declares war on environmental regulations
• 2012/04/12: ABC(Au): Carbon tax crunch: NSW power price warning
  The New South Wales Government is predicting households will soon be paying an extra $300 a year for electricity, but the Federal Government has rejected suggestions its carbon tax is to blame.
• 2012/04/12: ABC(Au): $300+ power price pain to hit NSW customers
  The pricing regulator in New South Wales has confirmed more savage price increases for the state's electricity customers, with regional areas the hardest hit. The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has recommended that power prices should rise by on average around 16 per cent from July. IPART chairman Peter Boxall says that translates to an extra $300 a year on an average bill.
• 2012/04/12: ABC(Au): Carbon tax burden on power customers
  A report prepared for Tasmania's Economic Regulator has found average power bills are set to rise by more than $300 a year, under the carbon tax.
• 2012/04/11: ABC(Au): Charities fear carbon tax may hit dump fees
• 2012/04/09: ABC(Au): Meat processor slams carbon tax
  A Queensland meat processor says its most efficient abattoirs will be hardest hit by the Federal Government's carbon tax. Teys Brothers says it's hoping for government funding to help the company reduce carbon emissions.

Green Senator Bob Brown announced his resignation this week:

• 2012/04/13: ABC(Au): Live blog: Bob Brown resigns as Greens leader
  Bob Brown has quit as Australian Greens leader and will also resign from the Senate in June. Christine Milne has been elected as the new Greens leader.
• 2012/04/13: JQuiggin: A real end to an era
• 2012/04/13: ABC(Au): The End of an Era for the Greens
• 2012/04/13: ABC(Au): Bright Green future as Milne takes reins
  Greens leader Christine Milne says her party has a bright future and is bigger than its outgoing leader Bob Brown. Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Greens, after the surprise resignation yesterday of the party's founder and leader Bob Brown. Senator Milne has taken over as party leader and Lower House MP Adam Bandt will take over as deputy leader.
• 2012/04/13: ABC(Au): Who is Christine Milne?
  Christine Milne, a former high school teacher, takes over the leadership of the Australian Greens after Bob Brown announced his resignation today.

After a 10 year drought and 2 years of flooding, water usage planning is controversial and difficult:

• 2012/04/13: NatureN: Cash reward for saving Australia's water
  Scientific report puts monetary value on ecological benefits of Murray-Darling plan, but comes too late to influence public debate.
• 2012/04/13: ABC(Au):TDU: Pulling the plug on dysfunctional water reform
• 2012/04/13: ABC(Au): Scientists unite against Murray-Darling plan
  A coalition of scientists is planning to release a statement damning the Murray-Darling Basin draft plan and calling for greater transparency. More than 60 scientists have united to put the view they recognise the Basin Authority has to balance competing interests but the current draft would fail to return enough water to ensure the river system's long-term health.
• 2012/04/12: ABC(Au): [Victoria] Government rejects Murray Darling Basin plan
  Water Minister Peter Walsh has indicated the Baillieu Government will not support the current proposals in the Murray Darling Basin draft plan. The decision comes as the Murray Darling Basin Authority public consultation process draws to a close next week.
• 2012/04/12: ABC(Au): Murray mouth irrigators urge infrastructure upgrades
• 2012/04/11: ABC(Au): MDBA comes to the far west
  The Murray Darling Basin Authority is reassuring far west residents it is doing its best to make sure the region will have enough water to get through future droughts.
• 2012/04/11: ABC(Au): Minister says Murray determination won't go to water
  Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke has told a public meeting in Adelaide he will not allow a bad plan to be adopted for the future of the Murray. Several hundred people attended a meeting at Adelaide Town Hall on Tuesday night to discuss the Murray-Darling Basin draft plan. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill said the current proposed water allocation of 2,750 gigalitres was not enough for SA's needs.
• 2012/04/10: ABC(Au): Social welfare group raises new Murray-Darling concerns

  And in New Zealand:

• 2012/04/13: HotTopic: Weakened NZ ETS not responsible economic management
• 2012/04/12: HotTopic: NZ ETS to be watered down (again), but emissions news good

  While in the Indian subcontinent:

• 2012/04/10: CCurrents: Women, Poverty And Food Security In India

  And in China:

• 2012/04/11: al Jazeera: WikiLeaks: China looks elsewhere for energy
  China should tread lightly in South America in its search to fulfill energy needs and avoid the pitfalls of the Gulf.

