Another Week of Climate Disruption News, April 20, 2014

By illconsidered on April 22, 2014.

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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Sipping from the Internet Firehose...

April 20, 2014

Chuckles, Invective, Pix, COP20+, Post WG3, Wang et al., Murder, Energiewende
Bottom Line, Subsidies, World Bank, EcoCrime, Cook
Fukushima: Note, News, Policies
Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
Food: Crisis, Fisheries, Prices, OSSI, Land Grabs, GMOs, GMO Labelling, Production
Hurricanes, Notable Weather, GHGs, C Cycle, N Cycle, Aerosols, Volcanoes
ENSO, Temperatures, Satellites, Paleoclimate, Futures, Attribution
Oceans, Biosphere, Extinctions, Bees & CCD
Impacts, Forests, Climate Refugees, Smog & Health
Wildfires, Acidification, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
Mitigation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering
Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, Free Science
International Politics: UN, Hormuz, South China Sea, Treaties, Ukraine
Security, Activism, Resistance, Divestment, Polls, H2O Biz, Education
National Politics: Europe, Australia, Abbott, CSG, MDBP, Tas Forest Deal, O'Farrell
India, China, Japan, Africa, South America
Canada, Lac-Megantic, Grain Backlog, Pipelines, Salmon, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Maritimes
America, Keystone, Spills & Leaks, Birth Control, 2016, USAdmin, Congress, Lobbyists
Ecological Economics, DeGrowth, Recycling, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts, Mann Suit, BP Trials
Energy, Transitions, Clathrates, Energy Investments, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Fossil Fuel Corps
Oil Transportation, Peak Oil, Biofuel, Wind, Solar, Nukes, Nuclear Waste, Grid, Utilities, Cars, Energy Storage
Business, Other Lists, Quotes, Carbon Lobby, Recursive Fury, Misc., Useful Links
Shameless Self Promotion, A Simple Plea, .sig

Just to keep things in perspective:

This week in notable invective:

2014/04/20: TPride: Oops! Mail on Sunday hack f*cks up his story attacking food banks
2014/04/18: Wonkette: Human-Shaped Bag Of Greed BP Exec Will Have To Pay Monies To Government For Profiting From Oil Spill
2014/04/18: TPride: Jellyfish in intensive care after coming into contact with David Cameron
2014/04/16: Wonkette: Federal Judge Overturns North Dakota's 6-Week Abortion Ban - Armed Militias Surround Fetuses

Notable atmosphere pix:
2014/04/20: APOD: Ash and Lightning above an Icelandic Volcano
2014/04/15: APOD: Mammatus Clouds over Nebraska [in June, 2004]

