Another Week in the Planetary Crisis, April 14, 2013

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup

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Information is not Knowledge...Knowledge is not Wisdom

April 14, 2013

• Chuckles, UNFF10, GCF-DC, EGU, G8, Marcott, Warnings
• Subsidies, Cook, Shrinkology
• Fukushima: Note, News, Policies, Related Papers
• Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food: Crisis, Fisheries, Prices, Food vs. Biofuel, Land Grabs, GMOs, Production
• Hurricanes, Notable Weather, Extreme Weather, New Weather, GHGs, Temperatures, Feedbacks, Aerosols
• Climate Sensitivity, Ocean Currents, Oceans, Biosphere, Extinctions, Bees & CCD, Volcanoes, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Desertification, Disease, Tornadoes, Wildfires
• Corals, Acidification, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Conservation, Adaptation
• Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, Models, Free Science, Giles, Hansen, Pielke
• International Politics: UN, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Hormuz, South China Sea
• Solar Spat, Misc, Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz, Groundwater, Education
• National Politics: Britain, Europe, Australia, CSG, Election, MDBP, China, Asia, South America
• Canada, Idle No More, Liberals, NDP, Qualifying, Northern Gateway, East-West
• Salmon, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, North, Canadiana
• America, BP Disaster, Post Sandy, Keystone, Mayflower, Birth Control, Coal Exports
• Sequestration, Budget, Confirmation, Obama, USAdmin, Congress, Lobbyists
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Podcasts, Courts, BP Trial
• Energy, Transitions, Clathrates, Fracking, Oil & Gas, Pipelines, US Tar Sands, Peak Oil
• Wind, Solar, Nukes, Nuclear Waste, FITs, Hydrogen, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
• Insurance, FAQs, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Misc., Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, A Simple Plea, .sig

 

It's always nice to start with a chuckle:

• 2013/04/11: uComics: (cartoon - Wiley) The Birth of News Media
• 2013/04/13: TP:JR: (cartoon - KAL) Climate Change Summit 2040
  

  The UN Forum on Forests (UNFF10) went down in Istanbul, Turkey this week:

• UN: United Nations Forum on Forests
• 2013/04/12: UN: Forests: Participants at UN forum call for sustainable management of dry forests
• 2013/04/12: UN: Feature: One woman's heroic efforts to restore more than just Rwanda's forests
• 2013/04/11: UN: Feature: Young creative minds raise awareness of critical forest-related issues
• 2013/04/10: UN: Forests: UN honours activists, filmmakers and photographers who inspire action
• 2013/04/09: UN: Forests: New UN-backed monitoring tool aims to help combat deforestation
• 2013/04/09: UN: Forests: Complex world of forests needs to be better understood - UN official
• 2013/04/08: UN: Forests: UN officials stress twin goals of economic development and sustainability
• 2013/04/08: UN: Forests: UN forum kicks off in Istanbul with call to protect vital natural resource
  

  There was an invitation only ministerial meeting on Global Climate Finance [GCF] held in Washington this week:

• 2013/04/03: RTCC: US climate finance meeting 'needs to deliver plan'
  Developed countries need to work out a plan to raise necessary levels of climate finance when they gather in Washington DC on April 10-11, an advisor to the Philippines has warned. No representatives from the developing world have been invited to the Ministerial Meeting on Mobilizing Climate Finance, organised by the US State Department. A leaked agenda seen by RTCC suggests most of the discussions will be focused on leveraging private finance...
• 2013/04/10: RTCC: Can private finance really fill the Green Climate Fund?
  This week in Washington, DC, US Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern is organizing the Ministerial Meeting on Mobilizing Climate Finance.
• 2013/04/10: RTCC: Adaptation finance must top priorities at US ministerial summit
  This week's climate finance summit in Washington will fail the world's most vulnerable states if it does not deliver increased levels of adaptation funding, leading representatives from the developing world have warned.
• 
  

  The EGU met in Vienna this week:

   

• European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2013 - Vienna, Austria, April 7-12
• 2013/04/09: JEB: Day 1 EGU
• 2013/04/10: JEB: EGU Tuesday
• 2013/04/11: JEB: EGU review part 1
• 2013/04/12: JEB: EGU, 5pm Friday
• 2013/04/14: JEB: EGU review part 2
  

  The G8 had a chat in London. Did nothing about climate beyond mentioning the security threat:

• 2013/04/12: RTCC: G8 ministers highlight climate change security threat
  G8 Foreign Ministers stressed the need for more attention to the security and economic threats posed by climate change at a meeting in London yesterday.
• 2013/04/11: RTCC: Climate protesters converge on London ahead of G8 meeting
• 2013/04/10: Guardian(UK): Failure to put climate on G8 agenda will cast a shadow on 'greenest government'
  

  Discussion of that Marcott paper remains heated:

• 2013/04/14: Moyhu: TempLS and paleo - Marcott et al
• 2013/04/13: Moyhu: Confidence intervals match Marcott et al
• 2013/04/11: Moyhu: Reconstructions, anomalies and confidence intervals
• 2013/04/10: QuarkSoup: Published: Yet Another Hockey Stick
• 2013/04/10: ArsTechnica: Climate science once again finds itself fighting with hockey sticks [M]
• 2013/04/10: CSW: Setting the Temperature Record Straight: The Last 11,300 Years Explained
• 2013/04/10: SkS: Real Skepticism About the New Marcott 'Hockey Stick' by dana1981
  

  What do we have for warnings this week?

• 2013/04/09: RTCC: Schwarzenegger warns of "looming" climate disaster
  

  Who's getting the subsidies, tax exemptions, loan guarantees & grants?

• 2013/04/12: RTCC: Fossil fuel subsidies dwarf green investment - report
  Developing nations are spending $396bn on fossil fuel subsidies a year while receiving $5bn in support to tackle climate change, according to a new study by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).
• 2013/04/09: TripleCrisis: Subsidized Corn Destroying Global Bio-Diversity
• 2013/04/05: PS: Stop Paying the Polluters by Connie Hedegaard, EU Commissioner for Climate Action
  

  John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

• 2013/04/13: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #15B by John Hartz
• 2013/04/13: SkS: Thin, Low Arctic Clouds Played an Important Role in Widespread 2012 Greenland Ice Sheet Melt by John Hartz
• 2013/04/12: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #15A
• 2013/04/11: SkS: Further Comments on The Economist's Take on Climate Sensitivity by dana1981
• 2013/04/11: SkS: The anthropogenic global warming rate: Is it steady for the last 100 years? by KK Tung
• 2013/04/10: SkS: 2013 SkS News Bulletin #7: Alberta Tar Sands and Keystone XL Pipeline by John Hartz
• 2013/04/10: SkS: Real Skepticism About the New Marcott 'Hockey Stick' by dana1981
• 2013/04/09: SkS: Antarctic Octopus Living Testament To Global Warming by Daniel Bailey
• 2013/04/08: SkS: Land Surface Warming Confirmed Independently Without Land Station Data by dana1981
• 2013/04/07: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly Digest #14 by John Hartz
  

  Various psychological angles arise in considerations of the ecological crisis:

• 2013/04/05: PSMag: Is Our Disconnect From Nature a Disorder?
  

  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?

•  

  Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

   

• 2013/04/13: EneNews: Report: All 7 Fukushima in-ground storage ponds leaking radioactive water
• 2013/04/11: EneNews: New highly radioactive leak from pipe at Fukushima plant - Expert: Nuclear material may be flowing from "damaged pipes or drains" into Pacific
• 2013/04/11: WSWS: Japan's Fukushima plant leaking radioactive water
• 2013/04/11: BBerg: TEPCO Faces Decision to Dump Radioactive Water in Pacific Ocean
• 2013/04/10: Asahi: TEPCO plans for storing radioactive water dealt heavy blow
  Radioactive water continues to leak from tanks at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Space is running out to store the hundreds of tons of contaminated water produced each day. And the initial plan to address the growing water problem now appears flawed. That is the situation facing plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., which on April 9 admitted to another leak in an underground storage tank holding contaminated water.
• 2013/04/10: NYT: Mishaps Underscore Weaknesses of Japanese Nuclear Plant
• 2013/04/10: ABC(US): Water, Rats, Outages: Japan Nuke Plant Precarious
  Water leaks, rats, blackouts: New problems show precarious state of crippled Japan nuke plant
• 2013/04/10: al Jazeera: New leaks detected in Japan's Fukushima plant
  TEPCO says the latest leak involves a tank being used to take water from one of the two that were previously leaking.
• 2013/04/09: JapanTimes: Fukushima springs new cistern leak
• 2013/04/09: BBC: Fukushima nuclear plant: radioactive water 'leak'
  A fresh suspected leak of radioactive water has been detected at Japan's tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, its operator says. The contaminated water may have leaked into the ground from one of the plant's storage tanks, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said.
• 2013/04/09: VOANews: TEPCO 'Losing Faith' in Leaking Fukushima Water Pits
• 2013/04/08: Reuters: Japan's Tepco may run out of space for radioactive water
• 2013/04/09: CBC: New leak of radioactive water [from storage tank] found at Japan nuclear plant
• 2013/04/09: EneNews: 'Tremendous Worry': Emergency operation halted at Fukushima plant - Contaminated water from leaking tank put into another leaking tank
• 2013/04/08: Asahi: Defect could affect all radioactive water storage tanks at Fukushima plant
• 2013/04/08: DD: Fukushima tank springs major leak -- 120 tons of radioactive water escape from underground facility
• 2013/04/08: RT: Fukushima operator may run out of space for radioactive water
• 2013/04/07: EneNews: NYT: New leak at Fukushima Daiichi - TEPCO accused of cover-up
• 2013/04/07: Asahi: TEPCO floundering in dealing with sea of contaminated water
  The recent leaking of radioactive water from a storage tank at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant--and the suspected leak from a second tank--illustrate the plant operator's challenge in safely disposing of increasing amounts of contaminated water, with no effective solution in sight.
• 
  

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

   

• 2013/04/10: NatureN: Renewable power: Germany's energy gamble
  An ambitious plan to slash greenhouse-gas emissions must clear some high technical and economic hurdles.
• 
  

  What do we have for Fukushima related papers this week?

   

• 2013/04/09: BG: Inverse estimation of source parameters of oceanic radioactivity dispersion models associated with the Fukushima accident by Y. Miyazawa et al.
  

  The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

• 2013/04/13: CCurrents: Arctic Will Be Almost-Completely Ice-Free By 2020
• 2013/04/12: NOAANews: Arctic nearly free of summer sea ice during first half of 21st century
• 2013/04/11: ASI: PIOMAS April 2013 - extra update
• 2013/04/11: TP:JR: Arctic Sea Ice: The Death Spiral Continues
• 2013/04/11: Dosbat: Nosedive!
• 2013/04/11: PSinclair: Pesky Reality Intrudes in Denierville (again). Danish Ice Maps from the 30s.
• 2013/04/10: Dosbat: PIOMAS: 2013 so far
• 2013/04/09: ASI: A new round of vids
• 2013/04/09: MODIS: Eastern Hudson Bay, Canada [on March 26th]
• 2013/04/08: Dosbat: Long Tail or Fast Crash?
• 2013/04/08: PSinclair: New Video: Arctic Ice -- The Death Spiral Continues
  

  That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

• 2013/04/12: ERW: Permafrost regions: from carbon sink to source by 2100
• 2013/04/10: CCP: Giant pockmarks on the ocean floor off New Zealand on the Chatham Rise could be sites of explosive methane degassing
  

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2013/04/10: BBerg: Conoco Halts Chukchi Plans as U.S. Reviews Drilling
  ConocoPhillips, the largest U.S. independent oil and natural gas producer, put its plans to explore in Alaska's Chukchi Sea in 2014 on hold because of uncertainties around federal regulations and permitting.
• 2013/04/09: EurActiv: Gazprom, Shell ink Arctic cooperation deal
  Russia's export monopoly Gazprom and the Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell have signed a tentative deal to develop hydrocarbons in the Russian Arctic, Russian and Dutch media reported. The deal was signed on Monday (8 April) in Amsterdam by Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller and Jorma Ollila, chairman of Royal Dutch Shell. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin were also present. The deal is a framework agreement for cooperation in the Arctic and does not refer to any specific hydrocarbon deposits, Russian media reported.
• 
  

  While in Antarctica:

   

• 2013/04/14: al Jazeera: Melting in Antarctica is worst in 1,000 years
  The amount of ice melting on the Antarctic Peninsula has increased dramatically in recent decades.
• 2013/04/11: ARussell: More on Antarctic sea ice
• 2013/04/09: BBC: Science [GPS] 'javelins' spear Pine Island Glacier
  UK scientists have developed an air-dropped projectile to put instruments in some of the most inaccessible places in Antarctica. Twenty-five of the "javelins" are currently sticking in Pine Island Glacier (PIG), one of the continent's biggest and fastest-moving ice streams. The PIG has many deep crevasses that are too dangerous to traverse.
• 2013/04/09: UCincinnati: Trouble in Penguin Paradise? UC Research Analyzes Antarctic Ice Flow
  UC student researcher uses satellite imagery to calculate ice flow velocity in the coldest place on Earth.
• 2013/04/09: AWI: Sharper view of the Southern Ocean: New chart shows the entire topography of the Antarctic seafloor in detail for the first time
• 2013/04/08: Eureka: Rapid climate change and the role of the Southern Ocean
  

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2013/04/13: Guardian(UK): Climate change: how a warming world is a threat to our food supplies
• 2013/04/13: Guardian(UK): Millions face starvation as world warms, say scientists
• 2013/04/12: BBC: US animal activist laws 'may impact globally'
  Animal rights activists in the US have told the BBC that so-called "ag-gag" laws could be copied in other countries including the UK. The laws are designed to limit undercover investigations on factory farms by campaigning groups. Around a dozen states have passed or are proposing [ALEC] legislation banning these activities.
• 2013/04/12: ABC(Au): Wheat disease [UG99] threatens global food supplies
  An international team of researchers has warned that a destructive wheat disease could threaten global food security and is calling for a doubling in funding to develop disease-resistant varieties. Wheat stem rust - also known as UG99 - is an aggressive fungus and one of the most destructive wheat diseases. It was first found in Uganda, but has spread through the Middle East, destroying wheat crops.
• 2013/04/11: ProMedMail: Schmallenberg virus - Europe (17): (Russia) imported bovine, International Trade
• 2013/04/11: AllAfrica:TAPress: Who Gets to Eat? Political Food Manipulation in Zimbabwe
• 2013/04/10: BBC: US rice imports 'contain harmful levels of lead'
  Analysis of commercially available rice imported into the US has revealed it contains levels of lead far higher than regulations suggest are safe. Some samples exceeded the "provisional total tolerable intake" (PTTI) set by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by a factor of 120. The report at the American Chemical Society Meeting adds to the already well-known issue of arsenic in rice. The FDA told the BBC it would review the research.
• 2013/04/10: ABC(Au): Questions raised over wine climate change report
• 2013/04/09: Grist: North Carolina joins rush to protect animal abusers
• 2013/04/09: Wonkette: North Carolina Bill Would Require Criminal Background Checks For Food Stamp Applicants, Won't Even Give Them Guns
• 2013/04/10: Guardian(UK): No 'magic wand' for Sahel as food shortages loom yet again
• 2013/04/09: ABC(Au): Heat to shift wine industry tradition
• 2013/04/09: RTCC: Climate change threatens world's fine wines
• 2013/04/08: Guardian(UK): Climate change will threaten wine production, study shows
• 2013/04/07: Guardian(UK): Food Security: enough on our plates?
  Food security is not just a problem for the poor. It will become, increasingly, a problem for everybody
• 
  

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

   