While elsewhere in Asia:

• 2012/04/13: CSM: Thailand's blueprint to rein in fallout from floods and drought
• 2012/04/13: ABC(Au): EU to help Pacific islands tackle climate change [and rising sea levels]

  And in Africa:

• 2012/04/13: AllAfrica: Reuters: Govt Ill-Prepared for Climate Change Challenges - Experts

  And South America:

• 2012/04/13: al Jazeera: Panama: Village of the damned
  One indigenous tribe is engaged in a life and death struggle against the big business interests flooding their land.

In Canada, neocon PM Harper pushes petroleum while doing nothing about climate change:

• 2012/04/12: PI: Environment Canada pressured to weaken regulations on coal emissions
• 2012/04/14: ChronicleHerald: Smell of rotting fish coming from Ottawa
  The Harper government has signalled its intent to assault the structure of the independent East Coast fishery, with the apparent aim of opening it up to more corporate control. Given what's at stake for Atlantic Canada, it had better be all hands on deck for this fight, as the billion-dollar lobster, crab and shrimp sectors and the coastal economies they support risk being thrown into anarchy. It has already happened in British Columbia -- and elseÂwhere -- with fishermen, their communities and native bands being gradually squeezed out.
• 2012/04/13: Impolitical: SNC-Lavalin in the news, an overlooked angle [AECL]
• 2012/04/13: SudburySteve: Mining and Climate Change, Part 1: Toward a Sustainable Future
• 2012/04/14: SudburySteve: Mining and Climate Change, Part 2: Canada's Commitment to Reducing Greenhouse Gases
• 2012/04/11: Rabble: Science for profit: Conservatives target the National Research Council
• 2012/04/06: Rabble: Motion 312: An ignorant affront to global human rights standards

  The G20 controversy lingers:

• 2012/04/08: MediaCoop: The G20's Accused Two Years Later: Dan Kellar

  The austerity budget: Under the smokescreen of fiscal responsibility, the Harper gang are eliminating their enemies:

• 2012/04/13: G&M: Cuts at Environment Canada mean fewer left to clean up oil-spill mess
  The unit at Environment Canada that responds to oil-spill emergencies will be dramatically scaled back and most of its regional offices will be closed to meet the cost-cutting demands of the federal government.
• 2012/04/09: HillTimes: Feds kill NRTEE, opposition critics say it's 'peanuts' in savings
  Founded in 1988 in the lead up to the Rio Earth Summit, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy gave independent, non-partisan, consensus-based advice to the federal government. No longer.

The Tories are harmonizing Canadian CAFE rules to the American:

• 2012/04/13: G&M: Greenhouse gas rules drive up truckers' costs
  Canada's truckers -- including drivers of full-size pickups -- are facing rising vehicle costs as Ottawa joins with the United States in imposing new greenhouse gas emissions standards starting in 2014 model years. But the higher upfront costs should be recouped in a few years of operating the vehicles as trucks become more fuel efficient and reduce their consumption of high-priced diesel.
• 2012/04/13: CBC: Kent unveils new rules to cut heavy-duty vehicle emissions

  EnviroCan came out with their GHG report for the IPCC this week:

• 2012/04/13: Maribo: Mountain pine beetle upends the Canadian emissions picture?
• 2012/04/11: TStar: Peter Kent says Tory plan to promote economic growth and protect environment 'is working'
• 2012/04/14: Rabble:AH-D: New emissions report isn't 'good news' despite Kent's assurances
• 2012/04/14: THW: "Tory Spin" That Is An Understatement
• 2012/04/15: BCLSB: Canadian Greenhouse Emissions Thrown Off By Bugs
• 2012/04/12: Maribo: Canadian GHG emissions in perspective
• 2012/04/12: PlanetArk: New Data Shows Canada To Miss Emissions Goal: Greens
• 2012/04/11: PostMedia: Inventory report confirms oil-and-gas pollution rising
  A new inventory report on greenhouse gases Wednesday has confirmed that Canadian emissions levels continued to drop in most sectors for 2010 except in the oil-and-gas industry's booming oilsands activities. Canada is required to submit the inventory to the international community as part of its obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the latest figures show that the country's overall annual emissions increased by 0.25 per cent in 2010 to the equivalent of about 692 megatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. Led by provincial policies in recent years, including the Ontario government's efforts to close its coal-fired power plants, the country's overall emissions have stabilized while the economy continues to grow. Separate figures released by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers show that annual emissions increased in 2010 by 14 per cent for the oilsands sector, while emissions per barrel in that industry increased by two per cent in the same year.
• 2012/04/11: iPolitics: Ottawa didn't influence 'improvement' in greenhouse gases, figures show
• 2012/04/11: EnviroCan: Canada's Greenhouse Gas Emissions -- Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks
• 2012/04/11: CBC: Greenhouse gas report touts progress on emissions -- Environment groups slam Tories' 'spin' on emissions record

