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America: Step up on climate change
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1231/p09s01-coop.html
Christian Science Monitor: 2007 was the year that global warming became a defining issue in world politics. The science behind it has become firmer than ever. People around the world tell pollsters they judge climate change to be a very serious – sometimes immediate – challenge, and a strong majority say they are ready to make lifestyle changes to reduce warming. Nearly all the world's governments started acting on this issue a long time ago. They have been working together under the 1999 Kyoto Protocol to ...
Mon, 31 Dec 07
Bad weather helped evolution, says study
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22989973-12377,00.html
Australian: FOR more than 150 years, a debate has raged over the origins of modern humans. The main body of scientific thought says modern humans migrated from Africa and then overwhelmed their more primitive European counterparts, the heavy-browed Neanderthals, or inter-bred with them. But growing credence is being given to the theory that homo sapiens evolved from the Neanderthals, who mysteriously died out some 28,000 years ago. A new study to be published on Wednesday in the ...
Mon, 31 Dec 07
Breakthrough on mystery of vanishing bees
http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2007/12/31/news0019.htm
Inter Press Service: Over the past year, honey bees have been dying across North America in unprecedented numbers and, until this month, no one seemed to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt what the cause may have been. What has been dubbed "colony collapse disorder" can work through a honey bee colony in a matter of weeks. Bees fly off to collect pollen, but never return -- or simply weaken and die in the hives. Beyond the larger effects on the food chain, the economic implications of ...
Mon, 31 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Climate change mission for chief scientist
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c996e3e6-b72b-11dc-aa38-0000779fd2ac.html
Financial Times: After seven years in one of the most high-pressure jobs in government, Sir David King will on Monday hand over his role as chief scientist to John Beddington, a population biologist at Imperial College London. The chief scientist can adopt a higher public profile than most civil servants – and Sir David took the opportunity to press what he saw as the rational scientific case on controversial issues ranging from foot-and-mouth disease and genetically modified crops to climate change ...
Mon, 31 Dec 07
India: Emissions control: A challenge for financial sector
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/View_Point/Emissions_control_A_challenge_for_financial_sector/articleshow/2663242.cms
Economic Times: India is an important player in climate change arena. First, because it will and is already feeling the negative effects of an instable climate and second because its share in the fight against global warming will be of increasing importance in the international negotiations that just concluded another important round in Bali, Indonesia. Climate change is real! Although climate change cannot be conclusively linked to individual events, it influences the frequency and severity of ...
Mon, 31 Dec 07
Coal-to-Chemicals Projects Boom in China
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119906071914658457.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Wall Street Journal: For years China has been a magnet for the chemicals industry, attracting European and American companies with its cheap production costs and growing market. Now China has another attraction for the energy-intense chemical industry: vast supplies of coal that can replace oil and natural gas as raw materials for chemical production. In the last two years, China has built nearly 20 plants that convert coal into a gas that can be used to make such things as plastic and ...
Mon, 31 Dec 07
Climate change refugees need help from world
http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/289763
Toronto Star: The House of God is shrinking. So named by the traditional Maasai people who live in its shadows, Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro is undergoing a slow but steady transformation – one that threatens everyone around it. The majestic glaciers that cap Africa's tallest mountain are melting, victims of a warming Earth. A third of the ice has disappeared in the past 20 years. In another 20 years, nothing will be left. And with that goes the primary water source for the Maasai ...
Mon, 31 Dec 07
Heavy Rain Sparks New Landslide Fears in Indonesia
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46220/story.htm
Reuters: Torrential downpours overnight sparked fears of further landslides on Saturday in Indonesia's Java island, where rescuers were still struggling to recover bodies of recent landslide victims, officials said. Nearly 100 people were killed or missing after landslides buried houses under thick mud across the Central Java province this week, while thousands were forced to move out of homes submerged by floods triggered by days of heavy rain. "Heavy rain like this could ...
Mon, 31 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Moving targets keep low-carbon economy on the back burner
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/31/carbonemissions.climatechange
Guardian: As we look back on the past year and look forward to the next, there are clearly huge challenges for our economy. The housing market, consumer spending and economic growth look poised on the edge of a pretty steep drop, and there is a growing chance of a recession. But Gordon Brown - and before him Tony Blair - have stressed that the biggest challenge of our time is the transition to a low-carbon economy. Professor Nick Stern recommended in his report this year that rich ...
Mon, 31 Dec 07
Across Florida, drought appears here to stay
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/weather/orl-drought3107dec31,0,3246996.story?track=rss
Orlando Sentinel: Brought to life by two of the driest years in more than a century, Florida's drought now rivals the worst in state history, threatening water supplies, seafood production, boater navigation and forests. It could get a lot worse. Don't look for much rain soon if the global-climate bully called La Niña keeps flexing its muscle as predicted. "There's a really robust La Niña going on now," said Bart Hagemeyer, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in ...
Mon, 31 Dec 07
China: Beijing Raises Air Quality Goal for 2008 Games
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46216/story.htm
Reuters: Beijing is aiming for more 'good air days' in 2008 as it prepares to host the Olympics in August, a senior official said on Friday, with the city's notorious pollution a major concern for athletes and organisers. Beijing recorded 244 "blue sky days" by Dec. 28 this year, a day short of its 245-day target. The standard of a "blue sky day" has not been widely recognised by international scientists. "I predict that we will be able to meet this year's ...
Mon, 31 Dec 07
Indonesia: Clean water, a basic necessity for everyone
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20071231.H02&irec=1
Jakarta Post: The government said demand for clean water, particularly in Java, Bali and East Nusa Tenggara far exceeds supply, forcing people to `over-exploit' groundwater. Demand will continue to increase in line with population growth, at a time when potable water supplies are drying up due to unpredictable changes in the weather. Further along in the worrisome cycle, the government said, seater will further intrude into coastal areas where millions reside, severely impacting water ...
Mon, 31 Dec 07
Indonesia uses boats to rescue flood-hit people
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2007-12-31T123318Z_01_JAK1730_RTRUKOC_0_US-INDONESIA-FLOODS.xml
Reuters: Indonesian relief and rescue workers used a helicopter and rubber boats on Monday to deliver aid and rescue people marooned on Java island after massive flooding triggered by days of torrential rain. Nearly 100 people have died and about 60,000 left homeless after the floods and a series of landslides buried houses in Central Java and East Java last week. Rescue operations have been slow because of a blanket of mud cutting off roads. A shortage of heavy equipment has also ...
Mon, 31 Dec 07
All About: Cities and energy consumption
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/12/31/eco.cities/
CNN: Humans can now officially be called an urban species. More than half of the global population now live in cities and the United Nations says that by 2030, 60 percent of us will live in them. People in the Tsim Sha Tsui district of Hong Kong, regarded as one of the most crowded places on Earth. 1 of 3 Yet according to U.N. Habitat, the world's cities emit almost 80 percent of global carbon dioxide as well as "significant amounts of other greenhouse gases." Put ...
Mon, 31 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Government toughens up rules for home renewable power generation
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/dec/31/greenbusiness
Guardian: The government appears to have seriously undermined one of its key climate change initiatives by toughening up the rules under which householders can obtain financial assistance to erect wind turbines and install solar panels. A low carbon buildings programme started in April 2006 and due to end this summer, has seen only £7.5m of a potential pot of £18m claimed by private homeowners, it admitted on Monday. Business and the public sector have managed to spend £18m since April ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
United Kingdom: 'Green fatigue' leads to fear of backlash over climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/30/climatechange.carbonemissions?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
Guardian: British people are now convinced about the dangers of global warming, but are either baffled about how to stop it or are ignoring the issue. Analysts say few people are taking action to deal with the threat of climate change, although over the past 12 months the vast majority have come to accept that it poses a real threat to the world. Opinion polls reveal much confusion among the public about what Britain should do to combat the problem. A backlash is clearly coming, said ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
The climate threat to Japanese rice
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7148662.stm
BBC: In Japan government scientists are trying to find ways to reduce the impact of global warming on the country's rice crop. There are fears that the extremes of temperature that some researchers are predicting could affect both the yield and the quality of rice, a staple of the Japanese diet. Flowering grain crops like maize, wheat and rice are particularly vulnerable to changes in temperature. Rice is believed to have been cultivated in Japan for more than 2,500 years. ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
Go green - you'll save more than just the planet
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2007/dec/30/ethicalliving.ethicalmoney
Guardian: This year you've seen An Inconvenient Truth and rocked at Live Earth. In 2008, you want to know what to do to help save the planet but, with financial belt-tightening in the new year, you want to be able to do it without spending more. The problem is: where do you start? It's the million-dollar question asked of environmental experts every day. Should you be saving energy, helping endangered species, cutting local pollution or supporting local shops? Should you aim for the biggest ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
Two Steps Greener, One Back
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90828
New York Times: IN normal times, designers and engineers gather in studios and conference rooms to set the course for how cars will look and function. In 2007, though, the decisions with the greatest effect may have been those made inside courtrooms and government agencies. The game changers with the most profound influence were environmental measures, which at long last were officially recognized to include fuel economy, and inevitably, the matter of carbon dioxide. The issue rode a tide of public ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
United Kingdom: With the will, we can save the Earth
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2233349,00.html
Guardian: The world now understands that climate change is not just an environmental problem. It's also a security, economic, political and migration problem. What are we going to do when people begin fighting not about politics, but about water? What will we do when people start arriving on our shores fleeing not political persecution, but environmental catastrophe? And what will we do when the countries to which we sell goods can't buy them any more because they are having to deal with rising sea ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
United States: Drought exposes delusion of perpetual growth
http://www.sun-herald.com/Newsstory.cfm?pubdate=123007&story=tp1ch5.htm&folder=NewsArchive2
Sun-Herald: Water woes infuse a whispered new word into the local lexicon: 'Unsustainable' This was the year an unwelcome whisper was heard in Southwest Florida; a hushed murmur nearly lost amid the searing static of water shortages and water restrictions, nearly muted by the pounding pistons of development. But not quite. In 2007, "unsustainable" slipped into the local lexicon, courtesy of sustained drought. Previously, such a profanity was dismissed as the ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
Japan to back targets for new climate deal: report
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKT29671520071230
Reuters: Japan will accept numerical targets to cut global warming emissions in a new climate change pact, reversing its stance which came under fire at this month's U.N.-led talks over the deal, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The Mainichi Shimbun said Japan plans to present a proposal to divide nations into not only developed and developing countries, but also into a third group, that would include China and India, and set targets for each group. Japan will also set up a five-year, ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
New energy law: Ethanol debate rages over corn crops
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/environment/2007-12-30-ethanol_N.htm
USA Today: A broad energy law signed by President Bush this month requires a major increase in corn-based ethanol and other biofuels to combat global warming and reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil. But it won't come without a cost. The law calls for production of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022. That includes 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol, about double current production ability. There also are incentives for biodiesel from products such as soybeans and cellulosic ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
Protecting Cuba's vast resources
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5409842.html
New York Times: Cuba is a priceless ecological resource. That is why many scientists are worried about what will become of it after Fidel Castro and his associates leave power and, as is anticipated, the U.S. government relaxes or ends its embargo. The island, at the confluence of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, has mountains, forests, swamps, coasts and marine areas rich in plants and animals. And since the imposition of the embargo in 1962, and with the collapse in ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
US drought spans coast to coast; dancing for rain
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/166245.html
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Surveying some of the 3,240 hectares he farms in a semi-rural area outside Washington, Chris Tranchitella looks out on empty fields that produced a harvest much lower than he had hoped. "The drought has withered crops, lowered lake levels and led to water restrictions across three-quarters of the southeastern United States. Much of the US West is also suffering severe drought, although it is less serious than that in the south-east," he said. Governors declared emergencies ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
United States: Living with less water
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071230/OPINION/712300634/-1/newssitemap
Herald Tribune: A severe drought in 2007 reminded the people of Southwest Florida not to take drinking water for granted. Unless unseasonable rainfall provides relief soon, the impacts of this year's drought will be felt well into 2008. Water conservation must be practiced on a personal level as well as regionally. County governments have wisely increased enforcement of watering restrictions and begun public education campaigns. The need for water-supply planning became more apparent ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
UN leader Ban Ki-moon focused on climate change and peace in Darfur in first year
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/30/news/UN-FEA-GEN-UN-Secretary-Generals-Year.php
Associated Press: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flew 125,000 miles (200,000 kilometers) and visited six continents during his first year as U.N. chief, gaining a reputation as a workaholic and a staunch advocate for peace in Darfur and global action to combat climate change. But at U.N. headquarters, he's had a tougher time making progress on his goal of changing U.N. culture and re-engineering a giant international bureaucracy where 192 countries often have competing interests so the U.N. can better ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
Climate change reheats interest in nuclear power
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1198913116293600.xml&coll=7
Oregonian: Three-point-six degrees Fahrenheit. Any global temperature change beyond that number is what scientists say would warm the Earth to a dangerous level, melting polar ice and changing climates. That scenario is all it took to reposition nuclear power from a dead and buried political albatross to one of several carbon-neutral alternatives to fight global warming. That's part of the new debate in Congress about climate change, which has shifted from causes to the best ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
Energy efficiency a great New Year's resolution
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90855
Jakarta Post: For those who do not have a New Year's resolution yet, may I propose a good one? The recent UNCC conference in Bali highlighted global warming as an important problem which requires a global effort. Although the agreement the conference reached did not satisfy all parties, the impact is still real and it takes each one of us to start making a difference. Buildings are a good place to start. According to a report by the USGBC (United States Green Building Council) and IPCC ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
Glaciers Receding in Western China
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-12-30/63410.html
Epoch Times: According to a recent investigation by the Chinese Academy of Science Institute of Glaciology and Geocryology, glaciers in western China are rapidly becoming smaller because of global warming. The institute specializes in investigating glacier resources and changes. The glaciers in the Yili River Basin, Zhunger Basin, and upper Yaluzangbu River have shrunk by more than 18 percent; while those of Qilian Mountain and Lancang River have become more than 10 percent smaller. The ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
Hawaii improves renewable energy use
http://www.kpua.net/news.php?id=13537
Associated Press: A new report says Hawaii's use of renewable energy rose by 9.8 percent last year. Statistics from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism show that the state's primary energy consumption in 2006 dropped 1.8 percent compared to 2005, while petroleum use fell 2.7 percent during the period. Municipal solid waste energy and hydropower production rose about 12 percent and 13 percent, respectively. Wind power jumped 1,123 percent due to new ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
The Suburban Life: Global Warming Goes Local
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90856
New York Times: For generations of Maplewood residents, the coming of winter meant the return of a tableau worthy of the most clichéd Currier and Ives print. Magically, the township's public works employees would throw a switch or turn a knob and suddenly water would begin to flow from a creek in Memorial Park into an adjacent low-lying field. It being winter, the water would freeze quickly, and for the next two to three months the township's children and their nostalgic parents would have access to ...
Sun, 30 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Wildlife 'needs help' in climate change exodus
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/30/conservation.wildlife
Press Association: Animals such as bats, lizards and dormice will need help moving to new habitats in the United Kingdom as climate change brings warmer temperatures, the Wildlife Trusts warned yesterday. Butterflies and birds will also require assistance in shifting their ranges north and west in search of new homes. Some species are already moving, like the traditionally southern comma butterfly. Now the Wildlife Trusts are trying to link up areas of woodland, heathland and pasture to enable ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
A slow death from overconsumption
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/janice_turner/article3105386.ece
Times (UK): Feeling a bit porky and raddled after your December debauch? Want a new you for the new year? A plastic surgery firm is offering three treatments for the price of two. That's right, have, say, your lower eye-bags removed and your breasts enlarged and they'll throw in a labia reduction (a lucrative new source of self-hate apparently) or a neck lift absolutely free! But hurry – all surgery must be completed before the end of January. Clinics offering cut-price ops, this week condemned ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
Sea holds climate change benefits, threats
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90802
Jakarta Post: The sea poses both a threat and opportunity for coastal communities in Indonesia -- a sprawling archipelago with some 17,000 islands -- in facing global warming. Rising sea levels are expected to submerge smaller islands while at the same time the sea can be used as a carbon sink to help the world mitigate human-induced climate change. The ministry of maritime and fishery affairs says Indonesia's seas have the capacity to store up to 245 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
A plea for population control to save the Earth
http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-op_cuker_1229dec29,0,2296135.story
Daily Press: Do the roads and stores seem more crowded to you around Hampton Roads this year? Does it seem the weather is getting warmer? Are the two related? Yes. Last year the U.S. population topped 300 million, just 39 years after surpassing the 200 million mark. During those four decades Earth's population doubled, increasing from 3 billion to over 6 billion. It is no coincidence that the rate of glacial melting in Greenland also doubled over the last decade; rapid global warming traces ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
Italy: A tropical virus moves north
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-sci-chik29dec29,1,50818.story?coll=la-health-medicine
LA Times: An unusual virus known as chikungunya sickened at least 200 people and contributed to the death of a man in northeastern Italy this year, marking the first time the tropical virus has caused a disease outbreak in a temperate climate, researchers reported this month. The chikungunya virus, whose name derives from a word in an African language meaning "to become contorted," arrived in the Emilia Romagna region in June with a visitor from India and was spread through Asian ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
Global Warming to Alter Calif. Landscape
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iP-k4qqg6nRWLkO5duGzRvZKc5LQD8TRAHI00
Associated Press: California is defined by its scenery, from the mountains that enchanted John Muir to the wine country and beaches that define its culture around the world. But as scientists try to forecast how global warming might affect the nation's most geographically diverse state, they envision a landscape that could look quite different by the end of this century, if not sooner. Where celebrities, surfers and wannabes mingle on Malibu's world-famous beaches, there may be only sea walls ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
In Bush's Final Year, The Agenda Gets Greener
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122803046.html?hpid=topnews
Washington Post: People find all sorts of ways to lobby President Bush. Sometimes it comes in the form of a handwritten note slipped into his palm during a bill-signing ceremony. Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) tried that last week when Bush signed energy legislation that will curb greenhouse gases. "Congratulations and good work," Carper recalled writing. "By the way, Joe Lieberman and John Warner have a very good global warming bill that needs your support and you ought to support ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
Opposition stirring against new reactors
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/5409693.html
Houston Chronicle: Texas anti-nuclear activists are rallying their forces to challenge the so-called nuclear renaissance that could see the state become home to the country's first new nuclear power plant project in nearly 30 years. On Friday a coalition of groups said it will intervene in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's review of NRG Energy's application to build two new reactors in Matagorda County, next to the existing South Texas Project nuclear plant. The commission filed notice this ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
UK species 'must move to survive'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7164132.stm
BBC: Some UK wildlife species will have to find new habitats as climate change causes temperatures to rise, the Wildlife Trusts have warned. Animals, birds and plants will have to move north and westwards to find suitable habitats, the trusts say. Species affected will include the dormouse and some bats and butterflies. The Wildlife Trusts says that while some species are already moving, development and loss of habitat is preventing movement for others. The ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
Attenborough calls for action on climate change
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=22&ContentID=52589
West Australian: Sir David Attenborough has called for the UK to adopt a "moral" stance on tackling climate change. The 81-year-old nature broadcaster, whose next series for the BBC, Life in Cold Blood, will begin in February, admitted that despite huge shifts in the perception of global warming recently, he can understand why people are reluctant to make change to their lifestyles. "To achieve an agreement in which the world promises, effectively, to lower our standards of living, is a very ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
Change the world, one click at a time
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/12/29/change_the_world_one_click_at_a_time/
Boston Globe: All the networks, homemade videos, and blogs on the Web have made it a center for socializing, not social change. But a slew of start-ups are using the tech tools and social dynamics that have become the norm online to tackle real-world problems. Whether it's through a social network that helps a Nicaraguan woman get a loan to expand her business selling dyed rope, or a website that uses video, podcasts, and other tools to turn a social activist into an Internet celebrity with an army ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
Global warming may be changing shrimp spawning habits
http://www.wwltv.com/topstories/stories/wwl122907khglobalwarmingshrimp.63e088ce.html?npc
Daily Comet: Besides the delayed appearance of waterfowl to southern climates, droughts and forest fires, shifts in the sexual behavior of shrimp may be added to early signs of global warming. Carol Terrebonne weighs shrimp at the Seafood Shed in Golden Meadow. White shrimp are spawning closer inshore according to biologists, a phenomenon that may be caused by saltwater intrusion and global warming. The jury is still officially out, and so far no authoritative scientific work on the ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
In California, climate change will transform the land, lifestyles
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_7837850?nclick_check=1
Associated Press: California has always been a place defined by its landscape, from the mountains that enchanted John Muir to the wine country and beaches that shape its culture around the world. Yet as the state begins to grapple with the effects of a warming climate, scientists are trying to forecast how the nation's most geographically diverse state might change in the decades to come. What they envision is a landscape that could look quite different by the end of the century, if not sooner. ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
United States: Renewable energy use increases
http://starbulletin.com/2007/12/29/business/story03.html
Honolulu Star Bulletin: Hawaii's use of renewable energy rose by 9.8 percent last year, putting the state on track to become more energy efficient as local residents pay among the highest energy costs in the nation, according to a new report. The latest statistics, released yesterday by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, show that the state's primary energy consumption in 2006 dropped 1.8 percent compared to 2005, while petroleum use fell 2.7 percent during the ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
Vanishing wild bees will sting ecosystem
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/289362
Toronto Star: This is a darkening time for the world. I want to explain why in this column, but I also want to point to the effort of one family in Norfolk County that is trying to keep open one tiny speck of light. They can't hold back the darkness by themselves. But they're doing what they can, and if others do the same, well, that's how a ray of hope develops. There's a darkening because, with global warming, things are starting to get out of joint in nature. For instance in ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
German Biodiesel Forced to Compete
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40634
Inter Press Service: Until a few months ago, the production of crop-based fuels was the best energy business imaginable in Germany, thanks to growing demand supported by the government. That's no longer the case. The tax exemptions were generous and the reigning belief was that biofuels constituted a major contribution to the fight against climate change. This outlook led farmers and refineries to boost production and capacity, which jumped from 200,000 tonnes of distilled biodiesel from rapeseed ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
Roll back global warming?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Sunday_Specials/Special_Report/Roll_back_global_warming/articleshow/2661488.cms
Times of India: Climate change can be reversed. The more important question is: By when? The cost of delay is a bigger worry than finding solutions to global warming. Much of what is required of countries as well as individuals does not demand rocket science or high-end technology. Most of the solutions for climate change reversal are already available, at least with rich countries today. The question is, are they willing to share their technologies to avoid disasters? The Nobel Prize awarded ...
Sat, 29 Dec 07
Shanghai temperature sets record high in 2007
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/29/content_7335092.htm
Xinhua: Shanghai has experienced the hottest year in 2007 since the city began to record weather in 1873, with an average temperature of 18.4 Celsius degrees, said meteorologist on Saturday. The year's average in 2007 is 2.2 Celsius degrees more than the long-term average temperature of 16.2 degrees, and is even 0.1 Celsius degree more than that of last year, said Shen Yu, senior engineer with the municipal meteorological bureau. "Especially in February, May and July, the ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Beyond 350 Parts Per Million
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/27/AR2007122701942.html
Washington Post: This month may have been the most important yet in the two-decade history of the fight against global warming. Al Gore got his Nobel in Stockholm; international negotiators made real progress on a treaty in Bali; and in Washington, Congress actually worked up the nerve to raise gas mileage standards for cars. But what may turn out to be the most crucial development went largely unnoticed. It happened at an academic conclave in San Francisco. A NASA scientist named James Hansen ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Indonesia: Plea for trees as landslide toll rises
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/plea-for-trees-as-landslide-toll-rises/2007/12/27/1198345158973.html
Sydney Morning Herald: THE Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, urged the mass planting of trees throughout Indonesia as rescuers yesterday dug with their hands through mud for survivors from a landslide that killed at least 67 people. Dr Yudhoyono called on organisations and regional governments to plant trees in unplanted areas to prevent disasters such as flash floods and landslides and to "save the earth from global warming". Tens of thousands of Indonesians are homeless ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Toll at Least 80 in Indonesian Mudslides
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90788
New York Times: Mudslides have killed at least 80 people in remote villages in Central Java since Wednesday morning, and rescue workers struggled Thursday to move emergency equipment into the area. The villages, in a mountainous area, have been difficult to reach with large trucks, backhoes and other equipment needed to dig out bodies or possible survivors. Police officers, military personnel and local residents have been clawing through the dense mud with their hands and crude farming ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Australia: Victoria to announce desalination plant
http://news.smh.com.au/victoria-planning-desalination-plant/20071228-1j8x.html
AAP: The Victorian government will prepare a report on the environmental impact of a proposed desalination plant on the state's south-east coast, Planning Minister Justin Madden says. Mr Madden said preliminary environmental reports showed there was a need to investigate any potential loss of native vegetation and impacts on the landscape, flora, fauna and marine life, through an Environmental Effects Statement (EES). But he ruled out preparing an EES for the north-south Sugarloaf ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Latin America hit by record number of disasters, says UN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2232634,00.html
Guardian: The UN office that sends experts around the world to help governments deal with natural disasters attended to more such events than ever before in Latin America in 2007, a fact it at least partially blames on climate change. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement that a record nine missions were dispatched to the region this year. This was part of a total of 14 sent around the globe, itself a higher than usual number. "Seventy percent of ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Japan Urges China to Reduce Pollution
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90793
New York Times: Japan urged China to do more to fight global warming and pledged to help the country reduce runaway pollution during high-level talks in the Chinese capital on Friday. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of Japan made energy and environmental issues the centerpiece of his four-day visit to China, hoping to build on a recent improvement in relations between Asia's two leading powers. The countries have sticky disputes over territory, energy resources, wartime history and military ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Solar technology is going mainstream
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071228/LIFE/712280318
Wall Street Journal: When Bill and Margaret Oliver decided to take the plunge into solar energy earlier this year, the retired Long Beach, Calif., couple searched for months to find someone who could install 35 newfangled solar panels atop their three-bedroom home. Despite the hassles – and though the panels cost them $39,000, after government rebates – the Olivers say they're ecstatic to be escaping power bills that had soared to almost $400 a month. The panels contain a relatively new technology for the ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Antarctica's Adelie Penguins Extinct in a Decade?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071228-penguins-extinct.html
National Geographic: Adélie penguins in Antarctica are in the midst of a major upheaval as climate change causes their icy habitat to warm up, experts say. Some populations of the birds are thriving, but most are declining rapidly. The penguins rely on winter sea ice as a platform for feeding on ocean krill. But they also need the ice to shrink in the summer so they can access their breeding colonies on land. The mid-latitudes of the Antarctic Peninsula once provided the perfect ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Prince Charles to Work With Norway to Save Forests
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46206/story.htm
Reuters: Britain's Prince Charles has offered to team up with Norway in projects to save forests around the world, Norwegian officials said on Thursday. The Prince of Wales's offer to Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg followed Norway's announcement earlier this month that it aimed to provide about 3 billion crowns (US$541.2 million) per year to prevent deforestation in developing countries. Charles, who has said saving the world's rainforests is key to combating global ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Scientists debate climate modification
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/story/359131.html
San Jose Mercury News: You know about global warming and carbon footprints. Now get ready to hear more and more about ``geoengineering.'' As the warming of earth's climate nears what experts say is a crisis point, a panel of scientists in San Francisco on Thursday said it's time to get serious about studying tinkering with the atmosphere to counteract harmful carbon dioxide emissions. While such geoengineering might sound like something out of a science fiction novel -- seeding clouds, for example, ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Argentine Congress OKs Time Change to Save Energy
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46210/story.htm
Reuters: Argentina's Congress approved a daylight savings measure late on Wednesday, part of a broader government plan to conserve energy as demand for power surges amid brisk economic growth. Under the new law, which both houses of Congress passed the same day, the time in Argentina will jump forward an hour starting on Sunday. The clocks will turn back on March 16. In the future, the government will set the dates for daylight savings without congressional approval. Officials say the ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
China: Beijing raises air quality goal for Olympics
http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/28272
Reuters: Beijing is aiming for more "good air days" in 2008 as it prepares to host the Olympics in August, a senior official said on Friday, with the city's notorious pollution a major concern for athletes and organizers. Beijing recorded 244 "blue sky days" by December 28 this year, a day short of its 245-day target. The standard of a "blue sky day" has not been widely recognized by international scientists. "I predict that we will be able to meet ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Cause for alarm
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tony_juniper/2007/12/cause_for_alarm.html
Guardian: The global warming debate entered a new phase in 2007. February saw the first of three new reports published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), setting out the most recent state of the science of global warming. Not only did it confirm earlier assessments linking human activities to alterations in climatic patterns, it set out how the problem is more urgent than previously believed. This new and more alarming science thankfully seemed to have immediate political ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Global warming doesn't seem to be heating up campaign trail
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2004095611_goodman28.html
Seattle Times: Since this is the list-making time of year, allow me to add a tiny trophy to Al Gore's very full shelf: the prize for the most elegant speech of 2007. I wasn't sure how the politician-turned-environmentalist fit the profile for a Nobel Peace Prize, but his acceptance speech connected the dots. "Without realizing it," Gore said, "we have begun to wage war on the Earth itself. Now, we and the Earth's climate are locked in a relationship familiar to war planners: mutually ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Japan, China pledge warmer ties, but no deal on gas fields
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ic7_Q0BqU4vsQ-0EeHJkr2IatMXA
Agence France-Presse: China and Japan pledged on Friday to build on their rapidly warming ties, as Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda met the Chinese leadership, but a dispute over maritime gas fields remained unresolved. Fukuda, on his first visit to China since taking office in September, held talks with President Hu Jintao to lay the groundwork for closer cooperation between the Asian powers in trade, climate change and other fields. "Since taking office, you have emphasised the importance ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Netherlands has another record warm year
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKL2840294020071228
Reuters: The average temperature in the Netherlands in 2007 matched 2006, the warmest year in 300 years, and the Dutch meteorological institute said it was a sign of global warming. The average temperature in 2007 was 11.2 degrees Celsius (52.16F) which, along with 2006, is highest average since Dutch temperatures were first measured in 1706, the KNMI institute said on Friday. The normal annual average is 9.8 degrees. "The most important reason for the recent high temperatures is ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Rwanda: Unpredictable Climate Changes
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712280007.html
New Times: Climate change is one of the most critical global challenges of our time. Recent events have emphatically demonstrated our growing vulnerability to climate change. Climate change impacts range from affecting agriculture to endangering food security, sea-level rise and the accelerated erosion of coastal zones, increasing intensity of natural disasters, species destruction and the spread of vector-borne diseases. Climate change refers to the variation in the Earth's global ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Relentless N. Carolina drought could be devastating in '08
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/drought/2007-12-26-nc-drought_N.htm
USA Today: The record-setting drought that has forced the governor to plead for conservation, homeowners to shelve their lawn sprinklers and farmers to drain their ponds for irrigation is only forecast to get worse in the new year. If the predictions come true, convenience won't be the only casualty. North Carolina's multibillion dollar agriculture industry is prepping for what may be a devastating year for both crops and livestock, while local governments are eyeing emergency plans – and ...
