Another Week of GW News, May 20, 2012

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

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Another Week in the Ecological Crisis

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

May 20, 2012

• Chuckles, Rio+20, Bonn, WWF, Elgin, Carbon Tariffs, Subsidies, Cook
• Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
• Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics
• Food Crisis, Fisheries, Land Grabs, GMOs, GMO Labelling, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures, Aerosols
• Paleoclimate, ENSO, Extinctions, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Tornadoes, Wildfires
• Glaciers, Sea Levels, GW Deluge, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, DIY Science, Models, Open Science
• International Politics: Carbon Trade, Bank Tax, Hormuz, Solar Spat
• EU ETS & Airlines, South China Sea, YPF - Repsol, Rare Earths
• Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz, Groundwater, Education, Economics
• National Politics: America, BP Disaster, 2012, Gas Prices
• Keystone, Solar Tariff, Coal Exports, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
• Britain, Europe, Australia, Critical Decade, MDBP, India, Asia, South America
• Canada, Post G20, Dutch Disease, Bonn, De Schutter, Arctic Leases, Northern Gateway, Bill C-38
• The Beans, Think Tanks, Salmon, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Sask, Ontario, Maritimes, Canadiana
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video
• Energy, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Pipelines, Peak Oil, Biofuel, Wind, Solar
• Nukes, Nuclear Waste, Nuclear Fusion, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
• Business, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, HI Billboards, Intimidation, Misc, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

• 2012/05/03: RaesideCartoon: (cartoon - Raeside) Liberals 2012 BC Byelection Christy Clark
• 2012/05/15: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) The Happy Couple

  Looking ahead to Rio+20 :

• 2012/05/17: UN: UN chief asks youth to 'make some noise' ahead of Rio+20 conference
• 2012/05/15: EnergyBulletin: What's "Rio+20" and why should we care?
• 2012/05/15: TP:JR: Energy Access Entrepreneurs Seek $500 Million From World Bank At Rio +20
• 2012/05/14: BBC: Rio+20 summit leaders 'must improve nature protection'
  Environmentalists say leaders at June's Rio+20 summit must urgently step up nature protection, as a report confirms a 30% decline in wildlife since 1970.
• 2012/05/14: UN: Development cooperation will play key role in gaining sustainable development - UN

  Post Durban, Pre-COP18 climate negotiations at Bonn this week:

• UNFCCC: Bonn Climate Change Conference - May 2012
• 2012/05/17: IndiaTimes: Rich nations stall talks on their record of cutting emissions
  On the second day of the Bonn climate change negotiations, the US, the EU and other developed countries tried to stall discussions on whether the rich countries had met their obligations on reducing emissions and financing the poor countries. Many developed countries pushed for talks to take place only on a new single legal treaty that would wipe out all past and existing obligations.
• 2012/05/17: NatGeo: Stakes High as Negotiators Begin Climate Talks in Germany
• 2012/05/17: Yahoo:AFP: UN talks take first steps on 2015 climate deal
• 2012/05/16: Guardian(UK): Bonn climate talks: EU plays down talk of Kyoto protocol rift
• 2012/05/16: Reuters: Climate deal milestones should be set this year: U.N.
  Countries which agreed to sign a deal in 2015 to cut greenhouse gas emissions should set milestones this year to ensure the necessary work is done on time, the United Nations' climate chief said on Wednesday.
• 2012/05/18: PostMedia: Canada has a plan to crack down on pollution -- Finalizing rules for 2013 on the agenda
• 2012/05/18: TMoS: The Humiliation of Canada Continues
• 2012/05/18: RTCC: Durban Platform negotiations: A long way to go
• 2012/05/18: Reuters:IPS: Industrialised Countries Under Critical Spotlight at U.N. Meet
• 2012/05/16: Guardian(UK): Bonn climate talks: EU plays down talk of Kyoto protocol rift
• 2012/05/16: HotTopic: Alphabet soup in Bonn
• 2012/05/14: BizGreen: Bonn talks aim to build on "Durban Platform"
  Diplomats from around the world are meeting in Bonn from today in an attempt to reignite long-running climate change negotiations following the qualified success delivered by last year's Durban Summit.
• 2012/05/14: Guardian(UK): The Figueres family led Costa Rica's revolution, and now its green revolution
  As the Bonn climate talks begin, John Vidal speaks to former president José MarÃa Figueres about Costa Rica's journey towards sustainability
• 2012/05/13: BBC: UN climate talks open in Germany on Monday, with the EU struggling to keep its position of a global leader

  The WWF released their Living Planet Report this week:

• 2012/05/14: WWF: [link to 18.5 meg pdf] Living Planet Report
• 2012/05/14: WWF: Rising consumption, increased resource use by a growing population puts unbearable pressure on our Planet - WWF 2012 Living Planet Report
• 2012/05/17: Grist: We've lost 30 to 70 percent of our wildlife since 1970
• 2012/05/16: PlanetArk: World Living Beyond Its Resources, Summit Off-Track: WWF
• 2012/05/16: NatureNB: Earth overburdened by soaring consumption, says WWF report
• 2012/05/15: CBC: WWF report criticizes Canada's ecological footprint
• 2012/05/15: Guardian(UK): Earth's environment getting worse, not better, says WWF ahead of Rio+20
• 2012/05/15: CNN: Earth 'going downhill' as consumption rises, [WWF] says
  Living Planet Report shows world is still consuming more than Earth can replenish - Top 10 polluting countries topped by Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE and Denmark - Reports shows widening gap between ecological footprints of rich and poor nations - Biodiversity continues to shrink, particularly in the tropics
• 2012/05/15: EurActiv: [WWF] Report calls for action at Rio to reverse biodiversity free fall
  Biodiversity has decreased by an average of 28% globally since 1970 and the world would have to be 50% bigger to have enough land and forests to provide for current levels of consumption and carbon emissions, the conservation group WWF said today (15 May).
• 2012/05/15: DD: Environment getting worse, not better, 20 years after the Rio Earth summit
• 2012/05/15: ABC(Au): WWF says Australians using more than their fair share of world's resources
• 2012/05/15: ABC(Au): Australia has seventh biggest ecological footprint
• 2012/05/15: TMoS: Why Do We Live in Denial?
• 2012/05/14: HuffPo: Living Planet Report 2012 From WWF Looks At Ecological State Of The Earth
• 2012/05/15: ABC(Au): Australia seventh-worst polluter on Earth: report
  A report ranking the world's biggest polluters puts Australia in seventh place. Conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which compiled the report, says the spiralling global population and over-consumption are threatening the future health of the planet. The world's top 10 polluters
  1. Qatar
  2. Kuwait
  3. United Arab Emirates
  4. Denmark
  5. Belgium
  6. United States
  7. Australia
  8. Canada
  9. Netherlands
  10. Ireland
• 2012/05/15: al Jazeera:'Over-consumption' threatening Earth
  Latest survey says we are using 50 per cent more resources than what can be sustainably produced.

Total has plugged the North Sea Elgin gas leak:

• 2012/05/18: PlanetArk: Total Says Stops Elgin Gas Leak
• 2012/05/18: Guardian(UK): How much impact did the North Sea gas leak have on the environment?
  Greenhouse gas emissions and hydrocarbon contamination lower than expected, while Total incurs huge financial losses
• 2012/05/16: PlanetArk: Total Starts Injecting Mud To Kill North Sea Gas Leak
• 2012/05/16: TreeHugger: North Sea Natural Gas Platform Leak Finally Stopped
• 2012/05/16: BBC: The gas leak from the Elgin platform in the North Sea has been stopped, according to oil firm Total
• 2012/05/15: BBC: Elgin gas leak operation under way at Total platform in North Sea
  The operation to stop gas leaking from the Elgin platform in the North Sea is under way. Total's platform was evacuated when the gas began leaking on 25 March. The effort to stop the leak involves the pumping of heavy mud into the well from the main support vessel, the West Phoenix semi-submersible drilling rig, via a temporary pipeline. Total said the operation and subsequent observation period would last a few days. It will then be possible to say whether the operation has been effective.

The Carbon Tariff is back:

• 2012/05/18: EurActiv: French to revive Sarkozy's EU carbon tariff idea
• 2012/05/18: Guardian(UK): France plans to revive EU carbon tariff
  Minister of Industrial Renewal weighs up long-standing idea of carbon tax on goods imported from outside Europe

Who's getting the subsidies?

• 2012/05/17: Grist: Why are U.S. taxpayers subsidizing coal mining?
• 2012/05/15: SIMag: Has the well run dry? An ambitious bill to end fossil fuel subsidies is heading to Congress

  John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

• 2012/05/19: SkeptiSci: David Evans: All at Sea about Ocean Warming and Sea Level Rise by Rob Painting
• 2012/05/18: SkeptiSci: Dear Heartland, Stop using Arthur Robinson's Trick to Hide the Incline by Mark Boslough
• 2012/05/17: SkeptiSci: Richard Alley's Escalator by dana1981
• 2012/05/16: SkeptiSci: Climate Change Consequences - Often Unexpected by dana1981
• 2012/05/15: SkeptiSci: New research from last week 19/2012 by Ari Jokimäki
• 2012/05/15: SkeptiSci: CRUTEM4: A detailed look by Kevin C
• 2012/05/14: SkeptiSci: Analysis of Speed of Greenland Glaciers Gives New Insight for Rising Sea Level by John Hartz

  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 propagated 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?

  No good news out of Fukushma...:

• 2012/05/18: EneNews: Japan's Ex-Industry Minister: Neutron radiation is degenerating reactors - Admits he was playing a role when saying nuclear plants were safe
• 2012/05/17: EneNews: Tepco releases document "in response to the concern that Unit 4 spent fuel pool may collapse" - "1st Inspection" begins tomorrow
• 2012/05/17: EneNews: Denki Shimbun: Tepco to search for holes in containment vessels - Trying to determine where radiation is coming from
• 2012/05/16: APR: Fukushima spent fuel pools: Not the major issue
• 2012/05/14: EneNews: Physicist: Unit 2 completely liquified, 100% liquification of uranium core - "We've never seen this before in the history of nuclear power" (video)
• 2012/05/14: WNN: TEPCO faces $10 billion loss
• 2012/05/14: ABC(Au): TEPCO, the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has recorded an annual loss of nearly $10 billion
• 2012/05/14: EneNews: WSJ: Japan Prime Minister 'hedges' when asked about Spent Fuel Pool No. 4 -- Fears revived after U.S. senator's warning of huge danger that remains at Fukushima
• 2012/05/14: BBC: Japan's Tokyo Electric Power reports full-year loss
  Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has reported a full-year net loss as it struggles with trillions of yen in costs related to the nuclear crisis at its power plant in Fukushima. The loss was 781bn yen ($9.7bn; £6bn) for the year ending 31 March 2012, the company said.

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

• 2012/05/18: BBC: Japan has urged businesses and households in parts of the country to cut electricity use by up to 15% to avoid possible blackouts
• 2012/05/16: ABC(Au): Japanese firms to spend billions on Australian gas
  The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant and several other leading Japanese firms will spend more than $US4 billion dollars to buy a stake in a major West Australian natural gas field.
• 2012/05/16: ABC(Au): Post-nuclear Japan takes stake in WA gas field
  A Japanese public-private consortium has confirmed it will pay $4.4 billion for a stake in a West Australian natural gas field as the country seeks alternatives to nuclear power. The consortium, which includes TEPCO - the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant - and state-backed Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), will take a 10 per cent stake in the Wheatstone liquefied natural gas project, a JOGMEC spokeswoman said.

The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

• 2012/05/17: TP:JR: Arctic Death Spiral: More Bad News About Sea Ice
• 2012/05/17: ERabett: The Weasel Gets To Get His Fix
• 2012/05/17: CCP: Fueling Arctic warming: Seasonal ice absorbs more solar energy
• 2012/05/16: ASI: IJIS is back!
• 2012/05/15: ASI: If only I were smart...
• 2012/05/14: QuarkSoup: That Sharp Dip in Arctic Sea Ice Extent....
• 2012/05/14: SciAm:Expeditions: Following the Ice: Greenland

  That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

• 2012/05/18: ArcticNews: Striking increase of methane in the Arctic
• 2012/05/16: Rabble:CM: Thermometer rising: Ice, methane and climate change
• 2012/05/15: CCP: Arctic methane at Barrow, Alaska, hits 2500 ppbv

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources. See also:

• 2012/05/17: G&M: Arctic oil boom looms as Canada preps to take over as [Arctic Council] chair
  An oil boom is coming to the Arctic, but not just yet, says Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, a key player in the international politics of the far north. There's still time, he says, for the nations of the region to "catch up" on environmental safeguards. Mr. Bildt, whose nation now chairs the eight-nation Arctic Council, is in Ottawa to discuss far-north policy with Canadian counterpart John Baird just as the Harper government opened an auction for large tracts of offshore oil rights in the Canadian Arctic.

The food crisis is ongoing:

• FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
• 2012/05/18: ProMedMail: Infectious hematopoietic necrosis - Canada: (BC)
• 2012/05/18: PSinclair: Canada/US Great Lakes Area Fruit Growers "Wipeout" Due to Extreme Spring. Deniers: "They Need More CO2"
• 2012/05/18: ABC(Au): Niger's preventable famine now unavoidable
• 2012/05/18: ABC(Au): Food crisis in Niger escalates
• 2012/05/18: PlanetArk: Rocky Mountain Cave Closure Sought Over Bat Disease
• 2012/05/17: BBC: Niger malnutrition crisis spreading - Save the Children
  Months of warnings have failed to prevent a serious malnutrition crisis in Niger, Save the Children has said. The charity says more than six million people are affected there, and about 18 million in the Sahel region. It says a rising number of children now need medical treatment for the condition, as the crisis is reaching a new level of seriousness.
• 2012/05/18: Grist: Global warming makes syrup taste gross
• 2012/05/15: BPA: Stocks-to-Use Ratio Updates for Corn, Wheat, Rice, Soybeans, Cotton and Sugar
• 2012/05/16: BBC: Half of South Sudan facing food shortages, warns UN
  More than half the population of South Sudan are facing food shortages due to the continuing conflict with Sudan, the UN is warning. It says fighting on the border between the two countries and the shutdown of oil production have had a devastating impact on the South's economy.
• 2012/05/15: UN: Sub-Saharan Africa cannot sustain growth without ending hunger - UN report
• 2012/05/15: Grist: Cherry bomb: A year with less pie
• 2012/05/14: ABC(Au): Looming Niger famine fails to attract aid
  Agencies hoping to prevent a famine crisis in the landlocked West African nation of Niger are having trouble getting aid donors to take notice.