  The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

• 2012/04/09: TheCanadian: Some Journalists Still Buying the Line that Technology Will Save Us from Oil Spills
• 2012/04/09: WpgFP: Oil tankers hottest button on West Coast
  Last week's federal budget is raising a lot of eyebrows in B.C. -- especially the vow to speed up the review of Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker project. Two polls released this past week indicated this is going to be a hot-potato issue for B.C. politicians, and the announcements out of Ottawa only increase the urgency for the province to take a stand one way or another

Kinder Morgan wants to expand their existing pipeline:

• 2012/04/13: G&M: B.C. mayors steel themselves for fight against Kinder Morgan pipeline
  Local governments on B.C.'s west coast are girding for a fight with energy giant Kinder Morgan over its $5-billion pipeline expansion plans to move more Alberta oil to the Vancouver Harbour for transport overseas. A phalanx of mayors is vowing to fight the project, including coastal communities far from the pipeline but exposed to increased oil tanker traffic.
• 2012/04/13: PostMedia: Kinder Morgan to proceed with $5-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to Burnaby
  Oil pipeline expansion to be 40 per cent larger than anticipated on strong demand Kinder Morgan Energy's oil pipeline expansion plans grew even larger Thursday after the company received huge commitments from Asian customers. The new plans would ship enough crude oil from Alberta to fill 25 to 30 tankers a month through the company's Westridge, Burnaby terminal. The proposed expansion of the existing Alberta-to-Metro Vancouver pipeline, which Kinder Morgan wants operational by 2017, is to cost $5 billion. It will increase pipeline capacity for crude by 550,000 barrels a day, to 850,000 barrels from the current 300,000 barrels a day.
• 2012/04/12: CBC: Kinder Morgan plans $5B pipeline expansion to Vancouver

  Wiebo Ludwig died this week:

• 2012/04/11: Tyee: The Death of the Reverend -- Andrew Nikiforuk wrote the book on Wiebo Ludwig. Now he writes his obituary.
• 2012/04/11: PostMedia: The end of eco-terrorist Wiebo Ludwig
• 2012/04/10: ArtThreat: Killed by Canada's Oil & Gas companies? Doc subject & eco-activist Wiebo Ludwig succumbs to cancer
• 2012/04/09: CBC: Anti-oilsands activist Wiebo Ludwig dies at 70
• 2012/04/09: CBC: Wiebo Ludwig, the making of an eco-warrior
  Wiebo Ludwig, the patriarch of a Christian fundamentalist community, was best known as an environmental crusader and convicted bomber who has spent the better part of the last two decades fighting oil and gas exploration near his farm in rural Alberta. Here's a look at key moments in his life.

The Suzuki Foundation released a climate change policy scorecard this week:

• 2012/04/12: PostMedia: Canadian climate change plans 'all over the map,' Suzuki report says
  Canadian provinces and territories are "all over the map" in terms of climate change plans, with Ontario, Quebec and B.C., leading the way while Alberta and Saskatchewan are lagging, says a report card released Wednesday by the David Suzuki Foundation. Overall, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia received "very good" rankings, followed by Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island with "good" rankings, Manitoba, New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories with "fair" rankings, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut and Yukon with "poor" rankings, and Alberta and Saskatchewan with the "worst" rankings of the survey. British Columbia was rated "very good." The report praised Victoria's climate plan and carbon tax, but criticized oil and gas industry subsidies and lack of financial support for public transit. Alberta was rated "worst." The report praised it for measures to sup-port cities with energy efficiency and boost public transit, urged to toughen industrial regulations with hard caps on emissions that require facilities to reduce emissions in absolute terms.
• 2012/04/11: G&M: Alberta, Saskatchewan called environmental 'laggards'
  Some provinces are closing their coal-fired generating plants and introducing economic incentives to reduce their citizens' reliance on fossil fuels. Others -- specifically Alberta and Saskatchewan -- are going backwards in the fight against climate change, says a new report by the David Suzuki Foundation that looks at what individual provinces and territories are doing to cut greenhouse-gas emissions.

A funny little detail derailed some Glib & Stale propaganda. Suzuki resigned last summer:

• 2012/04/13: BCLSB: Clarification On David Suzuki: The Globe Misleads
• 2012/04/13: BastardLogic: On That Zombie Suzuki Resignation Story
• 2012/04/12: G&M: David Suzuki laments Tory-imposed 'chill' on green groups
  Canada's most famous environmentalist, David Suzuki, says he left the board of his charitable foundation to avoid being a lightning rod for criticism and government attacks that would undermine its work. Still, Peter Robinson, who is the head of the David Suzuki Foundation, said the group is facing a "chill" that is leading it to pull back from important environmental debates lest it be accused by the federal government of exceeding its charitable mandate.