Looking ahead to COP20 and future international climate negotiations:
Lots of Post WG3 chatter:
- IPCC:WG3: [Final Draft] Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change
- 2014/04/19: CleanTechnica: IPCC Report's Guidelines For Adequate Climate Combat
- 2014/04/18: TruthDig: The Energy Revolution Is In Reverse
- 2014/04/18: ERabett: Paul Krugman on WGIII
- 2014/04/18: JCBaez: New IPCC Report (Part 7) by Steve Easterbrook
- 2014/04/16: JCBaez: New IPCC Report (Part 6) by Steve Easterbrook
- 2014/04/14: JCBaez: New IPCC Report (Part 5) by Steve Easterbrook
- 2014/04/11: JCBaez: New IPCC Report (Part 4) by Steve Easterbrook
- 2014/04/10: JCBaez: New IPCC Report (Part 3) by Steve Easterbrook
- 2014/04/09: JCBaez: New IPCC Report (Part 2) by Steve Easterbrook
- 2014/04/07: JCBaez: New IPCC Report (Part 1) by Steve Easterbrook
- 2014/04/18: CPunch: Solving the Climate Crisis - UN Panel: Renewables, Not Nukes
- 2014/04/17: WNN: IPCC calls for energy transformation
- 2014/04/17: NYT: Salvation Gets Cheap - the economics of mitigation
- 2014/04/17: KSJT: Yale e360: Days late for the news cycle, best yet on what IPCC's third report means
- 2014/04/17: RNE: Fossil fuels should be for making stuff, not for energy
- 2014/04/17: RTCC: 1.5C climate target 'out of range', says IPCC chair, Ottmar Edenhofer
- 2014/04/17: RealClimate: Mitigation of Climate Change - Part 3 of the new IPCC report
- 2014/04/17: CleanTechnica: More Renewable Energy Needed To Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change
- 2014/04/16: Grist: No, the IPCC climate report doesn't call for a fracking boom
- 2014/04/16: RTCC: UN report removes carbon targets for rich versus poor countries
  IPCC study offers new focus on regional groupings, smoothing historical divide between global north and south
- 2014/04/16: RTCC: Climate challenge needs radical policies and technologies
  Analysis: Latest IPCC report highlights level of ambition required to slash carbon emissions 50% by 2050 Responding to climate change may be affordable but the scale of required emissions cuts is without precedent, implying a leap in political ambition and technological innovation.
- 2014/04/15: DD: Miami Herald: Climate change has arrived - Dire future if no action is taken
- 2014/04/15: Lenz: BECCS and 600 ppm
- 2014/04/15: UCSUSA:B: Cows Are the Real Hogs: The IPCC and the Demand Side of Agriculture
- 2014/04/15: CCentral: Huge Methane Leaks Add Doubt on Gas as 'Bridge' Fuel
- 2014/04/15: TheConversation: We all need to pay for climate change mitigation
- 2014/04/15: Grist: U.N. climate report: We must focus on "decarbonization," and it won't wreck the economy
- 2014/04/15: Grist: U.N. climate report was censored
- 2014/04/15: NatureN: IPCC report under fire -- Critics attack panel's lack of specific guidance on how countries should lower emissions
- 2014/04/15: RTCC: Cutting CO2 emissions saves money, says UN climate panel
  Analysis: Costs of global transition to clean energy sources smaller than expected, and could offer huge benefits
- 2014/04/15: RTCC: Cities hold the key to addressing climate change, says UN panel
- 2014/04/14: Guardian(UK): IPCC report: the scientists have done their bit, now it is up to us
- 2014/04/14: TreeHugger: New IPCC report calls for 300-400% more zero-CO2 energy by 2050 to avoid catastrophic warming
- 2014/04/14: GEB: IPCC: Reaching the Two Degrees Celsius Climate Goal Requires Substantial Efforts in View of Accelerating Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): UN urges world to intensify efforts to cut emissions
- 2014/04/14: KSJT: IPCC's Third Thump : #1 global warming still real; #2 still very bad for us; now #3: Humanity still flat-footed & slack-jawed
- 2014/04/14: RealEconomics: Thinking on the cheap
- 2014/04/14: EUO: UN report calls for 'technological change' on global warming
- 2014/04/14: BNC: IPCC double standards on energy barriers
- 2014/04/14: TheConversation: IPCC: emissions cuts are about ethics as well as economics
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): IPCC report feeds local climate policy debate
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): IPCC author says Australia risks being left behind on climate
- 2014/04/14: SMH: IPCC report summary censored by governments around the world
- 2014/04/14: Grist: U.N. report spells out super-hard things we must do to curb warming
- 2014/04/14: RTCC: IPCC report: [Natural] Gas just a short term fix to cut CO2 levels
- 2014/04/14: RTCC: IPCC report: Difficulty of carbon emissions cuts 'in the mind'
- 2014/04/14: RTCC: IPCC report: Bet your house on low carbon energy growth
- 2014/04/14: RTCC: IPCC report: Urgent UN climate deal needed to meet CO2 targets
- 2014/04/14: RTCC: IPCC report: we have the tools, now it's time for a tough UN climate deal
- 2014/04/13: Wunderground: IPCC: Cost of Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change Super-Affordable if We Act Now
- 2014/04/13: NatureNB: IPCC report calls for climate mitigation action now, not later
- 2014/04/13: ERabett: So Eli has found a revised final draft [WG3]
- 2014/04/13: PSinclair: Costs of Curing Climate Change: Low
- 2014/04/13: UN: 'High speed mitigation train needs to leave the station,' concludes long-awaited UN climate report
- 2014/04/13: TheConversation: IPCC expert wrap: the need for emissions-negative energy
- 2014/04/13: CNN: 'Modest hope' to slow warming, but no 'free lunch,' U.N. warns
  John Kerry calls the report a wake-up call to an economic opportunity - Environmentalist says political will must change too - U.N. panel holds out "modest hope" of heading off most global warming - Sunday's report is the latest in a benchmark U.N. assessment of climate change
- 2014/04/13: ABC(Au): IPCC Working Group III: Report warns drastic changes needed to prevent temperature rises
- 2014/04/13: TP:JR: The 3 Most Sobering Graphics From The U.N.'s New Climate Report
- 2014/04/13: WMO: New IPCC report highlights effective actions for reducing greenhouse gases and the risks of global climate change
- 2014/04/13: BBC: World must end 'dirty' fuel use - UN
- 2014/04/13: BBC: Climate mitigation report: Key findings
- 2014/04/13: TruthDig: Clean Energy Rollout Would Shave Fraction Off Economic Growth
- 2014/04/13: BBC: Viewpoints: Reaction to third UN climate report
- 2014/04/13: BBC: What is climate change mitigation?
- 2014/04/13: al Jazeera: Climate change: Can disaster be avoided?
  Yet another UN report on climate change warns of dire consequences if no action is taken.
- 2014/04/13: BBerg: Renewables, Nuclear Must Triple to Save Climate, UN Says [WG3]
The Wang et al. paper on the odd 2013-14 weather patterns drew some notice:
Never Forget:
- 2014/04/16: DemNow: Killing Nature's Defenders: Study Finds Global Surge in Murders of Environmental Activists
- 2014/04/16: TruthDig: Study Finds Global Surge in Slayings of Environmental Activists
- 2014/04/16: DD: Death to the Greenies! The message is clear: 'Get in the way of our profits and we will kill you'
- 2014/04/15: CensoredNews: Never Forget: Environmental activists killed in the past decade 908
  Sharp rise in environmental and land killings as pressure on planet's resources increases
- 2014/04/15: GlobalWitness: Sharp rise in environmental and land killings as pressure on planet's resources increases - report
- 2014/04/15: DD: More than 900 environmental advocates slain in a decade - Only 10 killers convicted
  "The convicted tend to have lowest levels of responsibility, such as the getaway car driver. The level of impunity is glaring."
- 2014/04/15: al Jazeera: Filipino eco-warriors fight losing battle
  Deadly attacks on anti-mining activists in the Philippines part of a global trend, according to new report.
How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?
- 2014/04/17: GET: In midst of energy transition, German economy never healthier
  There are increasingly reports that the Energiewende is hurting German industry. Yet, such concerns come at a time when the German economy has never looked better.
- 2014/04/17: RNE: Germany takes energy transition away from grass-roots movements
  On Tuesday last week, Germany announced some new policy reforms to its high-profile 'energy revolution'. Some reports have suggested the country is slamming on the brakes to prevent renewable energy further pushing up prices. In fact, with these new reforms, the government's main priority seems to be protecting big business while continuing to roll out renewables.
- 2014/04/16: GEB: EEG 2.0: Additional Background Information for EEG Revision on Federal Energy Ministry Website
- 2014/04/16: RNE: Germany moves to contain costs, maintain renewables growth
- 2014/04/16: GEB: Fiscal Court of Hamburg Orders Preliminary Refund of Nuclear Fuel Rod Tax in 27 Cases Totalling EUR 2.2 bn
- 2014/04/15: Lenz: Stiftung Umweltenergierecht On Commission Guidelines
- 2014/04/15: Lenz: Build More Coal Power Plants!
- 2014/04/15: BBerg: Coal Returns to German Utilities Replacing Lost Nuclear
And on the Bottom Line:
- 2014/04/19: CCP: Solar's insane price drop may cause energy price deflation, stranded assets
- 2014/04/16: PSinclair: The Risky Business of Fossil Fuels
- 2014/04/16: TDC: Climate costs 'may prove much higher' - report
  There may be a higher price for our descendants to pay for the greenhouse gas build-up, researchers say, as the real costs are updated.
- 2014/04/14: ATTPh: Discounting the future
Who's getting the subsidies, tax exemptions, loan guarantees & grants?
- 2014/04/17: EcoEcon: Another opportunity to explore the extent of solar subsidies
- 2014/04/15: Nation: The Tax Breaks That Are Killing the Planet
  ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil company, hauled in a $32.6 billion profit last year. Chief executive Rex Tillerson got a 3 percent bump in his pay package, sending it above $28 million. And today the company gets its annual boost from the federal government: an estimated $600 million in tax breaks. All told, the government gifts as much as $4.8 billion to the oil industry each year, more than any other country. Much of that comes not as direct handouts but instead via loopholes in the tax code; deductions for depleting oil reserves, for example, and write-offs for the expense of drilling a new well. These reflect a long-past era in which oil exploration was financially risky, and prices were low. Now oil prices and profits are high, and the government is losing revenue while promoting the continued exploitation of carbon-intensive fuels. In the face of a changing climate and a constrained domestic budget, the lunacy of such preferential treatment is hard to overstate.
- 2014/04/14: MoJo: Triumph of the Drill: How Big Oil Clings to Billions in Government Giveaways
  Deficit hawks slam them. Execs say they don't need them. So why does petroleum still get big tax breaks?
What's the World Bank up to?
- 2014/04/14: OilChange: World Bank Lending Priorities Fall Short on Access to Clean Energy and the Climate Challenge
The world inches toward creating a global legal framework for ecological crime:
- 2014/04/15: CPunch: Beyond Fossil Fuel Boycotts -- Climate Change as Crime Against Humanity
John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:
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.]
And the IAEA is now saying 40 years too.
[Now some people are talking about a century or more. Sealing it in concrete for 500 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:
- 2014/04/19: FukuLeaks: Prefabricated Tanks Installed At Fukushima Daiichi
- 2014/04/19: EneNews: Concerned officials now considering ban on Japan food items -- Nuclear scientists previously told gov't to halt all imports after finding high radiation levels -- Never implemented due to fear of hurting bilateral relationship
- 2014/04/18: EneNews: NHK Special: Extremely toxic water 4,000,000 times gov't limit in trenches between Fukushima reactors and ocean...
- 2014/04/18: RT: Out of control: Fukushima manager admits to 'embarrassing failure'
  The manager of the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant has admitted not having full control of the facility. Contrary to the statements of the Japanese PM, TEPCO's Akira Ono said attempts to plug the leaks of radioactive water had failed.
- 2014/04/18: EneNews: Manager of Fukushima Plant: "We have to pay for what we have done" -- "Repeated efforts have failed" to bring site under control...
- 2014/04/18: FukuLeaks: Struggles For Information & Justice Continue In Japan Over Fukushima
- 2014/04/18: FukuLeaks: Tamura Fukushima Residents Angry Over Govt. Hiding Radiation Levels
- 2014/04/17: Reuters: Manager at Japan's Fukushima plant admits radioactive water 'embarrassing'
  The manager of the Fukushima nuclear power plant admits to embarrassment that repeated efforts have failed to bring under control the problem of radioactive water, eight months after Japan's prime minister told the world the matter was resolved.
- 2014/04/17: EneNews: "We've been deceived" -- Asahi: Gov't withheld Fukushima radiation data; Not released until residents moved back in...
- 2014/04/17: EneNews: TV: No doctor can explain what's happening to Navy officer's body -- "I'm basically kind of deteriorating" after Fukushima radiation exposure...
- 2014/04/17: EneNews: L.A. News Outlet: Fukushima plume worries to sink fishing industry? Area newspapers "warning readers to avoid eating locally-caught fish"...
- 2014/04/17: FukuLeaks: Fukushima Reactor Water Pump Switch Mistaken For Air Conditioner
- 2014/04/17: FukuLeaks: Japan Radiation Embargoed Food List
- 2014/04/16: FukuLeaks: High Level Water Leak At Fukushima ALPS System
- 2014/04/16: FukuLeaks: Corium Experiments; Pedestal Behaviors Using Lead
- 2014/04/15: EneNews: Vancouver Sun: Scientists concerned dolphin species on west coast to be negatively impacted by Fukushima nuclear waste -- Radiation levels to be increasing for years to come along coast...
- 2014/04/15: FukuLeaks: Radiation Level At Koriyama School Same As Near Daiichi
- 2014/04/15: EneNews: Interview: Navy sailor's skin inflamed while carrying American flag exposed to Fukushima plume...
- 2014/04/15: FukuLeaks: Citizens Continue To Find Inaccurate Govt. Radiation Monitors In Fukushima
- 2014/04/15: FukuLeaks: [Tiny] Fukushima Fuel Fragment Found In Home Vacuum Bag 460km From Disaster Site
- 2014/04/15: FukuLeaks: Fukushima Towns Take A Stand Against IAEA, UNSCEAR
- 2014/04/14: EneNews: National Geographic: Fukushima considered world's worst nuclear accident...
- 2014/04/14: EneNews: Senior Scientist: Cancer increase expected on West Coast from Fukushima exposures; Radioactive particles can bio-accumulate and form hotspots while crossing Pacific...
- 2014/04/14: PostMedia: Citizen scientists prepare to test West Coast for Fukushima radiation (with video)
  Sometime in the next few weeks highly diluted, low-level radiation from the Japanese nuclear disaster is expected to reach West Coast shores
- 2014/04/14: EneNews: TV: Hundreds of tons of water in contact with melted nuclear fuel have now flooded basements at Fukushima plant -- Nearly 10 Trillion Bq of Cesium...
- 2014/04/14: EneNews: Radioactive Spike in Ocean by Fukushima: Highest Cs-137 levels at spot since 2011 -- 22,000 Bq/m³ in Pacific outside port...
- 2014/04/13: EneNews: New radioactive leak reported at Fukushima on Sunday...
- 2014/04/14: FukuLeaks: Fukushima Unit 4; 638 Fuel Assemblies Removed
- 2014/04/14: FukuLeaks: Fukushima Highly Radioactive Water Accidentally Released From Reactor Basement
Post Fukushima, nuclear policies are in flux around the world:
- 2014/04/14: TP:JR: Japan Looking To Replace Lost Nuclear Power With Fossil Fuels
- 2014/04/14: FukuLeaks: Japan Govt. Orchestrates Fukushima Denial, Nuclear Restarts
- 2014/04/13: BBerg: Post-Fukushima Japan Chooses Coal Over Renewable Energy
  Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing Japan's coal industry to expand sales at home and abroad, undermining hopes among environmentalists that he'd use the Fukushima nuclear accident to switch the nation to renewables. A new energy plan approved by Japan's cabinet on April 11 designates coal an important long-term electricity source while falling short of setting specific targets for cleaner energy from wind, solar and geothermal. The policy also gives nuclear power the same prominence as coal in Japan's energy strategy. In many ways, utilities are already ahead of policy makers. With nuclear reactors idled for safety checks, Japan's 10 power companies consumed 5.66 million metric tons of coal in January, a record for the month and 12 percent more than a year ago, according to industry figures.
The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:
- 2014/04/18: RScribbler: Heavy, Early-Season Blow to Arctic Ice Cap: Powerful, Warm Storm Disintegrates Barents Sea Ice
- 2014/04/17: ASI: Miscellanea
- 2014/04/15: CBC: Canadian Arctic high-tech message in a bottle found in Wales
  Nigel Hussey's Greenland shark tag fell off in Canadian Arctic and floated 6,000 kms to Wales
- 2014/04/14: CCP: "Sustained mass loss of the northeast Greenland ice sheet triggered by regional warming," by Shfaqat A. Khan et al., Nature Clim. Change
- 2014/04/14: CCP: Greenland's icecap loses stability
- 2014/04/14: RTCC: Greenland ice melt 'accelerating' say scientists
- 2014/04/14: TruthDig: Greenland's Icecap is Becoming Unstable
- 2014/04/10: Ethz(ch): The result of slow degradation
  Why do environmental pollutants accumulate in the cold polar regions? This may not only be due to the fact that many substances are less volatile at low temperatures, as has been long suspected, but also to their extremely slow natural degradation.
That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:
- 2014/04/18: RScribbler: Methane Monster Finding Cracks in Earth's Defenses: Is the Global Methane Sink Starting to Fade?
- 2014/04/17: Eureka: Methane climate change risk suggested by proof of redox cycling of humic substances
As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:
While in Antarctica:
- 2014/04/18: IOTD: Drifting with Ice Island B31 [on Nov.18, 2013]
The food crisis is ongoing:
- 2014/04/19: WSWS: One in five US children do not have enough to eat
  Feeding America, the US national network of food banks, released its annual report on local food insecurity Thursday, showing that there are dozens of counties throughout in the US where a third of children do not get enough to eat. Fourteen million people, or 16 percent of the population, lived in food insecure households in 2012, the latest year for which figures are available. This is up from 11.1 percent in 2007. The level of food insecurity among children is even worse, affecting a staggering 16 million children, or 21.6 percent.
- 2014/04/19: UN: Syria: UN agency warns no food left in besieged Palestinian refugee camp
- 2014/04/18: ScienceInsider: China's Soil Woes in Sharper Focus
- 2014/04/18: WSWS: The face of food stamp cuts: Part one
  "The system is set up for those in poverty to stay in poverty" - Jennifer - Portland, Oregon
- 2014/04/18: ABC(Au): China government survey shows 16 per cent of its soil is polluted
  Up to 16 per cent of China's soil has been found to contain higher than permitted levels of pollution, according to its environment ministry after a nationwide investigation. China's environmental protection ministry said its long-awaited soil survey involved samples taken across 6.3 million square kilometres of land, roughly two-thirds of the country's total area.
- 2014/04/18: EnvEcon: Daily Demand and Supply: Florida Orange Supply Decrease
- 2014/04/17: BBerg: Farmers Seeking Heat Relief Signal Brazil Climate Peril
  Brazil may see a mass migration of crops and farm workers from huge swaths of currently tillable lands to more temperate zones as global warming takes hold, according to leading climate experts in the country. Longtime Brazilian climate researcher Hilton Silveira Pinto points to the drought that's cutting grain and coffee output this year as an indicator that rising global temperatures may already be impacting the country's crops.
- 2014/04/17: Eureka: Food shortages could be most critical world issue by mid-century
- 2014/04/16: TruthDig: A Fungus Is On Its Way to Destroy the World's Bananas
- 2014/04/15: BBC: Food banks see 'shocking' rise in number of users
  Hundreds of thousands more people are turning to food banks to avoid going hungry, a charity says. Established food banks have seen a 51% increase in clients over the last year, a "shocking" rise, said the Trussell Trust, the largest provider in the UK. The biggest single reason for people needing extra food was delays in payment of benefits.
- 2014/04/14: QuarkSoup: Wheat's Nutritive Value Decreases Under Elevated CO2
- 2014/04/14: WFP: WFP Iraq Expands Emergency Assistance To People Affected By Al-Anbar Crisis
The state of the world's fisheries is a concern. See also, and:
Food Prices are still problematic:
Something new under the sun - the Open Source Seed Initiative:
- 2014/04/17: NPR: Plant Breeders Release First 'Open Source Seeds'
  Scientists and food activists are launching a campaign to promote seeds that can be freely shared, rather than protected through patents and licenses. They call it the Open Source Seed Initiative.
- 2014/04/15: UWisc: Novel Open Source Seed Pledge aims to keep new vegetable and grain varieties free for all
So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?
Regarding the genetic modification of food:
- 2014/04/19: CCurrents: Secrecy And Lies: Government Collusion With The GM Biotech Sector In Britain
Regarding labelling GM food:
- 2014/04/17: Grist:Vermont poised to mandate GMO labels on food
And how are we going to feed 9 billion, 10 billion, 15 billion?
- 2014/04/17: ABC(Au): Change farming for climate: US expert
  A US expert says innovation is the best way to tackle a changing climate. Last night, Professor Molly Jahn from the University of Wisconsin delivered the RD Watt lecture at the University of Sydney saying innovation in agricultural and food systems is imperative for society's survival and development.
- 2014/04/16: WMO: Weather and Climate Information for Food Security
- 2014/04/15: Grist: Conventional farmers drop their plows in favor of conservation
After Cyclone Ita zapped Queensland last weekend, relative quiet has reigned.
TC Jack [24S] is heading (harmlessly) south in the South Indian Ocean west of the Cocos Islands:
- 2014/04/20: MODIS: Tropical Cyclone Ita (23P) approaching Australia [on April 10]
- 2014/04/15: ABC(Au): Cost of ex-tropical Cyclone Ita starting to be felt
  Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ita is now heading towards New Zealand but it's destroyed about 90 per cent of the sugar cane crops in Queensland's north, and tomato, banana and eggplant crops have also been extensively damaged. The Queensland Government has warned that the agriculture and tourism industries will take some time to recover.
- 2014/04/15: ABC(Au): Sugar [cane] and bananas cop Ita's brunt
- 2014/04/15: ABC(Au): Cardwell prawn farm well prepared for cyclone
- 2014/04/15: NASA: NASA's TRMM Satellite Adds Up Tropical Cyclone Ita's Australian Soaking
- 2014/04/14: Eureka: NASA sees Tropical Cyclone Ita over the Coral Sea
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): Hopevale bananas wiped out by Cyclone Ita
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): Cyclone Ita: System downgraded to tropical low as floodwaters cut Ingham in north Queensland
- 2014/04/13: BBerg: Queensland on Flash-Flood Alert as Cyclone Ita Hugs Coast
While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
2014/04/15: NASA: Remnants of Tropical Depression Peipah Still Raining on Philippines
2014/04/14: Eureka: NASA sees remnants of Tropical Depression Peipah over Southern Philippines
2014/04/14: TheConversation: How building codes save homes from cyclones, and how they don't
2014/04/14: MODIS: Tropical Cyclone Hellen (16S) over Madagascar [on Mar.30]