• 2013/04/12: NatureNB:Fight over sustainable seafood labelling flares up - bluewashing?
• 2013/04/10: ProMedMail: Infectious salmon anemia - Chile: (AY)
  The Chilean Fishing and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) confirmed the detection of an outbreak of infectious salmon anemia (ISA) in a hatchery of Aysen [Aisen] region...
• 2013/04/10: ABC(Au): Call for national approach to ghost nets
  Scientists working to remove ghost nets from the Gulf of Carpentaria in far north-west Queensland say there needs to be a national approach to deal with the problem. CSIRO research scientist Denise Hardesty says Indigenous rangers have collected more than 10,000 nets in the Gulf.
  [...]
  Ms Hardesty says the nets are entering the Gulf from the north-west, near Weipa, then moving in a clockwise direction.
• 2013/04/09: NatureN: Fishermen report on stocks from beyond the grave -- Testimonies suggest bottom trawling was depleting whitefish in the nineteenth century
• 2013/04/08: ABC(Au): Fishers worried by fall in nipper numbers
  A fall in the number of blue swimmer crabs is the latest marine mystery in South Australian coastal waters to be investigated. The Primary Industries Department is assessing the number of blue swimmer crabs in Gulf St Vincent after reports their population has fallen sharply.
• 2013/04/08: CBC: Think you're eating tuna? Think again
  Food experts surprised at lack of concern over mislabelled fish in Canada While controversy over horsemeat in the European beef and pork supply has captivated people around the world, food experts say Canadian consumers are blasé about mislabelled seafood in North America. DNA analysis shows 33 per cent of fish sold in grocery stores, restaurants and sushi venues in the U.S. is mislabelled, according to a recent study conducted at the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO) at the University of Guelph.
• 
  

  Food Prices are still problematic:

   

• FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
• 2013/04/12: CSM: Why Indonesia's farmers have begun to guard their crops like gold
• 2013/04/11: UN: Dairy price surge pushes world food costs for March slightly higher, UN reports
• 2013/04/11: FAO: Dairy nudges FAO Food Price Index higher by one percent -- Price fluctuations for other commodities remain contained
  

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2013/04/08: UCSUSA: UCS Tells EPA: No More Food for Fuel
  EPA should stay committed to non-food cellulosic biofuels, allow industry to develop
• 
  

  So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

   

• 2013/04/14: al Jazeera: 'Quick-fix' development gives away more than it gets back
  The "land grabbing" in Africa and elsewhere often triggers conflict, an underreported financial risk.
• 
  

  Regarding the genetic modification of food:

   

• 2013/04/12: Resilience: Look out Monsanto: The Global Food Movement Is Rising
• 2013/04/11: CBC: GMO fears do not 'translate to the average consumer' -- Most Canadians not informed about GMOs, experts say
• 2013/04/10: MoJo: Monsanto Claims to Ditch Herbicide While Selling More of It
  Meanwhile, insects are developing resistance to the company's Bt corn -- meaning a likely increase in insecticides this year.
• 2013/04/09: CBC: Genetically modified alfalfa protested by Canadian farmers
  The National Farmers Union and the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network rallied Tuesday against the possible introduction of genetically modified alfalfa in Canada.
• 2013/04/08: CDreams: Farmers and Consumers V. Monsanto: David Meet Goliath
  

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

• 2013/04/13: CCurrents: Instead Of Trying To Feed The World, Let's Help It Feed Itself
• 2013/04/12: FAO: Feeding nine billion in 2050
  FAO and CGIAR conference to address research priorities for ensuring food and nutrition security for the world's poorest
• 2013/04/12: FAO: No green economy without blue economy, says FAO -- Graziano da Silva meets with South West Pacific ministers on food security
• 2013/04/11: Resilience: HomeGrown Life: How to Install Drip Irrigation
• 2013/04/11: ABC(Au): The pitfalls of [large scale commercial] composting
• 2013/04/11: ABC(Au): Revolutionary [SRI] rice farmers reach global market
• 2013/04/09: BPA: Wheat Breeding Sped Up Using Doubled Haploids
• 2013/04/09: CCurrrents: Why The Most Powerful Thing In The World Is A Seed
  

  In the South Indian Ocean, Tropical Cyclone Imelda (21S) and Tropical Cyclone Victoria (22S) both went South and faded:

• 2013/04/12: Eureka: NASA satellite imagery shows Cyclone Imelda one-sided
• 2013/04/11: NASA: Cyclone Imelda Turned the Corner on NASA Satellite Imagery
• 2013/04/12: NASA: NASA's TRMM Satellite Sees Cyclone Victoria Being Blown Apart
  

  While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2013/04/12: Grist: Another wild hurricane season ahead, forecasters say
• 2013/04/11: NOAANews: Sandy retired from list of Atlantic Basin tropical cyclone names
• 2013/04/11: Wunderground: Hurricane Sandy's name retired; Isaac snubbed
• 2013/04/10: Wunderground: Active 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season Expected by CSU, TSR, and WSI
• 2013/04/09: WMO: Hurricane Committee Considers Lessons from Sandy
• 2013/04/08: Wunderground: Europe expected to see a large increase in Hurricane Sandy-like hybrid storms
  

  This week in notable weather:

• 2013/04/13: al Jazeera: Finally the cold snap is over
  The temperatures are on the rise in northwest Europe, much to the delight of wildlife.
• 2013/04/12: Guardian(UK): Spring storm leaves three dead as it heads towards Carolinas
  Two people killed in Missouri and one in Mississippi as thousands across midwest and south left without power
• 2013/04/12: CBC: Spring weather? Not for parts of Ontario, Quebec, Maritimes -- Freezing rain or snow warnings in effect
• 2013/04/10: CCentral: Spring Storm Smashes Snow and Temperature Records
• 2013/04/10: CBC: U.S. storm heads east after power outages, flight delays
• 2013/04/10: BBerg: Active Hurricane Year Boosts Odds for U.S. Hit
  An above-average number of storms will emerge from the Atlantic this hurricane season, and the odds of the U.S. being hit by a major system are about 70 percent greater than predicted last year, Colorado State University researchers [Gray] said.
• 2013/04/10: Wunderground: One-inch hail at 18°F in NE; record snows in SD
• 2013/04/09: DerSpiegel: Caught in the Cold: Long Winter's Grip Chokes German Economy
  Winter's hold on Germany lasted longer than usual this year, taking its toll not just on the moods of residents, but also on a number of economic sectors. Construction, agriculture, service and retail are all suffering, and experts warn the effects could be long-term.
• 2013/04/08: al Jazeera: The severe weather season finally kicks in
  Weather patterns are back on track across the eastern US, but the risk of seasonal storms increases.
• 
  

  This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

   

• 2013/04/10: MGS: Consequences of the abnormal normal climate
• 2013/04/10: P3: The Old Normal
  

  Rossby Waves? Blocking Patterns? Arctic Oscillation? What is the Arctic melt doing to our weather?

• 2013/04/12: LoE: More freezes will melt climate change doubts
• 2013/04/12: ASI: Met Office looks into Arctic link to weird weather
• 2013/04/07: TMoS: Of Jet Streams and Rossby Waves and a Political Class That Couldn't Care Less
  

  Meanwhile on the GHG front:

• 2013/04/09: ABC(Au): Study considers soil carbon emissions impact
  Researchers at the University of WA (UWA) say grain growers may be inadvertently increasing their emissions of dangerous gases by increasing soil carbon. A UWA-led study is examining whether increasing soil carbon in grain production also increases emissions of nitrous oxide, which is 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Louise Barton from UWA's Institute of Agriculture says increasing soil carbon is viewed as a means of offsetting greenhouse gas emissions but it may be doing more harm than good.
• 2013/04/09: NatureN: Wild weather can send greenhouse gases spiralling
  Researchers get to grips with effects of heat, drought and storms on carbon release.
• 2013/04/09: BBerg: Shale Gas Isn't a Low-Emissions Fuel -- Yet
• 2013/04/08: ERW: Effective fertilizer use could cut emissions from biofuel production
  

  As for the temperature record:

• 2013/04/13: QuarkSoup: Most U.S. State Maximum Temperatures Occurred Before 1990
• 2013/04/12: CCP: Gilbert Compo and coauthors confirm warming: 20th Century Reanalysis Project uses barometric pressure, ocean surface temperature
  CU-Boulder-led study confirms warming, without thermometers
• 2013/04/12: CCurrents: Northern Warmest Summers In Last 20 Years Were Unprecedented In Six Centuries
• 2013/04/12: Grist: Oceans are absorbing excess heat, for now
• 2013/04/12: CSM: China temperature spikes linked to burning of fossil fuels
• 2013/04/10: Moyhu: TempLS global temp down 0.05°C in March
• 2013/04/08: TP:JR: New Study: When You Account For The Oceans, Global Warming Continues Apace
• 2013/04/08: ABC(Au): Oceans may explain climate change slowdown
• 2013/04/07: CCP: Deep oceans absorbing heat imbalance at an increasing rate
  

  Yes we have feedbacks:

• 2013/04/10: TCoE: The consequences of a Blue Arctic
  

  Aerosols are making their presence felt:

• 2013/04/12: MODIS: Dust storm over the Mediterranean Sea [on March 30th]
• 2013/04/09: IOTD: Dust Plumes over the Mediterranean Sea [on April 7th & 8th]
  

  Regarding Climate Sensitivity:

• 2013/04/11: GLaden: What is climate sensitivity, why does it matter, and who's got what wrong and why?
  

  As for Ocean Currents:

• 2013/04/10: DailyKos: The Antarctic Half of the Global Thermohaline Circulation Is Faltering
  

  And the State of the Oceans:

• 2013/04/10: CSM: What is killing California sea lion pups? Why unusual event is a concern
• 2013/04/10: IOTD: Spring Greening Around Hokkaido [phytoplankton blooms on March 27th]
• 2013/04/09: BBC: Iceland volcano ash cloud triggers plankton bloom
  The 2010 Icelandic volcanic eruption, which disrupted European flights, also had a "significant but short-lived" impact on ocean life, a study shows.
• 
  

  What's new in Biodiversity?

   

• 2013/04/11: TheConversation: Two million species and counting: completing the catalogue of life
• 2013/04/11: SciAm:EC: Beautiful Striped Bat Identified as Entirely New Genus
  

  What's new on the Extinction front?

• 2013/04/13: ERabett: Biodiversity
• 2013/04/12: DD: Frog species across Caribbean teeter on edge of extinction in a sign of ecological peril...
• 2013/04/11: TheConversation: Australian endangered species: Katydids
• 2013/04/09: Grist: Toxic algae is wiping out Florida's manatees - 9 percent of the population dead in just over three months
• 2013/04/10: SciAm:EC: The 6 Most Endangered Feline Species
• 2013/04/09: TreeHugger: At least 241 manatee deaths caused by toxic red algae bloom in Florida
• 2013/04/09: QUT: World-first research will save koalas
• 2013/04/09: BBC: Rhino horn DNA database introduced
  A new DNA database is being set up to hold genetic information on all the rhinoceros horn in the UK in an attempt to stop its theft and trade.
• 2013/04/09: BBC: Death of golden eagle shot near Southern Upland Way 'a disaster'
• 2013/04/09: DD: Sumatran rhino population plunges, down to 100 animals...
• 2013/04/09: BBC: India deploys drones to save rhinos in Assam state
  India has deployed aerial drones over Kaziranga National Park in Assam state in a bid to protect endangered one-horned rhinos from poachers. Kaziranga chief NK Vasu said the maiden drone flight on Monday was a "milestone in wildlife protection".
• 2013/04/08: BBC: Nepal's rhino hunters become the hunted
  Once Chitwan National Park in Nepal was the favourite hunting ground of poachers, but now it is they who are on the run and being hunted.
• 2013/04/09: CBC: Deadly bat fungus will be tracked across Canada
  Environment Canada invests $300K in study of white-nose syndrome in bats Canadian scientists have planned a national response to combat white-nose syndrome, a disease that's wiped out entire bat colonies across the Maritimes. Environment Canada has offered $300,000 in funding and that will allow the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre to hire a central planner, who will co-ordinate the work of universities, provincial and federal scientists studying the white-nose syndrome.
• 2013/04/08: DD: Florida algae bloom causes record manatee deaths...
  

  The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant concern:

• 2013/04/08: CCP: Calamity for Our Most Beneficent Insect [bees: due to neonicotinoid pesticides and FDA corruption and/or incompetency]
  

  What's up with volcanoes this week?

• 2013/04/14: IOTD: Activity at Tolbachik Volcano [on April 5th]
• 2013/04/08: RTCC: Fizzy volcanoes could halt climate change in its tracks
  

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2013/04/11: TP:JR: Extreme Weather And U.S. Satellites
• 2013/04/10: NOAANews: NOAA retires polar-orbiting satellite [NOAA-17 POES] -- Satellite exceeded anticipated lifespan by eight years
  

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2013/04/12: CBC: Long winter could kill nearly half of Manitoba's deer -- Manitoba Conservation says 30 to 40% of deer population will die
• 2013/04/12: NatureN: Climate change brings stormier weather to the US
  Thunderstorm damage has doubled since 1970 and transatlantic flights are set to become bumpier.
• 2013/04/10: BBC: Stone curlews died underweight because of 'cold spring'
  One of the UK's rarest birds is being put at further risk by the cold spring, the RSPB has said. The bodies of eight underweight stone curlews have been discovered in fields in Norfolk, Suffolk and Wiltshire over the past few days. The birds are thought to have come from Africa and Spain but struggled to find enough food to survive.
• 2013/04/10: Eureka: Ocean nutrients a key component of future change say scientists
• 2013/04/10: Eureka: Scientists use islands to gauge rainfall's effect on landscapes
• 2013/04/09: CSM: Fasten seatbelts, air passengers. Climate change ahead.
• 2013/04/09: BBC: Environmental change 'triggers rapid evolution'
  Changes to their surroundings can trigger "rapid evolution" in species as they adopt traits to help them survive in the new conditions, a study shows. Studying soil mites in a laboratory, researchers found that the invertebrates' age of maturity almost doubled in just 20-or-so generations.
• 2013/04/08: BBC: Transatlantic flights 'to get more turbulent'
  Flights across the North Atlantic could get a lot bumpier in the future if the climate changes as scientists expect.
• 2013/04/08: Guardian(UK): Climate change will lead to bumpier flights, say scientists
• 2013/04/08: SciNews: Rising carbon dioxide means more air turbulence -- More jarring flights are likely, simulation suggests
  

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2013/04/11: TP:JR: Climate Change Keeps Expanding Canada's Unprecedented Epidemic Of Forest-Destroying Beetles
• 2013/04/11: ABC(Au): Laser beam uncovers giants of the forest
  Forestry Tasmania has discovered another 17 hardwood eucalyptus trees in the state's southern forests, with some of the giants believed to be up to 500 years old. The manager of Forestry Tasmania's Giant Tree Program, Daniel Hodge, says the trees, which are more than 85 metres tall, were discovered using LiDAR technology.
• 
  

  Desertification looms as a threat:

   

• 2013/04/09: UN: Land degradation damaging global agricultural production, warns new UN study
  

  Emerging diseases accompany ecological change:

• 2013/04/13: ProMedMail: Lyme disease - USA: (OR, WA) increased incidence
• 2013/04/09: SciAm:GB: The Clock Is Ticking: Spring Forward for Lyme Disease
  

  On the tornado front:

• 2013/04/12: Wunderground: Tornado kills one in Mississippi, but a quiet spring for tornadoes so far
• 2013/04/12: CNN: Three killed in powerful U.S. storms -- Severe storms fizzle after whacking Midwest, South
  Storms kill at least three people this week - Tornado watches extended in several southeastern states - In addition to one killed, five are injured in Mississippi, official says - Powerful storms also devastate Missouri and Arkansas on Wednesday night
• 2013/04/11: CNN: Storm blamed for Mississippi death
  One death reported in Mississippi - A tornado struck Hazelwood, Missouri, on Wednesday night - Missouri's governor declares a state of emergency - 33 homes are damaged by a tornado in Arkansas
• 2013/04/11: CSM: Spring storm brings ice and snow, sure, but why tornadoes?
  