The ISA virus in BC waters is potentially disastrous:

• 2012/04/14: AlexandraMorton: New Norwegian virus in supermarket farm salmon
  Sointula, BC (April 13, 2012) Test results report 44 out of 45 farm salmon purchased from the Superstore and T&T markets throughout Vancouver tested positive for a newly identified Norwegian virus. The piscine reovirus weakens the fish's heart causing Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI). HSMI is considered a "major challenge" in Norway infecting over 400 farms since it's symptoms first appeared in 1999. It has spread to the U.K.
• 2012/04/10: AlexandraMorton: Backgrounder: ISA virus results/testimony in BC
• 2012/04/10: AlexandraMorton: More ISA virus test results
• 2012/04/11: AlexandraMorton: [link to 1.3 meg pdf] Download Briefing on Two Viruses

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

• 2012/04/12: PI:B: Changes to B.C.'s carbon neutral requirements a positive first step
• 2012/04/08: PostMedia: B.C. government announces program for schools to curb greenhouse gas emissions
  The B.C. government has tweaked its controversial greenhouse gas emission reduction program, announcing a capital program that will provide $5 million to schools annually this fiscal year to help them drive down their emissions. The amount of funding is about equal to money the schools are already paying each year to the Crown corporation Pacific Carbon Trust to compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions.
• 2012/04/07: PostMedia: Liberals shift course on carbon tax
  No one is sure what the review of B.C.'s carbon tax will produce, but two course changes this week confirm the impression it and other parts of the climate-change program are being toned down, if not stalled. The B.C. Liberals held firm for a few years to the idea that every entity in the province would eventually pay for its carbon emissions one way or the other. But now, some breaks are being handed out even as the review is getting underway.

Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2012/04/13: DeSmogBlog: Oil and Gas Industry Refused to Protect Caribou Habitat, Pushed for Wolf Cull Instead
• 2012/04/11: Tyee: Economist Blasts Rosy Reports on Canadian Oil Economics
  Four documents extolling oil sands and Gateway pipeline more 'propaganda' than business cases, says Robyn Allan. A flurry of positive economic reports extolling the benefits of rapid bitumen development and the Northern Gateway pipeline base their conclusions on poor data that "are misleading and misrepresentative of economic reality," says independent economist Robyn Allan. The reports "present an illusion of economic well-being" created from rapid oil sands growth by omitting key trends such as oil price shocks and by using inappropriate economic models, adds Allan, a retired financial economist and former CEO of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.
• 2012/04/11: DeSmogBlog: Cry Wolf: An Unethical Oil Story

  Also in Alberta, there is an election:

• 2012/04/15: PostMedia: Oilsands, green issues missing in action in campaign
  Alberta's oilsands and their environmental legacy - perhaps the single issue that most defines the province's economy and relationship with the world - has been largely absent from political debate since the provincial election was called, observers say. Over the last three weeks, the race for control of the legislature, seen by many as a battle between Alison Redford's Progressive Conservatives and Danielle Smith's Wildrose, has been occupied by public-versus-private health care questions, talk of how to balance budgets and spend surplus energy revenues, and discussion of "conscience rights" and MLA accountability. That mash-up of debates has pushed the cleanup of oilsands tailings ponds or greenhouse gas emissions off the agenda, apart from campaign promises made by NDP Leader Brian Mason and Liberal Leader Raj Sherman, both of whom are polling low among decided voters.
• 2012/04/11: PostMedia: [Elizabeth] May comes to town [Edmonton] to support EverGreen party

  Ontario is wrestling with its energy policy:

• 2012/04/11: CBC: Ontario energy sector changes coming soon
  Ontario could begin to see changes to its energy sector as early as this summer as the province looks into merging certain agencies and finding ways to dial back costs. The minority Liberals have promised a review of the sector in their budget, but have been vague on the details.
• 2012/04/11: G&M: Ontario eyes energy sector overhaul
  The Ontario government is considering a significant overhaul of the province's energy sector, including a selloff of municipally owned distribution utilities and a merger of two provincially owned planning agencies.

In the North:

• 2012/04/13: CBC: Yukon rejects oil exploration in Whitehorse Trough
  Energy minister says public opposition 'a major factor' in the decision

As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

• 2012/04/11: SierraClub: Radioactive Tritium: CNSC Gives Industry a Licence to Pollute
• 2012/04/11: CBC: New census data shows Canadian suburbs rule -- Planners stumped by 'demographic surprises'
  The most recent census data tells us that, more than ever, Canadians are an urban people. By 2011, nearly seven in 10 Canadians were living in a metropolitan area. But on closer examination, the census shows that it's the suburbs that are on fire -- not the downtown cores that many equate with city living.

