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Mon, 30 Jun 08
Battle Looms Over Oil Drilling Off Florida's Coast
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49077/story.htm
Reuters: For decades opposition to oil drilling off Florida's coast was one of the few issues uniting the state's Democrats and Republicans, who agreed that shielding the environment and the huge tourism industry came first. Not now, as oil prices rise and US motorists are paying serious prices at gasoline pumps. Last week Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican who often sounds like a Democrat, shattered the consensus by calling for an end to a federal moratorium on oil and gas ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
Canadian Province Under Fire Over Carbon Tax
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49081/story.htm
Reuters: Civic leader Scott Nelson says he is as worried as anyone about global warming, but that does not make him happy to be one of the first North Americans to pay a carbon tax to curb climate change. Nelson, the mayor of Williams Lake, British Columbia, says record high energy prices mean that the levy, for all its good intentions, could not come at a worse time for residents in his community, a small lumber and ranching town about 525 km (340 miles) north of Vancouver. "The ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
New wave in energy: Turning algae into oil
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/30/business/renalg.php
International Herald Tribune: Algae, those simple, aquatic plants, are composed of carbohydrates, proteins and plant oil. The algal oil can be processed into biodiesel or nonpetroleum gasoline, the carbohydrates into ethanol, and the protein into animal feed or human nutritional supplements. The whole biomass can generate methane, which can be combusted to produce electricity. Processors can extract chemicals to replace petrochemicals. As algae grows, it absorbs carbon dioxide. And it can be used to clean sewage ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
Blair Urges G8 Pact on 2050 Emissions Halving Goal
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49074/story.htm
Reuters: Former British prime minister Tony Blair urged the Group of Eight rich nations on Friday to agree to a global goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, despite signs top carbon emitter the United States would not back the target. "What we should do this year is to establish the workplan necessary so that we can get an interim target next year that is realistic," Blair told a news conference. "For this year's Japan G8, the essential thing is -- get the ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
Climate plans must involve all countries
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23942561-7583,00.html
Australian: THERE has been an enormous shift in opinion in recent years about climate change. Scientists and political leaders are now united over the threat and the need for action. But there is a danger of a chasm on the size and speed of the cuts to greenhouse gas emissions we require. Scientists say cuts of between 25 per cent and 40 per cent in industrialised countries by 2020 are essential to hold temperature rises down and lessen the risk of catastrophic, irreversible climate change. ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
G8 May Invest US$10 Bln/Year in Technology to Cut CO2
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49068/story.htm
Reuters: The Group of Eight wealthy nations are looking at investing more than US$10 billion a year to support new technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, including carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS), a Japanese daily reported on Sunday. A draft statement on economic issue is being considered for release at the July 7-9 summit of G8 leaders in Hokkaido, northern Japan, the business daily Nikkei said. The G8 countries plan to fund research to develop CCS projects, which ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
Greenpeace Crashes Coal Meeting Using Phony Front
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49078/story.htm
Reuters: The environmental group Greenpeace posed as a pro-coal organization to become a sponsor of the 2008 McCloskey Coal USA conference and deliver an anti-coal message at the gathering, officials said on Friday. When The McCloskey Group figured out that the Institute for Energy Solutions was really Greenpeace, they decided to let the group retain its booth under the phony name and make brief remarks, organizers said. The conference managers did take the precaution of adding ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
Canada: Winter Did Not Stop Pine Beetle Spread in Alberta
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49066/story.htm
Reuters: Cold temperatures did not stop the spread of pine beetles in Alberta this winter, and it may be too late to eliminate the tree-killing insects from the province, officials said Thursday. Cold winter temperatures slowed the growth of the beetle population in parts of the province, but a survey this spring indicates thousands survived in much of southwestern Alberta and in pockets elsewhere. "Pine beetles may be here to stay in Alberta," Sustainable Resource Development Minister Ted Morton said ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
Australia: Nelson warns Coalition may not back Rudd on climate change
http://www.theage.com.au/national/nelson-warns-coalition-may-not-back-rudd- on-climate-change-20080629-2yxy.html
Age: OPPOSITION Leader Brendan Nelson has flagged a looming confrontation with the Rudd Government on climate change, saying there is "a high probability" that the Coalition will oppose the Government's blueprint to tackle global warming. As world oil prices hit yet another record, and the Government's climate change adviser Ross Garnaut prepares to release his draft report on Friday, Dr Nelson said introducing an emissions trading scheme would make the introduction of the GST ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
Power Needed to Bury CO2 a Coal Issue - Experts
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49079/story.htm
Reuters: A big challenge facing electric utilities seeking to burn coal cleanly is providing enough power to capture and bury the carbon dioxide produced, experts said Friday. The process called carbon capture and sequestration requires as much as 20 percent of the electricity a power plant generates. That essentially means that for every five coal plants using the technology, a sixth would be required just to power the capture and burial of carbon dioxide produced, said Hill & ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
California begins a bold effort to fight warming
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/1045917.html
Sacramento Bee: California is on fire, and it's only June. Smoke turned the sky orange last week, foreshadowing the kinds of extreme weather the West will encounter as the Earth's thermostat continues to rise. Against this backdrop, the California Air Resources Board released a long-awaited plan Thursday to reduce emissions tied to global warming. It's an ambitious plan, with auspicious timing, and it surely is being watched by policymakers around the world. Known as the "scoping ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
Fuel costs threaten appeal of suburbs
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/06/29/fuel_costs_threaten_ap peal_of_suburbs/
Boston Globe: In last week's Globe, reporter Kimberly Blanton and I wrote about the potential for gas prices to spur more Americans to abandon long suburban commutes, by choosing homes closer to Boston and other big cities or seeking towns with access to public transit. The magnitude of these changes is debatable, and will depend a lot on how high gas prices get and how long they stay that way. But as painfully high as gas prices are, and as frustrating as it can be to let them dictate how ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
What the Green Bubble Will Leave Behind
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=102150
New York Times: All the talk about the bad oil bubble obscures the potentially good bubble still inflating in the realm of alternative energy. Wind turbine installations more than doubled last year. Ethanol production capacity will nearly double once all the plants under construction are completed. Investors have given SunPower, a solar panel spinoff from Cypress Semiconductor, a market value much larger than that of its former parent. Such exuberance is characteristic of bubbles that periodically ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
Canada: BC carbon tax kicks in on Canada Day, fuels debate a gas pumps
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gXZEMKJ2kD0cfmnraqDW9zgxazSA
Canadian Press: On Canada Day, British Columbians will likely be paying the highest gas prices in the country, thanks to a new provincial carbon tax that adds almost 2.5 cents to a litre of fuel and has turned service stations into the province's latest political battle ground. Motorists are doing more than filling up at their local gas stations. They're fuming about gas politics. Premier Gordon Campbell admits his government has a selling job to do on its new green tax, the first escalating ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
Major G8 tech investment to fight global warming, report says
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g1Wo2RNROnLwe1hnapYthkbMRKgw
Agence France Presse: The Group-of-Eight industrialised nations will jointly invest more than 10 billion dollars a year on research and development of technology to combat global warming, a report said Sunday. The plan, including research on underground storage of carbon dioxides, is included in a draft joint statement on economic policy to be adopted at the G8 summit scheduled for July 7-9 in Japan, the business daily Nikkei said. Climate change will dominate the summit which will bring together ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
Study: U.S. not meeting renewable fuel goals
http://www.theindependent.com/news/x1743983540/Study-U-S-not-meeting-renewa ble-fuel-goals
Grand Island Independent: High oil prices have people looking at alternative energy sources such as biofuels, wind and solar as a solution to global fossil fuel dependency. But according to a new RAND Corp. study, the United States has a long way to go in developing the necessary renewable energy technology. If the country desires to produce 25 percent of its electricity and motor vehicle fuel from renewable sources by 2025 without significantly increasing consumer costs, additional progress is necessary, ...

Mon, 30 Jun 08
United States: Sumerged Ancient Oaks Help Reduce Global Warming
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2008/2008-06-29-091.asp
Environment News Service: Trees submerged in fresh water store carbon for thousands of years, keeping the carbon dioxide they absorbed while growing out of the atmosphere for a much longer period of time than trees that fall in a forest, researchers at the Missouri Tree Ring Laboratory in the Department of Forestry have discovered. "If a tree is submerged in water, its carbon will be stored for an average of 2,000 years," said Richard Guyette, director of the MU Tree Ring Lab and research associate ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Meltdown: how long does the Arctic have?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4232375.ece
Times (UK): When Marika Holland announced the imminent demise of the Arctic ice cap 18 months ago, she was worried. Her findings, based on predictions from one of the world's most powerful super-computers, had been double-checked and peer-reviewed – but they still seemed extreme. "We were suggesting the Arctic ice cap could disappear in a few decades," said Holland, a senior researcher at America's National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. "We were confident of our ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Can Weeds Help Solve the Climate Crisis?
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=102130
New York Times: Lewis Ziska, a lanky, sandy-haired weed ecologist with the Agriculture Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, matches a dry sense of humor with tired eyes. The humor is essential to Ziska's exploration of what global climate change could do to mankind's relationship with weeds; there are many days, he confesses, when his goal becomes nothing more than not ending up in a fetal position beneath his battleship gray, government-issue desk. Yet he speaks of weeds with admiration ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
China calls for rich countries help on climate change
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/29/2288959.htm
Reuters: Addressing climate change head-on is in China's best interests, but it needs developed countries to do their fair share, President Hu Jintao said in a speech reported by the Xinhua news agency. Mr Hu called on developed countries to step up efforts on emission reduction, and provide financial and technical support for developing countries. China will participate in next month's G8 meeting in Hokkaido, Japan, where climate change is top on the agenda. Countries are trying to set ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
United Kingdom: Emission curbs could close new coal plants
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jun/29/emissionstrading.energy
Observer: Fresh doubts have been raised over plans for new coal-fired power plants after the environment regulator said it expects that those not fitted with expensive carbon capture and storage (CCS) equipment in future will have to close. The government's leading environment adviser, Jonathon Porritt, has also attacked the plan to build up to eight new coal plants, warning they could 'destroy the overall credibility of the government's Climate Change Programme'. In a statement to The ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Malaysia: Sarawak to open more land for oil palm
http://www.nst.com.my/Sunday/National/2280288/Article/index_html
New Straits Times: Sarawak will continue to open up more land for oil palm plantations, Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said here yesterday. He said this would not go against the prime minister's directive on the clearing of land for oil palm plantation as it did not apply to the state. Taib said land earmarked for new oil palm plantations in the state were not permanent forest reserves but land targeted for agriculture since the 1950s. He said the state had taken steps to ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Britons give green light to clean energy
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/britons-give-green-li ght-to-clean-energy-856596.html
Independent: Britons are prepared to back a massive expansion of renewable energy announced by the Prime Minister last week, a startling poll shows. Nearly 60 per cent of respondents told Ipsos Mori that the UK "should invest now in renewable energy even if it increases the price of energy bills", 19 per cent believing this "strongly". On Thursday Gordon Brown promised to increase the amount of energy from renewables tenfold in just 12 years, in what he called "a ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Malaysia: Plantation devt to continue: Taib
http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=37620
Borneo Post: Sarawak government will continue to open up more land for oil palm plantations as the state already has proper conservation measures to protect its forests and wildlife, including the orang utan. The measures long in place should allay the concerns of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who has called for a stop to the clearing of land for such plantations in the Peninsula, to prevent environmental accusations. Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud pointed out ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Ethiopians braced for new famine
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/ethiopia/221 1661/Ethiopians-braced-for-new-famine.html
Telegraph: Last year, the rains were good. Teagistu Gansamo filled the fertile earth of her half-acre plot with maize and bean seeds and, for months afterwards, she and her five children ate well. A year later, she was squatting on a grubby pink blanket outside a rural health centre deep in Ethiopia's south, holding her listless infant son Harony tightly to her chest. She walked eight miles through the heat of the day to bring Harony here to Boricha, 180 miles south of the capital Addis ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Northern California wildfires pollute skies, threaten health
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_9728622?source=rss
Associated Press: Hundreds of lightning-caused wildfires have turned California skies into an unhealthy stew of smoke and ash, forcing the cancellation of athletic events and other outdoor activities across the state. Air quality districts from Bakersfield to Redding have issued health advisories through the weekend, urging residents to stay indoors to limit their exposure to the smoky air. Air pollution readings in Northern California are two to 10 times the federal standard for clean air, said ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Canada: U.S. ad targets oilsands development
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/06/28/6015396.html
Canadian Press: A Washington-based coalition of environmental groups is taking another tongue-in-cheek shot at the Alberta government with a newspaper ad targeting oilsands development. The ad from the Natural Resources Defence Council features a faux postcard from Premier Ed Stelmach inviting western U.S. governors – who begin meetings Sunday with western premiers in Jackson Hole, Wyo. – to hold their next get-together near the tarsands. "We can watch as pristine boreal forests and wetlands ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
US Mayors Resolve to Avoid Burning Tar Sands Oil
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2008/2008-06-28-01.asp
Environment News Service: The U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Miami this week adopted a resolution aimed at avoiding the use of high carbon fuels such as tar sands, liquid coal, and oil shale. The resolution encourages fuel analyses that include emissions from production, not just from burning the fuel. The resolution calls for the creation of guidelines and purchasing standards to help mayors understand the greenhouse gas emissions of the fuels they purchase through their entire lifecycle from ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
World might have already reached the tipping point of climate change
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/world-might-have-already-rea ched-the-tipping-point-of-climate-change_10065534.html
Indo-Asian News Service: Climate experts have warned that the world might have already reached the tipping point of climate change, where immediate actions needed to be done to avert the effects of global warming. According to a report in Discovery News, the scientist who first put forward this theory is NASA climate scientist James Hansen. Though Hansen had earlier warned about the dangers of climate change in 1988, his latest theory determines that we have used up all slack in the schedule for ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
California wildfires prompt President Bush to declare emergency
http://www.ktvn.com/Global/story.asp?S=8573211
Associated Press: President Bush has issued an emergency declaration for California, where hundreds of lightning-caused wildfires have scorched more than 400 square miles. Bush ordered federal agencies to assist firefighting efforts in Butte, Mendocino, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta and Trinity counties. 1 of the largest fires has burned more than 40 square miles near the Big Sur region of the Los Padres National Forest. Authorities have shut down a 12-mile stretch of coastal ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
China's Hu says 'time is limited' in curbing climate change
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080628/sc_afp/chinapoliticswarming_0806281904 54
Agence France Presse: Chinese President Hu Jintao urged renewed efforts to curb global warming on Saturday, stressing "time is limited" in finding efficient solutions to the problem, state media reported. "How we cope with climate change is related to the country's economic development and people's practical benefits. It's in line with the country's basic interests," Hu said according to the official Xinhua news agency. "Our task is tough, and our time is limited. Party ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Geothermal-rich SE Asia struggles to tap earth's power
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSJAK144175
Reuters: Faced with looming energy crises in their developing economies, power-hungry Indonesia and the Philippines are looking deep into the earth for a solution. Both are in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area peppered with volcanoes and home to the world's biggest reservoir of geothermal power. "When I think of Indonesia and energy, I think geothermal. Indonesia has more than 500 volcanoes, of which 130 are active," Lester Brown, president of the Washington-based Earth Policy ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Global warming expert calls on California to do more to cut greenhouse gas emissions
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-climate28-2008jun28,0,5753340.story
LA Times: Global warming celebrity Rajendra K. Pachauri, wearing a green feather in his lapel, toured Northern California on Friday, praising the state's blueprint for addressing climate change but reminding public officials that Europe is moving far more quickly to address the issue. The chairman of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, who recently accepted the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Al Gore, met with legislators, bureaucrats and bigwigs. He also held news ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Global warming leads to fish changes
http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/3a8a80d6f705f8cc/id/376173/ cs/1/
Malaysia Sun: A new analysis in the US has revealed that global warming has led to a long-term shift in composition of coastal fish communities. This finding is a result of a detailed analysis of data from nearly 50 years of weekly fish-trawl surveys in Rhode Island Sound. According to Jeremy Collie, professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, the fish community has shifted progressively from vertebrate species to invertebrates, such as lobsters, crabs and ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
OIL: Prices Won't Be Falling Anytime Soon
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43003
Inter Press Service: Although some policy-makers have blamed producing countries for steadily rising oil prices, many experts say more fundamental factors are a growing demand-supply imbalance, a weak dollar, and market speculation. "Most members of OPEC are already producing at peak capacity, and Saudi Arabia, which has the greatest spare capacity, has been incrementally increasing its production --with the result that its spare capacity has been plunging to relatively low levels," Dariush ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Report: Two-thirds care for environment because it's God's creation
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-06-25-green-god_N.htm
USA Today: From Christians in Hawaii to Buddhists in Connecticut, and from Jews in New York to Muslims in Wisconsin, people of all walks of faith are finding a myriad of ways to care for the environment, according to a first-of-it-kind report from the Sierra Club. According to the report, "Faith in Action: Communities of Faith Bring Hope for the Planet" 67% of Americans said they care about the environment because it is God's creation. Highlighting faith-based environmental ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Canada: A glacier runs through it
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=79d61b91-b5c2-42eb -ae46-01995311fae9
Montreal Gazette: Lev Tarasov,who is intrigued by planet-altering meltdowns, has a novel "plumbing" inspection planned for July. A helicopter will drop him near a five-kilometre-long crevasse field on the Devon Ice Cap in the Canadian Arctic. He and his partner will set up camp and venture off to measure the icy chasms that produce the icebergs peeling off a glacier and crashing into Baffin Bay. Then they'll trek to the coast and use an inflatable boat to study the meltwater pouring out from ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Brazilians to buy Jamaica's sugar company, invest in ethanol
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/28/business/CB-FIN-Jamaica-Brazil-Et hanol.php
Associated Press: Jamaica's agricultural minister says a Brazilian renewable energy company expects to buy the struggling Sugar Company of Jamaica to boost its ethanol production. Minister Christopher Tufton says Infinity Bio-Energy will take over in September. Jamaica will retain a 25 percent share in the company for three years. Officials did not cite a sale amount. Prime Minister Bruce Golding said Friday that the company's six factories have lost a total of US$283 million since Jamaica ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
China calls for help on climate change
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKPEK31122520080628
Reuters: Addressing climate change head-on is in China's best interests, but it needs developed countries to do their fair share, President Hu Jintao said in a speech reported by the Xinhua news agency on Saturday. Hu called on developed countries to step up efforts on emission reduction, and provide financial and technical support for developing countries. China will participate in next month's Group of Eight meeting in Hokkaido, Japan, where climate change is top on the agenda. ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Chinese president urges enhanced efforts to cope with climate change
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/28/content_8454907.htm
Xinhua: Chinese President Hu Jintao is urging the country to contribute further efforts to the global fight against climate change. Hu, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks here on Friday at a group study for the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The study focused on global climate change and the country's ability to tackle the issue. "How we cope with climate change is related to the country's economic ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Colorado water managers plan for climate change
http://www.examiner.com/x-395-Colorado-Water-Examiner~y2008m6d27-Colorado-w ater-managers-plan-for-climate-change
Examiner: What do we know about climate change and the effects on Colorado's future water supplies? Actually that's a trick question. We cannot know with anything with certainty because climate is just too complex. Water managers around the state are focused on planning for the future. That's the nature of their job. For most, the planning has included an analysis of past precipitation and runoff statistics paired with forecasts for population and other uses. Precipitation, runoff dates and stream ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Canada: Dion takes inspiration from Australia in adopting carbon tax club to beat Harper
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5h_ln_HpFyx1MYyBvdf_7L-GF_ofw
Canadian Press: Australia seems to have become something of a role model for Canadian politicians. Prime Minister Stephen Harper drew inspiration from Oz to craft a winning election campaign in 2006. And now Liberal Leader Stephane Dion is looking Down Under for the key to defeating Harper's Conservatives. Indeed, Dion acknowledges his risky decision to make a carbon tax the cornerstone of the upcoming Liberal platform was influenced, at least in part, by the example of Kevin Rudd. The ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Japan PM urges all major emitters to tackle climate change
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gfbs8vnPUk4v1wPaUDtENQTBkNUQ
Agence France-Presse: Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda Saturday urged all major greenhouse gas emitters to tackle climate change as he sought to galvanise efforts ahead of July's G8 summit. "It is necessary for all major emitters to participate in efforts" to fight climate change, he said, speaking in front of lawmakers from the world's eight most industrialised nations as well as five major emerging economies. Climate change "is a borderless problem. It will remain unresolved if only some ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Canada: Northern premiers reject carbon tax plan
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/28/north-carbon.html
CBC: The three northern premiers have rejected Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's plan for a national carbon tax, saying it will just add to the already high costs of energy in the region. Wrapping up a conference in Yellowknife on Saturday afternoon, all three leaders said Dion's plan would be unfair to those who live in Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. "We think there are better ways to deal with this issue than another tax being applied, especially in the North ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
United States: State gives We Energies OK to upgrade Oak Creek power plant
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=766967
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: State regulators approved plans on Friday for We Energies to install new pollution controls at an aging coal-fired power plant in Oak Creek, rejecting calls by environmental and consumer groups to close some or all of the units. The Public Service Commission voted 3-0 to authorize the Milwaukee-based utility to spend $830 million for the equipment – an expense that will be borne by customers. The utility said it had not yet calculated how the upgrades will affect future ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
Tokyo forum calls for tangible measures, prompt steps against ...global warming
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/28/content_8456076.htm
Xinhua: A forum participated by parliament members from the Group of Eight (G8) and other rising countries on Saturday called for tangible measures and prompt steps to check the global warming. At the opening session, British former Prime Minister Tony Blair said the global warming is a problem challenging the entire humankind, and the phase for realizing the problem has concluded. He called on leaders around the world to work out countermeasures against it as soon as possible. While ...

Sun, 29 Jun 08
North Pole could be ice-free this summer, scientists say
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/weather/06/27/north.pole.melting/?imw=Y&a mp;iref=mpstoryemail
CNN: The North Pole may be briefly ice-free by September as global warming melts away Arctic sea ice, according to scientists from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. Scientists say it's a 50-50 bet that the thin Arctic sea ice will completely melt away at the geographic North Pole. "We kind of have an informal betting pool going around in our center and that betting pool is 'does the North Pole melt out this summer?' and it may well," said the center's ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Australia: Climate change strategy splinters Kevin Rudd cabinet
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23934581-601,00.html
Australian: PRESSURE over a new greenhouse gas regime and the looming Garnaut report on emissions trading is fuelling the deepest cabinet divisions over policy and politics since the election of the Rudd Government. Concerns are being aired about the possibility of the Government missing its starting deadline of 2010 for the emissions trading scheme and political backlash over rising costs and compensation for people and businesses affected by the scheme. As part of the cabinet ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Global warming hits the North Pole
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23933457-5012749,00.html
Melbourne Herald Sun: FOR the first time in human history, the North Pole may be briefly ice-free by September as global warming melts away Arctic sea ice. Seasoned polar scientists believe the chances of a totally ice-free North Pole this northern summer are greater than 50-50. The normally thick ice formed over many years at the Pole has been blown away and replaced by huge swaths of thinner ice formed over a single year, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Boulder, Colorado. ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
New report highlights ties between global warming and US security
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0628/p99s01-duts.html
Christians Science Monitor: A new National Intelligence Assessment says that food shortages and migration caused by a warming climate could threaten US national security by aggravating ethnic strife around the globe, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The Washington Post writes that Thomas Fingar, chairman of the National Intelligence Council, delivered the report Wednesday to a joint meeting of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Select Committee on Energy Independence. He ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
United Kingdom: Blair defends record on tackling climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jun/28/tonyblair.climatechange
Guardian: Tony Blair admitted yesterday that he could have done more in his decade as prime minister to tackle the threat posed by climate change. As he launched a report in Tokyo to bridge the "yawning chasm" between climate change "radicals and realists", Blair admitted that Britain would struggle to meet its targets on cutting CO2 emissions. But he defended his record - putting Britain on course to meet its Kyoto targets, introducing the climate change levy and ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Australia: Carbon scheming will be neither free nor easy
http://business.smh.com.au/carbon-scheming-will-be-neither-free-nor-easy-20 080627-2y32.html
Sydney Morning Herald: In a taste of things to come, the political fight brewing over emissions trading crept up a few notches this week. The Opposition unearthed arguments of the economic havoc the Government's plans would wreak, Kevin Rudd hit back with charges of climate change scepticism. But alongside the political squabble, another tussle - with equally important consequences - is shaping up between business interests over the depth of greenhouse gas cuts. No one disputes an emissions trading scheme ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Australia: Confusion reigns in climate response
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23933891-16741,00.html
Australian: BY casting climate change as a moral issue and framing its response through an ideological prism, the Rudd Government is making a tough task much more difficult. Faced with an economic transformation the CSIRO estimates could cost 3 million existing jobs, it is foolish to reject the nuclear option out-of-hand. Whatever people who oppose nuclear power may think, it remains the only proven technology available to produce emissions-free base-load power to replace coal, oil and gas. The ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Australia: Feeling the heat on carbon
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23933803-17301,00.html
Australian: ON Thursday, the last sitting day of the Howard-era Senate, there was a furious debate about torpedoing a measure left over from the previous government aimed at creating tax breaks for carbon-sink forests, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The plan, announced by the Howard government last year as a gesture towards addressing climate change, was to provide tax benefits for industries investing in new forests as an offset to their greenhouse gas emissions. A superficially ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Australia: More climate compo: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23934077-661,00.html
Melbourne Herald Sun: PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has vowed to insulate average families from the impacts of his global warming fight. As oil prices hit a record $140 a barrel, the Prime Minister refused to say if he would include petrol in his carbon emissions trading scheme. But he signalled compensation would go beyond help for pensioners and other vulnerable Australians that he had already committed to. "Our approach to emissions trading . . . is that we will provide support, support to ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Ancient Oak Trees Help Reduce Global Warming
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080627163041.htm
ScienceDaily: The battle to reduce carbon emissions is at the heart of many eco-friendly efforts, and researchers from the University of Missouri have discovered that nature has been lending a hand. Researchers at the Missouri Tree Ring Laboratory in the Department of Forestry discovered that trees submerged in freshwater aquatic systems store carbon for thousands of years, a significantly longer period of time than trees that fall in a forest, thus keeping carbon out of the atmosphere. "If a tree ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
North Pole ice 'may disappear by September'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/06/27/eaice127. xml
Telegraph: Arctic sea ice is now retreating so quickly that scientists say there is now a 50-50 chance that it will have gone completely by September. Three research ships break through Arctic ice near the North Pole The Polar regions have been the first to show the critical changes brought by global warming and it will be a hugely symbolic moment if the North Pole is left surrounded by water. The sight of ships able sailing to the Pole for the first time would be seized on by ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
North Pole may briefly have no ice this summer: US expert
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iU9UOmEQ5-DXROTg33PsMch2Xopg
Agence France Presse: There could be a brief time this summer when there is no ice on the North Pole, a US scientist said Friday, blaming global warming that has melted the Arctic ice sheet over decades. "We could have no ice at the North Pole at the end of this summer," Mark Serreze, a scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, told AFP. "And the reason here is that the North Pole area right now is covered with very thin ice and this ice we call first ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Australia: Rudd Says Government Won't Pursue Nuclear Solution to Climate
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aMqx0W0jUSH4&re fer=australia
Bloomberg: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the nation doesn't need to pursue a nuclear solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The government would look at other renewable energy, including wind and solar, in a bid to reduce its 2000 gas emissions by 60 percent by 2050, Rudd said. Professor Ross Garnaut is due to release a draft on July 4 on how climate change will affect the economy. ``We have a huge range of energy options available to Australia beyond nuclear with ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
United States: Schwarzenegger criticizes McCain's offshore drilling proposal
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-arnold27-2008jun27,0,1954634.sto ry
LA Times: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a veiled swipe at Republican presidential hopeful John McCain on Thursday when he said at a climate conference here that anyone suggesting offshore oil drilling could bring down gas prices was "blowing smoke." The remark was also a dig at his host, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who riled environmentalists, tourism promoters and the state's political leaders on both sides of the aisle last week when he voiced support for McCain's proposal to lift ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
United States: Schwarzenegger says feeding oil addiction no answer
http://www.theusdaily.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=437157
Reuters: Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Friday that politicians who suggest that lifting a ban on offshore oil drilling would ease rising fuel prices in the United States were "blowing smoke." The comment could be seen as a slap at Republican leaders including President George W. Bush and the party's presumptive presidential nominee John McCain, who have recently spoken in favor of more offshore drilling as America tries to wean itself from its dependence on ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Stern claims cost of curbing climate change has doubled
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2220185/stern-claims-cost- curbing
Business Green: Lord Stern has this week warned that the cost of avoiding dangerous levels of global warming has doubled since he published his influential report on the economics of climate change in late 2006. In the report, Stern concluded that one per cent of global GDP would have to be invested in transitioning towards a low-carbon economy if levels of carbon dioxide are to be kept between 450 and 550 parts per million (ppm) – the level scientists claimed would be required to reduce the risk of ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
South Africa: 'Rising seas threat to coastal towns'
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=14&art_id=vn200806 27121313185C117635
Cape Argus: Rising sea levels are likely to have a profound impact on Cape Town in the not too distant future, in particular on the livelihoods and circumstances of poor people, according to an international climate change expert. Addressing a United Nations University project workshop in the city on Thursday, University of London professor David Simon urged city and provincial officials to ensure that global environmental changes were built into plans for the future. More than 40 ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
United States: A Plan to Fight Greenhouse Gas Emissions
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/environment&id=6231331
Associated Press: Governor Schwarzenegger's plan to fight global warming centers on a significant cut in greenhouse gas emissions, but in order to do it, we all have to play a major part that involves some lifestyle changes and even some sacrifices. California's plan to fight global warming depends on forcing oil and gas refineries to produce less-polluting fuels, utility companies to generate a third of their electricity from renewable sources and auto companies to make cleaner-burning cars. ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Australian PM rejects nuclear power as climate change response
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5io6eS5y4bOSNYgqoopwV7lNDlHWA
Agence France Presse: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Friday that the country did not need to adopt nuclear energy to address climate change. The centre-left leader's stance reverses the policy of his conservative predecessor John Howard, who announced plans to embrace the next generation of power plans before he was voted out of office last November. Rudd said his government would pursue other options to combat climate change. "On the question of nuclear, we believe that we ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
California air regulators tackling climate law
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iP-k4qqg6nRWLkO5duGzRvZKc5LQD91I4UMO0
Associated Press: California air regulators on Thursday released the country's most sweeping global warming plan, outlining ambitious measures for cleaner cars, renewable energy and a cap on major polluters. The 75-page draft outlines for the first time how regulators expect to achieve cuts in greenhouse gases mandated under the landmark global warming law signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger two years ago. "This is by far the most significant step yet in California's effort to fill the ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Citing Need for Assessments, US Freezes Solar Energy Projects
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=102067
New York Times: Faced with a surge in the number of proposed solar power plants, the federal government has placed a moratorium on new solar projects on public land until it studies their environmental impact, which is expected to take about two years. The Bureau of Land Management says an extensive environmental study is needed to determine how large solar plants might affect millions of acres it oversees in six Western states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. But ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Climate change causing significant shift in composition of coastal fish communities
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/06/27/climate.change.causing.signific ant.shift.composition.coastal.fish.communities
Science News: A detailed analysis of data from nearly 50 years of weekly fish-trawl surveys in Narragansett Bay and adjacent Rhode Island Sound has revealed a long-term shift in species composition, which scientists attribute primarily to the effects of global warming. According to Jeremy Collie, professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography, the fish community has shifted progressively from vertebrate species (fish) to invertebrates (lobsters, crabs and ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
DDT on Ice
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=102048
New York Times: It has been getting ever harder to pretend that Antarctica is a pristine place. We like to think of it as being scoured clean by hostile winds and extreme cold. But more and more, Antarctica, like the Arctic, shows the lasting scars of human negligence. The effects of climate change are being felt far more strongly at the poles than elsewhere on the planet. Some of the most persistent and dangerous chemicals ever created have accumulated there and remain there. Take DDT, the ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Discouraging driving crucial in warming battle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/27/MNKN11EU9J.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: A sweeping plan to carry out California's landmark law to fight global warming, made public Thursday by the state's air board, addresses a problem that planning groups say has been overlooked in most federal legislation: suburban sprawl. The draft plan, which seeks to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the state by 30 percent by 2020, encourages local governments to create land-use and transportation plans that help them meet reduction targets. The idea is to discourage driving by ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
EU to include airlines in emissions trading system
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/27/business/EU-FIN-EU-Airlines-Carbo n-Trading.php
Associated Press: European Union officials have reached a preliminary deal to include airlines flying to and from the EU in the bloc's strategy to cut carbon dioxide emissions – a move that could raise the cost of flying and provoke a dispute with the United States. Under the deal, reached by representatives of the Slovenian EU presidency and the European Parliament late Thursday, all flights starting or landing in the EU, including intercontinental flights, will be included in the EU's emission ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
European airlines angered by EU 'CO2 tax'
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i5w41FVIDucltfgFxDTXJFoB0JGQ
Agence France Presse: European airlines complained Friday that new EU rules on carbon dioxide emissions will cost them 4.8 billion euros (7.6 billion dollars) a year and threaten their future. Under an agreement reached Thursday, the European Union will set quotas on carbon dioxide, the main gas that causes global warming, on all airlines -- those from Europe and abroad -- from 2012. They would then have to pay for these permits to pollute from 2013. "This decision is going to cost us ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Greenpeace: Nintendo and Microsoft are worst eco-offenders
http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200826/1343/Greenpeace-Nintendo-an d-Microsoft-are-worst-eco-offenders
Tech Herald: Despite carving a fresh niche of success for itself when it comes to offering the most user-friendly and innovative gaming consoles this hardware generation, Japanese giant Nintendo has been slammed in a Greenpeace ranking chart for being the world's most eco-unfriendly electronics manufacturer. The latest quarterly edition of Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics assesses and ranks 18 of the world's most prominent electronics companies based on how environmentally friendly their ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
NASA Scientist Says Global Warming Danger Amounts to 'Planetary Emergency'
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-06-27-voa36.cfm
Voice of America: Two decades after he first told legislators of the dangers of greenhouse gases and global warming, a key climate scientist repeats his message with even greater urgency. Director James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies made his comments at the National Press Club in Washington as he was honored for sounding the alarm over planetary climate change. VOA's Paul Sisco reports.

Sat, 28 Jun 08
New Global Energy Order Emerging
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42999
Inter Press Service: By bringing together the world's major oil producers and consumers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia marked a turning point in the negotiations for a new global energy order that is emerging under the weight of soaring oil prices, which are driven by factors other than supply and demand. "It could be asked whether the 140 dollars per barrel price can be negotiated between OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries), the new actor, which is global capital, and the governments of ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
No move on climate expected at G8 summit: US experts
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iLKLdofe4yjWSPcL8rV_biAaUxeg
Agence France Presse: US environmentalists said Friday they expect no breakthroughs in climate change talks from international players attending the Group of Eight (G8) July 7-9 summit in Hokkaido, Japan. "There has been a very little agreement on actual outcome from that process that will be announced on the final day of the G8 summit on July 9, coinciding with the conclusion of the summit itself," Pew Environment Group Deputy Managing Director Philip Clapp said in a telephone ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Oil prices smash to record high
http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=68aa21d9-448a-42fc-8709-11fc21ba5e52
Canwest News Service: Even as American environmentalists and some politicians are trying to condemn Alberta's oilsands as "dirty," the world appears hungrier than ever for all forms of crude, after oil shot as high as $143 US per barrel Friday. After setting yet another trading record of $142.99, benchmark U.S. oil prices settled at $140.21 in New York, up 57 cents on the day. Analysts say $150 now seems all but inevitable. "I think $140 is sort of a psychological level, but it's just ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Parliament rises with little direction on emissions trading
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/27/2287882.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: There was much sound and fury this week about climate change in general and an emissions trading scheme in particular. But, for all the talking, there was not much of anything that would resemble an actual proposal for the shape of an emissions scheme. That is because there is still some work to be done before the structure of the systems to be proposed by the Government and Opposition will be clear. The draft report of Professor Ross Garnaut's Climate Change Review will ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Renewables closer than nuclear - Greens
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=2&ContentID=81479
AAP: The Australian Greens have slammed a push to reverse the Labor party's opposition to nuclear energy. Former NSW Labor premier Bob Carr and the head of Australia's biggest blue-collar union have called on the Rudd government to re-think its ban on nuclear power. Mr Carr told News Ltd nuclear power was the critical bridge between the carbon era and energy from renewable sources. "There is no other bridging technology to get us from this catastrophic burning of coal and ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Soaring prices put Frankenstein foods back on the menu
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/europe/080627-frankens tein-foods
Radio Netherlands: Rising food prices and climate change have re-ignited the debate over the use of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) in Europe, with the European Commission on a collision course with EU countries over their use. The Commission President, José Manuel Barosso, says GM crops could "play an important role in mitigating the effects of the food crisis", He is calling for a review of the EU's stringent approval rules on GMO's. His comments will put him on a war-path ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Tax-free financing for coal power plants under attack
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssEnergyNews/idUSN2737117920080627
Reuters: Environmental activists and others are opening a new frontier in their fight against coal-fired power plants by questioning the use of tax-exempt bonds to help fund such projects. New York City Comptroller William Thompson earlier this month called on the U.S. Treasury Department to investigate tax-free bond use in financing the plants. He cited the potential for expensive regulatory changes aimed at curbing greenhouse gases, the escalating cost of coal and subsequent risks to ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Tony Blair urges action on climate change
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iTSDuik3ZpDk6LpCSX7fiJv8DPCAD91I9B4O1
Associated Press: The world already knows that global warming is a serious problem and the time has come for politicians and experts to come together to map out a practical solution, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Friday. Urging the Group of Eight industrialized nations to stand behind his initiative, Blair said he gave Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, host of the G-8 meeting next month, a report by The Climate Group, a nonprofit organization Blair is part of, on how to forge a ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Viewpoint: Map of Africa's Changing Climate
http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=635&catID=17
Guardian: On June 10, the very day that Thabo Mbeki of South Africa hosted an environmental conference in Johannesburg, we at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a new atlas, one that depicts Africa's rapidly changing environmental landscape. Africa: Atlas of Our Changing Environment, compiled on behalf of African environmental ministers, underlines how development choices, population growth, climate change and, in some cases, conflicts are shaping and impacting Africa's natural and ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Winners and losers in Australian climate change
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSYD156225
Reuters: Climate change could alter the farming map of Australia, with some agricultural operations moving into the wetter north of the island continent as the major food-producing belt in the south dries up. But shifting large-scale farming north to a wetter, hotter climate would be risky as animals and crops would face a higher frequency of heat stress, said a new report by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Australia's outback, home to large ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Aussies refuse to dump beer fridges for sake of global warming
http://www.australiannews.net/story/375847
Australian News: The beer fridge could soon become passé in Australia, thanks to a recommendation by New Territory (NT) Government, which is asking residents to "retire'' their beer fridges in a bid to tackle climate change. Putting forth a list of "practical actions for NT households,'' the Government urges residents "retire the second fridge or freezer''. According to a Power and Water Corporation brochure, Territorians can save up to 200 dollars a year by getting rid of their ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Australian PM says nuclear energy not an option to climate change
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/27/content_8449950.htm
Xinhua: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said here on Friday that nuclear energy was not considered as a response to climate change, local media reported. "On the question of nuclear, we believe that we have a huge range of energy options available to Australia beyond nuclear with which and through which we can respond to the climate change challenge," he told ABC Radio. Newspaper "The Australian" reported on Friday that former New South Wales Labor premier ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
United States: Big oil, big headaches
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/27/automotive.carbonemissi ons
Guardian: I moved to the US from the UK a few weeks ago and arrived to hear a nation collectively moaning about the price of fuel. Filling up yesterday, unleaded was $3.96 a gallon (about £2). Now the maths gets a little complicated as a UK gallon is slightly different from a US gallon (it's equal to roughly 1.2). But after converting from litres (petrol is currently around £1.18 a litre), Brits are paying about £4.47 for a US gallon across the pond. That's about $8.78. So I started ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Blair calls for steps to climate change
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4fb54804-4463-11dd-b151-0000779fd2ac.html
Financial Times: Governments trying to hammer out a post-Kyoto deal on climate change should not become "fixated on precise targets" but concentrate on practical short-term steps towards halving emissions by 2050, said Tony Blair, former UK prime minister. Mr Blair urged world leaders to bridge what he said was the "yawning chasm" between idealism and realism. He made his plea while in Tokyo to launch a report called "Breaking the climate deadlock" compiled by the Climate Group, a business-sponsored ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
Blair urges G8 to back goal to halve emissions by 2050
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5icxPK7rGXIHc8AqSODCCqKeRej7A
Agence France Presse: Former British prime minister Tony Blair called on leaders from the Group of Eight powerful nations Friday to back a target to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 when they meet next month. Blair said the world must aim for "realistic and practical" solutions to bring on board major polluters, such as the United States and China, as he launched a report by the non-profit Climate Group ahead of the July 7-9 G8 summit in Japan. He urged the G8 industrialised ...

Sat, 28 Jun 08
California plan would cut emissions 30% by 2020
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0627-ca.html
Mongabay: California announced a plan to reduce state greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020. The measures include a cap and trade program covering 85 percent of the state's emissions, incentives for utilities to generate electricity from renewable sources, funding for a high-speed rail, deployment of a massive solar power initiative, and new building codes to reduce waste and improve energy efficiency. The proposal calls for laws that could require oil companies to make cleaner ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
United Kingdom: A revolution on the horizon: 7000 more wind turbines
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/a-revolution-on-the-h orizon-7000-more-wind-turbines-855422.html
Independent: In the next 12 years, 7,000 wind turbines will spring up across the hills and around the coasts of Britain, in a £60bn renewable energy programme outlined by Gordon Brown. They will be the highly visible symbols of what the Prime Minister called "the most drastic change in our energy policy since the advent of nuclear power" – a shift to producing at least a third of UK electricity from carbon-free renewable sources, compared to under 5 per cent today. The aim, set out in a ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Brazil Signs Deal to Export Sustainable Ethanol
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49034/story.htm
Reuters: A group of Brazilian ethanol companies signed a deal to export certified sustainable ethanol to Sweden, in the world's first agreement of such a kind, they said Wednesday. Brazilian groups Cosan, Guarani, NovAmerica and Alcoeste agreed sell to Sweden's Sekab 115 million liters of anhydrous ethanol that will adhere to certain social and environmental standards. "This initiative addresses European consumers' concerns related to the sustainability of ethanol," Martinho ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
New "Carbon Revolution" Urged to Slow Warming
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49043/story.htm
Reuters: The world needs a shift as radical as the Industrial Revolution to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 while safeguarding economic growth, the McKinsey Global Institute said on Thursday. It said in a study that a modern "carbon revolution" to curb global warming would require a tenfold rise by 2050 in the level of economic output for every tonne of greenhouse gases emitted, mainly by burning fossil fuels. "This is comparable in magnitude to the labour ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
EU in Deal on Airline CO2 Emissions - Sources
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49037/story.htm
Reuters: European Union governments struck a provisional deal with lawmakers on Thursday to include aviation from 2012 in the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), a key tool to fight climate change, sources said. A European Parliament spokesman confirmed the Reuters report that a deal had been done, and said details would be officially released in the next few days. Aviation generates 3 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions in the 27-member bloc but has been kept out of the ETS so far ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Australia: Showdown looms on climate
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23929541-7583,00.html
Australian: AUSTRALIA'S energy policy debate is about to erupt. The emissions trading system pledged by Kevin Rudd looms as a policy nightmare that means higher energy and transport prices. And now an old demon has re-emerged, with demands Australia should go nuclear. No, this isn't John Howard. It is the pro-green Bob Carr and the youthful Paul Howes, who runs the Australian Workers Union. And they are far more strident about the need for nuclear power than Howard was before last year's ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
US Not on Board for 2050 Emissions Cut Goal - Source
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49038/story.htm
Reuters: Japan has yet to persuade the United States to agree to a global goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2050 at a G8 leaders' summit, a Japanese government source said on Thursday. Summit host Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda faces the prospect of a diplomatic failure at next month's talks if Washington refuses to agree to a 2050 emissions target. A weak summit showing could erode Fukuda's support rates, which have shown a slight bounce after dropping below 20 ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Australia Starts Reporting for Emissions Trade
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49042/story.htm
Reuters: Australia's government on Thursday released details of a new emissions reporting scheme for major corporations to begin next week, underpinning a national carbon emissions trading system due to kick off in 2010. The regulations, applying initially to around 450 of the country's biggest polluters, spell out how emissions should be calculated and reported, while allowing firms to keep details private if they have commercial reasons. "This new system will play an important ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Climate Breakthrough Unlikely at G8 Summit - UK Envoy
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49041/story.htm
Reuters: G8 rich nations and major emerging economies probably won't achieve a big breakthrough in talks on global warming in Japan next month, Britain's climate envoy said on Thursday, echoing other forecasts for modest progress at best. Climate change is a key topic for the July 8 Group of Eight leaders' summit as well as an expanded meeting the next day with heads of eight other major economies including China and India. But doubts persist as to whether and how far the leaders will ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Japan: Govt to pilot energy efficiency emissions trading system
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20080627TDY01306.htm
Yomiuri Shimbun: As part of its efforts to tackle global warming, the government plans to pilot an emissions trading system in the autumn based on energy efficiency, sources said Thursday. Under the system, individual companies will try to improve on energy efficiency levels that they have already voluntarily agreed to, and disclosed, in an effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, according to the sources. Japanese companies are widely regarded as being particularly energy ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
California Outlines Largest U.S. Global Warming Plan
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=ah4NMbw6DmMk
Bloomberg: California outlined for the first time the broadest U.S. attempt to regulate greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, calling for the creation of a new emissions-trading program and increased renewable-energy production. All parts of the $1.6 trillion economy, the largest of the U.S. states, would be affected. Utilities, refiners, carmakers, farmers, manufacturers and forest managers would be called on to cut pollution under the draft plan released today by the state Air Resources ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
China wind power capacity growing
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKPEK27914820080626
Reuters: China's installed wind power generating capacity is expected to top 10 gigawatts (GW) by the end of this year and to exceed 20 GW in two years, far above government targets, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Beijing said in March that it had raised its target for installed wind power capacity to 10 GW in 2010 from a previous goal of 5 GW, as it seeks to increase the use of renewable energy. Traditional power generators, new investors and even the State Grid Corp, the ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Highlights of long-term energy outlook
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_9702681
Associated Press: Highlights of Energy Information Administration's long-term energy outlook to 2030. The report was released Wednesday: –Global energy demand will increase by 50 percent. The world will continue to rely heavily on fossil fuels, especially coal and oil. –Oil prices could range from $113 a barrel to $186 a barrel by 2030. Oil was trading above $133 on Wednesday. –Emerging economies, including China's, will see energy demand grow by 85 percent. Extensive use of coal and ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Lion die-offs in Africa linked to global warming
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0626-lions.html
Mongabay: Scientists have linked climate shifts in East Africa to die-offs in lion populations in 1994 and 2001. The research is published in the open-access journal PLoS ONE. Analyzing 30 years of data on lion populations and comparing it with precipitation records, an international team researchers found that periods of extreme drought followed by heavy seasonal rains in 1994 and 2001 created conditions for a duel outbreak of canine distemper virus (CDV) and tick-borne Babesia, diseases that ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Looming Tropical Disaster Needs Urgent Action, According To New Report
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080625090253.htm
Science Daily: A major review by University of Adelaide researchers shows that the world is losing the battle over tropical habitat loss with potentially disastrous implications for biodiversity and human well-being. Published online June 25 in the Ecological Society of America's journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, the review concludes we are "on a trajectory towards disaster" and calls for an immediate global, multi-pronged conservation approach to avert the worst ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Malaysia says no more clearing of forest reserves for oil palm plantations
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0626-palm_oil.html
Mongabay: The Malaysian government said it will prohibit forest clearing for the establishment of oil palm plantations. Only areas zoned for agriculture will be allowed to be converted for palm oil production. In comments reported Wednesday by the New Straits Times Online, Malaysia's Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Malaysia will encourage the use of existing agricultural land for oil palm expansion. "We don't have to reduce the protected forests to increase ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Solar Sell: Companies that Mass Marketed PCs Turn to Photovoltaics
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=ibm-hp-intel-solar-power
Scientific American: Although solar cell technology for converting the sun's power into electricity has improved steadily in recent years, high costs and inefficiencies have kept it from being a serious replacement for fossil fuels. A few high-tech heavyweights–IBM, Intel and Hewlett-Packard (HP)–hope to change this using the same formula of mass production and commoditization that helped them make personal computers mainstream over the past three decades. IBM last week announced plans to make solar ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
$4 gas solution: More miles per gallon
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/26/news/economy/fuel_economy_hearing/?postvers ion=2008062615
CNN: Oil speculation has been getting a lot of attention from Congress lately. On Thursday lawmakers took up another possible solution: getting more miles per gallon out of cars Americans drive. Last December, Congress passed the Energy Information and Security Act (EISA), which mandated that the car standards and light truck standards be set high enough to ensure that the combined industry-wide average reaches at least 35 mpg in model year 2020. But since then, the issue has taken ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
United Kingdom: £100bn energy 'revolution' welcomed
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5haMbQFwrF3vylUsSey4JYL0zNUfw
Press Association: Plans to generate a 10-fold increase in renewable energy in the UK will provide thousands of jobs, help tackle climate change and secure power supplies, the Government has said. The renewable energy strategy, which includes plans for 7,000 new wind turbines on and offshore, was broadly welcomed by environmental campaigners. But elsewhere concerns were raised over the £5-£6 billion annual cost to the economy the moves would require, with fears much of it would be passed on to ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Canada: BC introduces climate plan to meet much of its targets to fight climate change
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hoRjVG8odN9JwJkU7g-tFDO7bWLw
Canadian Press: The B.C. government has unveiled a big part of the plan to meet its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The Liberal government has committed to cutting emissions by a third by 2020. A 126-page plan released Thursday is supposed to take the province 73 per cent towards that goal, which Premier Gordon Campbell calls the most aggressive environmental plan in North America. "The plan outlines a road map to a new, prosperous green economy for British Columbia, ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Brazil: Biofuels in Brazil: Lean, green and not mean
http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11632886
Economist: WHEN John McCain laid out his plans for reducing America's dependence on oil to an audience in California on June 23rd, the candidate's keenest listeners were 6,000 miles away in São Paulo. Mr McCain argued that the tariff on imported ethanol of 54 cents per gallon should be scrapped. Others in the Senate (though not Barack Obama) are pushing for it to be reduced. Either way, the case against the tariff has been strengthened by high oil prices and by the June floods that damaged the ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
United Kingdom: Brown heralds 'green revolution', $100b for wind
http://www.scopical.com.au/articles/News/World/7168/Brown-heralds-'green-re volution',-$100b-for-wind
Scopical: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has heralded a new green revolution for the United Kingdom, planning to spend 100 billion Pounds ($207 Billion Australian) on wind turbines and renewable energy. It is one of the largest single investments in Britain's power future, with the Prime Minister labeling it a "green revolution". Mr Brown said it would be "the most dramatic change in energy policy since the advent of nuclear power". The changes are brought ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
California unveils draft carbon cap-and-trade plan
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/califonia-unveils-draft-landmark-cap- and-trade/story.aspx?guid=%7BC4130336-AFA2-414C-976D-F8506C32F642%7D&di st=msr_2
MarketWatch: California released a draft plan on Thursday to reduce the state's projected greenhouse gas emissions by nearly one-third, in part by creating a cap-and-trade program that could serve as a blueprint for a national carbon emissions market. The 77-page "climate change draft scoping plan" lays out the framework for California to meet the goals of a 2006 law signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that requires the state to slash its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
California's plan to cut emissions heavy on mandates
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/06/26/california%E2%80%99s-p lan-to-cut-emissions-heavy-on-mandates/
Christian Science Monitor: In the most ambitious effort yet in the US to reduce greenhouse gases, California will mandate dramatic increases in automobile efficiency, cleaner fuels, and renewable power. The state's Air Resources Board released a regulation-heavy draft plan Thursday to help implement the landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The law, the first of its kind in the US, commits the state to cutting 30 percent of its greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020. Most emission cuts will be ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Drought hit Cyprus to get water imports from Greece
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL26443295
Reuters: Drought-hit Cyprus will start importing water from Greece on Monday in a drastic bid to counter a critical shortage which a senior official blamed on climate change. The first of six tankers which will is due to dock on Monday, carrying about 50,000 cubic metres of water. By November, the island will have imported 8.0 million cubic metres of water from Greece. "The water problem is extremely serious ... I could even say tragic," Cypriot Agriculture Minister Michalis ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Global warming causing plant migration in Europe: study
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hFkioW4JFLbnWuHvYvmfjfn4Az8g
Agence France Presse: Global warming has caused numerous European plant species to migrate to higher elevations over the decades, according to new research published Thursday. The research appears in the June 27 edition of the journal Science, and has potentially "important ecological and evolutionary consequences," the study's authors wrote. A team of international scientists working in mountainous regions of Western Europe compared the natural elevation range of 171 forest plant species ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Green roofs cool cities, combat climate change, say Germans
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/06/26/green.roofs/
CNN: If your neighbor mentions their green roof you might think they have a moss problem. Maybe they are simply referring to the color. But you're unlikely to think that they have just had a mini ecosystem installed. Simply put, green roofs are gardens on your roof. They come in all shapes and sizes and range from a simple layer of turf to bite-sized hanging gardens of Babylon. But green roofs are not just aesthetic. They have important environmental benefits: they absorb storm ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Looking to shave costs, schools turn to solar
http://origin.mercurynews.com/education/ci_9694023
San Jose Mercury News: Gas for school buses is up. So is food for the cafeteria. Ditto for health benefits. So schools are trying to shave another big expense - the monthly electric bill. Increasingly, they're turning to solar panels. To finance the pricey installation costs, they're passing bonds and partnering with third-party businesses. The results are lower costs - and bonus science lessons for students eager to learn about green energy. Milpitas Unified School District broke ground Wednesday to ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
United Kingdom: Renewable optimism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/26/renewableenergy.greenpo litics
Guardian: Britain's renewable energy policies are in a mess. Last year the government "obligated" power companies to make 6.7% of their electricity renewable; the industry could manage only 4.7%. We lag ever further behind Germany, Denmark and many others. Something had to be done. And this time, just maybe, the government is serious with its new consultation document on renewables, published today. There are plenty of reasons to be cynical. Twenty years ago Chris Patten, the then ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Rising temperatures force many plants higher: study
http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSL2680190120080626?feedType=R SS&feedName=scienceNews
Reuters: Rising temperatures have forced many plants to creep to higher elevations to survive, researchers reported on Thursday. More than two-thirds of the plants studied along six West European mountain ranges climbed an average of 29 meters in altitude in each decade since 1905 to better conditions on higher ground, the researchers reported in the journal Science. "This is the first time it is shown that climate change has applied a significant effect on a large set of forest ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Trees climb mountains to escape global warming
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jun/26/scienceofclimatechange.forest s
Guardian: Trees, shrubs and other plants that make up mountainside forests are shifting to higher ground to escape the warming climate, researchers have found. Common species found on mountain ranges across Europe have steadily spread to higher altitudes during the 20th century, thriving on land that is on average 29m higher each decade, records show. French scientists who examined plant records for six mountainous regions, including the western Alps and northern Pyrenees, said their ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
UK Sees 10-Fold Increase In Renewables By 2020
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewarticle+articleid_2316840&titl e=3rd_UPDATE_UK_Sees.html
Dow Jones: The U.K. government Thursday outlined proposals for a tenfold increase in renewable energy by 2020 to meet European Union obligations and shore up energy security by reducing dependence on fossil fuels. This will include about 30% of electricity coming from renewables, 14% from heat and 10% from transport fuels. "This is a green revolution in the making...This is the most dramatic change in our energy policy since the advent of nuclear power," U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
UN to press G8 on food crisis, climate change, poverty
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iHr4_fkkQgnyv3Ukx0L8nJuJQDcw
Agence France Presse: UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Thursday he would press Group of Eight (G8) leaders at their summit in Japan next month to tackle the world food crisis, climate change and the flagging fight against global poverty. On the eve of his departure on a two-week, three-nation Asian tour, the secretary general said the July 7-9 summit in the northern Japanese resort town of Toyako must face the three inter-related crises which demand "our immediate action." He said that before ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
UN's Ban to push medium-term CO2 targets at G8
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN2637584520080626
Reuters: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday he would push at a Group of Eight summit next month for short- and medium-term goals for cutting greenhouse gases and also urge a big rise in agricultural aid. Ban told journalists that before setting out on an Asian tour that will include this year's July 7-9 G8 summit in Toyako, Japan, he would write to each of the group's leaders "laying out my concerns and requesting their leadership." The G8 nations are Britain, Canada, ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Chad: Water and Wood Shortages Worsen
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42982
Inter Press Service: Every morning soon after sunrise, Fatne Abdaraman walks a short distance across the Iridimi refugee camp in eastern Chad hauling a twenty-litre plastic jug. She lines it up along with other women's containers at the water distribution point, then awaits her turn to draw her daily allotment of one of Central Africa's scarcest resources, one that underpins ongoing conflict in the region. Fair access to water and firewood are motivators in rebellions in Chad, Central Africa and the ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Australia Embarks on Greenhouse Gas Reporting System
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2008/2008-06-26-01.asp
Environment News Service: As of July 1, Australian businesses emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases will be required to monitor and measure the emissions ahead of reporting them to the government by October 2009. Senator Penny Wong, minister for climate change and water, said the requirements are part of Australia's new National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System, designed to monitor the heat-trapping emissions responsible for climate change. "The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
British climate envoy grim on G8 prospects
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5glUK8I0BnxiOnffqWIeOxidn-LGQ
Agence France Presse: Britain's negotiator on climate change warned Thursday that the upcoming summit of the Group of Eight rich nations was unlikely to reach a consensus on how to tackle global warming. "We should be careful not to expect too much of the conversations next week," John Ashton told reporters in Tokyo ahead of the July 7-9 summit in the northern resort of Toyako. "We are not going to have a major breakthrough in the global effort on climate change because the conditions ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
California gives details on plan to cut emissions
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/26/america/emit.php
International Herald Tribune: California was to introduce a detailed plan Thursday to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels in 12 years by requiring more energy-efficient appliances and buildings, lowering vehicle emissions and generating 33 percent of its energy from renewable sources. But the greatest source of reductions would come from capping emissions from utilities, industrial facilities and other businesses, while allowing them to use permits to emit authorized amounts of pollutants. The companies ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
California sets roadmap to slash greenhouse gases
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ijIY1j_qci2xLfgNSUKxP9buW8xw
Agence France-Presse: California on Thursday unveiled a roadmap for its goal of slashing greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent over the next 12 years, describing global warming as the biggest threat facing the state. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) released a series of measures and policies in a draft plan which sets out a timetable for achieving emissions standards outlined in a 2006 bill signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Among the measures set out in the plan are proposals for ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Coal-bed methane: Canary in a coal mine
http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11632845
Economist: MINERS and their canaries are used to thinking of natural gas as a potentially deadly impediment to digging up coal. It is present in many seams, and poses a danger to humans and birds alike. But gas is becoming increasingly scarce, while coal remains abundant, so many firms are reversing the normal pattern and harvesting the gas, but ignoring the coal. This business, known as coal-bed methane or coal-seam gas, first took off in America, but has now spread. On June 24th, in a sign that the ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Court says no deadline for EPA on global warming
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iiHXgJ1HkEbBWAZBaB1_l0yXlVAgD91HVIUOH
Associated Press: A federal appeals court has ruled that the Bush administration doesn't have to speed up a decision on whether greenhouse gases blamed for global warming threaten public health. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied a petition by numerous states and environmental groups that asked the court to order the Environmental Protection Agency to make that determination within 60 days. Such a finding is a necessary first step to begin regulating carbon dioxide and ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Duke Energy buys wind company for $240 mln
http://uk.reuters.com/article/privateEquity/idUKN2645192220080626
Reuters: U.S. power company Duke Energy Corp (DUK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday said it bought wind energy company Catamount Energy Corp from private equity firm Diamond Castle Holdings for about $240 million. Catamount has about 300 megawatts of renewable energy in operation, as well as about 1,750 megawatts of development interest in the United States and the United Kingdom. Duke said the deal price does not include $80 million of assumed debt. Duke bought Tierra ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Germany: Fairy-tale town up in arms over decree on solar panels
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/fairytale-town-up-in-arms-ov er-decree-on-solar-panels-855435.html
Independent: The university town of Marburg is where the Brothers Grimm collected many of their fairy tales, and the cobbled streets and medieval buildings look like they could have come straight out of one of their illustrated children's books. Now, following the approval of a new law, the quaint red-tiled roofs may soon have to be adorned with solar panels and the usually genteel residents are up in arms. From October this year it will be mandatory for solar panels to be installed on new ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Global warming chases plants uphill
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080626/sci_plant_retreat.html?.v=1
Associated Press: Faced with global warming, plants are heading for the hills. A study of 171 forest species in Western Europe shows that most of them are shifting their favored locations to higher, cooler spots. For the first time, research can show the "fingerprints of climate change" in the distribution of plants by altitude, and not only in sensitive ecosystems, said Jonathan Lenoir of AgroParisTech in Nancy, France. His team found "a significant upward shift of species ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
It's time for a Green Shift
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/features/viewpoints/story.html?id=2aa d57d2-02d8-4663-9c60-a733891544c7
Montreal Gazette: It's time Canadians stopped coasting on an idea of Canada that every day slips further from reality. It's time we lived up to a reputation as good global citizens that was forged in the trenches and on the beaches of two world wars, that crystallized while wearing blue helmets and handing out tankerfuls of grain to the most weak and vulnerable, and soared as we helped thaw the chills of the Cold War. It's time we stepped up once again, Canada. The global environmental crisis has ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
Study calls for renewable energy progress
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2008/06/26/Study_calls_for_renewable_energy _progress/UPI-79461214499862/
United Press International: U.S. analysts say they've found an urgent need for major progress in technology if even 25 percent renewable energy use is to be affordable. The Rand Corp. study says dramatic renewable energy technology advances are needed if the United States desires to produce 25 percent of its electricity and motor vehicle fuel from renewable sources by 2025 without significantly increasing consumer costs. The study found biomass resources and wind power have the greatest potential to ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
UK launches plan for 7000 wind turbines
http://money.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=587737
Financial Times: Plans to erect 7,000 new wind turbines will be unveiled by the government on Thursday but industry experts are concerned they have not been thought through. The plans are the centrepiece of the government's renewable energy consultation, setting out the means to meet the UK's obligations under European Union proposals to generate 20 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020. As the target includes transport and heating, the UK would have to generate about a third of ...

Fri, 27 Jun 08
United States: Wis. task force OKs global warming recommendations
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-globalwarming-wis,0,1951386.st ory
Associated Press: Wisconsin utilities should track greenhouse gas emissions, the state must spend more on researching emission-control technology, and Janesville's General Motors plant should build fuel-efficient cars rather than close. Those are some of the recommendations Gov. Jim Doyle's global warming task force approved 23-3 Thursday. They'll be combined with suggestions the panel issued in February in a final report. Other recommendations include requiring 10 percent of the state's ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Biofuel use 'increasing poverty'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7472532.stm
BBC: The replacement of traditional fuels with biofuels has dragged more than 30 million people worldwide into poverty, an aid agency report says. Oxfam says so-called green policies in developed countries are contributing to the world's soaring food prices, which hit the poor hardest. The group also says biofuels will do nothing to combat climate change. Its report urges the EU to scrap a target of making 10% of all transport run on renewable resources by 2020. ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
United Kingdom: Britons fear the carbon cops are coming
http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL2459239920080624
Reuters: First there were the thought police, then the surveillance society, now Britons fear the carbon cops are coming to ensure compliance with climate change legislation, a survey showed on Wednesday. And with warnings of global catastrophe ringing in their ears some people fear that failure to cut personal carbon emissions will eventually result in enforced carbon behaviour re-education, the Energy Saving Trust said. It said 41 percent of Britons think the country will need its own ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Carbon-credit schemes fall 30% short of projections, report claims
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/25/carbonemissions.fossilfue ls
Guardian: The vast majority of schemes that sell carbon credits to offset pollution are delivering 30% less than they promise, a report published today claims. The study will be unveiled by Lord Stern at the launch of a service offering ratings similar to those on financial products for the carbon-credit market - which is expected to be worth £160bn-£400bn by 2020. The scale of problems found with existing credit schemes, most operated under United Nations projects, will fuel criticism ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Climate change fight needn't cost the earth - economist
http://www.alertnet.org/db/an_art/1564/2008/05/25-190740-1.htm
Reuters: Curbing climate change would cost no more than 1 percent of global income per year, and the world can afford it, development economist Jeffrey Sachs said on Wednesday. "If we look seriously at mitigation, it is not too expensive," he told a conference in Geneva on the humanitarian impact of climate change. "If we invested around $700 billion per year, we would be able to create a sustainable energy system." The United States spent just $3 billion ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Climate change will impact US national security
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gnBtpuSYQvoxnsCfWh3HwWSZvKxQ
Agence France Presse: Climate change will have sweeping consequences for US national security by 2030 aggravating global poverty and destabilizing fragile countries, a US intelligence report said Wednesday. "We judge global climate change will have wide-ranging implications for US national security interests over the next 20 years," Thomas Fingar, deputy director of National Intelligence for Analysis, told US lawmakers. Fingar testified to the House of Representatives that in some ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
New Jersey's Experiment With Solar Energy Is Watched by the Nation
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=101908
New York Times: With oil prices skyrocketing, demand for solar power is booming. And New Jersey, which has used a rebate program to help install more solar panels than any other state but California, is getting burned by its own success. There is a backlog of more than 700 applications for the rebates, and property owners have to wait months, even years, to get solar panels installed. The program, which is paid for by surcharges on all utility bills, has been shut down several times over the last ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Oxygen-starved oceans rapidly dying
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/oxygenstarved-ocea ns-rapidly-dying/796215.aspx
Canberra Times: The world's coastal oceans are in crisis, with oxygen-starved ''dead zones'' increasing by a third in just two years as global temperatures increase with climate change, according to the International Whaling Commission's latest scientific report. Dead zones, caused by over-enrichment of waters by nutrients from run-off, sewerage and warming waters, represent ''the worst-case scenario for coastal biodiversity'' and are the ''severest form'' of ocean habitat degradation, the report ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Report calls global warming a threat to US security
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/25/climate.change.security/
CNN: Global warming could destabilize "struggling and poor" countries around the world, prompting mass migrations and creating breeding grounds for terrorists, the chairman of the National Intelligence Council told Congress on Wednesday. Climate change could increase flooding in coastal areas, like the flooding that hit the Philippines. Climate change "will aggravate existing problems such as poverty, social tensions, environmental degradation, ineffectual leadership ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Report: Climate change linked to national security
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h4ESkJBTHkEvhYeMB82nkbM9XDBQD91H605O0
Associated Press: Global warming is likely to increase illegal immigration, create humanitarian disasters and destabilize precarious governments and could add to terrorism, all of which could threaten U.S. national security, according to an assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies. "Logic suggests the conditions exacerbated (by climate change) would increase the pool of potential recruits for terrorism," said Tom Fingar, deputy director of national intelligence for analysis, who testified ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Tokyo approves Japan's first greenhouse gas curbs
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hH8w-vFg3PeJoSRGtGeRIipd08rw
Agence France Presse: Tokyo's local government on Wednesday ordered Japan's first mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and set up a carbon market, moving faster than the national government. Tokyo's metropolitan assembly approved plans to force 1,300 major businesses to cut emissions blamed for global warming by 25 percent by 2020 compared with 2000 levels. The requirements will take effect in 2010 followed the next year by a carbon market -- which gives businesses an incentive to go green by ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
US Scientist Urges Carbon Tax to Help Climate
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/48970/story.htm
Reuters: The US scientist who 20 years ago first told Congress that the Earth's climate was warming said on Monday that urgent action was needed to cut greenhouse gases and proposed a tax on carbon emissions. James Hansen, the director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said at a congressional briefing that a carbon tax would be the most efficient way to cut global warming emissions and encourage non-fossil energy sources.

Thu, 26 Jun 08
White House Refused to Open E-Mail on Pollutants
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=101907
New York Times: The White House in December refused to accept the Environmental Protection Agency's conclusion that greenhouse gases are pollutants that must be controlled, telling agency officials that an e-mail message containing the document would not be opened, senior E.P.A. officials said last week. The document, which ended up in e-mail limbo, without official status, was the E.P.A.'s answer to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that required it to determine whether greenhouse gases represent a danger ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Australia to open up sea bed for carbon storage
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2219949/australia-open-sea -bed-carbon
Business Green: Australia has become the latest country to signal its interest in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies after the government announced plans for new laws that will allow companies to store captured greenhouse gas emissions below the seabed. Under proposed amendments to the country's offshore petroleum legislation, polluters will be able to transport hundreds of thousands of tonnes of harmful carbon dioxide gas to storage facilities buried under the ocean. Resources ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Californian Plants Threatened by Warming, Study Shows
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=aey1Cw3BZU_8&re fer=home
Bloomberg: Plants found only in California may need to migrate about a mile (1.6 kilometers) a year into cooler or wetter regions to survive as global warming makes traditional habitats less hospitable, a scientific study found. As temperatures rise and rain patterns change, many native species will need their seeds blown or carried by animals to the north or toward the coast, according to the investigation by researchers at three U.S. universities, whose results will be published tomorrow in ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Destruction of greenhouse gases over tropical Atlantic
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/tncf-dog062308.php
EurekAlert: Large amounts of ozone – around 50% more than predicted by the world's state-of-the-art climate models – are being destroyed in the lower atmosphere over the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Published today (26th June '08) in the scientific journal, Nature, this startling discovery was made by a team of scientists from the UK's National Centre for Atmospheric Science and Universities of York and Leeds. It has particular significance because ozone in the lower atmosphere acts as a greenhouse gas and ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Kazakhstan: Glimmer of Hope for Shrinking Aral Sea
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/48967/story.htm
Reuters: Wind lashes against four rusty Soviet ships moored where the Aral Sea once lapped at the shores of a vibrant fishing town. There is not a drop of water to be seen around the port of Aralsk -- a silent testament to decades of Soviet experiments with nature that have turned the Aral Sea, once the world's fourth largest lake, into a salt-encrusted desert. "Apocalypse" reads graffiti scribbled on one lonely hulk. Cows forage for scraps of dry grass on the exposed seabed ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Japan Ministry Aims to Restart Solar Subsidies in 2009
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/48980/story.htm
Reuters: A Japanese ministry aims to reintroduce subsidies on solar power equipment in 2009 to help boost Japanese firms' shrinking share in a 1 trillion yen (US$9.25 billion) market, just as Germany cuts state support for such gear. The move could give a boost to Japan's Sharp Corp which fell behind Germany's Q-Cells AG as the No. 1 supplier of solar cells in 2007, when China's Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd also nudged Kyocera Corp back into fourth place, analysts said. Officials at ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
McCain Calls for US$300 Million Prize for Car Battery
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/48987/story.htm
Reuters: Republican John McCain said on Monday if elected president he would challenge American experts to develop a futuristic battery to power cars and win a US$300 million prize. McCain, a week after taking heat from Democrats for reversing his stance on offshore oil drilling after long opposing it, sought to portray himself as a forward-looking leader on solving America's energy crisis. With Americans reeling from record-high US$4-a-gallon gasoline during the prime summer driving ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
No end seen on reliance on oil, fossil fuels
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gUMV8UJoaN5q_kTW2qE60EkyYQZQD91H98CG4
Associated Press: World energy demand will grow 50 percent over the next two decades, oil prices could rise to $186 a barrel and coal will remain the biggest source of electricity despite its effect on global warming, government experts predict. The Energy Information Administration's long-range forecast to 2030 said the world is not close to abandoning fossil fuels. They will continue to be at the core of energy production in transportation and electricity generation, according to the report ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Oil speculation: The great debate
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/25/news/economy/jec_oil/?postversion=200806251 2
CNN: It's the $64,000 question on Capitol Hill this week: what is responsible for the record escalation on oil prices? Speculators have taken much of the blame. But on Wednesday, one of the nation's leading energy analysts said that it's more complicated than that and the cause is multi-faceted. "In such circumstances as these, there is a tendency to seek a single explanation," said Daniel Yergin, in testimony before the Joint Economic Committee. "History, however, ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Plans Advance for First US Offshore Wind Farm
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/48984/story.htm
Reuters: A plan for the first US offshore wind farm advanced Monday when the company that wants to build it announced it has agreed to sell the power generated to a local utility. Up to 200 megawatts of electricity from about 60 turbines to be built 11 miles off the coast of Delaware will be sold to Delmarva Power in a 25-year contract that officials said will likely make the project the first in the country. It now requires approval by legislators and a number of state and federal ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
United Kingdom: Sober flood report shows scale of task ahead
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/25/flooding.weather2
Guardian: The leaks that came out of the Pitt review, along with the interim report last December, were somewhat dramatic, suggesting that flooding should be treated on the same level as terrorism or a flu pandemic, and that rain forecasts should be provided for individual streets to avoid a repeat of the summer flooding disaster. Today's final report placed an interesting focus on climate change and the capacity to forewarn about such events in the future. It was a more subdued yet ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Study: Hotter weather will shrink Calif. plant habitat
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/25/state/n110521D5 3.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: Up to two-thirds of California's native plants could lose most of their current habitat if temperatures increase sharply over the next century, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, Duke University and other institutions released maps Tuesday showing how global warming could affect 2,300 plant species, including live oak, blue oak, scrub oak, California bay laurel and whiteleaf manzanita. The study found that up to 66 percent of ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Study: Ozone restoration to have impact
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2008/06/25/Study_Ozone_restoration_to_have_ impact/UPI-45141214408370/
United Press International: U.S. scientists say restoration of the Earth's ozone layer during the 21st century may have a significant impact on the climate of the Southern Hemisphere. The ozone layer in the lower stratosphere prevents harmful ultraviolet radiation from reaching the surface. Researchers have attributed the depletion of that layer to use of aerosols containing chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. With the phase out of CFC production in 1996, scientists say they now expect the ozone layer to be restored ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
The real price of solar power
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0626/p08s01-comv.html
Christian Science Monitor: An old Soviet joke serves as a reminder of the potential distorting hand of government in solving problems like energy: One Russian says to another, "Did you hear the whole world is now communist except New Zealand?" The other asks, "Why not New Zealand?" The answer: "We need some place to determine prices." Just this week, Barack Obama promised $150 billion for renewable energy. John McCain suggested a $330 million prize for a breakthrough in battery ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Japan: Tokyo Bourse's Carbon-Permit Trading Hinges on Government Plans
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aYkVlYhd92PA&re fer=japan
Bloomberg: The introduction of carbon permits trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Inc. will hinge on a government plan for compulsory emission curbs, Atsushi Saito, the president of the world's second-largest bourse, said. Japan aims to start emissions trading on a trial basis as part of the plan to slash gases blamed for global warming by as much as 80 percent by 2050, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said this month. He stopped short of saying whether the country would impose mandatory caps for ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Tropical oceans expose riddle over global-warming equation
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ieZJZzkWLLf2ZPP4ytqtD_yXFeZg
Agence France Presse: A probe into levels of an important greenhouse gas above the tropical Atlantic has challenged assumptions about key sources of global warming, scientists said on Wednesday. Researchers found that natural chemicals in the atmosphere west of equatorial Africa destroyed 50 percent more ozone in that region than expected. This process also reduced concentrations of methane, another powerful greenhouse gas. It may well apply in oceans around the world and if so, it would pose ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
US Floodwaters Held at Bay as Cleanup Starts
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/48990/story.htm
Reuters: Levees held on the Mississippi River on Monday in the worst Midwest floods in 15 years as residents tackled a slow, smelly recovery from multibillion-dollar losses that may boost world food prices. Weakened levees along the Mississippi in the major farm states of Iowa, Illinois and Missouri remained intact as the key US waterway crested gradually in some areas and rose minimally in others. The US Army Corps of Engineers said water levels were largely stable and would likely remain ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Russia: Water of Lake Baikal is Evaporating
http://www.periodico26.cu/english/offbeat/baikal061308.html
Periodico 26: Russian and U.S. scientists have discovered that the rising temperature of Russia's Lake Baikalshows that the region is responding strongly to global warming. Located in the inhospitable Siberia, the world's largest fresh water lake is evaporating, according to results obtained from long-term studies carried out over the last 60 years by three generations of a family of Siberian scientists. The fast warming of this isolated but huge lake is a clear sign that climate change has ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Wind power 'not the answer' to UK's energy gap
http://www.24dash.com/news/Environment/2008-06-25-Wind-power-not-the-answer -to-UKs-energy-gap
24dash: The massive increase in wind power planned by the Government is not the answer to meeting a looming energy gap or renewable power targets set for the UK, a report claimed today. A study published by the Centre for Policy Studies said wind was an unreliable and expensive source of electricity and the plans for a 20-fold increase in power production were over-ambitious and impractical. The report comes ahead of the Government's renewable energy strategy which is to be published ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Australia Promises Broad Cover for Carbon Trades
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/48975/story.htm
Reuters: Australia's planned carbon emissions trading system, due to start in 2010, will be as broad as possible and will include the transport sector, an official said on Tuesday. "For the ETS (emissions trading system) to be effective, we know that it needs to have as broader coverage as possible," Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said, adding petrol would also come under the scheme. "Exempting or shielding sectors of the economy from the ETS will increase costs ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Auto Industry Faces Challenge in Mass-Producing Electric Cars
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3438078,00.html
Deutsche Welle: As petrol prices continue to hit the roof, the world's major car makers are rushing ahead with plans to produce huge numbers of zero-emission electric vehicles at affordable prices. Toyota, General Motors and Mercedes all recently announced that an electric car will be in the showroom within the next two years. Toyota appears to be a nose ahead of its competitors after CEO Katsuaki Watanabe recently announced at a press conference in Tokyo that the car industry had no choice but to ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Buoyed by Rain, Australia Wheat Farmers Chase Big Crops
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/48978/story.htm
Reuters: Powerful lights eerily illuminate pitch-black paddocks as farmers sow newly rain-blessed soil with one of Australia's biggest wheat crops. Rigs as big as houses seed fields in one of the most fertile parts of Australia's eastern grain belts. Farmers are praying they will beat a seven-year drought to fill silos with grain in a year of high prices. "It's a nervous optimism," said farmer Phil Christie near Narrabri, around 500 kilometres northwest of Sydney. ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Australia: Carbon scheme will push up energy prices
http://news.theage.com.au/national/carbon-scheme-will-push-up-energy-prices -20080625-2wrg.html
AAP: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has conceded that a carbon emissions trading scheme would push up energy prices. His admission came amid speculation the federal government is considering leaving fuel out of its trading scheme until at least 2012 because of the impact on petrol prices. Climate change dominated question time in parliament on Wednesday, with ministers peppered with questions about the emissions trading scheme (ETS) due to begin in 2010. Mr Rudd praised former ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
EU wants to be 'catalyser' in climate change talk - Solana
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hq0DQuO-CAgjjuEQY3RwjK5Gow4g
Agence France Presse: The European Union wants to be a 'catalyser' in a global search for a deal on climate change, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said at a humanitarian forum on Wednesday. The bloc could put on the table some objectives to discuss and find consensus around, he explained. "We think that it is important that the EU assumes responsibility as a catalyser of the solution," he told the first high-level meeting of the Global Humanitarian Forum in Geneva. The forum ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
United Kingdom: Flood report: Insurers back calls for action
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/jun/25/homeinsurance.insurance
Guardian: Insurers have called on the government to act in response to today's review into last year's devastating floods. The independent report, carried out by Sir Michael Pitt, called for fundamental changes to the way in which the UK responds to the increased risk of flooding due to climate change. Following the events last summer, insurers dealt with 180,000 claims and paid out £3m to flood victims. Nick Starling, head of general insurance and health at the Association of ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Fossil Fuel Use, Price To Only Increase By 2030
http://www.forbes.com/markets/emergingmarkets/2008/06/25/fossil-fuel-foreca st-markets-econ-cx_lal_0625markets26.html
Forbes: People are going to keep using oil, it seems, even though it hurts the environment and costs more than they can afford. A report released Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration said that consumption of environment-harming, incredibly-expensive fossil fuels is going to double over the next 20 years due to growing use by emerging economies. The government report predicted the steepest climb in China, where consumption of things like oil and coal will increase by 85% ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Australia: Fuel prices could rise under carbon trading scheme: Rudd
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/25/2285767.htm?section=justin
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has not been able to rule out a petrol price rise under the carbon emissions trading scheme. In a rowdy Question Time, the first half of which was dominated by climate change, Mr Rudd was challenged to confirm if the scheme would raise the cost of petrol. Mr Rudd used a statement from former prime minister John Howard last year, in which Mr Howard said reducing carbon emissions would result in higher petrol and energy prices, to condemn the ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Global warming moves Costa Rica coffee land higher
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKN2337149320080624
Reuters: Costa Rican coffee farmers are facing threats from climate change but the rising temperatures are also expanding high-altitude regions where the country's most prized beans are grown. Human emissions of greenhouse gases could cause the earth's surface temperature to rise anywhere between one and six degrees Celsius (1.8 and 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit) over the next 100 years, according to the United Nations, forcing growers of all crops to adapt to new weather conditions. In Costa ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
McCain Defends Position Switch on Offshore Oil
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/48989/story.htm
Reuters: Republican presidential candidate John McCain is defending his decision to switch position in favor of US offshore oil drilling as he seeks votes in environmentally conscious California. In appearances in coastal Santa Barbara and inland Fresno, McCain said on Monday he believed he had made the right decision at a time of record-high gasoline prices but that it would be up to individual states to choose whether offshore drilling is right for them. McCain was challenged on his ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
McCain Pushes Measures to Lower Auto Emissions
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/48983/story.htm
Reuters: Republican John McCain says if elected president he would challenge American experts to develop a futuristic battery to power cars and win a US$300 million prize. McCain, after taking heat from Democrats for reversing his stance on offshore oil drilling after long opposing it, seeks to portray himself as a forward-looking leader on solving America's energy crisis. Here are some of the Arizona senator's proposals: CAFE STANDARDS McCain says some car companies do ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
New pieces in the climate-change puzzle
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/06/25/new-pieces-in-the-clima te-change-puzzle/
Christian Science Monitor: Forecasting climate change is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle when you don't know its overall pattern. Sometimes you find a piece you didn't even know was missing. A discovery that arid deserts may be soaking up a lot of carbon dioxide is a case in point. And other times you see a puzzle piece in a helpful new perspective. That has just happened in a study of how nitrogen fixation affects the CO2-absorbing capacity of forests. The latter takes some explaining. It involves subtleties ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
United States: OK sought for coal plant
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/25/ok-sought-for-coal-plant/
Associated Press: Dominion Virginia Power Co. hopes this week to clear the last major hurdle to construction of a $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant in southwest Virginia. Following a daylong public hearing that drew hundreds Tuesday, the state Air Pollution Control Board on Wednesday will discuss plans for the plant. It may then vote on whether to issue a permit for the plant, whose expected emissions of sulfur dioxide and mercury have prompted an outcry from environmentalists. Virginia's ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
United Kingdom: One in Four UK Homes at Risk of Flood, Says RMS
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/48976/story.htm
Reuters: A quarter of British homes, with a total value of around 600 billion pounds (US$1,178 billion), are at risk from flooding caused by heavy downpours and rivers overflowing, a leading disaster modelling firm said on Tuesday. Yet many homeowners are unaware of the danger they face because the government does not include properties at risk from overflowing drains in the flood maps it provides to the public, Risk Management Solutions said. "The Environment Agency's maps only ...

Thu, 26 Jun 08
Australia: Qld lags behind using renewable energy: WWF
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/25/2285193.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Conservation group WWF says Queensland is lagging behind other states in the use of renewable energy. The latest data on Australia's greenhouse gas emissions shows Queensland has the highest rate per capi