The state of the world's fisheries is a concern:

• 2012/05/18: Guardian(UK): Fishing observers 'intimidated and bribed by EU crews'
  Quota checks allegedly being compromised aboard Northwest Atlantic Fishery boats, as observers report surveillance and theft
• 2012/05/14: ScienceInsider: Floundering? Hardly. U.S. Fisheries Continue to Improve

  So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

• 2012/05/20: Guardian(UK): Land grabbers: Africa's hidden revolution

  Regarding the genetic modification of food:

• 2012/05/15: Atlantic: Superweeds: A Long-Predicted Problem for GM Crops Has Arrived by Marion Nestle
  After a decade of intensive genetically modified plant cultivation, weeds have emerged that are resistant to the most popular herbicide.
• 2012/05/18: ScienceInsider: Researchers Meet Protesters in TV Debate
• 2012/05/18: NewInt: Rothamsted GM trial: cow genes on toast, anyone?
• 2012/05/15: Guardian(UK): India loses faith in GM cotton
  Maharashtra state government orders German seed company to compensate farmers as cotton hybrids fail to deliver
• 2012/05/16: TreeHugger: GM Cotton Fails to Raise Yields in India, Despite Large Increase in Planting
• 2012/05/14: Grist: A growing problem: Notes from the 'superweed' summit
• 2012/05/14: TreeHugger: Genetically Modified Eggplant Field Trials Halted by Court in Philippines

  Regarding labelling GM food:

• 2012/05/15: DemNow: "Magic Soap" Maker David Bronner on Labeling Genetically Modified Food, Fair Trade, the War on Hemp

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

• 2012/05/18: UN: UN and Libya announce joint initiative to improve food security
• 2012/05/18: NBF: EU-funded food technology project to help alleviate poverty by preventing food losses
• 2012/05/18: BBC: Obama unveils US food security plan for Africa
  US President Barack Obama has announced a $3bn (£1.9bn) plan to boost food security and farm productivity in Africa, US officials say. They say the initiative is aimed at alleviating shortages as world food supplies are being stretched by rising demand in Asia's emerging markets. Food security is also on the agenda of this weekend's G-8 meeting.
• 2012/05/18: CBC: Healthy foods can cost less
  Comparing price per calorie versus by weight or portion sizes leads to different conclusions
• 2012/05/18: PSinclair: Nifty Hoop Houses: Local Food Infrastructure Rising in Detroit
• 2012/05/18: FAO: UN Rome-based agencies welcome G8 commitment to keep food security high on global agenda
• 2012/05/18: FAO: Libya and FAO renew commitment to develop the country's agriculture and food security -- Joint programme aims to increase food production, protect natural resources
• 2012/05/18: FAO: FAO Near East Conference plans to halve food waste in 10 years -- Countries also call on FAO to develop a regional trust fund for food security
• 2012/05/17: FAO: Saudi Arabia and FAO step up in-country cooperation -- Over $66 million for FAO technical assistance projects
• 2012/05/17: FAO: Near Eastern Trust Fund for food security proposed -- Aim to advance food security in region
• 2012/05/16: FAO: FAO helps Tanzania monitor carbon stocks -- Soil carbon assessment is key to reducing emissions
• 2012/05/15: FAO: Food waste, climate change top agenda at FAO Near East Conference -- Measures enhancing food security to be considered
• 2012/05/18: Guardian(UK): Will 3D printers make food sustainable?
  Andrew Purvis investigates whether 3D printers, artificial meat and GM can reduce food's future environmental footprint
• 2012/05/15: Eureka: When the soil holds not enough phosphorus -- IGC scientists describe new transporter in cells of plant roots
• 2012/05/14: Purdue: Tiny plants could cut costs, shrink environmental footprint
• 2012/05/15: UNDP: Food security must be at centre of Africa's development - report
• 2012/05/15: BBC: UNDP: Africa must boost food output to maintain growth
  The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says Africa needs to boost agricultural productivity if it is to sustain its economic boom.
• 2012/05/14: UN: UN humanitarian official praises Ethiopia's efforts on food security amid drought

  In the Eastern Pacific, amidst a couple of numbered storms, Aletta spun up and dissipated:

• 2012/05/15: Wunderground: Aletta's formation in Eastern Pacific ends Earth's 41-day tropical cyclone drought

  In the Atlantic, Alberto formed just off the coast:

• 2012/05/20: CBC: Tropical storm Alberto is first of hurricane season
  Tropical storm Alberto churned off South Carolina's coastline Sunday, the first storm of its kind to form in a hurricane season that doesn't officially begin until June 1, forecasters said. The National Hurricane Center in Miami reported at 5 a.m. ET Sunday that Alberto, after forming Saturday in the Atlantic, was about 160 kilometres southeast of Charleston, S.C., and a tropical storm watch continues on that state's coast from Savannah River to the South Santee River.
• 2012/05/19: Wunderground: Tropical Storm Alberto forms off the South Carolina coast
• 2012/05/19: Wunderground: Disturbance 93L off South Carolina coast could become a tropical storm
• 2012/05/14: Wunderground: Azores storm 92L unlikely to develop; East Pacific hurricane season begins

  While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2012/05/18: NOAANews: Rick Knabb, Ph.D., selected to lead NOAA's National Hurricane Center

  As for GHGs:

• 2012/05/14: P3: 397 -- CO2 concentration closes in on 400 ppmv.
• 2012/05/15: Grist: Wasted milk produces as much CO2 as 20,000 cars
• 2012/05/14: SciNow: Keeping Greenhouse Emitters Honest
• 2012/05/15: Europa: Emissions trading: annual compliance round-up shows declining emissions in 2011
  Emissions of greenhouse gases from installations participating in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) decreased by more than 2% last year, according to the information provided by Member State registries.

And in the carbon cycle:

• 2012/05/15: SciNews: Natural sinks still sopping up carbon -- Ecosystems haven't maxed out ability to absorb fossil fuel emissions

  As for the temperature record:

• 2012/05/18: CCP: "Evidence of unusual late 20th century warming from an Australasian temperature reconstruction spanning the last millennium," J. Climate, Joëlle Gergis et al.
• 2012/05/16: Eureka: 1,000 years of climate data confirms Australia's warming
• 2012/05/17: TreeHugger: Last 60 Years In Australia Have Been Warmest in Past Millennium
• 2012/05/18: Wunderground: April 2012: Earth's 5th warmest on record
• 2012/05/17: Guardian(UK): Australasia has hottest 60 years in a millennium, scientists find
• 2012/05/17: ABC(Au): Last 50 years were Australia's hottest: study
  For the first time scientists have provided the most complete climate record of the last millennium and they found that the last 50 years in Australia have been the warmest. The researchers from Melbourne University used 27 different natural indicators like tree rings and ice cores to come to their conclusion, which will be a part of the next United Nations intergovernmental panel on climate change report.
• 2012/05/16: PSinclair: It really IS Gettin' Hot in Here
• 2012/05/15: LA Times: It really is hot in here: U.S. has warmest 12 months on record
• 2012/05/16: TreeHugger: Statistical Analysis Shows 2 Degree Temperature Rise Zones in North America
• 2012/05/15: NOAA:NCDC: April global temperatures are fifth warmest -- La Niña ends; neutral conditions return over the equatorial Pacific Ocean
• 2012/05/14: RBroberg: NCDC DS-9640: Regional Temps First Look

  Aerosols are making their presence felt:

• 2012/05/17: ERW: Insight: how do aerosols vary over Northern India?
• 2012/05/16: SciAm:Obs: Soot May Help Shift Tropics North
• 2012/05/16: Eureka: Manmade pollutants may be driving Earth's tropical belt expansion
  UC Riverside-led team identifies black carbon and tropospheric ozone as most likely drivers of large-scale atmospheric circulation change in the Northern hemisphere tropics

While in the paleoclimate:

• 2012/05/16: DM:NERS: As oxygen filled the world, life's universal clock began to tick
• 2012/05/15: SMU: Ancient tree-ring records from southwest U.S. suggest today's megafires are truly unusual
  Unprecedented study relies on more than 1,500 years of tree-ring data and hundreds of years of fire-scar records gathered from Ponderosa Pine forests Today's mega forest fires of the southwestern U.S. are truly unusual and exceptional in the long-term record, suggests a new study that examined hundreds of years of ancient tree ring and fire data from two distinct climate periods.
• 2012/05/15: Eureka: Ancient plant-fungal partnerships reveal how the world became green

  On the ENSO front:

• 2012/05/16: WMO: El Niño/La Niña Update
  The 2011-2012 La Niña has ended. La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific transitioned to neutral (neither El Niño nor La Niña) conditions in early April 2012. Model forecasts and expert opinion suggest that neutral conditions are likely to continue into the Northern Hemisphere summer (austral winter). For the second half of 2012 a return of La Niña is unlikely, while neutral or El Niño conditions are currently considered to have equal chances of occurring. National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and other agencies will continue to monitor Pacific Basin conditions and outlooks to assess the most likely state of the climate during 2012.

What's new on the extinction front?

• 2012/05/17: TreeHugger: Nearly 10% of Western Hemisphere's Animals Won't Be Able to Outrun Climate Change
• 2012/05/15: Grist: Ecology of the undead: Life and death in the age of mass extinction
• 2012/05/14: SciNews: Climate change may leave many mammals homeless
  In some places, projected warming threatens the survival of more than one in three species
• 2012/05/14: Eureka: Nearly one-tenth of hemisphere's mammals unlikely to outrun climate change
• 2012/05/14: STimes: UW study: Running from climate change may trip up some species
  New research says some animals can't move fast enough to find the new habitat they'll need to survive in a warming world.

Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2012/05/17: MGS: AMSR 2 on the way!
• 2012/05/17: NOAANews: U.S.-Japan scientific cooperation strengthened with launch of new environmental monitoring satellite [Global Change Observation Mission 1 - Water (GCOM-W1)]
• 2012/05/18: BBC: Japan has completed its first successful commercial launch of a foreign-made satellite

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2012/05/18: Eureka: Stanford scientists document fragile land-sea ecological chain
• 2012/05/18: BBC: Wild spring weather baffles bugs
  The wettest April in more than a century has caused problems for UK butterflies, bees and other bugs.
• 2012/05/19: SimpleC: Climate will thwart some mammals' quest for new homes
• 2012/05/16: FuturePundit: Loss Of Megaherbavores Cuts Tropical Biodiversity
• 2012/05/16: TP:JR: When Global Warming Hits Home (Literally)
• 2012/05/16: TP:JR: What If The Fossil Fuel Industry Gets Its Way? A Look At The Year 2030
• 2012/05/16: CBC: Canada's butterfly migration is largest on record [phenology]
  300 million red admiral butterflies estimated from Windsor to New Brunswick Butterflies have migrated across Eastern Canada this spring in unprecedented numbers, reflecting the warm winter throughout North America and raising alarm bells about what it might mean for other species.
• 2012/05/14: Eureka: The gut could reveal effect of climate change on fish

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2012/05/16: NYT: Brazil's Leader Faces Defining Decision on Bill Relaxing Protection of Forests
• 2012/05/17: Eureka: IU research: Forest diversity from Canada to the sub-tropics influenced by family proximity
• 2012/05/17: Eureka: Southern pine beetle impacts on forest ecosystems
• 2012/05/18: CBC: 800-year-old cedar taken from B.C. park -- Culprits returned repeatedly to fell tree and cart valuable wood away
• 2012/05/17: Guardian(UK): Ford, GM and BMW linked to illegal logging and slave labour in Brazil
  Car makers source iron from Brazil that contributes to Amazon deforestation, says Greenpeace ahead of Rio+20
• 2012/05/18: ERW: Oil palm is 'tip of the Bornean bog'
  From 1990 to 2010, Indonesia's area of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantations increased 600%, to 7.8 Mha. Land-use change is the main source of the nation's greenhouse-gas emissions and the country is one of the top ten emitters worldwide. But many oil palm leases have not yet been converted to the crop...
• 2012/05/18: CBC: Disease-resistant elms aim of Canadian research -- Cloning technique offers hope for cities battling Dutch elm disease
• 2012/05/18: TheCanadian: Poachers Steal 800 Year-Old Red Cedar from Carmanah Valley
• 2012/05/17: al Jazeera: Belo Monte: Brazil's damned democracy
  The Belo Monte dam project shows the government's failure to respect indigenous rights and reform energy policy.
• 2012/05/16: ABC(Au): Asian company's commitment to protecting natural forests questioned
  Environmental organisation, Greenpeace is calling on the Asia Pulp and Paper logging company to require all of its suppliers to stop natural forest logging.
• 2012/05/16: TreeHugger: Charcoal Kills 2 Million People & Vast Swaths of Forest Every Year. Can Biofuel Stop the Carnage?
  Across Africa, forests are disappearing at twice the worldwide average rate. As of 2009, that rate clocked in at a mind-bending 4 million hectares, or about 15,400 square miles of lost forest, per year.
• 2012/05/15: NewInt: Murder won't stop the fight for Cambodia's forests
• 2012/05/15: ABC(Au): Asian company suspends natural forest logging
  Logging company Asia Pulp and Paper says it will suspend logging in all natural forest areas in Indonesia under its control, until their conservation values are assessed.
• 2012/05/15: UCSUSA: Brazil Forest Code Vote Flies in the Face of Science
• 2012/05/13: WaPo: Global warming threatens pine forests, forcing federal officials to shift strategy
• 2012/05/13: Eureka: Time, place and how wood is used are factors in carbon emissions from deforestation

  On the tornado front:

• 2012/05/13: CSM: CSI Tornado: Decoding - and chasing - supercells with the experts

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2012/05/17: PlanetArk: No Ties Or Hand-Driers As South Korea Readies For Hot Spell
• 2012/05/18: CBC: Slave Lake fire not stoppable, concludes review -- Report on May 15, 2011, disaster makes several recommendations
  Little could be done differently to save the northern Alberta town of Slave Lake from last's year devastating wildfire, concludes a report into the province's response to the fire.
• 2012/05/18: PlanetArk: Winds, Low Humidity Bedevil Arizona, Colorado Firefighters
• 2012/05/17: al Jazeera: Wildfires hit Arizona
  Tinder-dry conditions have encouraged fires to break out across the southwestern US
• 2012/05/15: SMU: Ancient tree-ring records from southwest U.S. suggest today's megafires are truly unusual
• 2012/05/15: CBC: Alta. wildfire prompts voluntary evacuation of 12 homes
  A change in wind direction has prompted the voluntary evacuation of 12 homes due to an encroaching wildfire in northeastern Alberta. RCMP in Bonnyville, Alta., say the fire is now moving in a northwest direction, which has put residents "in a degree of danger." The homes are located about four kilometres north of Moose Lake, about 250 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.
• 2012/05/15: P3: Global Burning?
• 2012/05/14: CBC: Alberta issues fire ban for most of province
  As firefighters work around the clock on three forest fires burning out of control in northern Alberta, officials issued a fire ban on Monday for forested areas in the province. "The wildfire situation in most of Alberta is serious," said Environment and Sustainable Resource Development Minister Diana McQueen in a news release.
• 2012/05/13: CBC: Crews battle fires in southeast Manitoba

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2012/05/18: FaGP: West Barun Glacier Retreat Lake Expansion, Nepal
• 2012/05/15: RealClimate: Greenland Glaciers -- not so fast!
• 2012/05/14: FaGP: Eel Glacier, Retreat Olympic Mts., Washington

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2012/05/18: Eureka: Finding fingerprints in sea level rise
  Using statistical tool, researchers are able to track where the melting that contributes to sea level rise happens
• 2012/05/17: ABC(Au): Climate change set to be expensive for north coast
• 2012/05/19: DD: Graph of the Day: Mean-sea-level Trends in Hawaii, 20th Century - 2010
• 2012/05/15: ABC(Au): Sea level rise threatens mid north coast homes
  Thousands of mid north coast homes, worth billions of dollars will be threatened by future sea level rises and storm surges. That is the finding of the new Climate Commission report.
• 2012/05/13: JFleck: Another anthropogenic influence on sea level: groundwater pumping

  These global warming deluges are becoming all too frequent:

• 2012/05/17: CSM: Twice as many mega rainstorms in Midwest in past 50 years
  The number of extreme rainstorms - deluges that dump 3 inches or more in a day - doubled in the U.S. Midwest over the last half-century, causing billions of dollars in flood damage in a trend climate advocates link to a rise in greenhouse gas emissions. Across the Midwest the biggest storms increased by 103 percent from 1961 through 2011, a study released by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and the Natural Resources Defense Council reported on Wednesday.