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

• 2012/04/12: CCurrents: The Return Of The Limits To Growth
• 2012/04/13: EnergyBulletin: If growth is the problem, why hasn't it been stopped?
• 2012/04/12: EnergyBulletin: Guided by Gaia
• 2012/04/11: EnergyBulletin: Exponential Economist Meets Finite Physicist by Tom Murphy
• 2012/04/11: TreeHugger: Getting the Market to Tell the Truth [through full-cost pricing] by Lester Brown
• 2012/04/10: EnergyBulletin: The Return of The Limits to Growth

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

• 2012/04/14: NBF: Robert Zubrin makes the case against Population Control
• 2012/04/14: NBF: How many people could live on earth using 10 kilowatts per year of clean energy
• 2012/04/11: RawStory: States with 'abstinence-only' sex ed programs rank highest in teen pregnancies
• 2012/04/09: AlterNet: When Libertarians Stand for Medieval Control Instead of Freedom
  Debates on birth control in the US show how modern conservatism is just a neoliberal gloss on medieval domination.
• 2012/04/11: Wonkette: States With 'Abstinence Only' Sex-Ed Continue To Knock Their Teens Up The Biggest
• 2012/04/06: Rabble: Motion 312: An ignorant affront to global human rights standards
• 2012/03/20: CfRR: [link to 303k pdf] Whose Right to Life? Women's Rights and Prenatal Protections under Human Rights and Comparative Law
• 2012/04/09: Reuters: Oklahoma, weighing "personhood" law, may be next abortion flashpoint
  A proposed law in Oklahoma that would grant embryos full rights as people from the moment of conception may represent the next big challenge to the constitutional right to abortion in the United States.

Apocalypso anyone?

• 2012/04/08: CCurrents: An Invitation To Anarchy

  How do the media measure up?

• 2012/04/12: BBickmore: Reporter Pwns John Christy
• 2012/04/11: Grist: HuffPo science editor asks readers: Is climate science true?
  Hey, Huffington Post: I'm not one to tell you how to do your business -- your budget for the time it takes me to write this sentence is bigger than Grist's budget for the year, so you must be doing something right -- but maybe it would be a good idea to hire a science editor who's familiar with, like, science?
• 2012/04/09: TheCanadian: Some Journalists Still Buying the Line that Technology Will Save Us from Oil Spills
• 2012/04/08: AlterNet: The Science of Fox News: Why Its Viewers are the Most Misinformed

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2012/04/13: Grist: Depressing videos show the human toll of fracking
• 2012/04/12: TP:JR: Matt Damon's Anti-Fracking Movie, 'The Promised Land,' Is Ahead of the Curve
• 2012/04/09: P3: Peak Phosphorus
• 2012/04/09: PSinclair: What We Knew in '81

  As for podcasts:

• 2012/04/15: CBC:Q&Q: (mp3) Hot Coral [Dr. Simon Donner] -- Bats Fight European Invader

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2012/04/12: TP:JR: David Versus Goliath: Children Face Off Against The Giants Of Industry On Climate Change
• 2012/04/13: PlanetArk: U.S. To Give BP Evidence On Size Of Gulf Oil Spill
• 2012/04/12: CCurrents: As We Ruin Our Kids' Planet, They Take Us To Court
• 2012/04/12: PlanetArk: [Brazilian] Judge Blocks Bid To Stop Chevron Brazil Operations
• 2012/04/11: WCEL: How should we slap back at SLAPPs?
• 2012/04/10: PlanetArk: Green Groups Sue EPA Over Coal Ash Rules
• 2012/04/09: ArtfulOpinions: Supreme Court to Rule on Monsanto Ruling

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

• 2012/04/14: TP:JR: Why Fossil Fuel Abundance Is An Illusion, Unless Your Goal Is Humanity's Self-Destruction
• 2012/04/13: UCSUSA:B: Good News! Renewables Make Major Strides in 2011 [in USA]
• 2012/04/13: EnergyBulletin: Former energy czar speaks to skeptical audience in Southwest Michigan
• 2012/04/11: NBF: Solar Power Satellite via Arbitrarily Large PHased Array
• 2012/04/11: TP:JR: Study: No Relationship Between Renewable Energy Targets And Higher Electric Rates
• 2012/04/11: UCSUSA: On the Road to Clean Energy in Germany: Lessons for the United States - Part 3
• 2012/04/10: NBF: Roadmap to Space Solar Power using an up to 50% efficient space based power grid
• 2012/04/09: TreeHugger: Maps Show a Decade of Renewable Energy Growth, 2001-2011

  Pew and Bloomberg reports on energy investment triggered a round of articles:

• 2012/04/11: Pew: Pew Report: Global Clean Energy Investment a Record $263 Billion in 2011
• 2012/04/12: NBF: Global clean energy spending was $263 billion, US Spent more money, China installed more power
• 2012/04/12: EUO: Europe is world leader in clean energy investments
• 2012/04/12: BWeek: Renewable-Energy Investment Plunges in Quarter to Three-Year Low
• 2012/04/12: TreeHugger: US Led World in Clean Energy Investment for 2011
• 2012/04/12: BBC: US tops global clean energy investment rankings
  The US has regained top spot from China as the biggest investor in clean energy in 2011, according to global rankings. The table, published in a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, showed that US invested more than $48bn (£30bn) in the sector, up from $34bn in 2010. China slipped to second place, the authors reported, with investment only increasing by $0.5bn to $45.5bn. Globally, overall financial backing in clean energy technologies hit a record $263bn, up 6.5% from 2010 levels. The report, Who is Winning the Clean Energy Race, showed that G20 nations accounted for 95% of the investment in the sector (which does not include nuclear power).

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

• 2012/04/13: Grist: Depressing videos show the human toll of fracking
• 2012/04/13: GreenGrok: Energy and Earthquakes: A Whole Lot of Shaking Going On
• 2012/04/13: CSM: [USGS] Report cites fracking-related activities as potential suspect in minor quakes
• 2012/04/12: WaPo: New drilling technique leads to vast supplies and cheaper energy bills for homes, businesses
• 2012/04/12: EurActiv: Putin fears shale gas competition
  Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has urged his country's gas industry to "rise to the challenge" of shale gas as the United States and some European countries forge ahead with developing the controversial energy source. US shale gas production may "seriously" restructure supply and demand in the global hydrocarbons market, Putin said yesterday (11 April) in his final address to the Russian Duma before he takes over as president on 7 May.
• 2012/04/12: PlanetArk: Insight: China's Coalbeds Spur Unconventional Gas Supply Boom
• 2012/04/12: TreeHugger: Lenders Say Fracking Presents a Mortgage Risk
• 2012/04/10: PostMedia: Could oilpatch drilling be triggering earthquakes?
• 2012/04/10: Grist: Ohio fracking is latest target for anti-Keystone activists
• 2012/04/09: DeSmogBlog: Survey Says...Fracking IS Causing Earthquakes
• 2012/04/05: AlterNet: Unregulated Fracking for Decades? Why California May Be a Disaster Waiting to Happen

  On the coal front:

• 2012/04/09: Tyee: Do Asian Coal Plants Pollute North America?
  As BC ships more coal across Pacific, US researchers find transcontinental air pollution.
• 2012/04/09: TMoS: What Does China Want for Christmas? Coal, More Coal.
• 2012/04/09: Grist: Chart: The mind-boggling rise in Asian coal consumption

  On the gas and oil front:

• 2012/04/13: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Nymex Crude Future...102.83
  Dated Brent Spot.....121.58
  WTI Cushing Spot.....102.83
• 2012/04/09: CER:RRapier: Canada Rises and Saudi Slides: Top 15 Sources for U.S. Crude Oil Imports in 2011
• 2012/04/12: OilDrum: What the New 2011 EIA Oil Supply Data Shows
• 2012/04/11: NBF: US Crude Oil Production Back over 6 million barrels per day for the first time since 2000 [imports about 7.5 million bpd]
• 2012/04/12: BBerg: Oil Better-Supplied for First Time Since 2009, IEA Says
  Oil markets are better supplied for the first time since 2009 as "sluggish" demand and OPEC output at its highest in more than three years eased inventory depletion, according to the International Energy Agency.
• 2012/04/11: PlanetArk: Chevron Finds Leak In Offshore Petrobras Oil Field
• 2012/04/10: NYT: Out of Africa (and Elsewhere): More Fossil Fuels
• 2012/04/10: EurActiv: Gazprom cuts European sales target, raises price
  Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom has abandoned plans to increase sales to Europe in 2012, saying it faced stiffer than expected competition from LNG and lower spot market prices. However, the state-owned company said it would meet its planned earnings targets thanks to higher prices charged to consumers.
• 2012/04/10: DeSmogBlog: Tar Sands in the United States: What You Need to Know
• 2012/04/08: NBF: Iraq exports 2.317 million barrels of oil and will export 2.6 million at the end of 2012

  Regarding oil and the economy:

• 2012/04/12: al Jazeera: What the IMF should say and think about the global oil industry
  In over 50 countries, local production in the oil extractive industries plays a major role in politics and the economy.