Fri, 28 Dec 07
Indonesian president warns on catastrophes
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/6329505.html
Xinhua: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday warned the people of possible catastrophes in the next two months, due to high rainfalls. The president told a press conference following rampant floods and landslides nationwide, including the major landslide in Central Java, that killed more than 100 people. The warning also delivered to the authorities in the sectors of air, sea and land transports, as poor weather had often caused rampant accidents in the country ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
UN issues warning of critical food shortages
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news-features/un-issues-warning-of-critical-food-shortages-the-livelihoods-of-billions-of-people-will-be-se/1151741.html
Canberra Times: Almost 40 countries are facing critical food shortages as world food prices soar to record levels, the United Nations warns. The world's food supplies are rapidly dwindling due to crop failures caused by global warming, natural disasters, wars, and a trend away from farming food crops to growing biofuels and grain to feed cattle, the agency says. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's global food price index reached its highest level this year, rising by more than 40 per ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Climate change 'is taking its toll on wildlife'
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1927552.0.Climate_change_is_taking_its_toll_on_wildlife.php
Herald: Chaotic summer weather patterns have heightened concerns that climate change could have a serious impact on Scotland's wildlife, flora and fauna, it emerged yesterday. Arthur Martin, head of countryside and nature conservation services at the National Trust for Scotland (NTS), said the unpredictable weather had started to take its toll on the delicate balance of the country's natural landscape. A number of species have appeared in Scotland for the first time, while the survival ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Parasites are the hidden face of climate change across Scotland
http://business.scotsman.com/fooddrinkagriculture/Parasites-are-the-hidden-face.3620575.jp
Scotsman: THERE is little doubt that climate change is having an impact on the agricultural industry in Scotland. The consensus is that this will lead to drier summers and increased rainfall during the winter. Scientists at the Moredun Research Institute, near Edinburgh, reckon that climate change will have a major impact on the health and welfare of livestock. Dr Philip Skuce has been studying this topic. He said: "Recent data from diagnostic reports clearly shows that the incidence of ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Landslides Leave 75 Dead or Missing in Indonesia
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46198/story.htm
Reuters: Landslides caused by torrential rains overnight have left 75 people dead or missing in Indonesia's Central Java province, the emergency response agency said on Wednesday. A provincial official said the landslides were the worst to hit the region in quarter of a century as thousands of people moved to rescue shelters after their homes were buried or washed away. Rescue workers and police were struggling to reach the affected areas as roads were cut off by floods following the ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Indonesia: Global Warming: Re-examine logging
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/345159_logginged.html
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: The landslides in Indonesia are a sample of the discourse ahead when it comes to global warming. Political leaders say, "Plant trees" -- two words that are supposed to make it better for the survivors of the landslides that killed at least 67 people and left tens of thousands homeless. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, quoted in The Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald, called for a mass planting of trees to prevent disasters such as flash floods and landslides and ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Plans for at least 8 clean coal plants hit snags
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/environment/2007-12-26-coalplants_N.htm
USA Today: Clean coal-fired power plants have been touted as a remedy for an environmentally challenged age, offering the promise of turning cheap but dirty coal into a pollution-free energy source. Don't turn off those wind turbines yet. At least eight clean coal plants, more than a third of those on the drawing board, have been canceled, delayed or rejected by regulators this year. Developers cite soaring construction costs, technology hurdles and uncertainty about regulation of ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Arctic ice melt Canada's top weather concern in 2007
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iI1loMtN-xVsi00uOZMwIMWYWALg
Agence France-Presse: The "shocking" record loss of Arctic sea ice was Canada's top weather event in 2007, Canada's environment ministry said Thursday. Each year for the past 12, Environment Canada has published a list of the top 10 climate or weather phenomena to impact Canada that year. For 2007, "the dramatic disappearance of Arctic sea ice -- reported in September -- was so shocking that it quickly became our number one weather story," the ministry said in a ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Climate Change's $75 Billion Bill
http://www.forbes.com/markets/economy/2007/12/27/disasters-munich-re-markets-equity-cx_vr_1227markets08.html
Forbes: Natural disasters wrought by climate change have a staggering price tag, and it's growing. Total economic losses from natural catastrophes in 2007 rose to $75 billion from $50 billion the year before as extreme weather conditions driven by climate change wreaked havoc across the world, according to Munich Re (other-otc: MURGF - news - people ), the world's second-largest reinsurer on Thursday. The economic losses include those not covered by insurance such as disruption to power ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Europe's Biodiesel Drive Sputters
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119871178911851507.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Wall Street Journal: The European Union's dream of using vegetable-based diesel fuel in cars to cut oil imports and the pollution that causes global warming is turning sour. The bloc made a big bet on biodiesel fuels in 2003, agreeing that its governments would phase in tax breaks and rules to encourage their production and use. The bet seemed to make sense. Most Europeans drive diesel cars, making ethanol -- the U.S. clean fuel of choice for gasoline-powered cars -- impractical. Biodiesel can be ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Extreme weather affects UK wildlife
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hI3xg_FgG-Aj1Of2BFkWwI-bfKmg
Press Association: A year of unpredictable and extreme weather has caused chaos for British wildlife, the National Trust said. Many species emerged or bred earlier because of warm weather in the first few months of the year, while the heavy rain and low temperatures caused problems for insects, birds and bats in the summer. The National Trust's nature conservation advisor Matthew Oates said he believed wildlife was going to be increasingly affected by unpredictable variations caused by climate ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Uganda: Forest Conservation is a Key Factor in Devt
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712270426.html
Monitor: The debate on whether to conserve natural forests or clear them for investment and development projects is raging more than ever before. At the recently concluded conference on climate change in Bali, Indonesia, there were proposals to look beyond development and commit more resources towards conservation of the environment and forests. While land is in fixed supply, there is increasing demand for it for human settlement and development projects. In some instances, this has fueled an ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Melting polar cap No. 1 weather story of 2007
http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=784c945f-f2c0-4b30-8c0c-c00c4a529821
CanWest News Service: The disappearance of Arctic sea ice-- reported in September-- was Environment Canada's No. 1 weather story of 2007. In fact, the United Nations declared the record loss of ice as one of the world's biggest events. The thinning and shrinking of the ice, largely a result of a series of consecutive warm years, has had a profound impact on the North-- people, plants and wildlife alike. Scientists believe that Greenland, with its melting ice caps and disappearing glaciers, ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Uganda: Mr President, Stop the Mabira Games
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712270050.html
Monitor: President Yoweri Museveni is at it again; this time around reminding the country that the controversial proposal to give away Mabira forest which led to the death of three people about six months ago, is not yet resolved after all. His remarks while meeting the NRM Parliamentary Caucus last week in effect mean that government could still go ahead a give away part of the tropical rain forest to a private investor, the Lugazi-based Mehta Group, in total disregard of public ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Shell taps into coal methane in China
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/dec/27/shell
Guardian: Shell has expanded its interests in China by taking control of a pioneering project to meet some of the country's burgeoning demand for energy using methane gas from underground coal seams. The Anglo-Dutch group has bought a 55% equity stake from Verona Development Corporation and will operate the North Shilou project, 150km south-east of Changbei gas field, where Shell is also active in a conventional gas production scheme with PetroChina. Methane is a highly flammable ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
United States: Building on the trunks of ruined pines
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-beetle27dec27,0,4739629.story?coll=la-home-center
LA Times: The pine trees cradling this mountain town are dying, turned rusty red by a beetle that is destroying the Rockies' forests. The brittle corpses are an eyesore as well as a major fire hazard. When they collapse, they make hillsides unstable, increasing erosion and damming streams that feed into the Colorado River, which provides drinking water to seven states and Mexico. But Randy Piper is trying to focus on the positive. He moved here four years ago, scanned the ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
China promises investment in renewables
http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Energy/Briefing/2007/12/26/china_promises_investment_in_renewables/6836/
United Press International: China promised Wednesday to step up development of renewable energy, the official Xinhua news agency reported. In an effort to help curb emissions, the government has vowed to promote hydroelectric, nuclear, solar and wind energy, as well natural gas extracted from garbage dumps and coal mines. In the country's first white paper on its energy conditions and policies, Beijing pledged to give top priority to developing renewable energy. "China's energy development ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
EPA's 'uniformity' standard incredible
http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/oped/ci_7819479
Argus: AS a liberal columnist, criticizing the antics of the Bush administration could understandably be viewed as an exercise in overkill. There has been so much to critique over the years; the challenge is to not make their actions the default position when deciding on a topic to write about. But the Environmental Protection Agency's recent decision to deny California and 16 other states the right to set their own standards for carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles is so outlandish ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Extreme weather plays havoc with UK wildlife
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/27/eaweather127.xml
Telegraph: This year's unpredictable and extreme weather has caused chaos for British wildlife, the National Trust have said. Unseasonably warm weather in the first months of the year and heavy rain and low temperatures over the summer meant that many species emerged and bred earlier, or had food sources or nests washed away. Ducks, bats, bumblebees, frogspawn, orchids and blue tits were just some of the species affected. Matthew Oates, the trust's nature conservation adviser, ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Global warming brings busy year for UN disaster teams
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2232599,00.html
Guardian: The United Nations office that sends expert teams around the world to help governments deal with natural disasters was busier than ever in Latin America this year, a fact it at least partially blames on climate change. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, said in a statement that a record nine missions were dispatched to the region during 2007, among 14 sent around the globe, itself a higher than usual number. Of the 14 global missions, 70% were ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
India: Govt acts on UN reports on climate change, sets up panel
http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=43734fd1-7ce6-4891-bcf0-5d51f09e723c&MatchID1=4625&TeamID1=1&TeamID2=6&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1165&MatchID2=4617&TeamID3=3&TeamID4=4&MatchType2=1&SeriesID2=1
Press Trust of India: Acting on UN reports during the outgoing year on threats of impending climate change, the government set up a high-level panel to tackle the impact of global warming. The first report of the Nobel award winning Inter-Governmental Penal on Climate Change (IPCC) rang the alarm bells predicting that temperatures in the next century are expected to go up by 2.5 to 4.5 degrees Centigrade and that India, along with developing countries, will face a serious shortage of water and threat to ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Japan government panel to debate climate proposals
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUST158547
Reuters: Japan's key economic panel will discuss private-sector proposals on tackling climate change on Tuesday but will not make them public because of the topic's sensitivity ahead of next month's G8 summit, Economics Minister Hiroko Ota said on Tuesday. The proposals by the panel's private-sector members will serve as a basis for discussions at the meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, Ota told a news conference. "We decided to put (climate change) on today's agenda ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Let California experiment
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2007/12/27/buzbeeed_1228.html
Atlanta Journal Constitution: California and 16 piggybacking states to devise their own more aggressive car greenhouse gas pollution strategies, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson mentioned concerns with a "patchwork" of disparate state standards. He also alluded to the new energy bill as justification. President Bush echoed that point, in a press conference asking if it is "more effective to let each state make a decision how to proceed ... or is it more effective to have a national ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Munich Re Says Losses From Natural Disasters to Rise
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=avy5og0enTro&refer=germany
Bloomberg: Munich Re, the world's second-biggest reinsurer, said losses from natural catastrophes will rise because of climate changes, costing clients more for insurance premiums. The Munich-based company estimated worldwide insured losses related to natural disasters doubled to about $30 billion in 2007. Catastrophes such as floods and storms led to 15,000 deaths and $75 billion in total damages, it said today in a statement. Swiss Reinsurance Co., the largest reinsurer, said last week that ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Natural catastrophes will grow with climate change: re-insurer
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iQxlA4tDrSvLFjsxCfy9oZ1GwjjA
Agence France-Presse: Natural catastrophes in 2007 were more frequent and costlier than a year earlier and climate change will make them more expensive still, the world's second-biggest re-insurer, Munich Re, said Thursday. There were 950 natural catastrophes in 2007 compared with 850 in 2006, the highest number since the group started compiling its closely watched annual report in 1974. The total cost of disasters in 2007 was 75 billion dollars (51.5 billion euros), while the bill for 2006 was 50 ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Ribbon Seal of the Bering Sea Losing Icy Habitat
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2007/2007-12-26-094.asp
Environment News Service: The rare ribbon seal may be one of the first species to lose its habitat to global warming, says the Center for Biological Diversity. The ribbon seal is dependent on Arctic sea ice for survival - but that sea ice is shrinking fast. The group has filed a scientific petition with the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect the ribbon seal under the federal Endangered Species Act due to decline of its habitat in a warming climate. "The Arctic is in crisis state from ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Spanish electricity demand up 2.8 pct in 2007
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSL2724226920071227
Reuters: Spanish electricity demand rose 2.8 percent year-on-year in 2007 to 260,838 gigawatt hours (GWh), grid operator Red Electrica (REE.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday. Stripping out the effect of different working days and temperature changes, demand rose 4 percent. Demand reached its peak on the evening of Dec. 17 when it hit 45,450 MW as Spaniards turned up the heating during a very cold snap. That was 4 percent higher than the previous minute-by-minute record of ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Denmark: Vestas says wins 290 megawatts of turbine orders
http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSL2757220071227
Reuters: Denmark's Vestas (VWS.CO: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's biggest maker of wind turbines, said on Thursday it won three orders totalling 134 megawatts for projects in Spain and a 156 megawatt order from AES Corporation (AES.N: Quote, Profile, Research). By 1543 GMT, Vestas shares were 3.5 percent higher at 537 crowns, outperforming the Copenhagen bourse's top-20 OMX index , which was 0.8 percent off. Vestas is riding a surge in demand for renewable energy sources amid ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
United States: EPA is to reveal greenhouse gas papers
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071227/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/epa_documents_2;_ylt=AvIvy0gaH44Jk2wuN4XRSLDYeMUA
Associated Press: The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday signaled it is prepared to comply with a congressional request for all documents – including communications with the White House – concerning its decision to block California from imposing limits on greenhouse gases. The EPA's general counsel directed agency employees in a memo to preserve and produce all documents related to the decision including any opposing views and communications between senior EPA officials and the White House, ...
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Beijing air pollution 'as bad as it can get,' official says
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071227/sc_afp/chinaenvironmentbeijingpollutionoly2008chn_071227102246;_ylt=AtNog_9xWsVDQTLRudkwB3TYeMUA
Agence France-Presse: Beijingers were warned to stay indoors on Thursday as pollution levels across the capital hit the top of the scale, despite repeated assurances by the government that air quality was improving. "This is as bad as it can get," a spokeswoman for the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau told AFP. "Level five is the worst level of air pollution. This is as bad as it has been all year." According to the bureau's website, 15 out of the 16 pollution ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
Japan Mines `Flammable Ice,' Flirts With Environmental Disaster
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aiUsVKaqDA7g&refer=japan
Bloomberg: Fifty-five million years ago the world's climate was catastrophically changed when volcanoes melted natural gas frozen in the seabed. Now Japan plans to drill for the same icy crystals to end its reliance on imported energy. Billions of tons of methane hydrate, frozen chunks of chemical-laced water buried in sediment some 3,000 feet under the Pacific Ocean floor, may help Japan win energy independence from the Middle East and Indonesia. Japanese engineers have found enough ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
China Moves to Stem Fears as Energy Needs Grow
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90726
Washington Post: China pledged Wednesday that its worldwide search for oil and gas to power a booming economy will be carried out in a spirit of fair play and international cooperation so as not to disrupt sensitive international markets. The promise came in a government white paper, one of a series Beijing has issued in recent years to present its case to the world. This one, outlining energy policies, was aimed in part at fears that China's growing thirst for imported oil will drive up prices and ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
China Vows to Develop Clean Energies
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gSeOy_nl-kE9pn5VnKHGphuIJMuAD8TOVRJ00
Associated Press: China promised Wednesday to develop renewable energy for its fast-growing economy but warned that coal consumption will grow dramatically and avoided embracing binding limits on its greenhouse gas emissions. In a report on its energy plans, the government announced no new initiatives but said it wants to curb reliance on oil and gas to drive an economy that is the world's second-biggest energy consumer after the United States. "China gives top priority to developing ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
Climate Change Gives Rise to New World Order
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40597
Inter Press Service: Once again, humanity is facing the risk of catastrophe. The terror of destruction by nuclear missiles ready to be launched at the touch of a button has given way to the disturbing possibility of global warming going past the point of no return, and this is turning traditional international coalitions and geopolitical concepts upside down. Although the seriousness of the threat to human survival has been acknowledged in diplomatic rhetoric, the international powers are still not giving ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
New hope on climate change
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jeffrey_sachs/2007/12/new_hope_on_climate_change.html
Guardian: The world has taken an important step toward controlling climate change by agreeing to the Bali Action Plan (pdf) at the global negotiations in Indonesia earlier this month. The plan may not look like much, since it basically committed the world to more talking rather than specific actions, but I am optimistic for three reasons. First, the world was sufficiently united that it forced the United States to end its intransigence. Second, the road map marks a sensible balance of ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
Weather extremes: records broken in heat waves in North America, Europe
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5ipv4-RfBloS-sAdAcw4PB9YOcTdQ
Canadian Press: When the calendar turned to 2007, the heat went on and the weather just got weirder. January was the warmest first month on record worldwide - 0.85 degrees Celsius above normal. It was the first time since record-keeping began in 1880 that the globe's average temperature has been so far above the norm for any month of the year. And as 2007 drew to a close, it was also shaping up to be the hottest year on record in the Northern Hemisphere. U.S. weather stations broke or ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
China report says coal to remain top energy source
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jRdR9Nd-GnyWN1FainAfHONr-imA
Agence France-Presse: China reiterated Wednesday its long-term dependence on coal for energy, but pledged to step up efforts to burn the fuel more cleanly to reduce its impact on global warming. In its first white paper on energy, the Chinese government also vowed to develop sustainable energy industries, and said its booming demand for fuel would not pose a threat to world energy security. "China did not, does not and will not pose any threat to the world's energy security," said the ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
How the Oceans Once Ended Global Warming
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/12/26/global-warming-ocean.html
Discovery Channel: Last time Earth suffered a carbon-induced fever, it was the oceans that helped saved the day, say marine scientists in California. Massive ocean-bottom accumulations of the mineral barite show that the last severe global warming episode 55 million years ago was accompanied by several thousands of years of ocean plant life kicking into high gear. All that productivity captured excessive carbon from the atmosphere and dropped it to the ocean floor, where it was buried -- or ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
Human greed is a threat to the planet, warns Williams
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article3284881.ece
Independent: A stark warning that human greed is threatening to destroy the environment was issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury in his Christmas message, while the leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales appealed to people to be more welcoming to immigrants. Dr Rowan Williams appealed to Christians to do more to safeguard the planet, saying it should not be used "as a warehouse of resources to serve humanity's selfishness". He told worshippers at Canterbury Cathedral ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
Protecting the earth after death: Biodegradable coffins
http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/1226biz-greencoffin26-ON.html
Associated Press: Cynthia Beal wants to be an Oregon cherry tree after she dies. She has everything to make it happen - a body, a burial site and a biodegradable coffin. "It is composting at its best," said Beal, owner of The Natural Burial Company, which will sell a variety of eco-friendly burial products when it opens in January, including the Ecopod, a kayak-shaped coffin made out of recycled newspapers. Biodegradable coffins are part of a larger trend toward "natural" ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
Solar stocks surge on oil spike, China vows to promote renewable energy
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-21898694.htm
CNN: Solar stocks rallied Wednesday following a surge in oil prices to above $96-a-barrel with sentiment further boosted by news that China will 'vigorously' develop its renewable energy resources. (OTCBB:RENW) 'China gives top priority to developing renewable energy,' according to a government white paper on the country's energy conditions and policies released Wednesday. The report said China has released the medium- and long-term program for renewable energy development, with a ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
Sue the EPA for earth's sake
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/26/sue_the_epa_for_earths_sake/
Boston Globe: In the 37 years since the Clean Air Act gave smog-plagued California the right to set tougher antipollution standards than the federal government, Washington has granted the state 50 waivers, never flatly rejecting one. Never, that is, until last week, when the Environmental Protection Agency turned down California's bid to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of cars by requiring higher fuel efficiency. Sixteen other states, including Massachusetts, have indicated they would ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
United Kingdom: The world is not a warehouse to serve our greed, Archbishop tells worshippers
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3095435.ece?openComment=true
Times (UK): The Archbishop of Canterbury yesterday blamed mankind's greed for endangering the environment. In his Christmas Day sermon at Canterbury Cathedral, Dr Rowan Williams said: "When we threaten the balance of things, we don't just put our material survival at risk. More profoundly, we put our spiritual sensitivity at risk, the possibility of being opened up to the endless wonder by the world around us." He said that the world was not merely a "warehouse of resources to serve ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
United States: Builder cuts down on carbon footprint
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/environment/2007-12-25-solar-homes_N.htm
USA Today: David Hall of Deltec Homes says his company doesn't believe in cutting corners when making its trademark round homes – and that attention to detail extends to the electricity used to power the company's plant. By year's end, Deltec will be using 100% renewable energy at its factory, making it North Carolina's largest private generator of solar power. Working with Sundance Energy of Mars Hill, N.C., Deltec has invested nearly $500,000 to install photovoltaic panels. On ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
Canada: Chief reflects on coast's changing climate
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/capital_van_isl/story.html?id=54e9627d-7d9d-4856-b5ec-e0bd82e346fd&k=84634
Times Colonist: First Nations Chief Darren Blaney stood atop a giant root at Ross Bay as the wind whipped spray off the thundering whitecaps and showered him with moisture. Blaney, of Campbell River, was in Victoria with his family to celebrate Christmas at his mother-in-law's home. First Nations culture is tied to the environment so Blaney pays special attention to the weather. An hour or so standing atop the root on Christmas Day -- which was also Blaney's 49th birthday -- gave him ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
China Says Coal Usage To Increase
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009546089
All Headline News: China, the world's second-largest energy user, said Wednesday it will rely even more on its coal reserves, now 70 percent of its fuel mix. The announcement was linked to a commitment from the Communist country to increase usage of renewable energy, such as hydroelectric, solar and wind. Such energy is a "top priority" of China, according to a 44-page white paper released by China's government. Although cleaning up the environment was a prominent part of China's ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
China vows to develop clean energies
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-12/26/content_6350806.htm
China Daily: China promised Wednesday to develop renewable energy for its fast-growing economy, stepping up efforts to promote hydroelectric, nuclear, solar and wind energy, as well natural gas extracted from garbage dumps and coal mines. In the country's first ever white paper on its energy conditions and policies, Beijing pledged to give top priority to developing renewable energy. "China's energy development emphasizes thrift, cleanness and safety," says the white paper titled ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
Japan government names top Toyota manager as climate change adviser
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/164371.html
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Japan's government has named former Toyota Corp boss Hiroshi Okuda as a special adviser on climate change. Okuda, 74, who is now a senior Toyota adviser and the honorary chairman of the Nippon Keidanren, or Japan Business Federation, is to advise Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's cabinet on the issue and take part in conferences aimed at drawing up a new international treaty on fighting global warming, the Kyodo News agency reported Wednesday, citing government officials. Under Okuda's ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
Sugar and Medicine Make Uganda's Forests Go Down
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1698267,00.html?xid=rss-world
Time Magazine: Scientists are combing rain forests around the world for potential cures for cancer and other ailments, but the residents near Uganda's last rain forests are are not waiting around for a multinational drug company to discover their treasures first. They have always believed that there are cures in the plant life of the Mabira Forest Reserve, the green, leafy jungle that sprawls through the middle of the country. And so, locals seeking treatments for sexual impotence, cancer, malaria and ...
Wed, 26 Dec 07
Air Force Switches on Largest Solar Power Plant
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2007/2007-12-26-093.asp
Environment News Service: North America's largest solar photovoltaic system is now up and generating power at Nellis Air Force Base in the sunny desert of southern Nevada. The $100 million solar power plant at Nellis will supply about 25 percent of the total power used at the base, where 12,000 people live and work. The 14 megawatt photovoltaic array will generate more than 30 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. Completed earlier this month, it was inaugurated with a ceremony at Nellis on ...
Tue, 25 Dec 07
Australia: Food production a serious greenhouse problem
http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,22970217-5006550,00.html
Mercury: MOTOR vehicles, aircraft, power stations -- we all know about those bogeymen of climate change that pollute the atmosphere and cause temperatures to rise. But there's another, less talked-about element in the mix. "Non-energy" activities, mainly to do with land use, account for a third of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Most of it comes from livestock production. Livestock and crops are our main sources of sustenance. And despite growing populations in ...
Tue, 25 Dec 07
Australia: Pulp Mill Latest
http://www2.skynews.com.au/eco/article.aspx?id=208693
Sky News: The controversy surrounding Tasmania's pulp mill is set to continue into next year after the issue was seemingly overlooked during the federal election The pulp mill remains almost a done deal, after Labor supported the previous Howard government's decision to approve the contentious mill. Nevertheless, it's opponents have vowed to continue the fight. Prime Minister Rudd's decision to ratify the Kyoto protocol may have given mill opponents false hope. Greens ...
Tue, 25 Dec 07
Australia: State of greenhouse gluttons
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,20797,22970274-3102,00.html?from=public_rss
Courier-Mail: QUEENSLANDERS are the highest producers of greenhouse gas in the world, emitting 38.9 tonnes per person every year – nearly eleven tonnes more than the Australian average, a first-ever audit has found. The audit, undertaken by the Wet Tropics Management Authority between Cooktown and Cardwell, offers stark warning about the threats of climate change. Scientists have warned the Great Barrier Reef may be dead within 20 years and one of the world's most ancient rainforests in the ...
Tue, 25 Dec 07
India: Supreme Court ruling on Orissa mining case could set precedent
http://www.livemint.com/2007/12/25235415/Supreme-Court-ruling-on-Orissa.html
Livemint: Weeks after it halted Vedanta Alumina Ltd's mining project in Orissa, the Supreme Court will soon weigh in on the issue in what many see as a possible precedent-setting decision. Acting on the court's own directions, Vedanta's associate company, Sterlite Industries India Ltd, has filed a fresh application. Meanwhile, a review petition has also been filed by Oriya tribal activist Siddarth Nayak, a party to the previous proceedings, seeking a review of the court's order. In ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
Big wake-up to global warming
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/health_science/20071224_Big_wake-up_to_global_warming.html
Philadelphia Inquirer: As the ice melted, the issue gelled. This was the year that global warming hit the mass radar screen, driven by a drumbeat of catastrophic predictions from top scientists, a jaw-dropping acceleration in polar ice melt, Al Gore's Oscar - and then his Nobel. His prize showed how important the issue was. His cameo on NBC's 30 Rock showed how mainstream it was. As recently as 2003, when climatologist Heidi Cullen began her 90-second spots on the Weather Channel, global ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
Carbon culprits: South is fast catching up
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=56&ItemID=14573
Khaalej Times: NOTHING exposes the bankruptcy of "GDP-ism", or obsession with gross domestic product growth, better than India's and Pakistan's performance where it matters – human development. The latest United Nations Human Development Report shows India has in one year slipped two notches in the Human Development Index to the pitiable rank of 128 among 177 countries. And Pakistan has fallen by one rank to 136. Thanks to lopsided elite-oriented growth, India and Pakistan remain firmly within the ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
Climate Change Malpractice
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/23/AR2007122302232.html
Washington Post: THE INK was barely dry on the energy bill signed by President Bush last week when Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson used it as a wobbly crutch to deny California's request to institute tough tailpipe emissions regulations. "The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear national solution, not a confusing patchwork of state rules, to reduce America's climate footprint from vehicles," he said. Bad call. Carmakers understandably prefer ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
Congress to Scrutinize EPA Calif. Decision - Pelosi
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46176/story.htm
Reuters: The US Congress will closely examine the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to deny California's request to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives said Friday. The EPA on Wednesday denied California's attempt to place first-ever US limits on automobile emissions of heat-trapping gases, which account for about 30 percent of the US total. The decision, lauded by the auto industry and pilloried by environmental ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
Japan aglow with LED Christmas lights
http://www.upiasiaonline.com/Society_Culture/2007/12/24/japan_aglow_with_led_christmas_lights/4625/
United Press International: Japan is twinkling with Christmas lights this season, as streets, parks, shops and even private homes are lit up for the Christmas season. This year, economic and colorful LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, are widely popular. One of Japan's western prefectures is banking on LEDs for its future prosperity. Though hardly a Christian nation, with church-going citizens reaching barely 1 percent of the population, Japan has been doing all it can to look like one at Christmas time. Shopping ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
UK experts study carbon footprint of Christmas
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2007/s2126491.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: ELEANOR HALL: As you tuck into your Christmas feast tomorrow, you might spare a thought for the carbon cost of this annual ritual. A study in the United Kingdom has found that the Brits' love of their traditional turkey dinner will produce a carbon footprint equivalent to 6,000 car journeys around the world. In London, Stephanie Kennedy reports: (Sound of items being scanned at cash register) STEPHANIE KENNEDY: The final Christmas rush is on in London, and while ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
UN Sees No Climate Change Solution Without US
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46178/story.htm
Reuters: The United States will suffer from global warming along with other nations if there is no broader agreement on cutting carbon emissions, the United Nations environment chief Achim Steiner said. He said the United States needed to take significant steps to cut emissions or there would be no solution to climate change, despite an agreement in Bali on negotiations to replace the Kyoto climate pact. Delegates from 190 nations agreed on Dec. 15 to launch negotiations on a new pact ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
California to Sue US for Denying Emissions Waiver
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46180/story.htm
Reuters: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday that he would sue the US government for not granting a waiver that would allow his state to enforce new standards on motor vehicle emissions. California needs the waiver from the US Environmental Protection Agency to implement a state law requiring automakers to cut tailpipe carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent on 2009 model cars. Sixteen other states either have adopted or are considering rules similar to California's ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
Candidates remain cool over climate change
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bf1ee9bc-b1c3-11dc-9777-0000779fd2ac.html
Financial Times: The US administration's position on climate change was in the spotlight last weekend as its delegation was booed in the closing hours of the marathon United Nations meeting in Bali. Nevertheless, the issue is unlikely to be high on the presidential election agenda. Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York, said in Bali: "It won't have much effect and I'm probably overstating it. It won't be [on the agenda] at the next election but it will be on the political agenda as we go ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
Cooling Earth's Climate as a Matter of Faith
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2007/2007-12-24-01.asp
Environment News Service: World Council of Churches General Secretary Dr. Samuel Kobia is calling concerns about climate change "a matter of faith" and says the Christian faith community must be at the vanguard of the response to global warming. "I think as Christians we should be the ones to lead the way so that others then can follow because for us it is not just a matter of political or economic or ecological concern it is a matter of faith," Kobia said Thursday in New ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
Federal energy 'independence' act threatens to chill solar industry
http://www.mlive.com/business/ambizdaily/bizjournals/index.ssf?/base/abd-3/119848200574790.xml
San Jose Business Journal: The newest energy policy from the federal government leaves solar out in the cold. President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 on Dec. 19, establishing standards for higher fuel economy, renewable fuels, green building and energy efficiency that environmentalists have described as positive steps to stop the increase of carbon output in the U.S. But the same act failed to address tax incentives that make alternative energies more economical, and ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
Canada: Lack of rain killing firs, experts say
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071224.BCFIR24/TPStory/National
Globe and Mail: You won't have trouble finding a pint-sized grand fir on a Christmas tree lot this time of year - it's one of the most popular yuletide evergreens on the market. But tree experts on southern Vancouver Island fear climate change is threatening the giant conifer's survival in the wild. Chris Paul, an arborist with the Municipality of Oak Bay, said his staff have had to chop down dozens of dying grand firs in recent years, something that in past decades rarely ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
Loss of Sea Ice Could Harm Walrus
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i86-YHtGnJd2ZLbjp6bfON7YdCsQD8TNOTRO0
Associated Press: Federal marine mammal experts in Alaska studying the effects of global warming on walrus, polar bears and ice seals warn there are limit to the protections they can provide. They can restrict hunters, ship traffic and offshore petroleum activity, but that may not be enough if the animals' basic habitat – sea ice – disappears every summer. "Ultimately it's beyond my scope," said Joel Garlich-Miller, a walrus expert for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage. ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
Aiming for Films of High Quality and Low Ecological Damage
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90666
New York Times: Paramount Vantage, formerly known as Paramount Classics, is the "low-budget, high-quality" division of Paramount Pictures, says Georgia Kacandes, its executive vice president for physical and postproduction. It is also, apparently, the low-emissions, high-minded division of Paramount. All its releases – which include "An Inconvenient Truth," "Babel," "A Mighty Heart" and, coming out on Wednesday, "There Will Be Blood" – are "carbon neutral," Ms. Kacandes says. In other words, the ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
China, Japan Sign 46.3 Bln Yen Environmental Loan
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46186/story.htm
Reuters: China and Japan signed a final agreement on Friday for a 46.3 billion yen (US$409.4 million) loan to fund environmental projects in central and western China, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The loan, signed by China's deputy finance minister and the governor of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, carries an interest rate of 0.65 percent to 1.4 percent and has a term of 25 to 40 years, the report said. The loan will fund air pollution reduction and urban ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
EPA brings a chill to warmth of season
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/344629_joel24.html
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: In Christian theology, the four weeks of Advent mark the start of the church year and comprise a time of preparation and waiting for the Nativity of Christ. Early 21st century politics have dictated a temporal use for the Christmas-New Year's season. With public attention directed away, bureaucrats and plutocrats find this the ideal time to sucker punch the environment. At a news conference held at 6:30 p.m. EST Wednesday, as nightly news programs went off the air on the East ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
France's Bollore and Pininfarina to make electric car
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=motoringSummary&storyID=2007-12-24T100351Z_01_NOA435936_RTRUKOC_0_AUTOS-BOLLORE.xml
Reuters: French financier Vincent Bollore is teaming up with Italian car designer and manufacturer Pininfarina to build an electric car in a project worth about 150 million euros (109 million pounds). Bollore and Pininfarina will set up a joint venture with the aim to put a small, four-seater car on the market by the summer of 2009, according to a Friday statement from Bollore's holding company. They will sell it under the Pininfarina brand, a first for the Italian company best known ...
Mon, 24 Dec 07
Japan, U.S. mulls climate summit next year
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/24/content_7302426.htm
Xinhua: Japan and the United States plan to hold a summit of major carbon emitters shortly before the Group of Eight summit scheduled next July in Japan, Kyodo News said Monday. Tokyo and Washington have started working-level talks on the plan to convene the "Environment and Energy Summit" of G-8 leaders and their partners from other carbon emitters ahead of the G-8 summit to be held July 7-9 in northern Japan's Hokkaido, the report said, citing Japanese government sources. ...
Sun, 23 Dec 07
In India, climate change sparks fears of epic floods
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/world/12/23/1223indiafloods.html
Austin American-Statesman: When the monsoon comes each summer to this poor Indian village, it brings misery. Raindrops as wide as nickels fall straight and hard, churning dirt lanes into mud. But this year's monsoon rains were the heaviest anyone in India's northeastern Bihar state can remember. Something has changed, they say, and their fears are confirmed by many in the scientific community who say India's floods are getting worse as warming alters the earth's climate. In the past, the rains ...
Sun, 23 Dec 07
In the Age of Noah
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90588
New York Times: A couple of weeks ago, The Times's Jim Yardley reported from China that the world's last known female Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle was living in one Chinese zoo, while the planet's only undisputed, known giant soft-shell male turtle was living in another – and together this aging pair were the last hope of saving a species believed to be the largest freshwater turtles in the world. It struck me as I read that story that our generation has entered a phase that no previous generation ...
Sun, 23 Dec 07
Japan's Emperor Akihito voices worry over climate change in birthday comments
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/23/asia/AS-GEN-Japan-Emperor-Birthday.php
Associated Press: Japanese Emperor Akihito expressed concern about global warming in comments marking his 74th birthday Sunday, but declined to discuss issues in his family. "Problems caused by global warming are emerging around the world, and there are concerns that they could have various impacts on the lives of people in the future," the emperor said in a press conference. But Akihito said he was encouraged to see increased international cooperation on the environment. His comments ...
Sun, 23 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Wilder parks can tame climate change threat
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/23/climatechange.carbonemissions
Observer: Britain's National parks - enjoyed by 100 million visitors a year - must undergo a conservation revolution if they are to meet the challenges of climate change and the introduction of new farming practices. This is the stark warning of leading environmentalist Adrian Phillips, who has warned the National Parks Societies that our most precious landscapes will have to adapt in the near future. Phillips wants planners to encourage small renewable energy projects, such as wind turbines, ...
Sun, 23 Dec 07
Tropical disease invades a warming Italy
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/23/MN7AU3JO6.DTL
New York Times: Panic was spreading through this tidy village of 2,000 in August as one person after another fell ill with weeks of high fever, exhaustion and excruciating bone pain, just as most of Italy was enjoying Ferragosto, its most important summer holiday. "At one point, I simply couldn't stand up to get out of the car," said Antonio Ciano, 62, an elegant retiree in a pashmina scarf and trendy blue glasses. "I fell. I thought, OK, my time is up. I'm going to die. It was really ...
Sun, 23 Dec 07
'Vanishing World' calls for Arctic attention
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2007/12/23/2007-12-23_vanishing_world_calls_for_arctic_attenti.html
New York Daily News: Most of us will never set foot in the Arctic, yet it's an area that desperately needs our attention. One of the most hostile environments on the planet, it's also one of the areas most vulnerable to the effects of global warming. Overcoming the Arctic's inaccessibility and stark reputation, photographer Mireille de la Lez and producer Fredrik Granath spent five years in the heart of the region, bringing it to life in a series of stunning images documented in their epic new ...
Sun, 23 Dec 07
Germany should embrace CO2 goal, not fight it -Dimas
http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7174378
Reuters: Germany should look at European Union plans to force down carbon dioxide emissions from cars not as "punishment" but rather a chance to improve their competitive position, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said. Dimas urged German leaders on Sunday to rethink their opposition to the climate protection measure, telling the Welt am Sonntag newspaper the proposed EU legislation would actually secure German car industry jobs in the long term. Even though ...
Sun, 23 Dec 07
Australia: Up go water prices again
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2007/12/24/9957_opinion.html
Geelong Advertiser: Don't worry about all your efforts to reduce water use, to conserve supplies, to adopt a certain degree of self-sufficiency _ your reward for responsibility will be yet another whack on the hip-pocket nerve by the State Government. In a neat piece of political side-stepping, Spring St has passed a tax increase through to a poorly-disguised Labor-riddled government agency. As if voters might not notice. Regrettably, it's a fair bet most won't notice the sleight of hand. But it's ...
Sat, 22 Dec 07
Australia: Customers misled by green power claims
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/customers-misled-by-green-power-claims/2007/12/21/1198175341929.html
Sydney Morning Herald: TWO of Australia's biggest energy suppliers have been forced to stop advertising some of their "green" electricity products after investigations by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found them to be misleading. EnergyAustralia has agreed to write to about 30,000 people explaining its ClearAir and GreenFuture products, while Origin Energy has agreed to stop screening television ads that claimed switching to Origin GreenPower was the same as "not driving ...
Sat, 22 Dec 07
China Grabs West's Smoke-Spewing Factories
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90553
New York Times: When residents of this northern Chinese city hang their clothes out to dry, the black fallout from nearby Handan Iron and Steel often sends them back to the wash. Half a world away, neighbors of ThyssenKrupp's former steel mill in the Ruhr Valley of Germany once had a similar problem. The white shirts men wore to church on Sundays turned gray by the time they got home. These two steel towns have an unusual kinship, spanning 5,000 miles and a decade of economic upheaval. They ...
Sat, 22 Dec 07
Schwarzenegger versus Bush in Californian battle of gas-guzzlers
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article3276246.ece
Independent: The Bush administration came under heavy fire yesterday from environmentalists and politicians of both major parties after it refused to allow California and 16 other states to go ahead with new regulations curbing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle exhaust pipes. Critics accused the White House of sabotaging a key part of the fight against global warming, and California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, said he would sue the federal government to have the ruling overturned. The ...
Sat, 22 Dec 07
How Europe misread the Bali debate
http://www.bangkokpost.com/Business/22Dec2007_focus01.php
Bangkok Post: The outcome of the Bali climate change meeting shows that most countries in the world do not favour radical action to reduce greenhouse gases. Yet in the lead-up to the meeting, the world's media were full of stories about how it is necessary to take dramatic action. The consequences would be serious if we did not. Who got it wrong? The governments at Bali or the media? The four-page communique' adopted at Bali shows what governments wanted. It reflected agreement to start ...
Sat, 22 Dec 07
Indonesia: Tree planting mandatory, cutting prohibited in RI action plan
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90564
Jakarta Post: The Forestry Ministry wants the government to issue a policy making it mandatory for each Indonesian citizen to plant a tree every year to store more carbon. In its action plan, the ministry said anyone who wished to cut down a tree with a diameter of more than 10 centimeters had to secure a permit issued by the government. "And anyone who fells a tree has to plant two more trees," the action plan stated. The director general of the forestry research and ...
Sat, 22 Dec 07
Utah wind project lines up California customers
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/12/21/financial/f160122S39.DTL
Associated Press: Utah wind will keep the lights on in southern California. The Southern California Public Power Authority has signed a 20-year agreement to get electricity from a wind farm built in Beaver County by UPC Wind of Massachusetts. The power agency acted on behalf of Los Angeles, Burbank and Pasadena. "The approval of this power-purchase agreement by the mayor and the L.A. City Council is a major milestone," said Paul Gaynor, UPC Wind's president and chief executive ...
Sat, 22 Dec 07
Global warming, far away and up close
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/arts/story.html?id=d8a48f1f-3097-4df2-b59b-4329fff23795
Montreal Gazette: Jean Lemire set out to make one film and returned - after an epic 430-day trip to Antarctica - with something completely different. The Montreal biologist and filmmaker specializes in making spectacular nature documentaries, like The White Planet, about the Arctic, and the miniseries Mission baleines, which took a look at the world of whales. When he first started preparing his latest film, Le dernier continent, which opened across Quebec Friday, Lemire planned to make a feature on ...