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2013/04/13: MODIS: Fires in West Africa [on March 30th]
• 2013/04/12: IOTD: Best and Worst Time to Start a Fire [down under]
• 2013/04/12: NASA: Fires in Central America
• 2013/04/10: MODIS: Fires in southeastern United States [on March 27th]
• 2013/04/09: NASA: Fires in the Yucatan Peninsula
• 2013/04/09: NASA: Fires in Victoria, Australia
• 2013/04/08: NASA: Fires in Southeast Asia
• 2013/04/08: NASA: Fires in India and Nepal
• 2013/04/08: MODIS: Fires in Mexico and Central America [on March 24th]
• 2013/03/28: NASA: Fires in Southeastern United States
  

  Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:

• 2013/04/11: MGS: Life isn't simple even for a coral
• 2013/04/08: Eureka: Human shadow cast over the Caribbean slows coral growth
• 2013/04/08: RTCC: Fossil fuel emissions stunt coral growth
• 2013/04/08: BBC: Particles from fossil fuels 'affect the growth of corals'
  Researchers have found the strongest evidence yet that aerosols from burning fossil fuels are affecting coral growth.
• 
  

  Acidification is changing the oceans:

   

• 2013/04/08: Stanford: Stanford seeks sea urchin's secret to surviving ocean acidification
  Ocean research reveals rapid evolutionary adaptations to a changing climate. Genetic variation is the key to this ability to deal with higher acidity.
• 
  

  Glaciers are melting:

   

• 2013/04/14: FaGP: Twitcher Glacier Accelerated Retreat, South Georgia island
• 2013/04/12: Guardian(UK): Peru develops early warnings of melting glaciers - in [8] pictures
• 2013/04/10: FaGP: Herz Glacier Retreat, South Georgia
• 2013/04/08: Moyhu: Quelccaya icecore and regional temperatures
  

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2013/04/11: USGS: New Sea-Level-Rise Modeling Forecasts Major Climate Impact to Low-Lying Pacific Islands
• 2013/04/08: CCurrrents: Melting Ice To Affect India, China While Kolkata, Dhaka, Shanghai Are Threatened
• 2013/04/10: Xinhuanet: Sea level rise threatens biodiversity in the Pacific: study
• 2013/04/09: Vetmeduni: Sea level rise: Jeopardy for terrestrial biodiversity on islands
• 2013/04/08: DD: Rising seas swallow 8 U.S. cities in these climate change GIFs
• 2013/04/07: IndiaTimes: Rising sea levels threat to Kolkata, Shanghai, Dhaka: Pachauri
  Kolkata: Rising sea levels due to climate change are threatening the survival of big cities located near coastal areas like Kolkata, Shanghai and Dhaka, said Dr R K Pachauri, chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). "There is a very high risk in delta cities like Kolkata, Shanghai and Dhaka. They are very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to sea level rise and coastal flooding. Both people and property would be affected in such a scenario," Pachauri told reporters here.
• 
  

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

   

• 2013/04/13: Wunderground: NOAA report unable to pinpoint causes of the historic 2012 U.S. drought
• 2013/04/13: CSM: Will we ever understand 2012 drought? Study blames 'random weather.'
• 2013/04/12: Guardian(UK): Climate change did not cause 2012 US drought, says government report
• 2013/04/12: CSW: Drought study misses underlying climate connections
• 2013/04/12: TP:JR: Yes, Climate Change Is Worsening U.S. Drought -- NOAA Report Needlessly Confuses The Issue
• 2013/04/11: CCentral: Global Warming Not Significant in 2012 Drought: Report
• 2013/04/12: NIDIS: [link to 56.4 meg pdf] Drought Task Force Report - An Interpretation of the Origins of the 2012 Central Great Plains Drought
• 2013/04/10: DD: Image of the Day: Satellite view of flooding in La Plata, Argentina, 4 April 2013
• 2013/04/09: DD: Wellington water ban lifted - New Zealand's worst drought in over 30 years may cost $2 billion
• 2013/04/08: QuarkSoup: Worthless Without Water
• 2013/04/08: RT: Floods sweep across Russian regions, people evacuated
• 2013/04/07: TP:JR: When It Rains, It Pours: Study Confirms Climate Change Will Keep Driving More Intense Precipitation
• 2013/04/07: EarthMag: Widely used [Palmer Drought Severity] index may have overestimated drought
  

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

• 2013/04/10: TreeHugger: Carbon 'tape' easier way to cut CO2 from our flying habit?
• 2013/04/10: Eureka: Limiting greenhouse gas emissions from land use in Europe
  

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2013/04/09: TheCanadian: Opinion: Light Rail Trams Trump Rapid Buses for Transportation Solution
  

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

• 2013/04/09: Grist: Beyond less-bad to 100 percent fabulous: A chat with architect and sustainability thinker William McDonough
• 2013/04/05: GBA: Are Affordable Ground-Source Heat Pumps On the Horizon?
  

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2013/04/08: TheConversation: Chemical looping: a carbon capture technology for the future
  

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2013/04/13: EurasiaReview: CO2 Removal Can Lower Costs Of Climate Protection
• 2013/04/12: Eureka: CO2 removal can lower costs of climate protection
• 2013/04/11: ChinaDialogue: China's geoengineering plans dismissed as 'fantasy'
• 2013/04/10: NatureN: No, we should not just 'at least do the research'
  The idea of applying geoengineering research to mitigate climate change has not been thought through, argues Clive Hamilton.
• 2013/04/09: ABC(Au): Geoengineering our way out of trouble?
• 2013/04/09: EtcGroup: Normalizing Geoengineering as Foreign Aid
• 2013/04/03: WYPR: Climate Engineering is a Controversial "Plan B" for Global Warming
  

  What's new in conservation?

• 2013/04/13: BBC: New law to protect Puerto Rico leatherback turtles
  Puerto Rico has introduced a new law protecting a swathe of the island's coast that has become a major nesting site for the world's largest turtle, the leatherback.
• 2013/04/10: BBC: UK nature reserves attract new bird species
  The UK's nature reserves act as 'ecological welcome mats' to new species, according to scientists. Since the 1960s, there has been a natural influx of wetland bird species from continental Europe.
• 
  

  While on the adaptation front:

   

• 2013/04/08: Guardian(UK): Eight steps to climate-proof development in Africa
  

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2013/04/09: PNAS: (abs) Achieving the triple bottom line in the face of inherent trade-offs among social equity, economic return, and conservation by Benjamin S. Halpern et al.
• 2013/04/09: PNAS: (ab$) Structure of the rare archaeal biosphere and seasonal dynamics of active ecotypes in surface coastal waters by Mylène Hugoni et al.
• 2013/04/09: PNAS: (ab$) Decreased water flowing from a forest amended with calcium silicate by Mark B. Green et al.
• 2013/04/09: PNAS: (ab$) Exploiting microbial hyperthermophilicity to produce an industrial chemical, using hydrogen and carbon dioxide by Matthew W. Keller et al.
• 2013/04/09: PNAS: (ab$) Key role for a glutathione transferase in multiple-herbicide resistance in grass weeds by Ian Cummins et al.
• 2013/04/09: PNAS: (ab$) Potential shortfall of pyramided transgenic cotton for insect resistance management by Thierry Brévault et al.
• 2013/04/09: PNAS: (ab$) Anticipating land surface change by Richard Streeter & Andrew J. Dugmore
• 2013/04/09: PNAS: (ab$) Turnover of microbial lipids in the deep biosphere and growth of benthic archaeal populations by Sitan Xie et al.
• 2013/03/14: WoL:GRL: (ab$) Natural iron fertilization by the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption by Eric P. Achterberg et al.
• 2013/04/09: ESD: Dynamical and biogeochemical control on the decadal variability of ocean carbon fluxes by R. Séférian et al.
• 2013/04/08: ESD: Scenario and modelling uncertainty in global mean temperature change derived from emission-driven global climate models by B. B. B. Booth et al.
• 2013/04/10: ACP: Pollution transport from North America to Greenland during summer 2008 by J. L. Thomas et al.
• 2013/04/10: ACP: Spectral albedo of seasonal snow during intensive melt period at Sodankylä, beyond the Arctic Circle by O. Meinander et al.
• 2013/04/10: ACP: CLARA-SAL: a global 28 yr timeseries of Earth's black-sky surface albedo by A. Riihelä et al.
• 2013/04/08: ACP: Sources, trends and regional impacts of fine particulate matter in southern Mississippi valley: significance of emissions from sources in the Gulf of Mexico coast by M.-C. Chalbot et al.
• 2013/04/11: ACPD: The analysis of size-segregated cloud condensation nuclei counter (CCNC) data and its implications for aerosol-cloud interactions by M. Paramonov et al.
• 2013/04/11: ACPD: Modeling upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric water vapor anomalies by M. R. Schoeberl et al.
• 2013/04/11: ACPD: Why models struggle to capture Arctic Haze: the underestimated role of gas flaring and domestic combustion emissions by A. Stohl et al.
• 2013/03/15: Springer:CD: Recent intense hurricane response to global climate change by Greg Holland & Cindy L. Bruyère
• 2013/03/10: SD:DSR: (ab$) Decline of deep and bottom water ventilation and slowing down of anthropogenic carbon storage in the Weddell Sea, 1984-2011 by Oliver Huhn et al.
• 2013/02/10: Springer:CC: Is atmospheric carbon dioxide removal a game changer for climate change mitigation? by Elmar Kriegler et al.
• 2013/04/12: BG: A data assimilation framework for constraining upscaled cropland carbon flux seasonality and biometry with MODIS by O. Sus et al.
• 2013/04/09: BG: Inverse estimation of source parameters of oceanic radioactivity dispersion models associated with the Fukushima accident by Y. Miyazawa et al.
• 2013/04/08: BG: Response of halocarbons to ocean acidification in the Arctic by F. E. Hopkins et al.
• 2013/04/08: BG: Quantifying the role of fire in the Earth system - Part 1: Improved global fire modeling in the Community Earth System Model (CESM1) by F. Li et al.
• 2013/04/10: BGD: Synergism between elevated pCO2 and temperature on the Antarctic sea ice diatom Nitzschia lecointei by A. Torstensson et al.
• 2013/04/08: BGD: Short-term cropland responses to temperature extreme events during late winter by G. De Simon et al.
• 2013/04/10: CP: Model sensitivity to North Atlantic freshwater forcing at 8.2 ka by C. Morrill et al.
• 2013/04/09: CP: Climatic impacts of fresh water hosing under Last Glacial Maximum conditions: a multi-model study by M. Kageyama et al.
• 2013/04/09: CP: Climate and vegetation changes during the Lateglacial and early-middle Holocene at Lake Ledro (southern Alps, Italy) by S. Joannin et al.
• 2013/04/08: CP: Stable isotopic evidence of El Niño-like atmospheric circulation in the Pliocene western United States by M. J. Winnick et al.
• 2013/04/11: CPD: Paleo Agulhas rings enter the subtropical gyre during the penultimate deglaciation by P. Scussolini & E. van Sebille
• 2013/04/08: CPD: The last 7 millennia of vegetation and climate changes at Lago di Pergusa (central Sicily, Italy) by L. Sadori et al.
• 2013/04/08: CPD: A high resolution record of atmospheric carbon dioxide and its stable carbon isotopic composition from the penultimate glacial maximum to the glacial inception by R. Schneider et al.
• 2013/04/09: GMD: Inclusion of ash and SO2 emissions from volcanic eruptions in WRF-Chem: development and some applications by M. Stuefer et al.
• 2013/04/09: GMDD: The mid-Pliocene climate simulated by FGOALS-g2 by W. Zheng et al.
• 2013/04/09: GMDD: The potential of an observational data set for calibration of a computationally expensive computer model by D. J. McNeall et al.
• 2013/04/09: OS: From the chlorophyll a in the surface layer to its vertical profile: a Greenland Sea relationship for satellite applications by A. Cherkasheva et al.
• 2013/04/08: OSD: Tidally-induced lateral dispersion of the Storfjorden overflow plume by F. Wobus et al.
• 2013/04/09: TCD: Arctic Ocean sea ice snow depth evaluation and bias sensitivity in CCSM by B. A. Blazey et al.
• 2013/04/09: TCD: Supercooled interfacial water in fine grained soils probed by dielectric spectroscopy by A. Lorek & N. Wagner
• 2013/04/11: Wol:GRL: (ab$) Aerosol effect on climate extremes in Europe under different future scenarios by J. Sillmann et al.
• 2013/04/10: OS: Large-scale temperature and salinity changes in the upper Canadian Basin of the Arctic Ocean at a time of a drastic Arctic Oscillation inversion by P. Bourgain et al.
• 2013/04/10: GMD: PORT, a CESM tool for the diagnosis of radiative forcing by A. J. Conley et al.
• 2013/04/11: GMDD: Quantifying the carbon uptake by vegetation for Europe on a 1 km2 resolution using a remote sensing driven vegetation model by K. Wißkirchen et al.
• 2013/04/11: TCD: A glacial systems model configured for large ensemble analysis of Antarctic deglaciation by R. Briggs et al.
• 2013/02/06: Springer:CC: The role of negative CO2 emissions for reaching 2 °C - insights from integrated assessment modelling by Detlef P. van Vuuren et al.
• 2013/04/07: Nature:CC: (ab$) Retrospective prediction of the global warming slowdown in the past decade by Virginie Guemas et al.
• 2013/04/08: Nature:CC: (ab$) Intensification of winter transatlantic aviation turbulence in response to climate change by Paul D. Williams & Manoj M. Joshi
• 2013/03/12: WoL:GRL: (ab$) Probable maximum precipitation (PMP) and climate change by Kenneth E. Kunkel et al.
• 2013/04/07: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Millennial-scale changes in atmospheric CO2 levels linked to the Southern Ocean carbon isotope gradient and dust flux by Martin Ziegler et al.
• 2013/04/07: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Caribbean coral growth influenced by anthropogenic aerosol emissions by Lester Kwiatkowski et al.
  

  And other significant documents:

• 2013/04/13: NEB: [links to several pdfs] Joint Review Panel potential conditions documents
• 2013/04/12: NIDIS: [link to 56.4 meg pdf] Drought Task Force Report - An Interpretation of the Origins of the 2012 Central Great Plains Drought
  

  As for miscellaneous science:

• 2013/04/13: CCP: "Unsustainable fuelwood extraction from South African savannas," by K. J. Wessels et al., ERL 8 (2013); doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/014007
• 2013/04/12: JEB: Gender balance
• 2013/04/12: RBroberg: Kavvada: AMO's structure and climate footprint in observations and IPCC AR5 climate simulations
• 2013/04/12: Moyhu: A proper uncertainty dimple
• 2013/04/11: Eureka: New research helps place modern temperatures into a more complete statistical framework
• 2013/04/10: IsaacHeld: 36. A diffusive model of atmospheric heat transport
• 2013/04/10: MIT: Early warning signs of population collapse
  Spatial measurements of population density could reveal when threatened natural populations are in danger of crashing.
• 2013/04/10: RBroberg: Stolzea: Solar influence on climate variability and human development during the Neolithic: evidence from a high-resolution multi-proxy record from Templevanny Lough, County Sligo, Ireland
• 2013/04/11: Tamino: Once More
• 2013/04/10: Tamino: Sampling Rate, part 2
• 2013/04/08: Stoat: Controversy over Bradley and Jones 1993?
• 2013/04/08: Eureka: Rapid climate change and the role of the Southern Ocean
  

  What's new in models?

• 2013/04/08: AMAWr: Tuning to the climate signal
  

  What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?