Yes we have peak everything:

• 2012/04/11: SCDigest: Graphic of the Week: Another View of Peak Oil
• 2012/04/13: P3: Facing up to Phosphorus
• 2012/04/12: OnlineOpinion(Au): Peak oil, economic growth and the big lie
• 2012/04/07: CrudeOilPeak: Australian ABC TV falls into oil and climate trap of unconventional oil
• 2012/04/09: P3: Peak Phosphorus

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2012/04/13: ABC(Au): Up and away: Qantas tries biofuel
• 2012/04/12: NBF: Progress for waste heat engine to make clean power from biomass integrated with biochar to remediate water and soil pollution
• 2012/04/11: Grist: Your new offshore energy source: Floating algae farms

  The answer my friend...:

• 2012/04/13: EurActiv: Windfarms don't cause long-term damage to bird populations, study finds
  A major new study has quashed fears that onshore windfarms are causing long-term damage to bird populations, but found new evidence that some species are harmed when windfarms are built.
• 2012/04/13: CSM: Wind power: America's future?
• 2012/04/12: BBC: Wind farms 'not major bird mincers'
  Many bird species are unaffected by wind farms, concludes a study carried out by UK bird charities.
• 2012/04/11: HotTopic: The shape of wind to come
• 2012/04/09: BBerg: Wind Power Seen Surging as Custom Barges Cut Set-up Costs

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2012/04/13: ABC(Au): Verve sheds light on 'clean, green' solar farm
• 2012/04/12: NYT: Clouds on Solar's Horizon
• 2012/04/13: OilDrum: The Solar Envelope: How to Heat and Cool Cities Without Fossil Fuels
• 2012/04/10: TreeHugger: Black Solar Cell Absorbs 99.7% of All Light

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2012/04/14: NBF: World Nuclear Generation in 2011 was 2518 TWh
• 2012/04/13: EneNews: Radiation discharge near Philadelphia kept secret from public for weeks - No 'immediate' health concerns, says NRC
• 2012/04/12: EneNews: Problems escalate at California's San Onofre nuke plant - Second reactor in jeopardy
• 2012/04/12: APR: San Onofre update
• 2012/04/12: WNN: New Kozloduy unit gets government nod
  The process to build a new reactor at Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant has started with an agreement in principle to go ahead with the project from the country's cabinet. The move comes two weeks after the government scrapped plans for a new plant at Belene.
• 2012/04/04: Cryptome: Nuclear Spent Fuel Storage Installation Error
• 2012/04/12: BNC: The Nuclear Energy Solution
• 2012/04/09: CrossCut: Hanford: Can't anybody here clean up a mess?
  After decades of pollution, the feds face a deadline in 2019. Seven years might sound like a lot of time but expectations of a federal request for a delay are already rising.
• 2012/04/08: NBF: Watts Barr 2 Reactor Completion Delayed to 2015

  Nuclear fusion projects around the world limp along:

• 2012/04/11: SlashDot: MIT Fusion Researchers Answer Your Questions

  Low energy nuclear keeps coming up:

• 2012/04/13: NBF: Defkalion Green Technologies targets operational prototype low energy nuclear reaction reactor for July, 2012

  Like a mirage, the dream of a Hydrogen Economy shimmers on the horizon:

• 2012/04/08: NBF: Michigan Tech Breakthrough Could Speed the Search for Next Generation of Hydrogen Fuel Cells

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

• 2012/04/11: TreeHugger: Worldwide Smart Grid Spending to Hit $46 Billion in 2015
• 2012/04/09: TreeHugger: New Smart Meter Technology Can Tell Your Appliances Apart

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

• 2012/04/14: CSM: Electric cars, hybrids see record sales
• 2012/04/08: FuturePundit: Long Payoff Time For Most Hybrids And Electric Cars
• 2012/04/12: AutoBG: Fewer flashy debuts, more serious efficiency efforts thanks to new CAFE rules
• 2012/04/13: AutoBG: Ford, Dow Chemical partner on carbon fiber composites, hope to shed up to 750 pounds
• 2012/04/11: OPB: More Electric Cars Could Mean More Power Demand
• 2012/04/11: DerSpiegel: Renault's Revolution -- Tiny Twizy Sets E-Mobility World Atwitter
  It's even smaller than Daimler's Smart and runs entirely on electric power. Renault's new Twizy shows the limits of E-mobility technology and may be the perfect city vehicle. But at almost 8,000 euros without doors or battery, the price tag isn't nearly as small as the car itself.
• 2012/04/11: SlashDot: New Zealand Developers Building Open Source Code For Electric Cars
• 2012/04/09: TreeHugger: Prius and Volt Set New Sales Records Thanks to High Gas Prices

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2012/04/12: al Jazeera: The economics of extreme weather -- The financial cost of bad weather around the globe
• 2012/04/10: CCP: As weather gets biblical, insurers go missing
• 2012/04/09: Wunderground: First U.S. billion-dollar disaster of 2012: March 2-3 tornado outbreak

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

• 2012/04/13: TP:JR: April 13 News...
• 2012/04/12: TP:JR: April 12 News...
• 2012/04/11: TP:JR: April 11 News...
• 2012/04/10: TP:JR: April 10 News...
• 2012/04/09: TP:JR: April 9 News...