Sat, 22 Dec 07
Opponents of coal plant seek CO2 limitations
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/NEWS01/712220303/1002
Great Falls Tribune: Opponents of the proposed coal-fired Highwood Generating Station argued here Friday that Montana has a rare opportunity to set an example for the nation by placing limits on the power plant's emissions of carbon dioxide, a leading suspect in climate change. Legal counsel for the state Department of Environmental Quality and plant developer Southern Montana Generation & Transmission Cooperative countered that the gas is not a regulated pollutant under state and federal clean air ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Bottled water a front in warming fight
http://www.contracostatimes.com/business/ci_7777686?nclick_check=1
Contra Costa Times: Drinking a bottle of water might seem innocent enough, but each bottle has a downside many people overlook -- a contribution to global warming. That's because bottles create carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas, when they are made, trucked to a store and disposed of in a landfill or recycled. Their impact can quickly add up. "Bottled water is an energy-intensive luxury for Americans," said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, an environmental ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
California Will Not Get US Waiver on Emissions
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46158/story.htm
Reuters: The Bush administration Wednesday said it will deny California's request to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles, a setback for environmentalists and a victory for automakers. The administration said an energy bill signed into law hours earlier by President Bush means no further action is needed to cut carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, which account for about 30 percent of the US total. The Environmental Protection Agency, charged with making the decision, ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
China becomes world's 'smokestack'
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/252916.html
New York Times: When residents of this northern Chinese city hang their clothes out to dry, the black fallout from nearby Handan Iron and Steel often sends them back to the wash. Half a world away, neighbours of ThyssenKrupp's former steel mill in the Ruhr Valley of Germany once had a similar problem. The white shirts men wore to church on Sundays turned gray by the time they got home. These two steel towns have an unusual kinship. They have shared the same hulking blast furnace, dismantled ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
China reels from worst drought in a decade
http://uk.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUKPEK201059._CH_.242020071221
Reuters: China is suffering its worst drought in a decade, which has left millions of people short of drinking water and has shrunk reservoirs and rivers, state media said on Friday. Hardest hit are large swathes of the usually humid south, where water levels on several major rivers have plunged to historic lows in recent months. "The drought is the most serious of the decade and is affecting almost the whole country," the China Daily quoted Zhang Jiatuan, an official from the ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Uganda: Mabira giveaway not yet resolved
http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/Mabira_giveaway_not_yet_resolved.shtml
Daily Monitor: PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has resurrected the controversial Mabira Forest giveaway debate, telling the NRM Parliamentary Caucus that the issue is yet to be resolved. Presenting his 11-page statement on industrialisation to the Caucus on Monday, President Museveni urged them to take a decision. "Those opposing industrialisation, apart from being enemies of NRM, are, in particular, enemies of the youth because they are the ones who need these jobs. I can no longer tolerate ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Norway: Oil giants abandon plans for 'uneconomic' green power plant
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article3080952.ece
Times (UK): Shell and StatoilHydro have scrapped plans to build a green power plant that would capture and store carbon dioxide because the project was found to be uneconomic. The decision to shelve the gas-fired power project, which was to be built at Tjeldbergodden in Norway, casts further doubt on the financial viability of power schemes that capture and safely store greenhouse gases. In the UK, BP was forced to scrap plans to build a carbon-capture and storage scheme at Peterhead in ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
US Tax Credit Expiry Endangers Wind, Solar Expansion
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46152/story.htm
Reuters: Growth of a nascent US industry to build and install clean energy sources, like windmills and solar cells, could be stunted if Congress doesn't extend tax incentives set to expire next year, industry officials and lawmakers said Wednesday. Democrats last week dropped a US$21.5 billion package of tax incentives from a broad energy bill after Republicans and the White House threatened to block it. Without the tax credits set to expire at the end of 2008, homeowners and ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
United States: A Huge New Coal Plant -- Your Tax Dollars at Work
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harry-fuller/a-huge-new-coal-plant-_b_77900.html
Huffington Post: Mattoon, Illinois, has just become the single most important spot on the globe for Big Coal. There a consortium of mining companies and electric utility companies are putting American tax dollars to work. Building a commercial coal-burning plant that is to have the latest in clean tech. To remain almost carbon neutral the FutureGen plant will use carbon dioxide sequestration. They're going to pump some of that CO2 underground and try to keep it there. Current cost estimates? The plant ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
United States: EPA Decision to Block State Emissions Plans Raises Policy Debate
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/july-dec07/emissions_12-20.html
PBS: MARGARET WARNER: The Bush administration's refusal to let states set their own auto emissions standards met with harsh criticism from state officials today. Last night, the Environmental Protection Agency denied California's two-year-old request for a waiver so it could impose carbon dioxide emission standards stricter than those in effect nationally. The California plan would require a 30 percent reduction in car and light truck emissions by 2016. That would translate into a ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
EU Ministers Stall New Soil Protection Rules
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46156/story.htm
Reuters: European Union environment ministers put new rules to protect soil in the bloc on a backburner on Thursday after a coalition led by Britain and Germany blocked the adoption of a draft law. The bill had sought to prevent the soil's deterioration from industrial use and the effects of climate change. It would have obliged the EU's 27 nations to set up public inventories of sites where soil may be contaminated with dangerous substances and lay out ways to clean them up. ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
EU Moves to Include Airlines in Emissions Trade
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46155/story.htm
Reuters: European Union environment ministers agreed on Thursday to include airlines in the bloc's emissions trading scheme from 2012 as part of its fight against climate change. The EU's 27 governments will now negotiate the final deal with the European Parliament, which has voted for airlines to join the system in 2011. "Our decision is of utmost importance in our fight against climate changes," Portuguese Environment Minister Francisco Nunes Correia, whose country holds ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Japan to meet Kyoto goal with extra measures: panel
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKT20187520071221
Reuters: Japan will be able to cut as much greenhouse gas emissions as it promised under the Kyoto Protocol if additional measures, mainly extra voluntary agreements with industries and more energy conservation by households, are carried out, a top government panel said. A joint panel on climate change under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of Environment finalized additional measures on Friday to cut emissions as the Kyoto period starts next year. The ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Norway sticks with CCS gas power plant plan -PM
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL2173041020071221
Reuters: Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday that costs of building a gas-fired power plant with carbon capture would easily exceed 10 billion crowns ($1.79 billion), but vowed to carry out the plan. The government said on Wednesday that a test unit for capture and carbon storage (CCS) at the Mongstad plant would be delayed by about a year, to 2011 from 2010, due to high costs, resulting in protests from environmental groups. The CCS facility will trap emissions ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
The high price of planting palm oil forests
http://ec.europa.eu/research/headlines/news/article_07_12_21_en.html
Europa: New data shows that massive amounts of carbon dioxide are being released from tropical Southeast Asian peatland after the conversion of natural swamp forest to oil palm or pulpwood tree plantations. The findings are in accordance with other recent reports on the growing negative environmental impacts of planting palm oil and pulpwood forests. Natural peatland accumulates huge stores of carbon dioxide as a result of centuries of tree growth. When this land is deforested to grow oil ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
What the U.N. can learn from Google
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/12/21/EDDRU269O.DTL&type=politics
San Francisco Chronicle: Last week's United Nations climate change negotiations in Bali ended with a whimper, not a bang, an "agreement" to postpone negotiations until 2009, when the United States will have a new president, one presumably more committed to action than President Bush. The most dramatic moment came when foreign diplomats loudly booed U.S. representatives. While it is always satisfying to see the Bush administration take a drubbing on climate change, the whole episode distracted attention ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Carriers afraid they'll cough up for CO2
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/12/21/eu_new_co2_airplane_law
Marketplace: Doug Krizner: The European Union has charged a number of major airlines with fixing the price of jet fuel for cargo planes. British Airways and Japan Airlines have been cited. More carriers are being investigated. The E.U. has also been working to get airlines to reduce carbon emissions. A new law requiring lower emissions has been bumped back a year. As Megan Williams reports, it's a watered-down version of an earlier bill, but it's still enough to make non-European carriers ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Climate change and conflicts: Is there a link at all?
http://www.alertnet.org/db/an_art/1265/2007/11/21-194034-1.htm
Reuters: Many scientists, politicians and journalists now agree that climate change and a scarcity of resources could lead to armed conflict. So much so, in fact, that this year's Nobel Prize for Peace went to former U.S. vice president turned environmentalist Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. But the argument is far from settled, writes online magazine Science Daily. The link between pressure on natural resources and armed conflicts simply doesn't exist, say ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Extra CO2 reduction plans by Japan industries
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=159676
Reuters: Japan's top government panel finalized a list of additional measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet its Kyoto Protocol goal, mainly by extra voluntary agreements with industries and more energy conservation. Japan is set to revise the existing emission measures by March. Progress by Japan is critical to the success of the protocol as UN-led talks on a post-Kyoto pact have just begun. Japan, the only Asian country with Kyoto reduction responsibility, has been ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Global warming causing China's glaciers to melt quickly: survey
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j2cIXH_jqzBAi1HLp7YF8lvuhbZg
Agence France-Presse: Global warming has caused some of China's glaciers -- a source for many of Asia's greatest rivers -- to have melted by more than 18 percent over the past five years, state media reported Friday. A survey of nearly 20,000 square kilometres (8,000 square miles) of China's glaciers showed they were on average 7.4 percent smaller than five years ago, Caijing magazine said, citing a government-funded survey. A glacier along the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra River on the Tibetan ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
United States: Outrageous EPA waiver denial flies in face of facts
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_7776812?nclick_check=1
San Jose Mercury: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision Wednesday to block California's pioneering effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars is outrageous and deplorable. It's further proof that the Bush administration remains blind to what the law, science and good public policy require to combat climate change. California must challenge this decision vigorously in court, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vowed to do. And Congress should step in, if needed, to help overturn ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Petition Seeks Protection for Seals
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g0dnFdckz-vpNuHcf1OXayTGMn3wD8TLQ84G0
Associated Press: Frustrated by a lack of regulations limiting global warming, a conservation group wants ribbon seals listed as threatened or endangered because their habitat – sea ice – is disappearing amid climate change. The Center for Biological Diversity on Thursday filed a 91-page petition with the National Marine Fisheries Service seeking to list ribbon seals as threatened or endangered. The group says the classification is needed because sea ice is disappearing due to climate change brought on ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
The Bush EPA vs. the states
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/stories/index.ssf?/base/editorial/119819851986280.xml&coll=7
Oregonian: The Environmental Protection Agency is protecting automakers, not the environment, by blocking California's pioneering plan to reduce carbon dioxide pollution from automobiles. By taking that action Wednesday, the EPA administrator, Stephen Johnson, defied science, common sense and quite possibly the law. He said California and 16 other states, including Oregon and Washington, don't have the right to set their own standards for greenhouse gas emissions. Before Wednesday, in ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
US Energy Law Pulls Plug on Edison's Light Bulb
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46154/story.htm
Reuters: The light bulb Thomas Edison invented 125 years ago is getting more than a make-over. The government is pulling the plug on it. The landmark energy bill President Bush signed into law on Wednesday will require lighting to use up to 30 percent less energy, which will basically phase out the traditional light bulb because it won't be able to meet the new efficiency standards. Almost 90 percent of the energy used by today's incandescent bulbs produces heat and only 10 percent ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Brazil launches anti-deforestation plan
http://www.elpasotimes.com/nationworld/ci_7780565
Associated Press: Brazil announced Friday it will create a landholder registry and send 700 more federal police to the Amazon River basin in a new effort to monitor and prevent deforestation in the environmentally sensitive region. The initiative is designed to identify illegal deforestation and will ban the sale of livestock and produce grown in illegal deforested areas, with violators subject to fines and loss of credit from government institutions. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva approved the ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Climatic Chain Reaction Caused Runaway Greenhouse Effect 55 Million Years Ago
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071221222544.htm
Science Daily: There are new findings regarding a phase of rapid global greenhouse warming that took place 55 million years ago. This period of climate change is regarded as the best fossil analogue to current and future greenhouse warming. Analogous to the Earth's current situation, greenhouse warming 55 million years ago was caused by a relatively rapid increase of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. This phase, known as the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), was studied using sediments ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Congress To Probe Denial Of Emissions Law
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/21/tech/main3639373.shtml
CBS: Congressional Democrats on Thursday announced an investigation of the Environmental Protection Agency's refusal to let California implement its tailpipe emissions law, the first step in what will likely be a fierce legal and political battle. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., sent a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson demanding "all documents relating to the California waiver request, other than those that are available ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Wildfires Rekindle Global Warming Debate
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40577
Inter Press Service: The massive wildfires that roared and twisted their way through southern California in 2007 are a glimpse of what a future of global warming may hold, scientists say. The western U.S. can expect to see more "mega forest fires" of over 100,000 acres due to an increase in greenhouse gases, says Thomas Swetnam, director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at The University of Arizona in Tucson. "Lots of people think climate change and the ecological responses ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Global Warming Could Kill World's Coral Reefs in 50 Years
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2007/2007-12-21-03.asp
Environment News Service: Seventeen eminent marine scientists warn that world leaders face a race against time in preparing coral reefs, and the coastal communities dependent upon them for the "inevitable impact" of rising levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. Their new study shows that levels of carbon dioxide could become unsustainable for coral reefs within 50 years. The warning comes in a new study published in the journal "Science" on December 14. "It's vital that the public ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Is EPA Playing Dirty With Clean Air Law?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/21/tech/main3639921.shtml
CBS: The old axiom goes, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." Critics are saying the Environmental Protection Agency has added another option: "Trip up." Several states are now talking about suing the EPA because of its rejection of a strict auto emissions law set to be enacted by California and 16 other states, rules which would have required cleaner cars beginning two years from now. Under the Clean Air Act, California is allowed to have stricter ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Two Years of Talks Lie Ahead to Write a New Global Warming Treaty
http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2007-12-21-voa1.cfm
Voice of America: Ten thousand delegates from one hundred ninety countries attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia. It ended last Saturday with an agreement to begin negotiations for a new treaty on global warming. The new treaty will replace the Kyoto Protocol when parts of that treaty end in two thousand twelve. Most countries seemed pleased with the steps taken in Bali. The agreement is being called the Bali Roadmap. It took thirteen days to reach the agreement, one ...
Fri, 21 Dec 07
India: Solar Energy Firm Says Carbon Credits Don't Work
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40568
Inter Press Service: A small but successful solar energy company involved in rural electrification in India is complaining that the Kyoto Protocol's clean development mechanism (CDM) has been of no practical use to it. Selco (Solar Electric Light Company), winner of the 2005 - 2007 London-based Ashden Awards for outstanding achievement in sustainable energy, has found it impossible to harness any benefits from CDM, forcing it to turn to the voluntary emissions market instead. "Since we deal ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
A rural teacher with global reach
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1220/p13s04-legn.html
Christian Science Monitor: Greg Craven is flat out. The fifth-period physics class he teaches is about to start, and there's still lesson planning to do. But at his cluttered desk over by the window, he's e-mailing last-minute changes to his guest column scheduled to run tomorrow in The Oregonian newspaper. And a producer from National Public Radio in New York has called about setting up an interview. You could say this all illustrates chaos theory, he observes – searching for underlying order in things that ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
Australia Sends Patrols to Shadow Japan Whalers
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46126/story.htm
Reuters: Australia will send a fisheries patrol ship to shadow Japan's whaling fleet near Antarctica and gather evidence for a possible international court challenge to halt the yearly slaughter, the government said on Wednesday. The icebreaker Oceanic Viking, used for customs and fisheries policing, would leave for the Southern Ocean in days to follow the Japanese fleet, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Environment Minister Peter Garrett told journalists. But to avoid a high-seas ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
EU Agrees Steep Fines to Cut Car CO2 From 2012
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46132/story.htm
Reuters: The European Commission enraged Germany and its carmakers on Wednesday by proposing tough legislation to force down emissions of carbon dioxide from cars, with steep fines on manufacturers that fail to comply. With several commissioners dissenting, the European Union executive set a four-year phase-in period from 2012 for fines on manufacturers whose fleets exceed an average of 120 grams per km of the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming. "This will send a ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
Australia: Climate threat to health of river
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=51670
West Australian: The Swan River will become saltier and rise about 30cm, enough to significantly reduce water flows, increase algal blooms and fish kills and destroy fragile riverside habitats, a report about the dire consequences of climate change has found. The report, by a technical panel of 15 experts, will be handed to the Swan River Trust today and is based on predictions in the Nobel prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's authoritative Fourth Assessment Report. Water ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
Bush Signs Bill to Boost US Vehicle Fuel Efficiency
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46140/story.htm
Reuters: President Bush on Wednesday signed into law a landmark energy bill that increases US vehicle fuel efficiency for the first time in over three decades, significantly boosts ethanol use and phases out the traditional light bulb. The key part of the new law raises the gasoline mileage requirements of cars and trucks by 40 percent to an average 35 miles per gallon by 2020, which will eventually reduce US oil demand by 2 million barrels a day. The law also raises yearly production ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
Germany Calls EU CO2 Plan "Wrong", "Harmful"
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46135/story.htm
Reuters: Germany said on Wednesday that European Commission proposals to force down emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by cars were "wrong" and "harmful" as they put a one-sided burden on German makers of larger cars. Government spokesman Thomas Steg told a news conference that Germany believed all carmakers in the European Union should contribute to meeting CO2 reduction targets. "Whatever motive led a majority of commissioners to decide this, we consider the ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
Bush signs bill to increase fuel efficiency
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-energy20dec20,1,5516837.story?coll=la-news-a_section
LA Times: President Bush on Wednesday signed an energy bill designed to cut U.S. dependence on overseas oil by imposing the biggest increase in fuel-efficiency standards in 32 years and mandating a fivefold increase in the use of home-grown biofuels. "Today we make a major step toward reducing our dependence on oil, confronting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations of our country a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
China says US must do more on climate change
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-31067320071220
Reuters: China is glad a climate change roadmap agreed last week in Bali has drawn the United States to the negotiating table, but the world's only superpower must do more to tackle global warming, a top official said on Thursday. Yu Qingtai, China's climate change ambassador, said Beijing was satisfied with the hard-won plan, finally agreed after two weeks of talks overran by a day into a dramatic final session marked by tears, booing and a series of standing ovations. Nearly 200 ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
EPA denies California's right to mandate emissions
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-epa20dec20,1,6015795.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage&track=crosspromo
LA Times: The Bush administration Wednesday denied California's bid to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, dealing a blow to the state's attempts to combat global warming and prompting an immediate vow from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to take the decision to court. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Stephen L. Johnson denied the state's request to implement its own landmark law, noting that an energy bill signed by President Bush earlier in the day would go a long way ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
EPA Says 17 States Can't Set Emission Rules for Cars
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90415
New York Times: The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday denied California and 16 other states the right to set their own standards for carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles. The E.P.A. administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, said the proposed California rules were pre-empted by federal authority and made moot by the energy bill signed into law by President Bush on Wednesday. Mr. Johnson said California had failed to make a compelling case that it needed authority to write its own standards ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
China wants U.S. to take more positive role in climate talks
http://www.kjrh.com/news/world/story.aspx?content_id=859fa7c9-0d39-4309-9531-e0ebe590fd4a
Associated Press: China's top climate change negotiator is calling on the United States to take a more "positive" role in tackling the issue. The comments come on the heels of a worldwide agreement to forge a new climate treaty. The accord came at the end of a U.N. climate conference in Indonesia where the U.S. agreed to drop its opposition to offering more technological help to developing countries fighting climate change. The Chinese climate negotiator welcomes the move by the U.S. ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
EPA says no to California's emissions plan
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004083821_epa20.html
Washington Post: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Stephen Johnson on Wednesday denied California's petition to limit greenhouse-gas emissions from cars and trucks, overruling the unanimous recommendation of the agency's legal and technical staffs. California officials vowed to fight the decision in court. A total of 18 states, including Washington, have either adopted or pledged to implement California's proposed tailpipe-emissions rules, which seek to cut vehicles' ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
EU Vehicle-Emissions Plan Could Stir Industry Fight
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119811749771641371.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Wall Street Journal: European regulators unveiled proposed financial penalties to give teeth to an effort to slash auto emissions by 25%, setting up a fight next year between regulators and Europe's auto makers. The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, yesterday detailed long-awaited proposed legislation that attempts to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a global-warming gas, from new cars while spreading the costs broadly among manufacturers. The move came the same day the U.S. ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
Europe seeks to limit car emissions
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-eucar20dec20,1,3814775.story?coll=la-headlines-business
Associated Press: Automobile manufacturers will have to limit car emissions in Europe by 2012 or face big fines under a European Union plan. The plan, released Wednesday, needs the approval of the 27 EU governments to take effect. It quickly drew fire. Environmentalists said it was too weak. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it would hurt her country's economy. And automakers, which employ 2.3 million people in the EU, said it might force them to locate elsewhere. EU Environment ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
Canada: Impose a carbon tax, churches urge minister
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=8ebbfcee-c6b4-4860-a0d5-3ddd642226c6
Vancouver Sun: A number of B.C. churches are urging Finance Minister Carole Taylor to include a carbon tax in the next budget, saying such a measure would help save God's creation -- the planet Earth. "Climate change is a moral issue because the way we care for creation ties into how we respond to God's creativeness," Rev. Kenneth Gray, chair of the environment committee of the Anglican Diocese of B.C., said Wednesday. "We support a transitional and progressive tax strategy, ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
Rich in Events, Poor on Results
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40552
Inter Press Service: For the European Union, 2007 was a year rich in events, but poor on results. Next year promises to be as turbulent as this one, and probably as unremarkable in its outcome. Among the uncertain achievements in 2007 was agreement on a new treaty in Lisbon in December to serve as the basis for a more coherent and transparent European Union. The Treaty of Lisbon has been hailed as a breakthrough in European history. Portuguese Prime Minister José Socrates said after the signing ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
United States: Wind farm sides look for answers in new review
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071220/NEWS/712200321
Cape Cod Times: An environmental report due out by year's end on a wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound promises answers. Once the federal draft environmental impact statement hits the streets, both sides in the seven-year fracas over a proposal by Cape Wind Associates to erect 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound will dissect it. They will scrutinize the document for an indication of the government's stance on the project and its particulars. Cape Wind is the first offshore wind farm in the ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
Democrats co-sponsor Great Lakes bill
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071220/POLITICS/712200356
Detroit News: The three Democratic presidential candidates representing Great Lakes states in Congress are co-sponsors of legislation that would restore the unique water body by cleaning up toxic hot spots, upgrading sewage systems to reduce accidental and emergency overflows, expanding wetlands and stopping invasive species. They are Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. In addition, Clinton and Obama recently signed a pledge ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
China: Perfect storm of problems leaves many short of water nationwide
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/20/content_7286038.htm
Xinhua: China is no stranger to drought, having experienced severe water shortages hundreds of times during the past two millennia. Despite the country's long experience with drought, however, it is ill-prepared to cope with the current dry spell, one of the worst in decades. The drought itself, which is affecting even tropical southern regions, is a climactic phenomenon. But its effects are being exacerbated by poor infrastructure, a lack of comprehensive relief plans, river diversion, and ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
US blocks states on emissions
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.epa20dec20,0,767951.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout
Baltimore Sun: The Bush administration announced yesterday that it will block efforts by Maryland, California and 15 other states to cut emissions of global warming gases from cars and trucks. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said improved fuel efficiency standards passed Tuesday by the House of Representatives and signed yesterday by President Bush were good enough. Those standards - which had not been raised in more than three decades - require new vehicles ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
US govt rejects California bid for tough emissions standards
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hU7bBAD_-Zpa9CfcyvDeIMJRi-FA
Agence France-Presse: The United States government on Wednesday rejected a request by California for it to be allowed to introduce tough new vehicle emissions standards, dealing a blow to the state's hopes of slashing greenhouse gas levels over the next decade. The Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement that after consideration of the requests by California it had found there were no "compelling and extraordinary conditions" to grant a waiver. The EPA instead said legislation ...
Thu, 20 Dec 07
Australia: SUVs losing their lustre, figures show
http://news.smh.com.au/suvs-losing-their-lustre-figures-show/20071222-1il2.html
AAP: Regarded for so long as a status symbol, the reputation of the sport utility vehicle (SUV) could be changing. They were once the epitome of cool, but these "gas guzzling" vehicles are now being shunned in favour of "greener" cars. The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed a 2.6 per cent fall in the sale of SUVs in November, the first contraction in six months. Greenpeace climate change campaigner John Hepburn believes ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Australia: Rudd beyond Kyoto
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22945578-7583,00.html
Australian: THE attempted European hijack at Bali with its false expectations conceals the progress made in creating the road map for a two-year UN path that can lead to a new global pact in 2010. The point to grasp about Bali is that it has kept everybody in the tent, developed and developing nations, including the US. Given the history, this is an achievement. Indeed, the whole aim of any post-2012 system must be to remedy the defects of the Kyoto Protocol where more of the same spells failure. ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Australia: Climate change may destroy marine areas
http://news.theage.com.au/climate-change-may-destroy-marine-areas/20071219-1i1a.html
AAP: Climate change and outdated fishing practices could lead to the destruction of fragile NSW marine areas, particularly around Sydney, a report says. The report, The Torn Blue Fringe, released by the National Parks Association (NPA) on Wednesday, sets out 19 recommendations, including boosting the NSW marine park network from 6.7 per cent of total water area to more than 20 per cent. It wants 30 per cent of the coast totally protected. The NPA says the already struggling ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Climate sanctions sought against US
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/12/19/climate_sanctions_sought_against_us/
International Herald Tribune: The Social Democrats are calling for sanctions on energy-intensive US export products if the Bush administration continues to obstruct international agreements on climate protection, the party's leading environmental specialist said yesterday. The move, after the United Nations climate conference last week in Bali, Indonesia, has won strong support from the Greens and other leftist groupings in the European Parliament. Those factions will renew their bid to impose such levies when the ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Congress sends bill raising fuel efficiency standards to Bush
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/18/congress.energy.ap/
Associated Press: Congress by a wide margin approved the first increase in automobile fuel economy in 32 years Tuesday, and President Bush plans to quickly sign the legislation, accepting the mandates on the auto industry. A new energy billl would increase the fleet average of U.S. automakers to 35 miles per gallon. The energy bill, boosting mileage by 40 percent to 35 miles per gallon, passed the House 314-100 and now goes to the White House, following the Senate's approved last week. In ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
United Kingdom: David Cameron's green vow on power
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3076046.ece
Times (UK): Coal-fired power stations in Britain would have to be fitted with new technology under a Tory government to prevent carbon emissions being pumped into the atmosphere, David Cameron said in China yesterday. The Conservative leader, travelling with George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, pledged to ensure that all existing and new stations were equipped with devices that capture the emissions and store them underground. After leading the Industrial Revolution, Britain must now ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Democrats, McCain score highest on climate
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22316047/
Reuters: The top Democratic presidential candidates and Republican John McCain are leading on the issue of energy security and climate change, a new environmental report said on Tuesday. McCain, who has sponsored a bill to curb greenhouse emissions, "is far and away the (Republican) candidate most committed to addressing global warming and the nation's energy challenges," the League of Conservation Voters said in its 2008 guide to the U.S. presidential primaries. But while ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
E.P.A. Denies California Emission's Waiver
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90377
New York Times: The Bush administration said Wednesday night that it would deny California's bid to set stricter vehicle emissions standards than federal law required as part of the state's efforts to fight climate change. Stephen L. Johnson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said he planned to deny the state's application for a waiver from federal law that the state had sought more than two years ago. "The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
EPA Denies Calif. Greenhouse Gas Waiver
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jJH569QSBl-5FfOe4F9liGjADk3gD8TKRGPO0
Associated Press: The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday slapped down California's bid for first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas limits on cars, trucks and SUVs, denying a request for a waiver that would have allowed those restrictions to take effect. "The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear national solution – not a confusing patchwork of state rules," EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson told reporters on a conference call. "I believe this is a better approach ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Illinois Town Chosen for Power Project
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/18/AR2007121801875.html
Washington Post: A small Illinois town was chosen as the site of the world's first near-zero-emissions coal-burning plant Tuesday by the public-private alliance carrying out the project. Construction of the plant continues to be delayed, however, by concerns over its costs. Mattoon, Ill., beat out another Illinois contender and two Texas towns as the home for the FutureGen plant, which will use the coal-gasification process to produce electricity and commercial-grade hydrogen, capturing and storing ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Japan's energy demand to fall in 2008 on conservation
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=159607
Bloomberg: Japan's primary energy demand may fall 0.2 percent in the fiscal year starting April 2008 as record crude prices prompt energy-saving at homes, offices, and factories. Demand for primary energy such as electricity, natural gas, and refined oil products, is forecast to decrease in the next business year, compared with an estimated 0.2 percent rise in the year that started April 2007, according to a report Wednesday from the Institute of Energy Economics Japan, or IEEJ. ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Many Americans Aim to Go "Green" in 2008 - Survey
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46120/story.htm
Reuters: Three-quarters of Americans, the world's largest polluters, plan to be more environmentally responsible in 2008 by reducing household energy or recycling more, a survey showed on Monday. Half of those polled said they would make a "green" New Year's resolution, according to the survey by GfK Roper and commissioned by marketing consultancy Tiller LLC. Two-thirds of Americans plan to cut their use of household chemicals, while 42 percent said they would take reusable ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Tax credit expiry endangers wind, solar expansion
http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN1962115720071219
Reuters: Growth of a nascent U.S. industry to build and install clean energy sources, like windmills and solar cells, could be stunted if Congress doesn't extend tax incentives set to expire next year, industry officials and lawmakers said on Wednesday. Democrats last week dropped a $21.5 billion package of tax incentives from a broad energy bill after Republicans and the White House threatened to block it. Without the tax credits set to expire at the end of 2008, homeowners and ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
US Congress approves bill to raise auto fuel efficiency
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071219.wcongress19/BNStory/International/home
Associated Press: The U.S. Congress approved by a wide margin the first increase in automobile fuel economy in 32 years yesterday, and President George W. Bush plans to sign the legislation quickly, accepting the mandates on the auto industry. The energy bill, boosting mileage by 40 per cent to 35 miles a gallon (about 15 kilometres a litre), passed the House 314-100 and now goes to the White House, after the Senate's approval last week. In a statement, the White House said Mr. Bush will sign ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Bush signs energy bill
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/19/news/economy/energy_bill/?postversion=2007121916
CNN: Following weeks of negotiation, President Bush signed into law Wednesday the first major increase in vehicle fuel efficiency standards in over three decades. The law also calls for greater use of biofuels like ethanol and more energy-efficient homes and appliances - but left out some provisions called for by Congressional Democrats. Automakers will have to make sure the average fuel efficiency level for all vehicles they sell in the U.S. is 35 miles per gallon by 2020, up from ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Bush stalls on global warming, but climate clock is running out
http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071219/OPINION/712190366/1028/OPINION02
Washington Post: The Bush administration wants everyone to believe that all along it has taken the threat of global warming as seriously as the rest of the world has. Advisers point to Bush's comments on climate change made as early as 2001 and to the nibbling-at-the-edges actions he has taken on research, regulation and funding. Then rhetoric meets reality, as it did at the climate talks in Bali. Representatives of 187 nations were in the Indonesian resort destination for almost two weeks ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
California will not get US waiver on emissions
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN1944166820071220
Reuters: The Bush administration said late on Wednesday it would deny California's application to set a strict vehicle emissions standard to fight global warming, a setback for environmentalists and a victory for automakers. "It is my intent to deny the waiver," Stephen Johnson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said in a conference call with reporters. "I needed to make an independent decision under the Clean Air Act and that's what I have ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
China's not alone in environmental crisis
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/12/19/chinas_not_alone_in_environmental_crisis/
Boston Globe: LEADERS FROM around the world gathered these past two weeks at the Bali climate change talks to chart our collective future. Looking out my window in Beijing through the dense haze that envelops this powerful city with world-record levels of smog, dust, and deadly pollution, it is easy to understand why many there perceived China as the Godzilla of global warming. As a country choking on its own "success," now producing over 20 percent of global greenhouse gases, China makes for ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
EU Faces Fiercely Contested Cars CO2 Decision
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46116/story.htm
Reuters: The European Commission will take a fiercely contested decision on Wednesday on how to share the burden of cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions among car makers, with Germany battling to defend its big luxury models. Germany, whose manufacturers such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz specialise in heavy, high-performance vehicles, is lobbying to put more of the onus for achieving cuts in the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming on smaller cars, produced mainly by France's Peugeot ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
House Sends President An Energy Bill to Sign
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/18/AR2007121800853.html?hpid=topnews
Washington Post: A year of rhetoric, lobbying, veto threats and negotiations ended yesterday as the House of Representatives voted 314 to 100 to pass an energy bill that President Bush is to sign this morning. The bill will raise fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles, order a massive increase in the use of biofuels and phase out sales of the ubiquitous incandescent light bulb popularized by Thomas Edison more than a century ago. Lawmakers said the energy bill will reduce America's heavy reliance ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Japan, Hungary Sign Accord on CO2 Credits Transfer
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46122/story.htm
Reuters: Japan on Tuesday signed its first basic agreement with Hungary to buy the European country's surplus allowances for greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, government officials said. The memorandum of understanding, signed in Budapest, covers the basic framework for the Japanese government to buy intergovernmental surpluses, or AAUs, from Hungary under the Green Investment Scheme (GIS). Under the Kyoto Protocol, governments are able to sell AAUs to other countries ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Key Provisions of Energy Bill Passed by US House
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46115/story.htm
Reuters: The US House of Representatives Tuesday passed a broad energy bill that will boost automobile fuel efficiency standards and require more use of renewable fuels like ethanol. Following is a summary of some key items of the Energy Independence and Security Act, already passed by the Senate, which President George W. Bush is expected to sign into law this week: Vehicle Fuel Economy: * Increases Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards to 35 miles per gallon (15 km ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
New Law Gives Ethanol Big Boost
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iZRidV7MNjXeFkx65K6_3oGRKTfgD8TKQ3C01
Associated Press: Gas guzzlers could become relics of the past and farmers may rival oil companies in producing motor fuels under a new energy law. Consumers also will save electricity – and money – from more efficient refrigerators, furnaces and dishwashers. There will be improved efficiency labeling on TVs and computers. And the office building of the future may need less energy and rely more on wind, solar or biomass, becoming zero emitters of greenhouse gases. That's the future outlined by ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
India: Pachauri warns of crop fall due to climate change
http://www.commodityonline.com/news/topstory/newsdetails.php?id=4327
Commodity Online: It is high time India wakes up to the reality of global warming and educate its farmers about the adverse impacts climate change will have on their crops. According to Nobel laureate and Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change chairman R K Pachauri, climate change can adversely impact the production of crops like wheat, rice and pulses in India. Agricultural production in many countries, including India, would be severely hit by climate variability. Therefore, farmers ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
A Nuclear Renaissance Ignored
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/19/AR2007121902075.html
Washington Post: Nuclear power is on the verge of a renaissance in the United States. Though there hasn't been a new nuclear plant licensed and built in over 30 years, the nation's de facto ban on nuclear power expansion is coming to an end. The nuclear industry reports there are 17 companies and consortiums pursuing licenses to build more than 30 new nuclear reactors. Construction on the first of these could begin within a few years. If any of these plants actually gets built and the nuclear revival ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Changes in climate may affect birds' behavior
http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/sports/stories/2007/12/18/121907_OUT_bird_side_2_WWW.html
Sentinel Journal: Seabirds heading farther north to breed, robins showing up two weeks early, songbirds unexpectedly chirping away in northern Ontario. Many researchers are tying these and other behavior changes in birds to global climate change. According to the American Bird Conservancy, birds that rely on specific types of habitat could become extinct if global climate changes continue. The ABC report "Global Warming Threatens Many Bird Species" says that ranges of many bird species ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
EPA blocks California bid to limit greenhouse gases from cars
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/19/BA55U1JD6.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: The Bush administration blocked efforts by California and 17 other states today to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks as a means of combatting global warming. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson rejected California's request for a waiver from the federal government to impose tough tailpipe emissions standards. The other states were poised to impose similar restrictions if California were granted the waiver. The states represent nearly ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
EPA Blocks California's Vehicle Emission Rules
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119810794061340765.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Wall Street Journal: The Environmental Protection Agency blocked California from imposing tough vehicle emission rules, the latest shot in a battle over whether states can go further than the federal government in curbing greenhouse gases contributing to global warming. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson said he called California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier Tuesday night to inform him of the agency's decision. Mr. Johnson said the recently signed energy bill, which raises industrywide fuel ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
EU agrees steep fines to cut car CO2 from 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7164142
Reuters: The European Commission agreed on proposed legislation on Wednesday to force down emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from cars with steeply rising fines on manufacturers that fail to comply, an EU source said. The European Union executive set a four-year phase-in period for fines on manufacturers whose fleets exceed an average of 120 grams per km of the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming from 2012. Fines on companies for non-compliance will start at 20 euros ($28.80) ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Canada: Federal government gives $6 million more for fight against pine beetle
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gsUXCQBbDSWANjqccR9wSKkN6pKg
Canadian Press: The federal government is putting $6 million more into the fight to stop the spread of the mountain pine beetle in Alberta and British Columbia. Of that amount, about $4 million will be spent in an area near Grande Prairie, Alta., while the remaining $2 million will be spent along the B.C. boundary southwest of Grande Prairie. Chris Warkentin, the member of Parliament for Peace River, said federal officials are still counting on help from Mother Nature. "With some ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Australia: NSW marine life 'faces highest climate change risk'
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/19/2122849.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A new report has found temperature increases caused by climate change will hit marine biodiversity harder in New South Wales than in any other part of the country. The National Parks Association report says there needs to be a big increase in the number of marine sanctuaries in NSW to protect against the effects of climate change. About 7 per cent of the state's waters are protected by marine sanctuaries but the report's author, Paul Winn, says the figure needs to be at least ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
U.N. ice bridge reminder of melting Antarctica
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN1743109620071219
Reuters: An ice bridge made of frozen Antarctic water erected at U.N. headquarters on Monday is expected to melt within a week to dramatize the dangers of melting glaciers. Norwegian artist Vebjorn Sand brought the fresh water to New York to fashion a temporary bridge based on a Leonardo da Vinci design. It replicates another span he built on a glacier in Antarctica a year ago which he hopes will never melt. "Our future lays underneath that ice glacier. So to erect it on that ...
Wed, 19 Dec 07
World Bank helps Bangladesh set up solar power
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DHA44742.htm
Reuters: The World Bank signed on Wednesday two agreements for installation of solar home systems in power-hungry Bangladesh to cut greenhouse gas emissions through the use of renewable energy. The World Bank has signed the "Emission Reductions Purchase Agreements" as Trustee for the Community Development Carbon Fund (CDCF), it said in a statement. Under these agreements, Grameen Shakti and Infrastructure and Development Company Limited (IDCOL) can claim benefits for carbon ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
New Type of Coal Plant Moves Ahead, Haltingly
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90224
New York Times: The nation's leading effort to build a coal-fired electric plant that will capture and store its carbon emissions will take a shaky step forward on Tuesday, when the consortium building it announces a location for the $1.5 billion plant. But choosing a location may be the least of the problems for the builders, with the Energy Department making ambiguous statements about its commitment to the project. The department, which is supposed to pay for most of the work, called the ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
San Francisco to adopt global warming offset plan
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKN1741593320071218
Reuters: San Francisco will become the first U.S. city to offer a program to offset the impact of global warming by funding local green activities, the mayor said in an interview on Monday. Under the program to be announced on Tuesday, city officials would calculate the carbon cost of their travels and contribute to one of several city programs aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions -- or forego the travel altogether. "What we are trying to do by this is to set high standards to ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
Climate change brings a potential for conflict between nations
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/climate-change-brings-a-potential-for-conflict-between-nations/2007/12/17/1197740178095.html
Age: PAKISTAN'S warplanes destroyed a giant concrete dam in Indian Kashmir overnight, letting loose a massive flood into parched local rivers and marking a major increase in the water war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Pure fantasy, of course. But with predictions that climate change will cause shortages of fresh water, crop failures and more extreme weather, could global warming spark future wars? The climate change debate has certainly taken on a martial ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
Rudd praises US climate 'flexibility'
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22940307-5013871,00.html
Australian: KEVIN Rudd has again praised the US for its "flexibility" to deliver a global climate change road map to trigger two years of intense negotiations for a new post-Kyoto pact to start in 2012. Mr Rudd's new conciliatory language contrasts with his more pointed demand last week that the US join other developed countries in embracing targets to cut emissions. It suggests Mr Rudd is maneuvering to work with the US along with China and other major emitters to work towards ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
Soaring food prices threaten millions: UN
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/18/2121823.htm?section=justin
BBC: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO) is warning that the soaring cost of food is threatening millions of people in developing countries. Food prices are now growing at the fastest rate since the 1980s, pushing inflation globally. In the poorest countries, farmers have been hit hard by the droughts and floods linked to climate change, a rising oil price and a growing demand for biofuels. The UNFAO is calling for urgent action to provide small ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
Nuclear power, climate change and UK security
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/money/2007/12/18/cchutton118.xml
Telegraph: Britain's gas and electricity supplies could be at the mercy of unstable governments or politically motivated investors unless the UK achieves energy independence, John Hutton, the Business and Enterprise Secretary, has warned. In a major speech yesterday, Mr Hutton laid bare why he thinks Britain must overhaul its energy industry to ensure security of future needs. The speech comes just weeks before the Government is due to announce whether to give the go-ahead for a programme ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
Canada: 'The biggest environmental crime in history'
http://environment.independent.co.uk/article3239364.ece
Independent: BP, the British oil giant that pledged to move "Beyond Petroleum" by finding cleaner ways to produce fossil fuels, is being accused of abandoning its "green sheen" by investing nearly £1.5bn to extract oil from the Canadian wilderness using methods which environmentalists say are part of the "biggest global warming crime" in history. The multinational oil and gas producer, which last year made a profit of £11bn, is facing a head-on confrontation with the ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
Adapt to climate change, WB chief tells developing nations
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view_article.php?article_id=107605
Agence France-Presse: China and other developing countries must place a much greater priority on adapting to climate change, World Bank president Robert Zoellick said on Tuesday. "For developing countries the adaptation challenge is as important, if not more so, than the mitigation challenge, but there has been less work on adaptation," Zoellick told reporters at the end of a four-day trip to China. "For many developing countries the adaptation issue is a crisis today, not an ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
An '08 imperative: solar tax credits
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_7749362?nclick_check=1
Mercury News: Congress moved the nation toward a smarter, greener future by voting last week to raise auto mileage standards for the first time in more than 30 years. But it dropped numerous renewable energy measures to ensure passage of an overall energy bill this year. Lawmakers next year should revisit a key policy left on the cutting-room floor: extending and improving tax incentives for installing solar energy. Congress should pass the solar tax credits, either on their own or as part of ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
United States: Backers of targets for renewable energy can gather signatures
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/18/BAQBU07T0.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: Backers of a state ballot initiative to require a significant boost in renewable energy used by all utilities in California can begin collecting signatures, the secretary of state announced Monday. The proposed Solar and Clean Energy Initiative would require all utilities to generate 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2010, increasing to 40 percent by 2020 and 50 percent by 2025. Current state law requires Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and other investor-owned ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
China welcomes Bali climate deal; says will play 'constructive role'
http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2007/12/18/afx4451162.html
Agence France-Presse: China welcomed the Bali deal aimed at curbing climate change, while insisting again a big onus rests on industrial powers to help developing nations reduce greenhouse gases. 'China congratulates the successful Bali meeting and welcomes the roadmap and will continue to participate in future negotiations and play a constructive role,' foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. Qin said negotiators had overcome many difficulties in reaching a consensus on the roadmap, which set a ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
EU faces fiercely contested cars CO2 decision
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL1852282520071218
Reuters: The European Commission will take a fiercely contested decision on Wednesday on how to share out the burden of cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions among Europe's carmakers, with big industrial interests at stake. Germany, whose manufacturers specialize in heavy luxury cars, is lobbying to put more of the onus for achieving cuts in the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming on smaller cars, produced mainly by France and Italy. Within the European Union executive, the ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
Europe divided over targets for cutting car CO2 emissions
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article3260711.ece
Independent: Emergency talks aimed at setting EU targets to reduce CO2 car emissions are being held today amid fears that bitter wrangling between car manufacturing countries could delay or even derail the process entirely. The European Commission is due to adopt a draft regulation tomorrow on reducing carbon emissions from passenger cars to 120 grams per kilometre within five years, but a bitter fallout between European heavyweights has plunged the key negotiations into crisis. Member states with ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
United States: Legislation would slow oil shale leasing
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/oil-shale-47121803
Rocky Mountain News: A move to slow oil shale development in northwestern Colorado appeared successful as the U.S. House was expected to vote on a spending bill that removed a 2008 deadline for the federal government to issue commercial leasing rules. U.S. Sen Ken Salazar and Reps. John Salazar and Mark Udall, all Colorado Democrats, placed language in the bill that prohibits the Bureau of Land Management from issuing any final regulations for oil shale leasing or offering any leases during fiscal year ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
United Kingdom: New coal stations would signal PM's 'surrender'
http://www.kentnews.co.uk/kent-news/New-coal-stations-would-signal-PM_s-_surrender_--newsinkent8048.aspx?news=local
Kent News: Environmentalists have warned that building a new coal-fired power station in Kent would mean the Prime Minister has "surrendered" on carbon emissions targets. Plans by energy company E.ON to replace the existing four-unit coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth with a new two-unit one are currently being considered by Medway Council. Should they approve the plans, they would then go to Gordon Brown for the green light next year and the plant could then be operational by 2012 or ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
Sea levels could rise faster than predicted, scientists warn
http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=28869
Cordis: Future sea level rises could be twice as high as the latest estimates from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), according to a new study by an international team of EU-funded scientists. Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, the scientists, from the UK, Germany and the US, reveal that in the past, sea levels rose as fast as 1.6 metres per century. EU funding for the project came from the STOPFEN ('Sea level, temperature and ocean circulation, past and future. A ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
U.S. probably won't make progress on climate change until next president
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpbali185505728dec18,0,7950506.story
Newsday: Boos turned to applause for the United States at the UN-sponsored climate conference in Bali, but when you come right down to it, the Bush administration didn't do much more than agree to a vague road map for global warming talks over the next two years. The administration still opposes mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. So it got the drafters of the final agreement to bury in a footnote - instead of in the main text - a goal of cutting emissions by as much as 40 percent ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
China Marks Out Zone for Sustainable Development
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46095/story.htm
Reuters: A cluster of cities in central China has been designated the country's latest experimental zone, this one for energy saving and environmentally friendly programmes, state media reported on Monday. China has a history of marking out zones for preferential policies which, if successful, are then rolled out across the country. Its most famous were the "special economic zones" of the south which launched the country's market reforms 30 years ago. Now the Hunan cities of ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
China welcomes "Bali roadmap" on climate change
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/18/content_7275993.htm
Xinhua: China on Tuesday welcomed the roadmap adopted at the U.N. climate change conference in Indonesia's Bali, calling on joint efforts from the international community to reach a global climate agreement by the end of 2009. "The roadmap has shown the way and set a timetable for future negotiations on global climate change," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular press conference. China will continue to participate actively in relevant negotiations, he said, ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
Corporate Australia not ready for emission cuts
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s2122128.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: BRENDAN TREMBATH: With the Federal Government still thinking about exactly how much it wants Australia to cut its greenhouse emissions, some business groups are urging caution. They're calling on the Government to keep targets realistic. Business is concerned aggressive targets would rock the economic boat too much. And new research out today showed one reason for business leaders' concern. Embarrassingly little appears to have been done by corporate Australia over the last ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
EU eyes phasing in CO2 fines for carmakers
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=motoringSummary&storyID=2007-12-18T124405Z_01_NOA730430_RTRUKOC_0_EXCLUSIVE-CO2-EMISSIONS.xml
Reuters: The European Commission is considering phasing in fees it charges to carmakers who fail to meet ambitious targets to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2012, a European Union source said on Monday. Amid fierce lobbying, the EU executive is due to announce on Wednesday how it will share out cuts in the main gas blamed for global warming between makers of light and heavy cars. Germany has led resistance to sharp constraints on its makers of luxury heavy cars, rejecting ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
China: Hong Kong Public Calls for Air Pollution Fight
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46094/story.htm
Reuters: Most Hong Kong people were willing to pay for a tougher crackdown on chronic air pollution through road pricing and other measures, a government-backed report said on Monday. The head of the government advisory body that collaborated on the report with Hong Kong University also said the city should establish a "superfund" for cleaning up the environment. Released during Hong Kong's traditionally smoggy winter months, the report is the most ambitious so far to gauge ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
India calls for caution in future climate talks
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/India-calls-for-caution-in-future-climate-talks/251698/
Financial Express: India has said that next two years would be crucial for negotiations for a new climate pact which would replace the Kyoto Protocol by 2012. The 13th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which concluded in Bali in Indonesia last week has suggested setting up of an ad hoc working group on long-term cooperative action under the Convention. Member countries are required to submit to the UNFCCC secretariat their views regarding the ...
Tue, 18 Dec 07
NGOs Regroup Around Climate Change After Bali
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40512
Inter Press Service: This resort island, better known for drawing foreign tourists due to its tropical splendour and its deep spiritual traditions, is poised to enter the vocabulary of another international set -- the rapidly expanding global civil society movement. Bali will soon join the ranks of places that have served as milestones in the world of activism, such as Seattle, in the United States, and Porto Alegre, in Brazil, for hosting the hugely contentious two-week international conference on ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Australia comes in from the cold to rescue climate deal
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/australia-comes-in-from-the-cold-to-rescue-climate-deal/2007/12/16/1197740093019.html
Sydney Morning Herald: AFTER much sweat and more than a few tears, the Bali breakthrough was finally delivered, late and underweight. The wave of relief that swept over the UN climate talks was palpable. However sketchy, however disappointing, the world is now committed to launching negotiations that will produce a new global agreement by 2009 to battle the serious threat of climate change. Most importantly, after a cautious beginning, in the end Australia played a vital role in keeping the important advice ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Australia: Bali 'only first step': Rudd
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22934598-601,00.html
Australian: KEVIN Rudd has shifted further away from the US position on climate change, strongly backing the new Bali agreement as the White House expressed "serious concerns" about the weak commitments placed on major developing economies such as China and India. White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement yesterday the new climate deal to be negotiated over the next two years needed to do more to cut greenhouse gas emissions from these major developing countries. ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Bali climate deal marks a geopolitical shift
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1217/p01s04-woeu.html
Christian Science Monitor: In a tumultuous, overtime finale that capped two weeks of intense talks, ministers from more than 180 countries headed home this weekend with a framework for negotiating a new global-warming agreement by 2009. In the process, the talks appear to have sealed a major shift in the geopolitics of climate change. In part, this change has come about because the US is now more intensely involved in talks than at any other time during the Bush administration, says Artur ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Largest Carbon Exchange Caught in Crossfire
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46046/story.htm
Reuters: The world's largest exchange for carbon emissions trading is caught in the crossfire of a battle between two of its business partners that could result in it losing a substantial portion of its trade to rivals. In recent days some of the largest carbon credit brokers have come out in favour of two new challengers to the European Climate Exchange (ECX), which does around 80 percent of the exchange-based trade in carbon credits. One of ECX's partners, its clearinghouse provider ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Seas Could Rise Twice as High as Predicted - Study
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46052/story.htm
Reuters: The world's sea levels could rise twice as high this century as UN climate scientists have predicted, according to researchers who looked at what happened more than 100,000 years ago, the last time Earth got this hot. Experts working on the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have suggested a maximum 21st century sea level rise -- a key effect of global climate change -- of about 32 inches (0.8 metres). But researchers said in a study appearing on Sunday in the ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Sharp to Spend Y100 Bln on Solar Cell Plant - Nikkei
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46079/story.htm
Reuters: Sharp Corp will spend close to 100 billion yen (US$882.9 million) to build the world's largest solar cell factory in Japan, Chairman Katsuhiko Machida was quoted by the Nikkei business daily as saying. The plant will be built next to Sharp's LCD panel factory currently under construction in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. It will produce thin-film solar cells, which use less silicon than conventional cells, starting in fiscal 2009, the Nikkei said in its Saturday edition. ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
US Food Inflation Parallels 70s on Ethanol Boom
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46080/story.htm
Reuters: Rising US food inflation, now a 25-year high, is reminiscent of the 1970s and will continue for the next five years due to growing world economies, increased food demand and a sharp expansion of corn-based ethanol production, a top food economist said Friday. "What happened in the early '70s and what is happening today is that we have moved food input price to a new plateau. Ultimately, the consumer is going to have to absorb those increased costs," said Bill Lapp, ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
We've been suckered again by the US. So far the Bali deal is worse than Kyoto
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2228527,00.html
Guardian: 'After 11 days of negotiations, governments have come up with a compromise deal that could even lead to emission increases. The highly compromised political deal is largely attributable to the position of the United States, which was heavily influenced by fossil fuel and automobile industry interests. The failure to reach agreement led to the talks spilling over into an all-night session." These are extracts from a press release by Friends of the Earth. So what? Well it was ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Bali a good start on a long climate change road
http://www.theage.com.au/news/editorial/bali-a-good-start-on-a-long-climate-change-road/2007/12/16/1197740085768.html
Age: ALL roads lead to Copenhagen. After two weeks of negotiations, arguments and compromise, the 188 nations who met in Bali agreed at the weekend to begin negotiations (and, although not stated, the arguments and compromises) to meet a 2009 deadline, to be adopted in the Danish capital, for a treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol. It would have been overly naive or optimistic to have expected a major breakthrough, but the mere fact that the Bali talks on climate change did not collapse ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Bali deal a 'step in the right direction'
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2007/12/17/2120563.htm?site=science&topic=latest
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The new treaty to tackle climate change signed in Bali at the weekend has been welcomed by Australian scientists as a "step in the right direction" and a vindication of their work in the field. The 13-day United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change delivered a deal that sets the framework for a long-term agreement on emissions cuts to succeed the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012. The Bali Roadmap does not specify a clear emissions goal, but mentions the ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
China Says Glaciers Shrink by up to 18 Pct
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46071/story.htm
Reuters: High altitude glaciers in China's remote west have shrunk by up to 18 percent over the last five years due to global warming, state media said on Friday, citing preliminary results from an on-going survey. The shrinkage was most evident in two areas in the far Western region of Xinjiang and in part of Tibet, the official Xinhua news agency said. "The change of glaciers is in fact a manifestation of the pressure upon China's environment from global warming," it ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Interview: Germany's top climate adviser
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1217/p10s01-woeu.html
Christian Science Monitor: Correspondent Mariah Blake in Hamburg, Germany, talked with Hans Joachim Schellnhuber upon his return this weekend from the Bali talks, where he was a member of Germany's negotiating team. Below are excerpts from the interview. Q: Emotions were clearly high in Bali. What accounted for the intensity? A: The general mood was different than in past years because everyone has accepted that the science is real, that climate change is happening. I was also a member of the ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
White House seeks to reassure on climate deal
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/326ab270-ac42-11dc-82f0-0000779fd2ac.html
Financial Times: The White House sought to reassure its global partners yesterday that it was committed to the climate change agreement reached in Bali at the weekend, following an early statement that voiced "serious concerns" about the accord. The decision in Bali paved the way for negotiations to start on a new global warming treaty that is to be agreed by 2009. But the White House quickly flagged up its reservations, saying that for the negotiations to succeed, big emerging economies ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Australia: Bali shows way forward: Wong
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22935376-5005961,00.html
AAP: THE Bali climate change meeting was a success because it provided the world with a guide for future negotiations on binding emissions targets, the Federal Government said. "What we have come together and agreed (on) is a road map to help us on our way," Climate Change Minister Penny Wong told ABC radio today. Senator Wong led the last-minute negotiations between the US and European nations in Bali three weeks after being sworn in as the minister following Labor's ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Climate Change 'Not Luxury' for Africa - Maathai
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46072/story.htm
Reuters: Industrialised countries have a moral responsibility to help Africa mitigate the effects of climate change, Kenya's Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai said on Friday. "For the global South, especially Africa, environmental issues are not a luxury," the environmental activist said in an article in Kenya's Business Daily newspaper on the final day of climate change talks in Bali. "Arresting the world's warming and protecting and restoring our natural systems are ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Climate change road map 'lacks destination'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/16/eabali117.xml
Telegraph: Environmental campaigners fear the Bali climate change plans are "fatally flawed", as the dust settles on last week's international talks. As the finer details of the Bali negotiations emerge, conservationists say the so-called international "road map" to combat global warming lacks a destination. Such worries were further fuelled by comments from the United States yesterday, after officials said they had "serious concerns" about future talks ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Japan takes bit-player role in climate talks
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/world/20071217TDY02306.htm
Daily Yomiuri: The conflict of views between the United States and European nations in the latest U.N. climate conference essentially reduced Japan to a peripheral role in the meeting in Bali, Indonesia. If Japan is to bring the Group of Eight summit meeting in Toyakocho, Hokkaido, next year to a successful conclusion, it must try to go beyond attempts just to mediate among participants and play a more active part in resolving the conflict of opinions about how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Let's be fair about climate targets
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22933615-7583,00.html
Australian: AS representatives of the world's peoples wrestled in Bali with the greatest challenge to human co-operation we have ever known, different ideas of what was fair and what wasn't threatened to tear them apart. They still do. Environmental lobbyists keep insisting we can't make progress without goodwill. True enough. Then they join the developing countries to wag their finger at the West saying, "You created the problem. You take the lead in fixing it." But though the ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
One million face drought in southwest China
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKPEK8137220071217
Reuters: More than a million people in the southwestern Chinese region of Guangxi have been hit by drinking water shortages in the worst drought since 1951, the official People's Daily said on Monday. In the last three months, Guangxi, the country's main sugar-growing region, had had less than half the normal amount of rain, the report said, while other parts of the region had seen almost no rain at all. The government has earmarked 2.29 billion yuan ($310.8 million) to bring water to ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
US pours cold water on Bali optimism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/17/bali.climatechange
Guardian: The US backtracked yesterday on the climate change agreement reached after marathon talks in Bali, saying it had "serious concerns" about the new global consensus and that developing countries had to do far more if there was to be any pact in two years' time. The reality check followed the drama and euphoria of the weekend when the US was shamed into joining the rest of the world in working towards a new climate change agreement to come into force after 2012. All 190 ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Visiting Antarctic, Amazon Helped Climate Case - Ban
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46059/story.htm
Reuters: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday that visiting Antarctica and the Amazon had brought home to him personally the critical need to tackle climate change. Nearly 200 nations meeting in Bali reached a deal to launch talks on a pact to fight global warming, but only after a reversal by the United States allowed a historic breakthrough. Ban, who has made climate change a priority, went last month to the tip of South America to see melting glaciers and the ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Acidic oceans threaten food chain
http://www.twincities.com/ci_7739298?source=most_emailed&nclick_check=1
McClatchy Newspapers: Seven hundred miles west of Seattle in the Pacific at Ocean Station Papa, a first-of-its-kind buoy is anchored to monitor a looming environmental catastrophe. Forget about sea levels rising as glaciers and polar ice melt, and increasing water temperatures affecting global weather patterns. As the oceans absorb more and more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, they're gradually becoming more acidic. And some scientists fear the change may be irreversible. At risk are sea creatures up and ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
United Kingdom: All new schools to be zero-carbon by 2016
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2228937,00.html
Guardian: Schools will install wind turbines and solar power systems in a multi-million pound drive to reduce carbon emissions, Ed Balls detailed today. The schools secretary wants all new school buildings to be zero-carbon by 2016. In a statement to MPs, Balls announced the details of about 200 energy-saving projects that will cost about £110m over the next three years. "We are taking action now to reduce carbon emissions in new school buildings while we work towards the ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
China, U.S. Urged by Scientists to End Climate Disputes by 2009
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aZ_Taz2OK9Eo&refer=japan
Bloomberg: The U.S. and China, the world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases blamed for climate change, have two years to resolve differences blocking a new agreement to help slow the planet's warming. After two weeks of talks concluding with three sleepless nights for negotiators, a scolding from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, and public tears from the conference head, the 187 nations meeting on Bali in Indonesia agreed on a document setting a 2009 deadline for a new treaty to limit ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Disappointments on Climate
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90174
New York Times: A week that could have brought important progress on climate change ended in disappointment. In Bali, where delegates from 187 countries met to begin framing a new global warming treaty, America's negotiators were in full foot-dragging mode, acting as spoilers rather than providing the leadership the world needs. In Washington, caving to pressures from the White House, the utilities and the oil companies, the Senate settled for a merely decent energy bill instead of a very good ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Immediate action needed to save corals from climate change
http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/umwelt_naturschutz/bericht-100230.html
Innovations Report: The journal Science has published a paper today that is the most comprehensive review to date of the effects rising ocean temperatures are having on the world's coral reefs. The Carbon Crisis: Coral Reefs under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification, co-authored by seventeen marine scientists from seven different countries, reveals that most coral reefs will not survive the drastic increases in global temperatures and atmospheric CO2 unless governments act immediately to combat current ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Italy's woodlands dying due to climate change
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/17/eaitaly117.xml
Telegraph: Italy's woodlands are already dying as climate change starts to bite in southern Europe, experts warn. A report represented to the Italian government said that eight out of 10 trees across Italy's varied ecosystems were already suffering from the effects of rising temperatures and diminishing rainfall. Professor Carlo Blasi of the Inter-university Centre for Bio-diversity at Rome's La Sapienza University said the research showed that a third of the country's woodland was ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Measuring Bali by a Scientific Yardstick
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40501
Inter Press Service: A tiny step was taken Saturday in meeting the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced. But it was nearly a step backward as the crucial climate talks in Bali almost collapsed when the United States refused to join the global consensus. However, after Kevin Conrad representing Papua New Guinea told the U.S. delegation if they weren't going to be leaders, to please get out of the way, the U.S. reversed its position and accepted what is called the "Bali roadmap". But ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Rising seas 'to beat predictions'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7148137.stm
BBC: The world's sea levels could rise twice as high this century as UN climate scientists have previously predicted, according to a study. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change proposes a maximum sea level rise of 81cm (32in) this century. But in the journal Nature Geoscience, researchers say the true maximum could be about twice that: 163cm (64in). They looked at what happened more than 100,000 years ago - the last time Earth was this warm. The results ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Testing the climate
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22298754/
New Yorker: Last week, Al Gore, at the start of his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, took note of a curious coincidence. Almost exactly seven years earlier–on December 12, 2000–the United States Supreme Court had called a halt to the Florida recount, thereby un-electing him President. "I read my own political obituary in a judgment that seemed to me harsh and mistaken–if not premature," Gore told the dignitaries assembled in Oslo. "But that unwelcome verdict also brought a precious if painful gift: an ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Who bears the load? Bali leaves big concessions needed on climate change
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22299839/
Financial Times: It is a deal that, for all its flaws and limitations, just six months ago few had thought would come. For the next two years, government officials from 187 countries will meet regularly to hammer out an agreement intended to slash greenhouse gas emissions and curb global warming. That pact would replace the current Kyoto protocol, which scientists say goes only a small way to produce the emission reductions needed to avert disastrous changes to the climate. Rich and poor countries are ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Bumpy ride ahead for Bali road map
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IL18Ae01.html
Asia Times: In the end, every side blinked. The European Union and developing countries decided that they had more to gain from a Bali road map climate change agreement including the United States, than one without the world's top greenhouse gas emitter. The US decided that it wanted to remain in the conversation rather than be isolated and vilified for preventing an agreement. The Bali road map agreed to Saturday by delegates to the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Business seeks targets to build a market in carbon
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e1f4cec4-ad0a-11dc-b51b-0000779fd2ac.html
Financial Times: Ban Ki-moon hailed the dawn of a "green economy" in Bali last week, presenting climate change as a business opportunity as well as a threat. The United Nations secretary-general's words were welcomed by many in business, particularly the more than 1,000 carbon traders and investors who turned up to the talks. Abyd Karmali, global head of carbon emissions at Merrill Lynch, said: "The talks were bruising but necessarily so given the pivotal nature of this COP ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Climate change not just a theory for northerners who see results daily
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5ij3MxGskfAyUgfUZ9ql6F7eKUggQ
Canadian Press: Charlie Furlong knows the lands and waters of the Mackenzie Delta like a childhood chum, but now his old friend is acting strange. "The Gwich'In, you know, we're used to adapting, so that's what it is now," says Furlong, chief of the Aklavik Gwich'In First Nation, tucked high up in the top left shelf of the continent. Viewed from the south, Arctic climate change can seem a confusing ecological and geopolitical tangle, accompanied by a media montage of stranded polar ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Kenya: End Deforestation Before It's Too Late
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712171057.html
Nation: The year 2007 has been the hottest ever in the history of climate record-keeping, according to a Japanese weather monitoring agency. It is now nearly universally accepted that the rise in global temperatures is caused by an increase in carbon dioxide that traps heat in the atmosphere. A lot of that colourless, odourless, incombustible gas has been pumped into the atmosphere by industries, particularly those in rich, developed countries. Industrialising developing countries such ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
EU emissions row may stall green campaign
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/17/climatechange.carbonemissions
Guardian: EU plans to slash carbon dioxide emissions from all new cars and impose savage penalties on manufacturers failing to meet binding targets are in disarray, it emerged at the weekend. The plans are part of the EU's ambitious campaign against global warming. The 27-strong European commission, which set out a mandatory target of 120g of CO2 per km from 2012, is to hold a series of emergency top-level meetings over the next two days in an effort to agree its proposed legislation in time ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Forward, Hopefully Past the Hurdles
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40492
Inter Press SErvice: Despite scepticism about the 'Bali roadmap', the international community has come a long way in hammering out a truly global response to the serious threat posed by climate change. But the global climate diplomacy is faced with several hurdles that must be overcome in the next two years. These involve changing the hearts and minds of the ruling elite in both the developed and developing countries. As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said, while the developed countries need to ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Australia: Greens urge Rudd to stop Tas pulp mill
http://news.theage.com.au/greens-urge-rudd-to-stop-tas-pulp-mill/20071217-1hk4.html
AAP: Australian Greens leader Bob Brown says his party is turning its attention to stopping the proposed Gunns pulp mill in Tasmania. Senator Brown, unhappy with the new federal Labor government's failure to support fixed carbon emissions targets at the Bali climate change conference, said allowing the pulp mill to go ahead would be a greenhouse gas disaster. The previous coalition government approved the mill, subject to numerous conditions, after receiving a report from the ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
It's Up to Europe to Save The World
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,523787,00.html
Spiegel: It took just hours for the White House to begin back-pedalling on the Bali climate negotiations breakthrough. One minute, US head of delegation Paula Dobriansky was agreeing to a blueprint for a new international accord to replace the expiring Kyoto Protocol. The next minute, the White House press secretary released a statement indicating that Washington has "serious concerns" about the agreement reached on the Indonesian island of Bali. The release made it clear that the US ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Japan Omits Carbon Tax, Trading From Latest Pollution Measures
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=ak7JU_409hdg&refer=japan
Bloomberg: Japan's government omitted a proposed carbon tax from its latest list of measures to curb pollution and will instead intensify appeals for voluntary reductions from homes, utilities and factories. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's Cabinet today reviewed alternative strategies to meet the nation's Kyoto Protocol target on carbon emissions, Hiroshi Kamagata, a counsellor in the Cabinet Secretariat, told reporters in Tokyo. Media handouts omitted earlier proposals for a carbon tax on fossil ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
UN moves to boost farm output as food prices climb
http://www.reuters.com/article/africaCrisis/idUSL17678443
Reuters: The United Nations' world food body outlined steps on Monday meant to help the world's poorest nations combat soaring food prices, including a new voucher programme for farmers and a review of food-guzzling biofuels. The Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation's food price index jumped almost 40 percent this year from 2006 and hit its highest level since being launched in 1990. Hardest hit are those poor nations most dependent on food imports. FAO chief Jacques Diouf ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Year set to be warmest on record
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7148632.stm
BBC: Despite this week's cold snap, this year is still on track to be one of the warmest and wettest ever recorded in Scotland. The north east was affected by flooding near the end of the month And it's one of the warmest ever recorded globally. The environmental group WWF Scotland keeps a close eye on Met Office statistics and says that the average temperature in November was 6C - that's nearly 2C milder than the 30-year average. It was also 3% wetter than usual. ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Accord fails to set targets, but activists still optimistic
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071217.wbalianalysis17/BNStory/International/home
Globe and Mail: In the end, the much-anticipated "Bali Road Map" was disappointingly vague and unenforceable, weakened by politics and self-interest. Yet beyond the words of its compromised text, the Bali agreement could still herald a new era of tougher action against global warming. Most of the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases - including the United States, China and India - were unwilling to accept any limits on their growth. Even after 15 days of intense negotiations, the ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Achievements at Bali climate talks
http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKSP18660020071216
Reuters: Climate talks in Bali, Indonesia, agreed on Saturday to start two years of negotiations to seal a broader pact to fight global warming. As part of the meeting among 188 nations, a range of other pressing issues to aid the developing world were discussed. Following is what has been agreed, or not agreed, at the talks. TWO-YEAR DIALOGUE Negotiators agreed to start two years of talks on a new climate deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, the main deal for fighting climate ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Australian Pension Funds May Lead Carbon Investments, Bank Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=at3oZZexNJ8w&refer=australia
Bloomberg: Australian pension funds may be among the first in the country to invest in international carbon markets and commit to buying emissions credits from overseas projects, Credit Suisse Group's head of carbon trading said. Pension funds are examining investments in the carbon market to broaden their portfolios, partly driven by a trend away from credit market investments, New York-based Paul Ezekiel said today in an interview in Sydney. Utilities such as AGL Energy Ltd. and Origin Energy ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Global warming may soon see Santa don shorts
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j4CHsXNT-Bb_V81jtoCm5CYYep1g
Agence France-Presse: If the most dire climate forecasts come true the tourism industry in Europe's far north, already feeling the effects of global warming, may find itself promoting a Santa in shorts and a camel-drawn sleigh. Each year at the end of autumn, residents, shopkeepers, travel agencies, reindeer herders and even politicians in the Finnish Arctic town of Rovaniemi -- home to Santa Claus' Village, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Finland -- look to the skies in the hopes of a snowy ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Italy refiners to overshoot 2008 CO2 target-UP
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL1742810220071217?sp=true
Reuters: Italian refining industry will overshoot its carbon dioxide emission targets by at least 3-4 million tonnes in 2008 as its workload is set to increase, refining industry body Unione Petrolifera (UP) said on Monday. Under the European Union's Emission trading Scheme (ETS) -- part of Europe's efforts to fight global climate change -- smokestack industries are assigned CO2 emissions limits and then can buy or sell them on the market. Italian refiners' CO2 quotas deficit would grow ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Japan welcomes Bali deal
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2239946,00.html
Agence France-Presse: Japan on Monday welcomed a deal fixing a 2009 deadline for a new treaty to tackle global warming, rejecting criticism from environmentalists that it had not done enough to help broker an agreement. The Bali accord launches a two-year round of negotiations for the most ambitious treaty ever attempted to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. "The deal is in line with the proposal of Japan," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, the government's top spokesperson. ...
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Palm oil is a net source of CO2 emissions when produced on peatlands
http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1217-palm_oil.html
Mongabay: Researchers have confirmed that converting peat forests for oil palm plantations results in a large net release of carbon dioxide, indicating industry claims that palm oil helps fight climate change are unfounded, at least when plantations are established in peatlands. Performing life cycle analysis of land use change in tropical peatlands, Dr. Susan Page (University of Leicester) and colleagues working on the CARBOPEAT and RESTORPEAT projects found that drained, degraded, and ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Australia brokers green pact
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22931003-661,00.html
Herald Sun: A HISTORIC Australian-brokered agreement to tackle climate change has been agreed after the US made dramatic concessions at a United Nations summit in Bali. After 13 days of negotiations, the US agreed at the last gasp to demands from developing nations, allowing them to water down their commitments to cut greenhouse gases. The amendment helped seal a deal put together by Australian Climate Change Minister Penny Wong and Argentina, which had looked like falling over. ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Climate change victory
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/climate-change-victory/2007/12/15/1197568329853.html
Sun-Herald: AFTER a drama-filled day and a backdown by the US, 190 nations last night set a 2009 deadline for a landmark pact to fight global warming. Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar banged down his gavel on the deal to rapturous applause, sealing what is expected to become known as the Bali Road Map. The agreement includes all nations and launches a process to negotiate a new treaty that will take effect when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. Australia's delegate ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
'Difficult' negotiations ahead after contentious climate change accord finalized: UN chief
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/16/asia/AS-GEN-Bali-Climate-Conference.php
Associated Press: Two weeks of international climate talks marked by bitter disagreements and angry accusations culminated in a last-minute U.S. compromise and an agreement to adopt a blueprint for fighting global warming by 2009. Now comes the hard part. Delegates from nearly 190 nations must fix goals for industrialized nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions while helping developing countries cut their own emissions and adapt to rising temperatures. Negotiators also will consider ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
After praise for Bali climate deal: the hard part
http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7156947
Reuters: A "historic" Bali deal. A "Berlin Wall" dividing rich and poor nations on global warming policy falls. A "new chapter" for Washington after six years of climate disputes with many of its allies. And now comes the hard part. After all the praise for the agreement hammered out at the 190-nation Bali meeting to work out a long-term climate treaty involving all nations by late 2009, governments will have to work out the details. "We will ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Bali climate deal paves way for hotter US debate
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N16359637.htm
Reuters: A breakthrough deal forged by delegates from 190 countries has revived world efforts to fight global warming and may help push the debate to the front and center of the U.S. political debate. The United States joined the deal reached on the Indonesian island of Bali in a dramatic U-turn. But significantly, the accord sets late 2009 as the target for a climate treaty, months after U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office. Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who heads ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Bali delegates agree to support forests-for-climate (REDD) plan
http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1215-redd.html
Mongabay: Delegates meeting at the U.N. climate conference in Bali agreed to include forest conservation in future discussions on a new global warming treaty, reports the Associated Press. The move could lead to the transfer of billions of dollars – in the form of carbon credits – from industrialized countries to tropical nations for the purpose of slowing greenhouse gas emissions by reducing deforestation rates. Deforestation presently accounts for roughly 20 percent of anthropogenic emissions ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Canada, US bow to pressure on climate change
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=0e0f606c-6eaf-4fa8-8562-d4f451456e31
CanWest News Service: The Harper government and the Bush administration caved in to international pressure at the United Nations climate change summit yesterday, accepting the "Bali Roadmap" toward a new comprehensive agreement to stop human activity from causing irreversible damage to Earth's atmosphere and ecosystems. The framework was hailed by the UN's top climate change official, Yvo de Boer, as an ambitious, transparent and flexible solution on the road to a comprehensive treaty in 2009, ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Climate Change will see the “Africanisation” of Spain
http://www.theolivepress.es/2007/12/16/climate-change-will-see-the-%E2%80%9Cafricanisation%E2%80%9D-of-spain/
Olive Press: INCESSANT heat waves, the extinction of vegetal and animal species and the spread of desert from Almería to cover southern Spain in its entirety. Those are the findings of a report recently presented to the country's prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, to help the government decide how to deal with Climate Change. The study, which was compiled by a team of 17 scientists from Spain, paints a dire picture of the country at the end of this century. It concludes ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Climate deal runs straight into trouble with US
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hxMmEksQScmnpMZwLjII9HvVH7Ww
Agence France-Presse: A hard-fought deal fixing a 2009 deadline for a new treaty to tackle global warming ran straight into trouble Sunday with the United States voicing "serious concerns" over its provisions. As negotiators headed home after two weeks of intense haggling, the White House complained that the agreement did not do enough to commit major emerging economies such as China and India to big cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. It underlined lingering division over how to confront ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Climate Plan Looks Beyond Bush's Tenure
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90110
New York Times: The world's faltering effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions got a new lease on life on Saturday, as delegates from 187 countries agreed to negotiate a new accord over the next two years – pushing the crucial debates about United States participation into the administration of a new American president. Many officials and environmental campaigners said American negotiators had remained obstructionist until the final hour of the two-week convention and had changed their stance only ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
In Bali climate deal, US appears to backtrack
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/16/eaclimate116.xml
Telegraph: The United States appeared to backtrack on the spirit of the historic Bali agreement on climate change last night, voicing "serious concerns" about future negotiations to fight global warming. Only hours earlier, US officials at the United Nations-led talks in Bali had been forced to back down over a clause to guarantee the supply of clean technology to developing countries. Faced with condemnation of its opposition from one delegation after another, all in the glare ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
It's too late for later
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/16/opinion/edfriedman.php
International Herald Tribune: The negotiators at the UN climate conference here in Bali came from almost 200 countries and spoke almost as many languages, but driving them all to find a better way to address climate change was one widely shared, if unspoken, sentiment: that "later" is over for our generation. "Later" was a luxury for previous generations and civilizations. It meant that you could paint the same landscape, see the same animals, eat the same fruit, climb the same trees, ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Late US reversal yields pact on climate change
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/12/16/late_us_reversal_yields_pact_on_climate_change/
New York Times: In a tumultuous final session at international climate talks in which the US delegates were booed and hissed at, the world's nations committed yesterday to negotiating a new accord by 2009 that, in theory, would set the world on a course toward halving emissions of heat-trapping gases by 2050. The finish to the negotiations came after a last-minute standoff during a day of high emotions, with the co-organizer of the conference, Yvo de Boer, fleeing the podium at one point as he held ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Seas could rise twice as high as predicted: study
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKN1429395620071216
Reuters: The world's sea levels could rise twice as high this century as U.N. climate scientists have predicted, according to researchers who looked at what happened more than 100,000 years ago, the last time Earth got this hot. Experts working on the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have suggested a maximum 21st century sea level rise -- a key effect of global climate change -- of about 32 inches. But researchers said in a study appearing on Sunday in the journal Nature ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Simple Numbers to Shape Climate Talks
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iZb33VVugFmtPDpedH5M2iNGf6yAD8TINNBO0
Associated Press: Behind the millions of words at the Bali climate conference, in documents, speeches and slick brochures, lay a set of simple numbers: 2 and 445 and "25 to 40." That's 2 degrees Celsius, 445 parts per million of carbon dioxide, and a 25-to-40-percent reduction in global-warming gases – a formula, some say, to save the planet from climate change's severest consequences. In the end, at U.S. insistence, none of those numbers appeared in the U.N. conference's key final ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
U.N. puts forests on the agenda
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/health_science/daily/20071216_U_N__puts_forests_on_the_agenda.html
Assocated Press: Delegates to the U.N. climate conference here have agreed to include forest conservation in any future discussions about a new global-warming pact, paving the way for billions of dollars in new spending to attack illegal logging. With deforestation accounting for 20 percent of global emissions, governments are desperate to find a solution to a problem fueled by rising demand for timber and palm oil, widespread corruption, and endemic poverty. The program, Reducing Emissions ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Bali climate deal keeps world at table
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-sci-bali16dec16,0,1170742.story?coll=la-home-world
LA Times: The landmark global warming document agreed to on Saturday at a United Nations climate conference here was weakened in furious last-minute negotiations, but still made important progress in two key areas. Under pressure from the United States, the document abandoned setting any firm goal for worldwide emissions reductions and left open the possibility that industrialized countries could avoid individual caps on their emissions. Nonetheless, for the first time, it enrolled the ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Carmakers can pool CO2 emissions: EU draft
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKL1661951720071216
Reuters: Carmakers will be allowed to team up and form pools to spread the burden of meeting tough new limits on carbon dioxide emissions in the European Union, a draft EU document obtained by Reuters showed on Friday. The European Commission intends to publish legislation next week laying out how ambitious targets to reduce emissions of the main gas blamed for global warming will be distributed among makers of light and heavy cars. The rules would require average carbon dioxide (CO2) ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Climate change threatens China's largest freshwater lake
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14576400
Indo-Asian News Service: More than 100,000 residents around China's largest freshwater lake, Poyang Lake, are suffering drinking water shortage as a result of drought induced by climate change. An expert has warned that the condition may blight the area for a further 10 winters. "The lake now covers less than 50 sq km, down from about 3,000 sq km in summer this year. The water surface was 300 to 500 sq km last winter," said Tan Guoliang, director of the Hydrological Bureau in east China's Jiangxi ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Developed countries ready to mitigate carbon emissions
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90091
Jakarta Post: Although talks in Saturday's session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference were marked by tough debates, they finally resulted in a developed countries' agreement to take part in carbon emission mitigation efforts, Indonesia's chief delegate Emil Salim said. "It was evident that the US delegation has accepted the commitment and agreement as a result of the conference, so the developed countries will just adhere to what the conference decides," ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Environmental groups criticise Bali deal
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/159187.html
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Political leaders meeting in Bali for the UN's climate change summit hammered out a deal which launched formal negotiations with a 2009 end date - but the deal falls short in its ambition, green groups said Saturday. The Bali road map does not ensure that all developed countries will negotiate on binding reduction commitments, and leaves open the possibility for voluntarily actions by developed countries as well, said Oxfam international. Despite the scientific evidence, there is ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Greenhouse gases make ocean acidic, report says
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/12/16/greenhouse_gases_make_ocean_acidic_report_says/
Associated Press: Greenhouse gases are endangering the world's coral reefs and could also pose threats to lobsters, sea urchins, clams, and scallops far away in the Gulf of Maine, according to a team of global researchers. more stories like thisThe buildup of atmospheric carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion could make the oceans too acidic for coral to survive in less than 50 years, the researchers reported Friday in the journal Science. The researchers say that atmospheric carbon dioxide ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
U.S. reversal under pressure leads to climate deal
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/16/asia/climate.1-189601.php
International Herald Tribune: On the surface, the accomplishment of the two-week UN climate conference that concluded this weekend in Bali seems meager: Thousands of delegates representing nearly 200 nations agreed to talk more, laying out a "road map" for negotiations that will in theory produce a climate treaty by 2009. Even this baby step required sleepless, volatile negotiations that continued to the last hours of the conference, with the U.S. delegation refusing to go along, until its lead ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
US presidential candidates on climate change
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1631453220071216
Reuters: Here's what leading U.S. presidential candidates have said about climate change, and what they want to do about it. DEMOCRATIC NEW YORK SEN. HILLARY CLINTON: "We need to start on a path to slow, stop and reverse the growth of greenhouse gas emissions." Supports an 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, 40 mile-per-gallon fuel efficiency standard by 2017 and 10 percent cut in energy consumption by 2020. FORMER DEMOCRATIC SOUTH CAROLINA SEN. JOHN EDWARDS: ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Warm reception for Bali climate deal in Australia
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hzIKF4OKb4MxvbWSl3hHVcFNboag
Agence France-Presse: Climate negotiations hammered out on the Indonesian island of Bali provide a "rough and risky roadmap" but could ensure the safety of the planet, Australia's Climate Institute said Sunday. John Connor, chief executive of the independent institute, said it was a positive step forward but he would have preferred a deal with more teeth. "It's a rough and risky roadmap but importantly, with late contributions from the Australian government, we have some signposts for ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Warming prompts debate: Dams vs. conservation
http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/07/news071216_5.htm
Durango Herald: Many water managers have started to agree with environmentalists about the likelihood of global warming. They disagree about how to respond. Water managers say more reservoirs like McPhee Reservoir will be needed to cope with global warming, but environmentalists say less water will be available to store, making more dams potentially obsolete before they are even built.We should build more dams, water managers say. Global warming might melt the snow earlier, making it all the more ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Bali climate deal launches talks
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/286042
Toronto Star: United Nations climate change conferences now follow certain rituals: Long days of desultory talks are followed, as departure time looms, by chaotic – often angry – marathon negotiations. When agreement is almost at hand, Russia, pretty much invisible to that point, raises a furious complaint, only to be mollified by what amounts to a pat on the head. Canada dominates the Fossil of the Day awards for obstruction, even though, as at the just-completed 13th annual meeting ...
Sun, 16 Dec 07
Cheers as climate deadlock broken
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22934549-11949,00.html
Australian: AFTER two weeks of stonewalled climate change negotiations in Bali, the first signs of real progress started to emerge on Friday afternoon. Meetings until 3am the previous night had failed to break a deadlock on the content of the so-called Bali road map - a statement from the UN conference setting out the priorities for negotiations on a new post-Kyoto climate change pact. All week, the US had been adamant it would not wear the European Union's insistence that the statement ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
At Bali Climate Conference, Signs of Compromise
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=89986
New York Times: Countries gathering at a United Nations conference on climate change looked to be heading for a landmark agreement on a plan for a future deal to reduce the world's greenhouse gases, officials said Friday. The tenor of negotiations improved markedly from Thursday when, amid growing frustration with the United States, European nations threatened to boycott separate talks proposed by the Bush administration in Hawaii next month. Germany's environment minister, Sigmar Gabriel, ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
At Bali Climate Talks, Signs of Compromise
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90005
New York Times: Countries gathering at a United Nations conference on climate change appeared to be heading toward a landmark agreement on a deadline for negotiations to reduce the world's greenhouse gases, officials said Friday. At a news conference, Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, who on Thursday raised serious concerns about the slow pace of the talks, said that countries were "on the brink of agreement." "It's not actually ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
UN closer to climate deal as US holds out
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/un-close-to-climate-deal/2007/12/14/1197568264238.html
Age: THE United Nations climate change meeting stumbled towards a compromise last night on a road map to guide the world to a new global climate agreement. The United States fought a trenchant battle to the eleventh hour to stop the declaration referring to the UN's scientific advice on the need for developed countries to make deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. The final compromise was being hammered out with Australia's Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, playing a key ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
March for a climate accord falters
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/march-for-a-climate-accord-falters/2007/12/14/1197568266740.html
Sydney Morning Herald: THE UN climate summit stumbled last night towards a compromise for launching a new global agreement, but it fell well short of the expectations that many countries took to Bali. To the last minute, the United States fought hard to stop the declaration referring to the UN's scientific advice: for developed countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 40 per cent by 2020 if the world wants to stop global temperatures rising above 2 degrees and avoid the most severe impacts of ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
A Look at the Bali Climate Change Plan
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j87Vt_XMQiOlwG_ix_5NRXTgOeegD8THQT282
Associated Press: Key points of the final decision at the U.N. climate change conference setting an agenda for talks on a new global warming pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol at the end of 2012: GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS: It recognizes that "deep cuts" in global emissions will be required to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate. It references scientific reports that suggest a range of cuts between 25 and 40 percent by 2020, but prescribes no such targets ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Countries Struggle to Agree, Cities Commit to Climate Action
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2007/2007-12-15-01.asp
Environment News Service: Governments meeting in Bali today agreed to launch negotiations towards a strengthened international climate change pact. The new treaty will be a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires at the end of 2012. The decision by 187 countries includes a clear agenda for the key issues to be negotiated by 2009. The agenda will cover action for adapting to the negative consequences of climate change, such as droughts and floods; ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; ways to widely ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
U.N. conference adopts plan for climate change pact
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2007-12-15-climatetalks_N.htm
Associated Press: In a dramatic finish to a U.N. climate conference, world leaders adopted a breakthrough plan Saturday to broker a new pact by 2009 to battle global warming, after the United States backed down in a dispute with developing nations and Europe. The U.S. opposition had drawn loud boos and sharp floor rebukes – "If you are not willing to lead, then get out of the way!" one delegate demanded – before Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky reversed herself, allowing the adoption ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
US U-turn brings Bali climate deal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7155608
Reuters: Following is a chronology of a dramatic 90 minutes on Saturday at 190-nation climate talks in Bali, Indonesia, that led to a deal to launch two years of talks on a broad new climate treaty involving all countries. 1:00 p.m. (0500 GMT) - The two-week talks, meant to end on Friday, are deadlocked long into overtime. Developing nations led by India and China are demanding that rich countries do more to lead the way in fighting climate change. The demands arose overnight, partly after the ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Who Won and Lost at Bali
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1695145,00.html
Time Magazine: In the nearly a decade since the U.S. rejected the landmark climate change agreement known as the Kyoto Protocol, the U.S. has become accustomed to being attacked at U.N. environmental gatherings. But the pounding it took in the tortured all-night negotiations that capped the UN climate change conference in Bali was unprecedented. Not only did developing nations big and small from India to Papua New Guinea openly chastise the U.S. for its last-minute refusal to endorse the new agreement ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
A Tortured End to Bali
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1695142,00.html
Time Magazine: There's no crying in international diplomacy – and usually not much booing, or serious drama, either. But the extended closing day of the UN climate change conference in Bali, which ultimately resulted in an important agreement, featured both. The two-week-long negotiations, meant to craft the beginnings of a new global effort on climate change, had already gone into overtime when diplomats emerged from behind closed doors at 2 AM Saturday morning, claiming that a compromise deal ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Bali breakthrough launches climate treaty talks
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2007/12/15/news/OUKWD-UK-BALI-CORRECTED.php
Reuters: Nearly 200 nations agreed at U.N.-led talks in Bali on Saturday to launch negotiations on a new pact to fight global warming after a reversal by the United States allowed a historic breakthrough. Washington said the agreement marked a new chapter in climate diplomacy after six years of disputes with major allies since President George W. Bush pulled out in 2001 from the Kyoto Protocol, the main existing plan for combating warming. "This is the defining moment for me and my ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Bali Climate Plan Leads to Washington
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jicZ1yqBql2CK7P7zf2qaQ92Z4uAD8THO4KG0
Associated Press: The "Bali Roadmap" for new climate negotiations leads to one address and one date: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and Jan. 20, 2009. That's when a new occupant of the White House will be sworn into office, and when a fresh U.S. team, with what many expect to be a new attitude, will take up the negotiating mandate issued here Saturday at the end of the two-week U.N. climate conference. For seven years, these annual sessions have witnessed a long-running diplomatic feud between ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Big hurdles hinder state's pursuit of wind power
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2007-12-15-rhodeislandwind_N.htm
Associated Press: New England needs new electricity sources and has some of the highest electricity rates in the nation. Wind is free and abundant along the coastline. And unlike fossil fuels, wind turbines do not produce the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. All of those factors were behind Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri's pledge nearly two years ago to bring wind power to a state where there is just one operating wind turbine. His goal was to get 15% of the state's electrical power from ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
China rolls out own hybrid car
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSSHA13646320071215
Reuters: China's state-owned Chang'an Automobile group has started making its own hybrid cars, the first such move by a Chinese automaker, the Xinhua news agency reported. Mass production of the Chinese-designed car, which consumes 20 percent less fuel than ordinary cars of the same size, was launched after six years of research and development, Xinhua said late on Friday. "This shows Chinese automakers have grasped the core technology of making hybrid cars," the report said, ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Climate talks 'on brink' of agreement
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=159176
Agence France-Presse: A marathon conference on how to fight global warming in the next decade was poised for a breakthrough, with the United States showing flexibility, the UN climate chief said late Friday. The 190-nation talks on the Indonesian island of Bali headed deep into overtime after the United States and European Union feuded over the framework for accelerating the fight against climate change beyond 2012. But the atmosphere brightened in the last scheduled hours of the 12-day ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Global warming pact set for 2009 after US backs down
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jrn0G3ZhUtktfkInWme4fzSMbEHw
Agence France-Presse: World climate negotiators set a 2009 deadline Saturday for a landmark treaty to fight global warming after two weeks of intense haggling led to a climbdown by an isolated United States. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who flew to the Indonesian island of Bali for a late appeal for flexibility, praised the deal as a "pivotal first step" to confront climate change, "the defining challenge of our time." Following gruelling all-night talks, the conference of ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
High and low points of Bali climate talks
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-31002420071215
Reuters: U.N.-led climate change talks in Bali finally agreed on Saturday to launch negotiations on a new pact to fight global warming, after a last-minute U.S. reversal allowed a breakthrough. Below is a summary of some of the high and low points of the two-week talks. HIGHLIGHTS DRAMATIC FINAL SESSION A deal was only agreed after a day of high drama and emotional speeches, including several standing ovations, a last-minute plea for compromise by Indonesia's president ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
United States: Jerry Brown Makes Climate-Change Crusade
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jYPrWTw3oGZmv3Lw6HpCPar8k2EwD8TI15HO0
Associated Press: Nearly four decades after entering California politics, Jerry Brown has reinvented himself yet again, this time as a carbon-fighting attorney general. The former governor, presidential candidate and Oakland mayor has emerged as a major player in the national debate on global warming, less than a year after taking office as the state's top law enforcement official. Brown has used threats, petitions, negotiated deals and a series of lawsuits to pressure automakers, county ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Low CO2, high-tech ship launched in Hamburg
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL1530571020071215
Reuters: The world's first commercial merchant ship pulled by a giant high-tech kite aiding its engines to slash fuel consumption and cut greenhouse gas emissions was launched in Hamburg on Saturday. The pioneering 132-metre long MV "Beluga SkySails" was ceremonially launched in the northern German port ahead of its maiden voyage across the Atlantic to Venezuela in early January. Pulled by a huge kite to catch strong winds up to 300 metres above the surface, the 500,000-euro ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Nations set 2-year timetable to revive climate treaty
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/15/asia/climate.1-189589.php
International Herald Tribune: Delegates from nearly 190 countries wrapped up two weeks of intense and at times emotional talks here on Saturday with a two-year timetable for reviving an ailing, aging climate treaty. The deal came after the United States, facing sharp verbal attacks in a final open-door negotiating session, reversed its opposition to a last minute-amendment by India. "We've listened very closely to many of our colleagues here during these two weeks, but especially to what has been said ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Solar power brings light to dawn masses in Zambo Sur village
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/paskongpinoy/view.php?db=1&article=20071215-107083
Philippine Inquirer: Simbang Gabi or Chiristmas dawn masses for the people of this village has always meant walking to church with torches in hand to light their way. But this year would be different. The torches need not be lighted anymore, at least for those residing in two adjoining communities here. In March, the Alliance for Mindanao Off-Grid Renewable Energy program (Amore), a US-funded program, installed solar-powered lamps in the communities. For the residents, the coming of solar ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
U.S. agrees to Bali compromise
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/15/bali.agreement/?iref=mpstoryview
CNN: The United States made a dramatic reversal Saturday, first rejecting and then accepting a compromise to set the stage for intense negotiations in the next two years aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. Protesters gather outside the conference center in Bali as delegates discuss climate change. The U.N. climate change conference in Bali was filled with emotion and cliff-hanging anticipation on Saturday, an extra day added because of a failure to reach agreement ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
U.S., Developing Nations Compromise on Climate Talks
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=a70r5MZ3qyEw&refer=india
Bloomberg: The U.S. and developing nations agreed to negotiate a new global-warming treaty by 2009, after the U.S. reversed its position during all-night talks in Bali, Indonesia, and accepted a compromise agenda. Delegates from 187 countries hammered out the plan that will guide negotiations on a climate accord for the next two years. The U.S. succeeded in diluting a call for mandatory cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for climate change, while China and 130 developing countries ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
UN conference to approve forest protection as part of climate plan
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/15/asia/AS-GEN-Bali-Saving-Trees.php
Associated Press: Delegates at a U.N. climate conference agreed Saturday to include forest conservation in any future discussions about a new global warming pact, paving the way for billions of dollars (euros) in new spending to attack illegal logging. With deforestation making up 20 percent of global emissions, world governments are desperate to find a solution to a problem that has been fueled by rising demand for timber and palm oil, widespread corruption and endemic poverty. The ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
US Herded Into Consensus in Bali
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40488
Inter Press Service: It was left to India, China, South Africa and Brazil to stand up for the developing world and steer the United States towards the consensus as a major two-week international climate change conference ended here on Saturday. The final agreement for the 'Bali Roadmap' was struck when the head of the U.S. government delegation, Paula Dobriansky, conceded ground to insightful and, at times, emotional appeals by countries from the Group of 77 and China. ''We will go forward and join the ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
W.House voices concerns on future climate talks
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN1516566020071215?sp=true
Reuters: The White House voiced "serious concerns" on Saturday about future negotiations to fight global warming while praising a deal to launch a new round of international climate talks. Nearly 200 nations agreed at U.N.-led talks in Bali to begin discussions on a new climate change pact after a reversal by the United States allowed a breakthrough. The countries approved a "roadmap" for two years of talks to adopt a new treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, the ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Bali climate agreement still has a few holes
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/editorial/20071216TDY04308.htm
Yomiuri Shimbun: The 13th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change ended Saturday. Participants at the conference, held in Bali, Indonesia, probably were well aware that fashioning new rules to prevent global warming was never going to be plain sailing. After nearly two weeks of talks, delegates adopted the "Bali Roadmap," which sets the agenda and schedule for negotiations on a post-Kyoto Protocol framework after it expires in 2012. They also agreed to ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Bali climate summit reaches agreement
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/12/15/bali_climate_summit_reaches_agreement/5258/
United Press International: BALI, Indonesia, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- The United States reluctantly has agreed to join a global effort to negotiate a new climate change treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "We will go forward and join consensus," Paula Dobriansky, the head of the U.S. delegation said Saturday. The United States, in a dramatic reversal, agreed to give poorer countries financial aid and clean technology after the U.S. delegation was booed in Bali at the two-week climate change ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Bali compromise: Critics, and the US, are unhappy
http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=459719&lng=1
EuroNews: And so, it was over. Two weeks of arguments, stubbornness and a dramatic American u-turn produced a climate change compromise which may or may not save the planet. With the United States on board at last, Portugal's Fransisco Nunes Correia was pleased: "We consider this to be an historic day with an historic outcome," he said. "Everything will be different in relation to climate change, and to coping with this very important issue." Bali launches two ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Bali deal 'strikes balance' as US gives in
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/15/eabali515.xml
Telegraph: The United States has joined a global consensus that deep cuts must be made in greenhouse gas emissions after a historic agreement was reached to negotiate a new climate change treaty within the next two years. America's return to the fold on climate change - after reneging on the Kyoto treaty six years ago - came after a sleepless night and a day of high drama in which the UN secretary general and the Indonesian president called on delegates to show leadership. In ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Bali talks agree to launch climate treaty talks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121500708.html
Reuters: U.N.-led climate talks in Bali agreed on Saturday to launch negotiations on a new global warming pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol after the United States dropped last-minute opposition. Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar, the host of the talks, banged down his gavel on the deal to rapturous applause from delegates after an impassioned plea by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "This is the defining moment for me and my mandate as secretary-general," ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Benn hails historic climate agenda
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hqQ-tHhRDXqEeU6Y1yjTOrbsJ3Zg
Press Association: A compromise deal for a new international climate change agenda has been hailed by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn as "an historic breakthrough". Following tense talks, ministers from around 180 countries meeting in Bali agreed the agenda for a global emissions cuts agreement to launch negotiations for a post-2012 agreement to tackle climate change. Agreement for the road map followed a dramatic U-turn by the US, which had threatened to block the deal at the 11th ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Climate conference clinches deal, greens critical - Summary
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/159203.html
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Delegates from over 180 countries concluded marathon talks on climate change Saturday with an agreement establishing a "roadmap" for negotiations on a new pact to fight global warming after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2009. The agreement, reached in dramatic final hours of wrangling after two weeks of talks on the Indonesian island of Bali and facilitated by an 11th-hour U-turn by the United States, was however criticised by environmental groups as falling short in its ambition. ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Climate delegates eke out `weak' deal
http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/Environment/article/285909
Toronto Star: After hours of chaotic, sometimes angry haggling, the United Nations conference on climate change last night appeared set to approve what critics describe as a weak deal on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Nerves were frayed as sleep-deprived delegates from nearly 190 countries repeatedly edged to the brink of agreement, then pulled back into more acrimonious debate. Each move further diluted a compromise that, from the outset, was, "a lot of structure with not a lot of ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Climate protest on airport roof
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/7146159.stm
BBC: Environmental Protestors have climbed onto the roof of Newquay Airport in Cornwall to highlight their concerns about climate change. The group from Rising Tide UK wants to stop any further expansion, but airport managers said they were misinformed and put passengers' safety in jeopardy. One climate campaigner, known only as Benjamin, said: "We really need to get carbon emissions under control." The protest coincides with new flight route from Newquay to ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Energy bill targets fuel consumption climb
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/15/energy_bill_targets_fuel_consumption_climb/
Boston Globe: The energy bill now on the fast track through Congress to President Bush's desk, possibly as soon as next week, has been called historic for setting goals to reverse a steady climb in US fuel consumption, but environmentalists acknowledge that the change will take years. They also said that gas-guzzling vehicles such as the Hummer and other large SUVs are unlikely to disappear from city streets and highways soon, despite legislation that calls for an increase in automobile fuel ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
EU drops opposition to G77 Bali talks proposal
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSP116004
Reuters: The European Union dropped objections on Saturday to contentious wording in a draft text at climate talks in Bali over developing nations' role in the fight against global warming. "On behalf of the European Union, in the spirit of compromise...we support the proposal of India and the G77," said Humberto Rosa, the chief EU negotiator, at the talks aimed at launching a two-year dialogue on a broader fight against climate change. The proposal by the 150-nation ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Governments pleased with "defining" climate deal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7155285
Adhityani Arga: Governments hailed a deal on Saturday to start negotiations to adopt a new climate pact, but environmental groups said the agreement lacked teeth. The deal binds the United States and China to greenhouse gas goals for the first time and a two-year agenda would lead to the adoption in Copenhagen in 2009 of a tougher, wider pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol after 2012. "This is the defining moment for me and my mandate as secretary-general," U.N. Secretary-General Ban ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Mixed reaction to Bali climate deal
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/15/eabali615.xml
Telegraph: Nelson Muffuh from Christian Aid said: "We must praise the heroism of some of the developing countries who are far less wealthy and far less responsible for the problem than the US and yet came here with a desire to see a deal agreed. It was their bravery in standing up to the US that no doubt played a part in its U-turn." Gerd Leipold, executive director of Greenpeace International, said: "The Bush Administration has unscrupulously taken a monkey wrench to the level ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Pelosi Hails Savings in Energy Bill
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gURfxpLrCKF1OV7Hh2P1jbOVmqMwD8THSGF80
Associated Press: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, anticipating final congressional action on energy legislation next week, said the bill will "put America on a road to energy independence," save people money at the gas pumps and increase the country's security. In remarks prepared for the Democrats' weekly radio address on Saturday, Pelosi noted that the bill will require, for the first time in 32 years, an increase in automobile fuel efficiency to an average of 35 miles per gallon by ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Pelosi: Congress acts to improve mileage
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/12/15/pelosi_congress_acts_to_improve_mileage/4532/
United Press International: A top congressional Democrat says Congress has acted to put the United States "on the road to energy independence." In a response to President Bush's weekly radio address Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said the Democratic-controlled Congress is making a break with the "failed energy policy of the past." "This week, Congress has acted to put America on a road to energy independence with a New Direction for Energy Security," she ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Reaction to the Bali conference
http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSSP106268._CH_.2400
Reuters: Following are reactions to Saturday's U.N.-led climate talks agreement in Bali to start negotiations on a new global warming pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. The United States dropped last-minute opposition. UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON: "I am deeply grateful to many member states for their spirit of flexibility and compromise." INDONESIA'S FOREIGN MINISTER HASSAN WIRAJUDA: "Here in Bali we reached a consensus, global consensus ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
UN Conference Agrees to Launch Negotiations for a New Global Warming Accord
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-12-15-voa2.cfm
Voice of America: The U.N. Climate Change Conference in Bali ended Saturday with an agreement to begin negotiations for a new treaty on global warming. VOA's Nancy-Amelia Collins, who covered the conference, reports from Jakarta that the agreement came after the United States fell into line at the last minute. After two days of nearly round-the-clock negotiations, the success of the U.N. conference hinged on one point: would the U.S. delegation agree to a proposal by the developing nation bloc, the ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
UN head praises US on climate talks
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5j8XLmPsWCp9COS3jk6A7sSJIQmig
Press Association: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has praised the US for showing "flexibility" after delegates approved a roadmap for negotiating a new global warming pact. But he warned the most difficult work now lay ahead. "This is the beginning, not the end," he said minutes after officials from nearly 190 nations succeeded in breaking a deadlock at the UN climate meeting. "We will have to engage in more complex, long and difficult negotiations." The ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
Under pressure, US says it will accept climate change consensus
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g_loFMBHHBfIACdCGS4kBAA1lwNA
Agence France-Presse: The US's senior negotiator said Saturday Washington would "go forward and join consensus" at UN climate talks here, despite reservations about commitments from developing countries. The decision was a u-turn for Paula Dobriansky, who had earlier said she would object to the draft proposal on tackling climate change. Dobriansky said she had heard "many strong statements from many major developing country leaders on a greater role in helping to address urgently ...
Sat, 15 Dec 07
US sets terms for climate talks
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7146276.stm
BBC: The US has said the climate change negotiating process it agreed to in Bali must ensure developing states take their fair share of emission cuts. The deal did not meet this principle fully, the White House said - climate change could not be curbed by emission cuts from developed countries alone. Environmentalists have criticised the lack of firm reduction targets in the plan which the US initially rejected. It launches talks to reach emissions cuts to replace the ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
New Zealand: Bags packed for doomsday
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4323956a19716.html
Stuff: The 'twin tsunamis' of global warming and peak oil could spell TEOTWAWKI - the end of the world as we know it - and already, quietly, some people are getting prepared because they believe we are talking years rather than decades. Helen, a petite 42-year-old Nelson housewife, is racing to build her own personal TEOTWAWKI lifeboat. Earlier this year, she and her American husband cashed-up to buy a 21ha farm in a remote, easily defensible, river valley backing onto the Arthur ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Bali climate standoff extends into final day; 'I'm very concerned,' UN climate chief says
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/14/asia/AS-GEN-Bali-Climate-Conference.php
Associated Press: The United States and Europe faced off into the final day of the U.N. climate conference Friday, deadlocked over how ambitious the goal should be in negotiating cutbacks in global-warming gases after 2012. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will return to Bali to help resolve the impasse, the outcome of which may help determine how high the planet's temperatures rise for decades to come. Delegates sparred over the wording of a conference final document until 2:30 a.m., said Yvo ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Bitter divisions at climate talks
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/14/news/14climate.php
International Herald Tribune: Amid growing frustration with the United States over deadlocked negotiations at a United Nations conference on global warming, the European Union threatened Thursday to boycott separate talks proposed by the Bush administration in Hawaii next month. Humberto Rosa, the chief delegate from Portugal, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said the discussions next month would be meaningless if there were no deal at the conference here this week on the resort island of ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Climate Report Confirms Fears as Talks Stall
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=89826
New York Times: With governments at a meeting here on global warming bitterly divided, the United Nations released fresh data Thursday confirming what it called the planet's continued and alarming rise in temperature. The 10 years ending in 2007 were the warmest on record, said Michel Jarraud, the secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization, a United Nations agency, citing data taken from a global network of weather stations, ships and buoys. "It's very likely the warmest ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Climate talks near end amid row
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7143613.stm
BBC: World climate talks in Bali have gone into their scheduled last day amid fierce disagreement over targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Europe has warned the US it will boycott President George W Bush's climate change conference unless he backs firm targets for emissions cuts. Late on Friday, the US responded by suggesting that any country should be allowed to escape mandatory curbs. Earlier, former US vice-president Al Gore had criticised the US approach. ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Deadlocked UN climate talks go down to the wire
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h8FiSuInhqnMQMD94frQ1rm3VpqQ
Agence France-Presse: Global talks on launching a new offensive against climate change went down to the wire Friday, mired in bitter rows over how far industrialised countries would commit to curbing greenhouse gas pollution. After senior officials haggled deep into the night, environment ministers were handed the task of trying to close the gap, with the United States on one side and the European Union and developing countries on the other. Green groups accused the United States of seeking to ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Draft climate text drops key 2020 goal
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22923949-601,00.html
Reuters: A compromise draft text to launch two years of negotiations for a global climate change pact has dropped a key ambition of tough 2020 emissions cuts for rich countries. The text, trying to end a dispute between the US and the EU on the last day of two-week talks in Bali, retained an ambition for global greenhouse gas emissions to peak in the next 10-15 years and to fall well below half of 2000 levels by 2050. The EU has so far insisted on a specific range of greenhouse gas ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Gore accuses US of blocking deal
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22922754-11949,00.html
Agence France-Presse: FORMER US vice-president Al Gore last night called on the deadlocked world conference on climate change to forge a deal without the US, accusing Washington of obstructing progress at the talks in Bali. The newly awarded Nobel laureate told delegates that they could leave an "open space" in their framework deal and hope that President George W. Bush's successor altered the US position. "I am not an official and I am not bound by diplomatic niceties," Mr Gore ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Senate energy bill: first skirmish over US greenhouse-gas regulation
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1214/p01s01-uspo.html
Christian Science Monitor: As Congress struggled to shape new energy legislation this week, an equally important fight was shaping up: whether the United States will begin to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions. The prospects for such regulation began to emerge this past April when, in a setback for the Bush administration, the US Supreme Court affirmed that the Environmental Protection Agency had the legal authority to regulate emissions. The wrangling this week over the Senate energy bill represents the first ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Banks Finance Climate Change, Need New Policies - NGO
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46020/story.htm
Reuters: Banks are contributing to global warming by funding coal and oil exploration, and should adopt policies that cut their negative impact on the environment, according to a report by a network of NGOs. BankTrack, a grouping of civil society organisations and individuals tracking the financial sector, said banks should end support for all new coal, oil and gas extraction and delivery projects, new coal-fired power plants and the most harmful practices in other greenhouse-gas intensive ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
China Makes Cleaner Coal Strides, Problems Linger
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46022/story.htm
Reuters: In a control room at the Zouxian power plant an electronic display reads the vital signs of two generators -- just over one gigawatt, reads one, enough to power a million homes. The plant is China's second biggest coal-fired power station, its managers say, guzzling 10 million tonnes of the dirty burning fuel a year. But its newest generators are also among the most efficient in the world. The gleaming units are representative of both China's massive strides towards cleaner ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Emissions deal to be aimed at key sectors
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1031cb28-a9e8-11dc-aa8b-0000779fd2ac.html
Financial Times: Businesses in energy-intensive sectors such as cement, steel and aluminium will be asked to sign up to industry-wide pacts on cutting their greenhouse gas emissions, under plans due to be agreed at an international climate change conference today. The United Nations talks in Bali have entered their final day, and are expected to continue until late to-night. The talks are expected to produce an agreement by all countries to start two years of negotiations on an emissions reduction ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Australia: EU critical of Rudd on climate
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/eu-critical-of-rudd-on-climate/1105110.html
Canberra Times: The European Union criticised Australia last night over its apparent ambiguity in the key United Nations talks under way in Bali. Negotiations are intensifying as nations try to reach agreement on a Bali road map to pave the way for a future global pact to fight climate change in two years' time. A key sticking point has been whether or not to include a non-binding guideline that rich countries aim to slash global greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 40 per cent on 1990 levels by ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Fund Targets Emissions Cuts in Peatlands Conservation
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46012/story.htm
Reuters: Dutch company BioX Group and environment body Wetlands International launched a fund at a U.N climate meeting in Bali this week that aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by investing in restoration of peatlands. Peat is formed when trees, roots and leaves rot, and is a natural carbon store. When burned or drained to plant crops such as palm oil, peat releases large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). By preventing cultivation and draining of peatlands, the projects that the fund ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Germans slam US over emissions
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/germans-slam-us-over-emissions/2007/12/13/1197135655457.html
Agence France-Presse: GERMAN Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel has slammed a lack of courage by the United States and emerging countries in struggling talks at the UN climate conference in Bali. "The problem is that some political leaders here lack the courage to transform into decisions what experts have elaborated," Mr Gabriel told German radio station Bayerischer Rundfunk from Indonesia. "Especially those (countries) that we must include in climate protection efforts," he ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Gore blasts US obstruction
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/gore-blasts-us-obstruction/2007/12/13/1197135662680.html
Age: FORMER US vice-president Al Gore has made a dramatic 11th-hour intervention at the faltering climate change talks in Bali, accusing his own country of obstructing progress and calling on other nations to forge a new deal without Washington. With less than 24 hours to today's conference deadline, the newly-awarded Nobel laureate last night made an impassioned plea to conference delegates to leave an "open space" in a new climate change deal, and to hope it will be filled ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
In Bali, new incentive for developing nations to curb emissions
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1214/p01s03-wogi.html
Christian Science Monitor: Efforts to map the way to a post-Kyoto climate treaty have sailed into rough water this week. But amid the turbulence, a key climate initiative is gathering momentum. Dubbed REDD, it would reward nations for keeping chain saws out of threatened tropical forests, serving as a powerful magnet that could pull several developing countries with significant emissions into a new global-warming pact. Deforestation accounts for roughly 20 percent of the greenhouse gases that human ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Ministers race against time to reach Bali climate agreement
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/158514.html
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Environment ministers from nearly 180 countries were racing the clock Friday in a final day of negotiations to draft a framework agreement to fight global warming after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. As the deadline looms delegates were seeking to end the impasse with the US over including specific targets in the framework for two years of negotiations to conclude in 2009 and implemented in 2012. The EU, backed by developing countries, environmental groups and small island ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Rich and poor clash over boosting technology transfer at Bali
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/14/asia/AS-GEN-Bali-Green-Technology.php
Associated Press: Uganda gets plenty of sun, making it a great spot for solar energy. There's only one problem: In one of the world's most impoverished nations, not many people can afford to install an imported solar panel on the roof. Nations are struggling at a U.N. climate change conference to find better ways to get cheap, easy-to-use green technology into the hands of the developing world – while balancing the demands of companies for profits. Poorer countries accuse the rich of pressuring ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Australia: Rudd fends off ambush with a nod to Howard
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22920094-7583,00.html
Australian: KEVIN Rudd has avoided an ambush at Bali. It was an ambush prepared by green groups using false expectations and perceptions to lock a 10-day-old Government into unrealistic and binding targets on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. He has done well to avoid the ambush and keep his climate change credentials intact. The frenetic expectation of dramatic results from the UN climate change conference was based on a misreading of the Rudd Labor Government's climate change policy and ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Senate passes stripped-down energy bill
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/158468.html
United Press International: The U.S. Senate passed an energy bill late Thursday that drops a tax hike for oil companies and a minimum requirement for utilities on renewable sources. The final vote was 86-8 after Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., agreed to strip the tax increase out of the bill, The New York Times reported. The bill retains a big increase in fuel-economy standards for the car industry and incentives for alternative fuels. Both the tax hike, which totaled $13 billion, and the requirement ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
'Act on the climate and don't wait for the US - George Bush will soon be gone'
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3048561.ece
Times (UK): Al Gore last night urged a climate conference to be ambitious in its attempts to check global warming and to ignore US objections because President Bush would soon be out of office. The Nobel Peace Prize winner was the latest heavyweight American politician to round on his own government over the issue. His words rounded off a day in which delegates made increasingly explicit attacks on the US for trying to keep detailed goals out of a "road map" cutting greenhouse gases. Mr ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Al Gore urges Washington to act on climate change
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/14/content_7245977.htm
Xinhua: Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore here on Thursday urged the Bush Administration to act with sense of urgency on climate change, which he described as a "moral" issue. "My own country, the United States of America, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali," said Gore in an emotional speech delivered on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference. Gore, who won this year's Nobel Peace Prize for campaigning ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Europeans step up pressure on US to agree climate targets
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/foreign/display.var.1904435.0.Europeans_step_up_pressure_on_US_to_agree_climate_targets.php
Herald: European officials turned up the heat on the United States last night in an attempt to secure an ambitious road map for a new international climate change deal. As the UN climate change conference in Bali entered its final hours, ministers were trying to engineer the route to negotiations on an agreement to cut global emissions, replacing the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012. The aim is to secure the road map's mention of a target of 25% to 40% emissions cuts for ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Australia: Greenpeace blasts climate negotiators
http://news.theage.com.au/greenpeace-blasts-climate-negotiators/20071214-1h4n.html
AAP: Greenpeace is calling for the Australian delegation at the United Nations climate change talks in Bali to be sacked. Greenpeace delegation head Bill Hare said officials had given poor advice to the new Labor government, likening their ideas to a "deadly virus" that was invading the "goodwill of the government to take action". Australia has been criticised by the European Union for not showing clear support for a push to include a non-binding 25 to 40 per ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Michigan senators seek consistent fuel economy rules
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/13/america/Congress-Fuel-Economy.php
Associated Press: Michigan's senators reached an agreement with lawmakers pushing tougher fuel efficiency standards Thursday that environmentalists fear could hinder the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions in the future. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., refused to vote for an energy bill to move forward unless Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., agreed that the tough new fuel efficiency standards in the bill would not be undercut in the future by EPA ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Australia: Murray Basin storage lowest since 1940
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22923922-11949,00.html
Australian: MURRAY-Darling Basin water storage is at its lowest since 1940 with less than 1 per cent of divertible water available for critical environmental watering needed to protect endangered species and habitats. Murray-Darling basin Commission chief executive Dr Wendy Craik said very hot weather arrived in early November with temperatures six degrees celsius above average for for much of the southern part of the basin. "While there had been good rainfall in November, higher ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
This decade breaks records in table of world's hottest years
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3048538.ece
Times (UK): This decade looks set to be the hottest on record and this year is almost certain to be the seventh warmest worldwide since 1850. Eight years in the past decade are in the world's ten hottest, according to Met Office statistics released to coincide with the United Nations conference in Bali on climate change. The figures also show that 2007 has been a warm year for the United Kingdom, even though most of the summer appeared to have been washed away by record-breaking deluges. ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
A season to fight coal
http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/topstories/262140
Capital Times: In the last four years, local Sierra Club attorney Bruce Nilles has stopped 58 coal-fired plants from being built in the United States. As a result of his work, energy companies have abandoned their plans, fearing going through the permitting process of getting a new coal plant built. Nilles, 39, director of the organization's National Coal Campaign, has stopped plants in Kansas, Illinois, Florida, Texas and Nevada. He also had a hand in last month's settlement where the state of ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Coal Ban May Avert `Point of No Return,' Climate Scientists Say
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=home&sid=aH_peBEsdmEg
Bloomberg: Irreversible effects of global climate change such as arctic ice melt and lost water supplies may still be averted if the world stops using coal-fired power plants, a leading NASA scientist said. James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said the planet is at a ``tipping point'' that could lead to rising sea levels, severe droughts and floods, and reduced fresh water supplies if world leaders don't act to reduce emissions such as carbon dioxide. He ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Coral reefs unlikely to survive in acid oceans
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-12/ci-cru121007.php
EurekAlert: Carbon emissions from human activities are not just heating up the globe, they are changing the ocean's chemistry. This could soon be fatal to coral reefs, which are havens for marine biodiversity and underpin the economies of many coastal communities. Scientists from the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology have calculated that if current carbon dioxide emission trends continue, by mid-century 98% of present-day reef habitats will be bathed in water too acidic for reef ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Deal to fight deforestation agreed at climate talks
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSP86783
Reuters: Climate talks in Bali reached a deal on Friday to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, hailed as a sign of developing nations' commitment to fighting global warming. The breakthrough might eventually allow poor but forested nations to turn conservation into a tradeable commodity, with the potential to earn billions of dollars selling carbon credits. But one of the scheme's key architects warned that, if successful, it will create such large emissions reductions ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Double-Digit Growth, Global Renewable Energy
http://www.technologynewsdaily.com/node/8756
Technology News Daily: Renewable energy use is growing much faster than 10% per year throughout the world, according to a new report from the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21). Excluding large hydropower, the global electric generating capacity of renewable energy facilities reached 237 gigawatts (GW) this year, up 15% from last year. That's about 5.5% of the electric generating capacity throughout the world. At 93 GW, wind power provided about 40% of that renewable generating capacity; ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
UN conference expected to reach agreement on watered-down climate deal
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hSIPHFtqSzFk7ZCDG9dZKmdlHAMQ
Canadian Press: A draft of the final report to a UN climate conference suggests Canada could get its wish of watered-down targets from the ones proposed by Europe and poorer countries, but last-minute negotiations dragged on late into Friday night. Delegates took a short break in the evening but were scheduled to resume talks around midnight. Some organizers joked that at this rate the closing news conference could be held over breakfast Saturday morning. "On the brink of agreement, I ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
World poised to sign global warming deal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2227858,00.html
Guardian: The world was poised to agree an historic deal to tackle global warming tonight, as a last-minute compromise appeared to have saved the UN climate talks. Yvo de Boer, the UN's top climate official, said countries were on the "brink of agreement" as the discussions dragged on into the early hours of the morning in Bali. The agreement, which lays the foundation for a new worldwide treaty to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, was expected to be finalised tonight. The ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Agreement Nears at UN Climate Change Talks
http://voanews.com/english/2007-12-14-voa43.cfm
Voice of America: Officials say an agreement is close to being reached at the U.N. Climate Change talks being held on the Indonesian island of Bali. As VOA's Nancy-Amelia Collins reports, officials have been trying to break a U.S.-EU deadlock over greenhouse gas emission targets. The U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer told journalists late Friday evening the conference was on "the brink of an agreement" and appeared to be heading towards a compromise solution. Officials have been trying to draft ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Agreement reached in Bali on deforestation
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/14/eabali214.xml
Telegraph: Measures to save the rainforests will be included in a post-Kyoto climate change treaty, a meeting of 180 countries has agreed. This has achieved what 20 years of campaigning by environmental groups in developed countries has failed to do since the idea of a world forestry convention was first proposed in the 1980s. The agreement on reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries (REDD) gives the green light to "early action" ahead of the treaty coming ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Bali Climate Talks Stretch Past Midnight With No Draft Agreed
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=apXOL6tv4OqQ&refer=home
Bloomberg: Ministers working on the most contentious document at climate change talks in Bali, Indonesia broke out of negotiations at 2 a.m. local time with differences between the U.S. and developing nations unresolved, hours after a United Nations conference on global warming was due to end. ``We're just very disappointed at this stage that we're ending up with something so watered down,'' Grenadan Ambassador Angus Friday, a spokesman for 39 small island states, told reporters early today in ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Carbon dioxide levels at 650,000-year high
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_7723138
Wall Street Journal: More than two miles above the Pacific surf, at the summit of the world's largest volcano, the evidence of human influence on global warming is in the air. For a half century, sensors atop Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii have captured the world-wide signature of increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, due largely to burning coal, oil and natural gas. The carbon dioxide traps heat. For 50 years, these CO2 readings, known as the Keeling Curve, have been climbing steadily, setting ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Consumers will pay more for "green" energy: poll
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN1431302220071214
Reuters: Most consumers are environmentally aware and willing to pay more for greener sources of energy, according to an international survey. Nearly 70 percent of almost 2,000 people questioned in the United States, Britain, Germany, Netherlands, Australia and Japan, said they would pay a premium for "green" energy alternatives such as wind energy and solar power. Australians were the most willing to pay more for renewable energy, but Americans said they would pay the highest ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
EU climbs down on key demand at Bali climate talks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7153565
Guardian: The European Union dropped a key demand at climate talks in Bali on Saturday that guidelines for a new global climate pact should include a reference to tough 2020 emissions goals for rich countries."They have agreed not to insist on 25-40 but it will have a sentence refering to the IPCC report and its findings, which include the 25-40 target. To me it seems like a reasonable compromise," said a senior delegate present at the talks, referring to cutting emissions by 25-40 percent by 2020.The ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
The Dangers Of Carbon Trading
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/14/opinion/main3619034.shtml
Nation: It's the second week of the UN Climate Change Conference and the air is heavy with humidity, but despite being the rainy season, it hasn't rained heavily in weeks. The rooms in the conference facilities where people are clustered around computers feel like saunas, an appropriate thing, I suppose - reminding us not only of where we are, in tropical Bali, but also of why we're here. The world has a fever, and we're here to begin to bring the temperature down before it's too late. The question ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
US lawmakers back energy bill to reduce oil consumption
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hskLtHCpU1O132inaySHEqpZ3Ghg
Agence France-Presse: The United States was poised to adopt measures to reduce its dependence on foreign oil after the Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would raise fuel efficiency rules for vehicles and boost ethanol production. The bill won overwhelming support from both parties in 86-8 vote but only after the Democratic majority dropped disputed provisions that would have cut billions of dollars worth of tax breaks to oil companies. The majority also removed a requirement that 15 percent of ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
US Senate Approves Scaled Back Energy Bill
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2007/2007-12-14-10.asp
Environment News Service: The U.S. Senate approved a landmark energy bill Thursday night that requires the first increase in vehicle fuel economy standards in more than 30 years. But the bill is far less ambitious than Democrats wanted, as they bowed to pressure from Republicans and the Bush administration and removed a $22 billion tax package that would have cut tax breaks for oil companies and boosted support for renewable energy. The removal of the tax package was a second blow to the renewable energy ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
US Senate approves tough new fuel efficiency laws
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/14/2119601.htm
BBC: Senators in the United States have approved legislation requiring American car manufacturers to increase fuel efficiency by an average of around 40 per cent. The energy legislation requires car firms to achieve 35 miles per gallon (15 kilometres per litre) in fuel efficiency, up from 27.5 miles a gallon for passenger cars and 22.2 miles a gallon for mini-vans, SUVs and other light trucks. A massive boost in the use of greener fuel sources, including ethanol as motor fuel, to ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Walruses Die; Global Warming Blamed
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5icdyIPlHCTFmPuUHotRczUzXBpNQD8THDQUG1
Associated Press: In what some scientists see as another alarming consequence of global warming, thousands of Pacific walruses above the Arctic Circle were killed in stampedes earlier this year after the disappearance of sea ice caused them to crowd onto the shoreline in extraordinary numbers. The deaths took place during the late summer and fall on the Russian side of the Bering Strait, which separates Alaska from Russia. "It was a pretty sobering year – tough on walruses," said Joel ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Warming Oceans Contributed to Record Arctic Melt
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071214-warming-arctic.html
National Geographic: Arctic sea ice shrank drastically this summer, reaching a record low, largely because warm ocean currents ate away at the base of the ice sheet, new research says. Wind currents also played a key role, blowing sea ice south into the Atlantic Ocean, where the ice then melted, according to the research. With more global warming in store, researchers said, the prognosis is grim for the Arctic's so-called perennial sea ice, which is the ice that survives through the ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Bali Climate Talks Enter Final Day
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBTCrOwOrOXV9BkLBDRmtO3XWbHQD8TH97H00
Associated Press: U.S., European and other envoys talked far into the night Friday as they forged a compromise at the U.N. climate conference, breaking a deadlock over how ambitious the goal should be in negotiating future cutbacks in global-warming gases. "On the brink of agreement, I think," U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer replied to a question. "Absolutely not deadlocked. People are working very hard to resolve outstanding issues." Said Germany's environment minister, ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Bali Climate Talks Stretch Into Saturday
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBTCrOwOrOXV9BkLBDRmtO3XWbHQD8THD0KG0
Associated Press: U.S., European and other envoys at the U.N. climate conference took an overnight break in final talks early Saturday as they worked to resolve a dispute over how ambitious the goal should be in negotiating future cutbacks in global-warming gases. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was arriving in Bali later Saturday morning, either to announce the successful launching of the "Bali Roadmap" negotiations, or to help break any lingering impasse. Yvo de Boer, the U.N. ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Climate talks in Bali focus on rich-poor divide
http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN453938.html
Reuters: Developing nations said they would resist "pressure and even threats" from some rich countries to step up the fight against climate change, as talks on a global climate pact went to the wire on Friday. About 190 nations are meeting in Bali, Indonesia, in December 3-14 talks that are set to run well into Saturday, when the U.N. secretary-general will make an unscheduled return to the conference. The main negotiating bloc of developing countries, called the G77, said ...
Fri, 14 Dec 07
Compromise expected at climate talks
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-bali15dec15,0,7262952.story?coll=la-home-center
LA Times: As the United Nations climate talks here moved toward their conclusion, delegates were meeting well into early Saturday morning in an effort to reach a compromise between the United States and its few allies in the global warming battle and the rest of the world. The delegates, from nearly 200 nations, were "on the brink of an agreement," U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer said at a news conference Friday evening. "[We are] absolutely not deadlocked. People are working very ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Arctic ice melt worse than predicted: scientists
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/13/2117735.htm?section=world
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A year ago US scientists caused alarm when they predicted the Arctic Ocean could be free of summer ice by 2030, but now researchers say those estimates were too conservative. A US-based team has told a conference in California that the northern polar waters could be ice-free in summer by 2013. This year's northern summer melt in the Arctic reduced the ice cover to just over 4 million square kilometres, the smallest ever amount recorded in modern times. It is this kind of ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Judge rejects automaker suit over California emissions limits
http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?id=071213002722.b4xaubvg&cat=null
Agence France-Presse: A California court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by car-makers demanding state authorities be barred from setting tough new standards aimed at slashing greenhouse gas emissions. In a written ruling, US District Court judge Anthony Ishii said California should be allowed to introduce its new limits from 2009, rejecting the arguments of automakers who had claimed the standards were unworkable. The court decision is a victory for California, which has been aggressively ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Australia: Rudd playing hard ball with US
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22916177-601,00.html?from=mostpop
Australian: KEVIN Rudd has demanded the US join the rest of the developed world in embracing targets to slash carbon emissions, insisting all developed nations must accept their responsibility for fighting climate change. The Prime Minister told the UN climate change conference in Bali that global warming was threatening Australian natural wonders such as the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu and rainforests, killing rivers and exposing people to more frequent and ferocious bushfires. Mr Rudd's ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Summer ice in Arctic 'will be gone in under five years'
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1901193.0.Summer_ice_in_Arctic_will_be_gone_in_under_five_years.php
Associated Press: Scientists fear global warming has passed an ominous tipping point after new Nasa satellite data showed the already relentless melting of the Arctic increased greatly during the Northern Hemisphere's hot summer months. One expert even speculated that summer sea ice would be gone in five years. Greenland's ice sheet melted nearly 19 billion tons more than the previous high mark, and the volume of Arctic sea ice at summer's end was half what it was just four years earlier, ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
US stalling on short-term climate targets
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/13/2117436.htm?section=justin
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The United States is resisting efforts to include short-term targets in the final Bali declaration at the UN climate change conference. The US is joined by Australia, Canada, and Japan in its opposition to signing up for global emission cuts of between 25 and 40 per cent by 2020. Australia says it supports global emissions cuts, but is waiting on advice from economic research. But US delegation spokeswoman Paula Dobriansky says a group of developed countries are ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Climate change action at what political price?
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/climate-change-action-at-what-political-price/2007/12/12/1197135559388.html
Age: "ACTION to tackle climate change will not be easy. It will require tough choices. And some of these will come at a political price," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told the UN conference, perhaps prophetically. Right now Mr Rudd has a choice in Bali, but so far he has hesitated to make it. The choice is clear: either he embraces critical wording in the draft Bali deal recognising the scientific imperative for developed countries to lead the way in making deep cuts in their ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Do recent storms indicate a climate shift?
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1213/p03s02-wogi.html
Christian Science Monitor: Most of the news about global climate change this week came from the climate meeting in Bali, Indonesia, and the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo, where former Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) were awarded. But residents in Centralia, Wash., are more focused on mud and the other damage from recent 100-m.p.h winds and torrential rains there. What weather forecasters call the Pineapple Express roared through the area, ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Focus at Climate Talks Shifts
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=89770
New York Times: With little progress on the primary goal of United Nations climate talks here – preventing further climate change – a secondary quest to help poor countries cope with the effects of a warming world has now become a central theme of the gathering. "Climate change affects us all, but it does not affect us all equally," Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations, said Wednesday to a room of newly arrived ministers and heads of state at the opening of high-level sessions of the ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Global warming causing record natural disasters
http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2007/12/13/Global_warming_causing_record_natural_disasters
AAP: Global warming is being blamed for a record number of natural disasters across the world this year up nearly 20 per cent from 2006. The International Red Cross says by October, 410 disasters had already been recorded, 56 per cent of which were weather-related. It says that's consistent with the trend in rising numbers of climate change related disasters. Last year it recorded 427 natural disasters, a rise of 70 per cent since 2004. Over the past 10 years, ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Hot air, hypocrisy and a revolution in Bali
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/12/13/do1304.xml
Telegraph: As an exhibition of hypocrisy, the UN climate change conference in Bali takes some beating. The Indonesian President Yudhoyono is there, playing delegates the video of a song he wrote about saving the planet, while his government, though making splendidly conservationist noises, presides over an orgy of illegal logging that it is powerless, or unwilling, to stop. Then there are the carbon emissions of the 15,000 delegates, environmentalists, journalists and carbon traders who ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
India, US cross swords over Kyoto pact
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/India_US_cross_swords_over_Kyoto_pact/articleshow/2618427.cms
Times of India: Talks in Bali hit a deadlock on the first day of the high-level ministerial meeting of the UN climate change conference with India and other developing countries taking a dissenting position against US and most other developed countries which are demanding that the existing Kyoto Protocol be scrapped. "There is a logjam on the future of the global treaty on climate change," science and technology minister Kapil Sibal, leading the Indian delegation, told TOI from Bali. ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Japan steps up its biofuel drive
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/IL13Dh01.html
Asia Times: Fueled by concerns over surging oil prices and accelerating global warming, resource-poor Japan is revving up its drive to promote biofuels. Most publicly, tax changes aimed at encouraging motorists to use bio-gasoline are expected in a few months after the world's second-largest economy and third-largest oil consumer started to sell bio-gasoline at a limited number of gas stations earlier this year on a trial basis. A preferential tax system for bio-gasoline is expected to be ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Nobel scientist in biofuel warning
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/science_technology/nobel+scientist+in+biofuel+warning/1177477
Press Association: A Nobel Prize-winning scientist has warned that switching from fossil fuels to biofuels could do the planet more harm than good. Prof Paul Crutzen calculated the global warming effects of the fertiliser needed to grow energy crops like biodiesel and bioethanol were much worse than has been estimated. He believes a larger proportion than thought of the nitrogen in fertilisers is converted into nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, New Scientist magazine reported. The ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Australia: PM's message to US: world wants the rich to fight global warming
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/pms-message-to-us-world-wants-the-rich-to-fight-global-warming/2007/12/12/1197135558231.html
Sydney Morning Herald: KEVIN RUDD has called on the US to shoulder the same effort as other rich countries in a new global climate agreement, using his address to the UN conference in Bali yesterday to describe climate change as "the defining challenge of our generation". But Mr Rudd continued to avoid stating support for the strong wording of the draft deal under negotiation in Bali, which says developed countries will be required to make cuts of 25 to 40 per cent in their greenhouse gas ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Gore accuses US of blocking at Bali
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5g9ki79ckRs6juFhZuH41lQVeGVUQ
Press Association: Climate change campaigner and former vice president candidate Al Gore has accused the US of blocking progress at the Bali talks. But he remained optimistic that a breakthrough was possible in the final days of the conference aimed at finding a successor to the Kyoto agreement. "Some of the reports are worrisome, but I know from experience ... that when breakthroughs do occur, they usually happen in the last 48 hours," the Nobel Prize winner said. "I hope ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
US rejects climate guidelines at Bali conference
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3042430.ece
Times (UK): European leaders and environmental campaigners reacted angrily yesterday after the United States rejected guidelines for reducing greenhouse gas emissions intended to check global warming. The proposal, supported by the members of the European Union as well as Brazil, would have set out in writing an ambition to cut greenhouse gases produced by industrialised countries by up to two fifths in the next 13 years. The emissions cut would have been non-binding and subject to future ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Al Gore lays blame for Bali stalemate on US
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAL132382320071213
Reuters: Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore drew cheers at 190-nation talks by saying the United States was the main block to launching negotiations in Bali on a new global climate treaty. Efforts to start two-year negotiations on a pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol flagged on Thursday, the penultimate day of the December 3-14 talks, after the European Union accused the United States of lacking ambition. "I am going to speak an inconvenient truth," Gore told an audience of ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Asian datacenter energy use to double by 2010: study
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hNeGERKn5mMx4XjtjvlACuimj9Vg
Agence France-Presse: Energy use by datacenters in the Asia-Pacific is set to double from 2005 to 2010 as growth in the region's consumption outpaces the rest of the world's, said a study released Thursday. The region excluding Japan will require electricity equal to output from two new 1,000-megawatt power plants by 2010 to run datacenters, which house computer systems, and telecommunications, storage and cooling systems, it said. The report, released by US chip giant Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Beyond the point of no return
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=57&ItemID=14488
ZNet: As the pace of global warming kicks into overdrive, the hollow optimism of climate activists, along with the desperate responses of some of the world's most prominent climate scientists, is preventing us from focusing on the survival requirements of the human enterprise. The environmental establishment continues to peddle the notion that we can solve the climate problem. We can't. We have failed to meet nature's deadline. In the next few years, this world will ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Carbon cuts a must to halt warming-US scientists
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN13267425
Reuters: There is already enough carbon in Earth's atmosphere to ensure that sea levels will rise several feet (meters) in coming decades and summertime ice will vanish from the North Pole, scientists warned on Thursday. To mitigate global warming's worst effects, including severe drought and flooding, people must not only cut current carbon emissions but also remove some carbon that has collected in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution, they said. "We're a lot closer to ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Carbon tax should replace carbon trading to curb climate change, says US mayor Bloomberg
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/13/asia/AS-GEN-Bali-NY-Mayor.php
Associated Press: New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, at a U.N. climate conference drawing hundreds of emissions traders, said Thursday the growing carbon cap-and-trade industry is vulnerable to "special interests, corruption, inefficiencies," and should be replaced by straight carbon taxes. Speaking of global warming, Bloomberg said, "Most experts would agree that the way to solve the problem is with a carbon tax." The Kyoto Protocol, requiring 37 industrial nations to ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
China Seen Softening on Climate Change
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17196587
National Public Radio: While the U.S. and China have long been blamed for slowing progress toward a global treaty to slow global warming, Beijing is showing signs of softening its stance. Together the two countries produce about half of the world's harmful emission. Nearly 190 nations on Thursday entered final-hour talks on the Indonesian island of Bali, hoping to launching negotiations for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. But European nations threatened to boycott U.S.-led climate talks next month ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Climate talks close to working out forestry deal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7149592
Reuters: Delegates at climate talks in Bali are close to agreeing guidelines for a pay-and-preserve scheme for forests under a future deal to fight global warming, Indonesia's foreign minister said on Thursday. Under the scheme called Reduced Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries (REDD), preservation of forests could become a tradeable commodity with the potential to earn poor nations billions of dollars from trading carbon credits. Scientists say deforestation in the ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Coral Reefs Worldwide Imperiled by Climate Change, Study Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=awnNLj2ZHa_Q&refer=australia
Bloomberg: Global climate change may push the Great Barrier Reef and other coral colonies past a fatal tipping point, imperiling fisheries and tourism-dependent economies of many developing nations, a study said. Researchers warn in the latest edition of the journal Science that rising global temperatures and increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere may cause irreversible damage from mass coral bleaching, disease and mortality. With declining water quality and over-fishing, ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
EU and U.S. trade charges of blocking Bali talks
http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-12-13T114439Z_01_SP31163_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-BALI-THURSDAY-COL.XML&archived=False
Reuters: The European Union threatened on Thursday to boycott U.S. talks among top greenhouse gas emitting nations, accusing Washington of blocking goals for fighting climate change at U.N. talks in Bali. "If we would have a failure in Bali it would be meaningless to have a major economies' meeting" in the United States, Humberto Rosa, Portugal's Secretary of State for Environment, said on the penultimate day of the two-week talks. "We're not blackmailing," he said, ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Europe threatens to boycott U.S. climate talks
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22226310/
MSNBC: European nations will boycott U.S.-led climate talks next month unless Washington accepts a range of numbers for negotiating deep reductions of global-warming emissions, Germany's environment minister said Thursday. "No result in Bali means no Major Economies Meeting," said Sigmar Gabriel, a top EU environment official, referring to a series of separate climate talks initiated by President Bush in September. "We are a bit disappointed that all the world is still ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Gore: US Blocking Climate Talks Progress
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBTCrOwOrOXV9BkLBDRmtO3XWbHQD8TGJDU80
Associated Press: Al Gore said Thursday the United States is "principally responsible" for blocking progress at the U.N. climate conference, and European nations threatened to boycott U.S.-led climate talks next month unless Washington compromises on emissions reductions. The former vice president urged delegates to take urgent action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. "My own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
International Impasse Deepens at Climate Talks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/12/13/ST2007121301168.html
Washington Post: An international impasse deepened here Thursday over U.S. refusal to accept specific targets in a "road map" toward reaching a worldwide climate agreement by 2009, as European leaders threatened to boycott the parallel process that President Bush launched with great fanfare a month and a half ago. Throughout a week of negotiations on the island of Bali, Bush administration officials have steadily resisted a United Nations proposal calling on industrialized countries to ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Scorching decade claims eight of the hottest years on record
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3045976.ece
Times (UK): Eight of the warmest years on record around the world have taken place in the last decade, figures released today show. This year's temperatures were the seventh warmest since records began in 1850 the statistics, released to coincide with the United Nations conference in Bali on climate change, reveal. In the UK, 2007 is expected to be the third hottest since UK-wide records began in 1914. The last six years have all been in the top six. The measurements provide ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
Senate Set to OK Fuel Economy Boost
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5imPz0z6szykAL-CAKZDEZOAiDREgD8TGQBMO0
Associated Press: The Senate appeared set to approve a trimmed-back energy bill that will bring higher-gas mileage cars and SUVs into showrooms in the coming decade and fill their tanks with ethanol. Democrats abandoned efforts Thursday to impose billions of dollars in new taxes on the biggest oil companies after failing by one vote, 59-40, to overcome a Republican filibuster against the new taxes. Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said that while disappointed in the vote, a revised bill, ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
U.N. Chief Faces Friday Deadline for Climate Plan
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/GlobalWarming/story?id=3996592&page=1
ABC News: Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, quietly walks into the room. His demeanor is humble, despite the paparazzi that chase his every move. His task at the U.N. Climate Change Conference, to get nearly 190 countries to agree on an environmental road map, has just been put on the clock; he has a deadline of Friday at noon. "This is an issue affecting the whole of humanity," Ban says. "The world is changing much faster than we have thought. The ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
US no longer wields whip at climate talks: delegates
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h0dX5Vn3g2HnzsMq5tiz_ziV2YHQ
Agence France-Presse: The United States has been a mover and shaker in climate change talks for over a decade, but delegates at the Bali summit say US clout is on the wane as countries look beyond the Bush era. Some say that with US elections due to take place less than 11 months from now, it leaves President George W. Bush a lame duck when it comes to shaping the climate change agenda. "As we think about how to frame these negotiations, and to reach an agreement, let's think in terms of the ...
Thu, 13 Dec 07
US Says Push for Emission Cuts Blocking Bali Talks
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=home&sid=aw64pDbIvb1k
Bloomberg: The U.S. shot back today at countries criticizing its opposition to specific targets to cut global warming pollution, saying nations pushing for the reductions are hindering efforts to craft a new climate treaty. The U.S., the only developed nation not to ratify the emissions-limiting Kyoto Protocol, is the main opponent to a United Nations proposal to reduce greenhouse gases by 25 to 40 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels. France and India are among countries condemning the ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
EU Might Cut Greenhouse Gases Beyond 30 Pct - Dimas
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45955/story.htm
Reuters: The European Union might be willing to cut greenhouse gas emissions deeper than 30 percent by 2020 if other rich nations join a broad fight against global warming, EU Commissioner Stavros Dimas said on Tuesday. The EU has agreed that it will unilaterally cut emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and will cut by up to 30 percent if other nations join in. "The EU set a target of 30 percent provided that other developed countries come along -- or even more than ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Europe's cities take the lead on cutting emissions
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1212/p01s01-woeu.html
Christian Science Monitor: With solar-powered streetlights and energy-efficient power generators, this town 25 miles southwest of London is at the vanguard of a promising movement accelerating emissions-cutting programs. From the metropolises of London and Stockholm to hamlets like Güssing in Austria, communities are showing that you don't necessarily need international treaties or global rules to force climate change action. "Our aim is for the cities to push the governments to act on climate ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Global Climate Talks Divided on Emissions Targets
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=89654
New York Times: As a United Nations conference on global warming here entered its final stretch, the United States and the European Union remained deadlocked today on whether countries should commit now to including specific cuts in climate-warming emissions in a new climate pact that will not be fully negotiated for at least two more years. Over the weekend, officials from the United Nations, backed by the European Union and many developing countries, have offered a draft "road map" for talks over ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Australia: Rudd walks tightrope on climate in Bali
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/12/11/1197135463193.html
Age: KEVIN Rudd was resisting international pressure last night to fall into line with a plan for the world's richest nations, including Australia, to accept specific targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Soon after arriving in Bali for the UN climate change conference, the Prime Minister said he accepted scientists' arguments that developed nations must aim collectively for emission cuts of 25% to 40% if the world is to avoid damaging climate change. But Mr Rudd ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Study finds White House manipulation on climate science
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1212/p03s03-uspo.html
Christian Science Monitor: At least since 2003, and especially after hurricane Katrina hit, the White House has broadly attempted to control which climate scientists could speak with reporters, as well as editing scientists' congressional testimony on climate science and key legal opinions, according to a new report by a House committee. "The Bush Administration has engaged in a systematic effort to manipulate climate change science and mislead policy makers and the public about the dangers of global ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Tiny New UN Fund to Combat Droughts, Rising Seas
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45950/story.htm
Reuters: A new UN fund to help poor nations cope with climate change threats such as droughts or rising seas can start up in 2008 after a draft deal at UN talks in Bali, the United Nations said on Tuesday. The Adaptation Fund now comprises only about US$36 million but could rise to US$1-$5 billion a year by 2030 if investment in green technology in developing nations surges, according to the highest UN projections. "The fund can become operational ... at the beginning of ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
UN chief: tackle climate change or we
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/foreign/display.var.1897868.0.UN_chief_tackle_climate_change_or_we_die.php
Associated Press: The human race faces oblivion if it fails to confront global warming, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned yesterday at the UN climate conference. Delegates debated a document that strengthened calls for deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by rich nations. Ban, who is presiding over the final days of a conference aimed at setting a deadline for talks on a pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, urged quick action as negotiators haggled over wording that would be ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Chinese Solar Firm Shows Profit in Climate Fight
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45946/story.htm
Reuters: At the age of 32 and worth US$4.4 billion, solar wafer maker Peng Xiaofeng is proof, as countries argue in Bali over who should pay to fight climate change, that there is money in protecting the environment. Peng is chief executive of China's LDK Solar, a company he founded barely two years ago, which has cashed in on government subsidies and soaring public demand to go green. He was already well-off before founding LDK, but had found the family business, in personal ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Democrats' Report: White House Misleads on Climate
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45958/story.htm
Reuters: With US policy at the center of debate at a Bali climate change meeting, Democrats in Congress said on Monday that the White House manipulated science for years to cast doubt on reality of global warming. "The Bush administration has engaged in a systematic effort to manipulate climate change science and mislead policymakers and the public about the dangers of global warming," the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said. Congressional Republicans ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Gore urges action to avoid climate war
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/world/general/gore-urges-action-to-avoid-climate-war/1103007.html
Canberra Times: Al Gore has accepted the Nobel Peace Prize and called on humanity to mobilise at once against the dangers of a changing climate. "Without realising it, we have begun to wage war on the earth itself," Mr Gore said in his acceptance yesterday. "Now, we and the earth's climate are locked in a relationship familiar to war planners, 'mutually assured destruction'. It is time to make peace with the planet." The former US vice-president was awarded the ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Greenland Ice Sheet Melting at Record Rate
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45940/story.htm
Reuters: The Greenland ice sheet melted at a record rate this year, the largest ever since satellite measurements began in 1979, a top climate scientist reported on Monday. "The amount of ice lost by Greenland over the last year is the equivalent of two times all the ice in the Alps, or a layer of water more than one-half mile (800 meters) deep covering Washington DC," said Konrad Steffen of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Using data from military and weather ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Australia: Rudd resisting Bali targets
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22910382-5013871,00.html
Australian: AUSTRALIA, the US, Japan and Canada are resisting pressure from the UN and developing countries to adopt dramatic targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions as a major split emerges at the Bali conference on climate change. As business and industry warn of catastrophic economic effects if the ambit claims of 25-40 per cent emission cuts by 2020 are adopted at the conference, Kevin Rudd and his Climate Change Minister Penny Wong have declared Australia will not budge until it knows the ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Australia: Science is clear, but Rudd still hesitates
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/world/science-is-clear-but-rudd-still-hesitates/2007/12/11/1197135462936.html
Brisbane Times: KEVIN RUDD and his Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, have acknowledged deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are necessary to head off the worst effects of global warming. "Australia understands that is what the science is telling us," Senator Wong said yesterday. But the Prime Minister has not yet gone so far as to endorse the draft agreement of the UN climate conference in Bali, which calls on developed nations such as Australia to make binding commitments to ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
World Bank Launches Forest Carbon Fund
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45951/story.htm
Reuters: The World Bank on Tuesday launched plans for a US$300 million fund to fend off global warming by preserving forests, but protesters said it risked turning homes of indigenous people into an asset for the rich. The new financing mechanism, launched at UN talks on tackling climate change, aims to turn better forest management into a tradeable commodity to try to halt destruction so rapid it accounts for around a fifth of annual carbon emissions. "If we don't focus on retaining ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
'Deal is close' to save forests
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/climatewatch/article.html?in_article_id=79397&in_page_id=59
Metro: The race to stem the destruction of forests around the world has received a boost at the UN climate change conference in Bali. Poorer countries will be offered financial incentives to rein in deforestation, which could pose one of the most serious threats to the environment, if a new draft of the so-called Bali roadmap is approved. Environment Secretary Hilary Benn insisted he was confident 'something on deforestation' could be achieved at the round of high-level talks ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
A big chill for global warming
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1212/p08s01-comv.html
Christian Science Monitor: Al Gore warned this week that climate change is "imminent," an "emergency," and could soon cause a planetary hothouse, or "carbon summer." The new evidence? Sea levels and carbon gases are rising faster than expected. And Arctic summer ice may melt within a generation. With recent, more dire trends on global warming, can the world really afford to wait for the post-Kyoto UN negotiations, which are finishing up in Bali this week, to reduce greenhouse ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Bali Fetes 10th Birthday of Kyoto Climate Plan
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45954/story.htm
Reuters: A UN climate conference in Bali held a half-hearted 10th birthday party for the Kyoto Protocol on Tuesday with Japan likening the UN pact meant to curb greenhouse gases to a wayward child. Many countries, including Japan, are far above goals set under Kyoto for curbing emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels. In Bali, about 10,000 delegates from 190 nations are considering how to overhaul Kyoto beyond 2012. "Happy Birthday," Japan's ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Australia: Climate change 'a chance to build nation'
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22911224-29277,00.html
AAP: TACKLING climate change could bring about positive structural and cultural changes not seen since the postwar period, an academic said. Sociologist Michael Pusey said measures to cut greenhouse gas pollution were a unique opportunity to build the nation rather that constraining development. "It is likely that a constructive adaptation to global warming will give rise to structural and cultural changes of a kind that we last saw in the aftermath of World War II," ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Consensus reached at climate change meet
http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/12/stories/2007121256331400.htm
Hindu: As negotiations at the U.N. Climate Change conference gathered critical momentum ahead of ministerial talks on Wednesday, delegates claimed to have arrived at a consensus on two major issues: the Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in developing countries (REDD), and the stewardship of the Adaptation Fund designed to help developing countries deal with impact of climate change. "Mitigation is finally beginning to pay for adaptation," said UNFCCC Executive ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
High Costs to Squeeze US Ethanol Makers in 2008
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45941/story.htm
Reuters: Tight margins amid high corn and energy costs and weak ethanol prices will squeeze US ethanol producers in 2008, but the industry will continue to expand, albeit at a slower rate than in recent years, industry experts said Monday. A rapid expansion of US ethanol output over the past year and the lack of comparable growth in the infrastructure necessary to get that fuel to market has produced a glut of the renewable fuel in the Midwest, where most of it is produced. That glut ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
India's per capita GHG 25% of world average
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/249284.html
Indian Express: Emphasising the need to include health, nutrition, education and housing to the sustainable development concept, the Union minister for external affairs, Pranab Mukherjee, said that "development" dimension of "sustainable development" is critical. Speaking at the inaugural session of the Sustainability Summit: Asia 2007, Mukherjee said that India is not a significant contributor to green house gases (GHG) emissions. "India's per capita GHG emissions is around a quarter of the global ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Pope Urges Prudence in Environmental Decisions
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45952/story.htm
Reuters: International decisions on the impact of environmental change should be made prudently, avoiding hasty conclusions, ideological pressures and unilateral stands, Pope Benedict said in a peace message on Tuesday. The German pope also called for the dismantling of nuclear weapons and an effective demilitarisation around the world, expressing concern that more countries seem to want to acquire nuclear weapons. His message, "The Human Family, A Community of Peace," also ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Shell Seeks to Make Diesel Fuel from Algae
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45937/story.htm
Reuters: Royal Dutch Shell Plc is to fund a project that aims to produce transport fuel from algae, as biofuel production from palm oil and crops are increasingly criticised for causing deforestation and higher food prices. Oil major Shell said on Tuesday it would build a pilot facility in Hawaii to grow marine algae from which it would extract vegetable oil that would be converted into a form of diesel for use in trucks and cars. The Anglo-Dutch company said the research plant, ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
UK Govt Wind Plan Costly, Misguided - Ecotricity
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45949/story.htm
Reuters: The British government's latest plan to power every UK home with offshore turbines is a costly fantasy and ignores the potential of onshore wind, the CEO of green power company Ecotricity said in an interview. On Monday the government said Britain could have up to 33 gigawatts of turbines churning out carbon-free power around its blustery coastline by 2020. The target, enough to supply every home in Britain with clean energy, was met with widespread scepticism over cost, grid ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
World Not Doing Enough on Climate Change - IEA
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45944/story.htm
Reuters: The world has tools to cut emissions massively but is not using them or investing enough in technology needed to avert dangerous climate change, the head of the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday. Nobuo Tanaka said little time should be spent on celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol to tackle global warming, because rapid emissions growth was making its targets less relevant and governments were moving too slowly. "The most scarce resource on ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Bali leaders move towards agreement
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/16bb869e-a8b9-11dc-ad9e-0000779fd2ac.html
Financial Times: Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the UN, on Wednesday said a sticking point in launching the two-year process to replace the Kyoto protocol -- specific targets for greenhouse gas reductions -- may be "ambitious". The statement, made in Bali at a UN climate change conference, came as the US agreed to a compromise position that would permit formal negotiations on a new climate change treaty to start. The UN, the European Union and many other countries were strong supporters of ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Climate change threatens food security for world's poor, FAO says
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/157231.html
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: More frequent and more intense extreme weather will lead to adverse immediate impacts on world food security, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned Wednesday. FAO director general Jacques Diouf told the UN climate change conference in Bali that it will "also to increase the vulnerability of poor people everywhere." FAO's 2006 State of Food Insecurity Report estimated that about 854 million people worldwide suffer from hunger, of whom more than 820 million live in ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Federal judge gives California OK to limit cars' greenhouse gases
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/12/BA9QTSTAB.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: California's groundbreaking law limiting auto emissions of gases that contribute to global warming passed its first court test today when a federal judge rejected car industry arguments that the measure conflicts with federal law. U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii ruled that the state can enforce the restrictions, starting with 2009 model vehicles, if the Bush administration's Environmental Protection Agency allows enforcement. The EPA has been considering California's request for a ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Gore accuses Washington of blocking progress at Bali climate talks
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hqPkDytfW8-TmMKjMRrOrdXdQkYw
Canadian Press: Al Gore has again accused Washington of blocking progress at the UN climate talks in Bali, Indonesia. But the former U.S. vice-president says he thinks a breakthrough is still possible in the final days of the conference. Speaking to reporters today in Stockholm, Sweden, Gore says that he knows from experience that when breakthroughs do occur, they usually happen in the last 48 hours. The European Union and developing states strongly favour specific target ranges for ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Gore: US Blocking Climate Talks Progress
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ho5O69lmqF1H6bkWwr7VkuO7VJ-QD8TFSLRG1
Associated Press: Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore on Wednesday accused the U.S. of blocking progress at U.N. climate talks in Bali but said a breakthrough was possible in the final days of the conference. "Some of the reports are worrisome, but I know from experience ... that when breakthroughs do occur, they usually happen in the last 48 hours," Gore told reporters in Sweden. "I hope there will be a change on the part of some countries, including most importantly my own, the United ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Greenies rally against ANZ over logging
http://au.news.yahoo.com/071212/2/158th.html
AAP: Environmentalists staged protests outside ANZ Bank branches in Australia and New Zealand calling on the bank not to fund logging operations in Tasmania and Papua New Guinea. The Wilderness Society of Tasmania and New Zealand's Green Party organised the protests to coincide with the United Nations climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia. Wilderness Society spokesman Paul Oosting said logging and land-clearing in Tasmania already accounted for at least 30 per cent of the ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Hard Choices on Climate Can Wait for Next President, Aides Indicate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/12/AR2007121200478.html
Washington Post: U.S. officials at U.N. climate negotiations here said Tuesday that they would not embrace any overall binding goals for cutting global greenhouse gas emissions before President Bush leaves office, essentially putting off specific U.S. commitments until a new administration assumes power in 2009, according to several participants. In closed-door meetings, senior U.S. climate negotiator Harlan L. Watson said the administration considers several aspects of a draft resolution circulated ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Noteable quotes at Bali climate talks
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSP312580
Reuters: Following are quotes from world leaders and senior officials at the opening of the high-level segment of Dec. 3-14 U.N.-led climate talks in Bali or at press briefings. U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON: "This is the moral challenge of our generation. Not only are the eyes of the world upon us. More important, succeeding generations depend on us. We cannot rob our children of their future." "Our atmosphere can't tell the difference between emissions from ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Red Cross says global warming caused record disasters in 2007
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jbrzPnyd1kod-jMJpGPWYhWmuHoA
Agence France-Presse: Global warming caused a record number of natural disasters across the world in 2007, up nearly 20 percent from a year earlier, the International Federation of the Red Cross said on Thursday. "As of 10 October 2007, the Federation had already recorded 410 disasters, 56 percent of which were weather-related, which is consistent with the trend of rising numbers of climate change-related disasters," the IFRC said in its "World Disasters Report". In 2006, the ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
U.S. blocks global plan to cut emissions
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-wap-emissions-webdec13,1,7387569.story
Washington Post: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon conceded Wednesday that the United States had succeeded in achieving one of its key objectives at the climate conference here, blocking a proposal that called on industrialized nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent to 40 percent by 2020. Having jettisoned the idea of incorporating specific emissions targets in the framework that will guide international climate talks over the next two years, participants were hoping to find ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
UN Chief Cautions on Climate Targets
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBTCrOwOrOXV9BkLBDRmtO3XWbHQD8TG0QV00
Associated Press: In the face of U.S. opposition, the U.N. chief said Wednesday that guidelines on greenhouse gas emissions cuts favored by Europe and developing countries may be "too ambitious" to include in a final statement on climate change. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's words strengthen the U.S.-led drive to remove the call for rich nations to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 from the text of an international statement on climate change. Drafts of a final statement at ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
US court backs California greenhouse gas limits
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2007-12-12T222631Z_01_N12648408_RTRIDST_0_CALIFORNIA-EMISSION-LAWSUIT-UPDATE-2.XML
Reuters: California's landmark law requiring cuts in greenhouse gas emissions may stand, a federal court judge in Fresno, California, ruled on Wednesday, rejecting arguments by car makers that federal law should preempt the state's effort. A spokesman for the auto industry, which had argued that California's law is unconstitutional, said an appeal is uncertain. "We're still reviewing the decision and a decision on whether or not to appeal hasn't been made yet," said Charles ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
US Faces New Demands at Bali Talks
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBTCrOwOrOXV9BkLBDRmtO3XWbHQD8TG2AS00
Associated Press: the U.N. climate conference entered its last days, the United States encountered – and rejected – fresh demands Wednesday that it accept ambitious guidelines for negotiating future cuts in emissions of global-warming gases. Pressure came even from a one-time ally on climate, Australia, whose new prime minister urged Washington to "embrace" new binding targets. But U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, after opening the ministerial-level final segment of the two-week ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Will the negotiations fall apart over the idea of "climate justice"?
http://www.slate.com/id/2179824/
Slate: The heart of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali is a meeting center surrounded by several luxury beach hotels. While delegates from 190 nations negotiate in the ballroom, the sprawling hotel complex is used as a fairground for a global trade show on climate. Carbon traders and other businessmen mingle with environmental advocates and delegates, while dozens of meeting rooms are used for public "side events." One recurring theme of these events is the purported ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
World Bank Touts Funds, Critics Smell Hot Air
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40450
Inter Press Service: The World Bank is seeking money for a scheme aimed at making it more lucrative to preserve the world's forests than to fell them. "The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility signals that the world cares about the global value of forests and is ready to pay for it," Robert Zoellick, the bank's president, said of the initiative. "There is now a value to conserving, not just harvesting the forest." The initiative could generate billions of dollars for investors in ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
World demands breakthrough, UN chief tells deadlocked climate talks
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iQBwEuBme32APCFG8glqMdGPBWGg
Agence France-Presse: UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday demanded a breakthrough from the Bali talks on framing an answer to climate change, but weary negotiators admitted this goal seemed elusive. Environment ministers or their stand-ins from more than 180 countries have until Friday to agree a framework for tackling global warming past 2012, when pledges under the Kyoto Protocol expire. "If we leave Bali without such a breakthrough, we will not only have failed our leaders but also those who ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Australia's PM hands over Kyoto papers in Bali
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSPAR22529520071212
Reuters: Australia's new prime minister handed over documents ratifying the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations in Bali on Wednesday and said his own country was already suffering from global warming. Kevin Rudd handed the documents to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of climate talks on the Indonesian island, where 190 nations are trying to initiate two-year talks on a global pact to fight a warming planet. "For Australians, climate change is no longer a ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Bali climate talks find focus in fund for poor nations
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/12/news/climate.php
International Herald Tribune: With UN climate talks here so far largely deadlocked, an agreement this week to breathe new life into a fund to help poor countries cope with a warming climate is set to be the big breakthrough of the conference. The issue of adapting to climate change, despite the conference's primary goal of preventing further climate change, has gained new prominence at the Bali talks. Protecting the neediest countries from the effects of a warming world has now become a central theme of the ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Bali Emissions Goal May Be `Too Ambitious,' Ban Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=a95YZNvgaIiY&refer=uk
Bloomberg: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said setting specific targets for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions blamed for global warming may be ``too ambitious'' for delegates meeting this week in Indonesia. Ministers from more than 130 nations began meeting today on the resort island of Bali to set an agenda for talks to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. Delegates must agree to a timeline for a new treaty on cutting greenhouse-gas emissions by 2009, or they will ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Canada gets boost from UN chief in bid to soften targets at climate talks
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gacXivFBto-NBH6le5u2epMVcHUA
Canadian Press: Canada's bid to water down climate-change targets at a world environmental conference earned the high-profile backing of the head of the United Nations on Wednesday. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon agreed that a demand for rich nations to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 might be too ambitious for this week's climate talks. His intervention came as a relief to Canada, which is pitted alongside the United States, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand against the European ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Carmakers may face billions in CO2 penalties-papers
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSL1229884420071212
Reuters: European carmakers could be fined billions of euros in penalties a year for failing to meet EU pollution limits, German newspapers reported, citing draft proposals by the European Commission. Brussels may charge 95 euros per gram and per car for excess carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) and Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) said in summaries of articles to be published on Thursday. The FAZ said the level was seen as very likely in Brussels ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
China feted but disappointed at Bali climate talks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7146527
Reuters: China is disappointed by progress at climate talks where it feels some rich countries are shirking their responsibilities to cut emissions and help poorer nations tackle global warming, delegation members said. The Chinese team has been applauded by other delegations and activists for its cooperative attitude, but says its proposals to do more in return for help with clean technology have foundered amid squabbling over who is responsible for rising temperatures. "I am a ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
China should agree to binding climate target-Canada
http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7146222
Guardian: The fight against global warming will only work if big developing countries took on legally binding targets, Canada's environment minister said on Wednesday, underlining a major split at climate talks in Bali. About 190 nations are meeting in a luxury Indonesian beach resort from Dec. 3-14 to try to launch two-year negotiations on a new global climate change deal to replace or extend the Kyoto Protocol from 2013. "If we want to take a voluntary approach for 70 percent of ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Climate talks progressing despite US opposition to targets, Benn says
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/12/bali.climatechange3?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
Guardian: A stand-off between the United States and Europe over carbon reduction targets should not overshadow the "significant" progress made on a new climate deal, Hilary Benn said today. The environment secretary said the so-called Bali roadmap, which negotiators hope to produce on Friday as the first step towards a new treaty, did not need a fixed target to be considered a success. He said: "Of course there are people who hoped it would all be sorted out this week. ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Climate Talks Urge Hasty Cut to Global Warming
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17158518
National Public Radio: High-level U.N. climate talks opened in Bali Wednesday with pleas for quick action to tackle global warming. The hero of the day was Australia's new prime minister, Kevin Rudd, who signed his country on to the Kyoto treaty. By contrast, the United States was the subject of quiet scorn. Rudd told the assembled dignitaries that when he became prime minister last week, his first official act was to sign the documents committing his nation to the Kyoto Protocol, reversing the ...
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Climate's remote control on hurricanes
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-12/uomr-crc121007.php
EurekAlert: Natural climate variations, which tend to involve localized changes in sea surface temperature, may have a larger effect on hurricane activity than the more uniform patterns of global warming, a report in this week's Nature suggests. In the debate over the effect of global warming on hurricanes, it is generally assumed that warmer oceans provide a more favorable environment for hurricane development and intensification. However, several other factors, such as atmospheric temperature ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Gore Urges Bold Moves in Nobel Speech
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=89600
New York Times: He has said it again and again, with increasing urgency, to anyone who will listen. And on Monday, former Vice President Al Gore used the occasion of his 2007 Nobel Peace Prize lecture here to tell the world in powerful, stark language: Climate change is a "real, rising, imminent and universal" threat to the future of the Earth. Saying that "our world is spinning out of kilter" and that "the very web of life on which we depend is being ripped and frayed," Mr. Gore warned that "we, ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
The real answer to climate change is to leave fossil fuels in the ground
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/columnist/story/0,,2225383,00.html
Guardian: Ladies and gentlemen, I have the answer! Incredible as it might seem, I have stumbled across the single technology which will save us from runaway climate change! From the goodness of my heart, I offer it to you for free. No patents, no small print, no hidden clauses. Already this technology, a radical new kind of carbon capture and storage, is causing a stir among scientists. It is cheap, it is efficient and it can be deployed straight away. It is called ... leaving fossil fuels in the ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Al Gore compares climate change to Facism
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s2115082.htm
Radio Australia: The former US Vice president Al Gore has used his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech to compare the climate change crisis to the fight against Facism in the 1940's. Mr Gore accepted the award at a ceremony in Oslo alongside the head of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri. Mr Gore says world leaders need to summon the moral authority that was on display during the fight against Adolf Hitler in World War Two. "We must quickly ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Australia: Decision on targets to wait
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/decision-on-targets-to-wait/2007/12/10/1197135376062.html
Sydney Morning Herald: THE Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has refused to speed up a decision on Australia's 2020 greenhouse target, despite it being one of the things organisers of international talks in Bali most want an agreement on. Mr Rudd will leave for Bali this morning but said even though Australia would not set its 2020 target before the middle of next year he can still show leadership on climate change. "Australia has taken its head out of the sand and it now wants to be part of the ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Finance ministers meet in Bali on climate costs
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKL1064001320071211
Reuters: Finance ministers met in Bali on Tuesday to debate how to fund the fight against climate change, the first such meeting on the fringes of annual U.N. climate talks. The ministers, from about 20 nations, would debate issues ranging from the potential for carbon markets to help cut industrial emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels to incentives for people to put solar panels on the roof at home. At the main talks, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was to arrive in his ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Malaysia: For peat's sake
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2007/12/11/lifefocus/19387085&sec=lifefocus
Malaysian Star: INITIALLY, there was vehement denial. But, increasingly there is gradual admission. The facts that peat is a vital carbon sink and that disturbed peat is a significant source of carbon emission are being accepted by the oil palm industry. Expansion of landbank by major industry players is the order of the day. More land – forested or degraded – is being converted into plantations. Spurred by escalating crude palm oil (CPO) prices and the hype over biofuel, oil palm ventures are ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Malaysia: Forests: climate saviour?
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2007/12/11/lifefocus/20071210193427&sec=lifefocus
Malaysian Star: PROTECTING tropical rainforests, which soak up vast amounts of greenhouse gases, is proving a real headache at the climate talks in Bali, where delegates are trying to sort out a pay-and-preserve scheme. Scientists say deforestation in the tropics is responsible for about 20% of all man-made carbon dioxide emissions blamed for global warming. Curbing the clearing and burning of remaining tropical forests is widely regarded as a crucial part of any new climate pact. Under a ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
In Midwest Duck Blinds, Visions of Global Warming
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=89585
New York Times: After 32 years of hunting ducks here in the wetlands of west-central Missouri, Chuck Geier knows when temperatures will drop and waters will freeze. That means he also knows when the birds will fly and hunting will be best. Except that now much of what he knows is in question. "It used to be by Dec. 6, this place was frozen," said Mr. Geier, 51, a national sales manager for a telecommunications company. "That's not true anymore." From the "prairie potholes" of Canada ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
The last emperor? Penguin numbers plunge
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1929112007
Scotsman: "TAKE it all in all, I do not believe anybody on Earth has a worse time than an emperor penguin," wrote Antarctic explorer Apsley Cherry-Garrard on returning from Robert Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. Nearly a century later, life for the largest of all the penguins is dramatically worse and the very existence of this iconic species is now under threat, according to conservation group WWF. Emperor penguins breed in the ferociously harsh Antarctic ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
War of words on emissions confronts PM
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/war-of-words-on-emissions/2007/12/10/1197135376059.html
Sydney Morning Herald: KEVIN RUDD may fly into an unresolved fight over the wording of a global agreement on greenhouse gas emissions when he makes his first appearance on the world stage as Prime Minister in Bali today. The battle to keep tough wording in the final agreement of the United Nations climate change conference is still being played out, and the deal could still be in dispute today, just a day before the high-level stage of the conference gets under way. The draft agreement states that ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Al Gore calls for climate 'mobilisation'
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3031720.ece
Times (UK): Al Gore received his Nobel Peace Prize yesterday, declaring that America would "stand accountable before history" if it failed to take action to combat climate change. "It is time to make peace with the planet," he said in a speech in Oslo. "We must mobilise our civilisation with the urgency and resolve that has previously been seen only when nations mobilised for war." Mr Gore added: "It should be absolutely clear that it is the two largest CO2 emitters [China and the US] – ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Global warming: Indian subcontinent at war risk
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/global-warming-indian-subcontinent-at-war-risk/53957-3.html
CNN-IBN: UN environmentalists have warned the Indian subcontinent is at risk of conflict, even war because of global warming. According to the UNEP's report, shrinking Himalayan glaciers, shifting monsoon patterns and rising seas along the coastlines could create millions of refugees. They could threaten the borders between India and Pakistan and India and Bangladesh. Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal landed in Bali on Monday. Sibal will offer India's commitment to ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Government's offshore wind power target branded 'pie in the sky'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/11/windpower.renewableenergy
Guardian: The government was accused yesterday of unveiling plans for a significant expansion of offshore wind power that were very similar to an announcement it made five years ago. Industry secretary John Hutton announced in Berlin that Britain wanted to expand offshore wind power to provide about a fifth of the country's electricity by 2020. This would mark a big increase from the current level of less than 1%. Five years ago the then energy minister, Brian Wilson, announced that vast ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Australia: Tropical birds need emergency help against climate change: report
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/11/2115475.htm?site=idx-qld
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A Northern Territory scientist is calling for the emergency conservation of over 60 tropical Australian bird species under threat from climate change. Charles Darwin University's professor Stephen Garnett issued the warning in the latest State of Australia's Birds report. Professor Garnett says many birds live in specific areas and would be vulnerable if their habitats change. The 66 species considered to be under threat include: white throated ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Deal close on reward scheme to save forests
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7503bc90-a813-11dc-9485-0000779fd2ac.html
Financial Times: Governments gathered for climate change talks were late on Tuesday close to agreeing on the first steps to reward developing countries for keeping their forests intact, a move that could lead to billions of dollars a year flowing from rich to poor countries. Deforestation is the second biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions, after power generation, accounting for a fifth of the total. However, forests have been largely ignored in climate change debates because of the difficulties ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Dispute over 2020 emissions goal sours Bali talks
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL1064001320071212
Reuters: Delegates at U.N. climate talks resisted U.S. pressure to delete tough 2020 guidelines for cutting greenhouse gases with the European Commission saying they were a "crucial" element in a draft text. The U.N.-led talks have become dominated by disputes over whether a text should keep a mention of a need for rich nations to axe greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to avoid the worst impacts. Any watering down or removal of the ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Ominous Arctic Melt Worries Experts
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jCYJx0roNyeIgXtvTqHL0POi-jwwD8TFI4N81
Associated Press: An already relentless melting of the Arctic greatly accelerated this summer, a warning sign that some scientists worry could mean global warming has passed an ominous tipping point. One even speculated that summer sea ice would be gone in five years. Greenland's ice sheet melted nearly 19 billion tons more than the previous high mark, and the volume of Arctic sea ice at summer's end was half what it was just four years earlier, according to new NASA satellite data obtained by The ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Paying other nations to be green
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-sci-deforest12dec12,1,214175.st
LA Times: The fight against global warming has given a new boost to a long-stymied environmental cause: saving the rain forests. Under a scenario that has gained widespread support, developing countries would be paid billions of dollars a year to not raze their trees. The money would come from rich industrial nations, paying to offset their voluminous greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels. "Every single effort that has been attempted to conserve tropical forests ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
U.S Rejects Stiff 2020 Greenhouse Goals in Bali
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45916/story.htm
Reuters: Washington rejected stiff 2020 targets for greenhouse gas cuts by rich nations at UN talks in Bali on Monday as part of a "roadmap" to work out a new global pact to fight climate change by 2009. "It's prejudging what the outcome should be," chief negotiator Harlan Watson said of a draft suggesting that rich nations should aim to axe emissions of heat-trapping gases by between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. He said that Washington wanted the ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
'Deficit of Trust' in Climate Change Talks
http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/156061/1/
OneWorld: "There is a deficit of trust in the South regarding the hidden agendas of the North; barriers to trade, and other subterranean objectives," said Munir Akram, G77 Chairperson at COP13, speaking at an Actionaid event on development and climate. Speaking about the draft final outcome document he said, "The text focuses largely on mitigation. The adaptation section is weak." "The issue of Climate Change is essentially an issue of environmental justice. Poor and marginalized ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
160-million-dollar plan to save forests launched at Bali talks
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jSVmPUwzekrPV8oziPUvI5pF856Q
Agence France-Presse: Wealthy countries and a US green group donated 160 million dollars Tuesday for a new climate-change project aimed at encouraging poor developing nations to conserve their tropical forests. The World Bank-led plan was launched in Bali amid negotiations over a new framework on climate change once Kyoto Protocol commitments to curb gas emissions end in 2012. Emerging nations are demanding greater help to cut down on their own greenhouse-gas emissions as their economies catch up ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Animals, plants need help adapting to climate change
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKSP30284220071211
Reuters: Humans must help animals and plants adapt to a warmer world, environmentalists said on Thursday, because it is too expensive to rebuild entire ecosystems and their loss makes people even more vulnerable. Conservation efforts should focus on protecting a variety of the most resilient or adaptable communities, and providing protected corridors of land or sea to allow species to shift habitats if their old range becomes unliveable, they said. "The scale of the problem means ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Canada threatens to block climate change declaration
http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=e9bbd0fa-fd1a-4865-9a92-91a2c15f9642&k=56452
CanWest News Service: Canada is standing in the way of accepting tougher targets for developed countries at the annual United Nations climate change summit because it believes the approach would be a mistake, Environment Minister John Baird said Tuesday. Delegates at the annual summit have drafted a declaration which recognized the "unequivocal science" that developed countries must lower their greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 to prevent "the worst ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Climate change already affecting water supplies in the Western U.S.
http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1211-west.html
Mongabay: Climate change is already impacting water supplies in the western United States and is likely to reducer carbon sequestration by regional ecosystems, reports research presented at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. A study led by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography reports that "trends in snowpack, river runoff, and air temperatures – three fundamental indicators of the status of the West's hydrological cycle – point to a decline ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Climate fight 'a money issue'
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2236567,00.html
Agence France-Presse: UN climate chief Yvo de Boer called on finance ministers meeting here on Tuesday to provide the monetary muscle to tackle Earth's global warming crisis. Finance ministers or their representatives are holding first-of-a-kind talks on climate change in parallel to a worldwide gathering that aims to deepen action against the peril from greenhouse gases. "Designing a long-term solution to climate change is mainly a challenge of intelligent financial engineering," said ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Dutch to Deny Palm Subsidies Until Green Levels Met
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45894/story.htm
Reuters: The Netherlands warned on Monday it will not renew subsidies for palm-based biofuel until global producers meet its environmental requirements. The world's biggest palm-oil producers, including Malaysia and Indonesia, may take about two years to meet the needed levels, Dutch Environment Minister Jacqueline Cramer said, following a meeting with Malaysian Commodities Minister Peter Chin. The Netherlands, the largest consumer of palm oil in the European Union, will renew its ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Greenland ice sheet melting hits new record in 2007
http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1211-greenland.html
Mongabay: The 2007 melt extent on the Greenland ice sheet broke the 2005 summer melt record by 10 percent, making it the largest ever recorded there since satellite measurements began in 1979, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder climate scientist. The melting increased by about 30 percent for the western part of Greenland from 1979 to 2006, with record melt years in 1987, 1991, 1998, 2002, 2005 and 2007, said CU-Boulder Professor Konrad Steffen, director of the Cooperative ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
India finds itself alone at Bali summit
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/156803.html
Indo-Asian News Service: India found itself alone and the subject of criticism from many sides over the issue of being paid to conserve forests at the UN climate change conference here Tuesday. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has decided to include the fight against deforestation as a part of the fight against climate change after scientists proved that deforestation is leading to 20 percent of emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) that lead to global ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Norway floats idea of 'carbon auction' to fight global warming
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hA2FesAI2VNS88x0l26Jqd-zetVA
Agence France-Presse: Norway's finance minister on Tuesday proposed a fresh plan to battle climate change by auctioning off permits to emit CO2 and using the profits to help poor nations cope with global warming. Kristin Halvorsen said that a global cap should be put on how much polluting greenhouses gases can be spewed into the atmosphere to help stabilise these emissions at a safe level. That amount would then be divided up among the world, with individual countries agreeing to their own ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Rising CO2 signals wetter storms for Northern Hemisphere, says CU-Boulder study
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-12/uoca-rcs121107.php
EurekAlert: While two new studies by researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences predict wetter storms for the Arctic and for the Northern Hemisphere because of global warming, whether or not this means more net precipitation depends on the latitude. "Global climate model predictions for the 21st century indicate an increase in the frequency of storms in the Arctic with no clear trend in the mid-latitudes but an increase ...
Tue, 11 Dec 07
Senators cut renewable electricity rule from energy bill
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5369905.html
Houston Chronicle: Democratic leaders in the Senate plan to bring an energy bill back to the floor on Thursday, after dropping a provision that would have required utilities to generate a portion of their electricity using renewable energy sources. "We're not going to be able to keep in the bill the renewable electricity standard," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said today. "That's too bad." Senate leaders were still working on the tax provisions for the bill this ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Bali Proposal Calls for Mandatory Cuts for Developed Countries
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=avZ8CdW5Evpw&refer=india
Bloomberg: Developed countries will be asked to make mandatory greenhouse-emissions cuts under a United Nations draft proposal to start off debate this week on a new global climate change treaty, a UN spokesman said. The UN will call for industrial nations to cut global warming emissions 25-40 percent by 2020, emerging economies such as China to agree to take measurable steps to reduce their own global warming pollution and for a reduction in emissions from deforestation, according to Alex ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Greenland Ice Could be Next Puzzle for UN Panel
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45872/story.htm
Reuters: A thaw of Greenland ice that could raise world sea levels may be the next puzzle for the UN climate panel that won the Nobel Peace Prize, a senior member of the group said. Dutch scientist Bert Metz said the risk of an accelerating melt of Greenland's ice sheet was among the unsolved issues in the UN reports this year that blame mankind for causing global warming and urge quick action to avert the worst impacts. "There are still questions about the behaviour of the big ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Nobel Laureate Gore Sees Hope in "People Power"
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45847/story.htm
Reuters: Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore said on Sunday he was optimistic that a growing "people-power" movement would push the world's leaders to take action to stop global warming. The former US vice president likened the campaign to the ban-the-bomb movement of past decades, and urged leaders at a UN climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, to issue a mandate for a strong treaty to curb greenhouse gases. Gore, who shared the 2007 peace prize with the United Nations' ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Rich-poor divide on climate costs
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22896880-601,00.html?from=mostpop
Australian: A DRAFT road map for a new global climate change deal after 2012 has revealed key divisions between rich and poor countries over who should bear the cost of making deep cuts in greenhouse emissions. Climate change negotiators at UN talks in Bali yesterday released the first draft of the key negotiating mandate for a post-Kyoto agreement to be considered by world leaders, including Kevin Rudd, on Wednesday. The draft document identifies the need for developed countries to ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Stopping the chopping
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2224982,00.html
Guardian: "Save the rainforests" is an easy slogan to agree with and a very difficult one to put into practice, as delegates at the Bali climate change conference are proving. Writing for the Guardian recently, Sir Nicholas Stern put at the top of his wishlist for Bali an "international programme to combat deforestation", and noted the problem could be halved at an annual cost of $10bn. Creating a mechanism to do this is the goal of everyone who thinks markets are the best way to ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
UK's greenhouse gas emissions 'up by a fifth'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/10/eabali110.xml
Telegraph (UK): Britain's emissions of greenhouse gases have risen by nearly a fifth over the past two decades, rather than falling as the Government claims, a new report has revealed. The United Nations leaves out aviation, shipping and the carbon content of imports when it adds up greenhouse gas emissions, according to experts from Oxford University. If these factors are included, it is claimed, Britons' lifestyles have a much greater effect upon the climate than the modest decline in ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Wind farms to power every home in Britain
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/10/eawind110.xml
Telegraph (UK): Every household in Britain could be powered by off-shore wind farms under major expansion plans being announced by the Government. Up to 7,000 huge turbines could be installed around the UK's coastline in a bid to boost the wind energy produced 30-fold by 2020. Business Secretary John Hutton admitted the "step change" would alter the face of the waters around the country. But he insisted that tough choices had to made made to effect the shift to low carbon ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Australia: 'Per person' greenhouse emissions fall
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22898317-2702,00.html
Australian: GREENHOUSE gas emissions per person are falling and water consumption has been scaled back as environmental consciousness rises in Australia. An Australian Bureau of Statistic snapshot released today found that by 2005 while total emissions were 2.2 per cent above 1990 levels, emissions per person had fallen by 14 per cent. Even before the latest drought took grip on the east cost of Australia, water consumption was also falling, down 14 per cent in the between July 2001 and ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Al Gore, UN climate body to receive 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hb_pRmoVWoNeBio1xXz8nJqBI6Ag
Agence France-Presse: Former US vice president Al Gore and the UN's top climate panel will receive the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Monday for their work to help combat global warming. Later in the day in Stockholm, the winners of the literature, medicine, physics, chemistry and economics prizes will receive their awards. Gore, 59, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) -- a United Nations body of about 3,000 experts -- are being honoured for their work "to build up and ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
At Bali climate change meeting, a hard look at Kyoto
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1210/p07s02-wogi.html
Christian Science Monitor: Efforts to start two years of talks aimed at crafting a new global pact on climate change enter their most intense phase this week. Ministers from more than 180 countries arrive Wednesday to give final shape to a framework for the talks, which could begin as early as next June. But even as they look to the future, ministers also will be dealing with the present – giving a final burnish to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol before turning it loose next year. The protocol's first – and perhaps ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Germany: Child Cancer Risk Higher Near Nuclear Plants - Study
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45859/story.htm
Reuters: German study has found that young children living near nuclear power plants have a significantly higher risk of developing leukaemia and other forms of cancer, a German newspaper reported on Saturday. "Our study confirmed that in Germany a connection has been observed between the distance of a domicile to the nearest nuclear power plant .... and the risk of developing cancer, such as leukaemia, before the fifth birthday," Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper quoted the ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Climate pinch on Australia
http://www.theage.com.au/news/climate-watch/climate-pinch-on-australia/2007/12/09/1197135286489.html
Age: DEVELOPED countries such as Australia will need to make deep cuts to their greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 if the world is to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, according to the draft deal the UN hopes will go to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and other leaders at the Bali climate conference this week. Also, global emissions will need to be cut by half by the middle of the century. The draft road map for the new climate agreement, released by the United Nations yesterday, ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Greener Buildings Easy, But Barriers Remain - Expert
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45868/story.htm
Reuters: Building greener homes and office towers and installing energy-efficient lighting could slash planet-warming carbon emissions, UN and industry officials said at climate talks in Bali on Friday. They said the technology already existed to dramatically cut electricity use for very little cost, and yet it was puzzling that governments, industries and home-owners weren't cashing in on the energy-saving ideas. "About 40 percent of all energy is consumed in buildings and in ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Greenpeace Urges EU and Africa to End Deforestation
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45865/story.htm
Reuters: Greenpeace urged European Union and African leaders meeting in Lisbon over the weekend to take urgent measures to stop the destruction of African forests which cause carbon emissions responsible for climate change. "Leaders in Lisbon have to exercise political muscle and immediately support a halt to deforestation in Africa," said Stephan Van Praet, coordinator for the Greenpeace International Africa Forest Campaign. Trees soak up carbon dioxide -- the main greenhouse ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Australia: Kevin Rudd to feel the heat at Bali climate change talks
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22897411-661,00.html
Herald Sun: KEVIN Rudd will stride the world stage tomorrow when he arrives at climate change talks in Bali keen to play a lead role in the global greenhouse challenge. His diplomatic skills will be put to the test, with rich and poor nations already clashing over the pain that each should bear in a new climate change pact. Mr Rudd -- who ratified the Kyoto Protocol after being sworn in as Prime Minister last week -- wants to broker a deal between developed and developing nations. ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Norway to Spend Billions on Preserving Rainforests
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-12-10-voa5.cfm
Voice of America: Norway's prime minister has committed his country to spending more than $500 million a year to preserve the world's endangered rainforests. The Norwegian government chief, Jens Stoltenberg, says reducing deforestation in developing countries can quickly and inexpensively reduce global emissions of carbon dioxide - the main component of the greenhouse gases that are blamed for global warming. Trees and rainforests absorb carbon dioxide from Earth's atmosphere and in turn release ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
UK's official CO2 figures an illusion - study
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/10/carbonemissions.climatechange
Guardian: Britain is responsible for hundreds of millions more tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions than official figures admit, according to a new report that undermines UK claims to lead the world on action against global warming. The analysis says pollution from aviation, shipping, overseas trade and tourism, which are not measured in the official figures, means that UK carbon consumption has risen significantly over the past decade, and that the government's claims to have tackled global ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
At Risk in Arctic, "Polar Bears" Thrive in Bali
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45842/story.htm
Reuters: Under threat from a thaw of Arctic sea ice, polar bears seem to be having a population explosion at UN climate talks on the tropical island of Bali. Environmental activists have repeatedly paraded in polar bear suits at Dec. 3-14 UN talks to warn of climate threats to wildlife. Yet the UN climate panel says 20 to 30 percent of all species may face more risks of extinction from warming. So should activists focus more on other threatened species closer at hand in Asia, such as ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Climate change puts small islands in peril
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=89528
Jakarta Post: For small island states, identified by scientists as the most vulnerable countries to global warming, the adaptation fund is a do or die battle for their citizens. Delegates from the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) Saturday pleaded for the world to take immediate action on the causes behind climate change, otherwise rising sea levels will wipe their homes off the world map. "Urgent action is needed in the area of mitigation...adaptation financing is something we need ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Climate Change to Hit Australia Farm Exports - Report
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45874/story.htm
Reuters: Climate change could hit Australian agriculture hard, cutting production of a wide range of goods by almost 20 percent and causing a significant impact on international trade, a report said. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said in a study that Australian production of wheat, beef, dairy and sugar could decline by 9-10 percent by 2030 and by 13-19 percent by 2050 because of climate change. "Australia is projected to be one of the most adversely ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Climate-ready farming system must be developed for world's poor
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=89533
Jakarta Post: Governments of developing countries need to find "creative solutions" and "alternative approaches" to deal with major threats from climate change that could badly affect their agriculture sectors, experts said at a side meeting to the climate change conference. The discussion, which was jointly organized by Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Stockholm Environment Institute, focused on ways to help the worlds' poor deal with food resources and extreme weather-prone ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Firms 'ignoring' carbon footprint
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7135262.stm
BBC: A tiny minority of British businesses are aware of the scale of their carbon emissions, research has suggested. A survey of business leaders by the Carbon Trust found just 1% of all UK firms knew their "carbon footprint". Calculating this, the Trust said, was a vital step towards cutting a firm's emissions and exploiting the business opportunities from climate change. A quarter of firms said they were affected by climate change, with larger firms more likely ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Canada: Jet-Setting Hockey Players Aim to Slash Emissions
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45863/story.htm
Reuters: With 30 teams crisscrossing North America throughout the 82-game season, the National Hockey League takes its toll on the environment. That's 750 players, along with their trainers, coaches and equipment, packed into fuel-burning aircraft from October until the Stanley Cup is finally awarded in June. The David Suzuki Foundation, a prominent Canadian environmental group, calculated that each player generates about 10 tons of carbon emissions annually, the bulk of it coming ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
REDD scheme given a morale boost
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=89531
Jakarta Post: A good start was made on the need to cut emissions from deforestation during the first week of the climate change conference in Bali. However delegates remain divided over financial mechanism issues, such as positive incentives for forestry nations reducing deforestation. Executive Secretary of the United Nations on Framework on Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC), Yvo de Boer, admitted that parties had agreed to discuss measures to design a comprehensive regime to reduce emission from ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Australia: Tough talk on CO2 doesn't come cheap
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22895478-23850,00.html
Australian: FORMER US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan observed in his recent biography that the information technology boom of the 1990s was not an overnight phenomenon, but rather the convergence of technologies developed over the preceding 40 years. The evolution of transistors, fibre optics, microchips and satellites coalesced to make the internet work and radically improve the productivity of people performing so many basic tasks. It underwrote sustained economic growth for a decade. ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Climate Science Manipulation Alleged
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ivKdm9WOTaVP-h96OqHUmSFRQ6rQD8TER35G0
Associated Press: The White House has systematically tried to manipulate climate change science and minimize the dangers of global warming, asserts a Democratic congressional report issued after a 16-month investigation. Republicans called the report, issued Monday by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., a "partisan diatribe" against the Bush administration. The report relies on hundreds of internal communications and documents as well as testimony at two congressional hearings to outline a ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Democrats accuse White House of cooking climate-change testimony
http://www.macon.com/272/story/209243.html
McClatchy Newspapers: The White House censored climate scientists and edited their testimony on global warming before Congress, Democrats charged Monday after a 16-month investigation into allegations of political interference with scientific inquiries. The Bush administration was "particularly active in stifling discussions" of a potential link between climate change and the intensity of hurricanes, according to the findings in a draft report issued Monday by Democrats on the House of ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Gore Accepts Nobel Peace Prize
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ilvtkllSpBuyPP4II1wWxLcNSJqwD8TEQQ000
Associated Press: Saying it's "time to make peace with the planet," Al Gore accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on Monday with a call for humanity to rise up against a looming climate crisis and stop waging war on the environment. The United States and China – the world's leading emitters of greenhouse gases – will stand accountable before history if they don't take the lead in that global challenge, the former vice president said. "Without realizing it, we have begun to wage war on ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Gore, U.N. climate panel chairman accept Nobel Peace Prize
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/10/europe/EU-GEN-Norway-Nobel-Prizes.php
Associated Press: Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore said Monday that the United States and China will "stand accountable before history" if they fail to take the lead against global warming – a daunting threat that would require wartime resolve. In accepting the prize he shared with the U.N. climate panel, the former U.S. vice president said humanity must make peace with the earth or slide down a path of "mutually assured destruction." "We, the human species, are ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
High clouds show effects of climate change: study
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKN1032197120071210
Reuters: Clouds at the edge of space are showing the effects of climate change, scientists said on Monday. These so-called polar mesospheric clouds are occurring more often and appearing at lower latitudes than they used to, researchers reported at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. "It won't affect people, but we're causing the outer part of the atmosphere to change, which means we are changing the entire atmosphere, which is important to know," ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Kerry says US Senate wouldn't pass climate deal without developing countries
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/10/asia/AS-GEN-Bali-Kerry-Interview.php
Associated Press: China and other emerging economies don't contribute to reining in greenhouse gases, "it would be very difficult" to get a new global climate deal through the U.S. Senate, even under a Democratic president, Sen. John Kerry said Monday. "At some point in time, they will have to take on those reductions, for several reasons, most importantly the developed countries are not going to be able to do this on their own," Kerry said in an interview. The Massachusetts ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Nobel winner Gore: "Make peace with the planet"
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL10568495
Reuters: Climate campaigner Al Gore collected the Nobel Peace Prize on Monday and said it was time to stop waging war on the earth and make peace with the planet. The former U.S. vice president shared the 2007 peace prize with the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change whose head, Rajendra Pachauri, urged leaders at a U.N. climate conference in Indonesia to heed the wisdom of science. "Without realising it, we have begun to wage war on the earth itself," ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Parents should pay climate change tax on extra kids: expert
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hdHCdZZ8MLEj4aBjDsvAsEp5bStA
Agence France-Presse: Parents who have more than two children should be charged a lifelong climate change tax to offset the effect of their extra greenhouse gas emissions, an Australian medical expert has proposed. They should pay 5,000 dollars (4,400 US) a head for each extra child and up to 800 dollars every year thereafter, according to the plan published in the Medical Journal of Australia. In contrast, contraceptives and sterilisation procedures would be eligible for carbon credits, suggested ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
U.N. climate talks under pressure to drop 2020 goals
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKL1064001320071210
Reuters: The United States urged a U.N. climate meeting on Monday to drop a 2020 target for deep cuts in greenhouse gases by rich nations from guidelines for a new pact to slow global warming beyond 2012. "It's prejudging what the outcome should be," chief U.S. negotiator Harlan Watson said of a draft text suggesting that developed nations should aim to axe emissions of heat-trapping gases by between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. The United Nations wants the ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
U.S. says no to firm emissions targets
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-bali11dec11,1,4898185.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&track=crosspromo
LA Times: As delegates from nearly 200 countries began their final week of meetings here on global warming, U.S. representatives today insisted on removing firm targets for reducing carbon dioxide from draft guidelines for negotiating a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, set to expire in 2012. The guidelines, which will provide a "road map" for negotiations that will begin next year on a new climate treaty, now call for industrialized countries to achieve a 25% to 40% reduction in ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Bush froze interviews
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117977458.html?categoryid=18&cs=1
Variety: The White House routinely denied media requests for interviews on global warming with any government scientists who did not completely support President Bush's views on the controversial issue, a new House report has charged. "Political Interference With Climate Change Science Under the Bush Administration," compiled by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, was released Monday morning at about the same time that news orgs were reporting on former vice ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Climate missing from U.S. election - Gore
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-30913620071210
Reuters: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Al Gore said on Monday the U.S. presidential election campaign had paid insufficient attention to the environment and climate change. The former U.S. vice president, who lost a bid for the White House to George W. Bush in 2000 and has repeatedly said he has no plan to run again in 2008, said he would have pushed climate to the top of the agenda if he had been president. "Some of the candidates have made speeches which are quite good and proposals ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Gore to U.S., China: Fix climate or else
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/12/10/gore.nobel.ap/?iref=mpstoryview
Associated Press: Al Gore received his Nobel Peace Prize on Monday and urged the United States and China to make the boldest moves on climate change or "stand accountable before history for their failure to act." "We, the human species, are confronting a planetary emergency -- a threat to the survival of our civilization that is gathering ominous and destructive potential even as we gather here," Gore said in his acceptance speech. Gore shared the Nobel with the ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Here Come the Climate-Change Lawsuits
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22183927/
MSNBC: Now here's an unexpected beneficiary of the building consensus regarding global warming: the plaintiffs' bar. Known to its detractors as Trial Lawyers, Inc., the plaintiffs' bar makes serious bucks by launching mass tort and class action suits. The bigger the damages, the bigger the contingency fees, so high-profile harm is how these litigation firms make hay -- and it doesn't get much more high-profile than climate change. Companies are potentially vulnerable to shareholder ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
In Bali, Kerry Highlights Dems, White House Split on Warming
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/10/AR2007121000897.html
Washington Post: Congressional Democrats, represented by Sen. John F. Kerry, and Bush administration officials took their disagreements over global warming policy halfway around the world as United Nations-sponsored climate change talks got into high gear Monday. Kerry (D-Mass.), who flew roughly 20 hours on commercial flights to get here and was making the same journey back to make a series of Senate votes Tuesday, met over the weekend with representatives from more than a dozen countries, including ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Kerry sells Democrats' green message in Bali
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSP223030
Reuters: U.S. Senator John Kerry swept into climate talks in Bali on Monday saying an administration run by the Democrats would mean the difference between night and day on policies to fight global warming. Kerry said the Democrats want to do everything President George W. Bush doesn't to fight climate change, namely back mandatory emissions targets and pass a bill to create a cap-and-trade system for carbon dioxide emissions. "I am convinced the politics of 2009 in the United ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
New solar systems
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/12/10/fsummit.climate.solarpower/
CNN: Widespread anxiety about the damaging effects of burning fossil fuels, coupled with a genuine fear that oil and gas will become scarce before the century ends are fueling a renewed interest in renewable energy and, in particular, solar power solutions. The PS10 solar tower plant sits at Sanlucar la Mayor outside Seville, Spain. The solar tower plant, the first commercial solar tower in the world, can provide electricity for up to 6,000 homes. Not since the 1970's, when the ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Nobel winner Gore sees CO2 prices rising
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL1066862520071210
Reuters: Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore said on Monday he expects the price of carbon dioxide emission permits to rise from current levels as the drive to prevent climate change picks up pace. Gore, who will receive his Nobel along with co-winners the U.N. panel on climate change later on Monday, said setting a price on carbon emissions was a must for the world to stop ignoring the invisible, odourless but harmful pollutant. The European Union has the world's biggest market for the ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Australia: Protest halts logging in Styx Valley
http://news.smh.com.au/protest-halts-logging-in-styx-valley/20071210-1g2k.html
AAP: Protesters claim to have stopped logging in the Styx Valley forest in their campaign for World Heritage protection for Tasmanian forests. Up to 10 activists walked into an area known as coupe SX10F of the Styx Valley, west of Hobart, automatically stopping logging, Still Wild Still Threatened spokeswoman Jess Wright said. She said the action was a peaceful occupation of the coupe to highlight the ongoing devastation of Tasmania's heritage valued forests, and the protesters ...
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Report: White House censored scientists
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/12/10/report_white_house_censored_scientists/8193/
United Press International: A U.S. House committee report released Monday suggests the Bush administration has censored government scientists on the topic of global warming. The report drafted by Democratic staff for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee accuses the White House of limiting the media's access to government scientists and of editing congressional testimony, The Hill reported Monday. "The evidence before the committee leads to one inescapable conclusion: The Bush ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Bali turns up the heat
http://torontosun.com/News/World/2007/12/09/4715117-sun.html
Associated Press: Canada was accused of undermining negotiations at the Bali climate change conference by insisting on targets for poor nations yesterday while developing countries led by China again squabbled with the West over mandatory emission cuts. The U.S. negotiator to the conference said bluntly that the U.S. will come up with its own plan to cut global-warming gases by mid-2008, and won't commit to mandatory caps at this UN conference. "We're not ready to do that here," said ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Breakthrough sought at global climate talks
http://news.theage.com.au/breakthrough-sought-at-global-climate-talks/20071209-1fw0.html
Agence France-Presse: Climate change campaigners called Sunday for greater effort in the fight against global warming, saying the world was waiting for a crunch UN conference in Bali to produce a breakthrough. Prominent figures including Nobel-winning former US vice president Al Gore and UN chief Ban Ki-moon are due to arrive on the Indonesian resport island in the coming days as the climate change summit enters its crucial final week. "The whole year has been pointing at the Bali ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Deforestation a key issue at warming talks
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22164181/
Washington Post: As 12,000 people gathered in Bali this week to begin framing a global response to Earth's warming climate, efforts to close a deal that would slow destruction of tropical forests appear to be the best prospect for a concrete achievement from the historic assemblage. But the deforestation issue is also Exhibit A for the disputes that have made climate negotiations lengthy and divisive despite widening agreement that global warming is real and largely man-made. While scientific dispute ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Huge expansion for wind turbines
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7135299.stm
BBC: There could be more than two offshore wind turbines per mile of UK coastline under plans being set out by ministers. Business Secretary John Hutton says he wants to open up British seas to allow enough new turbines - up to 7,000 - to power all UK homes by the year 2020. He acknowledged "it is going to change our coastline", but said the issue of climate change was "not going away". The thrust of the idea was backed by Tory Alan Duncan: "We're ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Norway pledges billions for rainforest preservation
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2143875.ece
Aftenposten: "This is fantastic," said an enthusiastic Lars Haltbrekken of Norway's chapter of Friends of the Earth (Naturvernforbund). He has earlier criticized the government for failing to come up with sufficient concrete measures to halt global warming. Rainforest preservation is viewed as an important means of reducing carbon emissions, because it can halt the burning that often comes with deforestation. Some experts claim that stopping the destruction of the world's rainforests is ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
UN climate chief says science clear, move on
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKL0915325220071209
Reuters: The science on climate change is indisputable so the world must now act to limit greenhouse gas emissions or face "abrupt and irreversible" change, the head of the Nobel prize-winning U.N. climate panel said on Sunday. But Rajendra Pachauri, head of the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said the industrialized world did not have a moral right to force poorer nations to slash emissions that may stunt their growth. "The science is ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Amazon clearing falls, but eco fears stand
http://www.theage.com.au/news/climate-watch/amazon-clearing-falls-but-eco-fears-stand/2007/12/08/1196813083358.html
Age: BRAZIL has announced a sharp drop in the rate of Amazon deforestation, but environmentalists warn it could be a short-term trend masking a broader threat against the rainforest. Brazil's environment ministry reported that the rate of Amazon destruction dropped 20 per cent between August last year and July this year. The report came the same day an environmental group warned that climate change, together with deforestation, could wipe out or severely damage nearly 60 per cent of ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Bali needs to know - can China go green?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/09/IN2HTP07B.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: As international diplomats gather in Bali to try to begin negotiating a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, their toughest challenge is how to deal with China's fast rise as the world's leading source of greenhouse gases. At the talks, which began Dec. 3 and continue until Dec. 14, no binding agreement is likely to be reached on cutting emissions. The Bush administration refuses to consider such a pact unless China also does so and China says wealthy nations must go first. Not ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Britain plans big move towards wind power: paper
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL0936801820071209
Reuters: Britain is planning to boost wind power generation to produce enough electricity to power every home in the nation by 2020 in a policy shift signaling less reliance on nuclear energy, the Independent newspaper on Sunday reported. Britain's secretary of state for business, John Hutton, will announce on Monday that he will open up the seas around Britain to wind farms in a big renewable energy initiative and a reversal from a previous push towards nuclear power. "By 2020 ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Business runs out of green energy supply
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/09/renewableenergy.windpower
Observer: Britain is running out of renewable energy as a surge in demand from businesses has outstripped electricity by wind farms, hydropower and waste gas burning. Interest in cutting carbon has far exceeded new supplies of zero-carbon power - creating a potential headache for companies which have pledged to become 'carbon neutral'. The issue has been seized on as evidence of the serious problem of new renewable energy schemes being held up by planners, even though the government is ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Canada says no climate deal without US, as stalemate looms at UN talks
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hDZsLYIRaJU54tz_czpWkunQGiRw
Canadian Press: Canada's environment minister has dismissed the notion of signing a climate-change treaty without the United States, saying it would handicap the economy without reversing greenhouse gases. As the world gathers in Bali to work toward a successor treaty to the Kyoto accord, the Americans are already making it clear they will not submit to binding emissions targets. In an interview with The Canadian Press, John Baird said Canada hopes to reach a deal within two years but only if ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Coral 'facing extinction'
http://www.theage.com.au/news/climate-watch/coral-facing-extinction/2007/12/08/1196813083364.html
Agence France-Presse: ASIAN delegates at UN climate change talks yesterday renewed calls to protect the region's huge stock of coral reefs, partly blaming global warming for their alarming decline. Six South-East Asian and Pacific nations have launched a joint initiative to save the "coral triangle" that contains more than half the world's reefs, considered building blocks for marine life. "I regret to say that marine resources of our countries and our regions are threatened by climate ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Indonesia: Dutch minister visits Kalimantan to discuss deforestration, peatland and forest fires
http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/12/9/dutch-minister-visits-kalimantan-to-discuss-deforestration-peatland-and-forest-fires/
Antara: Dutch Development Cooperation Minister Bert Koenders and his entourage arrived in Central Kalimantan`s provincial capital of Palangka Raya on Saturday to discuss matters related to deforestation, peat land and forest fires in the province with Governor Teras Narang. "Kalimantan has serious problems related with deforestation, peat lands and forest fires, and thus we have offered our cooperation assistance to deal with them," Koenders said after being given a traditional welcome ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
European Biofuel 'Folly'
http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/155981/1/
OneWorld U.S.: European plans to provide 20 per cent of EU energy from renewable sources - which are contained in a leaked draft of the EU renewable energy directive - have been warmly welcomed by Friends of the Earth. But, the environmental campaign group warned that plans for a huge increase in agro-fuels (biofuels) seriously undermine the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help the world's poor. A leak of the draft directive (which is due to be published in January 2008), says that ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Food production in South Asia may collapse this century
http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=60356
Indo-Asian News Service: Global warming may lead to a collapse in food production in South Asia by the end of the century, say the World Bank and scientists from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) who launched a $140 million initiative to develop "climate-ready" farming and forestry systems here Saturday. As over 10,000 delegates from 187 countries attended the Dec 3-14 UN conference on climate change, CGIAR called on the international community "to step up ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Forest preservation plan debated at climate talks
http://www.afriquenligne.fr/news/daily-news/forest-preservation-plan-debated-at-climate-talks-2007120913034/
Afriquenligne: Delegates at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Indonesia are wrestling with a proposal that would allow developing nations to earn billions of dollars through carbon trading by leaving idle forests such as those in Borneo, the Amazon and Congo basins. The news comes on the same day that it was announced that forest clearance in the Amazon Rainforest was falling compared to previous years. Delegates from about 190 countries are negotiating a plan for private ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Gore and UN climate scientist meet Norwegian leaders, media before Nobel peace prize ceremony
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/09/europe/EU-GEN-Norway-Nobel-Peace.php
Associated Press: Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations' chief climate scientist met Norwegian leaders early Sunday to kick off the official program leading up to them accepting the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo on Monday. Gore and the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shared the coveted award for their efforts to draw the world's attention to the dangers of global warming. When he arrived on Friday, Gore urged countries meeting at a climate ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Gore Says Carbon Emission Cuts Essential
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/09/AR2007120901346.html
Associated Press: Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore said Sunday that reducing carbon dioxide emissions is essential to the "survival of our civilization" _ and reiterated he had no plans to run for president. At a joint news conference with the U.N.'s chief climate scientist, Gore called for grass-roots movements worldwide to push political leaders into action to curb the emissions that contributed to global warming. "It is a question of the survival of our civilization," Gore ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Gore warns CO2 cuts needed for survival of civilization
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200712091964.htm
Associated Press: Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore said Sunday that reducing CO2 emissions is essential to the ``survival of our civilization'' _ and reiterated he had ``no plans'' to run for U.S. president. Gore, speaking at a joint news conference with the chief U.N. climate scientist, said cutting emissions was ``in our self-interest.'' ``It is a question of the survival of our civilization,'' Gore told reporters in Oslo. The former U.S. vice president and the U.N.'s ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
It's developed vs developing nations at Bali meet
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/its-developed-vs-developing-nations-at-bali-meet/53891-11.html
CNN-IBN: Who should pay the price? It's a question at the heart of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali. India says the West should shoulder the burden of capping carbon emissions, since its per capita emissions are up to 20 times higher than in India. But leaders of the US delegation to Bali insist that expanding economies like India and China must act quickly as well. "We could bring our emissions to zero in the developed world and not have a significant impact on the ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Indonesia: Jakarta faces perils of warming, inaction
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-warming_goering_bddec09,1,4382177.story
Chicago Tribune: Thousands of climate change experts from throughout the world are gathering in Bali to start the politically tortuous process of turning new scientific evidence about the perils of climate change into policy to act on the problem. To see the potential perils of inaction, they need not look far. Indonesia's low-lying capital, Jakarta, has long suffered seasonal flooding. But climate change, combined with a failure by politicians to address factors contributing to flooding, means ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Kyoto turnaround 'worth billions' to Australia
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/kyoto-turnaround-worth-billions/2007/12/09/1197135280063.html
AAP: Australian clean energy businesses are leaving the embarrassment of the past behind as they prepare to inject an additional $A20 billion into new projects over the next decade, following the Rudd government's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Until now, the Australian renewable energy industry has lagged the rest of the developed world, and even some developing countries like China and India, due to a lack of political will and regulatory support. But the cloud has been ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Market forces essential to halting global warming: Gore
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jTgqt91jaTdJt5-5dSWGwnEXY4lA
Agence France-Presse: Global markets could become a leading tool for halting global warming, former US vice president Al Gore said on Sunday, a day before he was to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change. Gore, who will receive the prestigious prize along with the United Nations' top climate panel, called for taxes on carbon dioxide emissions and the creation of a global emissions trading market to help stem global warming. "We have to find a way to enlist the energy and ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Ministers plan wind power 'revolution'
http://www.epolitix.com/EN/News/200712/8e5ed995-7b0a-48cf-a13c-dfc6fd959bd3.htm
ePolitix: The government is to announce plans to build enough off-shore wind farms to power every home in Britain. Business secretary John Hutton is expected to announce the major expansion in renewable energy during a speech in Berlin on Monday. Up to 7,000 turbines could be installed around the UK's coastline - more than two per mile - with the aim of producing 34 gigawatts of electricity by 2020. Currently wind is the source of only one gigawatt of power in the UK, and the ...
Sun, 9 Dec 07
Nations bicker over 'green' goods trade
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22896858-12335,00.html
Australian: RICH and poor countries failed today to agree on a plan to open up trade in green goods, with Brazil fearing a major US-EU proposal raised on the fringes of climate talks in Bali was a protectionist ruse. At the end of two days of talks involving officials from 32 nations, including 12 trade ministers, a final news conference descended into farce as Brazil and the United States swapped recriminations. The proposal involves cutting import tariffs on a list of 43 environmentally ...
Sun, 2 Dec 07
Greenhouse Villain Could Be a White Knight After All
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/automobiles/02COOL.html?ref=automobiles
New York Times: THE European Union is serious about reining in the release of gases that contribute to global warming. As of Jan. 1, 2011, air-conditioning systems for all new European-made vehicles must begin the switch to a refrigerant other than the current formulation, known as R134a. If there is a familiar ring to this development, it's because the predecessor of R134a was itself banned for environmental reasons. While the effects on the earth's atmosphere are different this time, the scramble ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
United States: Algae fueling renewable energy research boom
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/12/01/money/doc474f914cc6e12742083662.txt
Associated Press: The 16 big flasks of bubbling bright green liquids in Roger Ruan's lab at the University of Minnesota are part of a new boom in renewable energy research. Driven by renewed investment as oil prices push $100 a barrel, Ruan and scores of scientists around the world are racing to turn algae into a commercially viable energy source. Some varieties of algae are as much as 50 percent oil, and that oil can be converted into biodiesel or jet fuel. The biggest challenge is slashing the ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Bali Talks Aim to Set Path for Post-Kyoto Pact
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119647493503310298.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Wall Street Journal: When the United Nations Climate Change Conference kicks off next week in Bali, Indonesia, delegates will be riding bicycles between meetings and shedding their suit jackets to save energy on air conditioning. The U.S. delegation, eager to convey a new spirit of cooperation on the issue, will be going casual. "Any chance I get to break out the flip-flops, I take," says James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, who will be ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Calif. leads, struggles with emission-capping plan
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2007-12-01-california-emission-caps_N.htm
USA Today: For all the praise and attention California has received for its landmark emissions-reduction plan, it's becoming clear that signing the legislation was the easy part. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has promoted the state as a world leader in reducing greenhouse gases, telling audiences from Great Britain to the United Nations that the law is a template for the nation and other countries to follow as they seek ways to reduce global warming. Schwarzenegger's sales pitch prompted ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Fuel efficiency and the American driver
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/01/news/economy/fuel_efficiencysat/
CNN: More hybrids. More diesels. Smaller engines and fancier technology. And an initial sticker price increase that could total a couple thousand dollars. Those are the likely outcomes now that Congress has decided to increase the national fuel efficiency standards to 35 miles a gallon by 2020, from the current average of 25. The House and Senate, after months of negotiation and lobbying, agreed to the new standards late Friday night. The deal should spur resolution next week of a ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Australia: Garrett facing his first forest fire
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/political/garrett-facing-his-first-forest-fire/1096615.html
Canberra Times: Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett faces a tough early test of his new portfolio powers after a Federal Court decision yesterday to allow logging in the Wielangta forest on Tasmania's east coast. Under federal law, Mr Garrett has the power to intervene to prevent logging of the old growth rainforest. If he refuses to act, furious opposition is expected from the Greens and peak conservation groups, which would quickly embroil the newly elected Labor Government. Greens ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Lawmakers Set Deal on Raising Fuel Efficiency
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=88945
New York Times: Congressional negotiators reached a deal late Friday on energy legislation that would force American automakers to improve the fuel efficiency of their cars and light trucks by 40 percent by 2020. The proposal, which would require automakers to achieve 35 miles per gallon on average, is similar to a measure that was passed in the summer by the Senate but was bitterly opposed by the auto companies, who argued they did not have the technology or the financial resources to reach that ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Planet's future at stake as delegates gather in Bali for climate conference
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/01/asia/AS-GEN-Bali-Climate-Conference.php
Associated Press: The future of the planet may be at stake. Delegates from 190 countries gather on the resort island of Bali over the next two weeks to try to head off a scientific forecast of catastrophic floods and droughts, melting ice caps, disappearing coastlines and deadly heat waves. As they begin negotiations on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012, they will largely tinker with and test phrasings and nuance. Some words – "commitments," "binding," ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
The climate for change is here, now and urgent
http://www.theage.com.au/news/editorial/the-climate-for-change-is-here-now-and-urgent/2007/11/30/1196394621009.html
Age: THERE could be no more appropriate, or potentially inspirational, location than Bali for the annual meeting of the signatories to the UN Climate Change Convention. When delegates gather on the "Island of the Gods" on Monday to begin crucial talks on the future of the earth's climate, they will at once witness the startling, fecund beauty that nature has bestowed and be reminded of what could be forever lost if the world fails to agree on unified action to stem the potentially ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
A Rising Number of Birds at Risk
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=88948
New York Times: Relentless sprawl, invasive species and global warming are threatening an increasing number of bird species in the United States, pushing a quarter of them – including dozens in New York and New Jersey – toward extinction, according to a new study by the National Audubon Society and the American Bird Conservancy. The study, called WatchList 2007, categorized 178 species in the United States as being threatened, an increase of about 10 percent from 2002, when Audubon's last study was ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Beware Kyoto penalties, UN warns Australia
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/beware-kyoto-penalties-un-warns-australia/2007/11/30/1196394622447.html
Sydney Morning Herald: THE United Nations' chief climate negotiator says the Rudd government's decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol is more than symbolic - and warns it faces penalties if it fails to meet its targets. Yvo de Boer applauded the decision to ratify the protocol, and said it would make "a big difference" to Australia's standing at global climate talks in Bali which begin on Monday. But he warned that if it fails to meet its greenhouse gas emissions target, "Australia is ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Australia: Climate change to force up prices 17%
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22850721-2862,00.html
Herald Sun: VICTORIAN families face paying hundreds of dollars more on their energy bills as climate change policies flow through to households. The State Government yesterday confirmed electricity and gas prices would jump from January 1, bumping up annual bills by as much as 17.6 per cent. But more pain is expected to follow. The cost of Australia signing the Kyoto agreement and renewable energy targets will drive costs up in future years. Bills will surge even more if ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Climate Change: Latin America Wants Rich Nations to Foot the Bill
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40312
Inter Press Service: Latin American governments will call for greater commitments from industrialised countries to curb climate change and to provide financial support for developing countries to deal with its effects. That is the plan Latin America takes to the 13th Conference of Parties (COP13) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Dec. 3-14 in Bali, Indonesia. The industrialised nations promised to contribute to a special fund for climate change adaptation measures, but ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Emissions road map a crucial mission
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/emissions-road-map-a-crucial-mission/2007/11/30/1196394619057.html
Sydney Morning Herald: Despite mounting fears over climate change, the task facing the world's environment ministers when they arrive in Bali on Monday for the "make or break" United Nations meeting is stunningly simple. Will their governments heed the warning of their scientists and agree to launch negotiations for a climate agreement that will stop the planet's temperature rising by more than two degrees? And can they produce a "road map" that will get this global agreement signed in ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Australia: Kyoto, here we go
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22850049-30417,00.html
Australian: TEAM Rudd is about to descend on the UN climate change negotiations in Bali. The long-awaited two-week talkfest kicks off on Monday, with the second week emerging as the scene for an emphatic display of intent from the new Rudd government for domestic and international consumption. The 10,000 delegates will be tripping over the biggest Australian delegation to attend these climate change talks since they started 13 years ago, and probably the biggest ministerial delegation in ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Merkel Urges Rich Nations to Keep Promise on Climate Change
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2981108,00.html
Deutsche Welle: Ahead of the Bali conference, German Chancellor Angela Merkel Saturday, Dec. 1, urged the EU and G8 industrial nations to live up to promises on climate change. Her own country is ready to set an example, she said. The EU and the G8 summit in Germany earlier this year "took international decisions to do more for climate protection," the chancellor said in her weekly podcast. "In particular we need a successor agreement to the Kyoto protocol that expires in ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Australia: Rudd stand on Kyoto cheers UN
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/rudd-stand-on-kyoto-cheers-un/2007/11/30/1196394625535.html
Age: THE United Nations' chief climate negotiator has applauded the Rudd Government's decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, saying it would make a big difference to Australia's standing at the global climate talks in Bali, which start on Monday. But he warned that Australia would face penalties if it failed to meet its Kyoto target to limit greenhouse gas emissions. "Australia is stepping into a legally binding international instrument that would oblige Australia to meet its ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Canada: Tap U.S. for oilsands bill: Mar
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/story.html?id=cdcc7570-ba5a-4331-84a7-575480f9a4c4&k=40078
Edmonton Journal: As the provincial government's new representative in Washington, Gary Mar realizes he'll face many tough questions about the Alberta oilsands' environmental footprint. His reply: the military money the U.S. government spends to safeguard its access to foreign oil would be better spent on helping clean up Alberta's act. "There is tremendous effort required by the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy to protect shipping lanes the tankers run through and to protect docks and refinery ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Canada cited for poor greenhouse gas record
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071201.MKECOLAB01/TPStory/Business
Globe and Mail: Canada ranks as the fourth best place to live in the world, according to the latest United Nations Human Development Index, but also gets special mention in the UN report for its poor record in reducing greenhouse gases. It notes that GHGs have jumped by five tonnes per person in Canada since 1990, a rise that far surpasses the total per-capita emissions of China. Parliament Hill, Bay Street and academe were almost beside themselves in indignation this week, arguing what to do about ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Chancellor Merkel: Germany should be an example at Bali climate conference
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/01/europe/EU-GEN-Germany-Climate.php
Associated Press: Germany should set an example for other nations at the upcoming Bali climate conference, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday in her weekly podcast. Merkel, who has made combatting climate change a keystone of her government's program and of the country's presidency of the G-8 and EU this year, said the Dec. 3-14 conference in Bali is a crucial one. "A timetable must be decided upon in Bali under which we negotiate a successor agreement to Kyoto by the end of 2009," ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
China's Average Temperature Rises to 56-Year High, Daily Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aXNPyZavkRLw&refer=asia
Bloomberg: China's average temperature in the first 11 months of this year reached 11.3 degrees Celsius (52.3 degrees Fahrenheit), the highest level since 1951, China Daily said, citing a China Meteorological Administration official. This year is also the 11th year China has seen abnormally high temperatures in the wake of global climate change, Jiao Meiyan, spokeswoman of the administration was cited as saying. Last month, China had droughts in the southern parts of the country, heavy ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Coal use called greatest threat to our climate
http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MDYmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcyMjgwMTEmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk0
North Jersey: To stop climate change, the nation must "stop coal," a top environmental architect urged during a speech at Ramapo College's conference on climate change. Edward Mazria, who has led efforts nationwide to build more-energy-efficient buildings, said the only way to control global warming is "an immediate moratorium on all new coal-fired power plants in the United States" and a phaseout of older coal plants. "Climate change is the greatest challenge we ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
United Kingdom: Fierce weekend weather may belie another mild winter
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/2007/dec/01/1
Guardian: Wet and warm: that is the forecasters' prediction for winter. It seems unlikely that manufacturers of de-icer are going to make a packet and the chances of a white Christmas look remote. Forecasters agree that winter will blast in this weekend with heavy showers and very high winds, gusting up to 70mph. They also generally agree on prospects for December, January and February, but are hedging their predictions. According to the Met Office, last year's UK winter was the ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
United States: Rationing could replace water restrictions if drought continues
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/story.php?storySection=Local&sid=51178
Santa Cruz Sentinel: The blue skies and sunshine of the past month provided plenty of opportunity for outside play, but the nice weather is beginning to worry some in Santa Cruz County. If rain doesn't start falling soon, come summer the restrictions placed on water use in parts of the county this year could turn into rationing. Overall, the region has only received two-thirds of the rain expected in an average year -- and November was particularly dry. What's worse is the rainfall shortage ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Rhode Island governor unlikely to meet wind power goal by 2011
http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2007/12/01/rhode_island_governor_unlikely_to_meet_wind_power_goal_by_2011/
Associated Press: Gov. Don Carcieri pledged nearly two years ago to bring wind power to a state where there is just one operating wind turbine. His goal was to get 15 percent of the state's electrical power from wind by 2011 -- which would require about 100 turbines. That goal now seems unlikely because no one has decided where to put a wind farm, it's not clear how the project will be paid for and public opposition -- a major wild card -- is unknown, according to Carcieri's top energy adviser, Andrew ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Australia: Rudd plus four accept Bali invite
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22851367-30417,00.html
Australian: KEVIN Rudd will take a record four senior ministers to crucial UN talks in Bali later this month as he heads Australia's biggest-ever foreign delegation in a statement of intent on climate change. The two-week meeting of the UN convention on Climate Change starts on Monday as the Rudd ministry is being sworn in. The new prime minister is expected to move to begin ratification of the Kyoto Protocol at the following cabinet meeting, although it will not formally come into effect ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Temperatures rise in China
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s2107102.htm
Radio Australia: Average temperatures in China rose this year to their highest level since 1951. National meteorological officials told state media it is the 11th straight year for the country to experience an abnormally high temperature against the global backdrop of climate change. China's economy has boomed at nearly double-digit rates over much of the past 25 years, and it is now one of world's biggest emitters of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
Sat, 1 Dec 07
Texas mayors promote fluorescents as "state bulb"
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKN3033929420071201
Reuters: Texas will have a favorite state bulb -- a light bulb -- along with a state flower and a state song if mayors of five large Texas cities have their way. To kick off a statewide campaign to get residents to replace old light bulbs with energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs, Texas mayors vowed to launch an effort to make the bulbs available, to encourage their use and to suggest that people give them as gifts for Christmas or other occasions. "Individual Texans can save ...
Sat, 1 Dec 07
US can 'cut emissions without hitting economy'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/01/eaemissions101.xml
Telegraph (UK): Americans have been reassured that they will not have to sacrifice too much in order to slash the country's greenhouse gas emissions. More efficient cars and appliances will allow the present US lifestyle to continue, a new report says, rejecting expectations that Western economies will be hit hard by measures to tackle global warming. "You may have different lightbulbs and your car may be made of different materials but basically we've assumed that consumer lifestyles ...