As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2012/05/20: RealClimate: Another fingerprint
• 2012/05/17: PlanetArk: Extreme Rain Doubled In [US] Midwest: Climate Study
• 2012/05/16: TreeHugger: Extreme Rainstorms in Midwest Double Over Past 50 Years
• 2012/05/18: TP:JR: Study: Extreme Rain Storms In Midwest Have Doubled In Last 50 Years
• 2012/05/18: al Jazeera: Tbilisi hit by a wave of flood water
  The Georgian capital was caught off guard when drainage systems failed and floods swept through the city
• 2012/05/18: Guardian(UK): Flash floods are on the rise, while the budget to tackle them sinks
  The Environment Agency has warned the UK to expect more floods but its advice seems to be falling on deaf ears
• 2012/05/16: TP:JR: The Wettest Drought On Record: Torrential Rain Can't Bring Much Of England Out Of 'Exceptional' Dry Conditions
• 2012/05/16: al Jazeera: Brazilians battle rising flood waters
  Waist-high waters threaten communities in Careiro da Varzea, one of worst hit areas in Amazonas state.
• 2012/05/16: al Jazeera: Downpours across Texas -- Rain proves useful rain for the drought-hit state
• 2012/05/13: al Jazeera: Deadly floods batter Georgia's capital
  At least five killed after torrential rains cause river to burst banks, wreaking havoc in Tbilisi districts.
• 2012/05/13: TP:JR: James Hansen Is Correct About Catastrophic Projections For U.S. Drought If We Don't Act Now

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

• 2012/05/19: HotTopic: A sunnier outlook from the ground up
• 2012/05/16: UN: UN soil carbon survey aims to help Tanzania reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• 2012/05/15: Eureka: Oxygen-separation membranes could aid in CO2 reduction

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

• 2012/05/18: TP:JR: Half Of U.S. Nonresidential Construction To Be 'Green' By 2015: Firms Must Embrace Sector 'To Stay Competitive'

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2012/05/18: NYT: With Natural Gas Plentiful and Cheap, Carbon Capture Projects Stumble
• 2012/05/16: GEP: Calls Intensify for More Global Action on CCS
• 2012/05/16: ABC(Au): Greenpeace rejects carbon capture funding
  Environment group Greenpeace says governments are wasting public money on carbon capture and storage (CCS) research. Carbon capture and storage is the process through which emissions from power stations would be captured and then stored underground to reduce carbon pollution. The Victorian and federal governments have invested millions of dollars into CCS research.
• 2012/05/15: BBC: Seabed test mimics carbon dioxide release
  Scientists are beginning a month-long experiment in Scottish waters to study the impact of a possible leak from an undersea carbon dioxide storage site. Working in Ardmucknish Bay near Oban, researchers will allow CO2 to bubble through sediments from a buried pipe and look for impacts on marine life. Capturing CO2 from power stations and burying it under the seabed is viewed as an important global warming fix.
• 2012/05/14: Guardian(UK): Carbon capture leak simulated in sea off Scotland
  Thousands of kilos of carbon dioxide will be injected into the seabed to simulate effects of a leak on the marine ecosystem

Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2012/05/17: PlanetArk: UK Climate Experiment Canceled On Patent Concerns
• 2012/05/16: ScienceInsider: British Team Cancels Geoengineering Experiment
• 2012/05/17: Guardian(UK): Don't dismiss geoengineering - we may need it one day
• 2012/05/17: GEP: SPICE Field Test Cancelled
• 2012/05/16: Guardian(UK): Geoengineering experiment cancelled due to perceived conflict of interest
• 2012/05/16: TRG: [SPICE] Testbed news
• 2012/05/16: NatureN: [SPICE] Geoengineering experiment cancelled amid patent row -- Balloon-based 'test bed' for climate-change mitigation abandoned
• 2012/05/16: BBC: SPICE Climate fix test grounded again
  A pioneering UK project to test technology for a climate "tech fix" has been postponed for at least a year. The Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering (SPICE) project would have pumped water droplets into the atmosphere from a tethered balloon. The kit could then have been used to disperse tiny dust particles to cool the Earth, as volcanic eruptions do. The SPICE chiefs cite problems with regulations, intellectual property and public engagement.

While on the adaptation front:

• 2012/05/18: Stoat: Lack of caution
• 2012/05/16: BBC: Studies offer cities advice on tackling climate risks
  Urban areas need to build in additional capacity to adapt to the range of threats posed by climate change, research has shown. Risks such as flooding and excessive temperatures are among the risks facing towns and cities, experts conclude. Two separate studies by the University of Manchester and the European Environment Agency said city planners had to act now to build in resilience.

Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2012/05/16: ACP: Megacity ozone air quality under four alternative future scenarios by T. M. Butler et al.
• 2012/05/16: ACP: The isotopic record of Northern Hemisphere atmospheric carbon monoxide since 1950: implications for the CO budget by Z. Wang et al.
• 2012/05/15: ACP: Hindcast experiments of tropospheric composition during the summer 2010 fires over western Russia by V. Huijnen et al.
• 2012/05/15: ACP: Atmospheric histories and growth trends of C4F10, C5F12, C6F14, C7F16 and C8F18 by D. J. Ivy et al.
• 2012/05/14: ACP: A tropospheric ozone maximum over the equatorial Southern Indian Ocean by L. Zhang et al.
• 2012/05/16: ACPD: Mixing of dust and NH3 observed globally over anthropogenic dust sources by P. Ginoux et al.
• 2012/05/15: ACPD: Implications of all season Arctic sea-ice anomalies on the stratosphere by D. Cai et al.
• 2012/05/15: ACPD: Relationships among Brewer-Dobson circulation, double tropopauses, ozone and stratospheric water vapour by J. M. Castanheira et al.
• 2012/05/16: CP: The initiation of modern soft and hard Snowball Earth climates in CCSM4 by J. Yang et al.
• 2012/05/15: CPD: A mechanism for dust-induced destabilization of glacial climates by B. F. Farrell & D. S. Abbot
• 2012/05/14: NERC:NORA: A comparison of caesium 137 and 134 activity in sheep remaining on upland areas contaminated by Chernobyl fallout with those removed to less active lowland pasture by B.J. Howard et al.
• 2012/05/15: NERC:NORA: The geochemical reactions resulting from CO2 injection into the Midale Formation, Weyburn Oilfield : a laboratory experimental and modelling study by M. Azaroual et al.
• 2012/05/16: NERC:NORA: Pollution: Chernobyl's legacy in food and water by J.T. Smith et al.
• 2012/05/16: GMDD: Development of a parameterization of black carbon aging for use in general circulation models by N. Oshima & M. Koike
• 2012/05/16: OSD: Modeling long-term changes of the Black Sea ecosystem characteristics by V. L. Dorofeyev et al.
• 2012/05/15: PNAS: (ab$) Distribution of living Cupressaceae reflects the breakup of Pangea by Kangshan Mao et al.
• 2012/05/15: PNAS: (ab$) Historical effects on beta diversity and community assembly in Amazonian trees by Kyle G. Dexter et al.
• 2012/05/15: PNAS: (abs) Climate change impacts of US reactive nitrogen by Robert W. Pinder et al.
• 2012/05/15: PNAS: (ab$) Greater India Basin hypothesis and a two-stage Cenozoic collision between India and Asia by Douwe J. J. van Hinsbergen et al.
• 2012/05/15: PNAS: (ab$) Nanodiamonds and wildfire evidence in the Usselo horizon postdate the Allerød-Younger Dryas boundary by Annelies van Hoesel et al.
• 2012/05/15: PNAS: (letter$) Reply to Schuiling: Last things last by Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
• 2012/05/15: PNAS: (letter$) Capturing CO2 from air by Roelof D. Schuiling
• 2012/05/15: GMD: The role of phytoplankton dynamics in the seasonal and interannual variability of carbon in the subpolar North Atlantic - a modeling study by S. R. Signorini et al.
• 2012/05/14: GMD: The CSIRO Mk3L climate system model version 1.0 - Part 2: Response to external forcings by S. J. Phipps et al.
• 2012/05/15: TCD: Twelve years of ice velocity change in Antarctica observed by RADARSAT-1 and -2 satellite radar interferometry by B. Scheuchl et al.
• 2012/05/14: AGWObserver: New research from last week 19/2012
• 2012/05/13: QuarkSoup: Interesting AGU Papers

  And other significant documents:

• 2012/05/: ACC: [link to 4.6 meg pdf] The Critical Decade: a report from the Commission
• 2012/05/15: WWF: [link to 18.5 meg pdf] Living Planet Report
• 2012/05/15: UNDP: [link to pdf] Africa Human Development Report 2012: Towards a Food Secure Future
• 2012/05/14: PWC: [link to 5.4 meg pdf] China GreenTech Report 2012

  As for miscellaneous science:

• 2012/05/17: RBroberg: van Hateren 2012: May the Schwartz be with you
• 2012/05/17: ERabett: Mad Crowd Sourcing Climate Science Experiments for Kids
• 2012/05/17: BBC: Citizen scientists get to grips with moth survey
  About 13,000 moths have been captured and recorded by citizen scientists in southern England in a project described as the largest of its kind. Researchers hope the data will help them understand how species will migrate in response to climate change. During the month-long survey, 87 different species were recorded.
• 2012/05/16: NatureNB: World's science funders announce Global Research Council
• 2012/05/15: ScienceInsider: New Global Research Council Takes Off
• 2012/05/15: NOAANews: NOAA, partners kick off multi-state study of how thunderstorms affect upper atmosphere
  Scientists will explore role of storms in forming ozone chemicals that affect weather, climate
• 2012/05/15: NatureNB: Protesting scientists deliver coffin to Downing Street
• 2012/05/14: ScienceInsider: A Global Standard for Peer Review
• 2012/05/14: Guardian(UK): Australian project simulates effects of runaway climate change
  Multimillion-dollar study subjects bushland to heightened CO2 levels and altered rainfall patterns

More DIY science:

• 2012/05/13: RBroberg: Steig Siple dD: 11th - 20th Century with Lowess

  What's new in models?

• 2012/05/17: RealClimate: Plugging the leaks
• 2012/05/16: ClimateSight: Cumulative Emissions and Climate Models

  What developments in the ongoing struggle for Free Science?

• 2012/05/16: Guardian(UK): I can no longer work for a system that puts profit over access to research
  The associate editor of Genomics says its publisher Elsevier effectively denies developing world access to research findings
• 2012/05/14: SciAm:IC: Wikipedia + Journal articles

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2012/05/17: SF Gate: Cap-and-trade to generate billions, tough choices
• 2012/05/16: PlanetArk: EU ETS Emissions Down In 2011, Permit Glut Grows

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

• 2012/05/18: CSM: Protesters in Chicago call for 'Robin Hood' tax
• 2012/05/18: BBC: UK PM David Cameron has warned French President Francois Hollande that Britain will not accept a Europe-wide tax on financial transactions
• 2012/05/15: CSM: JPMorgan and the London Whale: Should we tax securities investments?
• 2012/05/14: OHCHR: G-8 / EU: "A global financial transaction tax, a human rights imperative now more than ever"
• 2012/05/14: UN: UN experts call for global financial tax to offset costs of economic crisis
• 2012/05/13: AlterNet: "Serious as a Heart Attack": RoseAnn DeMoro Explains How to Raise $350 Billion from Financial Transaction Tax

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

• 2012/05/17: BBC: US ready to attack Iran, says envoy to Israel
• 2012/05/19: IndiaTimes: Wheat exports to Iran near certain; to help settle fuel import bill
• 2012/05/18: NewInt: US tries to halt Iran-Pakistan pipeline
• 2012/05/15: BBC: India to cut Iran oil imports by 11% amid US pressure

  The solar panel trade war between China and the USA warmed up this week:

• 2012/05/18: CBC: China rejects US solar dumping ruling
  China's government on Friday rejected a U.S. antidumping ruling against its makers of solar power equipment and Chinese manufacturers warned possible higher tariffs might hurt efforts to promote clean energy. The conflict has worsened U.S.-Chinese trade tensions. The two governments have pledged to cooperate in developing renewable energy but accuse each other of violating free-trade pledges by subsidizing their own manufacturers.
• 2012/05/17: TP:JR: Department Of Commerce Slaps Large Tariffs On Chinese Solar Modules
• 2012/05/17: BBerg: U.S. Imposes Anti-Dumping Duties on Chinese Solar Imports
  The U.S. Commerce Department imposed tariffs of 31 percent to 250 percent on imports of Chinese solar products after companies including SolarWorld AG (SWV)'s U.S. unit accused them of setting prices below the cost of production. The agency announced the action today in an e-mailed statement, adding to duties imposed earlier as much as 4.73 percent for receiving unfair subsidies from the Chinese government. SolarWorld had asked for levies of more than 100 percent. Before the decision, Aaron Chew, a New York-based analyst at Maxim Group LLC, said anything more than 10 percent would be considered a victory for the U.S. companies. The Commerce Department said a final determination on the tariffs would be made in early October.
• 2012/05/17: BBerg: U.S. Solar Tariffs on Chinese Cells May Boost Prices
• 2012/05/17: BBC: US imposes import tariffs on Chinese solar panels
  The US has said it will impose tariffs of about 30% on imports of solar panels from China
• 2012/05/17: Guardian(UK): US commerce department brings heavy tariffs against Chinese solar panels
  Investigation finds China kept prices low with subsidies, but some in US warn tariff will slow adoption of solar energy

As the EU-ETS is applied to airlines, we will see who is serious about reducing carbon emissions:

• 2012/05/16: PlanetArk: EU Airline Carbon Cash Should Help Fill Climate Fund [says EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard]
• 2012/05/16: PlanetArk: EU Says India, China Violate Carbon Law
  A total of 10 Chinese and Indian commercial airlines have broken EU law requiring them to offset their carbon emissions, while all other international carriers flying to or from Europe have complied, the European Union's climate chief said on Tuesday.
  [...]
  The Commission, the EU's executive arm, has the option of fining airlines that break its law, or even banning repeat offenders from flying to Europe, although this would be a last resort.
• 2012/05/15: Guardian(UK): EU hails airline emissions tax success
  More than 99% of major airlines comply with first step of Europe's scheme to charge them for carbon emissions
• 2012/05/15: EurActiv: EU threatens China, India over airline emissions
  The European Commission today (15 May) gave defiant Chinese and Indian airlines one month to report their carbon emissions after they failed to meet their deadline, expanding a transcontinental feud over the EU's Emissions Trading System. Ten air carriers from the two countries failed to report their 2011 emissions to the EU by the end of March and could face punitive actions if they do not file their reports by mid-June, said Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard. The eight Chinese and two Indian carriers that fly to and from EU airports could face sanctions from members states if they do not meet the new deadline, Hedegaard said, though she did not specify what actions could be taken nor which airlines were in violation of the rules.
• 2012/05/15: EUO: Chinese and Indian airlines flout EU carbon rules
• 2012/05/15: BBC: Airlines 'are conforming' with EU rules on emissions
  The vast majority of airlines have conformed with EU rules on reporting carbon dioxide emissions, the European Commission has said. From next year, aircraft emissions will be included in the EU carbon market in an attempt to increase efficiency. The EU required airlines to report by March on 2011 emissions as a "dry run"; all did, bar 10 from China and India.