  Other (weekly) lists:

• 2012/04/13: TreeHugger: Energy News...
• 2012/04/13: EnergyBulletin: ODAC Newsletter

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2012/04/13: MCrucifix: Twenty-one reasons for climate war (my take)
• 2012/04/13: Grist: The 'war on suburbia' is a hoax
• 2012/04/14: TPL: Arguing With Stupid People
• 2012/04/12: ERabett: Ice, Ice, Everywhere and Ne'er A Drop Did Melt
• 2012/04/12: PSinclair: Hey Deniers. Corn Called. CO2 Not all That Good for Plants.
• 2012/04/10: TPL: The Limits of Reason
• 2012/04/10: AlterNet: Top 10 Koch Facts
• 2012/04/10: OilChange: Beware the Oil Industry's Voldemort
• 2012/04/09: TP:JR: Lessons In Climate Newspeak: How To Make A Sociologist [Norgaard] Sound Orwellian
• 2012/04/08: CCP: Nucor Exposed: Corporation Bankrolling Climate Denial at the Heartland Institute while claiming 'Global Warming Not Taken Lightly'

  Regarding Schmitt and his buddies:

• 2012/04/13: CCP: Shawn Lawrence Otto: From a boy who loved NASA: How 49 former NASA astronauts and scientists soiled their good names over climate politics
• 2012/04/13: DeSmogBlog: 49 Cliff Clavin's Walk into a Bar and Talk Climate Change
• 2012/04/13: CSW: On the intellectually empty, politically motivated attacks on NASA climate scientists by former astronauts
• 2012/04/13: NeoRenaissance: From a boy who loved NASA: How 49 heroes lost the right stuff and sullied their names over climate politics
• 2012/04/11: SpaceRef: Response from NASA Chief Scientist Waleed Abdalati to Letter on NASA Climate Studies
• 2012/04/14: DM:BA: Breath-taking climate denial nonsense, this time aimed at NASA
• 2012/04/12: CCP: Attacks on climate science by former NASA staff shouldn't be taken seriously.
  A letter from former administrators, astronauts, and engineers at NASA expressing climate change scepticism does not deserve parity with the agency's peer-reviewed climate scientists
• 2012/04/11: BRitholtz: Innumerate Claim of the Day: NASA Scientists Dispute Climate Change
• 2012/04/11: PSinclair: Heartland's Truth-Challenged Harrison Schmitt Trolls NASA Nursing Home for New "List of Scientists"

  Meanwhile in the 'clean coal' saga:

• 2012/04/11: NatureN: Slow progress to cleaner coal -- China moves forward with demonstration power plant as United Kingdom revives carbon-capture programme

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2012/04/14: CSW: Climate Reality Check Coalition: Action, Action, Action!
• 2012/04/11: AlterNet: Can New Corporate Pledges of Zero Waste Make Landfills Obsolete?
• 2012/04/11: QuarkSoup: Agree or Disagree?
• 2012/04/11: Wunderground:RR: A Hot Day's Night: The Beetles
• 2012/04/05: AlterNet: What If We Stopped Freaking Out About Climate Change?
• 2012/04/09: P3: Disequilibrium is not Your Friend
• 2012/04/09: CAbyss: An Extremely Unusual March
• 2012/04/08: P3: The Inescapable Implication of Uncertainty by Stephan Lewandowsky

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

• UMt: Geoengineering Bibliography
• The Post-Durban and Rio+20 Civil Society Organizations Preparatory Workshop
• Pew Environment Group
• Climate Reality Check
• CCL: Citizens Climate Lobby
• CrudeOilPeak
• Open Source Permaculture
• Fedco - Co-op Seeds, Gardening Supplies, Trees, Potatoes, Bulbs
• Boundless Learning
• FOE: Keystone XL Pipeline
• Wiki: CHAdeMO
• NOAA: Deepwater Horizon Library
• The Plant List -- A working list for all plant species
• Wiki: Virus sin Nombre
• Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy
• Wiki: Dunning-Kruger effect
• Global CCS Institute

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.

"Right now the cost of their pollution is socialized: From each according to their smokestack, to each according to their lungs." -David Appell

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