• 2013/04/12: NewYorker: When the Rebel Alliance Sells Out
• 2013/04/09: SciAm:IC: Elsevier (giant for-profit scholarly publisher) buys Mendeley (free citation manager and discovery tool)
  

  Katharine Giles obituary:

• 2013/04/10: EveningStandard: Cyclist death: woman killed in Victoria lorry crash was world respected climate change scientist
  Dr Katharine Giles was research fellow and lecturer at UCL - Second tragedy to hit her department after colleague died in stairs plunge - Tributes to 'a bright, shining star' which has gone out
• 2013/04/10: BBC: Dr Katharine Giles cycle death: Tribute to UCL scientist
• 2013/04/10: Guardian(UK): British scientist killed in cycling accident
  Dr Katharine Giles, 35, an expert in global warming at UCL in London, died after colliding with a lorry on her way to work
• 2013/04/09: CryoList: Appreciation of Katharine Giles
  

  Regarding Hansen:

• 2013/04/12: GLaden: Climate Scientist James Hansen's Retirement
• 2013/04/12: SciAm:Obs: Why Jim Hansen Stopped Being a Government Scientist [Video]
• 2013/04/12: CSW: James Hansen on NASA retirement and climate action
  

  The Pielke fan clubbe, alas:

• 2013/04/10: ERabett:BSD: A temporary end to bliss
  

  Meanwhile at the UN:

• 2013/04/13: CCurrents: With Surging Emissions, Global Climate Change Goal Is At Risk, Says UN
• 2013/04/12: Reuters: World climate change goal at risk as emissions surge-UN
• 2013/04/12: UN: Sustainable development of oceans key to ending hunger, says UN official at Pacific meeting
• 2013/04/12: FAO: The tricky task of protecting plants in a globalized age
  International Plant Protection Convention wraps up annual meeting -- two phytosanitary standards revised and updated
• 2013/04/11: UN: Ban calls for concerted global action to save world's oceans from pollution, acidification
  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on world leaders to take stronger action to protect the planet's seas, warning that pollution, unsustainable exploitation, climate change and acidification threaten the very foundations of all life and the global economy.
• 
  

  And on the carbon trading front:

   

• 2013/04/12: Stoat: The ETS is stupid, part n
• 2013/04/12: RTCC: EU climate ambition at stake in ETS vote warn ministers
  Failure to reform the EU carbon market could distort trade in the Eurozone and waste eight years of climate action, a group of influential Ministers has warned.
• 2013/04/12: EurActiv: Six EU climate ministers, including Germany's, support backloading of ETS allowances
  Climate and environment ministers from Germany and five other European Union states have reportedly urged EU lawmakers to approve proposals for backloading emissions trading allowances, in order to prop up carbon prices and sustain "a central instrument of EU-wide climate protection". "We the undersigned support the proposals for backloading a certain amount of allowances," the climate and environment ministers of Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark wrote in a letter, according to the Reuters news agency. Next Tuesday (16 April), the European parliament will consider the proposals in a make-or-break vote. Carbon prices plunged to record lows earlier this year.
• 2013/04/12: EurActiv: EU 'carbon leakage' list is outdated, says report
  The European Commission is using an "outdated" list to grant free carbon emissions allowances to industries which say they face the risk of relocation abroad - or 'carbon leakage' - due to the bloc's climate policies, a new study says. The number of industrial recipients of free carbon allowances would be nearly halved if criteria used by the EU to assess the risk of carbon leakage were brought into line with real-world data, says the analysis by CE Delft, an independent research and consultancy organisation.
• 2013/04/11: EUVoice: Anxiety ahead of ETS vote
  Environmental activists staged a mock carbon auction outside the European Parliament in Brussels yesterday (10 April) as fears grew that the Parliament will reject a Commission proposal to rescue the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in a vote next week (16 April).
  [...]
  Because of reduced economic activity and the over-allocation of allowances, the price of carbon in the ETS has plunged to untenable lows of under E5.
• 2013/04/10: BBerg: EU Carbon Plunges 10% [to E4.26/tonne] as Traders Sell Before Parliament Vote
• 2013/04/10: Asia Times: Carbon deals cross borders
• 2013/04/09: SusBiz: California and Quebec Connect Cap-and-Trade Programs
• 2013/04/09: TheConversation: China can learn from Australia when it puts a price on carbon
• 2013/04/08: RTCC: China's emissions trading scheme in line for 2020 launch
  

  The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2013/04/12: QuarkSoup: Australia's Carbon Tax is Working -- GHG emissions from electricity generation have fallen to a 10-year low
• 2013/04/09: P3: Another Decent Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal
  

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

• 2013/04/11: Asia Times: US belittles Iran's nuclear offer
• 2013/04/09: Guardian(UK): In this nuclear standoff, it's the US that's the rogue state
• 2013/04/09: al Jazeera: Defiant Iran unveils new uranium sites
  President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hails advances only days after nuclear talks with world powers ended in deadlock.
• 2013/04/08: FAIR: To NYT, Nuclear Facts Become Iranian Claims
• 2013/04/08: Xinhuanet: Iran renews call for recognition of uranium enrichment right by P5+ 1
• 2013/04/08: WSWS: International talks on Iran's nuclear program fail
  International talks in Kazakhstan between Iran and the P5+1 group (the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany) broke up on Saturday with no agreement and no immediate proposal for further negotiations.
• 
  

  South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

   

• 2013/04/12: CNN: Philippines arrest Chinese 'poachers' after reef collision
  China has urged the Philippines to "guarantee the safety" of fishermen accused of poaching - 12 Chinese nationals were arrested on April 8 after their ship ran aground on a reef - The coral reef was the same marine park where a U.S. Navy minesweeper ran aground - Tubbahata Reef is a UNESCO World Heritage site with restricted access
• 2013/04/11: BBC: Philippines charges Chinese fishermen over reef crash
  The Philippines has charged 12 Chinese fishermen with poaching after their boat ran aground a protected coral reef, reports say. The men face up to 12 years in jail and $300,000 (£195,784) in fines, said an official from the Tubbataha reef park, a Unesco World Heritage site. They were also charged with bribery after they allegedly tried to pay off Philippine park rangers. The US also faces a fine after its ship crashed in the same reef in January. The Chinese fishing vessel, which measures 48m (157ft), ran aground the reef in the Sulu Sea on Monday. The fishermen said they reached the reef by accident from Malaysia, Philippine officials were quoted as saying. Chinese officials have visited the fishermen, who are detained in Palawan province, local reports say.
• 2013/04/10: Asia Times: Psychological warfare in the South China Sea
• 2013/04/09: BBC: China boat 'runs aground' Philippine Unesco coral reef
  A suspected Chinese fishing boat has run aground on a protected coral reef in the Sulu sea, Philippine officials say. The 12-man vessel ran aground Tubbataha Reef, a Unesco World Heritage site, late on Monday. The men will be taken into custody and questioned, authorities say.
• 2013/04/08: ICG: Dangerous Waters: China-Japan Relations on the Rocks
  

  In the solar squabbles between China and Europe:

• 2013/04/11: EurActiv: More than 1,000 firms demand end to EU-China solar trade war
  

  And in miscellaneous international political jousting:

• 2013/04/12: RealEconomics: New BRICS development bank
  

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

• 2013/04/12: Grist: Jailed for eco-activism, and then jailed for blogging about eco-activism [Daniel McGowan]
• 2013/04/11: RT: Russia buries journalist and eco-campaigner who died after beating
  About 100 people, most of them journalists and environmental activists, have attended a memorial service for Mikhail Beketov, the award-winning journalist who was crippled in a brutal attack in 2008 and died in hospital this Monday, April 8.
• 2013/04/11: al Jazeera: Russia buries beaten journalist Mikhail Beketov
  Mourners farewell Khimki forest campaigner five years after he was beaten in unsolved assault.
• 
  

  What are the activists up to?

   

• 2013/04/13: JFleck: So "playground activists" were a thing
• 2013/04/12: Guardian(UK): Jeremy Grantham, environmental philanthropist: 'We're trying to buy time for the world to wake up' [activists]
  You've probably never heard of him, and for years Jeremy Grantham liked it that way. But now the man who made billions by predicting every recent financial crisis is speaking out
• 2013/04/11: RStone: The Fossil Fuel Resistance
  As the world burns, a new movement to reverse climate change is emerging - fiercely, loudly and right next door
• 2013/04/11: CCP: Bill McKibben: The Fossil Fuel Resistance. As the world burns, a new movement to reverse climate change is emerging: fiercely, loudly and right next door
• 2013/04/08: CCP: Harvard Students Vote for Endowment Divestment from Fossil Fuel Stocks
  

  Polls! We have polls!

• 2013/04/11: SciAm:PI: Poll: Americans oppose exporting natural gas, support of fracking regulation, and accept climate change
• 2013/04/09: TP:JR: Gallup Poll: Public Understanding And Concern About Global Warming Keeps Rising
  

  Regarding Water Politics and Business:

• 2013/04/13: DerSpiegel: Muddy Waters: Mining Legacy Pollutes East German Rivers
  The Spree River region in Eastern Germany is a major tourist destination, known for its picturesque, meandering tributaries. But now tons of iron ochre flushed up from brown-coal pit mines are turning the river brown, killing plants and animals, and threatening to drive visitors away from its prime attraction.
• 2013/04/12: Asia Times: A dam too far in Laos
• 2013/04/12: SciNews: Puny plastic particles mar Lake Erie's waters -- Polymer trash is laden with pollutants
• 2013/04/09: JFleck: Why "when the Ogallala runs out" isn't the right way to think about this
• 2013/04/01: NSF: Extreme Algae Blooms: The New Normal? Record-breaking bloom in Lake Erie triggered by 'perfect storm' of events
• 2013/04/09: Resilience: The Looming Threat of Water Scarcity
• 2013/04/09: JFleck: Stuff I wrote elsewhere: in the midst of drought, signs of water cooperation
• 2013/04/08: Grist: For Cleveland, climate change could mean tons of toxic green algae [on Lake Erie]
• 2013/04/07: JFleck: Thinking like a watershed
  

  And on the groundwater front:

• 2013/04/10: JFleck: Groundwater: cooperating in Kansas
  

  Regarding science education:

• 2013/04/11: Grist: Climate change curriculum for American kids watered down
• 2013/04/09: Guardian(UK): Climate change included in US science teaching guidelines for the first time
  

  While in the UK:

• 2013/04/12: CBC: Anti-Thatcher song hits top of U.K. pop chart -- Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead goes to No. 1
• 2013/04/11: EurActiv: UK tried diluting EU law on mining transparency: MEP
  The British government, influenced by mining company Rio Tinto, attempted to undermine an EU law that aims to bring greater transparency to the oil, gas, mining and logging sectors despite the government's public declarations that it supports more disclosure, the European lawmaker who led the negotiations said on Wednesday (10 April). The world's second-largest mining company, Rio Tinto Group influenced the British government's proposals and Britain was unhelpful in ensuring smooth progress of the legislation, Arlene McCarthy, a UK Labour politician in the European Parliament, said in an interview with TrustLaw.
• 2013/04/11: ERabett: Nil Nisi Thatcher
• 2013/04/10: RTCC: [John] Beddington: No culture of climate denial in UK government [despite hostility to the green agenda from elements within the Government]
• 2013/04/10: BBC: Fracking 'not significant' cause of large earthquakes
• 2013/04/09: Guardian(UK): Margaret Thatcher, science advice and climate change
  Greenwashing Thatcher's history does an injustice both to her and to science and technology policy
• 2013/04/09: RTCC: UK failing to protect natural capital -- report
  

  And in Europe:

• 2013/04/14: TP:JR: Is 70% Renewable Power Possible? Portugal Just Did It For 3 Months
• 2013/04/13: RealEconomics: Desertec -- a good idea in trouble?
• 2013/04/12: EurActiv: Six EU climate ministers, including Germany's, support backloading of ETS allowances
• 2013/04/12: EurActiv: EU 'carbon leakage' list is outdated, says report
• 2013/04/12: Guardian(UK): Copenhagen's ambitious push to be carbon-neutral by 2025
  The Danish capital is moving rapidly toward a zero-carbon future, as it erects windfarms, transforms its citywide heating systems, promotes energy efficiency, and lures more people out of their cars and onto public transportation and bikes
• 2013/04/11: Yale360: Copenhagen's Ambitious Push To Be Carbon Neutral by 2025
• 2013/04/11: EurActiv: More than 1,000 firms demand end to EU-China solar trade war
  The extent of the split within the European solar industry over proposals for Brussels to impose tariffs on imported solar panels from China was laid bare yesterday, when it emerged that over 1,000 companies from across the industry have written to the European Commission warning import duties could have a grave impact on the industry. The European Commission recently launched an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation against Chinese solar manufacturers, after European solar manufacturers lodged a series of complaints alleging that Chinese rivals were benefiting from unfair subsidies. Speculation is now mounting that the EU could follow in the footsteps of the US and impose import tariffs on Chinese solar panels, while also pursuing a complaint to the World Trade Organization about Chinese government subsidies.
• 2013/04/11: EurActiv: Top EU scientist [Anne Glover] calls for ethical standards to ease suspicion of industry
  The suspicion that industrial involvement in science is only geared towards profit threatens to derail European policymaking and new ethical standards could help solve the issue, the EU's chief scientific advisor has said. Professor Anne Glover, the chief scientific advisor to Commission President José Manuel Barroso, said she had become "extremely uncomfortable" witnessing the lack of trust in some quarters at the role of industry in science.
• 2013/04/11: EurActiv: EU's chief science advisor [Anne Glover] gives shale gas go-ahead
  The EU's chief scientific advisor has said that evidence allows the go-ahead for extracting shale gas, the energy source at the centre of a European policy tug-of-war.
• 2013/04/11: EurActiv: Brussels unveils green performance scheme [BSM4GP] for products
  The European Commission has proposed EU-wide methods for companies to measure and communicate their 'greenness' and the environmental footprint of their products.
• 2013/04/11: RTCC: Energy Commissioner [Günther Oettinger] calls for expansion of EU energy empire
  The European Energy commissioner has called for the creation of an EU energy market stretching from Iceland to North Africa and the Atlantic to Azerbaijan.
• 2013/04/10: EurActiv: New EU rules target transparency of oil, gas revenues
• 2013/04/10: EUO: Campaigners hail 'game-changing' EU deal on oil and mining corruption
• 2013/04/09: EurActiv: Shale-rich Spanish region votes to ban fracking
  Lawmakers in Spain's northern Cantabria region unanimously voted on Monday (8 April) to ban hydraulic fracturing on environmental concerns, shooting down the central government's hopes for a project to boost jobs in a region believed to be rich in shale gas.
• 2013/04/08: EurActiv: Low-key vote on dodgy boilers promises 'massive' CO2 cuts
  A below-the-radar vote in an obscure EU committee to set new efficiency standards for central heating boilers has sealed energy savings that could equal 10% of Europe's energy consumption by 2020, green groups say.
• 2013/04/05: PS: Stop Paying the Polluters by Connie Hedegaard, EU Commissioner for Climate Action
  

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2013/04/14: ABC(Au): Insurance companies criticised over flood premiums
• 2013/04/13: ABC(Au): Fears light rail project will grind to a halt [Tasmania]
  Supporters of a Hobart light rail proposal say the State Government has dropped the ball on the project and time is running out to secure federal funding.
• 2013/04/12: TheConversation: Electricity prices fall: renewable energy deserves merit
• 2013/04/12: QuarkSoup: Australia's Carbon Tax is Working -- GHG emissions from electricity generation have fallen to a 10-year low
• 2013/04/11: ABC(Au): Albanese calls for debate on high-speed rail link
  Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese says a study into high-speed rail along the east coast shows it is financially viable. A high-speed rail link along Australia's east coast would not be completed until at least 2053 and would cost $114 billion to build, according to a report to be released today. The Federal Government's final report says the rail link between Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne would require 1,700 kilometres of dedicated track and 144 kilometres of tunnelling.
• 2013/04/11: ABC(Au): 'Exciting and visionary' but can Aust afford high speed rail?
• 2013/04/11: ABC(Au): 100 billion dollar plan for fast train
  The Federal Government has launched another plan for a Brisbane to Melbourne fast rail network which would cost over $100 billion and take forty years to build.
• 2013/04/11: ABC(Au): [Shadow treasurer, Joe] Hockey 'cynical' about high-speed rail plan
  The Federal Coalition is playing down the prospect of a multi-billion-dollar high-speed rail line being built along the east coast. The Federal Government has released a final report into high-speed rail which proposes a 1,748-kilometre link connecting Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. Transport Minister Anthony Albanese has stressed it could not be built "tomorrow", pointing to the estimated cost of $114 billion and a completion date of 2053 at the earliest.
• 2013/04/10: TP:JR: How 100 Percent Renewable Energy Could Be Cost-Effective For Australia By 2030
• 2013/04/10: ABC(Au): Clashes as children protest against abortion
• 2013/04/09: ABC(Au): Former police boss to head bushfire inquiry
  A former South Australian Police Commissioner has been appointed to head Tasmania's bushfire inquiry.
• 2013/04/09: UKISS: What will the conservatives do?
• 2013/04/08: CCP: David Spratt, Climate Code Red: "Critical decade" or "lost decade"? Part 1 [Aus pol]
• 2013/04/08: ABC(Au): Plea entered for Peter Slipper
  An ACT Magistrate has entered a plea of not guilty for former parliamentary speaker Peter Slipper who is facing dishonesty charges. Peter Slipper is facing three charges in the ACT Magistrates Court over the alleged misuse of his cabcharge dockets in 2010, before he was speaker. Australian Federal Police allege he filled in multiple dockets suggesting he had travelled to areas within Canberra, when he had actually been visiting nearby wineries.
• 
  

  The fight over coal seam gas continues:

   

• 2013/04/13: ABC(Au): Fracking - what would Jesus do?
• 2013/04/12: ABC(Au): Gas hub: Controversy in the Kimberley [timeline]
• 2013/04/12: ABC(Au): Accusations fly over Woodside's decision to shelve WA gas hub
  Woodside's contentious plan for a vast liquefied natural gas development north of Broome has been called off. Woodside has announced it's shelving the $45 billion James Price Point project because it wouldn't deliver the necessary commercial return. Now the oil and gas company is looking at other onshore and offshore alternatives.
• 2013/04/12: ABC(Au): Woodside shelves James Price gas hub
  Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum shelves plans to build a $45 billion gas processing hub near James Price Point, north of Broome.
• 2013/04/12: ABC(Au): Environmentalists welcome scrapping of [Browse] LNG project
• 2013/04/12: ABC(Au): Woodside to shelve $45b LNG project
  The ABC's AM program has been told that oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum plans to abandon its $45 billion Browse LNG project in Western Australia. The company is expected to make an announcement to the stock exchange this morning regarding the project at James Price Point, north of Broome. Woodside refused to comment when contacted by AM.
• 2013/04/12: ABC(Au): Woodside looking at alternative Browse options
  Woodside is looking at other options after shelving its $45 billion Browse LNG development near Broome. The company says that, after a technical and financial evaluation, the proposed LNG development near James Price Point in north-west Western Australia does not meet its commercial requirements. Woodside says it recently looked at tenders for the project, which showed the development would not deliver the required commercial returns to support a positive final investment decision.
• 2013/04/11: ABC(Au): Uniting Church Synod to vote on CSG
  The State Council of the Uniting Church will vote to exclude investments in coal seam gas and coal mining at this weekend's Synod in Sydney. Four-hundred delegates are being asked to consider a motion that places corporations engaged in the extraction of fossil fuels on the Church's Excluded Stock List. It also calls for an immediate freeze on new investments, and the sale within 12 months of existing holdings, in CSG and mining companies.
• 2013/04/10: ABC(Au): Illawarra MP calls for debate on CSG
  Kiama MP Gareth Ward wants to join with the region's mayors to push for a ban on coal seam gas activity in the drinking water catchment. Wollongong, Shellharbour, Kiama, Shoalhaven and Wingecarribee councils have all moved motions opposing C-S-G mining in their local government areas. Gareth Ward says it would be foolish not to be concerned about coal seam gas extraction in the water catchment and he wants to take that message to his government.
• 2013/04/10: ABC(Au): Clarence Valley finalises CSG submissions
  Another north coast council is asking the state government to protect land from coal seam gas (CSG) activities.
• 2013/04/10: ABC(Au): Santos pushes ahead with CSG projects
  A major coal seam gas company is pushing ahead with its projects in New South Wales despite tighter State Government regulations. Firms including Dart Energy, Metgasco and AGL have halted or abandoned developments because of the Government's crackdown, which includes buffer zones around residential areas. Santos has used its annual report to announce that a drilling project in the Gunnedah Basin will still begin this year with a view to deliver gas by 2016.
• 2013/04/09: ABC(Au): [NSW] Draft CSG plan under fire from Nambucca
  A mid north coast council is critical of the state government's short consultation period for a draft planning policy on coal seam gas exclusion zones. The draft state government plan asks councils if particular areas of R-5 Large Lot Residential land should be included in C-S-G exclusion zones.
• 
  

  It's a long way to the September election:

   

• 2013/04/13: JQuiggin: There is a world market for maybe five computers...
• 2013/04/13: ABC(Au): Crean savages Labor in scathing interview
  Former Labor frontbencher Simon Crean has savaged his own party and leader in a newspaper interview that has refuelled the issue of Labor disunity. Prime Minister Julia Gillard sacked Mr Crean from her Cabinet after he called a party room ballot for the leadership in March. After the failed spill, Mr Crean called for Labor to consolidate and "unify" around Ms Gillard. But in an interview published in Fairfax newspapers this morning, Mr Crean has instead accused the PM of having a "tin ear" for political strategy.
• 
  

  After years of wrangling the Murray Darling Basin plan is in place. Now the real fight begins:

   

• 2013/04/10: ABC(Au): Fight brewing over Lake Eyre Basin protection
  A fight is brewing between the Queensland Government, graziers and traditional owners about a development proposal on Lake Eyre Basin.
• 2013/04/10: ABC(Au): Groundwater study taps into Ti Tree Basin
• 2013/04/08: ABC(Au): Lobbying for funding for Southern Highlands irrigation
  

  While in China:

• 2013/04/09: CCurrrents: China's Infinite-Growth Haze
• 2013/04/12: NBF: Some who call themselves Environmentalists are Hypocritical about China's Nuclear, Wind and Solar Power
• 2013/04/09: DD: Why China is doubling down on nuclear power
  

  And elsewhere in Asia:

• 2013/04/08: CCurrrents: Environmental Agenda Unnoticed In Pakistan Polls
  

  And South America:

• 2013/04/14: BBC: People in Venezuela are voting in a presidential election, called after the death of Hugo Chavez
• 2013/04/14: al Jazeera: Washington's war on Cuba and Venezuela
  From the Kissinger files to 'Cablegate', America's counter-productive campaign only served to inflame public opinion.
• 2013/04/14: al Jazeera: Venezuela votes to choose new president
  Acting President Maduro "ready to accept" outcome, while opposition candidate Capriles has questioned fairness of race.
• 2013/04/13: RT: Chavez copycat vs. US poster boy: 'Either way prospects not good for Venezuela'
• 2013/04/11: al Jazeera: Venezuela candidates rally voters
  Chavez's chosen "son" Maduro and rival Capriles race to make last-ditch appeal at mass rallies before Sunday's election.
• 
  

  In Canada, neocon PM Harper, aka The Blight, pushes petroleum while ignoring climate change:

   

• 2013/04/13: MSimon: Joe Oliver and the Pipeline Parable
• 2013/04/12: PI:B: What Minister Oliver didn't read [IEA scenarios]
• 2013/04/11: G&M: Researcher blames Harper government for 'disintegration' of climate debate
  The Harper government needs to take the partisan poison out of the country's climate debate and enact new policies or fail in its international commitments to reduce emissions, says Diana Carney, top researcher at [Canada 2020] a progressive think tank in Ottawa. In a paper released Thursday, Ms. Carney said climate change has become the "third rail" of Canadian politics, with the government using it so aggressively as a "wedge issue" that reasonable debate has been lost. And she placed the blame squarely at the feet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
• 2013/04/11: CBC: Federal Liberals lead Conservatives in new poll
• 2013/04/10: SaskBoy: Peter Kent Didn't Age Well -- Kent looks the same... but his mind has left him
• 2013/04/10: CBC: Kent announces new funds to reduce short-lived pollutants - soot, CH4 & HFCs
• 2013/04/10: PostMedia: Peter Kent announces new [soot & CH4] climate change initiative in U.S.
• 2013/04/09: EmbassyMag: Washington mission promised cap and trade on website
  Until Embassy asked questions, site was promoting older Harper government climate commitments.
  For almost two years after the Conservative government had stopped publicly committing to its 2008 campaign promise to implement a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases, that promise and others remained on a popular website run by Canada's embassy in Washington. After Embassy asked the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on April 5 why a webpage on connect2canada.com contained a promise to "implement a North America-wide cap and trade system for greenhouse gases," the department removed the statement and others from the page. "The information was out of date. Thank you for pointing it out. It has since been removed," said Amanda Reid, a DFAIT spokesperson, in a phone call later in the day on April 5.
• 2013/04/09: TreeHugger: Canadian government learns from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy about how to stifle dissent
• 2013/04/07: iPolitics: Four reasons why Harper can cold-shoulder the climate
  

  The IdleNoMore movement is not going away:

• 2013/04/10: TheCanadian: First Nation Taking on Canada-China Trade Deal Needs Your Help
  

  The Liberal party is voting on leadership from April 7th to April 14th:

• 2013/04/14: WpgFP: Federal Liberals set to anoint new leader, Trudeau a virtual shoo-in
• 2013/04/13: CBC: How Justin Trudeau grew from poster boy to leader-in-waiting
• 2013/04/13: CBC: Liberals' 'supporter' experiment put to the test
  

  And the NDP had a conference in Montreal this week as well:

• 2013/04/13: TStar: NDP convention focuses on plan to take on Stephen Harper in next election
• 2013/04/13: CPW: NDP Convention 2013: Resolution on Electoral Reform
• 2013/04/13: CPW: NDP Convention 2013: Resolution on Idle No More, Aboriginal Peoples
• 2013/04/13: WpgFP: NDP presents air of moderation during party's policy convention
• 2013/04/13: CBC: NDP convention marks 2015 campaign kick-off, Mulcair says
• 2013/04/12 CBC: Mulcair rallies NDP supporters with middle-class message
  Delegates vote 92.3 per cent in favour of Mulcair's leadership on Day 2 two of convention
• 2013/04/12: CBC: Tom Mulcair focus of NDP convention's second day -- Mulcair's leadership to be voted on at NDP convention
• 2013/04/12: CBC: The weekend for retooling Canada's opposition parties -- New leader for the Liberals, new policies for the NDP?
• 2013/04/12: CBC: Bonjour, Montreal! NDP convention set to kick off this afternoon
• 2013/04/11: CBC: 7 NDP policy resolutions unlikely to hit the convention floor this weekend
• 2013/04/09: CBC: Dolphin freedom! Cuban solidarity! Alright, NDP policy wonks: It's (nearly) showtime!
• 2013/04/08: CBC: New Democrats to discuss political co-operation at [policy] convention
  

  Qualification for being allowed to comment on the Northern Gateway pipeline has become an issue in itself:

• 2013/04/13: NEB: [links to several pdfs] Joint Review Panel potential conditions documents
• 2013/04/12: CBC: Northern Gateway panel releases 199 pipeline conditions
• 2013/04/12: PostMedia: Northern Gateway faces 199 possible conditions -- National Energy Board seeks comment on long list of pipeline limits
  A shopping list of 199 proposed conditions have been compiled by the National Energy Board as it reviews the Northern Gateway pipeline project to bring Alberta crude to the B.C. coast. The conditions include $950 million in insurance to cover cleanup, remediation and damages from project operations and "ready cash" of at least $100 million that can be accessed within 10 business days of a large spill. Both the national agency and the builder, Calgary-based Enbridge Inc., emphasized on Friday that the conditions are being released to solicit comment and are not necessarily going to be part of the agreement if the line is approved.
• 2013/04/10: TheCanadian: Globe and Mail Editorial on Undemocratic Changes to Public Process re: Pipelines
• 2013/04/10: WCEL: NEB should abandon undemocratic limits on public comment
• 2013/04/08: WCEL: On Greenwashing Canada's Enviro-Assessment Laws
• 2013/04/08: CBC: NEB hearings application form called undemocratic -- Enbridge will be 1st test of new rules for who qualifies to comment on projects
• 2013/04/08: CPW: New undemocratic rules barrier to public participation in Enbridge's Line 9 pipeline hearings
  Rules "a consequence of weakened federal environmental laws under Bill C-38"
• 
  

  The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

   

• 2013/04/13: TheCanadian: Enbridge Review Panel's Skimpy Insurance Requirements Fail to Reassure Public
  

  And on the fabled West-East line:

• 2013/04/09: Rabble:MA: A primer on TransCanada's West-East pipeline
• 2013/04/08: PostMedia: Montreal part of Enbridge pipeline project review
  Montreal wants a say in a plan to ship oil by pipeline from Western Canada to Montreal. The city's economic development and environment departments will prepare a report for a National Energy Board review of Enbridge's Line 9B pipeline project, Sarah Shirley, a spokesperson for Montreal's executive committee, said Monday.
• 
  

  The ISA/PRV/IHN/Alpha virus in Canadian waters is potentially disastrous:

   

• 2013/04/13: AlexandraMorton: All Bark and Bite
• 2013/04/13: Mercola: Salmon Confidential -- How a Canadian Government Cover-Up Threatens Your Health, and the Entire Ecosystem
  

  In BC, the stage is set for the May 14th election. Now what will Clark and Dix do?

• 2013/04/13: ElectionPrediction: British Columbia Provincial Election 2013
• 2013/04/13: Tyee: The Fish Protection that Got Away -- BC needs to step in to fill gaps made in Ottawa
• 2013/04/12: TheCanadian: BC NDP Promises to Expand Carbon Tax, Abandon 'Revenue-Neutral' Structure
• 2013/04/12: Tyee: How to Modernize BC's 100-Year-Old 'Water Act' -- At risk is nature's lifeblood
• 2013/04/11: PI: Pembina reacts to B.C. New Democrat Party's promise to broaden carbon tax
• 2013/04/11: CBC: 12-year-old girl's heartfelt letter saves B.C. forest
• 2013/04/10: Tyee: Clark's Gas Export Optimism Floats on Cloudy Numbers -- Reports, high-level industry sources suggest BC Liberal estimates are unrealistic
• 2013/04/09: WpgFP: With a week to go before writ is dropped, B.C. leaders say they're ready
• 2013/04/09: TheCanadian: Opinion: Light Rail Trams Trump Rapid Buses for Transportation Solution
• 2013/04/07: TheCanadian: Laila Yuile: Don't Open BC's Coast to US Coal Exports
  

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2013/04/12: TheCanadian: Supreme Court Rejects Athabasca Chipewyan Tar Sands Case
• 2013/04/12: TheCanadian: Respected Scientist: Believing in 'Clean' Tar Sands Like Believing in 'Magic Fairies'
• 2013/04/11: Tyee: Oil Sands 'Money Left on the Table' and More Myths
  Economist Robyn Allan on why Canadian petro fortunes aren't hurt by lack of pipelines.
• 2013/04/11: Macleans: Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal over Jackpine tarsands expansion in Alberta
• 2013/04/10: SkS: 2013 SkS News Bulletin #7: Alberta Tar Sands and Keystone XL Pipeline by John Hartz
• 2013/04/09: G&M: Alberta, industry face wide gap on carbon tax
  Alberta's energy industry is pushing for carbon taxes half as high as what government has proposed, with oil sands companies lobbying for less stringent goals that would leave the province short of meeting its emissions goals. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has suggested the province target a 20-per-cent reduction in per-barrel emissions, and a $20-per-tonne tax on those unable to comply, according to a provincial document.
• 2013/04/08: PostMedia: Carbon tax called a threat to oilsands projects -- Higher costs may be justified if Keystone XL is approved: analysis
  A proposal to increase Alberta's carbon levy to $40 per tonne and target a 40 per cent cut in carbon emissions from big emitters could affect the viability of thermal oilsands projects, a Calgary investment bank warns. But FirstEnergy Capital added in a research report published Monday morning that the additional costs may be a justifiable trade-off if the plan convinces U.S. President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline.
• 2013/04/08: TheCanadian: Alberta Scientist Connects Fish Deformities with Alberta Tar Sands
  

  Also in Alberta:

• 2013/04/10: GreenPeaceCanada: Fact-checking Premier Redford's speech in Washington
• 2013/04/10: TheCanadian: Greenpeace Blog: Fact-checking Alberta Premier's Pro-Pipeline Speech in Washington, DC
• 2013/04/10: CBC: Pipeline rejection bad for U.S.-Canada relations, says Redford
• 2013/04/09: PI:B: Albertans don't just pay to ride the resource rollercoaster -- they risk having to clean up once the carnival leaves town
• 2013/04/08: PostMedia: Alberta's carbon tax would more than triple under government's proposal
  The Alberta government is awaiting industry feedback on a controversial proposal to increase the provincial carbon tax to $40 from $15, Energy Minister Ken Hughes said Monday. The idea has reignited debate about Alberta's carbon levy, with critics calling the proposed increase a "shocking, disruptive and unilateral" move while supporters say it could mark a "substantial strengthening" of environmental protection efforts.
• 2013/04/09: CTV: Alberta premier [Redford] returns to D.C. to lobby for Keystone XL pipeline
  

  In Manitoba, flooding is possible. There is a lot of snow and it depends on how fast it melts, as well as what happens upstream:

• ManGovt: Flood Information
• 2013/04/11: CBC: Melita preps for flooding
• 2013/04/11: CBC: First Nations [2011] flood evacuees told to leave lodge
• 2013/04/10: ManGovt: Third spring flood outlook released for Manitoba
  Additional Snow, Delayed Spring Run-off Increases Flood Risk on Assiniboine, Souris Rivers
• 2013/04/10: CBC: Manitoba's former flood forecaster questions predictions
  Alf Warkentin says government wouldn't let him help inexperienced forecasters in 2011
• 2013/04/10: CBC: Flood risk rises for some Manitoba rivers -- Red River's flood risk remains at moderate to major
• 2013/04/07: CBC: Students to get credit for volunteering with flood fight
  

  Wynne is struggling to establish herself. Energy still looms large:

• 2013/04/14: BCLSB: The Cost Of Wind In Ontario
• 2013/04/11: BCLSB: Love Letters To Dalton McGuinty
• 2013/04/10: TStar: Ontario Liberals to replace G20 'secret law' with new legislation
• 2013/04/11: NatPo: Ontario paying a high price for Green Energy Act
• 2013/04/08: P3: Ontario Abolishes Coal
  

  In the North:

• 2013/04/11: EmbassyMag: Yukon ready to help on Arctic Council by Yukon Premier, Darrell Pasloski
• 2013/04/11: CBC: Nunavut Izok project to undergo environmental review
  

  As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

• 2013/04/11: CBC: GMO fears do not 'translate to the average consumer' -- Most Canadians not informed about GMOs, experts say
  

  And on the American political front:

• 2013/04/13: DD: Kansas's self-destruct button: A bill to outlaw sustainability
• 2013/04/12: Grist: Kansas may mandate unsustainable development
• 2013/04/11: CCP: ALEC fascism at work in Indiana - bill would make it illegal to photo or video fracking, clear-cutting, factory farming
• 2013/04/10: JFleck: The drought's Obama's fault
• 2013/04/10: DD: Four charts that show the U.S. spends too little on energy research
• 2013/04/10: TP:JR: California's Secret To Green Jobs And A Thriving Clean Economy? It's Policy.
• 2013/04/09: Grist: North Carolina joins rush to protect animal abusers
• 2013/04/08: AlterNet: Monsanto's Next Target: Democracy
• 2013/04/09: TP:JR: Nearly 80 Percent Of Americans Hit By Extreme Weather Disaster Since 2007, Report Finds
• 2013/04/11: TreeHugger: Thousands Gathering at Climate and Clean Energy Events Nationwide
• 2013/04/10: CSM: Sarah Palin Tesla slam: Is electric carmaker really a 'loser'?
• 2013/04/09: Wonkette: North Carolina Bill Would Require Criminal Background Checks For Food Stamp Applicants, Won't Even Give Them Guns
• 2013/04/09: ITracker: Quote of the Day
• 2013/04/08: Grist: For the price of the Iraq War, the U.S. could have gotten halfway to a renewable power system
• 2013/04/09: TreeHugger: State of Missouri bans Agenda 21; What would Harry Truman Say?
• 2013/04/09: TreeHugger: How ALEC is working to criminalize factory farm whistleblowers
• 2013/04/09: TreeHugger: Sustainable Development could be outlawed in Kansas
• 2013/04/08: Resilience: Bag the "Ag Gag" Bills -- Since when is it punishable to report criminal activity?
• 2013/04/08: TP:JR: McKibben: 'The Essential Cowardice Of Too Many Democrats Is Becoming An Ever More Fundamental Problem'
• 2013/04/08: BBerg: New York Renewable Power Plan Would Cost $382 Billion by 2030
  

  The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

• 2013/04/08: BBC: Deepwater Horizon: Gulf of Mexico 'deep-cleaned' itself
  

  Post-Sandy commentary and news:

• 2013/04/14: Grist: Koch brother gives $100 million to Hurricane Sandy-stressed hospital
• 2013/04/11: RT: Hurricane Sandy relief rules restrict New Yorkers from using cash to rebuild
  The federal government's current plan to compensate victims of Hurricane Sandy allocates funds for Long Island residents hoping to repair their homes, while forgetting to reimburse those affected within New York City limits.
• 2013/04/11: NOAANews: Sandy retired from list of Atlantic Basin tropical cyclone names
  

  The Keystone XL saga grinds slowly. And it grinds woe:

• 2013/04/12: OilChange: Redford Versus Redford Over KXL
• 2013/04/12: PostMedia: Redford versus Redford on Keystone pipeline -- Alberta premier takes on famous film actor
• 2013/04/11: Grist: Keystone XL protestor cleverly disrupts Valero golf tournament...
• 2013/04/10: WaPo:B: Can Congress overrule Obama on the Keystone XL pipeline?
  As the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power takes up legislation Wednesday to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline extension, the bill raises a key question: can Congress wrest the Keystone decision away from President Obama? The answer: Neither side knows exactly, but depending on the legislative language, Congress could very well pull it off.
• 2013/04/10: CJR: Keystone XL road trip
  New ebook from TED Books and The Washington Post takes readers down the pipeline's proposed path
• 2013/04/10: BBerg: Republicans Seize What They See as Keystone Momentum
  House Republicans pressed again today to take the decision on the Keystone XL pipeline away from President Barack Obama, after several earlier efforts in Congress have failed to win sufficient support.
• 2013/04/10: DCournoyer: Bitumen bubble deflates as Redford visits Washington D.C.
• 2013/04/10: CPW: Oklahoma Grandmother Locks Herself to Keystone XL Heavy Machinery
• 2013/04/09: CPW: New Progressive US Coalition Launches Keystone XL 'All Risk, No Reward' TV Ad
• 2013/04/09: GPTSR: Oklahoma Grandmother Locks Herself to Keystone XL Heavy Machinery - Halts Construction
• 2013/04/09: BWeek: Ex-Obama Aide Duels Ex-Kerry Staffers Over Keystone
  Supporters and opponents of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline have recruited former aides to Secretary of State John Kerry and President Barack Obama in dueling efforts to influence the White House.
• 2013/04/08: TP:JR: All Risk, No Reward: New Coalition Makes Compelling Case Against Keystone XL Pipeline
• 2013/04/07: CTV: Ad blitz aimed at White House as Keystone decision deadline nears
  Supporters and opponents of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline are launching ad campaigns south of the border in a last-ditch effort to influence the White House's final decision on the controversial project.
• 2013/04/07: TheHill:e2W: Keystone pipeline fight heats up as foes look to rally Democratic donors
  

  The Mayflower oil spill continues to weigh heavily on the Keystone decision:

• ICN: The Exxon Oil Spill in Mayflower, Ark. - Slide Show of Annotated Photographs and Maps
• ICN: Inside the Exxon Oil Spill in Arkansas
• EPA-OSC: (E13611) Exxon Pipeline Mayflower Arkansas Oil Spill
• 2013/04/13: EneNews: CNN: Looks like the Exxon Valdez was cracked open in middle of Arkansas - Town turned into La Brea tar pits (video)
• 2013/04/13: EneNews: New flyover of U.S. pipeline rupture - Pilot: Either oil is still gushing, or it isn't washing away (video & photos)
• 2013/04/13: DeSmogBlog: Arkansas Hires Notorious Private Contractor To Clean Up Mayflower Tar Sands Spill, Same Firm Also Contracted For KXL
• 2013/04/12: TreeHugger: Exxon pipeline rupture is 22 feet long, indicating immense pressure, possible criminal negligence
• 2013/04/12: ICN: Exxon's 22-Foot Rupture Illustrates Tremendous Operating Pressure of Oil Pipelines
• 2013/04/11: OilChange: Exxon Pressures Arkansas TV Stations To Ban Critical Ad Following Mayflower Tar Sands Spill
• 2013/04/11: Resilience: Exxon's Comprehensive Commitment to Safety Excellence
• 2013/04/11: EneNews: Colbert: Clearly Exxon is taking oil spill seriously or they wouldn't have used the 'quilted' paper towels (video)
• 2013/04/11: SouthernStudies: Arkansas TV stations pull ad criticizing Exxon after legal threats
• 2013/04/12: TreeHugger: As Exxon censors local media, citizen journalists document Arkansas oil spill. Can the pros be doing more?
• 2013/04/11: TreeHugger: Storm hits Mayflower, Arkansas site of Exxon oil spill. Contaminated water pumped into Lake Conway as citizen journalists report live
• 2013/04/11: ICN: Exxon Didn't Know Its Pipeline Ruptured Until Called by Arkansas Authorities. Or Did It?
  Police transcripts show Exxon employees arrived on the scene an hour after the emergency was first reported by a resident dialing 911.
• 2013/04/11: CCP: Exxon threatens Little Rock TV station, causing them to pull "Exxon Hates Your Children" ad, following Mayflower, Arkansas, Pegasus pipeline tar sands spill
• 2013/04/11: CCP: Arkansas AG Dustin McDaniel says Exxon's Pegasus oil pipeline gash 22 feet long
• 2013/04/10: Corrente: A Day in the Life: A working journalist reports on the Exxon Pegasus Pipeline spill in Mayflower, AK
• 2013/04/10: DeSmogBlog: Stephen Colbert Highlights DeSmog's Exxon Arkansas Tar Sands Spill No Fly Zone Investigation
• 2013/04/10: DeSmogBlog: ExxonMobil Arkansas Tar Sands Pipeline Gash 22 Feet Long, Attorney General McDaniel Confirms
• 2013/04/10: CDreams: Rewarding Exxon, Which We Love, and Never Mind That Little Problem In Arkansas, or That Spill in New Orleans, or That Ole Exxon Valdez Incident A While Back, or....
• 2013/04/10: OilChange: Arkansas: Exxon's latest spill and spin zone
• 2013/04/10: HuffPo: Arkansas Oil Spill Health Complaints Emerge In Mayflower
• 2013/04/10: TreeHugger: Severe weather threatens Exxon oil spill cleanup, Mayflower residents feel health effects, lawyers discuss class action lawsuit and more
• 2013/04/10: CCP: Exxon's lying liars [Ken Cohen] and the lying lies they tell about the tar sands [Wabasca heavy sour dilbit] spill in Mayflower, Arkansas
• 2013/04/10: ICN: Cove Where Exxon Oil Has Been Found Is Part of Lake Conway
  Local wetlands experts say that oil is in the lake, and Exxon tweaks its message.
• 2013/04/09: TarsandsBlockade: Dispatches From Exxon's Spill Zone: The Cover-up Continues
• 2013/04/09: ICN: Exxon [Mayflower] Oil Spill Cleanup in Path of Severe Weather, Maybe a Tornado
• 2013/04/09: P3: Arkansas Bitumen Spill: Reporters Given "10 Seconds to Leave"
• 2013/04/09: ICN: Arkansans Want Exxon Pipeline Moved Out of a Watershed, and Nebraskans Take Note
• 2013/04/08: HuffPo: Exxon Fake Twitter Account Suspended After Mocking Oil Giant's Response To Spill
• 2013/04/08: AlterNet: 14 Things You Need to Know About the Horrifying Arkansas Oil Spill
• 2013/04/08: CNN: ExxonMobil faces lawsuit after Arkansas oil spill
  Residents file a class-action lawsuit, seeking more than $5 million in damages - ExxonMobil has promised to cover oil spill cleanup costs - A pipeline rupture allowed thousands of barrels of crude oil to flow into a residential area
• 2013/04/08: DeSmogBlog: As Their Oil Floods Arkansas Neighborhoods, Exxon Wins National Safety Award
• 2013/04/08: RT: Oil from Exxon spill in Arkansas flowing into wetlands
• 2013/04/08: KATV: First look at the Mayflower oil spill rupture site
• 2013/04/08: TreeHugger: Arkansas oil spill could be almost 300,000 gallons, video shows oil in wetland
• 2013/04/08: OilChange: Exxon's Paper Towel Clean Up
• 2013/04/07: RawStory: Activists claim Arkansas oil spill diverted into wetland
• 2013/04/07: CSM: ExxonMobil pipeline spill triggers lawsuit
  Two women who live near an ExxonMobil pipeline that ruptured last week and spilled thousands of barrels of oil in central Arkansas filed a federal lawsuit against the company on Friday.
• 2013/04/07: TarsandsBlockade: Dispatches From Exxon's Spill Zone, Days 3 and 4
  

  The GOP War on Women continues. See also:

• 2013/04/11: TP: Federal Appeals Court Explains Why Rubber Fetuses And High Schools Don't Mix
• 2013/04/11: Wonkette: Charming 'Pro-Life' Folks Remember Dr. Tiller By Threatening To Murder Everyone Working At Clinic
• 2013/04/11: CJR: On Plan B: a Dart for Dr. Manny
  A physician toes the party line on emergency contraceptives, and science takes a hit Leave it to Fox News Channel's Dr. Manny (Alvarez) to scare the audience away from open and honest discussion about emergency contraception.
• 2013/04/10: Salon: Arkansas Senate votes to defund Planned Parenthood and sex education
  The bill also bans funding for organizations that contract with abortion providers, like power and water companies
• 2013/04/08: CSW: Court ruling on morning-after pill: Scientific integrity in policymaking v. Obama administration politics
• 2013/04/08: WSWS: Kansas anti-abortion bill defines life as beginning "at fertilization"
• 2013/04/06: RawStory: New Kansas anti-abortion law orders doctors to lie to their patients
  Legislators in Kansas' Republican-led state House and Senate passed a draconian anti-abortion bill Friday night, including provisions that order physicians to tell their pregnant patients that breast cancer is a risk of abortion, a claim that has been thoroughly debunked.
• 
  

  The NorthWest coal export debate remains heated:

   

• 2013/04/09: TP:JR: Plans For One Coal Export Terminal In Oregon Dropped, Four Others Still Under Consideration
  

  The impacts of budgetary sequestration will begin to add up:

• 2013/04/13: WSWS: Washington state nuclear workers face layoffs after sequester cuts
• 2013/04/09: WSWS: Thousands of scientists protest US cuts to medical research
• 2013/04/03: WaPo:B: First phase of EPA furloughs begins April 21
  

  The Administration budget proposal arrived this week to great dismay:

• 2013/04/12: FDL: Obama Budget Proposes Privatizing Tennessee Valley Authority
• 2013/04/11 TRN: Obama Budget Plans on Replacing USDA Poultry Inspectors with Industry Self Regulation
• 2013/04/11: BBerg: Obama Budget Ponders Sale of Tennessee Valley Authority
• 2013/04/11: CCentral: Obama Budget Boosts Weather, Climate Funding
• 2013/04/11: Grist: Obama biofuel budget spills few details, still attacked by House GOP
• 2013/04/11: ScienceInsider: Obama's 2014 Science Budget: NSF Basks in Double-Digit Increase
• 2013/04/11: NatureN: Obama plays scientific favourites
  Some science agencies fare well in US president's budget request, but proposal will meet stiff resistance.
• 2013/04/11: SciNews: Obama seeks R&D funding boost in tough times -- Proposed FY 2014 budget lifts nondefense spending 9 percent
• 2013/04/11: ECT: Budget Ax Targets [LInHEAP] Heating Aid
  Supporters of a program that helps millions of low-income households pay their energy bills are expressing dismay at the Obama administration's plans to slash its funding. Spending on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program would be reduced to $2.97 billion in the fiscal 2014 spending package that President Obama unveiled April 10.
• 2013/04/10: USGS: President's 2014 USGS Budget Proposal Strengthens Science
• 2013/04/10: CSM: Obama budget boosts 'green energy,' but no olive branch to GOP
• 2013/04/10: ScienceInsider: Reactions to Obama's Science Budget
• 2013/04/10: ScienceInsider: Obama's 2014 Science Budget: Climate Change Research Gets a Warm Reception
• 2013/04/10: NOAANews: Statement from Dr. Kathyrn Sullivan on NOAA's FY 2014 Budget Request
  

  Several confirmation hearings were scheduled for this week:

• 2013/04/12: CJR: McCarthy faces transparency questions -- Journalists, GOP demand more openness at EPA
• 2013/04/11: TP:JR: McCarthy EPA Hearing: GOP Senators Focused On Climate Denial, Email, And IM
• 2013/04/10: Grist: Sally Jewell will now be your interior secretary
  By a vote of 87 to 11, the Senate on Wednesday confirmed Obama's pick to be the next secretary of the interior: Sally Jewell.
• 2013/04/10: UCSUSA:B: AAAS Past Presidents Support Gina McCarthy for EPA Administrator
• 2013/04/10: ICN: Energy Nominee Ernest Moniz Backs Natural Gas 'Revolution'
• 2013/04/10: ICN: Energy Secretary Nominee Dodges Question On Gas Exports
• 2013/04/09: ScienceInsider: Moniz Treated Gently at Senate Confirmation Hearing
• 2013/04/09: CSM: Ernest Moniz: Where would he take Energy Department?
• 2013/04/09: DeSmogBlog: Ties That Bind: Ernest Moniz, Keystone XL Contractor, American Petroleum Institute and Fracked Gas Exports
• 2013/04/08: TP:JR: Energy Nominee Moniz: We Need Carbon Price To Double Or Triple Cost Of Dirty Energy
  

  Now that he doesn't need their vote any more, how will Obama treat liberals and their policy issues?

• 2013/04/13: TP:JR: New Yorker: 'Has Obama Already Given Up On Climate Change?'
• 2013/04/10: TP:JR: Let's Talk Climate, Mr. President
• 2013/04/10: Grist: Coal-mining jobs on the rise under Obama
• 2013/04/09: Guardian(UK): Olympians to Obama: climate change is jeopardising winter sports' survival
  

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2013/04/08: PEER: White House approves radical radiation cleanup rollback
  Civilian Cancer Deaths Expected to Skyrocket Following Radiological Incidents
  The White House has given final approval for dramatically raising permissible radioactive levels in drinking water and soil following "radiological incidents," such as nuclear power-plant accidents and dirty bombs. The final version, slated for Federal Register publication as soon as today, is a win for the nuclear industry which seeks what its proponents call a "new normal" for radiation exposure among the U.S population, according Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
  Issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, the radiation guides (called Protective Action Guides or PAGs) allow cleanup many times more lax than anything EPA has ever before accepted. These guides govern evacuations, shelter-in-place orders, food restrictions and other actions following a wide range of "radiological emergencies." The Obama administration blocked a version of these PAGs from going into effect during its first days in office. The version given approval late last Friday is substantially similar to those proposed under Bush but duck some of the most controversial aspects
  [...]
  "This is a public health policy only Dr. Strangelove could embrace. If this typifies the environmental leadership we can expect from Ms. McCarthy, then EPA is in for a long, dirty slog," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that the EPA package lacks a cogent rationale, is largely impenetrable and hinges on a series of euphemistic "weasel words."
• 2013/04/12: WaPo:B: It's official: EPA delays climate rule for new power plants
• 2013/04/13: DD: EPA delays climate rule for new power plants
• 2013/04/12: UCSUSA:B: Costly Climate Impacts Show Why We Need Power Plant Carbon Standards
• 2013/04/11: UCSUSA:B: White House Champions of Change Event Features Community Resilience Leaders
• 2013/04/08: UCSUSA: UCS Tells EPA: No More Food for Fuel
  EPA should stay committed to non-food cellulosic biofuels, allow industry to develop
• 
  

  As for what is going on in Congress:

   

• 2013/04/11: TP:JR: Malpractice Alert: Dr. Barrasso Ignores Science
• 2013/04/11: CSM: Why Joe Barton's biblical flood comment is so illogical
• 2013/04/11: RawStory: Inhofe: 'MoveOn.org, George Soros, Michael Moore' created global warming hoax
• 2013/04/11: Grist: Biblical flood means climate change isn't caused by humans, says Texas Rep. Joe Barton
• 2013/04/11: PSinclair: Smokey Joe Barton: Joe Camel's Oily Ally
• 2013/04/11: PSinclair: Smokey Joe, BP and the Bible
• 2013/04/11: Guardian(UK): US congressman cites biblical flood to dispute human link to climate change
  Texas Republican Joe Barton says deluge 'certainly wasn't because mankind had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy'
• 2013/04/10: TreeHugger: Republican Congressman cites Noah's Flood as evidence against climate change being caused by humans
• 2013/04/10: TP:JR: Congress: Where The Bible Disproves Science, And A Senator Tries To Torpedo An Admiral
• 2013/04/09: TripleCrisis: Subsidized Corn Destroying Global Bio-Diversity
• 2013/04/09: UCSUSA: As Farm Bill Drafting Starts Anew, Congress Should Prioritize Healthy Food and Farm Programs
  

  What are the lobbyists pushing?

• 2013/04/13: P3: Corporations: We Cannot Risk the Future on Climate Change Naysayers
• 2013/04/12: DD: Nike, Starbucks: Betting against climate scientists is 'false hope'...
• 2013/04/11: TP:JR: Nike, Starbucks, Intel: "We Cannot Risk Our Kids' Futures On The False Hope The Vast Majority Of Scientists Are Wrong"
• 2013/04/10: Grist: Just, um, do it? Climate action, sponsored by Nike
  The oil industry isn't the only business flexing its muscle in Washington. The Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy coalition, aka BICEP, today released a "Climate Declaration" urging Congress to do some heavy lifting on climate change and "asserting that a bold response to the climate challenge is one of the greatest American economic opportunities of the 21st century." Signatories include Nike, Starbucks, eBay, and 30 other companies, with a combined annual revenue of about $450 billion.
• 2013/04/09: CER:RRapier: Ethanol Lobby Agitates for E15 Mandate
  

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

• 2013/04/12: Guardian(UK): Let's stop hiding behind recycling and be honest about consumption [Monbiot]
• 2013/04/12: TCoE: On the concept of being sufficiently green
• 2013/04/12: RT: Capitalism is way to nowhere - Immortal Technique
• 2013/04/11: ERW: Insight: how the Jotï concept kyo jkainï could help the West live sustainably
• 2013/04/11: DerSpiegel: Red Gold: Saffron Cooperative Thrives amid Greek Crisis
  As the economic crisis ravages their country, a community of Greek farmers is prospering. Their cooperative specializes in saffron, the world's most expensive spice, which is keeping the community afloat and attracting global attention.
• 2013/04/09: SEasterbrook: Unsustainable
  

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

• 2013/04/13: al Jazeera: Philippine Catholics told to vote 'pro-life'
  Church says candidates in favour of divorce, abortion and birth control, shouldn't be supported in May elections.
• 2013/04/10: ABC(Au): Clashes as children protest against abortion
  There have been angry scenes outside Tasmania's Parliament as schoolchildren as young as nine protested against abortion. More than 200 people rallied against proposed changes to the state's laws to allow abortions up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy.
• 2013/04/08: Guardian(UK): Abortion refusal death: Hindu woman told Ireland 'is a Catholic country'
• 2013/04/08: BBC: Savita Halappanavar death: Inquest set to resume on Monday
  The inquest into the death of Savita Halappanavar, is to resume in Galway later. Ms Halappanavar, 31, was 17 weeks pregnant and miscarrying when she was admitted to University Hospital Galway on 21 October last year. Her husband, Praveen, has said that several times over a three-day period the family asked for the pregnancy to be terminated. He said this was refused because there was still a foetal heartbeat. He said that he was told: "This is a Catholic country."
• 2013/04/07: Guardian(UK): Uganda proposes ban on miniskirts in move against women's rights
  Anti-pornography bill would outlaw 'provocative' clothing on women, censor film and TV and restrict personal internet use
• 
  

  Apocalypso anyone?

   

• 2013/04/10: SciNow: Predicting Collapse
• 2013/04/08: CCurrrents: The Five Stages Of Collapse, By Dmitry Orlov, Reviewed
  

  How do the media measure up?

• 2013/04/13: DeSmogBlog: DeSmog's Kevin Grandia Featured in Rolling Stone's Fossil Fuel Resistance Edition [media]
• 2013/04/12: TP:JR: Sense And Sensitivity: How The Economist Got It Wrong On Warming
• 2013/04/11: al Jazeera:Haters gonna hate: Rory Carroll's Venezuela on NPR
• 2013/04/08: CJR: Networks lose two veteran science reporters -- ABC News and NBC News say they will replace Potter and Bazell
• 2013/04/07: JKB: James Delingpole: 'Hanging is far too good for such ineffable toerags'
• 2013/04/08: QuarkSoup: Delingpole: All Bluster, no Content
• 2013/04/07: TP:JR: Denier Delingpole Wishes For 'Climate Nuremberg', Says 'Hanging Is Far Too Good' For Climate Scientists!
  

  Here is something for your library:

• 2013/04/10: LoE: My book compared to Merchants of Doubt
  

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2013/04/13: ERabett: Good Business
• 2013/04/12: TheConversation: Chasing Ice bewitches eyes but won't change minds
• 2013/04/11: PSinclair: Smokey Joe, BP and the Bible
• 2013/04/11: TCoE: Andy Lee Robinson strikes again
• 2013/04/09: HotWhopper: Thin Ice
• 2013/04/08: CChallenge: A video and lecture tour of our Global Heat Distribution Engine...
• 2013/04/08: GreenGrok: End of Life Film Wins Best Environmental Documentary Award
• 2013/04/08: RealClimate: Thin Ice -- the movie
• 2013/04/08: TheCanadian: Video: Eco-Footprint Founder Dr. Bill Rees on Resources, the 7 Billion and You
  

  As for podcasts:

• 2013/04/13: CBC:Q&Q: #5) Humans Caused Bird Extinctions in Pacific Islands
• 2013/04/03: WYPR: Climate Engineering is a Controversial "Plan B" for Global Warming
  

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2013/04/12: TheCanadian: Supreme Court Rejects Athabasca Chipewyan Tar Sands Case
• 2013/04/11: Macleans: Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal over Jackpine tarsands expansion in Alberta
• 2013/04/10: Grist: Michigan neighbors sue to shut down new wind farm
• 2013/04/09: BBerg: Exxon Mobil Is Found Negligent in New Hampshire MTBE Use
  A New Hampshire jury said Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) should pay $236 million in damages after it found the company negligent when it added MTBE to gasoline and contaminated the state's drinking water. Exxon Mobil, the last defendant in the state's lawsuit, had been on trial since Jan. 14 in Concord. The jury announced a partial verdict today on liability about two hours after it began deliberations. The verdict on damages came about an hour after that. The company said it will appeal.
• 2013/04/09: TP:JR: Poisoning The Water Hole: Exxon Loses In Court, Will Appeal
• 2013/04/09: Grist: Judge blocks oil fracking on federal land in California
• 2013/04/08: CNN: ExxonMobil faces lawsuit after Arkansas oil spill
• 2013/04/08: SacBee: NH's $236M suit against Exxon Mobil to go to jury
  Jurors in New Hampshire's groundwater contamination case against Exxon Mobil were asked to decide whether the state is seeking a scapegoat or the oil company was protecting its profits, not the environment, when it added MTBE to its gasoline. The marathon trial neared its end Monday with closing arguments. Each side spent time bashing their opponents' expert witnesses, accusing each other of exaggeration and painting different pictures of the extent of MTBE contamination in New Hampshire's drinking water.
• 2013/04/08: NOLA: Federal appeals court to hear climate change suit in New Orleans
• 2013/04/08: BBerg: U.S. Failed to Take 'Hard Look' at Fracking, Judge Rules
  The U.S. Bureau of Land Management violated an environmental law by failing to take the necessary "hard look" at the impact of hydraulic fracturing when it sold oil and gas leases in California, a federal judge said. U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal in San Jose, California, said the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act by relying on outdated reviews conducted before the extraction process known as fracking spurred massive development of energy deposits when the U.S. sold four leases for 2,700 acres of federal land in California's Monterey and Fresno counties.
• 2013/04/07: CSM: ExxonMobil pipeline spill triggers lawsuit
  Two women who live near an ExxonMobil pipeline that ruptured last week and spilled thousands of barrels of oil in central Arkansas filed a federal lawsuit against the company on Friday.
• 
  

  It looks like this BP trial over the Gulf oil spill is going to take a long while:

   

• 2013/04/08: BBerg: BP Drilled Safely Expert Says as Spill Defense Begins
  BP Plc opened it's defense in the sprawling lawsuit over the 2010 explosion of its Gulf of Mexico oil rig and resulting offshore spill, the worst in U.S. history, by presenting a witness who testified today in New Orleans federal court that the U.K.-based energy company drilled the Macondo well in a safe manner.
• 
  

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

   

• 2013/04/11: Guardian(UK): The Turkish 'power ship' keeping the lights on in Lebanon
  A ship moored off Beirut is helping Lebanon overcome electricity shortages -- and many developing countries may follow suit
• 2013/04/11: BBerg: Geothermal Energy Expected to More Than Double by 2030 [worldwide]
• 2013/04/11: EIA:TiE: Year-to-date natural gas use for electric power generation is down from 2012
• 2013/04/11: Grist: Ending the stupid technology innovation vs. deployment fight once and for all
• 2013/04/11: Grist: How can we boost distributed solar and save utilities at the same time?
• 2013/04/10: TP:JR: How 100 Percent Renewable Energy Could Be Cost-Effective For Australia By 2030
• 2013/04/10: TheConversation: Baseload power is a myth: even intermittent renewables will work
• 2013/04/10: DD: Four charts that show the U.S. spends too little on energy research
• 2013/04/10: UCSUSA:B: [link to 2.7 meg pdf] Renewables are Ramping Up to Notable Levels in the U.S.
• 2013/04/10: al Jazeera: Fiji fights to stay afloat as fuel costs soar
  Rising petrol prices have disrupted the ocean travel needed to reach Fiji's far-flung islands.
• 2012/02/07: JChowdhury: US Electric Industry Overview
• 2013/04/11: Grist:A clear, comprehensive overview of the U.S. electricity system
• 2013/04/09: P3: Emission-Free Methane Power?
• 2013/04/12: NBF: Some who call themselves Environmentalists are Hypocritical about China's Nuclear, Wind and Solar Power
• 2013/04/14: TP:JR: Is 70% Renewable Power Possible? Portugal Just Did It For 3 Months
• 2013/04/08: BBerg: New York Renewable Power Plan Would Cost $382 Billion by 2030
  New York would need about $382 billion and wind turbines covering an area equivalent to 13 percent of the state's land mass if it followed a Cornell University plan to derive all of its power from renewables. Robert Howarth, a Cornell ecology professor, suggested last month the state could get half its power from wind and enough from solar, tidal and other forms of clean energy to replace fossil fuels by 2030. The plan for 254 gigawatts of generation capacity would cost about $1.5 million a megawatt, or $382 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
• 
  

  What do you have in energy comparisons and transitions?

   

• 2013/04/12: TheConversation: Electricity prices fall: renewable energy deserves merit
• 2013/04/12: Grist: Rooftop solar vs. utilities: The San Antonio episode
• 2013/04/12: Resilience: Can the Utility Industry Survive the Energy Transition?
• 2013/04/10: Grist: Solar panels could destroy U.S. utilities, according to U.S. utilities
  

  If they can be accessed, there are enough methane hydrates to ensure we are well and truly screwed:

• 2013/04/07: NGEurope: Methane Hydrates: A Second Gas Revolution?
  

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

• 2013/04/13: ABC(Au): Fracking - what would Jesus do?
• 2013/04/11: RealEconomics: Shale gas -- an idea that smells of failure and fraud
• 2013/04/10: BBC: Fracking 'not significant' cause of large earthquakes
  New research suggests that fracking is not a significant cause of earthquakes that can be felt on the surface.
• 2013/04/09: EurActiv: Shale-rich Spanish region votes to ban fracking
• 2013/04/09: Grist: Judge blocks oil fracking on federal land in California
• 2013/04/09: BBerg: Shale Gas Isn't a Low-Emissions Fuel -- Yet
• 2013/04/09: PSinclair: Don't Count on Cheap, Fracked Gas Part 2
  

  On the gas and oil front:

• 2013/04/12: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Dated Brent Spot....103.11
  WTI Cushing Spot.....91.29
• 2013/04/12: Resilience: 5 Reasons Why Oil Companies Get Away With Overblown Field Esimates
• 2013/04/09: Reuters: Brazil says Chevron can restart offshore oil output
• 2013/04/09: NBF: United State top total oil producing country at the end of 2012
• 2013/04/07: Resilience: Aging giant oil fields, not new discoveries are the key to future oil supply
  

  And in pipeline news:

• 2013/04/11: TheCanadian: Ten Oil Spills in Two Weeks
• 2013/04/11: DeSmogBlog: Infographic: 13 Oil Spills in 30 Days: The Dirty Business of Moving Oil
• 2013/04/11: WSWS: Detroit area gas explosion reveals deadly state of pipeline infrastructure
• 2013/04/10: Grist: Using aging, retrofitted pipelines to ship oil -- what could go wrong?
• 2013/04/08: ICN: Upstart Pipeline Company Staking Its Future on Stopping Heavy Oil Corrosion
  The oil industry knows heavy oil is more corrosive than sweet crude, and MesoCoat says it has pipe-coating technology to solve the problem.
• 2013/04/08: Grist: Why tar-sands pipelines are just too risky
  

  Marvelous! Now the USA have their own Mechanical Mordor:

• 2013/04/12: CSM: New technology could mean tar sands production in US
  

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2013/04/13: Resilience: Peak Oil as seen through the eyes of Arab oil producers
• 2013/04/13: CCurrents: Peak Oil As Seen Through The Eyes Of Arab Oil Producers by Robert Hirsch
• 2013/04/12: CSM: The decline of the world's major oil fields
• 2013/04/10: GreenGrok: Peak Oil Flip Flop
• 2013/04/10: EarlyWarning: Seven Years More Data in the Hubbert Model
• 2013/04/08: EarlyWarning: Should The Last Few Years Have Updated Your Idea of Peak Oil?
  

  The answer my friend...:

• 2013/04/12: TreeHugger: U.S. had 45,100 wind turbines at the end of 2012, a growth of 28% over 2011
• 2013/04/12: UCSUSA:B: California Sets New Record for Wind Generation
• 2013/04/10: TreeHugger: New wind energy harvester design looks like giant window blinds
• 2013/04/10: Resilience: After Record 2012, World Wind Power Set to Top 300,000 Megawatts in 2013
• 2013/04/09: ABC(Au): Wind power has limits
  Wind power is undoubtedly valuable for generating electricity, but researchers say they have found evicence that the more you use the resource, the less of it there is.
• 2013/04/09: RTCC: World's largest offshore windfarm opens off UK coast
  The largest offshore windfarm on the planet is now connected to the UK national grid and producing electricity.
• 
  

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

   

• NREL: [5 meg jpg] Best Research Cell Efficiencies
• 2013/04/13: Grist: Solar grows up -- now what?
• 2013/04/13: RealEconomics: Desertec -- a good idea in trouble?
• 2013/04/12: BBerg: Germany's Photovolt Development Plans 400MW Solar Farm
• 2013/04/12: KSJT: Solar energy finally a heavyweight? Insider report says utilities must adapt or die. Big media so far silent
• 2013/04/11: NBF: Concentrated solar power could boost Natural Gas Plants by 20% for Hybrid solar - natural gas plants at 6 cents per kwh by 2020
• 2013/04/10: Resilience: Building a Solar Economy: 4 Lessons from Hawaii
• 2013/04/09: TP:JR: Toward Perpetuity: Global Solar Is Skyrocketing, Will Soon Be Net Positive Energy Source
• 2013/04/08: TreeHugger: All solar efficiency breakthroughs since 1975 on a single chart
• 2013/04/08: Eureka: Global solar photovoltaic industry is likely now a net energy producer
• 2013/04/08: TreeHugger: Solar power has reached grid parity in India and Italy
• 2013/04/08: BBerg: Martifer Opens Five Projects in Record Quarter for U.K. Solar
  

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2013/04/12: NBF: Oilsand taxes will pay for Molten Salt Reactor development. MSR will provide steam for $200 billion per year of oil. MSR will free us from oil for better energy future
• 2013/04/11: TheConversation: Serious about emissions? It's time to embrace nuclear
• 2013/04/10: WSBTV: Credit agencies eyeing Plant Vogtle cost overruns
  As the cost of building a new nuclear plant in Georgia rises, credit rating agencies are taking critical notice. Four power utilities -- Georgia Power, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, Oglethorpe Power and the City of Dalton -- are building a first-of-its-kind nuclear plant about 30 miles southeast of Augusta. That project was originally expected to cost roughly $14 billion, but it has fallen behind schedule by more than a year and is expected to exceed its budget.
• 2013/04/09: Grist: All U.S. nuclear reactors are too dangerous, says former nuke-safety chief [Gregory Jaczko]
• 2013/04/09: DD: Why China is doubling down on nuclear power
• 2013/04/08: EneNews: Former Top U.S. Nuclear Official [Gregory Jaczko]: U.S. nuclear plants should be phased out - "Can't guarantee against accident causing widespread land contamination"
• 2013/04/08: PEER: White House approves radical radiation cleanup rollback
  Civilian Cancer Deaths Expected to Skyrocket Following Radiological Incidents
  The White House has given final approval for dramatically raising permissible radioactive levels in drinking water and soil following "radiological incidents," such as nuclear power-plant accidents and dirty bombs. The final version, slated for Federal Register publication as soon as today, is a win for the nuclear industry which seeks what its proponents call a "new normal" for radiation exposure among the U.S population, according Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
  Issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, the radiation guides (called Protective Action Guides or PAGs) allow cleanup many times more lax than anything EPA has ever before accepted. These guides govern evacuations, shelter-in-place orders, food restrictions and other actions following a wide range of "radiological emergencies." The Obama administration blocked a version of these PAGs from going into effect during its first days in office. The version given approval late last Friday is substantially similar to those proposed under Bush but duck some of the most controversial aspects
  [...]
  "This is a public health policy only Dr. Strangelove could embrace. If this typifies the environmental leadership we can expect from Ms. McCarthy, then EPA is in for a long, dirty slog," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that the EPA package lacks a cogent rationale, is largely impenetrable and hinges on a series of euphemistic "weasel words."
• 
  

  Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:

   

• 2013/04/12: DerSpiegel: Radiating Remnants: Nuclear Waste Barrels Litter English Channel
  German journalists have discovered barrels of radioactive waste on the floor of the English Channel, just a handful of thousands dumped there decades ago. It was previously thought the material had dissipated. Now politicians are calling for the removal of the potentially harmful containers. Some 28,500 containers of radioactive waste were dropped into the English Channel between 1950 and 1963. Experts have assumed that the containers had long since rusted open, spreading the radioactivity throughout the ocean and thus rendering it innocuous. But a new investigative report from the joint French-German public broadcaster ARTE has concluded that the waste is still intact at the bottom of the sea.
• 
  

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

   

• 2013/04/11: ABC(Au): Solar [feed in] tariff will remain 'fair'
  The [Tasmanian] Energy Minister has moved to assure solar energy users the amount they get paid to feed power back into the grid will remain fair when competition is introduced next year.
• 2013/04/10: PSinclair: Feed In Tariffs to Vault Japanese Solar Industry
  

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

• 2013/04/10: TreeHugger: Researchers discover way to produce hydrogen fuel from any plant
• 2013/04/09: CleanBreak: Catalyst breakthrough *could* change economics of hydrogen energy storage
  

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

• 2013/04/11: NWWorld: Hackers could start abusing electric car chargers to cripple the grid, researcher says
  If we don't start securing systems today, it will become a problem in 10 years, the researcher said
• 
  

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

   

• 2013/04/13: SciAm:PI: A World Record for Energy-Efficient Lighting
• 2013/04/12: TreeHugger: Philips shows breakthrough 200 lumens/watt warm white LED lamp
• 2013/04/11: GizMag: A tale of two tests: why Energy Star LED light bulbs are a rare breed
• 2013/04/11: BBC: 'Most energy-efficient' LED light revealed by Philips
  

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

• 2013/04/12: TreeHugger: Cadillac ELR plug-in to have regen-on-demand paddles
• 2013/04/10: AutoBG: US public charging stations increase by 9% in first quarter
• 2013/04/10: AutoBG: Just 27 hydrogen refueling stations were installed in 2012, globally
  

  As for Energy Storage:

• 2013/04/13: AutoBG: Expert: Unsafe lithium-ion batteries mean EV sales predictions were off by "more than a factor of 10"
• 2013/04/10: Eureka: Understanding the life of lithium ion batteries in electric vehicles [5-20 year life]
• 2013/04/08: ETHZ: Tin nanocrystals for the battery of the future
  

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2013/04/14: ABC(Au): Insurance companies criticised over flood premiums
  Insurance companies are under fire for failing to reduce premiums for property owners who make changes to mitigate their flood risk. Queensland's Community Recovery and Resilience Minister, David Crisafulli, says people who spend money to lift their houses or tile the lower level of their property should have a reduced premium.
• 
  

  Who's fielding theFAQs?

   

• 2013/04/09: TheConversation: Explainer: what are algal biofuels?
  

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

• 2013/04/12: TP:JR: April 12 News...
• 2013/04/11: TP:JR: April 11 News...
• 2013/04/10: TP:JR: April 10 News...
• 2013/04/09: TP:JR: April 9 News...
• 2013/04/08: TP:JR: April 8 Bad News Bears...
  

  Other (weekly) lists:

• 2013/04/13: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #15B by John Hartz
• 2013/04/12: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #15A
• 2013/04/07: BPA: April Ag News
• 2013/04/10: ERabett: A List of Links
  

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2013/04/10: WottsUWT: Congrats to all the 2013 Bloggie Finalists and Winners!
• 2013/04/09: DeSmogBlog: Koch & Exxon-funded Willie Soon Challenged by Students at Climate Denial Event
• 2013/04/11: UKISS: Denier Comment of the Day April 11, 2013
• 2013/04/11: VVattsUWT: Whitelisting Doubleplus Good!
• 2013/04/10: CChallenge: Dear Society Driven Global Warming Skeptic: Can you outline the issues that need to be debated?
• 2013/04/12: HotWhopper: Anthony Watts is Extremely Hot on China
• 2013/04/12: TP:JR: Koch Comes Clean On Dirty Opposition To Cape Wind
• 2013/04/13: CCP: Puer Loony Viscount Monckton ridiculed in New Zealand for threatening academics at Victoria University
• 2013/04/13: CWars: Monckton now laughing stock of New Zealand
• 2013/04/12: MediaMatters: New Study Shows Once Again How "Climategate" Emails Were Distorted
• 2013/04/12: GLaden: The Link Between Climate Change Denialism and Fundamental Christianity
• 2013/04/12: CourthouseNews: Fired Koch Exec Fights to Advance Kidnapping Suit
• 2013/04/09: Grist: ExxonMobil wins safety award from corporate-backed group
• 2013/04/09: SciAm:PI: The well-funded and organized campaigns that influence climate change science online
• 2013/04/09: OParachute: Potty Peer in Waikato
• 2013/04/08: PSinclair: James Delingpole: The True Face of Denialism
• 2013/04/08: SciBlogs:GG: Monckton's nightmare week in New Zealand
  

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2013/04/10: RWER: Winning the fight for the climate, one community at a time
• 2013/04/10: SciAm: New Method Proves -- Again -- Climate Change Is Real
  In response to contrarian takes on the measurement of global average temperatures, climate scientist demonstrates global warming via historic ocean temperatures and air pressure
• 2013/04/13: SimpleC: Alternate histories back unique modern warmth claims
• 2013/04/08: P3: Abstraction, Inaction
• 2013/04/12: GreenGrok: Climate Change Chatter [quotes]
• 2013/04/08: S&R: Wheatless in Hampstead
• 2013/04/08: Maribo: Can climate science live up to expectations?
  

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

• CryoList
• NOAA: Coral Reef Watch
• ManGovt: Flood Information
• JChowdhury
• Geoengineering News
• Wiki: Dansgaard-Oeschger event
• NREL: [5 meg jpg] Best Research Cell Efficiencies
• European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2013 - Vienna, Austria, April 7-12
• UN: United Nations Forum on Forests
• ICN: The Exxon Oil Spill in Mayflower, Ark. - Slide Show of Annotated Photographs and Maps
• ICN: Inside the Exxon Oil Spill in Arkansas
• Wiki: Thinking like a mountain
• GBA: GreenBuildingAdvisor -- Designing, Building and Remodeling Green Homes
• EPA-OSC: (E13611) Exxon Pipeline Mayflower Arkansas Oil Spill

Low Key Plug

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

A Simple Plea

Webmasters, web coders and content providers have mercy on your low bandwidth brethren. Because I am on dial-up, I am a text surfer -- no images, no javascript and no flash. When you post a graphic, will you please use the alt text field ... and when you embed a youtube/vimeo/flash video, please add some minimal description. Thank you.

<regards>

-het

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

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

"We are worthless without water." -Wes Perry, oilman & mayor of Midland Texas

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