This week in notable weather:
- 2014/04/10: NOAA:Climate: Snow is largely a no-show for Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
Meanwhile on the GHG front:
And in the carbon cycle:
- 2014/04/14: Eureka: Climate change: The role of oceanic carbon reservoir over glacial cycles
And in the nitrogen cycle:
- 2014/04/17: ERW: Ice cores reveal how atmospheric acidity affects nitrogen cycle
Aerosols are making their presence felt:
- 2014/04/19: MODIS: Dust storm in the Sahara Desert (morning overpass)
- 2014/04/16: MODIS: Dust storms in northwest China [on April 3]
What's up with volcanoes this week?
- 2014/04/16: IOTD: Five Volcanoes Erupting at Once [on April 14]
And on the ENSO front:
- 2014/04/17: RScribbler: Potential For El Nino Spikes As Record Pacific Ocean Heat Content Continues to Emerge
- 2014/04/16: PSinclair: Waiting for El Nino
- 2014/04/15: RTCC: WMO: El Nino could cause 'dramatic rise' in temperatures
- 2014/04/15: WMO: WMO El Niño/La Niña Update - Current Situation and Outlook
  The tropical Pacific continues to be ENSO-neutral (neither El Niño nor La Niña). Model forecasts and expert opinion suggest that neutral conditions are likely to continue into the earlier part of the second quarter of 2014. However, temperatures below the surface of the tropical Pacific have warmed to levels that can occur prior to the onset of an El Nino event, while climate models surveyed by WMO experts show a steady warming of the tropical Pacific during the months ahead. A majority of models reach El Niño thresholds around the middle of the year. If an El Niño event does occur, it remains too early to determine its strength. National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and other agencies will continue to monitor Pacific Ocean conditions for further El Niño developments, and will assess the most likely local impacts.
- 2014/04/15: WMO: WMO Update Indicates Possible onset of El Nino Around Middle of Year
- 2014/04/15: AFTIC: Bad news, good news, bad news.
- 2014/04/15: BBerg: El Nino Signs Detected, Presaging Global Weather Change
As for the temperature record:
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
- 2014/04/19: JFleck: Down the Landsat rabbit hole, Albuquerque edition
- 2014/04/17: BBC: EU's first Sentinel satellite images Earth
- 2014/04/16: NatureN: Mini satellites prove their scientific power
  Proliferation of 'CubeSats' offers fresh and fast way to gather space data.
- 2014/04/15: ERabett: Satellite Games
- 2014/04/15: ERW: Europe launches first Sentinel satellite
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2014/04/18: NASA: Researchers Find 3-million-year-old Landscape Beneath Greenland Ice Sheet
- 2014/04/18: BBC: Ancient plants 'frozen in time' by space impacts
  Ancient plant material has been preserved in the glass formed by asteroids hitting the Earth, scientists report.
- 2014/04/17: NSF: Frozen in time: Three-million-year-old landscape still exists beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet
  NSF-funded researchers say the massive ice sheet has fixed the landscape in place, rather than scouring it away
- 2014/04/17: LLNL: Lab researcher discovers the green in Greenland
  [...] More than 2.5 million years ago. Greenland looked like the green Alaskan tundra, before it was covered by the second largest body of ice on Earth.
- 2014/04/17: ANU: Ancient sea-levels give new clues on ice ages
- 2014/04/15: SciShot: Meteorite Impacts Could Have Fostered Life on Early Earth
Every once in a while, someone reaches for a deep time perspective:
- 2014/04/19: CCurrents: The Long-Term Future
In the attribution debate:
- 2014/04/17: RealEconomics: Major study links catastrophic weather events to manmade climate change
What's the State of the Oceans?:
- 2014/04/18: EneNews: NBC: Record level of sick or injured California seals and sea lions turning up...
- 2014/04/14: MBARI: Researchers describe four new species of "killer sponges" from the deep sea
And the State of the Biosphere?
- 2014/04/18: CPunch: What's Driving the Decline of the Sage Grouse? Livestock Grazing, Oil and Gas Extraction & Habitat Loss
- 2014/04/17: TheConversation: Australian endangered species: Largetooth Sawfish
- 2014/04/15: PointBlue: Irrigated Agriculture - Important for Long-billed Curlews
  Petaluma, CA - Despite the recent rainfall, California is still in a drought (snowpack 32% of average), so not only are water supplies limited, but demand for water is increasing from a variety of uses. In a recent study published by Point Blue Conservation Science (Point Blue) and Audubon California in the journal Western Birds, scientists document the importance of irrigated agricultural crops in California's Central Valley to a conspicuous shorebird.
And on the extinction watch:
- 2014/04/20: CBC: African land grabs fuel illegal ivory trade, report says
  New mining and construction roads provide access to remote elephant territory
- 2014/04/17: CBC: Emmanuel de Merode, Belgian royal, shot in Congo park
  Director of national park seriously wounded in apparent targeted hit, park officials say A Belgian royal who, as director of a vast national park in eastern Congo has defended endangered mountain gorillas and other animals from poachers and the forests from illegal logging, was shot and seriously wounded as he drove through the park, officials said Wednesday. A park spokeswoman said Emmanuel de Merode, who is the chief warden of Virunga National Park, appeared to have been targeted but wouldn't say by whom. The list of potential suspects includes members of outlawed armed groups that roam the park, Africa's oldest.
- 2014/04/17: ABC(Au): Critically endangered white-cheek gibbon born at Adelaide Zoo
- 2014/04/16: AllAfrica:SW Radio: Zimbabwe: Elephant Protector Steps Aside Over Illegal Hwange Land Claim
  The fallout over an 'illegal' land claim in the Hwange National Park has seen one of the country's top elephant protectors stepping aside and shutting down a key elephant conservation project. The Zimbabwe 'Presidential Elephant Conservation Project' was founded and has been run by Sharon Pincott since 2001, with the aim of monitoring and protecting the Presidential Elephant Herd, a unique herd of wild elephants that are meant to be protected by Presidential decree. In 2011 Pincott successfully lobbied Robert Mugabe to re-pledge his support for the elephant herd. This was in the face of land invasions, poaching and other threats to Zimbabwe's elephant population. But 13 years since the Project was launched, the elephants now face being left without a caretaker after Pincott announced on Monday that she is stopping her work. The announcement has followed a worsening fight caused by the takeover of a piece of land in the Hwange National Park, which serves as the herd's home range. The land in the Kanondo area has been claimed by a woman who insists she has an inheritance claim to the land, despite a 2013 directive by Zimbabwe's Cabinet that offer letters for the land be withdrawn. In what has been described as a case that "so reeks of incompetence and lack of care, of ignorance, of greed, of covering butts, of back-handers, and of the corruption that this country is supposedly, right now, trying to stamp out," the Cabinet directive of 2013 has been ignored. Instead, the Kanondo land claimant has forged ahead with the building of a safari lodge.
- 2014/04/16: DD: Graph of the Day: Annual species offtake rate for one bushmeat market in West Africa
- 2014/04/15: SciAm:EC: Bat-Killing Fungus Now Found in 25 U.S. States
- 2014/04/15: CCurrents: Diclofenac For Vultures Has Been A Disaster
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): More of Victoria's forest to be protected to save Leadbeater's Possum from extinction
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): Victorian Government's plan to save the Leadbeater's possum
The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant concern. And then, there are the Neonicotinoids:
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2014/04/17: CBC: Ontario slashes adult moose tags
  Hunters in many areas of northern Ontario will have a harder time getting an adult moose tags for the upcoming moose-hunting season. The province has announced it will reduce the adult moose tags it makes available in 2014 by about 18 per cent overall. The reductions are in response to declining moose populations in northern Ontario...
- 2014/04/16: Grist: Why it's a big deal that half of the Great Lakes are still covered in ice
- 2014/04/15: BBerg: Canada's Climate Warms to Corn as Grain Belt Shifts North
- 2014/04/14: Eureka: Climate change a likely culprit in coqui frog's altered calls, say UCLA biologists
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2014/04/19: CleanTechnica: Sahara Forest Project Grows Food, And Biofuel
- 2014/04/17: USDA:FS:NRS: Five Anthropogenic Factors That Will Radically Alter Northern Forests in 50 Years
  U.S. Forest Service Study Suggests Climate is Not the Only Factor Ushering in Change
- 2014/04/17: Guardian(UK): Illegal logging 'plagues' the Peruvian Amazon, says new research
- 2014/04/17: CPunch: "Thinning" Forests and Thickening Streams -- Forest Defense Blues
- 2014/04/17: Eureka: Drought and fire in the Amazon lead to sharp increases in forest tree mortality
- 2014/04/17: ABC(Au): Future of Wirrabara forest in doubt
- 2014/04/17: DD: Ecuador will have referendum on fate of Yasuní National Park after activists collect over 700,000 signatures
- 2014/04/17: DD: Forests in Indonesia concession areas being rapidly destroyed - One-third of Indonesia's land mass allocated for industrial development
- 2014/04/16: RTCC: Congo deforestation could cause region to warm 3C by 2050
- 2014/04/15: TDC: Deforestation, drought push Amazon toward destruction by fire
  Fire and drought, exacerbated by deforestation, could tip the region into large-scale destruction, flipping the Amazon into net carbon emitter.
- 2014/04/15: BBC: Amazon trees vulnerable to fire and climate combination
  The combination of fire and extreme weather could accelerate tree mortality in the Amazon, a study has suggested.
- 2014/04/14: KU Leuven: Deforestation could intensify climate change in Congo Basin by half
  By 2050, deforestation could cause temperatures in the Congo Basin to increase by 0.7 °C. The increase would intensify warming caused by greenhouse gases by half, according to a study by researchers at the University of Leuven, Belgium.
- 2014/04/14: IIASA: Nutrient-rich forests absorb more carbon
- 2014/04/13: P3: China's ambitious Sloping Land Conversion Program has failed to protect natural forests
- 2014/04/09: BBC: Trees: A personal and national legacy of Evelyn's Sylva
  If you take a stroll through one of the nation's long-established woodlands, there is a good chance its management was inspired, influenced or even instructed by John Evelyn's Sylva. Widely recognised as the first comprehensive study of UK trees, Sylva, or - to give its full title - A Discourse of Forest Trees, and the Propagation of Timber in his Majesty's Dominions, made its first public appearance in 1662 as a paper submitted to the newly formed Royal Society. Two years later, it was published as the Royal Society's first book and went on to not only shape people's knowledge but the landscape itself.
Climate refugees are becoming an issue:
- 2014/04/15: DerSpiegel: Photo Gallery: Misery in the Mediterranean
- 2014/04/15: DerSpiegel: Europe's African Refugee Crisis: Is the Boat Really Full?
  Since Italy began rescuing Africans from the Mediterranean after the last major tragedy in October, the number of refugees coming to Europe has risen dramatically. Fears of economic immigrants could become a top issue in Europe's spring election.
Aerosols affect the climate, but they also affect people's health:
- 2014/04/19: SimpleC: Dump fossil fuels for the health of our hearts
- 2014/04/17: Grist: People of color contribute least to smog, yet breathe more of it. WTF?
As for heatwaves and wild fires:
- 2014/04/19: USAToday: Climate change increasing massive wildfires in West
- 2014/04/17: AGU: More, bigger wildfires burning western U.S., study shows
- 2014/04/17: TP:JR: After Dry Winter In California, Preparations Begin For Harsh Wildfire Season
- 2014/04/17: MODIS: Fires near Lake Baikal, Russia [on April 4]
- 2014/04/17: WSWS: Impact of fire in Valparaiso, Chile, fueled by poverty, inequality
- 2014/04/17: WSWS: Letter from "Valinferno"
- 2014/04/15: RScribbler: Small Army Now Fighting Siberian Wildfires in April
- 2014/04/15: BBC: Chileans survey Valparaiso fire damage [pix]
  Thousands of Chileans who had to flee their homes in Valparaiso as a forest fire razed parts of the port city, have been returning to survey the damage.
- 2014/04/15: al Jazeera: Deadly Chile wildfires rage for fourth day
  Deadly fire engulfing the Chilean port city of Valparaiso has grown to "dimensions never before seen", president says.
- 2014/04/15: IOTD: Wildfire Burns Valparaiso, Chile [on April 13]
- 2014/04/15: MODIS: Fires in Indochina [on Mar.30]