Argentina nationalized YPF, removing the Spanish firm Repsol. Much yelling ensued:

• 2012/05/18: BBC: Repsol cancels Argentina gas exports
  Spanish firm Repsol has cancelled a contract to provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Argentina. The move comes weeks after the Argentine government seized control of Repsol subsidiary YPF.
• 2012/05/16: EUO: Spanish oil company sues Argentina
  The Spanish oil and gas giant Repsol-YPF filed a lawsuit against Argentina at a US district court in Manhattan on Tuesday (15 May) for nationalising its majority-owned stake in the energy company YPF. Repsol Chairman Antonio Brufau said the company's claim would be based on an estimated E10 billion total value for YPF.

South China Sea tension persists:

• 2012/05/18: People's Daily: China's pipe-laying ship to sail for South China Sea
• 2012/05/17: People's Daily: Fishing ban starts in South China Sea
• 2012/05/14: ABC(Au): Philippines welcomes Chinese fishing ban
  The Philippines President, Benigno Aquino, has welcomed China's fishing ban in most of the South China Sea, including the disputed Scarborough Shoal.

In the Rare Earths' tussle:

• 2012/05/18: BBC: China trade ministry increases rare earth export quota
  China has allowed more companies to export rare earths, increasing the quotas set by the government, after they met environment standards. It has increased rare earth export quotas by 10,680 tonnes, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday. The announcement brings the total quotas issued so far this year to 21,226 tonnes.

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

• 2012/05/14: Grist: Farm interrupted: Berkeley's Occupy the Farm ends in arrests
• 2012/05/14: ABC(Au): Police protect Woodside convoy as work resumes
  Around 50 police have escorted a Woodside convoy past protest camps north of Broome, without incident. The protesters are campaigning against the gas hub development at James Price Point.

What are the activists up to?

• 2012/05/17: SoS: Rules for Radicals
• 2012/05/15: HuffPo: Arctic Drilling Opponents Swarm The White House
• 2012/05/15: QuarkSoup: Would You Believe Bill McKibben Doesn't Know Who Funds 350.org?
• 2012/05/13: CSW: Rally at US Capitol to end fossil fuel subsidies

  Polls! We have polls!

• 2012/05/18: TP:JR: Public Opinion Snapshot: Americans Still Support Environmental Protection
• 2012/05/15: TreeHugger: Fewer Americans Believe Climate Change Is Not Happening Than We Think
• 2012/05/15: TP:JR: Survey: Small Businesses Believe Protection Of Public Lands Is 'Good For Business'
• 2012/05/13: Eureka: Americans support national clean-energy standard

  Regarding Water Politics and Business:

• 2012/05/10: Maplecroft: Unsustainable water use threatens agriculture, business and populations in China, India, Pakistan, South Africa and USA - global study
  South American drought fuels fears of food price shocks, as soya bean harvests suffer
• 2012/05/17: Eureka: Could cap and trade for water solve problems facing the United States' largest rivers?
• 2012/05/18: JFleck: About that gap between Colorado River supply and demand...
• 2012/05/16: USGS: USGS Details Effects of Climate Change on Water Availability in 14 Local Basins Nationwide
• 2012/05/15: Tyee: Feds Not Standing on Guard for Canada's Water: Experts -- As threats mount, lack of science and legal recourse 'cripple' officials.
• 2012/05/16: TreeHugger: 15 Concepts and Solutions for Providing Clean Drinking Water
• 2012/05/11: AlterNet: 'Last Call at the Oasis': Why Time Is Running Out to Save Our Drinking Water
• 2012/05/13: JFleck: Another take on Colorado Basin failure mode concludes that Arizona and Nevada are the trouble spots
• 2012/05/13: JFleck: Bass: Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta solutions aren't a question of science
• 2012/05/13: BBC: Harrabin's Notes: Safe assumptions
  Put the champagne away! It seems that the number of people in the world without drinking water may be as much as five times higher than the UN has stated.

And on the groundwater front:

• 2012/05/16: JFleck: Groundwater mining in Saudi Arabia

  Regarding science education:

• 2012/05/17: DeSmogBlog: New National Standards [NGSS] Ask Schools to Teach Climate Change
• 2012/05/11: AlterNet: How Corporations Like Monsanto Have Hijacked Higher Education

  Economics, Physics, Climate Science linkages:

• 2012/05/17: P3: Feedback Control and the Economy

  And on the American political front:

• 2012/05/17: TP:JR: A National Clean Energy Standard Is Good Policy --- And Good Politics
• 2012/05/17: Grist: Why are U.S. taxpayers subsidizing coal mining?
• 2012/05/17: SF Gate: Cap-and-trade to generate billions, tough choices
  Starting later this year, California's cap-and-trade system to fight global warming will generate billions of dollars in revenue, as companies buy and sell permits to produce greenhouse gases. How should the money be used?
• 2012/05/17: GreenGrok: Is There a Clean Energy Standard in Our Future?
• 2012/05/17: HuffPo: Agenda 21, UN's Sustainability Measure Banned By New Hampshire House, Weighed By Senate
• 2012/05/18: QuarkSoup: Oregon County Decides to Go Native
• 2012/05/17: ERabett:BSD: California climate offsets and additionality
• 2012/05/18: TreeHugger: Vermont Bans Fracking: We Can Live Without Oil & Natural Gas, But Not Cannot Without Clean Water
• 2012/05/17: AlterNet: 10 Frightening Things That Happen at Conservative Christian Schools That May Be Funded With Your Tax Dollars
• 2012/05/17: AlterNet: Occupying Farmland for Organic Food and Fairness Exposes University Elitism
• 2012/05/16: Berkeley:B: The climate misinformation nation
• 2012/05/15: MatterNetwork: U.S. Military Not Retreating on Clean Energy
• 2012/05/16: CBC: Vermont becomes 1st state to ban fracking
  Vermont's governor has signed into law the first state ban on a hotly debated natural gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing.
• 2012/05/16: SciAm:PI: America's 'Supersized' Energy Waste
• 2012/05/15: Noahpinion: A pro-fossil industrial policy?
• 2012/05/15: TP:JR: Arizona Governor [Jan Brewer (R)] Issues Surprise Veto Of ALEC-Endorsed Bill Allowing The State To 'Take Back' Public Lands
• 2012/05/15: TP:JR: Survey: Small Businesses Believe Protection Of Public Lands Is 'Good For Business'
• 2012/05/14: Grist: Clean energy as culture war
• 2012/05/14: TP:JR: What Makes Koch Industries 'Big Oil' And Why You Shouldn't Believe The Claims Saying It Isn't

  The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

• 2012/05/16: CultureChange: The Big Fix: documentary exposes BP, U.S. Gov't on Gulf disaster -- Interview: the Tickells, filmmakers
• 2012/05/16: DeSmogBlog: Is The EPA Covering Up Oil Dispersant Dangers?
• 2012/05/14: RSN: Horrific Injuries Linked to BP Dispersant Corexit

  On the 2012 campaign trail:

• 2012/05/17: PlanetArk: Insight: In Ohio, "Fracking" Boom A Delicate Issue For Obama
• 2012/05/17: Grist: Big Coal's new anti-Obama ad reeks of desperation
• 2012/05/18: Guardian(UK): The Wright stuff: Obama's pastor and the Ricketts smear
  Republicans are rightly shamed by a Super Pac ad plan to tag Obama as a black radical. The irony is his very lack of radicalism
• 2012/05/15: Grist: Buzzword decoder: Your election-year guide to environmental catchphrases
• 2012/05/14: al Jazeera: Ron Paul suspends US presidential campaigning
  Congressman who led a doggedly persistent bid for Republican nomination is instead opting to work on amassing delegates.
• 2012/05/14: BBC: Ron Paul to end 'active campaigning' for Republican nod
  US Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is to end active campaigning, a statement says, and will not campaign in states yet to hold primaries. Battling on would require millions of dollars that the Ron Paul operation does not have, his campaign said. But the Texas congressman will continue to try to win delegates awarded at forthcoming state conventions.
• 2012/05/14: Guardian(UK): Ron Paul suspends presidential campaign -- but supporters stay loyal
• 2012/05/13: AlterNet: What We Learn from Mitt Romney's Disgusting Teenage Bullying

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

• 2012/05/14: BRitholtz: Highest & Cheapest Gas Prices by Country
• 2012/05/13: NPR: The Price We Pay: Gas Is Down, Maybe For A While

  The Keystone XL saga rolls along. Now it may be an election issue too:

• 2012/05/18: CBC: Romney vows quick approval of Keystone XL pipeline
• 2012/05/19: OilChange: Dirty Energy Money Buys Yet Another Keystone Vote
• 2012/05/15: DeSmogBlog: Koch "Facts" Flummoxed Over Undeniable Tar Sands Business, Keystone XL Interest

  I suspect we'll hear a lot about this. See also:

• 2012/05/17: TP:JR: Department Of Commerce Slaps Large Tariffs On Chinese Solar Modules
• 2012/05/17: TreeHugger: US Proposes More Tariffs For Chinese Solar Power Modules

  The Pacific NorthWest coal port issue is still around:

• 2012/05/18: Grist: Peabody Coal buys coal from U.S. taxpayers for cheap, sells it abroad for huge profit
• 2012/05/18: Salon: Worse than Keystone
  Environmentalists are focused oil and gas, but a bigger carbon disaster may be brewing in the Pacific Northwest [coal exports]
• 2012/05/15: Missoulian: Study coal shipments' environmental effects, says Missoula councilor

  The Obama chatter is nonstop:

• 2012/05/18: BBC: Obama unveils US food security plan for Africa
• 2012/05/14: NakedCapitalism: Barack Obama, the Great Deceiver

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2012/05/17: TP:JR: A Million People tell EPA to Adopt Proposed Carbon Pollution Rule
• 2012/05/17: NatureN: Speaking science to power -- EPA researcher gets her job back -- for the second time.
  Cate Jenkins maintains that people working in the rubble of the World Trade Center towers were exposed to more corrosive dust than the EPA let on.
• 2012/05/16: GreenPeaceBlogs: Will the Bureau of Land Management subsidize Peabody's plans to export coal to Asia?
• 2012/05/16: CBC: Nuclear emergency plans in U.S. pared back -- New rules require fewer drills and evacuations
• 2012/05/16: TP:JR: Proposed Carbon Limits for New Power Plants Would Avoid 123 Billion Pounds of Pollution Annually
• 2012/05/15: TP:JR: Dept. Of Interior Finds 72 Percent Of Offshore Acreage Leased By The Oil Industry Is 'Idle'
• 2012/05/14: PlanetArk: Water Safe In [Dimock, Pennsylvania] Town Made Famous By Fracking: EPA

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2012/05/18: Ph&Ph: Stupid Politician Making Stupid Rants!
• 2012/05/18: TP:JR: Asthma, Baby, Asthma: House Energy Committee Eliminates Protection From Smog
• 2012/05/17: CDreams: House Bill Reinstates 'Global Gag Rule,' Cuts All Funds for United Nations Population Fund
• 2012/05/17: TP:JR: Fulfilling API's Wish List, Colorado Republicans Offer More Bills To Throw Open Public Lands To Drilling
• 2012/05/17: ScienceInsider: U.S.-China Research Projects Draw [Rep Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)] Congressman's Ire
• 2012/05/17: UCSUSA:B: EIA's Analysis of Bingaman Clean Energy Standard Underestimates Role of Renewable Energy
• 2012/05/17: UCSUSA: Bingaman Clean Energy Standard Turns on New Renewables and Reduces Carbon, But Needs Improvement
• 2012/05/17: AlterNet: GOP Version of Violence Against Women Act Tries to Push Women Back Into the Home
• 2012/05/17: TP:JR: While Leading Effort To Prevent Life-Saving EPA Standards, Inhofe Says Mercury Is A "Real Pollutant"
• 2012/05/10: Thomas: S.3080 -- End Polluter Welfare Act of 2012 (Introduced in Senate - IS)
• 2012/05/17: Econbrowser: Ignorance Is Strength: House of Representatives Edition
• 2012/05/18: DeSmogBlog: House Republicans Attempt To Nix Military's Clean Energy Initiatives
• 2012/05/15: CSW: End Polluter Welfare Act would eliminate more than $110 billion in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry
• 2012/05/15: SIMag: Has the well run dry? An ambitious bill to end fossil fuel subsidies is heading to Congress
• 2012/05/15: TP:JR: As Congress Continues Its Witch Hunt, Here Are Five Things You Should Know About Clean Energy Investments
• 2012/05/15: TP:JR: Inhofe Staffer Asks Oil Lobbyist 'Partners' For 'Better Coordination And Communication'
• 2012/05/15: TreeHugger: US Navy Thinks Renewable Energy is the Future, But House Republicans Don't Want Them to Have It
• 2012/05/15: WaPo:B: Jeff Flake's plan to politicize the National Science Foundation
• 2012/05/14: TriplePundit: Bill To End Fossil Fuel Subsidies Introduced Into Congress
• 2012/05/14: TP:JR: Flood Insurance Reform: A Chance For Congress To Do Something Productive

  While in the UK:

• 2012/05/18: DECC: [UK Secretary of State, Edward] Davey: Climate change policies could halve negative impacts of energy price shocks
• 2012/05/18: BBC: Kent nuclear waste bunker proposal considered
  A bunker used to store nuclear waste from all over the UK could be built in Kent, under a council's plans. Shepway District Council is examining whether a nuclear disposal facility, where waste is buried underground, could be built at Romney Marsh. The authority said it could bring jobs to the area as Dungeness A and B power stations are phased out. However, Kent County Council said it would use "every tool in the box" to oppose the scheme. The Romney Marsh Nuclear Research and Disposal Facility would be buried 200m (656ft) to 1,000m (3,280ft) below ground.
• 2012/05/17: Guardian(UK): UK carbon targets 'at risk over local authority funding cuts'
• 2012/05/17: BBC: Councils 'must lower carbon emissions'
  Local authorities across the UK should have a statutory duty to combat climate change, government advisors recommend. The Committee on Climate Change says that councils can make major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in areas such as housing, traffic and waste. Its report says that some councils are taking action but many others are not, which threatens national climate goals.
• 2012/05/16: NatureNB: R&D Scoreboard is gone for good
• 2012/05/16: BBC: UK government to review Green Deal
  Downing Street is about to review the government's Green Deal after warnings that it's liable to fail. The Cabinet Office has been interviewing critics of the flagship scheme and is expected to report soon. The Deal - to insulate the UK's aged housing stock - is designed to save carbon emissions, keep people warm, and make energy affordable. But critics say it won't give enough help to the fuel poor, and warn it may waste £2-3bn of people's energy bills. They say this is a scandal after the recent warning that the number of people unable to afford their energy bills is likely to rise to 8.5 million.
• 2012/05/15: Guardian(UK): Green cars will lead to fall in motoring revenue for Treasury, says study
• 2012/05/15: Guardian(UK): William Hague tells ministers to help green industries boost economy
• 2012/05/15: EurActiv: UK wants EU to focus on new CO2 targets instead of renewables
  Europe should focus on cutting carbon emissions instead of just repeating the existing EU green policy targets which expire at the end of the decade, Britain's energy and climate chief Edward Davey told a global energy and environment summit.
• 2012/05/15: NatureNB: Protesting scientists deliver coffin to Downing Street
• 2012/05/15: BBC: Peter Hain [resigns from shadow cabinet] to back controversial Severn barrage bid
  A multi-billion-pound barrage across the Severn estuary, backed by Peter Hain MP, could generate a huge economic boost for south east Wales. Consortium Corlan Hafren wants to harness tidal power between south Wales and Weston-super-Mare to create electricity. M Hain, 62, has quit as shadow Welsh Secretary to back this bid. But environmentalists object over fears the barrage would impact salmon stocks and birds feeding on the mudflats.
• 2012/05/14: BBC: Scientists plan to deliver a coffin to Downing Street on Tuesday to protest "the death of British science"