- 2014/04/14: CBC: Chile forest fire kills 12, destroys 1,000 homes
- 2014/04/14: BBC: Chile fire in Valparaiso kills 12 and forces thousands to evacuate
- 2014/04/14: CBC: Chile forest fire kills 11, destroys 1,000 homes
- 2014/04/14: WSWS: Violent fire hits Valparaiso, Chile
  Saturday evening a forest fire spread into populated areas in Valparaiso, Chile, a port city of 300,000 inhabitants. As these lines are being written nine bodies have been found. Another seven are presumed dead, including one child, and another 500 are injured. Two thousand homes have been destroyed, and 10,000 people have been evacuated. President Michelle Bachelet declared a disaster emergency. It is likely that the number of casualties will increase when the fire is completely extinguished and the rescue effort ends.
- 2014/04/14: al Jazeera: 10,000 evacuated as Chile wildfire flares up
  Blaze has killed 12 people, injured 500, engulfed 2,000 homes and forced 10,000 to flee - and it is flaring up again.
Acidification is changing the oceans:
- 2014/04/15: ABC(Au): Fish losing survival instinct due to climate change: study [impax]
  Fish are losing their survival instinct - even becoming attracted to the smell of their predators - as the world's oceans become more acidic due to climate change, according to new reseach. The study of fish in coral reefs off the coast of Papua New Guinea, where the waters are naturally acidic, showed the animals' behaviour became riskier.
- 2014/04/14: TP:JR: Ocean Acidification Could Make Fish Lose Their Fear Of Predators, Study Finds
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): Ocean acidification making fish do strange things
Glaciers are melting:
- 2014/04/17: FaGP: Aneto Glacier, Spain-Retreating and Disappearing
Sea levels are rising:
- 2014/04/17: Grist: New hurricane maps will show whether your house could drown
- 2014/04/16: TheConversation: Dynamic atolls give hope that Pacific Islands can defy sea rise
- 2014/04/14: NSF: Long-term predictions for Miami sea level rise could be available relatively soon
  City could know as early as 2020 how high sea level will go in the next century
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2014/04/19: CBC: New Brunswick flood concerns continue -- Perth-Andover and Doaktown areas still at risk
- 2014/04/19: CCP: Record drought adds to Syrians' misery
- 2014/04/19: TP:JR: Four Bad Things We Learned About The Epic California Drought This Week
- 2014/04/18: CBC: N.B. floods prompt rescue after car swept away in current
  Ice jams continue to cause flooding in N.B. river systems, P.E.I. residents clean up
- 2014/04/18: CBC: Floodwaters rise in N.B., Ontario, Quebec -- Riverside communities in N.B., Ont., Que. clean up
- 2014/04/17: WaPo:B: The drought hitting 40 percent of the entire country, in 5 maps
- 2014/04/16: CBC: Sussex Corner flooding leads to state of emergency
  Sussex mayor describes flood situation in his nearby town as 'devastating'
- 2014/04/16: DD: Image of the Day: California's Folsom Lake reservoir before and during record drought
- 2014/04/16: DD: Study ties epic California drought, 'Frigid East' to anthropogenic climate change
- 2014/04/15: BBC: Casanare drought raises Colombia climate fears
  The rotting corpses of dead cows and wild capybaras line the road that leads from Paz de Ariporo to Hato Las Taparas in the Colombian province of Casanare. At least 20,000 animals, including wild pigs, deer, small crocodiles and tortoises have died of thirst during a catastrophic dry season in this central region. And many fear this year's drought is only heralding a future of increasingly harsh summers and even more severe water shortages in Colombia's plains.
- 2014/04/15: CBC: Flood alert issued in Sherbrooke, Que., due to rising river -- Rising levels in Saint-François River force evacuations in parts of the city
- 2014/04/15: WSWS: Major floods devastate Solomon Islands
First, stop putting GHGs into the atmosphere,
Second, begin to reduce current levels of GHGs,
Third, save as many species as possible,
Fourth, begin to reduce the human population,
And elsewhere on the mitigation front:
- 2014/04/18: P3: Save the World by Not Working So Hard
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2014/04/16: CleanTechnica: US Energy Codes Improving Fast (Graphs)
As for carbon sequestration:
- 2014/04/18: Eureka: Researchers question published no-till soil organic carbon sequestration rates
- 2014/04/17: BBC: EU green light for UK carbon capture and storage project
  A UK project to capture CO2 and bury it under the North Sea looks set to receive a 300m-euro boost from the EU. The European Commission has confirmed that the White Rose carbon capture and storage (CCS) project is in line to win the cash (equivalent to about £250m). The gas will be siphoned off from a new coal-fired power station and stored in undersea rock formations.
- 2014/04/17: TreeHugger: CarbonCure concrete blocks store CO2 for a lower carbon footprint
- 2014/04/16: TP:JR: Could Australia Use Plants To Pull CO2 Out Of The Air And Store It Underground?
- 2014/04/16: RNE: Meinshausen: Why we have to suck CO2 out of atmosphere
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): Fossil fuel use to continue but carbon capture necessary [Garnaut]
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
Meanwhile in the journals:
And other significant documents:
- 2014/04/: EPA: National Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data
- 2014/02/04: CEPR: [link to 686k pdf] Reduced Work Hours as a Means of Slowing Climate Change
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2014/04/18: JEB: Coverage
- 2014/04/18: Tamino: Non-Linear Trends
- 2014/04/18: Hypergeometric: AAAS Message to Members: Climate Change
- 2014/04/18: Eureka: Researchers question published no-till soil organic carbon sequestration rates
- 2014/04/17: Grist: Newly discovered gnat species named after Bill McKibben
- 2014/04/16: NatureN: Beware of backroom deals in the name of 'science'
  The term 'sound science' has become Orwellian double-speak for various forms of pro-business spin, says Colin Macilwain
- 2014/04/16: al Jazeera: Asia's pollution triggers storms in the USA
  A new study find a link between smog in China and the weather in North America.
- 2014/04/16: ERW: China's air pollution leading to more erratic climate for US, say scientists
- 2014/04/15: BBC: Asian air pollution strengthens Pacific storms
  Air pollution in China and other Asian countries is having far-reaching impacts on weather patterns across the Northern Hemisphere, a study suggests.
- 2014/04/15: TP:JR: Will China's Epic Smog Bring Weird Weather To The U.S.?
- 2014/04/15: Eureka: Drought hormones measured [in plants]
- 2014/04/14: QuarkSoup: The Langley, A Useful But Forgotten Unit
- 2014/04/14: TSoD: Ghosts of Climates Past - Nineteen - Ice Sheet Models I
What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?
- 2014/04/19: Grist: Now available: 29 flavors of open source seeds, sans patents
- 2014/04/17: NPR: Plant Breeders Release First 'Open Source Seeds'
  Scientists and food activists are launching a campaign to promote seeds that can be freely shared, rather than protected through patents and licenses. They call it the Open Source Seed Initiative.
Meanwhile at the UN:
- 2014/04/15: UN: Chile: UN cultural agency offers support after devastating fires in Valparaíso
On the international political front, tensions continue as the empire leans on Iran:
- 2014/04/19: Guardian(UK): Iran state TV says dispute over Arak nuclear plant 'virtually resolved'
- 2014/04/19: BBC: Iran condemns US seizure of Alavi Foundation building
  Iran has condemned a US decision to seize a Manhattan skyscraper belonging to a non-profit organisation with alleged links to the Tehran government.
- 2014/04/18: BBC: US freeing Iran funds as Tehran cuts uranium stockpile
  The United States is to release frozen Iranian funds, saying Tehran has kept commitments made under an interim deal over its nuclear programme.
- 2014/04/17: AntiWar: IAEA: Iran Ahead of Schedule on Implementing Nuclear Deal -- Halves 20 Percent Enriched Uranium Stockpile
- 2014/04/17: BBC: Iran has cut higher-enriched uranium stock 'by half'
  Iran has neutralised half of its higher-enriched uranium stockpile, as per a deal agreed earlier this year, the world's nuclear watchdog says. The International Atomic Energy Agency has been checking Iran's adherence to the deal, struck with six world powers.
- 2014/04/16: FFF: The Ayatollahs' Overlooked Anti-WMD Fatwas
South [& East] China Sea tension persists:
- 2014/04/20: BBC: Japan to build military site near disputed Senkaku islands
  Japan has begun construction work on a military radar station near a string of islands that is at the centre of a territorial dispute with China.
- 2014/04/20: al Jazeera: Local anger at Japan island surveillance unit
  Residents scuffle with officials as Tokyo begins construction of coastal monitoring unit near islands claimed by China.
- 2014/04/19: RT: Japan ratchets China tension by building radar near disputed islands
  Tokyo is likely to provoke wrath from Beijing after starting work on a new radar station close to the disputed Senkaku, or Diaoyu Islands, that have soured relations between the two Asian powerhouses in recent years.
- 2014/04/19: RT: Russia builds up, modernizes military on disputed Kuril Islands
- 2014/04/18: AntiWar: Japan Sends Troops to Island, Risking China Tensions -- Yonagumi Is Just Off the Coast of Taiwan
- 2014/04/17: Asia Times: Indonesia and those dashed lines
These 'free trade' treaties should be called the corporate control treaties:
Tensions continue as the empire leans on Syria, Ukraine, Russia...:
- 2014/04/18: RT: Renewables seen as Ukraine's road to energy independence from Russia
- 2014/04/17: BBerg: Ukraine Seeks Renewable-Energy Boost to Counter Russia
  Ukrainian officials say they've found a way to protect the nation from Russia: Go green. Ukraine is seeking U.S. investment in its biomass, wind and solar power industries. The idea is to use renewable energy to curb its reliance on fuel imports from Russia...
- 2014/04/16: BBerg: Brent Oil Climbs to Six-Week High on Ukraine Crisis
- 2014/04/16: CPunch: The Clucking of Stephen Harper -- Ukraine and Canada's Chickenhawks
- 2014/04/16: EurActiv: Germany's RWE begins gas deliveries to Ukraine
  Unprecedented talks across the European Union Tuesday (15 April) showed it scrambling for solutions, in order to break its dependence on Russian gas, and help supply Ukraine. The EU faces a daunting task in quickly overcoming a mountain of logistical challenges, avoiding breaking binding contracts, and making sure Ukraine pays for gas.
- 2014/04/16: GET: Paying the Gas Piper
  The Baltic states, overwhelmingly dependent upon Russian energy supplies, experience most directly the high costs of their neighbor's political pressure on the EU. Paul Hockenos wonders, if diversification including renewables could provide these countries some relief.
- 2014/04/15: ICN: Keystone Advocates Inject Ukraine into Pipeline Debate
  Analysis: Controversial project included in wish list of actions industry says would send more oil and gas to vulnerable Ukraine and Europe.
- 2014/04/14: BBerg: Fragile Europe Weakens U.S. Push for Russia Sanctions
  The U.S. readiness to impose new economic sanctions on Russia over Ukraine is offset by the European Union's reluctance to introduce stronger measures that could threaten its already fragile economic recovery. While the Obama administration said yesterday that it's prepared to ramp up sanctions, possibly to target specific sectors of the Russian economy such as financial services and energy, the EU limited its decision to expanding an existing list of individuals under asset freezes and travel bans.
- 2014/04/14: TheConversation: Will the Ukraine crisis open up a new gas market for Australia?
- 2014/04/14: BBerg: Sanctions on Russian Energy Are Unlikely, Goldman, Citi Say
- 2014/04/13: UBardi: The West and Russia: a tit for tat game, part II by Tatiana Yugay
- 2014/03/30: UBardi: The West and Russia: a tit for tat game by Tatiana Yugay
Climate Change is a threat multiplier exacerbating existing conflicts in food, energy, water, race, resources, religion, ideology ... etc.:
- 2014/04/19: CCP: "Climate Change War" is not a metaphor: Navy Rear Adm. David Titley
What are the activists up to?
- 2014/04/15: TheCanadian: Is it time for a real war on cars? [Suzuki]
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): Anti-gas protest draws another big crowd to Bentley
Native Resistance takes many forms across Turtle Island:
- 2014/04/16: CensoredNews: Rosebud Lakotas aren't selling gas to TransCanada trucks!
- 2014/04/14: CPW: Meet two ambassadors from Canada's indigenous tar sands resistance
The move to divest from fossil fuel investments is growing slowly:
Polls! We have polls!
Regarding Water Politics and Business; See also:
Regarding science education:
- 2014/04/20: ClimateShifts: Tropical Coastal Ecosystems - Free course begins next week!
While in Europe:
- 2014/04/17: CleanTechnica: EU [European Investment Bank (EIB)] Directs E2 Billion Towards Low Carbon Energy Projects
- 2014/04/16: BBC: EU blacklist to stop spread of alien species
- 2014/04/16: EurActiv: Parliament approves safer trucks
  The European Parliament voted through a proposal yesterday (15 April) that should help make trucks safer for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as reduce CO2 emissions.
- 2014/04/16: EurActiv: Planned Balkan coal plants may breach EU pollution limits
- 2014/04/16: RTCC: Right wing rise threatens EU climate change goals - [CAN] report
  Influx of right wing climate sceptics after May election could see EU's plans to decarbonise threatened Europe's credibility as a climate leader could be damaged if right-wing parties are successful in next month's parliamentary elections.
- 2014/04/15: EurActiv: German energy minister: 'EU partners think we are crazy'
  Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's Energy Minister, blames Europe's periphery for dragging its feet on global warming and renewable energies. But the Green party, and NGO Greenpeace, accuse the coal-friendly politician of hypocrisy...
Meanwhile in Australia:
- 2014/04/18: WSWS: Australia: Industry watchdog seizes construction workers' property
  In an unprecedented move, Australia's Fair Work Building and Construction (FWBC) agency late last month instructed bailiffs to seize the property, including cars and homes, of 33 building workers in Western Australia over their failure to pay industrial fines totalling $196,000. The amount is part of a larger fine, totalling more than $1 million, imposed on 117 building workers last September by the Federal Court, after it declared "illegal" an eight-day strike in October 2008 (see: "Construction workers hit with large fines for striking"). The workers were employed by contractor CBI Constructions at Woodside Petroleum's liquefied natural gas expansion project on the Burrup Peninsula in northwestern Australia. They struck after CBI Constructions refused to abide by an enterprise work agreement entitling them to a redundancy payout at the end of one stage of the project, and reemployment at the beginning of a new separate stage.
- 2014/04/17: RNE: ACT opens up auction process for 200MW of wind farm capacity
- 2014/04/17: RNE: Stranded assets: Australia's biggest coal project already at risk
  With the coal price hitting a four year low, the Australian dollar remaining stubbornly above the Reserve Bank of Australia's preferred range, and renewable technology and cost improvement records being set regularly, the pressure on the Australian coal industry has intensified dramatically.
- 2014/04/17: ABC(Au): Agricultural white paper briefings hear power price fears
  The Federal Government has wrapped up its nationwide agricultural white paper tour in Bundaberg amid fears from farmers that increasing electricity prices will cripple the industry.
- 2014/04/17: ABC(Au): [WA] Green groups fear coal mine plans 'environmentally unacceptable'
  Conservation groups say the risk management plan for a proposed coal mine in the Kimberley's Fitzroy Valley is '"fatally flawed". As part of the Duchess Paradise Project, Rey Resources wants to build an underground mine near Derby, use the Derby Port and transport coal along the Great Northern Highway. The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is accepting public comment on Rey's draft management plans until next Tuesday.
- 2014/04/17: TheConversation: Australia trounced Kyoto climate target, new report reveals
- 2014/04/16: TP:JR: Could Australia Use Plants To Pull CO2 Out Of The Air And Store It Underground?
- 2014/04/15: TheConversation: Australia's dirty secret: who's breathing toxic air?
- 2014/04/16: ABC(Au): Permaculture: Australia's most significant intellectual export?
- 2014/04/16: ABC(Au): It's up to ERA: Rio Tinto sidesteps Ranger uranium open-cut mine rehabilitation costs
  Mining giant Rio Tinto has distanced itself from the future rehabilitation of the Ranger uranium mine site in the Northern Territory. Rio Tinto subsidiary Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) has completed open-cut mining and wants to establish an underground mine.
- 2014/04/16: ABC(Au): Hunter misses out on horse stud development because of coal
- 2014/04/16: ABC(Au): Linc Energy facing criminal charges over alleged environmental harm
- 2014/04/16: ABC(Au): Cyclone Ita clean-up: Government outlines emergency available funding to residents
- 2014/04/16: RNE: AER cracks down on poles and wires to cut electricity bills
  The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has rejected proposals from NSW electricity distributors to bolster the network with more poles and wires in the hope that the pass-through cost savings will reduce power bills by as much as $60 a year for the state's business and household customers. The regulator revealed on Wednesday its decision to issue placeholder determinations for ActewAGL, Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy, downgrading the revenue amounts that the four businesses could recover from their customers in 2014-15.
- 2014/04/16: RNE: Macquarie obtains electricity retail licence as solar business builds [Aus pol]
- 2014/04/15: BBerg: Two People Killed in Wall Collapse at Yancoal Australia Mine
- 2014/04/15: ABC(Au): First sods turned in building big solar farm at Tathra on NSW far south coast
  It is hoped a new community solar farm in the Bega Valley on the New South Wales far south coast will be up and running by the end of the year. The Bega Valley Shire Council and Clean Energy for Eternity have turned the first sods on a project to create a solar farm to power the Tathra sewage works.
- 2014/04/15: ABC(Au): Solar plant to be unveiled at Wallsend swimming pool
  A revolutionary solar thermal project invented by researchers at the University of Newcastle will be unveiled today at Wallsend swimming pool. The demonstration plant will collect heat from the sun in curved mirrored troughs, producing electricity and heat for on-site use, using the new heat engine technology.
- 2014/04/15: ABC(Au): Does Badgerys Creek [airport] kill off hopes of a high speed rail project?
- 2014/04/15: PeakEnergy: Swanbank shut-down a swan song for gas fired power in Australia - LNG exports from Queensland are killing gas fired power generation
- 2014/04/14: RNE: Schneider [Electric] study finds boosting renewables will cut energy costs
- 2014/04/14: RNE: Tathra [NSW] council seals deal for largest community solar farm
- 2014/04/14: RNE: Solar industry launches Solar Facts site to counter renewable myths
Now we get to watch the suppository of wisdom destroy what little Australia has done to fight climate change:
- 2014/04/19: AIMN: Lest We Forget. "Remembering Abbott's Past"
- 2014/04/19: ABC(Au): Greens hit back at Brandis' comments on climate change
- 2014/04/19: ABC(Au): Federal renewable energy review leaves investors nervous
- 2014/04/19: ABC(Au): People who don't engage climate change deniers 'ignorant and medieval': A-G George Brandis
  Federal Attorney-General George Brandis says people who say the science is settled on climate change are "ignorant and medieval". In an article published in the online political magazine Spiked, Senator Brandis spoke to a journalist about his fight against "the cultural tyranny of political correctness".
- 2014/04/19: WSWS: Australian government scraps refugees' rights to legal aid
- 2014/04/18: SMH: Climate change proponents using 'mediaeval' tactics: George Brandis
  Attorney-General Senator George Brandis has stood by his comments that Australians have the right to be bigoted. George Brandis has compared himself to Voltaire and derided proponents of climate change action as "believers" who do not listen to opposing views and have reduced debate to a mediaeval and ignorant level.
- 2014/04/17: ABC(Au): Senior Navy officer loses command over incursions into Indonesian waters during Operation Sovereign Borders
  A senior Navy officer has been stripped of his command, another will be sanctioned and others counselled over their involvement in incursions into Indonesian waters last summer while enforcing the Government's asylum seeker boats policy.
- 2014/04/17: RNE: RET Road Trip #2: Morwell residents look for an alternative to coal
- 2014/04/17: ABC(Au): [Agriculture Minister Barnaby] Joyce says drought is far from over
  Less than two months after the announcement of a federal drought package, 650 farmers have had their applications for assistance approved. Sixty applicants have been knocked back.
- 2014/04/16: ABC(Au): Fed Govt won't revise 2020 emissions reduction target
  The Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt says the Government won't be revising its 2020 goal to reduce emissions by 5 per cent, despite the latest report by the United National intergovernmental report on climate change.
- 2014/04/16: RNE: Abbott's systematic destruction of solar support in Australia continues
- 2014/04/16: RNE: Australian large-scale renewable energy projects at standstill
  It appears that the Abbott government - and its hard right sympathisers that want to bring a halt to large-scale renewable energy deployment in Australia - have achieved their policy goals, without even having to release a policy. New data shows that no new large-scale renewable energy projects - be they wind farms, solar farms or some other - have been committed in the first quarter of 2014. This follows a bleak calendar 2013 when just four large-scale projects were committed; none of them directly financed by the renewable energy target.
- 2014/04/16: RNE: Hunt commits to 'cleaner' coal, as renewables despair deepens
- 2014/04/15: WSWS: Australia: Rejected Tamil asylum seeker sets himself on fire
- 2014/04/14: DeSmogBlog: Tax Breaks In Australia To Fund Climate Misinformation Book
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): Environment Minister Greg Hunt resists IPCC pressure for deep cuts to carbon emissions
- 2014/04/14: RNE: IPCC puts heat on Abbott's anti science climate policies
  It is probably not what he is doing right now, but Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott should be wondering exactly how long it is that he can continue with his climate change policy charade.
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): Cuts to science funding are regressive and dangerous
  Immunologist and Nobel laureate, Professor Peter Doherty, discusses the state of scientific research in Australia in light of anticipated cuts to the funding which he says will damage Australia's reputation as a first world country.
The fight over coal seam gas continues:
- 2014/04/17: ABC(Au): AGL makes changes to Waukivory CSG project
- 2014/04/16: ABC(Au): Orange council backs ban on coal seam gas operations in the region
- 2014/04/16: ABC(Au): Minister cancels gas applications on NSW north coast
  The [NSW} State Government has cancelled two petroleum exploration licence applications on the state's north coast. Resources and Energy Minister Anthony Roberts said the applications were to explore for coal seam gas around Woodburn and Coraki.
- 2014/04/16: ABC(Au): Queensland landholders claim secrecy over experimental coal gasification plant
  Landholders on Queensland's Darling Downs say they are being kept in the dark about the nature of serious environmental harm allegedly caused by an experimental coal gasification plant. Last week the Queensland Government filed four criminal charges of irreversible or "high impact" harm relating to the plant against resources company Linc Energy.
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): Gas firm [Linc Energy] accused of environmental harm at UCG [Underground Coal Gasification] trials site
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): Anti-gas protest draws another big crowd to Bentley
After years of wrangling, the Murray Darling Basin Plan is in place, but the water management fights are far from finished:
- 2014/04/17: ABC(Au): Croydon council offers drought-hit landowners rates relief
- 2014/04/17: ABC(Au): Green light for River Murray prawn farm
  South Australia's Riverland produces a bounty of fresh produce and wine, which it's built its reputation on. And now seafood could be added to its list of specialty products. Plans to build a $5.5 million prawn and fin fish farm on the River Murray in South Australia have been approved, and construction will start later in the year.
- 2014/04/15: ABC(Au): Henry Jones dies: Tribute paid to tireless Murray-Darling Basin campaigner
The Federal and now the State Liberals are bent on trashing the hard won Tasmanian forest deal:
- 2014/04/16: ABC(Au): Premier accused of using the forest peace deal's achievements to sell wood in Japan
  The Tasmanian Premier, Will Hodgman, has put environmental groups further offside by promoting their support for the timber industry to attract Japanese buyers.
- 2014/04/14: ABC(Au): No federal funding guarantees for forestry peace deal projects
I wonder when the truth will come out about NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell's resignation:
- 2014/04/18: ABC(Au): NSW Premier Mike Baird considers Cabinet appointments amid questions over Di Girolamo link
- 2014/04/17: ABC(Au): Mike Baird named new NSW Premier after Barry O'Farrell resignation
- 2014/04/17: WSWS: More than a bottle of wine involved in ousting of Australian state premier
- 2014/04/17: ABC(Au):TDU: You don't need ICAC to see the lies in politics
  When it comes to the personal conduct of politicians, a slip of the truth is a hanging offence, yet in the public performance of politics, lies are almost expected, writes Jonathan Green.
- 2014/04/17: ABC(Au):TDU: The star chamber that took down a premier
  The Liberal Party has suddenly lost a five year political advantage in New South Wales, and there are likely to be more ramifications from ICAC than the resignation of Barry O'Farrell, writes Quentin Dempster.
- 2014/04/16: ABC(Au): Timeline: Why Barry O'Farrell had to go
- 2014/04/16: ABC(Au):TDU: Another honest premier falls on ICAC's sword
  Premier Barry O'Farrell had been cruising to victory and a second term, but that was before "Grangegate" rushed the NSW Liberals into an urgent rebranding exercise, writes Alex Mitchell.
While in the Indian subcontinent:
And in China:
In Japan:
- 2014/04/19: DD: Japan will 'redesign' Antarctic whaling program to make it more 'scientific'
  "They intend to ignore the verdict of the International Court of Justice, and they intend to continue killing whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary"
- 2014/04/18: al Jazeera: Japan cuts whaling targets after UN ruling
  Move comes after UN's International Court of Justice ruled that Tokyo's Antarctic whaling is commercial, not scientific.
- 2014/04/18: ABC(Au): Japan to 'redesign' whale hunt in Antarctic despite ICJ ruling
- 2014/04/16: ScienceInsider: Japan Says It Will Resume Antarctic Whaling Next Year
- 2014/04/16: al Jazeera: Japan politicians defiant despite whaling ban
  Parliamentary committee unanimously passes a resolution urging the government to continue whaling, weeks after ICJ ban. A Japanese parliamentary committee has unanimously passed a resolution urging the government to investigate all options to continue whaling, including "walking out of the (international whaling) convention". The 40-strong fisheries committee, made up of a cross-section of members of the lower house, demanded on Wednesday the government redesign its "research" whaling programme to circumvent an international court ruling that described the programme as a commercial hunt dressed up as science.
While in Africa:
- 2014/04/17: CleanTechnica: South Africa Moves To Add More Renewable Energy
And South America:
- 2014/04/17: DD: Ecuador will have referendum on fate of Yasuní National Park after activists collect over 700,000 signatures
In Canada, neocon PM Harper, aka The Blight, pushes petroleum while ignoring the climate and ecology:
- 2014/04/17: PI:B: Big shiny trends: Canada's new emissions numbers
- 2014/04/16: Sierra(Ca): Last lump of coal, first refugee [Harpo]
  While the rest of the world is pondering the implications of a rapidly changing climate and how to mitigate it, Canadian authorities are refusing to even listen, let alone acknowledge that urgent action is required. Why?
- 2014/04/16: CPunch: The Clucking of Stephen Harper -- Ukraine and Canada's Chickenhawks
- 2014/04/16: CBC: Canada boycotts Arctic Council Moscow meeting over Ukraine
  Canada will boycott an upcoming meeting of the Arctic Council in Moscow because of the Russian occupation of the Crimean Peninsula. Leona Aglukkaq, the minister responsible for the Arctic Council, says Canada won't be attending a scheduled meeting later this week because of Russia's illegal occupation of Crimea. Canada and Russia sat at the same Arctic Council table just three weeks ago in Yellowknife when senior officials from all eight countries last met.
- 2014/04/15: CBC: Weather disasters will be more frequent and costly, TD says
- 2014/04/14: TStar: [Editorial] Canada needs to get serious about climate change
  Latest UN report on climate change challenges the Canadian government to adopt policies, including a carbon tax, that reflect the gravity of the threat we face.
- 2014/04/14: MSimon: Stephen Harper and the Great Kitimat Rebellion
  When historians assess the legacy of Stephen Harper fifty years from now, the many scandals of his corrupt regime will probably merit only a few paragraphs. But what they will say of him without a doubt, is that at a critical point in human history he failed his country and his planet. For at a time when scientists were warning that time was running out for climate change action. The disconnect couldn't be greater.
- 2014/04/13: NFillmore: Flaherty's Legacy - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Resonances of the Lac Mégantic tragedy linger:
- 2014/04/17: TP:JR: Spring Brings New Environmental Worries For Weary Lac-Mégantic
The Prairie grain backlog has a history:
- 2014/04/15: ActiveH: Old Conflicts in a New Century: The Problems of Prairie Grain Transportation
Pipelines - Natural Gasand Liquids:
- 2014/04/17: CBC: Public not convinced of pipeline benefits, government surveys find
  Survey finds 'few participants saw Canada as a whole benefiting from pipelines being built' Public-opinion research contracted by Ottawa suggests the pro-resource-development Conservative government has not yet convinced Canadians of the national benefits of the energy industry. Two polling companies conducted cross-country focus groups last fall -- in addition to one large national poll -- and reported a common theme: most Canadians just don't see what's in it for them.
- 2013/11/07: ActiveH: Tracking Canada's History of Oil Pipeline Spills - 1,047 separate pipeline incidents between 2000 and 2011
- 2014/04/15: PaiD: A Tale of Intimidation At TransCanada Corporation
There are getting to be so manyoil pipelines and gas, one almost needs a scorecard:
The TransCanada West-East [aka Energy East] pipeline has passed the first stage:
- 2014/04/14: NEB: TransCanada Energy East Pipeline Project - List of Issues
The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:
And the Kinder Morgan expansion:
- 2014/04/14: TheCanadian: Parks Act changed for Kinder Morgan's illegal pipeline research?
The Eagle Spirit pipeline proposal:
- 2014/04/15: CBC: Eagle Spirit pipeline proposal faces First Nations opposition -- Proposed pipeline would carry refined oil from Alberta to B.C. North Coast
What's the state of the West Coast salmon fishery?
- 2014/04/17: TheCanadian: Harper government guts fish farm regulations
Meanwhile in BC:
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
Also in Alberta:
In Ontario:
- 2014/04/17: PostMedia: [Editorial] Ontario bids farewell to coal
  It wasn't headline news, but the closing of the last coal-fired power generation plant in Ontario is a significant milestone for the province. More than 10 years after the Liberal government promised to eliminate coal as a source of electricity, the conversion of the Thunder Bay Generating Station last week, made Ontario the first jurisdiction in North America to end of the scourge of burning coal -- and it is quite a historic achievement.
- 2014/04/14: BCLSB: Tom Adams, Jack Mintz, and Me On The Price Of Wind In Ontario
While in la Belle Province:
In the Maritimes:
And on the American political front:
- 2014/04/19: DD: Princeton study concludes U.S. government is an oligarchy
  "The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy"
- 2014/04/18: NBF: Academics confirm that data shows majority does not rule in the US it is the rich and special interests
  [...] Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.
  [...] In 1,779 policy cases (from 1981-2002), narrow pro-change majorities of the public got the policy changes they wanted only about 30% of the time. More strikingly, even overwhelmingly large pro-change majorities, with 80% of the public favoring a policy change, got that change only about 43% of the time.
- 2014/04/19: WSWS: One in five US children do not have enough to eat
  Feeding America, the US national network of food banks, released its annual report on local food insecurity Thursday, showing that there are dozens of counties throughout in the US where a third of children do not get enough to eat. Fourteen million people, or 16 percent of the population, lived in food insecure households in 2012, the latest year for which figures are available. This is up from 11.1 percent in 2007. The level of food insecurity among children is even worse, affecting a staggering 16 million children, or 21.6 percent.
- 2014/04/19: CleanTechnica: Al Gore On Climate Change Crisis
- 2014/04/18: Hypergeometric: AAAS Message to Members: Climate Change
- 2014/04/18: DeSmogBlog: "Russia with Love": Alaska Gas Scandal is Out-of-Country, Not Out-of-State
- 2014/04/17: Grist:Vermont poised to mandate GMO labels on food
- 2014/04/17: TP:JR: Fossil Fuel Industry Has Skin -- And Money -- In The Texas Governor's Race
- 2014/04/16: DeSmogBlog: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Hires Coal Lobbyist to Direct Policy Office
- 2014/04/16: TP:JR: Why Are 20 Far-Away States Trying To Block The Cleanup Of The Chesapeake Bay?
- 2014/04/16: NatureN: Beware of backroom deals in the name of 'science'
  The term 'sound science' has become Orwellian double-speak for various forms of pro-business spin, says Colin Macilwain
- 2014/04/15: CleanTechnica: APS Taxes, Arizona Solar Installations Drop
- 2014/04/15: TruthDig: Long After Sandy, Red Cross Post-Storm Spending Still a Black Box
- 2014/04/14: CPunch: How Big Oil Bought Sacramento
- 2014/04/14: DeSmogBlog: Why Isn't Petcoke Regulated As a Public Health Threat?
- 2014/04/14: TP:JR: Gas Industry Supports Fewer Jobs Than Pennsylvania Governor Claims, Report Says
- 2014/04/14: DD: Global rankings study shows America in rapid decline - U.S. #1 in incarcerated citizens per capita, adult onset diabetes, and belief in angels
- 2014/04/14: MoJo: Triumph of the Drill: How Big Oil Clings to Billions in Government Giveaways
  Deficit hawks slam them. Execs say they don't need them. So why does petroleum still get big tax breaks?
- 2014/04/14: UCSUSA:B: Death, Taxes, and Food [US pol]
The Keystone XL wheel grinds slowly. And it grinds woe:
- 2014/04/19: CBC: Keystone XL delay frustrates Alberta premier, TransCanada CEO
  Alberta Premier Dave Hancock expresses disappointment at latest U.S. move to postpone decision
- 2014/04/19: al Jazeera: US delays Keystone XL pipeline decision
  Canadian PM and TransCanada Corporation express disappointment after review period of controversial project is extended.
- 2014/04/19: P3: Footdragging on Keystone
- 2014/04/19: CSW: Keystone XL pipeline decision postponed again -- need for pressure continues
- 2014/04/18: BBC: US government delays Keystone XL pipeline decision
- 2014/04/18: OilChange: Keystone XL announcement met with predictable oily response
- 2014/04/18: OilChange: Oil Change International response to Keystone XL announcement
- 2014/04/18: BCLSB: Keystone Delayed!!!
- 2014/04/18: DeSmogBlog: Keystone XL Review Extended, Delaying Final Decision Until After 2014 Elections
- 2014/04/18: BBerg: Keystone Review Delay Draws Angry Reaction From Backers
  The Obama administration's announcement yesterday that it was delaying a ruling on the Keystone XL oil pipeline drew an angry reaction from supporters of the $5.4 billion project, including some who said it was designed to push the issue beyond the November election. "This decision is irresponsible, unnecessary and unacceptable," Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, said in a statement that called the move "nothing short of an indefinite delay."
- 2014/04/18: Grist: Obama delays Keystone decision -- again
- 2014/04/18: TP:JR: State Department To Delay Keystone XL Pipeline Decision Until After November
- 2014/04/18: RT: Obama administration delays decision on Keystone XL pipeline again
- 2014/04/18: CPW: Ex-US president Jimmy Carter urges Obama to reject Keystone XL Pipeline
- 2014/04/17: BBerg: Jared Leto Versus Chuck Norris: Celebrities Battle Over Keystone
- 2014/04/17: CCP: John Abraham: Keystone XL cops - incompetent at all levels
  US Department of State report on Keystone XL climate impacts displays shocking incompetence
- 2014/04/16: BWeek: Keystone Foes Winning Celebrity Battle Supporters Dismiss
- 2014/04/16: CBC: Jimmy Carter urges Keystone XL rejection
- 2014/04/16: WaPo:B: Jimmy Carter comes out against Keystone XL pipeline
- 2014/04/15: ICN: Keystone Advocates Inject Ukraine into Pipeline Debate
  Analysis: Controversial project included in wish list of actions industry says would send more oil and gas to vulnerable Ukraine and Europe.
- 2014/04/15: BBerg: Keystone Foes Taught Arrest Tactics If Project Is Cleared
- 2014/04/14: CBC: Keystone XL opponents carve anti-pipeline message into field -- 80-acre artwork with 'Heartland #NoKXL' message created in Nebraska
- 2014/04/13: PSinclair: Cowboys and Indians Unite Against Keystone
Leaks and spills:

Jeez! It's getting hard to keep all the spills and leaks straight. You need a map. Let's see...:
1. In North Caroline, Duke Energy spilled coal ash slurry into the Dan River
2. In the Gulf of Mexico, BP and company had the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
In North Carolina, Duke Energy spilled coal ash slurry into the Dan River:
- 2014/04/18: GreenGrok: Phew. No 'Material' Effect Expected From Dan River Coal Ash Spill, Says Company.
- 2014/04/15: DeSmogBlog: Industry Funded Politicians Hope To Thwart Pollution Penalties In North Carolina
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics. See also:
The GOP War on Women continues:
Looking ahead to the 2014 & 2016 elections:
- 2014/04/18: Grist: Chris Christie is still trying to force a pipeline through the New Jersey Pinelands
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
As for what is going on in Congress:
What are the lobbyists pushing?
- 2014/04/15: Grist: Enviro groups team up on new campaign funding alliance
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
Capitalism is dead! Long live capitalism! Degrowth? How does that work?
In nature, there is no garbage:
- 2014/04/16: Grist: Scientists are using mushrooms to get gold out of your old phone
Apocalypso anyone?
How do the corporate media measure up?
Here is something for your library:
- Gutenberg: [ebook] Sylva; Or, A Discourse of Forest Trees. Vol. 1 (of 2) by John Evelyn
And for your film & video enjoyment:
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2014/04/16: Grist: Power plants lose legal bid to douse you with mercury
- 2014/04/16: TP:JR: Appeals Court Ruling Means Americans Will Breathe Less Toxic Pollutants
- 2014/04/15: Reuters: U.S. appeals court upholds hazardous air pollution rule
  In a victory for the Obama administration, a U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld a regulation that would limit emissions of mercury and other hazardous pollutants mainly from coal-fired power plants, starting next year. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit could help spur utility companies to shut down some coal-fired plants due to the costs of complying with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule. The EPA's Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS) applies to 1,400 of the country's largest power plants and would come into force in 2015, or in some cases, 2016.
Michael Mann won his defence against FOI fishing expedititons in the Virginia Supreme Court:
There are several ongoing suits arising from the BP Gulf oil spill:
- 2014/04/18: BBC: Former BP employee pays $224,000 over insider trading charges
  A former BP employee, who oversaw the cleanup of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, will pay $224,118 to settle an insider trading charge. Keith Seilhan was accused of selling $1m of shares in BP after receiving information about the severity of the spill which was not publicly available at the time. BP shares fell almost 50% once the magnitude of the disaster became known. The 47-year-old has neither admitted nor denied the allegations.
- 2014/04/18: Grist: Ex-BP official got rich on Deepwater Horizon spill, gets busted
- 2014/04/17: CBC: Keith Seilhan settles insider trading suit amid BP cleanup
- 2014/04/15: TP:JR: Drilling Company Sues BP For Loss Of Business After Deepwater Horizon Disaster
Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:
- 2014/04/19: Lenz: 33.2 GW Of New Renewable In Japan
- 2014/04/18: TruthDig: The Energy Revolution Is In Reverse
- 2014/04/18: NBF: Thermoelectric materials near critical measure of 3 where it makes sense to replace engines with solidstate conversion of heat to electricity on a mass scale
- 2014/04/18: CPunch: An Eco-Future is Possible - Climate Change Meets High Tech
- 2014/04/18: TreeHugger: Renewables = 92.1% of new US electricity capacity so far in 2014
- 2014/04/16: SciNow: Preventing Heat From Going to Waste
- 2014/04/16: NatureN: Power from the oceans: Blue energy
  After years in the doldrums, the quest to harvest energy from the oceans is gathering speed.
- 2014/04/16: RNE: WA geothermal project founders - due to a lack of oil
  A geothermal drilling project in Western Australia's Mid West region has come to an early end- apparently because one of the partners decided that there was not enough hydrocarbons to make the drilling program worthwhile.
- 2014/04/16: FuturePundit: Energy Usage Trends In USA [LLNL charts]
- 2014/04/15: CleanTechnica: Electricity Source With Lowest Carbon Intensity Is... (Chart)
What do you have in energy comparisons and transitions?
If they can be accessed, there are enough methane hydrates to ensure we are well and truly cooked:
- 2014/04/17: BBC: Methane hydrate: Dirty fuel or energy saviour?
What's changing in energy investments?
- 2014/04/18: TP:JR: Connecticut Takes A Step Closer To Keep Fracking Wastewater Out Of The State
- 2014/04/17: RNE: HSBC says wind and solar best picks in climate stocks
- 2014/04/17: RNE: UniSuper taps World Bank's first Australian Green Bond issue [invest & Aus pol]
- 2014/04/17: RNE: Households invest billions in solar as utilities stall on big projects
- 2014/04/16: NatureN: Policy: Bring sustainable energy to the developing world
  Investment and policies must support cheap, clean energy technologies to cut both poverty and climate change, say Reid Detchon and Richenda Van Leeuwen.
- 2014/04/16: RTCC: Solar surge credited with 10% rise in clean energy investments
- 2014/04/16: BBerg: Clean Energy Investment Rises 9%, Led by Solar Power
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifers for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
On the coal front:
On the gas and oil front:
- 2014/04/18: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Dated Brent Spot....109.53
  WTI Cushing Spot....104.30
- 2014/04/15: CCentral: Huge Methane Leaks Add Doubt on Gas as 'Bridge' Fuel
- 2014/04/15: PeakEnergy: Swanbank shut-down a swan song for gas fired power in Australia - LNG exports from Queensland are killing gas fired power generation
- 2014/04/14: Grist: The four fossil fuel stockpiles that could toast the world
In the gas and oil corps:
- 2014/04/17: DD: ExxonMobil says climate change unlikely to stop it selling fossil fuels
- 2014/04/14: OilChange: Exxon's 25 Year "Drop Dead" Denial Campaign
Ships and boats and trains -- How to tranport the stuff?
- 2014/04/17: TP:JR: Communities Find That Oil Trains Are A Disaster Waiting To Happen
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
- 2014/04/13: RI: Did crude oil production actually peak in 2005?
Biofuel bickering abounds:
The answer my friend...
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2014/04/19: PSinclair: 60 Years of Solar Cells
- 2014/04/18: CleanTechnica: Top 5 Policy Tricks Against Solar
- 2014/04/16: QuarkSoup: The Solar Facility That's Incinerating Birds
- 2014/04/15: CleanTechnica: APS Taxes, Arizona Solar Installations Drop
- 2014/04/15: CleanTechnica: New High-Efficiency Honey Ultra Solar Module Developed By Trina Solar
- 2014/04/15: CleanTechnica: GE Financially Backing 230 MW Solar PV Power Plant In Japan
- 2014/04/15: BBC: Google buys solar-powered drone maker Titan Aerospace
- 2014/04/14: LANL: Shiny quantum dots brighten future of solar cells
  The project demonstrates that superior light-emitting properties of quantum dots can be applied in solar energy by helping more efficiently harvest sunlight.
- 2014/04/14: CleanTechnica: Solar Falls Off Cliff, World Domination Inevitable Now
- 2014/04/14: Eureka: Better solar cells, better LED light and vast optical possibilities
- 2014/04/14: RNE: Solar industry launches Solar Facts site to counter renewable myths
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2014/04/20: JQuiggin: Another one (or more) bites the dust ...
- 2014/04/17: FukuLeaks: US Nuclear Plagued With New Problems
  The much touted SMR nuclear reactor program that has been claimed to be the next generation of nuclear plants is in trouble before it has even really started. Babcock & Wilcox, long time nuclear company located in Tennessee has scaled back their SMR reactor development. They are unable to find investors or customers for the concept reactor.
- 2014/04/17: NBF: Russia finalizes 150 MW MBIR fast neutron research reactor design
- 2014/04/17: NBF: China stockpiling about 24000 tons of Uranium each year at current low prices
- 2014/04/17: NBF: New MIT floating nuclear plant would be safer and lower cost
- 2014/04/16: Eureka: Floating nuclear plants could ride out tsunamis
  New power plant design could provide enhanced safety, easier siting, and centralized construction
- 2014/04/15: WNN: Hanhikivi investment decision
  A binding decision to construct and finance the Hanhikivi nuclear power plant in Finland has been made by the shareholders of Fennovoima, including Russian state nuclear company Rosatom.
- 2014/04/13: FuturePundit: Nations Expanding Nuclear Power
Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:
- 2014/04/18: RT: Crews locate area of radiation leak at New Mexico nuclear waste site
- 2014/04/18: FukuLeaks: Contaminated Zone Found Inside WIPP Mine
- 2014/04/18: EneNews: AP: Crews retreat after nuclear material found at WIPP -- Officials: Correct to turn back, contamination was increasing -- Robots brought to site for radiation levels too high for humans...
- 2014/04/17: EneNews: Mistake at Congressional Hearing? Senator: "Radioactive releases from WIPP have been at levels that are a public health danger"...
- 2014/04/16: WNN: Magnox waste facility supplier chosen
  A facility to encapsulate legacy materials from Magnox fuel stored at the UK's Sellafield site will be built by a French-British joint venture under a contract worth up to £1.2 billion.
More people are talking about the [electrical] smart grid:
- 2014/04/17: GEB: VW and Partners Aggregate Batteries of 20 VW Electric Cars to Provide Operating Reserve
How are the utilities adjusting (or not)?
- 2014/04/15: PSinclair: Solar Terrorizes Old Energy
- 2014/04/15: RNE: Bernstein: Four scary choices for utilities in face of solar onslaught
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
As for Energy Storage:
- 2014/04/15: AutoBG: Have battery researchers been using the wrong formula for 80 years?
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2014/04/16: TheConversation: Can business save us from climate change?
What do we have in (weekly) lists?
- 2014/04/19: SkS: 2014 SkS Weekly News Roundup #16 by John Hartz
- 2014/04/15: QuarkSoup: The Daily Goulash
Anything in pithy (or piffling) quotes this week?
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