  And in Europe:

• 2012/05/18: EurActiv: Amsterdam offers a haven for low-energy future
  In an old harbour crowded with houseboats, Amsterdam is looking to the future with plans to construct low-energy homes in a climate-neutral neighbourhood.
• 2012/05/18: EurActiv: French to revive Sarkozy's EU carbon tariff idea
  Arnaud Montebourg, the newly-appointed French minister for "industrial revival" who has built a reputation for his fierce attacks against globalisation, has promised to revive old plans by Nicolas Sarkzoy for a carbon tariff at the EU's borders, an idea previously rejected as protectionist among France's European partners.
• 2012/05/18: PlanetArk: Denmark Aims Low With Green Energy policy
• 2012/05/18: Reuters: Analysis: Germany's Merkel losing green battle to cheap coal
  To reach its strict climate targets and fulfill Chancellor Angela Merkel's nuclear exit plans, Germany needs to avoid coal and build a stack of gas power plants to secure clean energy supplies beyond 2020. Yet the challenge facing Merkel's new environment minister Peter Altmaier, his predecessor fired this week following a disastrous state election defeat, is finding a way to make gas an attractive option while coal remains the more profitable way to produce electricity for Europe's biggest economy.
• 2012/05/16: DerSpiegel: Aftermath of Election Debacle Merkel Fires Environment Minister Röttgen
  Chancellor Angela Merkel sacked Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen on Wednesday, replacing him with her close aide Peter Altmaier. Röttgen, a former protege of the chancellor, lost a major election for Merkel's conservative party on Sunday.
• 2012/05/16: EurActiv: Green groups decry 'depressing' EU farm reform deal
  Conservation groups have condemned a move by European agricultural ministers to tone down some of the most controversial environmental proposals in the next phase of the EU's farm support programme. Agricultural and fisheries ministers from the 27 EU countries called yesterday (15 May) for replacing conservation measures recommended by the European Commission with a more flexible system. The decision was not a surprise -- ministers have indicated in the past that there was little political appetite for creating requirements in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that tie direct payments to farmers to measures aimed at cutting carbon emissions and reducing other pollutants. The European Environmental Bureau (EEB), which represents a coalition of green groups, has lobbied for stronger conservation measures in the CAP and accused the ministers of "sabotage" for striking three central provisions proposed by the EU executive to prod farmers to improve their environmental performance.
• 2012/05/15: Europa: Emissions trading: annual compliance round-up shows declining emissions in 2011
• 2012/05/15: CBC: Norway slows oil spending to cool currency -- Oil rich nation wants to slow economy to help exporters
• 2012/05/14: EurActiv: Power utilities push for quick deal on EU energy savings law
  European energy companies want the negotiations on the Energy Efficiency Directive, deemed as the EU's main tool to achieve the bloc's promised 20% energy cuts by 2020, to wrap up in the coming weeks. "Industry wants the directive sooner than later in order to start planning investments," said Nicola Rega of Eurelectric, the electricity industry association in Europe.
• 2012/05/14: EurActiv: EU to spare some industries from full carbon trading obligations
  The European Commission has drawn up a list of 14 industrial sectors that will be eligible for special state aid to compensate for the increased cost of electricity due to the European Emission Trading System (ETS), according to a draft paper seen by EurActiv.
  [...]
  A preliminary list shows that the industries affected include: Aluminium production; mining of chemicals and fertiliser minerals; manufacture of inorganic chemicals; lead, zinc and tin production; leather cloths; iron and steel manufacture; paper; manufacture of fertilisers; copper; organic-based chemicals; spinning of cotton-type fibres; man-made fibres; mining of iron ores; and plastics, including polycarbonate, the omnipresent polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride, among others. This list is subject to last-minute changes.

Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2012/05/20: ABC(Au): Carbon compensation ads blitz TV
  The Government has launched ads aimed at informing the public about carbon tax compensation with no mention of the carbon tax.
• 2012/05/17: ABC(Au): Greens mayor sees red over tree removal
• 2012/05/17: ABC(Au): Climate change set to be expensive for north coast
  A researcher says there is no cheap solution to protect mid north coast infrastructure from climate change threats. The Australian Security Research Centre said it could cost millions of dollars to protect at risk roads, hospitals and universities. The Centre's, Dr Athol Yates, said up to four-thousand Great Lakes homes are vulnerable, along with several hundred houses in the Tweed, Clarence, Port Macquarie and Taree areas. But he said the three infrastructure protection options are expensive. "You can retreat, you can accommodate or protect from the sea level rise," he said. "But the issue in particular is who pays for this?
• 2012/05/18: ABC(Au): Report finds coal seam gas drilling lowers groundwater level
• 2012/05/18: ABC(Au): Water Commission Report welcomed by all parties involved in CSG
• 2012/05/18: ABC(Au): CSIRO cleared of link with forestry lobby group
  An investigation by the Commonwealth Ombudsman has cleared the CSIRO of its links with a forestry lobby group, but has warned its reputation could suffer. Environmentalists had complained the CSIRO's reputation as an independent research organisation was damaged when it paid thousands of dollars to become a member of the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA). But the ombudsman has decided any damage to the reputation of the organisation is outweighed by the benefits of being a member of the lobby group.
• 2012/05/18: ABC(Au): Court hears of Slipper's distress over sex claims
  The Federal Court in Sydney has heard a sexual harassment case against Federal MP Peter Slipper has deeply disturbed him and may be an abuse of the legal process. Justice Stephen Rares has started hearing the civil case that political adviser James Ashby lodged against Mr Slipper and the Commonwealth.
• 2012/05/16: ABC(Au):TDU: Is Mr Abbott's vision for Australia future-proof?
• 2012/05/17: ABC(Au): No regrets over Slipper staffer comments: Carr
  Foreign Minister Bob Carr has brushed aside a formal complaint from the man who launched a sexual harassment case against Speaker Peter Slipper. James Ashby's lawyers this afternoon lodged a formal complaint of victimisation with the Human Rights Commission over remarks made by the Senator Carr and Queensland Senator Barnaby Joyce.
• 2012/05/17: CBC: Gay sex harassment complaint widens in Australia
  Political staffer who filed case against Speaker irked by senators' comments A gay political staffer who launched a sexual harassment case last month against the Speaker of Australia's parliament has also made a formal complaint about comments by Senators Bob Carr and Barnaby Joyce. James Ashby's lawyers lodged a formal complaint of victimization with Australia's human rights commission Thursday over remarks made by the senators on Twitter and to the media.
• 2012/05/16: ABC(Au): Council warns of carbon tax costs
  The City of Kalgoorlie Boulder says greenhouse gas reduction measures will be investigated in response to the looming federal carbon tax.
• 2012/05/16: ABC(Au): Greenpeace rejects carbon capture funding
• 2012/05/15: CCurrents: Australia 's Huge Coal, Gas & Iron Ore Exports Threaten Planet [Polya]
• 2012/05/15: PlanetJ: Don't mention the warming
• 2012/05/15: ABC(Au): Labor MP kicked out of [WA] Parliament for comments
  A Labor MP, Martin Whiteley, has been thrown out of state Parliament after refusing to withdraw comments about the Energy Minister, Peter Collier. The incident occurred as MPs debated a motion of no confidence in Mr Collier over the Government's handling of the solar feed-in tariff scheme. The program is expected to blow out by about $150 million over ten years.
• 2012/05/15: ABC(Au): Gillard appeals to union leaders for support on carbon tax
• 2012/05/15: ABC(Au): Staffer files formal claim against Slipper
  The staff member who has made accusations against House of Representatives Speaker Peter Slipper has filed a formal statement of claim in the Federal Court. A directions hearing for the case, launched by former adviser James Ashby, is due to be held on Friday.
• 2012/05/15: ABC(Au): Union official sues Abbott for defamation
  Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is being sued for defamation over comments he made about thuggery in the union movement. Documents have now been filed in the Victorian Supreme Court.
• 2012/05/14: ABC(Au): Thousands rally against coal-seam gas in Lismore
  The Lismore Mayor, Jenny Dowell, says she was overwhelmed by the thousands of people who turned up to march against the coal seam gas industry on the weekend. She says about 7,000 people took part in the protest in Lismore on Saturday.
• 2012/05/14: ABC(Au): [WA] Minister admits $150 million solar tariff blow-out
  The Energy Minister Peter Collier says the government's feed-in tariff program will cost an additional $150 million over ten years. The program subsidises the power bills of householders who installed grid-connected solar panels.
• 2012/05/14: ABC(Au): Opposition cries foul over carbon compo ads
  The Opposition is in uproar over a Government ad campaign that trumpets compensation for the carbon tax, but makes no mention of the tax itself.
• 2012/05/14: ABC(Au): Minister widens petroleum exploration zone
  Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson has told a petroleum industry conference in Adelaide that offshore exploration zones will be expanded off four states and the Northern Territory.

The Australian Climate Commission delivered their Critical Decade report this week:

• 2012/05/: ACC: [link to 4.6 meg pdf] The Critical Decade: a report from the Commission
• 2012/05/: ACC: Climate impacts and opportunities for NSW
• 2012/05/18: ABC(Au): All at sea over coastal inundation
  The Mayor of the Eurobodalla, Fergus Thomson, says it is difficult to determine what impact sea levels rise would have on the New South Wales far south coast. The Federal Climate Commission released a report this week, predicting record heatwaves, bushfires and rising sea levels across the state because of climate change.
• 2012/05/18: ABC(Au): Climate report surprises Great Lakes council
  The Great Lakes Council is surprised by figures in the latest Climate Commission report. The Critical Decade report shows the Great Lakes has around 4-thousand homes at risk if the sea level rises by one point one metres from by 2100.
• 2012/05/15: ABC(Au): Sea level rise threatens mid north coast homes
  Thousands of mid north coast homes, worth billions of dollars will be threatened by future sea level rises and storm surges. That is the finding of the new Climate Commission report.
• 2012/05/14: ABC(Au): Heatwaves, bushfires predicted to hammer NSW
  The Climate Commission has released a report predicting record heatwaves, bushfires and rising sea levels in New South Wales because of climate change.

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

• 2012/05/16: ABC(Au): Plenty of irrigation water for northern Victoria
  Irrigators in northern Victoria are being told they'll receive their full water allocation during the next season. Goulburn-Murray Water has published the outlook for next season which shows there's plenty of water around. Resource manager Mark Bailey says the document shows that full allocations are expected even if it hardly rains.
• 2012/05/16: ABC(Au): Stone questions flood definition delay
  A federal Liberal MP in northern Victoria is criticising Labor for delays to the release of a standard flood definition.
• 2012/05/16: ABC(Au): Murray irrigators to get water allocation

  While in the Indian subcontinent:

• 2012/05/14: CCurrents: An Urgent Appeal To The Conscience of Nation on Koodankulam

  And elsewhere in Asia:

• 2012/05/15: NewInt: Murder won't stop the fight for Cambodia's forests

  And South America:

• 2012/05/16: NYT: Brazil's Leader Faces Defining Decision on Bill Relaxing Protection of Forests
• 2012/05/16: ScienceInsider: Chile's Supreme Court Blocks Dam Project
• 2012/05/18: BBC: Spanish oil company Repsol has announced a first attempt to find oil in Cuban waters has failed
• 2012/05/15: UCSUSA: Brazil Forest Code Vote Flies in the Face of Science

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

• 2012/05/16: PI: It's time to speak out for nature and democracy
• 2012/05/19: TMoS: The Petro-Politburo Strikes Again
  This time the malevolent hand of Steve Harper is obvious. The entire Department of Fisheries and Oceans contaminants programme is being axed effective April Fool's Day. In B.C. that means the entire staff of nine marine scientists and support staff are being canned. Across Canada, this is the firing of almost all federal employees responsible for monitoring ocean pollution.
• 2012/05/19: TMoS: Beelzebub Slammed by Harvard, Smithsonian
• 2012/05/19: TMoS: Is It Merely Gross Incompetence or Something Truly Sinister?
• 2012/05/15: PostMedia: How we stopped talking about climate change
  Let's recap the Harper government's record on climate change, shall we?
• 2012/05/17: PostMedia:B: Stephen Harper's Arctic sovereignty legacy starting to cool off [defunding RadarSat]
• 2012/05/15: NorRe: It's The Oil, Stupid -- The Harper government's budget is all about oil
• 2012/05/14: PEF: Energy McCarthyism

  The acquital of Byron Sonne and release of the OIPRD report spiked the G20 news:

• 2012/05/18: CBC: Toronto police chief seeks OK to charge G20 officers
  Toronto police Chief Bill Blair has asked for permission to discipline 30 of his officers, including two senior officers, in the wake of a damning report on police actions during the G20 summit in 2010. Blair met with the Police Services Board on Friday afternoon and requested permission to lay disciplinary charges against the officers. They include four senior officers but two will not face disciplinary action because they are retired and therefore outside of Blair's jurisdiction.
• 2012/05/18: CBC: G20 'kettling' commander among 45 officers to be charged -- Supervisor who ordered 'kettling' acted unlawfully, report says
  Misconduct charges are expected against 45 Toronto police officers involved in the G20 summit two years ago, including five senior officers, one of them the commander who gave the notorious order to "kettle" protesters.
• 2012/05/17: CBC: G20 charges coming against Toronto police commanders
  A handful of senior Toronto police commanders are expected to be charged in coming weeks for a variety of misconduct offences over their leadership at the G20 summit in June 2010, CBC News has learned. The charges are in addition to 28 frontline officers slated to have disciplinary hearings for a range of misconduct offences, including unlawful arrests and use of excessive or unnecessary force against prisoners. The details of charges come on the heels of a report released yesterday by Ontario's top civilian complaints watchdog Gerry McNeilly, head of the Office of the Independent Police Review Director. He concluded in a "systemic review" of the G20 in Toronto that police leaders were poorly prepared and launched a crackdown that led to illegal mass arrests, arbitrary searches and unlawful detentions of more than 1,000 largely peaceful protesters and bystanders.
• 2012/05/17: NUPGE: Review of G20 policing confirms findings of NUPGE/CCLA hearings
• 2012/05/16: G&M: G20 report blasts police for 'unlawful' arrests, civil rights violations
  Police violated civil rights, detained people illegally and used excessive force during the G20 summit two years ago, a new report concludes, but some caught up in the police operation said there was still no real accountability for their mistreatment. The report by Ontario's independent police watchdog also blasts the temporary detention centre set up by Toronto police for its poor planning, design and operation that saw people detained illegally.
• 2012/05/17: TStar: Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair must own up to G20 mistakes or step down
• 2012/05/18: TStar: G20 policing report an arresting document
  From Officer Bubbles all the way up to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the G20 was a demonstration of just how stupid, arrogant and brutish official Canada has become.
• 2012/05/19: PaiD: He's Just Another Politician
• 2012/05/18: PaiD: 'Dutch Disease' Confirmed By Harper-Funded Study
• 2012/05/18: PaiD: Christopher Hume on the G20
• 2012/05/17: PaiD: Accentuating The Positive
  Perhaps he is a student of Norman Vincent Peale. Perhaps he believes that when you are handed lemons, you make lemonade. Perhaps he prefers to see the glass as half-full, not half-empty. Or perhaps he is just a politician intent on covering his professional rear end. Whatever he is, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair is NOT going to accept the responsibility he bears for the policing and Charter Rights disaster that Toronto became in June of 2010 under his command during the G20 Summit.
• 2012/05/17: Impolitical: The #G20 Office of the Independent Police Review Director report
• 2012/05/16: NatPo: Police violated civil rights, acted illegally, says scathing report on G20 summit
• 2012/05/16: BuckDog: Turning Harper's Canada Into An Authoritarian State - 'Practice Makes Perfect'
• 2012/05/16: TStar: Byron Sonne walks free, but the G20 forever changed his life
• 2012/05/16: CBC: Ontario police complaint watchdog to release G20 report -- Complaints into G20 summit police conduct focus of report
• 2012/05/15: CBC: G20 protester Byron Sonne cleared of all charges
  Toronto hobby chemist found not guilty of possessing explosives, counselling mischief not committed
• 2012/05/15: JCMorton: Byron Sonne acquitted
• 2012/05/15: G&M: Judge acquits G20 activist Byron Sonne of bomb-making charges
  A security geek once portrayed by police as a budding terrorist flashed victory signs Tuesday after his acquittal on charges of possessing explosives ahead of the G20 summit marred by violence and mass arrests.
• 2012/05/15: TStar: Byron Sonne not guilty on G20 explosives charges
• 2012/05/15: SlashDot: 'G20 Geek' Byron Sonne Cleared of Explosives Charges
• 2012/05/15: CBC: Hacker jailed on G20 bomb charges to learn his fate
  Judgment in Byron Sonne case hinges on his intent in stockpiling chemicals
• 2012/05/14: CBC: RCMP watchdog clears Mounties of misconduct in G20 riots
  Recommendations include better note-taking and record-keeping practices The RCMP's watchdog says an investigation into the conduct of Mounties during the G8 and G20 summits in Ontario in 2010 has found they "on balance" did "a pretty good job" of policing.

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair definitely got to the Harper gang when he said Canada had the "Dutch Disease":

• 2012/05/18: G&M: Harper government funded study arguing Canada suffers from 'Dutch Disease'
• 2012/05/19: DClimenhaga: Add 'Dutch Disease' to climate change as real phenomena denied by Stephen Harper's neo-Conmen
• 2012/05/18: CBC: Is Canada suffering from 'Dutch disease'?
• 2012/05/17: WpgFP: Tories unleash attack dogs over Mulcair's 'Dutch disease' thesis
• 2012/05/17: G&M: Under heavy fire, Mulcair defends 'polluter pay' stand on oil sands
  Despite a sustained Conservative attack that accuses him of pitting east against west, Thomas Mulcair refuses to back down from his assertion the unchecked development of the oil sands is responsible for the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in other sectors.
• 2012/05/17: PostMedia: Conservatives, Liberals join hands to slap down Mulcair over oilsands attacks
  A senior cabinet minister in the Harper government demanded Thursday that New Democratic Party leader Thomas Mulcair apologize to all Western Canadians for his attacks on the oilsands industry. And acting Liberal leader Bob Rae accused the rookie NDP leader of engaging in a double-standard, saying the Montreal MP never would be as dismissive of Premier Jean Charest as he was this week of B.C. Premier Christy Clark, Alberta Premier Alison Redford and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall. But Mulcair refused again Thursday to back down from his argument that booming oilsands exports are artificially inflating the Canadian dollar and killing hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs, especially in Ontario and Quebec.
• 2012/05/17: SixthEstate: Let's All Feel Sorry for the Tarsands Industry
• 2012/05/18: PostMedia: Mulcair's oilsands crackdown would put some operations out of business, says ally
  A prominent B.C. academic and close political ally of New Democratic Party leader Tom Mulcair said Friday that Mulcair's environmental policies would lead to some oilsands operations being rendered no longer being viable. The statement by University of B.C. professor Michael Byers, Mulcair's leadership campaign co-chairman on the West Coast, was seized on immediately by one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's senior lieutenants. "Mr. Byers is just being more honest than Mr. Mulcair in just stating the obvious implication" of Mulcair's policy of stepping up enforcement of federal environmental laws and bringing in a cap-and-trade system to put a price on carbon emissions, said Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
• 2012/05/19: G&M: Mulcair should drop the 'Dutch disease' rhetoric
  NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair is right with one part of his critique of Western Canada's oil-driven economy, and wrong about all the rest. On balance, it's a poor batting average for someone who, some day, hopes to become prime minister.
• 2012/05/19: G&M: Mulcair digs in for long debate on 'Dutch disease'
  Thomas Mulcair says it was never his intent to spar with the leaders of the Western provinces as he blames Alberta's oil sands for the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in Canada's other economic sectors. "I have far too much respect for provincial premiers or for provincial politicians, having been one myself for so many years, to ever want to be interpreted as trying to dismiss them," the Leader of the federal New Democrats, who was once a provincial cabinet minister in Quebec, said on Friday in an interview with The Globe and Mail. "And if that is the way it was interpreted, of course," he said, "I regret it." But Mr. Mulcair continues to press his belief that allowing development of the oil sands to proceed without demanding a greater price for the toll on the environment is driving up the dollar and hurting a wide range of industries including manufacturing, fishing and forestry. New Democrats say that without the oil companies paying the true cost of environmental remediation, their profits are unrealistically high and that is driving up the dollar.
• 2012/05/18: WpgFP: Harper government funded study arguing Canada suffers from 'Dutch Disease'
• 2012/05/17: WCI: "Does Canada have Dutch disease?" is a question without a meaningful answer
• 2012/05/18: CBC: Harper government funded study on 'Dutch disease' -- Study for Industry Canada found a third of manufacturing job losses due to inflated currency
  The Harper government has funded research that argues Canada's economy suffers from so-called Dutch Disease, an economic theory the prime minister and other senior officials ridiculed when raised recently by NDP Leader Tom Mulcair. Industry Canada paid $25,000 to three academics to produce the lengthy study, which is about to be published in a prestigious journal, Resource and Energy Economics.
• 2012/05/18: BuckDog: Harper's Conservative Government Funded Study Arguing Canada Suffers From 'Dutch Disease'
• 2012/05/17: CdnTrends: Dutch Disease?
• 2012/05/17: CBC: Redford calls Mulcair 'divisive and ill-informed'...on Facebook and Twitter
• 2012/05/17: G&M: Western premiers fire back at Mulcair in oil-sands fight
• 2012/05/17: PostMedia: Oilsands profits inflated, Mulcair charges
  NDP leader on defensive after fellow politicians, including B.C.'s Kevin Falcon, go on the attack Federal NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, who came under blistering attack from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and western premiers Wednesday over his oilsands policy, turned up the political heat by saying that profits earned by oilsands firms are artificially inflated. "Right now, we're allowing them to use the air, the water and the land as a free dumping ground and that's where the problem arises," Mulcair said in an interview Wednesday with The Vancouver Sun. As a result, "profits are higher than they should be" in the oilsands sector. "Why is that the case? Because they're not assuming their obligations under the law because the government is not enforcing the law."
• 2012/05/20: SixthEstate: Institute for Research on Public Policy Compromising Political Neutrality
• 2012/05/16: CBC: Oil a net benefit to Canada, studies suggest -- But sudden wide price spikes likely hurt
• 2012/05/15: POGGE: A moment of parochialism
• 2012/05/13: PostMedia: Look at the other side of the petrodollar coin
  Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty recently spoke publicly about the problems Canada's oil-powered currency was causing for his province's manufacturing industry. But his words were drowned out by pious outrage from petroleum advocates (led by Alberta's politicking Premier Alison Redford). How dare he suggest that the bitumen boom could be anything but good news for all Canadians? More recently, NDP leader Tom Mulcair was targeted with a similar firestorm - including by the Canada West Foundation's Roger Gibbins this week in the Citizen ("Mulcair's bad economic prescription," May 8). In media interviews last week, Mulcair made two obvious and empirically defensible statements: Canada's currency has been driven upward by the oil boom, and that escalation entails significant regional and sectoral side effects. For this he was targeted as divisive and destructive, advocating (in Gibbins' overheated language) economic "mayhem." The stridency of these attacks is disturbing. By cranking up the rhetoric instead of examining real arguments, it is these defenders of the bitumen boom who throw gasoline on regionalist fires - not McGuinty or Mulcair. The Conservative government already paints opponents of new bitumen pipelines as foreign-financed subversives. Now it seems that questioning the broader economic impacts of unlimited bitumen exports is equally seditious.
• 2012/05/11: PEF: Going to the Wall in Defence of Mulcair

  Canada goes to Bonn and tells tall tales. The reaction? "Pull my other leg, too!":

• 2012/05/18: PostMedia: Canada has a plan to crack down on pollution -- Finalizing rules for 2013 on the agenda
  Canada told international climate change talks in Germany on Thursday that it planned to crack down on oil and gas pollution and would propose regulations by next year. Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada's chief climate negotiator, said the Canadian government was "working toward draft regulations for 2013" in the oil and gas sector as it continued efforts to meet commitments made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to 17 per cent below 2005 levels.
• 2012/05/18: TMoS: The Humiliation of Canada Continues - Rio+20

  Another don't destroy the illusion moment as the UN Special Rapporteur teed off the Harper gang:

• 2012/05/16: EmbassyMag: Canada's human rights reputation under fire
  UN special rapporteur for the right to food says he was told public servants would be adequate for his mission.
• 2012/05/17: NorRe: The People They Don't See
• 2012/05/17: al Jazeera: 'Food-insecure' Canada rebukes UN official
  Minister says special rapporteur on the right to food is a patronising academic for saying 800,000 households need help.
• 2012/05/16: CBC: UN official sparks debate over Canadian food security
• 2012/05/16: UN: UN expert urges Canada to adopt national strategy to ensure right to food
  Noting that some 800,000 households in Canada are unable to meet their daily food needs, an independent United Nations expert today called on the country to adopt a national right to food strategy.
• 2012/05/16: PostMedia: UN food envoy decries 'shocking' conditions in Canada
  Canada needs to drop its "self-righteous" attitude about how great a country it is and start dealing with its widespread problem of food insecurity, the United Nations right-to-food envoy says. In a hard-hitting interview this week with Postmedia News, Olivier De Schutter also blasted Canada for its "appallingly poor" record of taking recommendations from UN human-rights bodies seriously. De Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, has been on an 11-day mission to Canada, his first to a developed country.

The Harper gang is preparing to exploit the Arctic:

• 2012/05/16: G&M: Reviving Arctic oil rush, Ottawa to auction rights in massive area
  Ottawa has placed 905,000 hectares of the northern offshore up for bids, clearing the way for energy companies to snap up exploration rights for an area half the size of Lake Ontario. The scale of the offer indicates eagerness in the oil patch to drill for new finds in Canada's northern waters less than two years after such plans were put on hold following the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico and a major Arctic drilling safety review.
• 2012/05/18: TheCanadian: Harper Plans Massive Auction of Arctic Oil Drilling Rights
• 2012/05/17: Impolitical: Arctic drilling on the horizon
• 2012/05/16: G&M: Reviving Arctic oil rush, Ottawa to auction rights in massive area
  Ottawa has placed 905,000 hectares of the northern offshore up for bids, clearing the way for energy companies to snap up exploration rights for an area half the size of Lake Ontario. The scale of the offer indicates eagerness in the oil patch to drill for new finds in Canada's northern waters less than two years after such plans were put on hold following the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico and a major Arctic drilling safety review.

The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

• 2012/05/17: WCEL: Freedom Train 2012: Taking Enbridge opposition Canada-wide
• 2012/05/16: VanObs: Landowners on Enbridge pipeline route say risks "imposed" upon them
  What rights do landowners have when pipeline companies want access to their property? Not very many, say members of the BC Northern Gateway and Canadian Pipeline Landowners' Associations.
• 2012/05/16: PostMedia: Risk and rhetoric: No free pass for the oil industry
  Listen to the rhetoric generated by questions about the risk from supertankers carrying an additional million barrels a day of heavy oil through B.C. waters and one might be persuaded that a conspiracy of Luddite dunces advocates a return to mud huts and riding donkeys to work. Huh? How does asking for an unbiased evaluation of risk mutate into an assumed automatic veto of the use of oil? The point is not whether we should or should not use oil - it's whether the risks of using a particular oil resource in a particular way under particular circumstances may or may not out-weigh the claimed benefits.
• 2012/05/19: TheCanadian: Bitumen Spills from Enbridge, Kinder Morgan Are Certain Disasters Waiting to Happen
• 2012/05/15: OilChange: Tar sands pipelines don't just leak oil
• 2012/05/14: WCEL: Vancouver joins local governments opposed to increase in oil pipelines and tankers
• 2012/05/14: PlanetArk: Analysis: Canada May Seek To Silence Some Foes Of New Pipeline
  Some opponents of the proposed C$5.5 billion ($5.5 billion) Northern Gateway oil pipeline to Canada's Pacific Coast may not get a chance to be heard as scheduled by the regulatory panel looking at the plan because of federal government moves to streamline the country's environmental review process. As part a series of changes to environmental reviews that are packed into a sweeping budget bill, the pro-development Conservative government seeks to restrict who can appear before regulatory panels to those deemed directly affected by the proposals and those with relevant expertise.

Under the smokescreen of fiscal responsibility, the Harper gang is eliminating their enemies:

• 2012/05/17: TMoS: Cons Shoot the Messenger
  They told the truth the Government didn't want to hear. They had to go. "They" are the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.
• 2012/05/17: CBC: Budget cuts claim famed freshwater research facility
  A famous research facility in Ontario that pioneered investigations into acid rain is the latest victim of federal budget cuts. The Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario is being closed at end of the fiscal year, March 2013.
• 2012/05/17: CBC: Coast guard takes brunt of fisheries department cuts
  1,000-plus employees could be on the chopping block
• 2012/05/17: Guardian(UK): Canada axes [NRTEE] green advisory body
  The Canadian government is to mark the 25th anniversary of its green business advisers by shutting the agency down
• 2012/05/17: CBC: Environmental review panels will set witnesses, MPs told
  Three ministers make surprise appearance at finance sub-committee's review of budget bill Panel members will decide who will be allowed to appear at future environmental reviews on a "case-by-case, project-by-project" basis, a sub-committee looking into the government's budget implementation bill heard this morning. The government has said it plans to streamline the environmental assessment process and limit witnesses to experts and those who are "directly affected" by a major industrial project being reviewed. Opposition MPs wanted to know Thursday how the government will define who is "directly affected."
• 2012/05/16: CBC: [NRTEE] Environment panel never pushed carbon tax, president says
  The head of a federal advisory group on the environment says his group never suggested that the federal government adopt a carbon tax. David McLaughlin was reacting to comments by Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird in the House of Commons this week that the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy was being closed because the government didn't like its reports.
• 2012/05/16: CBC: Canada's environmental standards lagging, advisory panel [National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy] says
  Soon-to-close round table releases two studies critical of federal environment standards New research by a soon-to-be axed environmental advisory group warns that Canada is falling behind on international business standards for greener technologies, as well as emissions standards to reduce the climate change impact of long-term infrastructure. The world is moving to a new business standard for being green, but Canada is not moving along with it -- to our detriment, warns the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy. More and more countries are demanding that their imports meet environmental standards.
• 2012/05/16: PaiD: Death By Download?
• 2012/05/16: TStar: Stephen Harper eliminates the 'radical centre' of environment debate
• 2012/05/14: CBC: Massive budget bill [C-38] passes 2nd reading
• 2012/05/14: PostMedia: Federal cuts called a 'disaster' for Canadian science
• 2012/05/14: HillTimes: Feds 'abdicate' responsibility for environment, have no plan
  Canada's greenhouse gases will rise 7.4 per cent above 2005 levels rather than being lowered by the targeted 17 per cent.
• 2012/05/15: Tyee: Feds Not Standing on Guard for Canada's Water: Experts -- As threats mount, lack of science and legal recourse 'cripple' officials.

  In a notable Parliamentary exchange, the Harper gang spilled the beans:

• 2012/05/14: PostMedia: Did Baird let slip the truth?
  It would be a lot easier to take federal cabinet ministers at their word if they would make some effort to get their stories straight. When they contradict each other, it's natural for Canadians to conclude that someone's lying. Or, to be more charitable, that the full truth gets doled out in bits, when and if the government feels like it.
  This year's budget eliminated an arms-length agency with a parliamentary mandate to provide advice on sustainable development.
  [...]
  Environment Minister Peter Kent elaborated on that in the House of Commons, saying, "the reality is that the round table was created a quarter of a century ago. It was created before the Internet, when there were few such sources of domestic, independent research and analysis on sustainable development. That is simply no longer the case. There are now any number of organizations and university-based services that provide those services."
  So Canada's environment minister goes to the Internet for his sustainability-research needs, presumably to the websites of those "environmental stakeholders" whom he doesn't accuse of money-laundering. Fair enough.
  But then, on Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird suggested that there was a different reason for defunding the round table.
  "They have tabled more than 10 reports encouraging a carbon tax, Mr. Speaker," he said. "Why should taxpayers have to pay for more than 10 reports promoting a carbon tax, something that the people of Canada have repeatedly rejected? And that's a message the Liberal party just will not accept. They should agree with Canadians. They should agree with this government. No discussion of a carbon tax that would kill and hurt Canadian families, Mr. Speaker."
  So, here's Baird's logic: In 2008, the major party that was proposing a carbon-tax plan (not a particularly good one) didn't get elected. That means (a) Canada can never have a carbon tax and (b) nobody gets to talk about it again, ever. No discussion!
• 2012/05/14: WpgFP: Tories admit to closing enviro research group because they disliked results
• 2012/05/15: Far-n-Wide: A Brief Moment Of Clarity

  Regarding Canadian think tanks...:

• 2012/05/17: DeepClimate: Fraser vs Pembina, part 1: Introduction and Background
• 2012/05/17: DeepClimate: Fraser vs Pembina, part 2: Funding

  Another week, another virus. This week, IHN joins ISA & PRV:

• 2012/05/19: TStar: B.C. salmon farm: [IHN] virus forces cull of half million fish
• 2012/05/18: AlexandraMorton: Cohen Inquiry disallows hearings on [Norwegian piscine reovirus] virus related to salmon heart failure
• 2012/05/17: CBC: [Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis (IHN)] Virus sparks quarantine on B.C. salmon farm
• 2012/05/18: TheCanadian: Justice Cohen Refuses to Re-open Commission to Examine New Salmon Virus Evidence
• 2012/05/16: PostMedia: Fatal IHN virus detected in B.C. Atlantic farmed salmon for first time since 2003
• 2012/05/16: TheCanadian: Deadly IHN Virus Found in Clayoquot Sound Farmed Salmon

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

• 2012/05/18: NI: J'accuse - BC Hydro, plaything of fraudsters
• 2012/05/18: NI: From Doug Pyper
• 2012/05/03: RaesideCartoon: (cartoon - Raeside) Liberals 2012 BC Byelection Christy Clark
• 2012/05/14: TheCanadian: Alberta Oil Magazine: Christy Clark Floats Tar Sands Revenue Sharing for BC
• 2012/05/16: TheCanadian: Stephen Hume on Risks of an Oil Spill
• 2012/05/13: TheCanadian: NDP Leader Dix Lawyers Up for Enbridge Fight
• 2012/05/16: TheCanadian: Obscure US Corporation May Be Behind BC Hydro's Exaggerated Power Demand, Ruinous IPP Contracts
• 2012/05/16: NI: Evidence of corruption mounts
• 2012/05/15: CBC: Shell moves closer to Kitimat LNG terminal
• 2012/05/15: PostMedia: Omnibus bill threatens fish: Cummins -- Former fisherman concerned about the weakening of fisheries habitat provisions
  A new front in the battle against the federal government's omnibus budget bill opened up Monday when B.C. Conservative Party leader John Cummins sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper warning of major threats to fishing communities and the environment if major Fisheries Act amendments are passed. Cummins expressed concerns about the weakening of fisheries habitat provisions and warned that commercial and sports fishing communities across Canada could be squeezed out by first nations fisheries due to new wording in Bill C-38.
• 2012/05/13: G&M: Natural-gas plans could alter B.C.'s climate-change goals
  B.C. Premier Christy Clark is prepared to alter her government's strict climate-change targets to pave the way for her plan to create a liquefied natural gas industry in the province. Ms. Clark is in Japan this week seeking investors and buyers for a string of proposed LNG plants on British Columbia's north coast. In an interview before her departure, she said she expects legislated targets to reduce the province's emissions will have to change.
• 2012/05/13: TheCanadian: Hydro's Overflowing Dams, Huge Losses Due to Private Power
• 2012/05/13: NI: Taxpayers carry financial risks for IPPs

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2012/05/17: G&M: $85 the make or break price for the oil patch
  Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. has rolled out two key numbers: 85 and 75. Réal Cusson, the company's senior vice president of marketing, on Wednesday told investors where the price of oil must trade in order for energy companies to make a go of it in the oil sands and shale gas formations.
• 2012/05/19: G&M: The age of extreme oil: 'This used to be a forest?'
• 2012/05/14: OilChange: Koch-ing the Climate: Exploiting the Tar Sands
• 2012/05/14: CBC: Does sending Alberta oilsands crude east make more sense?

  Also in Alberta:

• 2012/05/18: CBC: Slave Lake fire not stoppable, concludes review -- Report on May 15, 2011, disaster makes several recommendations
• 2012/05/17: PostMedia: Alberta admits it likely missed its greenhouse gas reduction targets
  Alberta admits missing target to cut emissions The Alberta government acknowledges it likely missed its 2010 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal and is now revamping the province's overall climate-change strategy to meet future targets.
• 2012/05/19: PostMedia: Province ignored warnings months before Slave Lake disaster, ex-public safety boss says
  Alberta's former top public safety official says he warned the government months before the Slave Lake fire that it was ill-equipped to protect the public in the event of a major disaster. And in the wake of a new report that finds there were poor communications and a delayed evacuation of the town, Dave Hodgins said Saturday he hopes the province will finally give the Alberta Emergency Management Agency he used to head the power to co-ordinate the response to major disasters. "It makes my blood boil to think the lives of firefighters and residents were unnecessarily put at risk," Hodgins said in an interview. "Ministers and deputy ministers were told this could happen and they chose to ignore that advice."
• 2012/05/14: PostMedia: The fire next time -- Slave Lake disaster a harbinger of things to come
  On the one year anniversary of the Slave Lake fire, here is a troubling thought. There is a good chance - an ever-increasing chance, as a matter of fact - that it will happen again. Perhaps not to Slave Lake, Alta., but to another community, or communities, nestled in the national tinderbox that is the great boreal forest stretching from British Columbia to Labrador.
• 2012/05/14: CBC: Alberta charges crude oil producer over alleged gas leak
  Canadian Natural Resources accused of releasing hydrogen sulphide gas in May 2010
• 2012/05/13: TStar: Alberta Premier Alison Redford holds the key to environmental peace
• 2012/05/17: G&M: Redford fumbles the oil sands file
  [...]
  Both the Alberta and federal governments have been furiously lobbying European officials to change the policy on the grounds that it is based on flawed, unscientific assumptions and that emissions from the oil sands aren't nearly as bad as they're made out to be.
  Initially, it looked like the report by Jacobs Consulting backed up that claim. It appeared to show that oil sands crude has an emissions rating not much greater than many common crudes consumed in Europe, a far cry from the 23-per-cent higher value that the EU has been suggesting is the case.
  All that was fine until some bright minds at the Calgary-based Pembina Institute carried out a more in-depth examination of the Jacobs tract. What they found was a study that focuses on oil sands projects using extraction methods that emit fewer greenhouse gases but are not representative of the technologies most widely used in the province.
  Where the provincial government said the report shows that the carbon intensity of Alberta oil-sands-derived crude is within 12 per cent of gasoline and diesel from crude oils refined in Europe, the Pembina Institute reported that it actually says that the "emissions intensity of better-than-average oil sands falls within 12 per cent of the highest-carbon types of conventional crude refined in the EU."

While in Saskatchewan:

• 2012/05/11: CBC: Viterra buyout report has pros and cons
  The proposed takeover of Regina-based Viterra by European conglomerate Glencore has some positive aspects -- but it could mean bad news for Saskatchewan farmers who buy fertilizer, a report to the provincial government says. On Friday, the province received a 126-page report from Informa Economics, the company hired to look at whether the $6-billion deal would be good for Saskatchewan. Glencore proposes buying all of Viterra's shares, then selling parts of the company to other Prairie agriculture-based firms.

Ontario is wrestling with its energy policy:

• 2012/05/14: CEP: WTO called upon to dismiss Japan, EU challenge to Canadian renewable energy policy

  In the Maritimes:

• 2012/05/15: CBC: Statoil secures rig, plans three exploration wells
  Drilling will take place in Flemish Pass and Jeanne d'Arc basin Statoil says it has reached a deal for a rig to drill three wells in the Newfoundland offshore in 2012 and 2013. Seadrill's West Aquarius deepwater drilling rig will carry out Statoil's three-well drilling program in the region.

As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

• 2012/05/16: 350orBust: University Sustainability Initiative Saves Climate And Its Bottom Line, While Canada's Economy Suffers From Lack of Green Practices
• 2012/05/15: G&M: Hot enough for you? Canadians brace for heat, wind and drought
  Get ready to crank up the AC and seek refuge from bursts of wild, windy weather, as one hot summer is being predicted for much of Canada. More than two-thirds of the country is expected to be warmer than normal, from Nunavut in the North to cottage country in Ontario to the rugged Nova Scotia coast. Pretty much the only regions projected to experience below-normal temperatures are pockets of northern British Columbia and Yukon, according to AccuWeather's summer forecast, released Wednesday.
• 2012/05/14: CBC: Canada and Poland set to expand energy relationship

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

• 2012/05/18: CCurrents: Learning To Love A Wounded World
• 2012/05/18: EnergyBulletin: Conceptualizing post-capitalist economics

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

• 2012/05/17: CDreams: House Bill Reinstates 'Global Gag Rule,' Cuts All Funds for United Nations Population Fund
• 2012/05/17: AlterNet: 10 Frightening Things That Happen at Conservative Christian Schools That May Be Funded With Your Tax Dollars

  Apocalypso anyone?

• 2012/05/18: RBroberg: Taking the C out of CAGW
• 2012/05/14: CCurrents: Raping Kids And Earth

  How do the media measure up?

• 2012/05/17: PSinclair: Clear Channel Rejects Billboard Highlighting Heartland Institute's Corporate Funders: "You can't criticize a corporation"
• 2012/05/15: FAIR: Time Ignores Climate Change to Paint a 'Golden Age' of Fracking
  You have to wonder: Do journalists covering energy issues imagine they and their loved ones are going to be living on another planet in the not-too-distant future?
• 2012/05/16: S&R: Deroy Murdock's latest NASA column a nearly fact-free, logical fallacy-filled screed
• 2012/05/14: HotTopic: Stuff unstuffed (a bit)

  Here is something for your library:

• 2012/05/14: CER:RRapier: [Book Review] _A Thousand Barrels a Second: The Coming Oil Break Point and the Challenges Facing an Energy Dependent World_ by Peter Tertzakian
• 2012/05/16: CCR: The void at the heart of Anthony Giddens climate politics
  [Book Review] _The Politics of Climate Change_ by Anthony Giddens
• 2012/05/16: JBaez: Five Books About Our Future
• 2012/05/16: Wunderground: The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: a book review
• 2012/05/13: Straight: Jeff Rubin argues in The End of Growth that central bankers must focus on high energy prices
  [Book review] _The End of Growth_ by Jeff Rubin
• 2012/05/14: TP:JR: Blowout: A Review Of Senator Byron Dorgan's New Action-Thriller About The Energy Race To Stop Catastrophic Global Warming

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2012/05/18: BrisbaneTimes: Ten funniest climate change videos ever
• 2012/05/18: BPA: The Ag Hot Five No. 7
• 2012/05/19: ClimateShifts: Margaret Thatcher, Others: Neither "Murderers, Tyrants, nor Madmen"
• 2012/05/19: P3: Extinction is Forever
• 2012/05/14: PSinclair: Richard Alley Back with More on How to Talk to an Ostrich -- "It Stopped Warming in 1998"

  Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

• 2012/05/17: CleanTechnica: Texas Renewables Jump 13 Percent in 2011
• 2012/05/18: AutoBG: EEStor and ZENN still alive and kicking... out the press releases
• 2012/05/17: BBC: Giant tidal turbine 'performing well' in tests off Orkney
  A subsea turbine which uses tidal power to generate electricity has successfully completed initial tests off Orkney.
• 2012/05/17: BBC: Tidal power gets a stormy birth off coast of Scotland
• 2012/05/17: BBC: 'Extraordinary' operation to install water turbine off Orkney
• 2012/05/16: Eureka: Bright future for solar power in space
  Engineers at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland are aiming to boost the future of renewable energy by collecting solar power in space
• 2012/05/15: EnergyBulletin: [Tom Murphy interview] Time to be honest with ourselves about our looming energy risks
• 2012/05/14: NBF: What world per capita energy demands mean for energy infrastructure
• 2012/05/14: TP:JR: How U.S. Utilities Can Avoid A Risky $2 Trillion Bet
• 2012/05/14: Grist: U.S. power companies could use 14 percent less coal this year
• 2012/05/14: TreeHugger: Coal Use in United States Drops to 36% of Electricity Generation

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

• 2012/05/15: GreenGrok: Another 'Game-Changer' for Natural Gas
• 2012/05/18: TreeHugger: Vermont Bans Fracking: We Can Live Without Oil & Natural Gas, But Not Cannot Without Clean Water
• 2012/05/17: DeSmogBlog: New Shill Gas Study Published by SUNY Buffalo Institute With Heavy Industry Ties
• 2012/05/16: BuffaloNews: 'Fracking' risks found to have been diminished -- UB study cites oversight, methods in Shale region
• 2012/05/16: CBC: Vermont becomes 1st state to ban fracking
  Vermont's governor has signed into law the first state ban on a hotly debated natural gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing.
• 2012/05/15: NPR: Sick From Fracking? Doctors, Patients Seek Answers
• 2012/05/13: AlterNet: Meet the Christian Right-Wing Multi-Billionaire [Philip Anschutz] Out to Frack Our World

  On the coal front:

• 2012/05/14: TP:JR: U.S. Coal Generation Drops 19 Percent In One Year, Leaving Coal With 36 Percent Share Of Electricity

  On the gas and oil front:

• 2012/05/18: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Nymex Crude Future...91.48
  Dated Brent Spot.....107.98
  WTI Cushing Spot.....91.48
• 2012/05/16: IVN: The U.S. Has A Lot Of Shale Oil, So What?
• 2012/05/17: CJR: USA Today's oily, gassy rainbow -- Detailed cover story a bit too rosy about 'energy independence'
• 2012/05/13: FuturePundit: IMF Team Sees Oil Price Doubling In Decade
• 2012/05/16: EnergyBulletin: Jeffrey Brown responds to "U.S. energy independence is no longer just a pipe dream"
• 2012/05/16: GreenProphet: 7th Red Sea Oil Spill Since September Goes Virtually Unnoticed
• 2012/05/15: NBF: North Dakota can reach and sustain for several years 2 million barrels of oil per day
• 2012/05/15: Minyanville: Natural Gas Stocks Are in Trouble
• 2012/05/15: PlanetArk: Regulation Top Risk Seen By Energy Companies: U.S. Study
• 2012/05/14: BRitholtz: Highest & Cheapest Gas Prices by Country
• 2012/05/14: TP:JR: What Makes Koch Industries 'Big Oil' And Why You Shouldn't Believe The Claims Saying It Isn't
• 2012/05/14: OilDrum: Updating World Deepwater Oil & Gas Discovery
• 2012/05/13: AlterNet: Workers Battle ExxonMobil Over Safety at Baton Rouge Refinery
• 2012/05/13: EnergyBulletin: The difficult future facing black gold
  Oil is the leading source of energy in the world today, but its future is riddled with problems and experts disagree about the long term prospects for 'black gold', as swissinfo.ch discovered.

And in pipeline news:

• 2012/05/16: VanObs: Landowners on Enbridge pipeline route say risks "imposed" upon them
  What rights do landowners have when pipeline companies want access to their property? Not very many, say members of the BC Northern Gateway and Canadian Pipeline Landowners' Associations.
• 2012/05/17: O&GO: Enterprise And Enbridge Announce Completion Of Seaway Pipeline Reversal
• 2012/05/18: DerSpiegel: Europe's Failed Natural Gas Strategy Gazprom Hopes to Build Second Baltic Sea Pipeline
  With the planned Nabucco natural gas pipeline in southern Europe hitting snag after snag, Russian natural gas giant Gazprom is considering the construction of a second Baltic Sea pipeline to go with the just-finished Nord Stream. With unconventional natural gas from the US flooding the market, however, the strategy is not without risk.
• 2012/05/16: CBC: Enbridge plans reversal of [Line 9] oil pipeline [from Montreal to Sarnia] to supply central Canada

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2012/05/15: EnergyBulletin: Translating "Peeking at Peak Oil"
• 2012/05/14: EnergyBulletin: Commentary: Major oil companies on peak oil by Robert L. Hirsch

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2012/05/18: AutoBG: Automaker-backed study sounds the alarm against E15
• 2012/05/16: Guardian(UK): Only biofuels will cut plane emissions
• 2012/05/14: Eureka: Lawrence Livermore work may improve the efficiency of the biofuel production cycle
• 2012/05/13: Eureka: Discovery of plant proteins may boost agricultural yields and biofuel production
  Salk and Iowa State researchers identify three proteins involved in plant fatty acids, the key components of seed oils

The answer my friend...:

• 2012/05/17: TP:JR: Op-Ed From Republican Business Owner: "Wind Is An American Success Story In Iowa"
• 2012/05/15: PlanetArk: Mexican Wind Energy Boom Plays Out On Gusty Shores

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2012/05/17: TreeHugger: Solar Charger Concept Uses Stretchable Solar Cell
• 2012/05/18: BBerg: Japan's Domestic Solar Equipment Shipments Surge 38% in Jan-Mar
  Japan's domestic shipments of solar cells and modules surged 38 percent to 392 megawatts in the first three months of this year, the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association said today. The growth was led by the residential market, which rose 45 percent to 331 megawatts, the industry group said in a statement. Exports fell 53 percent to 163 megawatts. For the full year ended March 31, domestic shipments rose 32 percent to 1,404 megawatts as the residential market increased 40 percent to 1,206 megawatts, the association said. Exports for that period fell 13 percent to 1,281 megawatts.
• 2012/05/16: PSinclair: Concentrated Solar Energy: A Dream more than a Century Old

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2012/05/16: UCSUSA:B: New Nuclear Construction: Deja Vu All Over Again?
• 2012/05/16: NBF: Uranium production for 2011 was 53,494 tons
• 2012/05/17: NBF: Reviewing nuclear reactors restarting and new nuclear reactors starting in 2012
• 2012/05/18: BNC: The Power Makers' Challenge - and the need for Fission Energy (Part 2)
• 2012/05/19: EnergyBulletin: Poisoning people in Apollo: all in a day's work
• 2012/05/16: CBC: Nuclear emergency plans in U.S. pared back -- New rules require fewer drills and evacuations
• 2012/05/15: APR: SoCal Ed 5/15 Press Release [San Onofre]
• 2012/05/15: HSE-ONR: Stress tests of UK non power generating nuclear facilities: final report published

  Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:

• 2012/05/18: BBC: Kent nuclear waste bunker proposal considered
• 2012/05/15: BBC: Work on Dounreay's Shaft to be sped up

  Nuclear fusion projects around the world limp along:

• 2012/05/18: NBF: General Fusion targets prototype by 2015 and a working reactor by 2020
• 2012/05/14: NBF: Dense Plasma Focus Fusion the road to net gain and then to commercialization

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

• 2012/05/16: SciAm: China Is Developing a Grid Better for Coal Than Renewables
  The new electricity grid will make it hard for China to meet its greenhouse gas and energy-intensity goals
• 2012/05/17: SciAm:GB: The Backbone of the Electric System: A Legacy of Coal and the Challenge of Renewables
• 2012/05/17: TreeHugger: Electricity Transmission Line for 7 GW of Offshore Wind Power Off Mid-Atlantic States Given Go Ahead
• 2012/05/15: PlanetArk: Google-Backed Wind Power Line Clears Hurdle
  A planned $5 billion [underwater] transmission line to send power from wind farms off the East Coast cleared a hurdle, allowing the Google Inc-backed project to move to the next step in the approval process, officials said.

And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2012/05/16: SciAm:PI: America's 'Supersized' Energy Waste

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

• 2012/05/18: TCoE: Driving the future
• 2012/05/14: TreeHugger: Nissan to Follow LEAF with 3 New Electric Cars Models

  As for Energy Storage:

• 2012/05/18: AutoBG: Neal Saiki claims battery breakthrough gives more range, costs less
• 2012/05/15: TreeHugger: Grid-Scale Metal Liquid Batteries Could Revolutionize Renewable Energy Use
• 2012/05/14: SciAm:PI: Energy Storage -- For More Than Renewables

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2012/05/18: Grist: After Greenpeace protests, Apple promises to dump coal power
• 2012/05/17: BBerg: Apple Data Center Will Be Totally Green by 2013

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

• 2012/05/18: TP:JR: May 18 News...
• 2012/05/17: TP:JR: May 17 News...
• 2012/05/16: TP:JR: May 16 News...
• 2012/05/15: TP:JR: May 15 News...
• 2012/05/14: TP:JR: May 14 News...

  Other (weekly) lists:

• 2012/05/16: BPA: Agriculture News
• 2012/05/18: EnergyBulletin: ODAC Newsletter
• 2012/05/13: BPA: Agriculture News

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2012/05/17: Deltoid: Tim Curtin's incompetence with basic statistics
• 2012/05/17: ERabett: Steve Napalms Another Tree
• 2012/05/19: CCP: Mark Boslough: The Banned Heartland Institute Presentation
• 2012/05/18: Puckerclust: The Banned Heartland Institute Presentation
• 2012/05/16: QuarkSoup: Why It's OK to Use the Word "Denier"
• 2012/05/16: HotTopic: Big coal coughs up for climate denial "conference", takes NZ sceptics along for the ride
• 2012/05/15: CCP: Pfizer: We Get 'Significant Benefits From Our Involvement' With The Heartland Institute
• 2012/05/15: DeSmogBlog: FreedomWorks Creates Error-Filled Site To Accuse EPA Of "Killing Jobs"
• 2012/05/14: DeSmogBlog: Oil and Gas Industry Moves to Silence Critics
• 2012/05/14: PSinclair: Heartland Posts Denia-Palooza Speakers List. Watt? No Monckton?
• 2012/05/13: QuarkSoup: More Proof the 1970s Weren't About Global Cooling

  Heartland seems determined to dig itself in deeper:

• 2012/05/19: Bundanga: Invoking Godwin's Law
• 2012/05/16: TP:JR: Heartland CEO Joe Bast Calls Bill McKibben and Michael Mann 'Madmen'
• 2012/05/17: Stoat: A Dear John Letter From The Heartland Institute's Joe Bast?
• 2012/05/16: DeSmogBlog: Heartland's Joe Bast lashes out at Institute's own "friends"
• 2012/05/16: TP:JR: Heartland CEO Joe Bast Calls Bill McKibben and Michael Mann 'Madmen'
• 2012/05/19: BCLSB: Heartland Loses Another!
• 2012/05/16: BCLSB: A Dear John Letter From The Heartland Institute's Joe Bast
• 2012/05/16: S&R: Heartland's president distorts polls, surveys, and studies in support of the Unabomber billboard
• 2012/05/16: OilChange: Eleven Donors Dump Heartland
• 2012/05/14: PSinclair: More Sponsors Jump Ship. Lilly Bails out of Heartland.
• 2012/05/15: ERabett: Even Evil Has Standards
• 2012/05/15: BCLSB: Henry "Jake" Jacoby Also Wants Off Heartland Expert List
• 2012/05/15: BCLSB: Heartland Expert Exodus Update: 3 Staunch Defenders, 1 Quiet De-Listing
• 2012/05/14: TP:JR: Heartland's Board Backs Campaign To Smear Climate Science Believers, Even As Eleven Companies Drop Support
• 2012/05/14: PSinclair: Is There Something in that Tea? More Billboard Insanity.
• 2012/05/14: DeSmogBlog: Illinois Coal Association Emerges As Heartland Denial-a-Palooza Sponsor
• 2012/05/14: Guardian(UK): Heartland Institute grows isolated as three more donors disassociate
  Ultra-conservative climate sceptic thinktank continues to lose mainstream support, damaging its prospects of expansion
• 2012/05/14: BCLSB: Washington Post Picks Up Chris Landsea Story
• 2012/05/14: S&R: Heartland Institute billboard continues a long pattern of dishonesty
• 2012/05/14: BCLSB: Paul Reiter Asks To Be Removed From Heartland Experts List
• 2012/05/14: BCLSB: Miklos Zagoni Wants Off Heartland Institute Expert List
• 2012/05/13: ERabett: I Used To Be Called a Heartland Expert
• 2012/05/13: BCLSB: Chris Landsea Dumps Heartland

  Of course, more than one can play the billboard game:

• 2012/05/18: TheHill:e2W: Climate activists rip Clear Channel for rejecting billboard
• 2012/05/18: QuarkSoup: Another Billboard
• 2012/05/18: Grist: The Great Billboard War of 2012
• 2012/05/17: HotTopic: Murderers, tyrants and madmen (and me)
• 2012/05/17: DeSmogBlog: Peter Sinclair's New Video Skewers Heartland's Offensive "Murderers, Tyrants and Madmen" Billboard Campaign
• 2012/05/18: P3: A better billboard
• 2012/05/19: CCP: Climate Reality billboard 1 -- Heartland billboard 0

  This week in intimidation:

• 2012/05/14: QuarkSoup: Australian Threats, Yet Again

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2012/05/19: TP:JR: Connecting The Dots: The Clean Energy Solutions Center Is Making A Difference For Policymakers
• 2012/05/19: Grist: Breakthrough Institute gets it wrong on climate economics -- again
• 2012/05/14: ERW: Sting jets are common in North Atlantic windstorms
• 2012/05/18: DemNow: Occupy G8: Peoples' Summit Confronts World Leaders at Camp David, Urging Action on Poverty, Hunger
• 2012/05/16: EnergyBulletin: Spectral Extravaganza: The Ultimate Light by Tom Murphy
• 2012/05/16: Tamino: Why I Must Speak Out about Climate Change
• 2012/05/15: UMd: UMD Finding May Hold Key to Gaia Theory of Earth as Living Organism
• 2012/05/15: P3: Local vs global
• 2012/05/15: RBroberg: Climate: The classical period is 30 years
• 2012/05/15: AutoBG: Climate change and the redistribution of carbon-sourced wealth
• 2012/05/15: APOD: All the Water on Planet Earth
• 2012/05/14: IAR: Climate Change and Cooperation in "Chindia"
  The energy partnership between China and India could become a leading example of progress on climate change.

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

• Australian Climate Commission
• ELA: Experimental Lakes Area
• TRG: The Reluctant Geoengineer
• CGIAR: CCAFS - Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security
• Garnaut Climate Change Review
• GBRMPA: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
• AgroAtlas
• Wiki: Steptoean positive carbon isotope excursion
• CIRES: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
• TCN: Texas Climate News - A magazine about climate & sustainability
• GFDL: Isaac Held's Blog
• Wiki: International Nuclear Event Scale

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.

"A revolution has been unleashed across the globe. This revolution, a popular repudiation of the old order, is where we should direct all our energy and commitment. If we do not topple the corporate elites the ecosystem will be destroyed and massive numbers of human beings along with it. The struggle will be long. There will be times when it will seem we are going nowhere. Victory is not inevitable. But this is our best and only hope. The response of the corporate state will ultimately determine the parameters and composition of rebellion. I pray we replicate the 1989 nonviolent revolutions that overthrew the communist regimes in Eastern Europe. But this is not in my hands or yours. Go ahead and vote this November. But don't waste any more time or energy on the presidential election than it takes to get to your polling station and pull a lever for a third-party candidate -- just enough to register your obstruction and defiance -- and then get back out onto the street. That is where the question of real power is being decided." -Chris Hedges

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