Note: You may notice my denialist coverage flagging. I am finding it increasingly difficult to give any attention to these people.
More on that forced retraction of the Recursive Fury paper:
2014/04/17: UCR: Frontiers retraction controversy
2014/04/16: P3: Further Unraveling of Frontiers
2014/04/16: ERabett: Frontiers - The Amway Analogy
2014/04/16: STW: The Frontiers Expert Panel
2014/04/16: UBardi: "Recursive Fury:" the reasons of Frontiers' blunder
2014/04/15: ERabett: Missing the Trees for the Forest

As for climate miscellanea:
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
Low Key Plug

My first novel _Water_ was published in May 2007. An Introduction is available.
My most recent novel _The Bottleneck Years_ is being serialized online atmy siteand on AFTIC at Table of Contents
If you want further information, see A Gentle Introduction. If you want a copy, see The Deal.
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.

"It's not like the ocean is going to stop flooding." -Andrew Whittle
Last modified April 20, 2014

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April 20, 2014

Just to keep things in perspective:

This week in notable invective:

Notable atmosphere pix:

Looking ahead to COP20 and future international climate negotiations:

Lots of Post WG3 chatter:

The Wang et al. paper on the odd 2013-14 weather patterns drew some notice:

Never Forget:

How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?

And on the Bottom Line:

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

What's the World Bank up to?

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

John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

A note on theFukushima disaster:

Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

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

The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

While in Antarctica:

The food crisis is ongoing:

The state of the world's fisheries is a concern. See also, and:

Food Prices are still problematic:

Something new under the sun - the Open Source Seed Initiative:

So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

Regarding labelling GM food:

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

After Cyclone Ita zapped Queensland last weekend, relative quiet has reigned. TC Jack [24S] is heading (harmlessly) south in the South Indian Ocean west of the Cocos Islands:

While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

This week in notable weather:

Meanwhile on the GHG front:

And in the carbon cycle:

And in the nitrogen cycle:

Aerosols are making their presence felt:

What's up with volcanoes this week?

And on the ENSO front:

As for the temperature record:

Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

While in the paleoclimate:

Every once in a while, someone reaches for a deep time perspective:

In the attribution debate:

What's the State of the Oceans?:

And the State of the Biosphere?

And on the extinction watch:

The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant concern. And then, there are the Neonicotinoids:

More GW impacts are being seen:

And then there are the world's forests:

Climate refugees are becoming an issue:

Aerosols affect the climate, but they also affect people's health:

As for heatwaves and wild fires:

Acidification is changing the oceans:

Glaciers are melting:

Sea levels are rising:

As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

First, stop putting GHGs into the atmosphere, Second, begin to reduce current levels of GHGs, Third, save as many species as possible, Fourth, begin to reduce the human population, And elsewhere on the mitigation front:

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

As for carbon sequestration:

Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

Meanwhile in the journals:

And other significant documents:

As for miscellaneous science:

What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?

Meanwhile at the UN:

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

South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

These 'free trade' treaties should be called the corporate control treaties:

Tensions continue as the empire leans on Syria, Ukraine, Russia...:

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

What are the activists up to?

Native Resistance takes many forms across Turtle Island:

The move to divest from fossil fuel investments is growing slowly:

Polls! We have polls!

Regarding Water Politics and Business; See also:

Regarding science education:

While in Europe:

Meanwhile in Australia:

After Cyclone Ita zapped Queensland last weekend, relative quiet has reigned.
TC Jack [24S] is heading (harmlessly) south in the South Indian Ocean west of the Cocos Islands:

First, stop putting GHGs into the atmosphere,
Second, begin to reduce current levels of GHGs,
Third, save as many species as possible,
Fourth, begin to reduce the human population,
And elsewhere on the mitigation front:

There are getting to be so manyoil pipelines and gas, one almost needs a scorecard: