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Climate Change Opens New Avenue For Spread Of Invasive Plants
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081119161125.htm
ScienceDaily: Plants that range northward because of climate change may be better at defending themselves against local enemies than native plants. So concludes a team of scientists including a University of Florida geneticist. The team's findings, reported online in the journal Nature, suggest that certain plants could become invasive if they spread to places that were previously too cold for them. "This paper is the first to suggest that the mechanisms that aid invasive species when they ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Ocean currents can power the world say scientists
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/renewableenergy/3535012/Ocean-currents-can-power-the-world-say-scientists.html
Telegraph: The technology can generate electricity in water flowing at a rate of less than one knot - about one mile an hour - meaning it could operate on most waterways and sea beds around the globe. Existing technologies which use water power, relying on the action of waves, tides or faster currents created by dams, are far more limited in where they can be used, and also cause greater obstructions when they are built in rivers or the sea. Turbines and water mills need an average current of ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Bioethanol likely outlet for big German sugar crop
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/8091498
Reuters: Germany's sugar farmers are targeting sales to the bioethanol industry to shift a large crop this season but face competition from the grains sector where falling prices have made cereals a viable biofuels feedstock. Germany is forecast to produce 3.6 million tonnes of refined sugar from its 2008/09 crop, well over the country's EU sugar production quota of 2.7 million tonnes, which has been cut as part of European Union reforms to curb farming subsidies. With 178,000 tonnes of ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Germany: German CO2 Emissions Fall Below Kyoto Requirements
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3834202,00.html
Deutsche Presse-Agenture: Germany's emissions came in 22.4 percent below Kyoto requirements Germany has cut its greenhouse gas emissions to below levels required under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, the government in Berlin announced on Friday. Europe's biggest economy's CO2 emissions, which are blamed for causing global warming, last year came in at 22.4 percent below Kyoto's base years of 1990 and 1995, the environment ministry said in a statement. At 957 million tons, total CO2 emissions last ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
EU vows to push for progress at UN climate change conference in Poznan
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-11/28/content_10428419.htm
Xinhua: The European Union (EU) on Friday vowed to shift international negotiations on a new global climate treaty into higher gear and to press for progress on a range of issues at the UN climate change conference in Poznan, Poland. The Poznan conference, which runs between Dec. 1 and 12, represents an important staging-post in the international negotiations which were launched in Bali, Indonesia, last December and are due to lead to the conclusion of a new global agreement at the end of ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Smart metering is essential to hit 2050 cardon emission targets
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthcomment/3534211/Smart-metering-is-essential-to-hit-2050-cardon-emission-targets.html
Telegraph: Never more so than today when the effects of the credit crunch are becoming more and more apparent. As the wave of pain felt by financial markets washes across other sectors, there are some who claim that environmental issues should again be returned to the periphery. This must not happen. As Lord Stern noted in his 2006 report into the economics of Climate Change, we are dangerously close to a tipping point when no amount of remedial action will be enough to counterbalance the ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
'Financial crisis no excuse to slow down carbon fight'
http://thepost.com.pk/IntNewsT.aspx?dtlid=194397&catid=1
Associate Press of Pakistan: The world financial crisis must not be used as an excuse for backsliding on efforts to curb global carbon emissions in the fight against climate change, a top UN environmental official warned. "Of course the financial crisis will have a serious impact on this process, and is already having an impact on this process. But I would argue that to use the financial crisis as an excuse not to act on climate change would basically amount to setting yourself up for the next financial crisis," ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
India debates wind feed-in tariff
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=111760
United Press International: In order to increase its wind power, India is considering a transmission tariff mechanism. By setting uniform grid connectivity standards and putting in place renewable energy credits, the government will be able to help increase the growth of the renewable energy sector, said R.N. Nayak, executive director of the Power Grid Corp. of India. Putting in place new incentives for renewable energy would help the industry expand and grow and evolve. With more money the industry could ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
UN: financial crisis a burden on climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8093373
Associated Press: The global financial crisis will make it harder for countries to agree on an ambitious new treaty to combat global warming and underscores the need to make green technologies profitable, the U.N. climate chief said Thursday. "Climate change is an environmental problem looking for an economic answer," Yvo de Boer said at a news conference in Warsaw. "The challenge...is to achieve green economic growth." De Boer spoke ahead of a major two-week climate change conference that ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Climate battle will fail unless poor helped: EU president
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/world/11/29/08/climate-battle-will-fail-unless-poor-helped-eu-president
Agence France-Presse: Efforts to tackle global climate change will fail unless poorer countries are helped to adapt to the environmental and technological challenges, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso was set to say in Doha on Saturday. "Climate change is going to be crucial for developing countries," Barroso was to tell the UN conference on Financing for Development, according to prepared remarks. He was referring to a conference next month in Poznan, Germany and a summit in Copenhagen ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
When climate change reform meets a slowing economy
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/when-climate-change-reform-meets-a-slowing-economy-20081129-6nea.html?page=2
Age: THIS week in Poznan, Poland, the world's environment ministers are meeting to begin negotiations for a new treaty to reduce global warming. They are doing so in an unstable economic climate, with more countries moving into recession and unemployment rising. Traditionally, when times are tough, environmental issues take a back seat. In the words of Barbara Helfferich, the European Commission spokeswoman on the environment, "investing in reducing emissions is more difficult to do in times of ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
UN chief 'satisfied' with Obama's view on climate change
http://www.spacedaily.com/2006/081129123458.znqkmg2f.html
Agence France-Presse: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Saturday that he was encouraged by US president-elect Barack Obama's view of the global problem of climate change, hailing a new attitude from the United States. "With some satisfaction I noted the recent statements of president-elect Obama and our discussions on the changing attitude of the United States on global warming," the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza quoted Ban as saying in an interview published Saturday. Ban's comments came ahead ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Indigenous People Demand Voice in Climate Talks
http://us.oneworld.net/places/bahrain/-/article/358797-indigenous-people-demand-a-voice-climate-talks
OneWorld US: Calls for greater participation of the world's indigenous leaders are on the rise as another round of talks on global climate change opens in the Polish city of Poznan next week. At the 2008 World Summit of Indigenous Cultures in Taipei. (c) carf (flickr)"It is incomprehensible how governments believe they can discuss the effects of climate change and agree targets without the input of those who already face [its] impacts," said Mark Lattimer of the London-based Minority Rights Group ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Shell says EU carbon plan may harm refinery -paper
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLT56084320081129
Reuters: European Union plans to tighten carbon trading rules after 2012 risk damaging the global competitiveness of Royal Dutch Shell's (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Pernis refinery, a Shell executive told a newspaper published on Saturday. Rob Routs, Executive Director of Downstream (oil products and chemicals), said the oil major was concerned about the consequences for Europe's biggest oil refinery if the EU pursued its plans without the United States and China on ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
UN chief: Green techology could aid economies
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/29/europe/EU-Poland-UN-Climate.php
Associated Press: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says investment in green technologies could help remedy the global financial crisis. Ban is quoted in an interview published Saturday in Poland's daily Gazeta Wyborcza as saying that, "Clean industry and investment have already shown that they generate high revenue and long-term benefits." He went on to say, "For that reason the means that we will use to fight global warming may help in fighting the financial crisis." Ban was ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Philippines: War footing needed for nat'l survival against global warming
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/nov/30/yehey/top_stories/20081130top1.html
Manilla Times: THE Philippines is vulnerable to the quadruple-whammy effects of global warming. These are rising sea levels, floods spawned by killer typhoons, dwindling water supplies induced by droughts and shriveling food supplies from parched farmlands. The melting of the Greenland ice caps could cause sea level to rise up to 7 meters, equivalent to the height of three adult Filipinos. Small islands like Guimaras would get submerged, and low level areas like Malabon, Navotas and Manila ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Destruction continues in Brazil's rain forest
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/243973,destruction-continues-in-brazils-rain-forest.html
Deutsche Presse-Agenture: The destruction of Brazil's rain forests is continuing unabated, according to a government report released Saturday, just days before a UN climate conference in Poland. The Brazilian government had pushed for the data's release ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland. Environmentalists have routinely accused Brazil of not doing enough to preserve its rain forests. The data from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) shows continued ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Obama buzz felt at global climate talks
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/29/europe/EU-Climate-Change-Obama.php
Associated Press: The president-elect won't be there, but an Obama buzz will crackle through the conference hall when negotiators gather Monday for a final push toward a sweeping new global warming treaty. "America is back," says Sen. John Kerry, underscoring that Barack Obama's election signals a U.S. intent to regain a leadership role on climate change. "After eight years of obstruction and delay and denial, the United States is going to rejoin the world community in tackling this global ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Influence Of Climate Warming On The Increase In Tick-borne Diseases
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081129100146.htm
ScienceDaily: Rises in the ambient temperature modify the behavior of dog ticks and increase their affinity for humans. There is thus a risk that episodes of global warming may be associated with epidemics of tick-borne diseases. This work, carried out by the Unité de recherche sur les maladies infectieuses et tropicales émergentes (CNRS/ IRD/ Université de la Méditerranée) is headed by Didier Raoult. Dog ticks are mainly prevalent during the spring. They do not usually bite humans. The few ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Asleep at the wheel
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/29/transport-carbon
Guardian: This week, the chancellor announced more money for transport spending to get the economy moving again. He's borrowed £1bn. If you're worried about climate change, look away now: 80% is going on road-building projects. There's another, more famous, 80% statistic: it's the government's latest target for reducing our carbon emissions by 2050. Coincidentally, the Department for Transport has just released its latest thinking on how to make that happen: Delivering a Sustainable ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Poland: The Poznan talks
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081129.CLIMATELAYERING29/TPStory/?query=Martin%20Mittelstaedt
Globe and Mail: Negotiators are trying to figure out how to extend the Kyoto Protocol, set to expire at the end of 2012. It calls for industrialized countries, on average, to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 5.2 per cent from 1990 levels during the 2008-to-2012 period. Canada will miss the goal by a wide mark, with emissions currently about 30 per cent over target. Developing countries did not have reduction targets under Kyoto. The international air travel and shipping industries were exempted from the ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Wilkins Ice Shelf Under Threat
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081128132029.htm
ScienceDaily: New rifts have developed on the Wilkins Ice Shelf that could lead to the opening of the ice bridge that has been preventing the ice shelf from disintegrating and breaking away from the Antarctic Peninsula. The ice bridge connects the Wilkins Ice Shelf to two islands, Charcot and Latady. As seen in the Envisat image above acquired on 26 November 2008, new rifts (denoted by colourful lines and dates of the events) have formed to the east of Latady Island and appear to be moving in a ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Renewables deal edges 'closer' despite French pressure
http://www.euractiv.com/en/energy/renewables-deal-edges-closer-despite-french-pressure/article-177610
EurActiv: EU countries and the European Parliament are "tantalisingly close" to a compromise agreeement on legislation to promote renewable energy, but the French EU Presidency is stalling the negotiations, according to the European Parliament's rapporteur on the dossier, Green MEP Claude Turmes. Turmes, who is responsible for guiding the proposal through Parliament, said while much progress had been made in 'trialogue' negotiations between the European Commission, Parliament and the French ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Saving the world through software - Microsoft's green agenda
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=15675
Edie: Software and the internet can play a great part in efforts to help the environment - as they did in winning the US Presidential election for Barack Obama. This was the message of Jan Meuhlfeit, Microsoft's European chairman, when he spoke at a conference bringing together global business leaders in London this week. Speaking at Green Strategy 08, Mr Meuhlfeit said that th4e huge public support - and funding - raised by Obama's campaign via the internet should be a lesson to ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Stiffer emission rules proposed
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/nov/29/na-stiffer-emission-rules-proposed/news-breaking/
Various: State officials return to the Florida Environmental Regulation Commission next week to argue that Florida should adopt California's tough emission standards for cars and light trucks. It's the first major test of Gov. Charlie Crist's multipronged effort to cut greenhouses gases across the state. The commission planned to vote at its meeting in October, but delayed the vote to gather more information. Under pressure from industry lobbyists, three of the seven commissioners are ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
U.S. moves ahead on oil, gas leases on public land
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112802502.html
Washington Post: A decision by federal officials this week to press ahead with a controversial sale of oil and gas leases in eastern Utah is stoking the debate over how to balance the nation's needs for fossil fuels against concerns over the environmental impact on iconic national parks and other sensitive areas. The Bush administration, which has sought to reduce American dependence on imports to meet the continuing demand for oil and gas, has aggressively pushed to open up energy exploration across ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Obama under pressure over role of ethanol in energy policy
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2008/11/21/obama-under-pressure-over-role-of-ethanol-in-energy-policy.html
U.S. News and World Report: Environmentalists agree with President-elect Barack Obama on many points, but his policy on ethanol isn't one of them. In the ongoing debate over the future of the country's energy policy, biofuels occupy a unique and precarious position: reviled in some quarters, championed in others. Ethanol producers have enjoyed meteoric rises in the amount of ethanol they can make and sell, but they also have been accused of harming the environment, prompting food riots abroad, and throwing away ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Farmers may pay a stiff price for contributions to global warming
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/election/103878.php
Des Moines Register: Farmers are being warned they could pay a stiff price for their contributions to global warming. That could happen if the Environmental Protection Agency goes forward with regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the federal Clean Air Act, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. Under the law, livestock operations of all sizes and farms with as few as 500 acres of corn could exceed emissions thresholds and would be required to pay for permits, USDA says. These ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Time to face the truth on warming: EU
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=United%20Kingdom%20%26%20Europe&month=November2008&file=World_News2008112915519.xml
Deutsche Presse-Agenture: It is time for the world to get down to the tough details on how to fight global warming, the European Union executive said yesterday ahead of a key climate conference in the Polish city of Poznan. The conference "must shift gear from exploratory discussions to concrete negotiations," and aim for a global deal at a similar conference to be held in Copenhagen in a year's time, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in a statement. The European Commission and EU member states ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Canada: Opposition critics offered a seat at next week's climate conference
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081129.CLIMATE29/TPStory/Environment
Globe and Mail: Through a series of casual chats on Parliament Hill, Environment Minister Jim Prentice has personally invited his opposition critics to join him at the UN's global climate-change talks taking place next week in Poland. It is a small but symbolic gesture that signals a clear change in tone on the environment file from the Harper government. This time last year, opposition environment critics were furious at then-environment-minister John Baird, who broke from established ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
UK's climate change body to unveil emissions cut plans
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AR55X20081128?sp=true
Reuters: Britain's chief climate change adviser will recommend on Monday how the government can meet tough targets to pare planet-warming carbon emissions, including what role coal should play in the country's energy future. In its first report, the Committee on Climate Change will weigh how Britain can meet ambitious goals to slash planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions while taking account of the economic downturn, energy security and volatile fuel prices. British Prime Minister ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Access to water must be high on climate agenda: group
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AR4FU20081128?sp=true
Reuters: Access to water is a basic human right and should be high on the agenda of climate change talks in Poland next week, the head of an Italian advocacy group said on Friday. With more than 1 billion people having no access to safe water, the World Water Contract group for years has sought to make availability of water a basic right and add it to the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. "Given that water is threatened by climate change, it is time to include the human ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Green taxes need explaining or risk backlash: study.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AR3OK20081128?sp=true
Reuters: Governments must do a better job of explaining environmental taxes such as charges on driving in cities or higher electricity bills or risk a public backlash, a study showed on Friday. Governments often fail to link green taxes to their goal of curbing energy use or helping a shift to renewable energies, according to Steffen Kallbekken, of the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo. "People do not understand environmental taxes," he told Reuters. ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Lubicon band calling for a halt to TransCanada Pipeline project
http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1321331
Herald-Tribune: Lubicon band councillors say they, and their people, are getting increasingly frustrated by negotiations between the North Peace band and TransCanada Pipeline. The Lubicon are calling for a halt to the project until they can have some serious discussions with the company. "We want to try to come to an agreement," said Lubicon band councillor Alphonse Ominayak. "We're willing to work with them. Councillor Dwight Gladue agreed. "It needed to be discussed right from the ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
United States: Walking the green walk
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/saturdayextra/story.html?id=a0ed80c3-a47a-44c5-ac9a-e8a6246ce365
Gazette: As CEnO of the third largest city in the United States, Sadhu Johnston is responsible for implementing Mayor Richard M. Daley's environmental initiatives across city government. "My role is to bring the department of environment into each department," Johnston, who is also the mayor's deputy chief of staff, has said of his job. Similarly, in Calgary, the role of spurring environmental action across city government belongs to Dave Day, the city's director of environmental and ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Formula developed to better understand iceberg creation: study
http://www.terradaily.com/2007/081128105630.7cpe5dbo.html
Agence France-Presse: A mathematical formula developed by US researchers could help scientists predict when and where icebergs will break away from their mother ice shelfs, according to a study published Friday. The development could also prove invaluable for climate models that predict the world's evolving environment, said researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. "To predict the future of the ice sheet and to understand the past, we have to put the information into a computer," said Richard ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Whatever happened to the hydrogen economy?
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026841.900-whatever-happened-to-the-hydrogen-economy.html
New Scientist: WHATEVER happened to the hydrogen economy? At the turn of the century it was the next big thing, promising a future of infinite clean energy and deliverance from climate change. Generate enough hydrogen, so the claim went, and we could use it to transform the entire energy infrastructure - it could supply power for cars, planes and boats, buildings and even portable gadgets, all without the need for dirty fossil fuels. Enthusiasts confidently predicted the breakthrough was just five to 10 ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
How geothermal heat pumps could power the future
http://www.livescience.com/environment/081126-pf-geothermal-heat-pumps.html
Live Science: The term "geothermal energy" might bring to mind hot springs and billows of steam rising from the soil, but you can get energy from the ground without moving to Iceland or Yellowstone. You just need a geothermal heat pump. "We call anything below the ground geothermal," said John Lund, director of the Geo-Heat Center at the Oregon Institute of Technology. This includes geothermal heating, in which hot underground water is used to heat a building, and geothermal power, in which ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
UN's Ban urges world to think big on global crises
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/uns-ban-urges-world-to-think-big-on-global-crises-1040726.html
Independent: The world needs "to think big" to solve the global financial crisis while helping reduce poverty, the UN secretary-general said yesterday. Ban Ki-moon, speaking after an informal retreat with leaders attending a UN development financing conference in the Qatari capital, said it was important to avoid focusing only on financial problems and chided leaders of rich nations for not attending in greater numbers. "We need to think big," he said at a news conference. "The financial ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Brazil: Amazon deforestation trend on the increase
http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/forests/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=151501
WWF: Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon forests has flipped from a decreasing to an increasing trend, according to new annual figures released yesterday by the country's space agency INPE. Commenting on the figures, Brazilian environment minister Carlos Minc confirmed that the government will on Monday announce forest related carbon emission reduction targets, which will link halting deforestation to the national climate change campaign. From August 2007 to July 2008, Brazil ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
U.N. urges climate cash boost for poorest
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AS18820081129?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: The United Nations and aid groups are pushing for an urgent increase in international funding to help the world's poorest countries cope with climate change, even as the global credit crunch strains rich nations' budgets. Aid experts say tens of billions of dollars are needed to prepare for more extreme weather and other effects of global warming like rising seas. The issue will be on the agenda at 190-nation climate talks starting on Monday in Poznan, Poland. "The need for ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Brazil: Amazon deforestation accelerates
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7756241.stm
BBC: The destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has accelerated for the first time in four years, Brazilian officials say. Satellite images show 11,968 sq km of land was cleared in the year to July, nearly 4% higher than the year before. The government said the figure was unsatisfactory but could have been a lot worse if it had not taken action against illegal logging. High commodity prices had allegedly tempted farmers to clear more land. In recent years the ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Biodiversity, ecosystems threatened by climate change
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_11095542
Salt Lake Tribune: World financial systems took extreme risks that stunned us all. We will pay the consequences. We react with alarm to the collapse on Wall Street, but the collapse of our ecosystems often receives only passing consideration. We will all pay the consequences of this, too, now and in the future. Accustomed to the availability of our natural resources, we think of them as free and take them for granted. But, a decade ago, the World Resources Institute estimated an annual global price tag ...
Sun, 30 Nov 08
Scientists study Yangtze delta monsoons to understand human impact on climate
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-11/29/content_10429098.htm
Xinhua: Chinese scientists are for the first time to start tracking monsoons in the eastern Yangtze River Delta in an attempt to reveal how human activities have impacted on climate change. Fu Congbin, chairman of the Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) of Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Study (MAIRS), told Xinhua Saturday, he and his colleagues had found out that the most serious dry area in China was the semi-arid area in the northwest, also the northern boundary of summer monsoons, ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Australia to Release Carbon Targets on Dec. 15, Wong Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601130&sid=aq66QLWWRBEU
Bloomberg: Australia will release its medium- term targets for carbon emissions on Dec. 15, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said. The government will release a so-called White Paper in Canberra on the design of its Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and medium-term targets, Wong said in an e-mailed statement. Laws on the system will be released in early 2009, she said. "The global financial situation has heightened the importance of providing business certainty on the Carbon Pollution ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Cost of reducing emissions by 2030 likely to surge: UN report
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jW7uNtjy-taCuOE9ue0_wwZO857w
Agence France-Presse: Hundreds of billions more dollars are likely to be needed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by a 2030 target, according to UN estimates published on Friday ahead of global talks on climate change. The report, to be presented at the December 1-12 conference in Poznan, Poland updates 2007 estimates that said investment to mitigate carbon emissions had to be ramped up in the coming years, reaching between 200-210 billion dollars annually in 2030. The goal, in this benchmark ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Brazil floods are early sign of global warming, expert warns
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/243890,brazil-floods-are-early-sign-of-global-warming-expert-warns.html
Deutsche Press-Agenture: The rains that devastated 30 towns in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina could be an early consequence of global warming, a climatologist from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said Friday. At least 99 people died and 80,000 had to be evacuated because of the rains and subsequent flooding. Santa Catarina was hit by a hurricane in 2004 and is frequently affected by tornadoes. Climatologist Carlos Nobre told Globo TV that heavy, persistent rains in ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Brazil: Amazon deforestation up almost 4.0 percent
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hlS0-CdPKGEmIVmPTpdV0bu_LOEA
Agence France-Presse: Brazil's Amazon jungles, known as the lungs of the world, lost almost 12,000 square kilometres (4,800 sq. miles) in just 12 months, a rise of almost 4.0 percent, new figures showed Friday. The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said the deforestation of the vast jungles due to encroaching farm exploitation, was 3.8 percent higher from August 2007 to July 2008 than in the previous 12 months. The areas most affected were in northern Para and in the central Mato Grosso ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Aust delegation heads to Poland for climate talks
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/29/2433200.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says an Australia delegation will arrive in Poland this weekend to begin work on a new global climate deal. About 9,000 people are expected to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference and meeting of parties to the Kyoto Protocol which start in Poznan on Monday. Senator Wong says the entrenched positions of the undeveloped economies have to move in order to achieve agreement by 2009. "What is the live issue in the ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Turn veggie to save planet, says Sir Paul
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/turn-veggie-to-save-planet-says-sir-paul-1040251.html
Independent: Sir Paul McCartney has teamed up with a Nobel Prize-winning scientist to urge people to become vegetarian to save the planet from the greenhouse gases created by rearing livestock. In a letter to The Independent, the musician joins Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to blame worsening global warming on a rise in the number of people who eat meat. The musician and Mr Pachauri, who are both vegetarians, also believe that ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Green tax is the end of low-cost flights
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article5246670.ece
Times (UK): Airlines and tour operators have reacted angrily to this week's pre-Budget announcement, warning that plans to increase green taxes on the 'cash cow' of travel will hasten the end of low-cost flights. Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, said on Monday that air passenger duty charges on long-haul flights would more than double by 2010, making a trip to Australia £45 more expensive in economy class and £90 more in business. Meanwhile, the cost of European flights will also rise, with ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Drought deepens strain on a dwindling Colorado
http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_11096669
Salt Lake Tribune: The drought gripping Utah, Southern California and the rest of the Southwest this century shows no sign of ending. Scientists see it as a permanent condition that, despite year-to-year weather variations, will deepen as temperatures rise, snows dwindle, soils bake and fires burn. That's grim news for all of us in the West, perhaps most especially for the 10 million residents along the northern stretch of the Colorado River -- Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado -- whose water ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Sharp, Enel To Invest $1.6 Bln In Solar Venture: Media
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/50703
Reuters: Japan's Sharp Corp, Italy's Enel SpA and a European machine maker will invest about 150 billion yen (US$1.6 billion) in an Italian solar cell venture, local media said, as the sector continues to ramp up even as the global economy worsens. Sharp, the world's No.2 maker of solar cells, will hold a minority stake in the venture, while Enel, Italy's largest power company, and a third machine maker will together hold a majority stake, the Nikkei business daily said on Thursday, pushing up ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Bangladesh's climate refugees search for higher ground
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iNLHVFelv7Vvje4-IGVHOdT6p8JA
Agence France-Presse: In the mountainous village of Hoaikong in southeastern Bangladesh, villagers are used to welcoming new residents on a weekly basis. The once-sparsely populated jungle, home to only a handful of tribal families, houses some 2,000 people who have sought higher ground as the island where they once lived becomes increasingly submerged by the sea. Ex-fisherman Jaber Ahmed, who has turned his hand to farming crops in his new environment, says there are two camps of thought among ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Boris set to halve congestion zone
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-set-to-halve-congestion-zone-1038873.html
Independent: The western extension of the London congestion charge zone is to be scrapped by the Mayor Boris Johnson, amid huge opposition to the traffic-calming scheme. Originally the £8-a-day charge applied to the City of London and the West End but the former mayor, Ken Livingstone, widened it in 2003 to cover most of the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, as well as Bayswater, Belgravia and Pimlico. Mr Johnson made reversing the move a central promise in his campaign to win control of ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Huge reserve of fuel ice in South China Sea verified
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90884/6542740.html
People's Daily: The total reserve of fuel ice (natural gas hydrate) on the northern continental slope of the South China Sea has finally been verified. It reaches an equivalent of 18.5 billion tons of oil, which equals six times the verified geological reserve of oil and gas in the deep waters of the South China Sea, said an official recently. Yang Shengxiong, chief engineer of Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, said this at a recent academic seminar on "Marine Geology, Mineral Resources and ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
China's Energy Demand Increases Global Pressure to Seek Out New Sources
http://www.physorg.com/news147096245.html
Physorg: China's escalating energy consumption places increasing stress on the world's energy prices, leading to mounting global pressures to seek potential energy supplies through technology and exploration. Chinese energy demand has more than doubled during the past decade. According to the study "China's Quest for Energy Resources on Global Markets" published in Pacific Focus by Wiley-Blackwell, China will consume about 41% of global coal consumption and 17% of global energy supply by ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Germany says well on track to meet Kyoto goals
http://www.physorg.com/news147107252.html
Agence France-Presse: The German government released data for 2007 greenhouse gas emissions on Friday that it said showed it was well on track to meet its international climate change commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. Greenhouse gas emissions, blamed for causing global warming, were 22.4 percent lower in 2007 than the base years of 1990 or 1995 set out in the protocol, the environment ministry said in a statement. Germany pledged under Kyoto in 1997 to lower its emissions by 21 percent by 2012 ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Germany meets Kyoto target for CO2 emissions
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1128-germany.html
Mongabay: Germany has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions below levels mandated under the Kyoto Protocol reports Bloomberg. Industrial emissions by Europe's largest economy fell 2.3 percent last year to 957 million tons of CO2. Under Kyoto Germany pledged to reduce emissions to an average of 974 million tons a year during the 2008-2012 commitment period -- 21 percent below from 1990 levels. Germany was helped by the integration of East Germany which saw its emissions plunge following ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Climate change will damage forests, creating hardship for rural communities
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1128-forests.html
Mongabay: Climate change will transform forests that directly sustain nearly one billion people, warns a report to be released next week at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Poznán, Poland. The report, issued by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), calls for the implementation of adaptation measures to reduce the vulnerability of forests and forest-dependent communities to wildfires, drought, flooding, disease, and other ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Amazon deforestation rises slightly to 4,600 square miles in 2008
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1128-amazon.html
Mongabay: <MAP Name="1"> </MAP> Amazon deforestation rises slightly to 4,600 square miles in 2008 mongabay.com November 28, 2008 Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased slightly for the August 2007-July 2008 period, reports the country's National Institute of Space Research (INPE). The rise is the first since 2004 when 27,379 square kilometers were destroyed. INPE estimates that 11,968 square kilometers (4,600 square miles) of rainforest were cleared during ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Horrified by your latest utility bills? Then it's time to take action
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/nov/29/energy-energy-efficiency-bills
Guardian: Heating Space-heating accounts for 57% of a house's energy use, so it is the first place to look to economise. Wear more, heat less Cutting your thermostat temperature by just one degree will shave 10% off your heating bill. For a really skinny bill, pile on the layers and drop it to 18C. Insulation, insulation, insulation Ask the local council about schemes for help, or call the Energy Saving Trust (0800 512 012, est.org.uk). Insulating a loft will save ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Nations urged to agree new formula for cutting greenhouse gases
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5254478.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
Times: Attempts to force countries to reduce their carbon emissions per head of population are to be put forward next week at a United Nations climate change conference. The plan, which is being drawn up by Brazil, is designed to put pressure on other nations to agree how targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions should be shared. The revised per capita scheme is thought to go some way towards easing resentment in developing nations that they are being asked to take on an unfair burden ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
United States: Beating Washers Into Wind Turbines
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97591683&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Sure, Iowa's known for corn. But for decades it was a major source of house hold appliances. Industry giants like Amana, Maytag and others supplied much of Americans' demand. Most of the factories are closed now, and the losses hit hard in places like the Amana Colonies, communal villages where ancient German customs are carefully preserved. But Iowa has since taken the lead in the emerging field of wind energy. Some of the same workers who use to make appliances are now busy building ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Canada to consult with provinces on climate talks
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AR6UB20081128?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Canada's environment minister said on Friday the federal government would give the country's provinces a consultative role in any negotiations with the United States on a North American pact to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. The minister, Jim Prentice, said Canada intended to pursue such talks with the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama on a national level. Even so, he said, "There will be extensive consultation (with the provinces) before we ever sit down ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
UN climate chief calls for green technology 'revolution'
http://www.scidev.net/en/climate-change-and-energy/un-climate-chief-calls-for-green-technology-revolu.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_climatechangeandenergy
SciDev.Net: Environmentally sound technologies need "a revolutionary push", says Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. On the eve of the opening of the UN Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland, he said: "Incrementalism is the enemy of fundamental change. We are really going to need a major fundamental shift, and technology has to be at the heart of that." The transfer of "green technology" from industrialised to developing countries is one ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Germany cuts carbon-dioxide emissions to below Kyoto target.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=ay9P5MmIBoa8&refer=germany
Bloomberg: Germany reduced carbon-dioxide emissions to below levels required under the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement aimed at stemming climate change. The nation's factories, power plants and other emitters released a combined 957 million tons of CO2 last year, a decline of 2.3 percent from the previous year, the environment ministry reported today in an e-mailed statement. Germany, home to Europe's largest economy, encouraged homeowners and businesses to cut air pollution by ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Living up to the Pope's words: the Vatican turns to solar power
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1128-hance_pope.html
Mongabay: In his three years since being inaugurated, Pope Benedict XVI has made the environment one of his central issues, proclaiming that "God entrusted man with the responsibility of creation". He has described the need to confront climate change as a 'moral obligation' and spoken eloquently on the destruction of arable soil, forests and marine life. Compelled by the Pope's rhetoric, the Vatican is now taking action: 2,400 photovoltaic panels have been installed on the roof of the Vatican's ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
New hope of curing amphibian plague
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1128-hance_amphibians.html
Mongabay: Amphibians worldwide are in trouble. One of the most endangered animal groups, amphibians are increasingly threatened by habitat loss, pollution, and climate change. However the largest threat is chytridiomycosis, a devastating disease caused by a parasitic chytrid fungus known as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, otherwise known as Bd. Some hope for frogs and toads has been found at the Institute of Zoology in London. Scientists have discovered that tadpoles infected with Bd are cured ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Global Carbon Dioxide Hit Record Levels in 2007
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2008/2008-11-26-01.asp
Environment News Service: Climate-heating greenhouse gases continue to increase in the atmosphere, and last year, global concentrations of carbon dioxide again reached the highest levels ever recorded, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the World Meteorological Organization. Greenhouse gases trap the Sun's radiation within the Earth's atmosphere causing it to warm. Human activities, such as fossil fuel burning and agriculture, are major emitters of the gases, which scientists recognize as ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Mystery of iceberg 'birth' solved
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16163-mystery-of-iceberg-birth-solved.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: US scientists have figured out how icebergs break off Antarctica and Greenland, a finding that may help predict rising sea levels as the climate warms. Icebergs form fastest when parent ice sheets quickly spread out over the sea, the scientists say. It's too late to help the Titanic, but this newly derived, simple law may help researchers improve their climate models and predict ice sheet break-up, they say. Other factors, such as ice thickness, width of the ice flow, ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Insurers call on governments to deliver clearer climate adaptation plans
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2231605/insurers-call-clear-climate
Business Green: The insurance industry is calling on nation states to develop clear global warming adaptation strategies so that it can accurately price insurance cover to help spread the cost of dealing with the effects of climate change. The costs of counteracting climate change-related risks, such as the increased frequency of floods and extreme weather events, are likely to run to trillions of dollars, but insurers are arguing they will struggle to offer long-term cover against such threats ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
United Kingdom: New targets to cut carbon emissions expected to cost
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/emissions/3533993/New-targets-to-cut-carbon-emissions-expected-to-cost.html
Telegraph: Under plans to tackle climate change targets, businesses will be expected to invest in updating equipment, improving insulation and replacing transport fleets. And individuals will also be expected to make big lifestyle changes, for example by improving energy efficiency in the home, turning off appliances and paying more for products or services that pollute the environment. Next week, Lord Turner will set out how the Government is expected to cut greenhouse gases by 80 per ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Brazil Amazon destruction rises after 3-year fall
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AR5W420081128?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Destruction of the Amazon forest in Brazil accelerated for the first time in four years, the government said on Friday, as high commodity prices tempted farmers and ranchers to slash more trees. Satellite images showed nearly 4,633 square miles (12,000 sq km), or an area nearly the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut, were chopped down in the 12 months through July, the National Institute for Space Studies said. That is up from 4,332 square miles (11,224 sq km) last year but ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Multi-tasking canola: California miracle crop?
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2008/nov/27/ca-multi-tasking-plant-112708/?zIndex=16736
Associated Press: A hardy but pedestrian plant is doing triple duty in California's agricultural heartland, absorbing a salt that once deformed waterfowl by the millions, creating clean-burning biofuel and nourishing cattle with the leftovers. Crop-crippling selenium in soil and groundwater makes the arid west side of the San Joaquin Valley a challenge for farmers, whose diesel tractors have been blamed for helping cause the worst air quality in the nation. But farmers, water managers and ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Germany on track to meet Kyoto targets
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20081128-15795.html
Local: The German government released data for 2007 greenhouse gas emissions on Friday that it said showed it was well on track to meet its international climate change commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. Greenhouse gas emissions, blamed for causing global warming, were 22 percent lower in 2007 than the base years of 1990 or 1995 set out in the protocol, the environment ministry said in a statement. Germany pledged under Kyoto in 1997 to lower its emissions by 21 percent by 2012 and ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Government defends zero-carbon home progress
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2231574/government-defends-zero-carbon
Business Green: The government has insisted it remains "absolutely committed" to legislation that require all new homes built from 2016 to be zero-carbon, despite reports today that so far only 15 new homes have qualified as zero-carbon. Under a scheme first unveiled in 2006, buyers of new zero-carbon houses and flats would be exempted from stamp duty, saving purchasers around £15,000. But according to reports in today's Times, only 15 homes have qualified as zero-carbon in the first year of ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
European leadership lacking ahead of global climate talks
http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/climate_change/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=151061
WWF: Europe will face major embarrassment at international climate change talks next week if it fails to live up to its commitment to tackle global warming, environment and development groups warned today. The world is looking at how high Europe will set the bar at climate talks in Poznan, Poland, starting on December 1st. Its position will be crucial in determining the chances of agreeing a global deal consistent with keeping global warming below 2°C compared to pre-industrial ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Frustration Over Veto of Glacier Protection Law
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44898
Inter Press Service: NA: Frustration Over Veto of Glacier Protection Law Homepage Latest News Search Languages Contact Us About Us Friday, November 28, 2008 14:24 GMT IPS Direct to Your Inbox! <NOBR></NOBR> - Global Affairs - Africa - Asia-Pacific Afghanistan Iran - Caribbean Haiti - Europe Union in Diversity - Latin America - Mideast & Mediterranean Iraq Israel/Palestine - North America Neo-Cons Bush at War - Development MDGs City Voices Corruption - Civil Society - Globalisation - Environment ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Obama Faces Tight Deadline On Climate Change
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97436389&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: International climate negotiations get under way next week in Poznan, Poland. Hopes are high that the United States, under President-elect Barack Obama, will take on a leadership role in these ongoing talks once he is president. The problems Obama will inherit are huge. Scientists say the world needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions rapidly over the coming decades. That means shifting from cheap energy like coal to cleaner, but more expensive, alternatives. And nations around the ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
A land rush in Wyoming spurred by wind power
http://www10.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/us/28wind.html?_r=5
New York Times: The man who came to Elsie Bacon's ranch house door in July asked the 71-year-old widow to grant access to a right of way across the dry hills and short grasses of her land here. Ms. Bacon remembered his insistence on a quick, secret deal. The man, a representative of the Little Rose Wind Farm of Boulder, Colo., sought an easement for a transmission line to carry his company's wind-generated electricity to market. His offer: a fraction of the value of similar deals in the area. As Ms. ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Only 15 homes meet Gordon Brown's zero-carbon test
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5248063.ece
Times (UK): A £15 million project to build hundreds of new zero-carbon homes has fallen flat after only 15 qualified in the first year, The Times has learnt. Gordon Brown's scheme, which he championed in his last Pre-Budget Report as Chancellor, has failed because the Government's specification for a zero-carbon home is not practical, the building industry says. In November 2006 Mr Brown said he would waive stamp duty for new zero-carbon houses, giving buyers savings of about £15,000. This ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Global coal damage costs 360 billion euro annually: Greenpeace.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iz_At_t5JwlGPUpmwwIxJJivy_Gg
Agence France-Presse: The use of coal for energy production causes at least 360 billion euros worth of damage to human health and the environment every year, Greenpeace said in a new report published on Thursday. "When taking into account about 90 percent of the global emissions and looking at these damages, we get a conservative but robust cost figure of 360 billion euros annually," Agnieszka Markowska, damages expert and co-author of Greenpeace's "True Cost of Coal" report told reporters in ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
United States: Alliance: Stop Cape Wind at all costs
http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2008/11/26/alliance-stop-cape-wind-at-all-costs?blog=53
Cape Cod Today: How determined is the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound to stop the proposed Cape Wind project? Very determined, judging from the letter the organization sent out to raise funds from potential supporters. "In short, we will do whatever it takes to win," said the letter, which went out over the signatures of Glenn G. Wattley, president and chief executive officer of the not-for-profit organization, and development officer Eric R. Steinhilber. "We will never allow Cape Wind to ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Australia: Researchers fear widespread reef coral bleaching
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/28/2432270.htm?section=australia
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Marine researchers fear the Great Barrier Reef will suffer more coral bleaching than normal over the next 12 months because of rising sea temperatures. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is using data from the weather bureau to formulate its yearly forecast, which indicates there is a high risk the bleaching will be widespread. The authority's Dr Paul Marshall says global warming is having a significant impact on the ocean. "So particular species of coral reef ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Climate fight costs may be three times more
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKTRE4AQ71520081127
Reuters: The cost of efforts to avoid dangerous global warming may be 170 percent higher than 2007 estimates, a report for the U.N.'s climate agency said on Thursday. The report comes four days before the U.N. leads a fresh round of talks in Poland to agree a successor to the Kyoto Protocol in ongoing negotiations marred by squabbles over who should bear the cost of fighting climate change. The U.N. report cited research by the International Energy Agency (IEA), energy adviser to 28 ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Low carbon price may stunt investment in wind, sun
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/50702
Reuters: Falling prices for European carbon emissions permits could stunt investment in the renewable energy sector both within and outside Europe, but the credit crunch continues to have a greater impact. Renewable energy's rapid growth has been slowed by the credit crunch and financial crisis: energy projects depend on debt finance which is now in short supply and more costly. A falling carbon price could worsen the economics of renewable energy further, as falling demand for carbon ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Scientists crack iceberg mystery.
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/50693
Reuters: US scientists have figured out how icebergs break off Antarctica and Greenland, a finding that may help predict rising sea levels as the climate warms. Writing in Friday's edition of the journal Science, they said icebergs formed fast when parent ice sheets spread out quickly over the sea. "It won't help the Titanic, but a newly derived, simple law may help scientists improve their climate models" and predict ice sheet break-up, they said in a statement. The Titanic sank in ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Necessity, not a 'green movement,' drove past generations to conservation, efficiency
http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2008/12/01/focus1.html?b=1228107600%5E1739684
Houston Business Journal: When all they had were crude tools and their imaginations, building designers made the most of both. For centuries, functional, sustainable buildings that used little or no electricity weren't part of a 'green movement.' They were a necessity. 'During the early 1900s, buildings were designed to encourage air to flow through them,' says architect Jody Henry, project manager for SHW Group. 'This was one of the 'greenest' things we could do, especially in the hot and humid ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Investment funds push an environmental agenda
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=111647
New York Times: Until recently, green investment funds were mostly a niche for individual investors. But now investing with the idea of improving the environmental actions of corporations, not just maximizing profit, is catching on among some big pension funds and foundations, particularly in Europe and even in the United States. These funds are redirecting investment toward companies that do the least environmental damage and those that try to limit their output of the emissions thought to ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
EPA, Interior Dept. chiefs will be busy erasing Bush's mark
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/27/AR2008112702184.html
Washington Post: Few federal agencies are expected to undergo as radical a transformation under President-elect Barack Obama as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department, which have been at the epicenter of many of the Bush administration's most intense scientific and environmental controversies. The agencies have different mandates -- the EPA holds sway over air and water pollution, while Interior administers the nation's vast federal land holdings as well as the Endangered ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
New land-use law's message: build near transit
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/27/MNON1491JM.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: Many California planning and environmental groups are heralding the passage of legislation designed to address global warming by curbing suburban sprawl as a watershed moment, perhaps the state's most important land-use law in more than 30 years. "It's a sea change in the way we're planning and funding growth and development," said Stephanie Reyes, senior policy advocate with San Francisco's Greenbelt Alliance. "The winds are shifting, and this is the time to get on board." But ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Carbon is forever
http://www.nature.com/climate/2008/0812/full/climate.2008.122.html
Nature: Carbon dioxide emissions and their associated warming could linger for millennia, according to some climate scientists. Mason Inman looks at why the fallout from burning fossil fuels could last far longer than expected. After our fossil fuel blow-out, how long will the CO2 hangover last? And what about the global fever that comes along with it? These sound like simple questions, but the answers are complex -- and not well understood or appreciated outside a small group of climate ...
Sat, 29 Nov 08
Hot times at the apocalypse
http://www.montrealmirror.com/2008/112708/news3.html
Montreal Mirror: For the last 30 years, Canadian-born and London-based author and journalist Gwynne Dyer has been writing about the crises of the day around the globe. But in his new book, Climate Wars, he addresses the security threats--and potential solutions--facing the planet as a whole, due to catastrophic though entirely avoidable climate change. With vivid, speculative scenarios interspersing chapters based on interviews with high-level scientists, researchers and activists, and drawing on his ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Compromise or lose climate deal, Poland warns EU
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AQ5JE20081127?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Europe risks failing on a deal to fight climate change this year because richer nations refuse to budge in a battle with poorer states over the costs, Poland's EU affairs minister Mikolaj Dowgielewicz said on Thursday. An EU deal next month is seen as vital to catalyze global talks on cutting greenhouse gases from other big emitters such as Russia, China, India and the United States. "There is no guarantee of success -- we are very far," Dowgielewicz told reporters. "The number ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Greenpeace report reveals the true cost of coal
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/releases/true-cost-of-coal-27112008
Greenpeace: Greenpeace today released an analysis showing that the global cost of coal was at least 360 billion last year alone. The report, "The True Cost of Coal", released with the independent Dutch Institute CE Delft, arrived at this figure by looking at very modest CO2 damage costs, health costs and mining accidents. The report was released as Industry Ministers from at least 20 big emitting countries met in Warsaw with the world's climate-polluting industries (1). "The relentless ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
United States: Polymer Solar Cells With Higher Efficiency Levels Created
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081126133435.htm
ScienceDaily: Currently, solar cells are difficult to handle, expensive to purchase and complicated to install. The hope is that consumers will one day be able to buy solar cells from their local hardware store and simply hang them like posters on a wall. A new study by researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has shown that the dream is one step closer to reality. Reporting in the Nov. 26 edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Yang Yang, a ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Boris Johnson outlines green plans for London
http://www.newbuilder.co.uk/news/newsFullStory.asp?ID=2750
Green Building: Boris Johnson, Mayor of London has outlined his vision for creating a 'green' economy in the capital. He plans to make London more energy efficient, help cash-strapped households cut energy bills, and make London a more pleasant place to live. In the Mayor's first major speech on the environment since being elected, he set out his priorities on how London can cut carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2025 and make the city a 'greener', more civilised place to live and ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
EU Car Emissions Agreement Stalls
http://www.climatebiz.com/news/2008/11/26/eu-car-emissions-agreement-stalls
ClimateBiz: New vehicle emissions rules for the European Union stalled after the governments couldn't agree on penalties for carmakers who miss their CO2 targets. Envoys of the 27 EU member states appeared to agree in principle on cutting emissions by roughly 18 percent for partial fleets in 2012 and and reaching full compliance by 2015. The bloc's overarching goal involves cutting CO2 emissions to 95 grams per kilometer by 2020. But the talks stalled on the issue of penalties for ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Looking for Carbon in Renewable Energy
http://www.climatebiz.com/feature/2008/11/26/looking-carbon-renewable-energy
ClimateBiz: Back in the mid-1990s, Rob Harmon wanted to develop wind farms. Like other aspiring developers, he identified promising locations and then talked to local utilities about buying the power. He encountered a common response. "They told me they'd pay me what they paid for commodity electricity," Harmon recalls. The commodity price for electricity was often determined by coal plants. Unlike new wind farms, these plants had often paid off their capital costs years ago. They also ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Enlargement split in EU climate feud?
http://www.euractiv.com/en/climate-change/enlargement-split-eu-climate-feud/article-177513?Ref=RSS
EurActiv: Opposition from Poland and several of the bloc's newer member states to the energy and climate package has raised questions about the capacity of an enlarged EU to push through such ambitious policy agendas. The "fault line" of the EU's climate agenda is being drawn along its eastern borders, testing the ability of the enlarged union to realise its ambition of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020, Michael Zammit Cutajar, former head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
United Kingdom: We need eco-extremists - Miliband
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=15669
Edie: The scale of the popular movement and the force with which activists and agitators deliver their arguments is key to the success of any future international agreement to tackle climate change. These were the somewhat surprising words of the new Secretary of State for Climate Change and Energy, Ed Miliband, when he spoke at the Environment Agency's conference this week. "We need the utopians and we need the agitators," he said. "We need the people who say that people like ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Kahsay Beyen - 'This is the Worst Drought I Have Seen in My Life'
http://allafrica.com/stories/200811260736.html
IRIN: Like many areas in the Horn of Africa, northern and northeastern Ethiopia are experiencing severe drought caused by the failure of the short (Belg) and long rains (Meher), resulting in low crop yields or even total crop failure in some areas. Kahsay Beyen, 63, a farmer in Afenjiwo village, Ruba Feleg peasant association in Atsbi Womberta woreda in the eastern zone of Tigray, lost all the crops he had planted in May. He spoke to IRIN on 23 November: "I had planted wheat, beans ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
S.F. considers congestion tolls on cars
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/26/MNS614C8S1.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: Drivers could pay $3 to enter, leave or pass through parts of San Francisco during morning and evening commutes under a proposal designed to push motorists out of their cars. The San Francisco County Transportation Authority, which has been studying the idea of imposing congestion-based tolls on city streets for nearly two years, released some of the details of its study Tuesday at a meeting of its board, which is made up of the 11 members of the Board of Supervisors. The board ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
The coal question
http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=7565&catid=&volume_id=398&issue_id=407&volume_num=43&issue_num=09
Various: GREEN CITY Over the past few years, a growing number of environmentalists have called for greatly curtailing the burning of coal, a practice that threatens the health of people and the planet. On Nov. 14-15, Rainforest Action Network (RAN) held protests in San Francisco and more than 50 other cities against Bank of America and Citibank, two of the largest financial backers of coal projects. RAN cites data showing that coal is responsible for nearly 40 percent of US global warming ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
United States: Automakers' emissions suit dismissed
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20081126/BUSINESS/811260391/1003
Associated Press: Automakers cannot sue to block Rhode Island from enforcing tighter standards on tailpipe emissions that were first adopted by California because the industry has already lost similar lawsuits elsewhere, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres dismissed General Motors, Chrysler and two automaker associations from the case, but his ruling permits several local car dealers to pursue the lawsuit for now. The manufacturers have lost similar cases in California and ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Europe's different approaches to energy & climate change
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/blog/europeinsight/archives/2008/11/europes_energy.html
Business Week: For many, Europe`s stance on energy policy and climate change appears united. The European Commission has announced targets of a 20% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and 20% electricity generation from renewables all by 2020 (the so-called 20-20 by 2020). Yet behind these objectives, there are wide divisions between European countries on how best to tackle global warming and energy security. Just how big these differences are was made clear by a recent report by consultants ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Arctic's long-lost forests show carbon links, scientists say.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=a61C3MoVAAMA&refer=canada
Bloomberg: A warm period 3 million years ago, when forests dotted the Arctic region and sea levels were 80 feet (24 meters) higher, is providing clues about how heat-trapping greenhouse gases can boost global temperatures, scientists said. Fossils from the mid-Pliocene epoch reveal a far warmer planet with a concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of only about 5 percent more than exists today, said Harry Dowsett, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist. A reconstruction of the climate 3 ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Mine permit OK'd on potential wind farm site
http://wvgazette.com/News/200811250710
Associated Press: State regulators have approved a permit change that will allow Massey Energy to start a mountaintop removal mine on a Southern West Virginia site that environmentalists are trying to preserve for a wind farm. Federal permits for the 6,000-acre Coal River Mountain project are pending, but last week's action by the state Department of Environmental protection allows Richmond, Va.-based Massey to start mining on a 150-acre tract. It also removes another hurdle to the larger ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Renewable energy hitting a snag
http://www.northjersey.com/environment/environmentnews/35116639.html
Herald News: Despite their penchant for saving money in the long run, renewable energy projects may face a slump during the economic downturn because of high upfront costs. The two most popular projects in New Jersey -- solar panel installations and more recently, wind farms -- are expensive even with government incentives, some of which are being pulled back. "Emerging technology and other long-range investments are often the first to suffer when the economy turns," said Frank Felder ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Greenland gambles on warmer, richer climate
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/081126/full/news.2008.1257.html
Nature: Greenland's residents have voted overwhelmingly to take a step closer to full independence. The move towards gaining the full status of 'country' has been spurred not just by feelings of national pride, many say, but by climate change. Greenland has long been an administrative division of Denmark, with powers of home-rule in areas such as health-care and education since 1979. Many have pushed for further economic and foreign-policy independence, but this has been hampered by the fact ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
United States: Solar projects catch fire
http://www.mountainx.com/news/2008/112608solar_projects_catch_fire
Mountain Xpress: Across Western North Carolina, a wave of solar projects have been announced over the past few months. The YWCA of Asheville plans to install 30 solar-thermal panels on its roof to heat water for the nonprofit`s pool and showers, and in Haywood County, a seven acre 'solar farm' featuring more than 3,000 photovoltaic panels is planned for a former landfill site in Canton. On the sunny side: Workers recently set up one of the largest photovoltaic installations in Western North Carolina ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Economy may force Barack Obama to cut back on green pledge
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/27/obama-us-climate-change
Guardian: Barack Obama, who promised last week to write a "new chapter in America's leadership" on the environment, could find his hands tied by the economic crisis, a leading figure in global climate change negotiations said yesterday. John Kerry, who will lead the US Senate's delegation to the UN's climate meeting in Poznan, Poland, next month, said his country was now in a position to play a leading role on global climate change negotiations. But he also said Obama's administration would be ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Now is the perfect time for a dollar-a-gallon gasoline tax.
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_11084147?nclick_check=1&forced=true
Mercury News: Don't look now, but energy history is on the verge of repeating itself. All those discussions of a new paradigm in the form of conservation and alternative sources are washing away in less expensive oil. Six months ago, people were incensed by the greed of foreign oil producers; today "inexpensive" gasoline is a welcome respite in an otherwise failing economy. All the big talk of energy independence in Congress has been pushed aside as we struggle to keep our jobs and pay our mortgages. ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
United States: Bay Area mayors endorse $1 billion plan for electric cars
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11032113?nclick_check=1&forced=true
Mercury News: A Palo Alto start-up with powerful backing on Thursday unveiled an ambitious $1 billion plan to help make the Bay Area the nation's electric-car capital. Endorsed by all three of the Bay Area's big city mayors, the plan would provide the re-charging infrastructure that must be in place before most consumers would consider buying or leasing an electric car. Better Place, headed by former high-tech executive Shai Agassi, plans to install about 250,000 charging ports, 200 ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Save the economy, and the planet
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=111564
New York Times: Environment ministers preparing for next week`s talks on global warming in Poznan, Poland, have been sounding decidedly downbeat. From Paris to Beijing, the refrain is the same: This is no time to pursue ambitious plans to stop global warming. We can`t deal with a financial crisis and reduce emissions at the same time. There is a very different message coming from this country. President-elect Barack Obama is arguing that there is no better time than the present to invest heavily in ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Carbon Offsets Could Swamp EU Carbon Price - Report
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/50669
Reuters: A ballooning global supply of carbon offsets could flood the European Union's emissions market and dent prices, according to a report to be published next month by Britain's Carbon Trust. EU member states, lawmakers and the EU executive Commission are in negotiations now to revamp the bloc's emissions trading scheme (ETS) from 2013-2020, and face a mid-December deadline. The EU ETS is the cornerstone of European climate policy. It distributes to industry a fixed quota of carbon ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Japan Aims To Limit Speculation In Emissions Trade
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/50670
Reuters: Japan's prime minister wants to limit speculative trading in his country's carbon emissions trading scheme, a senior policy negotiator said on Tuesday. Kunihiko Shimada, principal international policy coordinator for the Ministry of the Environment, said Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said he wants to examine ways of curbing speculative trading in Japan's emissions trading trial scheme. "This is a directive coming from the top...they have issues with speculative trading," ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
UK takes legal lead on climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/27/climate-change-carbon-emissions-politics
Guardian: The UK was set to make history last night when the climate change bill received royal assent and brought into law the world's first legally-binding targets for a nation to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. This and future governments will be committed to cutting emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050. Progress towards this target will be laid out and monitored by a new independent climate change committee, which on Monday will recommend the first three ...
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Climate change watchdog backs expansion of Heathrow
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/27/climate-change-carbon-emissions-heathrow
Guardian: The UK could meet its ambitious pledge to slash greenhouse gas pollution even if ministers give the go-ahead to expanding Heathrow airport, the government's leading climate change adviser has signalled. This week the chairman of the government's Environment Agency, Lord Smith of Finsbury, joined critics who say that adding a third runway at Britain's biggest airport would destroy the government's promise to tackle climate change, and increase local air and noise pollution to ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Missouri retailers selling gasoline without ethanol
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AP9LO20081126?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Retailers across Missouri have been selling gasoline without ethanol blended into the motor fuel for several weeks, according to a state official. The absence of the grain-based alcohol, used to reduce pollution, has pushed Missouri's gasoline prices to the lowest in the United States, said Ronald Hayes, director of weights and measures for the Missouri Department of Agriculture, which regulates gasoline sales. "If the price for ethanol is more expensive than the price for ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Supermarkets banish the plastic bag
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/supermarkets-banish-the-plastic-bag-1036888.html
Independent: Britain's biggest supermarkets say they are on course to reduce by half their use of plastic bags by Easter. Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Waitrose are making progress in cutting the number of free bags handed out to shoppers at the checkout. Plastic bags are made using oil and take hundreds of years to degrade in landfill sites, often after a single use. An estimated 13 billion plastic bags are handed out by UK retailers every year. In February last year, six trade associations ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Testing times for Lord Turner who is juggling financial crisis and climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/27/green-politics-economy-lord-turner
Guardian: It is hard to think of anybody who has a busier diary at the moment than Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, who has found himself advising the government on how to save both capitalism and, between meetings, the planet from climate change. Turner became chairman of the Financial Services Authority in September, on a weekend sandwiched between the collapses of global investment bank Lehman Brothers and UK mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley. Between meetings about the crisis in the ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
The 10 big energy myths
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/27/renewableenergy-energy
Guardian: Myth 1: solar power is too expensive to be of much use In reality, today's bulky and expensive solar panels capture only 10% or so of the sun's energy, but rapid innovation in the US means that the next generation of panels will be much thinner, capture far more of the energy in the sun's light and cost a fraction of what they do today. They may not even be made of silicon. First Solar, the largest manufacturer of thin panels, claims that its products will generate electricity in ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
More Americans Are Getting On The Bus
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/50674
Reuters: Many Americans have abandoned their love of getting behind the wheel during the last year, and opted to hop on buses instead, according to a study released this week. Inter-city bus service jumped 9.8 percent between the fourth quarters of 2007 and 2008, the highest growth rate in more than 40 years. "The growth in intercity bus traffic is being driven by a number of factors, chiefly the spiking price of fuel over the past year," said Joseph Schwieterman, professor of public ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
"Green" palm oil sales expected to pick up
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/50685
Reuters: Palm oil producers in Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea may sell 1 million tonnes of "sustainable" palm oil next year, up ten-fold on 2008 although still only a tiny fraction of global sales, officials said. Under fire from green groups and some Western consumers, the palm oil industry established the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2004 to develop an ethical certification system, including commitments to preserve rainforests and wildlife. RSPO palm oil ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Carbon market could pay poor farmers to adopt sustainable cultivation techniques
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1126-agroforestry.html
Mongabay: The emerging market for forest carbon could support agroforestry programs that alleviate rural poverty and promote sustainable development, states a new report issued by the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF). The report -- which will be presented at the upcoming UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Poznán, Poland -- suggests that proceeds from the carbon market could be used to reward farmers who adopt cultivation techniques that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Europe Eases the Way for Cars
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44877
Inter Press Service: José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission's president, has a penchant for large cars. At the same time as he was publicly encouraging citizens to be more sparing in their use of energy, it emerged in 2006 that his vehicle of choice was a Volkswagen Touareg. With its rapacious appetite for fuel, Barroso's 4x4 emits 265 grams of carbon dioxide for every kilometre driven. That was more than twice an objective for the maximum discharge of greenhouse gases from cars that the EU's ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
2008 Atlantic hurricane season blows away records
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/6134160.html
Associated Press: The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends Sunday, appears to have attained Olympian heights, setting at least five weather records in the United States and Cuba. "It was pretty relentless in a large number of big strikes," said Georgia Tech atmospheric sciences professor Judith Curry. "We just didn't have the huge monster where a lot of people lost their lives, but we had a lot of damage, a lot of damage." Data on death and damage are still being calculated. Three ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Guide to reducing emissions through forest conservation released
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1126-redd.html
Mongabay: Ahead of next week's climate meeting in Poznań, Poland, the Global Canopy Programme -- an alliance of 37 scientific institutions in 19 countries -- has launched a layman's guide to a proposed mechanism for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by reducing deforestation. Deforestation and land use change accounts for roughly 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions -- a larger share than all the world's cars, trucks, ships, and airplanes combined. The guide, titled The Little ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Heat we emit could warm the Earth
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026845.200-heat-we-emit-could-warm-the-earth.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: EVEN if we turn to clean energy to reduce carbon emissions, the planet might carry on warming anyway due to the heat released into the environment by our ever-increasing consumption of energy. That's the contentious possibility raised by Nick Cowern and Chihak Ahn of the School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering at Newcastle University, UK. They argue that human energy consumption could begin to contribute significantly to global warming a century from ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Planes, trains or automobiles? Climate villains revealed
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026844.000-planes-trains-or-automobiles-climate-villains-revealed.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: WHICH is the biggest climate villain: cars, planes, ships or trains? Overall, road vehicles cause the most warming - in recent years, at least. Jan Fuglestvedt of the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) in Norway, and colleagues, inventoried the various types of emissions that were generated by transportation in 2000. They then calculated how each one-year "pulse" of emissions will warm the globe this century. The car and truck emissions caused ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Climate change survey gives mandate for action
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16147-climate-change-survey-gives-mandate-for-action.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: World governments have the backing of the majority of their citizens to take action on climate change, according to a global survey published today. Of people surveyed in the 2008 Climate Confidence Monitor, 77% said they thought their country should make emissions cuts to allow less developed economies to grow. In China, the popular opinion was at odds with their government's position in international negotiations: 62% of respondents said the country should reduce emissions by at ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
World's first climate change bill to get Royal Assent today
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2231371/world-first-climate-change-bill
Business Green: The UK will officially become the first country in the world to adopt legally-binding carbon emission targets later this evening when the long-anticipated climate change bill is given Royal Assent. It will be joined on the statue book by the new energy bill and planning bill, both of which will pass into law at the same time and provide the government with many of the enabling powers required to begin work towards meeting its target of cutting emissions by 80 per cent by ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Britain's first space facility will monitor the health of planet Earth
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/nov/26/esa-space-facility-harwell-earth-observation
Guardian: The government's aspirations to become health monitor for planet Earth received a boost yesterday when the European Space Agency (ESA) agreed to establish its first British space facility. The centre is expected to become a focus for research into space-based Earth observations, which the government is keen to establish as the cornerstone of its role in the heavens. Based at the home of Britain's atomic energy programme, Harwell in Oxfordshire, the new centre could be up and ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Solar Energy As A Sustainable Source Of European Economic Growth
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081126091621.htm
ScienceDaily: Scientists from leading European research institutions in the field of solar-to-fuel energy conversion call for unified action and substantial support for novel clean fuel technologies as well as a paradigm change in Europe's current energy policy. This is crucial if Europe is to maintain its environmental stability and economic development. Direct conversion of solar energy into fuel represents one of the very few major options that humankind has to provide socially, economically and ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Vatican unveils ambitious solar energy plans
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AP50M20081126?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: And then there was light -- and it was powered by the sun. The Vatican on Wednesday activated a new solar energy system and announced an ambitious plan that could one day make it an alternative energy exporter. The massive roof of the "Nervi Hall" where popes hold general audiences and concerts are performed, has been covered with 2,400 photovoltaic panels to provide energy for lighting, heat and air conditioning. After weeks of tests, the system went on line at full throttle ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Consumers worldwide want governments to lead climate change response
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2231358/consumers-worldwide-government
Business Green: Consumers in both developed and emerging economies want to see governments -- and by extension, businesses -- end the deadlock of climate change negotiations and sign up to carbon emission reduction targets, according to a global survey of 12,000 people. Carried out by a coalition of NGOs brought together by HSBC, the survey polled 1,000 people in 12 of the world's most polluting nations -- Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Mexico, UK and ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
EU nears deal on car CO2 emissions
http://www.euractiv.com/en/transport/eu-nears-deal-car-co2-emissions/article-177483
EurActiv: The EU is getting closer to reaching an agreement to reduce CO2 emissions from cars, amid speculation that the bloc's car-making countries have struck a deal to lower fines for manufacturers that fail to meet their CO2 targets. The French EU Presidency, the European Parliament and the European Commission resumed talks yesterday (24 November) to thrash out an agreement on the main points of the proposed legislation. These include introducing emissions targets and setting out the ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
UN maps out national positions ahead of climate talks
http://www.euractiv.com/en/climate-change/un-maps-national-positions-ahead-climate-talks/article-177471?Ref=RSS
EurActiv: After a year of debate on what a post-Kyoto climate deal should look like, the United Nations has published a report setting out its ideas in the hope that it will facilitate an agreement during upcoming negotiations in Poznan, Poland, on 1-12 December. Since last year's UN talks in Bali (Indonesia), countries have held regular talks and floated ideas and positions to come up with the architecture for a follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol, due to expire in 2012. A draft report ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
More Than 900 U.S. Mayors Agree to Kyoto Climate Goals
http://www.climatebiz.com/news/2008/11/25/more-than-900-us-mayors-agree-kyoto-climate-goals
ClimateBiz: The mayors of Savannah, Ga., Lake Placid, N.Y., and Redondo Beach, Calif., have agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their cities 7 percent below 1990 levels, pushing the number of mayors committing to meet the goals of the Kyoto Protocol past 900. Mayors of New Egypt, N.J. and Springfield, Ill. also signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement recently, which aims to reduce emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. All told, the mayors signed onto ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Kenya: Agencies Seek $390 Million to Offset Climate And Food Risks
http://allafrica.com/stories/200811250859.html
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks: The 2009 Emergency Humanitarian Response Plan (EHRP) for Kenya will target populations affected by internal displacement and climatic hazards as well as food and livelihood insecurity. "A lot of progress has been made in addressing displacement but much remains to be done," said Aeneas Chuma, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator, at the launch of the appeal, which will fund essential support for an estimated 1.6 million people in 2009. The 24 November appeal requested ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Politics And Technical Concerns Thwart Efforts To Use Carbon Markets To Halt Deforestation
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081125203141.htm
ScienceDaily: At the UN Climate Change Conference, World Agroforestry Center scientists argue that existing technology to effectively monitor carbon storage in developing country landscapes could save more carbon than closing 1,400 coal-burning power plants. Carbon credit politics and misplaced technical concerns are impeding efforts to encourage sustainable land use practices in tropical regions--such as better forest management and growing more trees on farms--that could curtail up to 20 percent ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
White House Prods Allies to Oppose Limits on Greenhouse Gases
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/25/AR2008112502743.html?nav=rss_nation
Washington Post: As the Bush administration prepares to issue its ruling on whether to limit greenhouse gases, it's sending out a message to some of its allies: Tell us how much you don't want us to regulate emissions linked to global warming. Last week, the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs sent an e-mail to mayors reminding them that time was running out if they wanted to comment on the proposal the administration issued in July, which laid out how the government might curb greenhouse ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
United States: Perry wants to talk to Obama about greenhouse gases
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/6132906.html
Houston Chronicle: Preparing for a new administration in Washington, Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday that regulating greenhouse gas emissions would have "devastating implications" for Texas' economy and energy industry. Although the Bush administration has rejected such regulation, President-elect Barack Obama is believed to be more receptive to clamping down on the gases that have been blamed for global warming. Perry said he plans to discuss his concerns with Obama next week. He is among several ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Australia cries foul over climate rules on developing countries
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24708236-30417,00.html
Australian: CANBERRA is pushing to change the rules for international climate change talks in Copenhagen next year to prevent rich developed countries, such as Singapore and South Korea, being required to do less because the Kyoto Protocol classifies them as developing. Australia argues that the next global climate change deal should require binding economy-wide targets of developed countries, with unspecified binding "action" required of developing nations. But, in its submission to the UN ahead ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
China, India lead demand for extra help in climate change struggle
http://www.terradaily.com/2007/081126021527.f7c69eyb.html
Agence France-Presse: China and India next week will spearhead calls for rich nations to dig into their pockets to tackle climate change but will resist targeted curbs on their own carbon emissions, sources say. The 12-day UN climate talks, starting in Poland on Monday, are a stepping stone towards an international pact, due to be completed by the end of 2009, for addressing climate change beyond 2012. China, India and other developing countries will articulate a top priority, according to sources ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
People 'must be willing to make sacrifices to cut climate change.'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3521567/People-must-be-willing-to-make-sacrifices-to-cut-climate-change.html
Telegraph: The international survey found the number of people willing to spend extra money on tackling climate change fell by 29 per cent to a fifth, while the number willing to change their lifestyle for the planet fell 19 per cent to just under half in the last year. Most dramatically, the 2008 Climate Confidence Monitor found that the number of people who have heard a lot about climate change in the past year fell from three quarters to 36 per cent, suggesting that climate change has had ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
United States: EPA moves to ease pollution rules
http://coloradoindependent.com/16074/epa-moves-to-ease-pollution-rules
Colorado Independent: The Environmental Protection Agency seems on the brink of issuing a new regulation that would make it easier for power plants to operate longer hours -- and emit more pollution. Under the proposed rule, power plants would be able to measure their rate of emissions on an hourly basis instead of their annual total output. As long as the hourly emissions stay at or below the plant's established maximum, the plant would be treated as if it were operating cleanly -- even if its total ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Move fast on climate, environmental groups tell Obama.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/56469.html
McClatchy Newspapers: Don't wait until the financial crisis is over to attack global warming because cleaner ways to produce and use energy will lead to a stronger economy, leaders of environmental groups said Tuesday as they outlined their wish list for President-elect Barack Obama. The recommendations from 29 of the nation's most prominent environmental and conservation groups emphasized a clean-energy approach to economic revitalization but also included detailed suggestions for Alaska's Arctic region ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
UN: greenhouse gases at new record highs
http://www.heraldonline.com/426/story/979596.html
Associated Press: Greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere have reached new record highs and show no sign of leveling off, the U.N. weather agency said Tuesday. Major greenhouse gases have been increasing every year since detailed records started being kept in 1998 and follow a trend of rising emissions that began with the Industrial Revolution in the mid-18th century. The report by the World Meteorological Organization was released a year before representatives from major countries meet in ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Climate change is a battle for existence in the Maldives
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iJ1fPXP3dS8lUoPulsUs123tStWg
Agence France-Presse: Among the many grim predictions of climate change experts, the future fate of The Maldives stands out as a genuine doomsday scenario with the island chain nation facing nothing short of extinction. A one-metre (3.3-foot) rise in sea level would almost totally submerge the country's 1,192 coral islands scattered off the southern tip of India. Experts predict a rise of at least 18 centimetres is likely by the end of the century. So pressing has the danger become that the new ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Warm winter 'major threat' to crops
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-11/26/content_7239388.htm
China Daily: Prolonged periods of drought resulting from China's 23rd consecutive "warm winter" will pose a serious threat to the country's crop yields, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said in a report published Tuesday. Some regions could experience droughts until the spring, the report said, adding that the warm weather might even continue until summer. In contrast, extreme falls in temperature are forecast for the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, where "natural ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
EU nations blow hot and cold on climate change package
http://www.terradaily.com/2007/081126011659.jqc944is.html
Agence France-Presse: Battered by the economic headwinds and unable to hammer out a plan to fight global warming, Europe has ruined its ambition to lead the world at upcoming international climate talks in Poznan, Poland. The European Union has fixed an ambitious triple objective for itself to achieve by 2020, the so-called 20-20-20 goals; a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels, bringing renewable energy use up to 20 percent of the total, and an overall cut of 20 percent in ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
United Kingdom: BAA to invite Heathrow noise watchdog if third runway is approved
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/3523656/BAA-to-invite-Heathrow-noise-watchdog-if-third-runway-is-approved.html
Telegraph: A spokesman for BAA said it would only increase the number of flights at the airport if it can operate within these limits. BAA also wants to use both Heathrow's existing runways for take-offs and landings simultaneously. If it gets this concession, BAA says it will not increase flight numbers but use the extra capacity to cut delays. BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said: 'We have listened to the many arguments around expansion at Heathrow. Although the economic case ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Drought drains Central Texas crops, livestock
http://seguingazette.com/story.lasso?ewcd=4152c527ba717f44
Associated Press: This time of year, Debbie Davis usually sees green clover and winter grasses across the grazing pastures of her ranch. Now she sees only yellowing fields. "There's nothing. It's bad." said Davis, who fears continuing dry conditions will also fuel wildfires like a small one near her San Antonio-area spread a few days ago. "It was small because they caught it early." Even though Texas was soaked by three hurricanes this year, nearly half the state remains under drought conditions ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Researchers investigate how plants adapt to climate
http://www.physorg.com/news146767868.html
Physorg: How many mouths does a plant need in order to survive? The answer changes depending on climate, and some of the decisions are made long before a new leaf sprouts. Stanford researchers have found that the formation of microscopic pores called stomata (derived from the Greek word stoma, meaning mouth) is controlled by a specific signaling pathway that blocks activity of a single protein required for stomata development. The findings are described in a paper published Nov. 14 in ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Tibetan glaciers are melting faster than previously believed
http://www.tajikistannews.net/story/434214
Asian News International: If reports are to be believed, the Tibetan glaciers are melting faster than anyone thought, putting nearly a billion people living in South Asia in peril of losing their water supply. Throughout India, China, and Nepal, some 15,000 glaciers speckle the Tibetan Plateau, some of the highest land in the world. According to a report in Discovery News, though the ice is perched in thin, frigid air up to 7,200 meters (23,622 feet) above sea level, research has shown that it has not ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Zombie Economics: Don't Bail out the System that Gave Us SUVs and Strip Malls
http://www.alternet.org/environment/108481/zombie_economics:_don't_bail_out_the_system_that_gave_us_suvs_and_strip_malls/
Various: Though Citicorp is deemed too big to fail, it's hardly reassuring to know that it's been allowed to sink its fangs into the Mother Zombie that the U.S. Treasury has become and sucked out a multibillion dollar dose of embalming fluid so it can go on pretending to be a bank for a while longer. I employ this somewhat clunky metaphor to point out that the U.S. government is no more solvent than the financial zombies it is keeping on walking-dead support. And so this serial mummery of ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Marine life faces 'acid threat'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7745714.stm
BBC: Man-made pollution is raising ocean acidity at least 10 times faster than previously thought, a study says. Researchers say carbon dioxide levels are having a marked effect on the health of shellfish such as mussels. They sampled coastal waters off the north-west Pacific coast of the US every half-hour for eight years. The results, published in the journal PNAS, suggest that earlier climate change models may have underestimated the rate of ocean ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
UN: 'Carbon sink' Africa counters greenhouse gases' impact
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/243243,un-carbon-sink-africa-counters-greenhouse-gases-impact.html
Deutsche Welle: Africa could be taking more carbon out of the atmosphere that it releases, thus helping to counter the effect of greenhouse emissions on global warning, a UN agency said Tuesday. The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is basing its observations on a research project, CarboAfrica involving 15 institutions from Africa and Europe, including FAO. Studying wild fires in South Africa's Kruger Park, carbon dioxide flows in the rainforest of Ghana or weather patterns in Sudan, ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Wind power meets record demand in Spain: industry group
http://www.physorg.com/news146811875.html
Agence France-Presse: Wind power supplied a record 43 percent of all electricity demand in Spain, which is being lashed by heavy winds and rain, for a brief period on Monday, the Spanish wind power association said. Wind power supplied a record 43 percent of all electricity demand in Spain, which is being lashed by heavy winds and rain, for a brief period on Monday, the Spanish wind power association said. Spanish wind farms generated 9,253 megawatts of the total demand of 21,264 megawatts at around 5 a.m. ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Slump May Limit Moves on Clean Energy
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=111457
New York Times: Just as the world seemed poised to combat global warming more aggressively, the economic slump and plunging prices of coal and oil are upending plans to wean businesses and consumers from fossil fuel. From Italy to China, the threat to jobs, profits and government tax revenues posed by the financial crisis has cast doubt on commitments to cap emissions or phase out polluting factories. Automakers, especially Detroit`s Big Three, face collapsing sales, threatening their plans to ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=planes-trains-and-automobiles-08-11-25
Scientific American: Going home for Thanksgiving is a time-honored American tradition--and one that exemplifies the environmental burden created by all our hectic traveling. We spewed more than 2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from our trains, planes and automobiles in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. I love my beat up old junker of a car, but at 30 miles-per-gallon, I'm not doing the atmosphere any favors. Turning to ethanol or biodiesel doesn't help much, given that those fuels ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Chip maker promises to bolster energy from shaded solar panels
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2231307/chip-maker-promises-energy
Business Green: For many companies looking to install solar panels, an inconveniently placed tree or rooftop facing in the wrong direction can soon put paid to their green ambitions by casting a shadow over the best spot for their solar array. But now US-based electronics component manufacturer National Semiconductor is hoping to address the problem with the launch of a new product that promises to reduce the effect of shade on photovoltaic solar panels. The device, called SolarMagic, will be ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
EU mulls state aid for companies hit by CO2 costs
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AP2D320081126?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: The European Union is considering state aid to help companies deal with the risk of electricity prices rising as the EU clamps down on carbon emissions, a document seen by Reuters on Wednesday showed. The measures are aimed at easing a stand-off with member states including Germany and Poland that fear big employers will simply move operations overseas to less regulated countries, rather than face the cost of cutting carbon at home. The EU is now reviewing its flagship ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Miliband invites green movement to be more critical
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2231315/miliband-invites-green-movement
Business Green: Ed Miliband yesterday used his first speech since his appointment as energy and climate change secretary to urge the public sector to play a greater role in the generation of renewable energy. Echoing comments made the previous day by Environment Agency chairman Lord Smith, Miliband told delegates at the Agency's conference that with the public sector owning 10 per cent of land in the UK, it should be capable of generating far more than the one per cent of the country's renewable ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Will we have solar pavements within five years?
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2231330/solar-pavements-within-five
Business Green: Thin-film solar cells could soon become a ubiquitous feature of urban landscapes, integrated into everything from pavements to windows and paint to clothing. That is the prediction of researchers at IT giant IBM who claim solar technologies will become affordable for consumers within five years, as thin-film solar cells come of age. According to the company's Next Five in Five report, which assesses the innovations the company expects to make a big impact over the next five ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
Downturn will not put brakes on hybrid success
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2231339/downturn-put-brakes-hybrid
Business Green: The global economic recession will fail to halt hybrid vehicles' march into the mainstream, according to a new report from auto industry research firm R.L. Polk & Company. The study predicts that by 2012, one in 20 new vehicles sold in North America and Europe will be a hybrid model as customer concerns over fuel efficiency and carbon emissions continue to mount. That would represent significant growth in demand for hybrids, which currently account for just 2.8 per cent of ...
Thu, 27 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Critical Mass police ban blocked by law lords
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/nov/26/critical-mass-london-police
Press Assocation: Police attempts to outlaw the monthly Critical Mass cycle ride through the streets of London unless its route is notified in advance were blocked by the law lords today. The House of Lords allowed a challenge by a cyclist, Des Kay, to a court of appeal ruling that the Metropolitan police had the right to demand prior notice of the ride's date, time and route and the names and addresses of the organisers. Cyclists who gather on the South Bank and ride through the city to ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Credit crunch warning over UK energy security
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/26/utilities-energy-security-ofgem
Guardian: The credit crunch is forcing Britain's power companies to pay high prices for their borrowing and could have a long term impact on supply, according to the UK's top energy regulator. Alistair Buchanan, chief executive of Ofgem, said the global financial crisis was making it harder for companies to borrow and, when they could, the terms were increasingly expensive. Buchanan told the cross-party business and enterprise committee of MPs yesterday that companies were paying 4% to ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Consumers rank climate concerns ahead of economy in global survey
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/26/climate-change-carbon-emissions
Guardian: Consumers around the world want governments to stop haggling and start acting on climate change, according to a survey carried out in 12 countries by a coalition of climate groups. Despite the looming prospect of a deep global recession, 43% of the 12,000 respondents of the survey chose climate change ahead of the global economy when asked about their current concerns. Worldwide, 77% of respondents wanted to see their governments cutting carbon by their fair share or more, in order to ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
'World mandate' on climate action
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7748247.stm
BBC: An opinion poll in 11 countries has produced what organisers term a "global mandate" for action on climate change. About half of the respondents wanted governments to play a major role in curbing emissions, but only a quarter said their leaders were doing enough. In developing countries, a majority of people were prepared to make "lifestyle changes" to reduce climate change. The survey was commissioned by the HSBC Climate Partnership, which includes business and ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Locust plagues may be eased by global warming
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16137-locust-plagues-may-be-eased-by-global-warming.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: It's not often we can report on some good news associated with climate change. But it seems that warming temperatures could give welcome respite to farmers - in China, at least - by suppressing locust plagues. Zhibin Zhang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues have trawled through 1000 years of historical records documenting locust swarms and compared it with 1000 years of temperature, drought and flood data estimates. They found that the Oriental migratory locust ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
United Kingdom: 'Go greener' call to schools, jails and hospitals
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/26/green-politics-climate-change
Guardian: Ed Miliband has used his first speech as climate change and energy secretary to call on prisons, schools and hospitals to generate more renewable energy. Speaking to the Environment Agency yesterday, Miliband said the public sector, which accounts for 10% of land in the UK, should be contributing more than the 1% of renewable energy it now generates. Miliband also called on the environment movement to put more pressure on his department in the run-up to international climate ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Wasted opportunities: Cutting back the vast tonnage of household food that ends up in landfill
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/26/waste-environment
Guardian: Inviting people to assess their likelihood of having liver damage by noting how many booze bottles they recycle - as the Drink Aware Trust is currently doing - might make people drink less. But could encouraging the public to take a fresh look at the congealing carcasses, mouldy macaroni and rancid ratatouilles that make up 20% of the average household's rubbish help us shrink our food waste mountain? By 2013, when EU plans to enforce stricter waste targets and penalties will be ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Carbon regulation could "cripple" Texas: Perry
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AP09920081126?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Texas Gov. Rick Perry said on Tuesday that the economy of the leading energy producing U.S. state would be "crippled" by a federal agency's proposal to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. Perry urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) "to suppress the urge" to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, citing the "devastating implications for Texas' economy and energy industry." Responding to the EPA's proposed greenhouse gas rule-making under the Clean Air Act, Perry said ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Severn Barrage should be scrapped in favour of tidal reef RSPB
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/wavepower/3515086/Severn-Barrage-should-be-scrapped-in-favour-of-tidal-reef---RSPB.html
Telegraph: The tidal power at the mouth of the River Severn has the potential to generate up to 5 per cent of the UK's electricity needs. At the moment the Government is currently looking at 10 different proposals on how to harness the power, including a tidal reef and a barrage. A barrage from Cardiff in Wales to Weston-super-Mare in Somerset on the other side of the river, is the most well known option. However it is unpopular with conservationists who say that the 10 mile dam will be ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Eastern EU members seek new climate proposal ahead of summit
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1227620822.46
Agence France-Presse: Eastern EU member states want to see a fresh proposal from France regarding the European Union's planned climate and energy package, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Monday. Speaking after a meeting of the nine nations' foreign ministers, Sikorski recalled that French President Nicolas Sarkozy -- whose nation holds the EU presidency -- will be in Gdansk 2on December 6, Saint Nicolas Day. "I hope he will bring us a present in the form of good proposals, proposals ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
NY's Great White Way goes green
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20081125/tsc-ny-s-great-white-way-goes-green-e123fef.html
Agence France-Presse: New York's Great White Way turned a shade greener Tuesday as Broadway announced plans for making theaters more environmentally sound. Skip related content Broadway leaders joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the Eugene O'Neill Theater to commit to wider efforts meant to reduce the city's carbon footprint by a third over two decades, the mayor's office said. Switching light bulbs in the dazzling street displays, recycling stage scenery, and washing costumes in cold water are some ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
United States: Villaraigosa unveils solar plan for Los Angeles
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/los_angeles_metro/la-me-solar25-2008nov25,0,5148797.story?track=rss
LA Times:
Wed, 26 Nov 08
EU Saying, Not Doing, the Right Things
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44856
Inter Press Service: Senior European Union figures are portraying themselves as champions of sound ecological policies ahead of the international climate change negotiations that begin in Poznan, Poland Dec. 1. Stavros Dimas, Europe's environment commissioner, this week described a series of measures being considered by the bloc's 27 governments as "easily the most far-reaching legislative package on fighting climate change anywhere in the world." Green activists who have assessed the small print of these ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Oceans Ten Times More Acidic Than Thought
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081124-acidic-oceans.html?source=rss
National Geographic: Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may make Earth's oceans more acidic faster than previously thought--unbalancing ecosystems in the process, a new study says. Since 2000, scientists have measured the acidity of seawater around Tatoosh Island off the coast of Washington state. The acidity increased ten times quicker than climate models predicted. The research also revealed the corrosive effect of acidic oceans could trigger a dramatic shift in coastal species ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
How global warming will become more dangerous
http://news.smashits.com/320944/How-global-warming-will-become-more-dangerous-.htm
Indo-Asian News Service: Global warming will hit us not only in the atmosphere but also in soil underneath, warns new Canadian research. Researchers at Toronto University here have found that global warming will change the molecular structure of organic matter in soil, thus altering its natural decomposition process and affecting fertility as well as releasing more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The release of more carbon dioxide will set in motion a self-perpetuating process - more carbon dioxide ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Sun rising on California's power horizon
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/25/BUVI14B645.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: Californians have more than 60 percent of the nation's solar installations, and more than 66 percent of the state's solar applications are in Northern California, according to a report released Monday by the Northern California Solar Energy Association, a nonprofit advocacy group. For 2007, statewide there were 50,466 photovoltaic installations, yielding 244 megawatts of electricity, according to the report. The report also tracks energy installations for 165 cities in the nine ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Mussels lose out as carbon dioxide changes the ocean
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97412198
National Public Radio: All the carbon dioxide pouring into the atmosphere is making the oceans more acidic -- and those effects appear to be striking very close to home. Scientists have been fretting about what ocean acid will do to coral reefs and certain species of plankton. And a new study now documents a startling and rapid change in ocean acid on an island just off the coast of Washington state. Ocean chemistry measured from Tatoosh Island found that the ocean there is becoming acidic 10 times ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Canada: Secret advice to politicians: Oilsands emissions hard to scrub.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/11/24/sands-trap.html
Various: Carbon dioxide emissions from Western Canada's oilsands are set to increase from five per cent to 16 per cent of the national total by 2020 under current plans. (Canadian Press) CBC News has obtained a government document that says reducing greenhouse gases from Western Canada's oilsands will be much more difficult than some politicians and the industry suggest. The ministerial briefing notes, initially marked "Secret," say that just a small percentage of the carbon dioxide ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Greenhouse gases hit record levels last year
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AO52520081125?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Gases blamed for global warming reached record levels in the atmosphere last year, the United Nations weather agency said on Tuesday. Concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) touched new highs after more steady rises in 2007, and methane had its largest annual increase in a decade, the World Meteorological Organization said. "The major greenhouse gases -- CO2, methane and N2O -- have all reached new highs in 2007. Two of them, CO2 and N20, are increasing ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
MP lays out his opposition to climate bill
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2231274/mp-lays-opposition-climate-bill
Business Green: The climate change bill, due to become law next week could cost UK households £10,000 each by 2050, according to MP Peter Lilley, one of only five out of 466 MPs who voted to reject the bill. Lilley says the legislation binds future British governments to introduce massive spending programmes, which could cost up to £200bn. "In my experience, our biggest mistakes are made when parliament and the media are virtually unanimous and MPs switch off their critical faculties in a ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Brazil: Using Science and Thinking Small to Relaunch Biofuels
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44848
Inter Press Service: Using Science and Thinking Small to Relaunch Biofuels Homepage Latest News Search Languages Contact Us About Us Wednesday, November 26, 2008 00:00 GMT IPS Direct to Your Inbox! <NOBR></NOBR> - Global Affairs - Africa - Asia-Pacific Afghanistan Iran - Caribbean Haiti - Europe Union in Diversity - Latin America - Mideast & Mediterranean Iraq Israel/Palestine - North America Neo-Cons Bush at War - Development MDGs City Voices Corruption - Civil Society - Globalisation - ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Bad Economy Threatens Obama's Climate Fix
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97393883&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Many environmental activists, scientists and business leaders worry that a recession and two wars will force President-elect Barck Obama to put his ambitious plans to tackle global warming on the backburner. Obama reiterated his campaign pledge at a governors conference on climate change last week. "We'll establish strong annual targets that set us on a course to reduce emissions to their 1990 level by 2020, and reduce them an additional 80 percent by 2050," he said in a video ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
UK says supports EU climate plan despite recession
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AO72V20081125?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Britain supports the European Union's tough climate change proposals even as Europe falls into recession, the UK minister of state for energy and climate change told a conference on Tuesday. "We do not believe the global economic downturn justifies postponing action on climate change until stability returns," Mike O'Brien said. "The case for strong and early action remains robust under the current economic situation." The EU Commission's climate change and energy package ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Italy to veto new EU climate targets if no changes
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AO82E20081125?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Italy will veto new European greenhouse gas limits for 2020 unless it gets concessions, its environment minister said on Tuesday, suggesting the EU might wait a year before adopting new climate change policies. French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants a European Union summit he will chair next month to agree a 20 percent emissions cut, something the EU would use to press other countries for a new global treaty for when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. Italian Prime Minister ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Will Any Crumbs Remain After Bankers' Feast?
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44853
Inter Press Service: The vast resources the U.S. and Europeans are pouring into ailing financial firms could lead to disastrous consequences for global efforts to reduce poverty and mitigate the impacts of climate change, warns a new study by an independent think tank. The study, entitled "Skewed Priorities: How the Bailouts Dwarf Other Global Crises", points out that the U.S and European governments are willing to help financial firms in crisis with more than 4 trillion dollars -- an amount estimated to ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Vatican set to go green with huge solar panel roof
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AO8C820081125?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: The Vatican was set to go green on Wednesday with the activation of a new solar energy system to power several key buildings and a commitment to use renewable energy for 20 percent of its needs by 2020. The massive roof of the Vatican's "Nervi Hall," where popes hold general audiences and concerts are performed, has been covered with 2,400 photovoltaic panels -- but they will not be visible from below, leaving the Vatican skyline unchanged. The new system on the 5,000 square ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Reseachers say climate change on ground
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1602708/reseachers_say_climate_change_on_ground/index.html?source=r_science
United Press International: University of Toronto-Scarborough researchers say looking at the ground, not the sky, could better determine where climate change could be the worst. Global warming, the scientists reported in Nature Geoscience, changes the molecular structure of organic matter in the soil, the university said in a news release. "Soil contains more than twice the amount of carbon than does the atmosphere, yet, until now, scientists haven't examined this significant carbon pool closely," said ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Darling claims green spending can help economic recovery
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/3514703/Darling-claims-green-spending-can-help-economic-recovery.html
Telegraph: Chancellor Alistair Darling addressed ways of hitting emissions targets, reducing household bills and supporting renewable energy in a lengthy section of the report entitled Delivering on Environmental Goals. Among the new measures, the Chancellor promised to reduce carbon emissions to 80pc by 2050, extend carbon trading schemes to the aviation industry and commit to renewable energy targets until 2037. He also said £535m of capital spending on insulating 60,000 homes, ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Chinese Forest Project Could Reduce Number Of Environmental Disasters
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081124165134.htm
ScienceDaily: A study published in Journal of the American Water Resources Association states that the "Green Great Wall," a forest shelterbelt project in northern China running nearly parallel to the Great Wall, is likely to improve climatic and hydrological conditions in the area when completed. The project, which relies on afforestation (a process that changes land without dense tree cover into forest), could lead to an increase in precipitation by up to 20 percent and decrease the temperature ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Getting Warmer? Prehistoric Climate Can Help Forecast Future Changes
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081124141055.htm
ScienceDaily: The first comprehensive reconstruction of an extreme warm period shows the sensitivity of the climate system to changes in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels as well as the strong influence of ocean temperatures, heat transport from equatorial regions, and greenhouse gases on Earth's temperature. New data allow for more accurate predictions of future climate and improved understanding of today's warming. Past warm periods provide real data on climate change and are natural laboratories for ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Ocean Growing More Acidic Faster Than Once Thought; Increasing Acidity Threatens Sea Life
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081124141053.htm
ScienceDaily: University of Chicago scientists have documented that the ocean is growing more acidic faster than previously thought. In addition, they have found that the increasing acidity correlates with increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a paper published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Nov. 24. "Of the variables the study examined that are linked to changes in ocean acidity, only atmospheric carbon dioxide exhibited a corresponding ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Global Warming Is Changing Organic Matter In Soil: Atmosphere Could Change As A Result
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081124130948.htm
ScienceDaily: New research shows that we should be looking to the ground, not the sky, to see where climate change could have its most perilous impact on life on Earth. Scientists at the University of Toronto Scarborough have published research findings in the journal Nature Geoscience that show global warming actually changes the molecular structure of organic matter in soil. "Soil contains more than twice the amount of carbon than does the atmosphere, yet, until now, scientists haven't ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Bog answers over climate change
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7746489.stm
BBC: Experts have been to one of Scotland's few remaining raised peatbogs in a bid to find out more about climate change. Scottish Natural Heritage has been taking core samples from Blawhorn Moss, a peat bog near Blackridge in West Lothian. Each metre below the surface represents a 1,000 years of vegetation which has rotted and turned into peat. The workers are extracting climate change information from peat bogs Bogs used to cover much of central Scotland but the peat ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Hundreds oppose wind farm plans
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/north_yorkshire/7744619.stm
BBC: Hundreds of people have complained about plans to build a wind farm on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. Energiekontor Uk Ltd wants to put five 328ft (100m) turbines at Brightenber Hill near Gargrave, Skipton. A 250-strong group of residents have formed Friends of Craven Landscape and are campaigning against the plans. Craven Council has received 600 letters of objection and a 600-signature petition, but its planning committee has been asked to approve the plans. A ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Desertification Affects 35 Million Nigerians, Says Govt
http://allafrica.com/stories/200811240142.html
This Day: No fewer than 35 million people located in about 10 states in northern Nigeria are facing threats of hunger and extreme weather conditions due to desert encroachment on arable lands and grazing fields. This is because the Sahara desert is said to be moving southwards at the rate of 0.6 kilometres per annum, just as the rate of deforestation has been about 350,000 hectares per annum. This was part of a report presented to the House of Representatives Committee on Environment ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
San Francisco Bay to be electric car capital
http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=3440
People and Planet: Officials in California have unveiled ambitious plans to turn the San Francisco Bay area - home to 7.6 million people - into one of the world's leading centres for electric vehicles. If it succeeds, the strategy will see billions of dollars poured into a power infrastructure that will turn the region away from fossil fuels and persuade millions of people to switch to green transport technology. The plan, which will see the bay area become the first region of California to ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Helping the poor to build 'green' wealth and security
http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=3439
People and Planet: Nearly three quarters of the 2.6 billion people subsisting on $2 a day or less are heavily dependent on the environment for a significant part of their daily livelihoods, says the newly released World Resources Report 2008. The report argues that "properly designed enterprises can create economic, social and environmental resilience that cushion the impacts of climate change and help provide needed social stability" to address the roots of poverty. The picture that emerges from ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Colombia: Sustainable Development in a Doomed City
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44833
Inter Press Service: The sea encroaching on the streets of this Caribbean resort city in northern Colombia dramatically underlines the challenges that 60 journalists, winners of awards from the Latin American Avina foundation, discussed over the weekend. The award money is to be used for reporting or making documentaries on sustainable development. In spite of the lack of rain or other exceptional circumstances, some 50 metres of the street were under water in front of the Almirante Estelar Hotel, ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
EU Moves Closer To Agreement On Reducing CO2 Emissions
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1602570/eu_moves_closer_to_agreement_on_reducing_co2_emissions/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: European Union governments made progress Monday on an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars, but did not reach consensus on the details, diplomats said. Any agreement must strike the right compromise between the EU's struggling car industry and the bloc's priority in fighting global warming through a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The lack of consensus likely means the governments and the European Parliament will not reach a final deal on the matter in ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Oceans Passing Critical CO2 Threshold
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44836
Inter Press Service: An apparent rapid upswing in ocean acidity in recent years is wiping out coastal species like mussels, a new study has found. "We're seeing dramatic changes," said Timothy Wootton of the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago, lead author of the study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study shows increases in ocean acidity that are more than 10 times faster than any prediction. "It appears that we've crossed a ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Acidic seas threaten coral and mussels
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/acidic-seas-threaten-coral-and-mussels-1033805.html
Independent: Rising carbon dioxide levels are increasing acidity in the oceans 10 times faster than scientists thought, posing a greater threat to shell-forming creatures such as coral and mussels. An eight-year project in the Pacific has found that rising marine acid levels will challenge many organisms, because their shell-making chemistry is critically dependent on a less acidic, more alkaline environment. The study monitored seawater pH levels at the north-east Pacific island of Tatoosh off ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Unexpected rise in carbon-fuelled ocean acidity threatens shellfish, say scientists
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/25/water-ocean-acidity-shellfish
Guardian: The world's oceans are becoming acidic more quickly than climate change models predict, according to scientists who claim it will have a dramatic impact on marine ecosystems. Water samples collected around an island in the eastern Pacific over the past eight years showed seawater had acidified more than 20 times faster than scientists expected. The effect could be devastating for shellfish and other crustaceans, because acidic waters dissolve calcium carbonate used by the organisms to ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
The planet is now so vandalised that only total energy renewal can save us
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/25/climate-change-carbon-emissions
Guardian: George Bush is behaving like a furious defaulter whose home is about to be repossessed. Smashing the porcelain, ripping the doors off their hinges, he is determined that there will be nothing worth owning by the time the bastards kick him out. His midnight regulations, opening America's wilderness to logging and mining, trashing pollution controls, tearing up conservation laws, will do almost as much damage in the last 60 days of his presidency as he achieved in the foregoing ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Plans to protect forests could do the opposite, warns Friends of the Earth
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/25/friends-earth-forests
Guardian: International proposals to protect forests as a way of tackling climate change could displace millions of indigenous people and fail to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, environmentalists warn. In a report to be published on Thursday, Friends of the Earth International (FOE) will argue that current plans to slow the decline of forests by making rich countries pay for the protection of forests in tropical regions are not fit for purpose, as they are open to abuse by corrupt ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Duty on long-haul flights and funding for wind energy do not satisfy green campaigners
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/25/pre-budget-report-economics1
Guardian: Airline passenger duty (APD) on flights to destinations such as Thailand, South Africa and the Seychelles will increase by 25% from next year and by will rise by half from that in 2010. Alistair Darling said the move would benefit the environment, but his decision to have a more draconian flight tax and to give only a small boost to a low-carbon economy angered the green movement. The APD is presently levied at £10 on an economy-class flight to European destinations and £40 for ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Commission decision threatens future of bluefin tuna
http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=3441
WWF: The commission set up to prevent a collapse of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery today opted for catch quotas still far higher than its own scientists recommend and leaving industrial fleets free to scoop up tuna at the height of its spawning period. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, for the past week, brushed aside its own review's description of its management of the bluefin fishery as "an international ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Polish miners, greens clash on eve of climate talks
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AN5SL20081124?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Greenpeace protesters clashed with coal miners at a new opencast mine on Monday in an incident highlighting Poland's environmental dilemma on the eve of a major U.N.-led conference on climate change. The western Polish city of Poznan will be the venue for the December 1-12 conference aimed at agreeing a new global climate package to replace the Kyoto protocol which expires in 2012. But Poland still relies on polluting coal for more than 90 percent of its growing energy needs. ...
Wed, 26 Nov 08
Wind power gets boost in pre-budget report
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/24/renewableenergy-alternativeenergy
Guardian: The government gave a significant boost to the wind power industry today when it promised to extend the Renewables Obligation of financial support until 2037 in the pre-budget statement. Chancellor Alistair Darling also changed airline passenger taxes to a system that he said would reduce aviation but dropped plans for a more stringent duty on aircraft. Environmental campaigners were also disappointed that there was no wider Green New Deal. The Renewables Obligation, which ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Thinning glaciers 'endangering South Asian water supply'
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/thinning-glaciers-endangering-south-asian-water-su.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment
SciDev.Net: New evidence that Himalayan glaciers are shrinking has added weight to concerns that there could be severe water shortages in the region by 2030. Researchers drilling an ice core in the 6,050 metre-high Naimona'nyi glacier near Tibet were expecting to find radioactivity left by atomic tests carried out 50 years ago. Instead they found little more than background levels of radioactivity. The scientists, from the Institute for Tibetan Plateau Research, the Chinese Academy of ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
United Kingdom: 100m pledged to insulate homes
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/pound100m-pledged-to-insulate-homes-1033350.html
Independent: Alistair Darling today announced an extra £100 million to help tens of thousands of families insulate their homes in a move to cut emissions and reduce energy bills. As he announced a package of measures to tackle the financial crisis, the Chancellor said "economic recovery must support our environmental objectives - not come at its expense". Alongside the £100 million of new money, he brought forward another £50 million to help with insulating homes, which together will help ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Chancellor slammed over budget's lack of green ambition
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2231209/chancellor-slammed-lack-green
Business Green: The chancellor Alistair Darling has today resisted calls from some of his cabinet colleagues to launch a "green new deal" as part of his Pre-Budget Report to help stimulate the economy, but has pledged to bolster spending on energy efficiency and the rail network, while extending incentives for renewable energy projects. Speaking in the House of Commons earlier today, the chancellor insisted that the government's plans to tackle the current recession "must support our environmental ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
EU Carmaking Nations in CO2 Deal as Italy Signs Up
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51199/story.htm
Reuters: Europe's four big auto making nations have reached agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions from cars after Italy joined a deal between Britain, France and Germany, government sources in Rome and Berlin said. The deal will help ease Italian opposition to ambitious European Union plans to lead the world in cutting global warming gases, but it will still need the approval of other EU member states and the European Parliament. "This is a very important point for Italy, but it ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Wal-Mart in Wind Energy Deal with Duke Energy
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51198/story.htm
Reuters: Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Thursday that it had entered into a partnership with Duke Energy to have wind power supply up to 15 percent of its energy load for roughly 360 of its stores and facilities in Texas. Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, said it expected by April to begin obtaining electricity from a Duke Energy wind farm under construction in Notrees, Texas. "We're purchasing renewable power at traditional energy rates," Kim Saylors-Laster, vice president of energy ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Plan fills 'energy gap' well into the future
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/environment/display.var.2469580.0.Plan_fills_energy_gap_well_into_the_future.php
Various: They call it the "energy gap". Despite the rapid growth and potential of Scotland's renewable energy sources, the country's conventionally generated electricity supply is facing a rundown as plants grow old. Of the two remaining nuclear power plants in Scotland, Hunterston B is scheduled for shut-down in 2016, but with the potential for a further extension, and Torness in East Lothian should keep running until 2023. But plans for expansion or the creation of new ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Climate Clues In Southern Ocean: Ocean Currents Surprisingly Resistant To Intensifying Winds
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081123222842.htm
ScienceDaily: The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the current system with the largest volume transport in the world ocean. Between 40° and 60°S strong westerlies move about 140 million cubic meters of water per second around the Antarctic continent (this is about five times the transport of the Gulf Stream). Vertical motions associated with this current have been responsible for transporting a substantial fraction of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere to the deep ocean, ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
German conservatives press for breaks in EU climate pact
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1227451626.18
EUbusiness: German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced calls from fellow conservatives Sunday to fight to water down a European Union climate pact until the recession-wracked economy is moving again. Bavarian premier Horst Seehofer said in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that he had written to Merkel calling on her to back away from EU climate protection goals to be approved next month for a time. "The carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction targets at the EU level must be organised so ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Obama's green start
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/obamas-green-start-1031239.html
Independent: Barack Obama and congressional leaders are preparing rapid legislation to cut US emissions that cause global warming and to kick-start a clean energy revolution. Two bills are to be introduced as soon as the President-elect takes office in January. One will provide $15bn (£10.1bn) a year to encourage innovation in renewable energies as part of a thorough overhaul of the highly polluting US energy system. The other will pave the way to setting up a system of tradable emissions permits ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Bid to cut UK transport emissions
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7742917.stm
BBC: UK transport emissions could be cut by a quarter by 2020 if the government shifted its policies, a report claims. The Campaign for Better Transport study urges ministers to focus on the biggest possible savings - by tackling lorries, vans, and long-distance commuters. It also proposes an extra tax on air passengers, with proceeds redistributed among the entire population. The government says it is moving freight off roads, and helping people make greener local travel ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Power in the desert: solar towers will harness sunshine of southern Spain
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/24/andalucia-spain-renewable-energy-technology
Guardian: In the desert of southern Spain, 20 miles outside Seville, more than 1,000 mirrors are being carefully positioned. Each is about half the size of a tennis court, so the adjustments will take time. But when they are complete in a few weeks, it will mark a major moment in the quest for renewable energy. The mirrors are part of the world's biggest solar tower plant, a technology that reflects sunlight to superheat water at a central tower. Once this 80m (£67m) plant is inaugurated in ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
10,000 jobs to be created by insulating homes
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/24/pre-budget-home-insulation-jobs
Guardian: A plan to create more than 10,000 jobs in the construction industry by insulating homes in the private and public sectors will be announced by Alistair Darling in today's pre-budget report. The government will bring forward future capital spending in an attempt to reduce energy bills this winter and to employ some of those laid off during the worst downturn in the property market for two decades. While the main thrust of the report will be emergency measures to prompt a ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Australia: Nothing new in Wong's Murray Darling report
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2008/11/24/28921_water.html
Weekly Times: FEDERAL Water Minister Penny Wong has repackaged and relaunched CSIRO's Murray Darling Basin Sustainable Yield Reports. The last of the 18 reports, analysing the impacts of climate change on surface and groundwater in the basin, was released in July. However Senator Wong today launched a summary report, which reiterated CSIRO's previous findings that the environment would bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change. CSIRO found median surface water availability to ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
United Kingdom: More than 195,000 wind turbines to appear outside homes by 2020
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/3507196/More-than-195000-wind-turbines-to-appear-outside-homes-by-2020.html
Telegraph: A "feed-in tariff" will be introduced to ensure any household generating power through renewable power sources like wind, solar or biomass will be paid for the energy they produce, as part of measures to tackle climate change. The Energy Saving Trust, the independent body in charge of improving energy efficiency in the UK, predicted that the introduction of the tariffs could persuade 8.6 million people - around a quarter of households - to invest in combined heat and power, wind ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
United States: Wind power is pushing Duluth port to a new age
http://www.startribune.com/local/34968914.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7EaDiaMDCiUZ
Star Tribune: In 2005, a ship called the Bavaria arrived in Duluth-Superior from Europe with a visually stunning cargo the gritty taconite and coal port had never seen: gargantuan yet somehow slender blades, hubs and shafts meant for towering wind turbines. Since then, America's increasing embrace of wind power has brought the port a windfall, with shipments surging to make the head of the Great Lakes a major funnel for turbines destined for the Upper Midwest and parts of Canada. Jason Paulson, ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Australia: National safeguards for native plants
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/national-safeguards-for-native-plants/2008/11/24/1227491462520.html
Sydney Morning Herald: A NATIONAL seed bank of native plants will be developed by botanic gardens as a way of saving vulnerable species from climate change. About 7 per cent of native plants are considered at risk from rising temperatures, prompting the eight botanic gardens in capital cities to launch the conservation strategy. "The botanic gardens are places of immense knowledge about how to grow and propagate plants, to reintroduce species and restore ecosystems," the Environment Minister, Peter ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Southern Ocean changing but still major CO2 sink: study.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AN1P020081124
Reuters: The Southern Ocean has proved more resilient to global warming than previously thought and remains a major store of mankind's planet-warming carbon dioxide, a study has found. Oceans absorb a large portion of the extra CO2 released by mankind through burning fossil fuels or deforestation, acting as a brake on climate change, and the Southern Ocean is the largest of these "carbon sinks." Previous research has suggested the vast ocean between Australia and Antarctica was losing ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Portugal sees mass use of electric cars in 2011
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51221/story.htm
Reuters: Portugal will build 1,300 charging stations for electric cars by the end of 2011 as part of a deal with Renault and Nissan to promote zero-emission vehicles, the government and the auto makers said on Saturday. As part of the agreement with France's Renault and its Japanese partner Nissan, Portugal will also decree that one-fifth of all its public fleet vehicle purchases be zero-emission starting in 2011. Renault-Nissan will start deliveries to Portugal of its electric cars in ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Fiji reefs hit by climate change
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/world/33138/fiji-reefs-hit-climate-change
AAP: Climate change and a starfish outbreak have shrunk coral reefs near Fiji, forcing locals to change their lifestyle. A new study, published in Global Change Biology, has found that from 2000-2006 the size of coral reefs around Fiji's remote Lau Islands contracted by about 50 percent. Dr Nick Graham from James Cook University, who took part in the study, says fishing and habitat disturbance are having a big impact. "The area was disturbed by a crown of thorns starfish ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Turbulent time for wind development in NY
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--windpower-turbule1124nov24,0,3520755.story
Associated Press: Wind development in New York has hit a bit of turbulence. The nationwide financial crisis has put the brakes on a wind farm under construction in northern New York and another developer has aborted possible projects in eastern and central New York after trouble securing land. And wind energy companies are now being asked to abide by a code of ethics by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo _ the upshot of his investigation into allegations of corrupt practices by developers. Wind is ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
EU urged to lead efforts to protect the Arctic
http://www.neurope.eu/articles/90700.php
New Europe: The European Union should lead international efforts to protect the Arctic region from global warming and from the resulting increase in the exploitation by humans of its natural resources, officials in Brussels said on November 20. In a document submitted to the European Parliament and to member states, the European Commission warned that the Arctic region was becoming "increasingly at risk from the combined effects of climate change and increased human activity." With Arctic air ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Study urges rich nations to cut emissions first
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/8072559
Guardian: Rich nations should make the first cuts in greenhouse gases while developing countries carry on business as usual for the time being, according to a plan set out on Monday by a Harvard University project. This is one of four proposals by the American university's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs to negotiators who meet for U.N. climate talks next week in Poland. The current climate pact, the Kyoto Protocol, expires in 2012 and governments are scrambling to ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Congestion charges: Running out of road?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/congestion-charge-running-out-of-road-1032204.html
Independent: Sir Richard Leese was stuck in a traffic jam. Which was fortunate really, since I'd been told he'd only have a short window in which to speak. Thanks to the congestion on the road to Wigan, however, we had plenty of time to talk about one of the most ambitious urban road-pricing schemes in the world -- which he is currently fighting to introduce. Sir Richard is the leader of Manchester City Council which, along with the other nine local councils that make up Greater Manchester, is ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
EU announces interest in Arctic region
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8061680
Guardian: The European Union's executive body said Thursday that the bloc should try to obtain its fair share of oil, gas, minerals and fish exposed by the melting of the Arctic ice cap. The move is likely to irk Russia, Canada, the United States and Norway, which are issuing new territorial claims in the polar region. The European Commission said the 27-nation union, which has three member states in the polar region â?? Denmark, Finland and Sweden â?? should particularly get involved in ...
Tue, 25 Nov 08
What climate change? Meltdown trumps fears at APEC
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8061683
Associated Press: Countries on both sides of the Pacific have reason to be very afraid of climate change. Rising sea levels could swamp coastal farms, higher temperatures wipe out entire species and increasingly violent storms exact a widening human and financial toll. But at this week's summit of 21 Pacific Rim nations, global warming is barely on the agenda. In its place: the financial crisis. "The interest and focus on climate change has dissipated somewhat," said Woo Yuen Pau, CEO of the ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Dingell's loss of key position reflects new political climate
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081123/COLUMNIST42/811220250/-1/NEWS11
Toledo Blade: John Dingell's ouster as chairman of the powerful House Committee on Energy and Commerce erases any doubt about meaningful climate legislation being passed by the next Congress. That's good for the carbon-spewing Great Lakes region, even if it serves as a political embarrassment for the southeastern Michigan Democrat who is three months away from becoming the longest-serving U.S. House member in the nation's history. Though the Great Lakes region will face a delicate -- if not ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Australia: Seed bank to protect threatened species
http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=532636
AAP: Australia's botanic gardens are establishing a seed bank to protect plant species from the effects of climate change. The eight capital city gardens are among the first in the world to develop a national climate change strategy. Commonwealth, state and territory environment ministers have endorsed the strategy which includes establishing a seed bank and priorities for the living collections of each garden. Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett says the gardens are ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Australia: NSW to introduce solar feed-in tariff
http://news.theage.com.au/national/nsw-to-introduce-solar-feedin-tariff-20081123-6ex0.html
AAP: NSW households generating solar power will be paid for surplus electricity they pump into the grid under a new state government scheme. The Rees government next year will introduce a feed-in tariff to encourage people to take up solar power, paying for unused electricity householders put into the grid. How much they will receive is yet to be worked out, but it could be up to 60 cents per kilowatt, or four times the price of conventional electricity, ABC Television has ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Canada urged to create green jobs
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2008/11/23/7505101-sun.html
Toronto Sun: Canada needs to invest in renewable energy jobs if it ever wants to fix its crippled labour sector, a U.S. environmental expert said yesterday. Speaking at the Good Jobs Coalition at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, David Foster, the executive director of Blue-Green Alliance, a Minnesota-based environmental agency, said government needs to step in with new public policy to stimulate jobs or the economic crisis is sure to repeat itself. "We can't just throw money mindlessly ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Developing nations urged to slash carbon emissions
http://www.theage.com.au/national/developing-nations-urged-to-slash-carbon-emissions-20081123-6eto.html
Age: THE world will fail to halt global warming in time unless key developing countries join the West in slashing carbon emissions "substantially below business as usual", the world's chief energy watchdog has warned. The executive director of the International Energy Agency, Nobuo Tanaka, told The Age that, on current policies, developing countries will generate 97 per cent of the growth in greenhouse emissions between now and 2030. "After 2020, the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
'India has the potential to go 100% renewable'
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bangalore/India_has_the_potential_to_go_100_renewable/articleshow/3748755.cms
Times of India: Karnataka's progressive move towards increasing the share of solar power is not only an answer to power woes, but also to the global threat of climate change. Olav Hohmeyer, member of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and international expert in renewable energy, was in Bangalore to launch the Max Muller bhavan solar roofing. He spoke to TOI on India's potential of shifting the power burden completely to renewable sources and the country's significant role ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Q & A | 'Brown clouds will go if we eliminate pollutants'
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/Q__A__Brown_clouds_will_go_if_we_eliminate_pollutants/articleshow/3747843.cms
Times of India: Veerabhadran Ramanathan is a distinguished professor of atmospheric sciences and the director of Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, San Diego. He chairs Project ABC, sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme, that recently released the report on Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABCs) which are believed to be creating a haze over cities. He spoke to Atul Sethi: Q What are the implications of ABCs, especially for ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Obama prepares bills to cut pollution and kick-start a clean energy revolution
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/us-election/obama-prepares-bills-to-cut-pollution-and-kickstart-a-clean-energy-revolution-14076308.html
Belefast Telegraph: Barack Obama and congressional leaders are preparing rapid legislation to cut US emissions that cause global warming and to kick-start a clean energy revolution. Two bills are to be introduced as soon as the President-elect takes office in January. One will provide $15bn (£10.1bn) a year to encourage innovation in renewable energies as part of a thorough overhaul of the highly polluting US energy system. The other will pave the way to setting up a system of tradable emissions permits ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Is slow food slowly changing?
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1124/p17s01-hfgn.html
Christian Science Monitor: Somewhere between the exquisite vial of 25-year-old balsamic vinegar, fermented in cherry wood, that Modena's Acetaia del Cristo sells for roughly $150 and the few dusty potatoes that Ann Petroni hawks on a blanket she brought with her from Burundi, lies the future of Slow Food, founded in 1989 to counteract the pernicious effects of fast food. Along with vinegar and potatoes, the accomplishments and contradictions of the organization were also on display last month at Terra Madre, a ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Portugal's electric car deal leads way
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/36386d38-b980-11dd-99dc-0000779fd18c.html
Financial Times: Portugal is to become the first European country to be supplied with electric cars by Renault and Nissan after signing an agreement to create a national network for zero-emission vehicles within three years. The plan highlights Portugal's commitment to invest in clean energy, despite concern that the global financial crisis is deterring governments from implementing ambitious European Union plans to fight global warming. Under the agreement, finalised with the Franco-Japanese ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Solar Panels On Graves Give Power To Spanish Town
http://www.myfoxspringfield.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7928274&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.4.1
Associated Press: A new kind of silent hero has joined the fight against climate change. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, a gritty, working-class town outside Barcelona, has placed a sea of solar panels atop mausoleums at its cemetery, transforming a place of perpetual rest into one buzzing with renewable energy. Flat, open and sun-drenched land is so scarce in Santa Coloma that the graveyard was just about the only viable spot to move ahead with its solar energy program. The power the 462 ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Australia: New solar subsidies make it easier to be green
http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/new-solar-subsidies-make-it-easier-to-be-green/1367712.aspx
Herald: Hunter households would feed renewable energy back into the electricity grid if greater financial incentives existed, industry and community advocates believe. About 150 of the 1300 homes in NSW presently feeding electricity back into the grid are in the Hunter. The figure has grown significantly in the past 18 months with more than 550 megawatt hours deposited across NSW in the past 12 months. But the cost of installing an average two-kilowatt system, about $12,000 ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Behind House Struggle, Long and Tangled Roots
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=111240
New York Times: With Representatives Henry A. Waxman and John D. Dingell locked in a fearsome struggle for the chairmanship of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, Steny H. Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, was trying to broker a truce. Two days after Mr. Waxman announced his challenge this month, Mr. Hoyer asked if he would be willing to wait two years, to allow Mr. Dingell, the longest-serving House Democrat, a graceful exit and to preserve the Congressional seniority system. Mr. ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
APEC leaders urges to address climate change
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-11/24/content_10401920.htm
Xinhua: APEC leaders on Sunday called for a comprehensive manner through international cooperation to address climate change. They made the appeal in a declaration issued after the two-day 16th Economic Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in the Peruvian capital. "We reaffirmed our commitment to the Sydney APEC Leaders' Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development," they said, noting reducing poverty is likely to become more difficult ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Green jobs can help cope with financial meltdown
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Green-jobs-can-help-cope-with-financial-meltdown/389728/
Financial Express: In these days of financial meltdown, green jobs, as they are labelled, ensure both job security and energy security. They are the portals to the new nature-dependent, climate-sustaining and pro-nature economic order. The fossil fuel, carbon emission and pollution-driven energy economy will have to give way to new way of power generation, consumption and maintenance. Billions of dollars are being invested on agro-forestry, fuel-feedstock cultivation, biofuels, organic agriculture, wind power ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Households to be paid for solar power
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/24/2427593.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: New South Wales households will become the last in the country to be paid by a state government to feed their spare solar electricity back into the power grid. State Climate Change Minister Carmel Tebbutt yesterday told ABC TV that the Government would pay a "feed-in tariff" for solar power not used by the household. "What sort of return people get will depend on how sunny it is, will depend on how much electricity they can return to the grid," she said. Ms Tebbutt said ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Islands facing epidemics
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=107076
Fiji Times: Pacific Islands is facing epidemics of malaria and dengue fever because of global warming, a report claims. The Telegraph newspaper reports that the tropical diseases will spread south from south east Asia as climate change allows mosquitoes to travel to parts of the world that used to be too cold for them to survive. The report, The Sting of Climate Change: Malaria and Dengue Fever in Maritime Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, predicts that in countries where the ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Frightening Numbers
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44818
Inter Press Service: The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean need billions of dollars to deal with the economic impact of climate change -- funding that is not easily found on the international market. A World Bank study presented Friday, the first day of a Nov. 21-23 congress of legislators from the Americas meeting in Mexico City to discuss the challenges of the global financial and climate crises, says natural disasters related to climate change, like storms, drought and flooding, cost 0.6 ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Locusts poised to destroy Australia's crops
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/locusts-poised-to-destroy-australias-crops-1031241.html
Independent (UK): It's a hard life raising crops in Australia, as farmers often remind the 85 per cent of Australians who live on the coast. Recent rains in New South Wales provided a bit of relief from the worst drought in a century, but now those living on the land face another challenge: locusts. Swarms of the crop-munching insects are sweeping across drought- affected areas and feasting on grass and weeds sprouting at roadsides following the rain. In western New South Wales, near the country town ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Green-basher Boris relaunches himself as an eco-warrior
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/greenbasher-boris-relaunches-himself-as-an-ecowarrior-1031233.html
Independent (UK): Boris Johnson, one of Britain's least environmentally friendly politicians, will this week relaunch himself as a green champion. In his maiden green speech, which aides are billing as "extremely substantial" and "a milestone event", London's Mayor -- who used to denounce "eco-moralists" for spouting "mumbo-jumbo"-- is to announce his intention to make the city the eco-capital of the world. The man who compared fear of global warming to a "Stone Age religion", and poured scorn ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Coal's return raises pollution threat
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/23/fossil-fuels-pollution
Guardian: Britain is poised to expand its coal mining industry, despite fears that the move will lead to a rise in climate change emissions and harm communities and the environment. Freedom of information requests and council records show that in the past 18 months 14 companies have applied to dig nearly 60 million tonnes of coal from 58 new or enlarged opencast mines. At least six coal-fired power stations are planned. If all the applications are approved, the fastest expansion of UK coal ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
United States: Coal CEO calls environmentalists crazy.
http://www.williamsondailynews.com/articles/2008/11/22/news/doc49281e3eb9f80150469491.txt
Williamson Daily News: Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy, the fourth largest coal company in the country, blasted politics and the press, comparing Charleston Gazette Editor James. A. Haught to Osama Bin Laden Thursday evening when he addressed the Tug Valley Mining Institute in Williamson. 'It is as great a pleasure for me to be criticized by the communists and the atheists of the Charleston Gazette as to be applauded by my best friends,' he said. 'Because I know they are wrong. People are cowering ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Environment Agency rounds on plan for third Heathrow runway
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5213496.ece
Times (UK): Building a third runway at Heathrow would make it 'impossible' to meet legally binding targets on air pollution, according to Lord Smith, head of the Environment Agency. In a speech tomorrow the government's own green watchdog will increase pressure on ministers not to approve the expansion. Smith will tell his agency's annual conference: 'The government has committed itself to rigorous targets to emissions 80% by 2050, which now includereduce CO2 aviation and shipping. It is ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Australia: Fishermen caught up in climate change
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081122/FOREIGN/685089415/1015/NEWS
National: Climate change is reducing the supply of popular types of Australian seafood and threatening a multi-billion dollar industry, according to a new government report. Rising sea temperatures could affect Australia's commercial fishing and fish-farming enterprises that employ thousands of people and generate more than $2 billion Australian (Dh4.6bn) a year. A study by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) said the seafood industry was ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Japan: Nissan, Toyota locked in race to market zero-emission cars.
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2008/11/nissantoyota_locked_in_race_to.html
Oregonian: While Detroit executives beg for bailouts, Japanese automakers speed through turns in a race whose winner could dominate the next generation of car sales. From Toyota City to Atsugi -- the site of Nissan's advanced technology center where Gov. Ted Kulongoski drove an electric car Tuesday -- engineers are locked in a white-knuckle competition to produce zero-emission cars. Nissan, which announced a deal last week to launch its electric vehicles in Oregon, is determined to lead ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Climate change may boost exposure to harmful pollutants.
http://www.newspostonline.com/sci-tech/climate-change-may-boost-exposure-to-harmful-pollutants-2008112315488
Asian News International: A review of studies projecting the impact of climate change on air quality, has indicated that adverse health effects will likely rise with further changes in climate, with the major effect being more exposure to harmful pollutants. These findings appear in the November 2008 issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). The review suggests that adverse health effects will likely rise with changes in pollutant creation, transport, dispersion, and ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
United Kingdom: King coal wins battle of Smalley
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/23/fossilfuels-energy
Guardian: The Battle of Smalley seems to be over on the face of it, with king coal triumphant in the Derbyshire countryside where DH Lawrence set his passionate meetings between Lady Chatterley and her gamekeeper Mellors. Their trysts would be noisy, dusty and exposed to dozens of opencast workers if they met today in the valley below Smalley village, where UK Coal is about to spend four years slicing out out 1,000,000 new tonnes. "Yes, we've lost this round, because the government's let ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
New Mexico on the cutting edge of energy industry
http://www.daily-times.com/ci_11053808
Daily Times: Reid Grigg would rather find a way to remove the hundreds of tons of chemicals many say cause global warming than to take sides arguing about the hot button issue. "What interests me is removing pollution from the air," said Grigg, a research scientist at New Mexico Tech in Socorro. The senior scientist, funded by a $15 million grant from the Department of Energy, is working with Ryan Frost, Steve Jones and Tom D. Cochrane Jr. of ConocoPhillips to inject millions of tons of ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
United States: Proposal may cut pollution by coal-run plants
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/371357.html
Charlotte Observer: Duke Energy might have to curb toxic emissions from four of its coal-fired power plants under rule changes a state environmental panel is considering. The new rules would modify an old exemption from state toxic-air standards for about 480 facilities, including power plants, paper mills and furniture factories. Environmentalists say the changes don't go far enough to protect public health. The state sets acceptable limits for concentrations of 97 toxic pollutants ranging from ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
High-altitude lakes studied as global warming "hot spots"
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/high-altitude-lakes-studied-as-global-warming-hot-spots_100122541.html
Asian News International: A team of scientists from the US are studying high-altitude lakes in the Central Andes as global warming 'hot spots', and their ability to sustain life in a highly dynamic environment. The group is studying high altitude lakes, which are considered 'hot spots' of global warming and its effects, such as loss of precipitation (50 percent in 50 years in some parts), glacier retreat, and increased impact of UV radiation in bodies of water that evaporate. According to the ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Water vapor confirmed as major player in climate change
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Water_Vapor_Confirmed_As_Major_Player_In_Climate_Change_999.html
Agence France-Presse: Water vapor is known to be Earth's most abundant greenhouse gas, but the extent of its contribution to global warming has been debated. Using recent NASA satellite data, researchers have estimated more precisely than ever the heat-trapping effect of water in the air, validating the role of the gas as a critical component of climate change. Andrew Dessler and colleagues from Texas A and M University in College Station confirmed that the heat-amplifying effect of water vapor is potent ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Carbon dioxide levels already a danger
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/11/21/climate.danger.zone/index.html?section=cnn_latest
CNN: A team of international scientists led by Dr James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, say that carbon dioxide (CO2) levels are already in the danger zone. The Aletsch glacier in the Alps. Melting of mountain glaciers is accelerating worldwide. Concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere currently stand at 385 parts per million (ppm) and are rising at a rate of two ppm per year. This is enough, say the scientists, to encourage dangerous changes to the ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Uncertainty, Climate Change, And The Global Economy
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=48185
Resource Investor: What will the climate be like in a hundred years' time? The answer to this question is highly uncertain, and will depend on a number of socio-economic as well as natural processes, which describe the links between human activity, emissions of greenhouse gases, and warming of the atmosphere. The existing policy discussion in important forums, such as the IPCC and Stern reports (see this Vox column), is largely based on the uncertainty about the biogeophysical and biogeochemical systems, as ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet
http://features.csmonitor.com/books/2008/11/21/eating-the-sun-how-plants-power-the-planet/
Christian Science Monitor: Some books are riveting by the nature of their topic: Fresh biographies about the lives and business acumen of Warren Buffett and Ted Turner, for instance; or a new novel by Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in literature; or perhaps a sordid tell-all penned by a disgruntled Hollywood insider spilling the beans on a famous film starlet. On the other hand, a work of nonfiction about photosynthesis is not one that readily screams entertainment or ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Canada: From Deep In Lake Ontario, Comes A Natural Coolant - Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081122084057.htm
ScienceDaily: Cold, clean water from Lake Ontario has the potential to act as a natural coolant for buildings 30 miles away in Syracuse, N.Y., while reducing emissions of greenhouse gasses, substantially cutting energy costs, and aiding in the restoration of the long-polluted Onondaga Lake, according to a team of scientists from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). Researchers from ESF are working on the effort, dubbed the Central New York Naturally Chilled Water Project, ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Osborne to change role and downplay green taxes as Tories lose economic battle
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/14/george-osborne-economy-recession
Guardian: A chastened George Osborne is to step back from his frontline party political role over the coming months to focus his attention on reviewing Tory economic policy amid growing fears among senior Conservatives that the shadow chancellor is being comprehensively outmanoeuvred by Labour. Days after a major Tory initiative on the economy - a £2.6bn tax break for companies - was panned by business leaders, senior Tories have made clear that Osborne will spend the next four months working ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
How the Rich Are Destroying the Earth
http://www.alternet.org/environment/107988/how_the_rich_are_destroying_the_earth/
AlterNet: The following is reprinted from the new book How the Rich Are Destroying the Earth by Herve Kempf and published by Chelsea Green. There is an emergency. In less than a decade we will have to change course -- assuming the collapse of the U.S. economy or the explosion of the Middle East does not impose a change through chaos. To confront the emergency, we must understand the objective: to achieve a sober society; to plot out the way there; to accomplish this transformation equitably, by ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Obama Promises "New Chapter" in Climate Leadership
http://www.alternet.org/environment/108002/obama_promises_%22new_chapter%22_in_climate_leadership_/
Christian Science Monitor: Barack Obama delivered a brief video message Wednesday to the Governors' Global Climate Summit in Beverly Hills, Calif., in which he unequivocally affirmed the scientific basis of climate change and vowed to take action on cutting carbon emissions, in spite of the troubled global economy. The president-elect declined, however, to attend next month's climate talks in Poznan, Poland. A number of activists, including Greenpeace and 350.org have been urging him to go, arguing that his ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Africans to stick together in climate change talks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8060304
Associated Press: African countries have agreed to negotiate as a bloc in talks on a new global warming treaty, a move meant to give the continent highly threatened by climate change a greater say in the future pact. In a first, delegates from Africa's 53 nations signed an "Algiers Declaration" here overnight Wednesday that seeks to ensure that the continent's voice is heard when the replacement to the Kyoto Protocol is discussed. Algerian Environment Minister Cherif Rahmani said at a meeting ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Climatologist warns of "global-warming emergency"
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=10155
Palo Alto: Time is running out to prevent catastrophic consequences from global warming, a leading climate scientist warned a packed audience Thursday at Stanford University. Physicist James E. Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said hundreds of millions of people will lose fresh water sources and hundreds of millions of others will be displaced by rising sea levels if fossil fuel emissions remain on their current course. "We've reached a point where we have a ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Is Obama's Energy Plan Enough?
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1859040,00.html?imw=Y
Time Magazine: With the possible exception of Barack Obama's puppy-anticipating daughters, no one is more eagerly awaiting the incoming Administration than the leaders of the renewable-energy industries. President-elect Obama campaigned on the promise to spend $150 billion over the next 10 years to support alternative energy, like wind and solar, as well as the green jobs that the sector has the potential to create. At California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's climate summit on Nov. 18, Obama, in taped ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Solar squabble burns brightly in California - Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/6126655.html
LA Times: One neighbor loves his solar panels, which have cut his energy bill and are helping to combat global warming. The other neighbor adores his trees, which boost his property value and capture greenhouse gases. So what happens when one guy`s greenery casts a shadow on the other fellow`s solar array? It`s an environmental battle that`s heating up. And not just in Culver City, where the two neighbors -- furniture maker Gary Schultz and architect Michael Rachlin -- have begun ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
The Climate Purge
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122739705428650923.html
Wall Street Journal: Henry Waxman moved to consolidate his coup d'etat at the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee just hours after he was installed as the new chairman this week. It appears that the California liberal, with his customary subtlety, is plotting a night of the climate-change long knives. Democrats dumped the current Chairman John Dingell because he does not favor global-warming action aggressive enough to suit the party's green wing. Now his lieutenants, who've been known to share ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Australia: The coal industry's latest greenwashing campaign
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/776/40009
Green Left: The Australian Coal Association (ACA) has launched a new website () and advertising campaign aimed at convincing us that coal producers are not filthy carbon merchants profiting from the most emissions-intensive fossil fuel available, but can be modernised and cleaned up using "low-emissions coal technology". Moreover, the "NewGenCoal" website portrays the coal industry as sincere climate activists: "Reducing CO2 emissions. Everyone can do a little. The Australian Coal Industry is ...
Mon, 24 Nov 08
Credit crisis hits biggest end-users, the solar-panel makers
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Polysilicon-prices-tumble-glut-solars/story.aspx?guid={56DB4C4F-6FFA-4457-8623-235891DB28C4}
MarketWatch: Prices of polysilicon, already pressured by a coming supply glut, are tumbling fast as the credit crisis drives down demand for the solar panels that are the biggest users of the raw material. Polysilicon -- a sand-derived crystalline material that helps turn sunlight into electricity -- has fallen swiftly on the spot market in past months, dropping to about $200 per kilogram from $450 to $500 earlier this year, say analysts and solar-module makers. And they are likely to fall ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Democrats in Control: Climate, Clean Energy Top Legislative Agenda
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2008/2008-11-21-02.asp
Environment News Service: The order of business in the incoming 111th Congress is beginning to take shape. When lawmakers convene on January 6, 2009, Democrats will be firmly in control of both houses, although today the outcome of several elections is still unclear. When Democratic President-elect Barack Obama takes office on January 20, both the White House and Congress will be in Democratic hands for the first time in 16 years. For the environment, this means that climate change legislation will be ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Mercury Emissions Up at Coal-Burning Power Plants
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2008/2008-11-21-092.asp
Environment News Service: The top 50 most-polluting coal-burning power plants in the United States emitted 20 tons of toxic mercury into the air in 2007, finds a new report from the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project. Of the top 10 mercury emitting power plants, all but one reported an increase as compared to 2006. Once released into the atmosphere, mercury settles in lakes and rivers, where it moves up the food chain to humans who eat contaminated fish. The Centers for Disease Control has found that ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Challenges To Environmentally Responsible Energy Use In Today's Society
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081122090437.htm
ScienceDaily: Remember your first drive down the coast in your beat-up convertible, the ocean breeze tousling your hair, which at the time was still gloriously plentiful and, you hoped, desperately attractive to the person sitting next to you? If that's a California cliché, or if you never had a convertible, or if your hair was not that plentiful to start with, think about other lifetime memories: your first flight, your family road trip to Yellowstone, friendships made around the campfire, steam ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Carbon allowances go under the hammer
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=15641
Edie: The UK Government will auction 7% of the allowances for 2008-12 Europe's first auction of carbon allowances for the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has been held. On Wednesday, the UK Government opened up the auction for allowances under Phase II of the cap and trade scheme, which runs from 2008 to 2012. Four million allowances were sold at a value of just £13.60 each - raising a total of £54m excluding VAT for the Treasury. Ministers said the auction demonstrated the ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
France tables sweeping 'derogations' in climate deal push
http://www.euractiv.com/en/climate-change/france-tables-sweeping-derogations-climate-deal-push/article-177399?Ref=RSS
EurActiv: Early identification of industries exposed to foreign competition and temporary exemptions from full CO2 permit auctioning for coal-dependent economies are part of a French EU Presidency compromise proposal designed to overcome opposition to EU climate plans from some of the bloc's heavy industries and newer member states. The compromise proposal , obtained by EurActiv France, calls on the European Commission to 'rapidly' produce figures that set a threshold to quantify the risk of ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Five Reasons You Should Consider Generating Green Energy On-Site
http://www.climatebiz.com/blog/2008/11/21/five-reasons-you-should-consider-generating-green-energy-on-site
Climate Biz: Over the past six months, oil prices have plunged more than 50 percent, renewable energy company asset values have taken an even bigger dive, and financial institutions have collapsed completely, leading to a worldwide credit crunch. Is this really the best time for your company to be thinking about generating renewable energy onsite? Before answering, consider these forecasts by the International Energy Administration (IEA) in its recent World Energy Outlook 2008: -- ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Companies told to jump on low-carbon energy opportunities
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=15645
Edie: Samir Brikho said the UK should use its expertise managing traditional energy industries in the low carbon energy industry Businesses have been urged to grab themselves a share of an industry set to be worth US$3 trillion a year by 2050. UK Energy Excellence, a programme launched by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) to champion the country's energy industry, said businesses should be exploring opportunities in the low carbon energy industry. Samir Brikho, chairman of UK Energy ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Low-carbon homes policies 'only helping the rich'
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=15644
Edie: Households in fuel poverty are not being given enough help to reduce their bills, Dr Boardman said Current policies to make low-carbon and more energy efficient homes risk leaving low income households out in the cold. That was the warning from Dr Brenda Boardman, a senior research fellow at the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute. Speaking at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on Wednesday, Dr Boardman said that people who were in fuel ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Road Emissions Dominate Global Transport Emissions
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081121081355.htm
ScienceDaily: The world's car park is growing. It has become so big that the impact of emissions from today's road traffic on the global temperature in 2100 will be six times greater than that from today's air traffic. Today's global road emissions have a strong and long-lasting effect on climate. After 100 years these emissions will lead to a temperature increase that is six times greater than the temperature increase from today's air transport, according to a new CICERO study. The study includes ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
G.M. Pins Hopes on a Plug-In Car, 2 Years Off
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=111181
New York Times: The Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid, will not arrive in showrooms until late 2010. But it is already straining under the weight of an entire company. Executives at General Motors, the largest and apparently the most imperiled of the three American car companies, are using the Volt as the centerpiece of their case to a skeptical Congress that their business plan for a turnaround is strong, and that a federal bailout would be a good investment in G.M.`s future. In ads that ran ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Olympic success provokes a chain reaction as millions turn to bikes.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5209077.ece
Times (UK): The lights change to red at Hyde Park Corner and tensions rise as the tail end of a queue of commuters becomes trapped on the roundabout, unable to move forward. But there is no blaring of horns, just the dinging of a dozen bicycle bells. The cycle crossing installed in 1999 at the key junction in London is now so popular that it cannot cope with the number of riders in peak hours. The phenomenon of cycle congestion is afflicting a growing number of junctions in inner London. ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
In battle of Congress clout, Waxman whacks Dingell
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1860948,00.html
Time Magazine: Many congressional veterans were surprised when House Democrats, meeting as a caucus, voted 137-122 to oust Michigan's John (the Truck) Dingell, 82, as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and give the post to Waxman. Few jobs in Congress are as powerful; the committee has one of the largest swaths of jurisdiction, encompassing energy, health-care and environmental issues. Waxman's elevation upends one of the most revered principles on Capitol Hill: the seniority system. "It's ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Indonesia 'crucial' in weathering climate storm
http://www.theage.com.au/national/indonesia-crucial-in-weathering--climate-storm-20081122-6eip.html
Tom Hyland: AUSTRALIA has been urged to set up a climate change commission with Indonesia amid warnings global warming could have a devastating effect on hundreds of millions of people in the Asia-Pacific region. International experts meeting in Melbourne this weekend are considering how to deal with alarming scenarios created by climate change - not only on the environment and people's lives but on national and international security. The experts warn that the potential social stresses ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Asia not responsible for 'brown haze': India
http://www.terradaily.com/2007/081121130135.val4wg13.html
Agence France-Presse: India on Friday dismissed as "propaganda" a UN report suggesting the formation of a brown cloud over Asia was due to the burning of fossil fuels by countries in the region. The UN report earlier this week said enormous brown clouds of pollution hanging over Asia, including India, were killing hundreds of thousands of people, melting glaciers, changing weather patterns and damaging crops. Traffic, factory emissions and indoor cooking were among the culprits for the "Atmospheric ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Latin American politicians push governments to slash CO2 emissions.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenpolitics/developingworld/3490667/Latin-American-politicians-push-governments-to-slash-CO2-emissions.html
Various: Governments from developing nations - particularly China and India - have been reluctant to establish firm goals on lowering CO2 emissions. But lawmakers from 17 Western Hemisphere nations will sign a pledge to cut emissions by half by 2050. The move sends a message to Latin governments that cutbacks are necessary, said one of the conference organisers. "I think that Latin America wants to be seen as a leader on this issue," said Pamela Cox, the World Bank's vice ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Aussie miners turn to solar tower power
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51197/story.htm
Reuters: Australian mining firms, hit by high fuel costs and falling commodity prices, could soon swap their diesel generators for 24-hour, solar-power systems, the head of a private renewable power firm said on Thursday. Mining firms are also worried about an emissions trading scheme set to begin in Australia in 2010, Steve Hollis, CEO of Sydney-based Lloyd Energy Storage, told Reuters in an interview. The emissions scheme will target the top 1,000 polluters and mining firms. Many of ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Californians told to prepare for dry 2009.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_S_water22.3e709f8.html
Press-Enterprise: California has been through two consecutive years of drought. Could 2009 bring a third? "It's not likely, but it shouldn't be discounted either," said Klaus Wolter, a University of Colorado climatologist and guest speaker at a conference Friday in San Diego sponsored by the California Department of Water Resources. In the next several months, Southern California is forecast to be drier than normal, while Northern California is forecast to have close-to-normal levels of ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Oregon governor lobbies to bring China's new hybrid car to U.S.
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2008/11/kulongoski_lobbies_to_bring_ch.html
Oregonian: Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski test drives a new electric hybrid sedan Friday at the BYD Car Co. factory in Shenzhen, China. The F3DM, which runs up to 80 miles on a single battery charge before switching to gas, is expected to arrive in the U.S. by 2010, and Kulongoski is lobbying for Oregon to be part of the launch. SHENZHEN, China -- In this far corner of China's manufacturing heartland, Gov. Ted Kulongoski's dream of making Oregon home to America's green car movement is about to roll ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Rep. Waxman known as a keen negotiator
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97300738
National Public Radio: All Things Considered, November 21, 2008 · There are a lot of new faces on Capitol Hill, and some old faces in new places. Among the latter is Calif. Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman. Thursday, in a secret ballot vote among his fellow Democrats, he ousted Michigan Rep. John Dingell to become chairman of the powerful Committee on Energy and Commerce. Waxman has been waiting a long time for this moment. "John Dingell has been chairman or ranking member of the Energy and ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Climate researchers 'should cut their carbon footprint.'
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/081121/full/news.2008.1250.html
Nature: Climate change researchers and the agencies that fund their work should do more to cut the community's carbon footprint, says an atmospheric chemist who has calculated the carbon emissions of his colleagues. Andreas Stohl examined all the work-related emissions of his fellow researchers at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He found that travel alone led scientists at the institute to contribute 3.9 to 5.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide to the ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
How Arctic melting could benefit shippers, oil companies.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/56317.html
McClatchy Newspapers: With global warming melting the Arctic's eons-old ice at an alarming rate, shipping and oil companies are looking ahead at how to exploit the new open waters. For the past 30 years, the summer Arctic icepack has been shrinking. In 2007, the melt reached record levels. This past summer, the ice shrank to the second smallest area on record. And while much of the discussions so far have been focused on dealing with global warming and on preserving habitat and protecting polar ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Is Obama's energy policy a cure for oil addiction?
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/article912737.ece
St. Petersburg Times: The election silenced the cries of "Drill, baby, drill." Plunging oil prices have stilled the hand wringing over energy security. With all eyes on the economy, veterans of past oil shocks may wonder if Americans will once again forget about weening the nation off suddenly cheap oil. This time, though, looks different. Nearly 30 states, including Florida, are forging plans to boost renewable energy and slash greenhouse gases. Business leaders nationwide have called for a clear, ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Australia baulks at tougher greenhouse target
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/global-warming/australia-baulks-at-tougher-greenhouse-target/2008/11/20/1226770621413.html
AAP: Australia has no plans to follow the US and Britain in adopting a tougher target to slash greenhouse gas emissions. The US and and Britain have promised to cut emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. US President-elect Barack Obama referred to the target in a speech on Tuesday, and said he would launch an emissions trading scheme to achieve the cuts. British politicians recently signed off on a move to toughen up the 2050 target from a 60 per cent cut to 80 per ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Climate threatens the koala
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/conservation/climate-threatens-the-koala/2008/11/21/1226770737771.html
Sydney Morning Herald: KOALAS, already listed as vulnerable, are likely to die in greater numbers as they adapt to climate change, which will bring more intense bushfires, rising temperatures, increased drought and a drop in the nutrition levels of their food, a senior NSW Government scientist warns. Dan Lunney told a conference of the NSW Nature Conservation Council that rising greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere would push up toxins and lower nutrients in eucalyptus leaves. As leaf ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
United States: The good green side of recession
http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12641625
Economist: CALIFORNIA tried to save the world again this week. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state's governor, rounded up politicians and officials from across the globe (expending quite a bit of carbon) and urged them to tackle climate change more aggressively. To set an example, he ordered state power companies to obtain one-third of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. California is indeed leading the way in cutting greenhouse-gas emissions--but not for the reason it might want. Mr ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Did icebergs warm the world?
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/1121/3
ScienceNOW: Rube Goldberg is alive and well in the climate record. In an effort to explain several spikes in global carbon dioxide (CO2) levels during the last ice age, researchers have come up with the following scenario: Fresh water flooded the North Atlantic Ocean, which slowed ocean circulation, which impeded the transport of nutrients to the ocean's food web, which starved CO2-consuming organisms that form the basis of that web, which resulted in CO2 buildup in the atmosphere, which eventually ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Obama's pledge
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=08-P13-00047&segmentID=1
Living on Earth: GELLERMAN: From the Jennifer and Ted Stanley studios in Somerville, Massachusetts, This is Living on Earth. I'm Bruce Gellerman, in for Steve Curwood. Change was the watchword during the presidential campaign and now that it's over, the winds of change are definitely blowing in Washington. As we reported last week, a storm was brewing among democrats over the chairmanship of the powerful House Energy and Commerce committee. California representative Henry Waxman was challenging ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Coal industry 'pensive' about Obama
http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/601440.html
Associated Press: Bill Raney considers coal golden. After all, the black rock fuels half of the nation's electrical generation. But the West Virginia Coal Association's president and others in the industry say they've received mixed messages about president-elect Barack Obama's support for coal-fired power. Obama and vice president-elect Joe Biden both have said they support finding cleaner ways to burn coal. But during the campaign, Obama told a newspaper that electricity rates could soar under ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Italy: Emperor Berlusconi fiddles as the climate burns
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/releases/greenpeace-emperor-berlusconi
Greenpeace: This morning a Mercedes Benz, a BMW and a Volkswagen, driven by a group of "climate barbarians", entered the Circus Maximus in Rome [1] led by the new "Emperor Nero" (Berlusconi). Greenpeace activists, wearing ancient Roman dress blocked the symbolic convoy, unrolling banners reading: "QUO VADIS, BERLUSCONI?" and "VADE RETRO CO2! INQUINATORES NON PREVALEBUNT" - Where are you going, Berlusconi? Go back CO2! Polluters will not prevail! Greenpeace is protesting the Berlusconi ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Climate Change May Boost Exposures To Harmful Pollutants
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081122083325.htm
ScienceDaily: A review of studies projecting the impact of climate change on air quality, including effects on morbidity and mortality, indicates that adverse health effects will likely rise with changes in pollutant creation, transport, dispersion, and deposition. However, reducing greenhouse gas emissions could go far in mitigating adverse effects. Worldwide, 800,000 deaths and 7.9 million disability-adjusted life-years lost from respiratory problems, lung disease, and cancer were attributed to ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
How Global Warming Will Affect U.S. Beaches, Coastline
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081122083051.htm
ScienceDaily: In 'Dover Beach,' the 19th Century poet Matthew Arnold describes waves that 'begin, and cease, and then again begin...and bring
the eternal note of sadness in.' But in the warming world of the 21st Century, waves could be riding oceans that will rise anywhere from 0.5 meters (19 inches) to 1.4 meters (55 inches), and researchers believe there's a good chance they will stir stronger feelings than melancholia. Several scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Experts warn of severe water shortages by 2080
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27781117/
Associated Press: Half the world's population could face a shortage of clean water by 2080 because of climate change, experts warned Tuesday. Wong Poh Poh, a professor at the National University of Singapore, told a regional conference that global warming was disrupting water flow patterns and increasing the severity of floods, droughts and storms -- all of which reduce the availability of drinking water. Wong said the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that as many as 2 ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Henry Waxman gives new hope to US cap and trade
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/21/network-climatechange
Guardian: Yesterday, the Democratic Caucus of the US House of Representatives voted to replace Congressman John Dingell with Henry Waxman as Chairman of the Energy & Commerce Committee – the committee responsible for developing the US response to climate change. Like Barack Obama's election, this development represents a fundamental shift in the way the US will address global warming. However, unlike Obama's election, whether or not this will be a positive development remains to be ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Can Plug-in Cars Energize The Auto Industry?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97303393&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Talk of the Nation, November 21, 2008 · Experts discuss the future of electric cars, and whether bailout money with "green strings" attached might jolt Detroit into focusing on plug-in and hybrid cars. Find out about Tesla's slick plug-in sports car and a hybrid handcrafted for even more savings at the pump. Guests: Sherry Boschert, vice-president, Plug In America, San Francisco, Calif.; author, "Plug-In Hybrids: The Cars that Will Recharge America" Daniel Sperling, ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
U.S., Brazil to speed up cellulosic ethanol research
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AK5BN20081121?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: The world's top two producers of ethanol, the U.S. and Brazil, will join forces to speed up research into cellulose-derived biofuels, which use inedible plant matter rather than crops as their feedstock. In a statement they said they would expand scientific collaboration led by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and Brazilian oil giant Petrobras' Center for Research and Development CENPES. The two nations would also to help five countries in Africa, Central America ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Henry Waxman's victory over John Dingell signals a new era for climate policy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/nov/21/climate-change-waxman-dingell
Guardian: By chance, just a few days before the US election, I picked up a copy of Richard Cohen's Washington at Work, a book documenting the nearly decade-long debate over the 1990 Clean Air Act, and which I planned to read post-election in preparation for what I figured would be next year's battle over climate legislation. The book highlights the antagonistic relationship between two major forces in the House Democratic caucus – the curmudgeonly, industry-friendly Michigan representative John ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Talks Could Learn From Indigenous Groups
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44810
Inter Press Service: As the United Nations readies for a key climate change meeting in Poland next month, a London-based human rights group warns that any new deal on global warming would be seriously compromised if the most vulnerable groups, specifically indigenous peoples, are shut out of the negotiations. "The entire U.N. process will be flawed if communities that have firsthand experience of dealing with climate change are not allowed to participate," says Minority Rights Group (MRG). Mark ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
China Takes Lead on Green Investing
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44811
Inter Press Service: China's efforts to green its financial sector have earned a thumbs-up from U.S. environmentalists, who say regulators here could learn from Beijing's recent success in stimulating investments that don't despoil the planet. Friends of the Earth-U.S., in a new report, highlighted Chinese financial sector policies designed to limit pollution and climate change and to encourage lenders and investors to take a longer-term and broader view of risk -- one that factors in the risk of losses ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
New EPA Rules Imperil Parks, Critics Say
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97327776&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: The Environmental Protection Agency is working on new clean air rules that would allow coal-fired power plants to be built closer to national parks. It's part of an effort by the Bush administration to put looser environmental regulations in place before leaving office.
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Australia: Soil study hints at climate model revision
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/11/20/black.carbon/index.html?eref=rss_latest
CNN: A new study investigating the amount of carbon in Australian soil has cast doubt over the accuracy of current climate models in predicting future levels of global warming. Bush fires in Australia leave high levels of black carbon in the soil for hundreds of years. The study, conducted by the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at New York's Cornell University, examined 452 separate sites across two Australian savannahs in Queensland and Northern Territory. Researchers ...
Sun, 23 Nov 08
Rich countries launch great land grab to safeguard food supply
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/22/food-biofuels-land-grab
Guardian: Rich governments and corporations are triggering alarm for the poor as they buy up the rights to millions of hectares of agricultural land in developing countries in an effort to secure their own long-term food supplies. The head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, Jacques Diouf, has warned that the controversial rise in land deals could create a form of "neo-colonialism", with poor states producing food for the rich at the expense of their own hungry people. Rising ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Boris Johnson under fire for cutting London cycling funds
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/21/london-cycling-boris-johnson
Guardian: Boris Johnson was today accused of undermining his commitment to turn London into a city of cyclists by "slashing" bike route funding in the capital. The London Cycle Campaign (LCC) attacked the mayor's decision to allocate little more than a quarter of the funding boroughs said they needed to deliver new routes and improvements for cyclists, which were due to be put in place by 2010. Johnson announced the funding as part of a £163.8m package to help London boroughs deliver ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Waxman win elevates energy and climate change issues
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20081119/tpl-uk-usa-congress-energy-sb-20b2d2f.html
Reuters: U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, a California liberal, won the chairmanship of a key congressional energy committee on Thursday and promised to work closely with President-elect Barack Obama to promote alternative energy, ease global warming and expand healthcare. Skip related content Waxman wrested control of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee from Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, a longtime friend of the now-ailing U.S. auto industry. The action was taken on ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Shake-up in Congress helps Obama's plan to fight global warming
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/20/america/transition.php
International Herald Tribune: Representative Henry Waxman of California ousted Representative John Dingell of Michigan from his chairmanship of the influential Committee on Energy and Commerce on Thursday, giving President-elect Barack Obama an advantage in his plans to promote efforts to combat global warming. By a vote of 137 to 122, House Democrats ended Dingell's nearly 28-year reign as his party's top member on the committee, which also deals with two other key aspects of the Obama agenda: energy and health ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Longtime head of U.S. House energy panel is ousted
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/20/america/21dingell.php
International Herald Tribune: Representative Henry Waxman of California ousted Representative John Dingell of Michigan from his post as chairman of the influential Committee on Energy and Commerce on Thursday, giving President-elect Barack Obama an advantage in his plans to promote efforts to combat global warming. By a vote of 137 to 122, House Democrats ended Dingell's nearly 28-year reign as his party's top member on the committee. Besides installing a committed environmentalist as head of the energy committee, ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
European energy sector 'continuous environmental threat', warns EEA
http://www.euractiv.com/en/energy/european-energy-sector-continuous-environmental-threat-warns-eea/article-177361
EurActiv: Despite improved efficiency in electricity and heat production and a cleaner energy mix, the power sector still produces 80% of European greenhouse gases, putting significant strain on the climate, a new European Environment Agency (EEA) study shows. "Energy from fossil fuels is the root cause of human induced climate change. The commitment of Europe to a post-carbon economy and sustainable renewable energy is essential for energy security and tacking climate change," said Jacqueline ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Polish PM to meet Britain's Brown on EU climate package
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1227208621.64
EUbusiness: Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk will meet his British counterpart Gordon Brown on Monday in London for talks on the EU's planned climate package and the global financial crisis, a Tusk aide said. Tusk is expected to rally Brown to support Poland's demands for eased financial terms for newer EU members related to the climate and energy package, Slawomir Nowak told Poland's PAP news agency on Thursday. The global financial crisis is also expected to be on the ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Africa, Europe 'seeking to harmonise climate-change demands'
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20081120/tsc-africa-europe-seeking-to-harmonise-c-4de741d.html
Agence France-Presse: Environment ministers from almost all of Africa's 53 nations agreed a united front Wednesday to take into December 2009 talks in Copenhagen on replacing the Kyoto Protocol, covering efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With the current and next holders of the EU's rotating presidency, France and the Czech Republic, in attendance at the Algiers meeting, hopes are rising that a summit in Ethiopia of foreign ministers from the African Union and the EU can agree a declaration by ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
New Senate to get major global warming bill
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20081120/tpl-new-senate-to-get-major-global-warmi-10170b4.html
Agence France-Presse: Top Senate Democrats on Thursday said they would introduce major global warming legislation early next year, saying Barack Obama's election meant a "sea change" in the battle against climate change. Skip related content The announcement came just two days after president-elect Obama, in one of his first major policy pronouncements since his historic victory two weeks ago, warned that denial of global warming would no longer be US policy. "The time to start is now," said ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
What climate change? Meltdown trumps fears at APEC
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008415196_apltapecclimatechange.html?syndication=rss
Associated Press: Countries on both sides of the Pacific have reason to be very afraid of climate change. Rising sea levels could swamp coastal farms, higher temperatures wipe out entire species and increasingly violent storms exact a widening human and financial toll. But at this week's summit of 21 Pacific Rim nations, global warming is barely on the agenda. In its place: the financial crisis. "The interest and focus on climate change has dissipated somewhat," said Woo Yuen Pau, CEO of the ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Electric Car Carries Clean-Energy Investors' Hopes
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97272628&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Clean energy has become the mantra of Silicon Valley venture capitalists. The centerpiece has been the electric car, principally the Tesla Roadster, a sleek, expensive sports car out this year. While the economic meltdown has put a crimp in their plans for sales growth, electric-car manufacturers hope for a thin slice of the $25 billion auto industry bailout being considered by Congress. Though Tesla Motor Inc.'s Roadster is quiet, it has not gone unnoticed by the automotive world. ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Hot Days and Nights in Mexico 2090
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44792
Inter Press Service: Climate change will dramatically increase the number of hot, dry days in Mexico in the coming decades, while coastal regions like the Yucatán, in the southeast, will be swamped by sea levels that are half a metre higher than today, a new study has found. By 2030, Mexico's average daily temperature is likely to climb 1.4 degrees Celsius above what has been the average for the past 30 years. By 2090, this increase could rocket upwards by 4.1 degrees, virtually guaranteeing hot days and ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Adoption of Climate Treaty by 2009 in Doubt
http://www.enn.com/climate/article/38661
Worldwatch Institute: Despite new leadership in the United States promising to cap the country's greenhouse gas emissions, some environmental leaders say it is unlikely that an international climate treaty will pass in the next year. During his campaign, U.S. president-elect Barack Obama supported a global cap-and-trade agreement for regulating his nation's carbon emissions. As a result, many international observers are hoping the United States will agree to binding emissions-reduction targets at ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Finding a solution to soil's carbon problem
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2008/nov/21/organics-carbonemissions
Guardian: If you'd told me a week ago that I would spend two days listening to people talk about soil carbon sequestration (and be gripped by it!) I would have laughed in your face. But at the Soil Association conference (SA) this week it was the hot topic, partly because the SA is launching a report in a month or so which will conclude that organic farming practices mean that while the UK's soils are losing carbon at a rate of up to 1% a year, organic farmers sequester enough carbon to offset ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Under U.S. Proposal, Climate Change Wouldn't Be Factor in Assessing Risks to Endangered Species
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112003465.html?nav=rss_nation
Washington Post:
Sat, 22 Nov 08
Report Highlights Positive Aspects Of Global Warming In Arctic
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1601989/report_highlights_positive_aspects_of_global_warming_in_arctic/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: The European Union said on Thursday that the Arctic offers new energy and fishing resources as a result of global warming and new technology. The EU executive said melting ice also presented new navigation possibilities such as a short route to the Pacific Ocean. The report detailed how the rapid recession of sea ice, snow cover and permafrost were helping to accelerate global warming and the loss from the Greenland ice sheet would bring a swift rise in sea levels. It ...
Sat, 22 Nov 08
U.N. publishes draft proposal ahead of climate meet
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AJ88O20081120?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: The United Nations published a report on Thursday to help lawmakers meeting at an upcoming U.N. climate summit to move closer to sealing a new agreement to confront potentially devastating global warming. The draft report assembled proposals presented by countries and observer organizations since last year's U.N. talks in Bali, Indonesia, on what a new treaty should feature. The next round of talks will be held in Poznan, Poland from December 1-12. In the U.N. report, the ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Sea Level Rise Alters Chesapeake Bay's Salinity
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1601992/sea_level_rise_alters_chesapeake_bays_salinity/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit:
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Volkswagen diesel car wins "Green Car of the Year"
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AJ7S120081120?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: A clean-burning diesel sedan, Volkswagen AG's Jetta TDI, won the "Green Car of the Year" award at the Los Angeles auto show on Thursday, the first time a diesel-powered car has taken the industry's top environmental honor. "This signals that clean diesel has arrived," said Ron Cogan, editor of Green Car Journal, the trade magazine that awards the prize. Diesel, a conventional combustion approach long favored by Europeans, has been making inroads into the U.S. market as a ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Greenpeace blockades ageing Spanish nuclear plant
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AJ7CH20081120?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Greenpeace blocked the entrance on Thursday to a Spanish nuclear power station facing closure next year and urged the government to shut it down immediately in line with election pledges to phase out nuclear power. The environmental group said 30 protesters were arrested outside Garona, the first of seven nuclear plants whose operating permits come up for renewal between 2009-11, within the mandate of the recently re-elected Socialist government. Some of those arrested had ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Europe takes first step towards minerals Arctic policy to protect energy security
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/20/poles-arctic-europe
Guardian: Europe today moved to join the scramble for the vast mineral riches of the Arctic being opened up by global warming, declaring for the first time that the region's resources could help stem anxiety about Europe's energy security. In what it described as "a first step towards an EU Arctic policy", the European commission issued a paper spelling out Europe's interests in the Arctic's energy resources, fisheries, new shipping routes, security concerns, and environmental ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Green IT moves beyond the hype
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/analysis/2230979/green-moves-beyond-hype
Business Green: Green IT systems have moved past the stage of marketing hype and are a genuine business imperative for many firms, according to a major new European survey which found that almost half of large UK IT departments now have a green IT strategy in place. The survey of more than 450 Western European firms, each boasting more than 1,000 staff and at least one datacentre, was carried out by analyst firm IDC and found that IT departments in the UK and Germany had the most progressive attitude ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
United States: Most state native game fish face extinction
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/20/MN3E147V6I.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: Most of California's native salmon, steelhead and trout species face extinction by the end of the century unless the state acts quickly to provide adequate freshwater and habitat, according to a study released Wednesday by the state's leading salmon expert. Twenty of 31 species of the prized fishes are in sharp decline, including the Sacramento River winter run of chinook salmon, the Sierra's California golden trout and coastal coho, according to the study by Peter Moyle, a nationally ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Global warming could lead to more Arctic energy.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AJ3TZ20081120
Reuters: The Arctic offers new energy and fishing resources as a result of global warming and new technology, the European Union said on Thursday. Melting ice also presented new navigation possibilities such as a short route to the Pacific Ocean, the EU executive said. The rapid recession of sea ice, snow cover and permafrost were helping to accelerate global warming and the loss from the Greenland ice sheet would bring a swift rise in sea levels, it said in a paper. States ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Bush tears up environmental rule book
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/analysis/2230978/bush-tears-environmental-rule
Business Green: Outgoing US presidents traditionally use their last few months in office to leave some kind of legacy, an indelible sense of their administration's defining philosophy. It looks as if George W Bush is not about to break with tradition. If you are being generous, the philosophy Bush is attempting to enshrine as the removal vans close in on the Oval Office is one of laissez faire, pro-business, light touch regulation. To the president's critics the last few days of the Bush White ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Germany's 'Sun King' makes bid for Opel cars
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/20/alternativeenergy-solarpower
Guardian: Frank Asbeck knows how to attract publicity. There was the time Germany's self-styled "Sun King" offered all the country's atomic engineers a job in his solar-technology company if Germany turned its back on nuclear fuel. The colourful maverick, who within 10 years has turned his Bonn-based SolarWorld into a multimillion euro concern and one of the leading solar companies in the world, has now done it again with his offer to buy the German car-maker Opel. The 49-year-old son of ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Big Corporations Urge Quick Carbon Cap-and-Trade Law
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2008/2008-11-19-091.asp
Environment News Service: Five large U.S. corporations and a coalition of investors and environmental groups today announced that they have formed a new organization to lobby for strong U.S. climate and energy legislation in early 2009 to spur a clean energy economy and reduce global warming. The founding members of Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy, to be known as BICEP, are Levi Strauss & Co., Nike, Starbucks, Sun Microsystems and The Timberland Company. BICEP members believe that ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Matt
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7738947.stm
Matt: BBC NEWS | Business | Retail sales bring scant comfort Accessibility Help Skip to content Skip to bbc.co.uk search Low graphics Accessibility Help Access keys help Search term Explore the BBC BBC News Updated every minute of every day BBC NEWS CHANNEL News Front Page World UK England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Business Market Data Your Money Economy Companies Politics Health Education Science & Environment Technology Entertainment Also in the ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Scientist helps to throw light on global warming.
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/localnews/Scientist-helps-to-throw-light.4713733.jp
Yorkshire Post:
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Scientists say global warming threatens future Andean glacier runoff
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-11-19-voa19.cfm
Voice of America: Scientists say global warming is causing glaciers in the Andes Mountains to shrink at a faster pace than ever. In Ecuador, the pace of glacier melt threatens hydroelectric power plants and water systems that rely on water from the glaciers. With the help of the World Bank, local researchers are launching new efforts to track the decline and urge residents to preserve crucial water supplies. VOA's Brian Wagner reports from Ecuador's capital, Quito. Antizano VolcanoOnce a month, water ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Melting ice now main driver of rising sea levels: study.
http://www.terradaily.com/2007/081119013943.qwokctbv.html
Agence France-Presse: Runoff from ice caps in Antarctica and Greenland along with melting mountain glaciers have replaced expanding oceans as the main driver of rising sea levels, according to a new study. The rate at which the global ocean water mark rises could have a devastating impact on hundreds of millions of people living in low-lying areas around the world. Earlier research had shown that sea levels crept up and average of 3.1 millimetres (0.12 inches) per year from 1993 to 2003. More ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Plumbing the oceans could bring limitless clean energy.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026836.000-plumbing-the-oceans-could-bring-limitless-clean-energy.html?full=true
New Scientist: FOR a company whose business is rocket science Lockheed Martin has been paying unusual attention to plumbing of late. The aerospace giant has kept its engineers occupied for the past 12 months poring over designs for what amounts to a very long fibreglass pipe. It is, of course, no ordinary pipe but an integral part of the technology behind Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), a clean, renewable energy source that has the potential to free many economies from their dependence on ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Nike, Starbucks call for climate policies, renewable energy.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-fi-warming20-2008nov20,0,3610411.story
Bloomberg: Nike Inc., Starbucks Corp., Levi Strauss & Co. and two other U.S. companies called Wednesday for aggressive policies to limit global warming to help rescue the country from an economic crisis. The coalition appealed for steep cuts in U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions, investment in renewable energy from the wind and sun, and limits on polluting coal-fired power plants. Congress and President-elect Barack Obama should take action on the matter early in 2009, they said. The proposals ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
EU considers allowing imports of 11% more carbon credits
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=565&fArticleId=4721270
Business Report: EU legislators may let energy and manufacturing companies import 11 percent more emission credits through 2020 to reduce the cost of stricter domestic caps on pollution blamed for climate change. France proposes that UN-backed credits, created through energy-efficient projects in developing countries such as China, should cover an estimated 1.554 billion tons of EU emissions in 2008-2020, rather than the 1.394 billion tons proposed by the European Commission in January, according to a ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Philippines: Climate change may have caused disease outbreaks.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/11/20/08/doh-climate-change-may-have-caused-disease-outbreaks
Agence France-Presse: Global warming may have contributed to a recent spate of outbreaks of deadly diseases in the Philippines, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said Thursday. "Clearly what was predicted about the impact of global warming is already happening. The temperature is increasing leading to more diseases. There's going to be propensity for more cholera, dengue, typhoid and malaria," Duque told reporters. Duque added that the diseases are all "manageable" as long as people practixe proper ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Top companies urge Congress to go green
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/388585_green20.html
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: A group of companies including Starbucks, Nike and Sun Microsystems has banded together to urge Congress to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and promote investment in renewable energy. The companies on Wednesday announced a partnership with Boston-based Ceres, a national network of environmental advocates and investors, which will lobby on energy policy. The new partnership, called Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy, is made up of consumer brands Starbucks, Levi ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Ground Zero California: Scenes of devastation as wildfires threaten to plunge LA into darkness
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1086469/Ground-Zero-California-Scenes-devastation-wildfires-threaten-plunge-LA-darkness.html?ITO=1490
Daily Mail: Wildfires threatening Los Angeles could plunge the entire city and its 3.8million inhabitants into darkness. A massive blaze in the heavily populated San Fernando Valley broke out on Thursday night, destroying dozens of properties and threatening vital power supply lines. The wind-whipped firestorm swept through bone-dry canyons and hillsides. Hot winds and record temperatures hit in the 90s Fahrenheit (30s Celsius) . Fanned by 70mph winds, the fire has spread over 2,600 ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Democrats seek lower expectations for auto bailout
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/11/17/financial/f152510S80.DTL&feed=rss.news
Associated Press: Top Senate Democrats suggested Wednesday that a bill to rescue Detroit's Big Three automakers was stalled and challenged the Bush administration to take steps to save the industry if congressional efforts falter. The White House quickly rebuffed the suggestion. Stocks point lower after jobless claims jump 11.20.08 Latvia seeks bailout funds from EU, IMF 11.20.08 EU farm ministers agree on reform 11.20.08 Jobless claims jump unexpectedly to 16-year high 11.20.08 Senate Majority ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
IEA To Push Carbon Storage At Poznan Climate Talks
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51144/story.htm
Reuters: The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday that carbon capture and storage should be part of any global deal to curb emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide beyond 2012. IEA chief economist Fatih Birol said carbon capture and storage should fall under Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) rules, which provides emission credits to the developed world for bringing cleaner technology to poorer countries. "We will definitely push for carbon capture and storage to be ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Cap Carbon To Spur Economy - US Business Leaders
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51139/story.htm
Reuters:
Fri, 21 Nov 08
British lawmakers pass landmark climate change bill
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20081118/tpl-british-lawmakers-pass-landmark-clim-5b839a9.html
Agence France-Presse: Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said the bill, which must now be signed into law by the queen, "makes Britain a world leader on climate policy". "It's the first legislation of its kind in the world. It will tie this and future governments into legally binding emission targets -- an 80 percent cut by 2050, with five-year carbon budgets along the way," he said. "It sends a clear message before European and global climate talks that serious action is possible." Britain ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Offshore wind farm a step closer
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/tees/7735052.stm
BBC:
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Obama in vow to fight climate change despite financial crisis
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/foreign/display.var.2469108.0.Obama_in_vow_to_fight_climate_change_despite_financial_crisis.php
Herald: Barack Obama said yesterday the United States would "engage vigorously" in climate change talks when he is president and pledged, despite the financial crisis, to stick to plans to reduce emissions sharply by 2020. The Democratic President Elect, who regularly criticised the Bush administration's attitude toward global warming, reiterated his plans to start a system that limits carbon dioxide emissions from big industries. "We will establish strong annual targets that set us on ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Potential Sources Of "Rain-Making" Bacteria In The Atmosphere Identified
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081119171523.htm
ScienceDaily: Brent Christner, assistant professor of biological sciences at LSU, recently found evidence that bacteria and biological cells are the most efficient ice-forming catalysts in precipitation from locations around the globe. The formation of ice in clouds is important in the processes that lead to snow and rain. Ice-nucleating bacteria -- which have been referred to as 'rain-making bacteria' -- may be significant triggers of freezing in clouds and influence the water cycle. These ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Australia: Global Warming Predictions Are Overestimated, Suggests Study On Black Carbon
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081119120155.htm
ScienceDaily: A detailed analysis of black carbon -- the residue of burned organic matter -- in computer climate models suggests that those models may be overestimating global warming predictions. A new Cornell study, published online in Nature Geosciences, quantified the amount of black carbon in Australian soils and found that there was far more than expected, said Johannes Lehmann, the paper's lead author and a Cornell professor of biogeochemistry. The survey was the largest of black carbon ever ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
United States: Hollywood ponders global warming
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/19/arts/NA-US-Celebrities-Climate-Change.php
Associated Press: Hollywood insiders and climate change experts agree that they can't shove messages about global warming down audiences' throats. They met at the Skirball Cultural Center on Tuesday to discuss how storytelling in film and TV can translate broad issues about climate change to everyday audiences. "The storytelling has to trump everything," said "West Wing" actor Bradley Whitford. During the Population Media Center's Climate Change Summit, Whitford, Bruce Davison and Scott ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
EU renewables industry optimistic about 2020 outlook
http://www.euractiv.com/en/energy/eu-renewables-industry-optimistic-2020-outlook/article-177307
EurActiv: Despite gloomy economic forecasts, manufacturers of solar panels, wind turbines and other non-fossil fuel technologies say they are ready to deliver more than the bloc's target of sourcing 20% of energy needs from renewables by 2020. "We can deliver between 33% and 40% of Europe's electricity needs by 2020, depending on energy-efficiency achievements, a share of 25% of heat from renewable energy sources and 10% biofuels by 2020," Arthouros Zervos, president of the European Renewable ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Obama: US commited to 'strong' climate targets
http://www.euractiv.com/en/climate-change/obama-us-commited-strong-climate-targets/article-177323?Ref=RSS
EurActiv: Aware that the United States will not be able to take on a leading role in global climate change negotiations without a strong domestic policy, US President-elect Barack Obama has made clear that the country must kick-start action to reduce C02 emissions, despite a severe financial and economic crisis. The global community must decide on a new international agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol on climate change before the United Nations conference in Copenhagen in December next ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Poland unsatisfied with EU proposals to save climate plan: official
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1227119521.93
EUbusiness: Poland has rejected an EU proposal for its coal-fired power stations to be temporarily exempted from buying all their greenhouse gas permits, a move aimed at averting a Polish veto of the bloc's climate package, a senior Polish official said Wednesday. "We have received a proposal from the French presidency and we understand this as a first step in negotiations," Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, Secretary of State for European Affairs told AFP. "The proposed measures open the door to the ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Carbon sale to swell government revenues
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20081119/tts-uk-permits-a8bf950.html
Reuters: The government will take hefty revenues from its first carbon emissions permit auction on Wednesday rather than earmark the money for consumers or the climate it aims to protect, analysts and lobby groups said. Skip related content The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will auction 4 million permits out of a total 84 million from the second phase of the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), which runs from 2008-12. It plans to auction a further 25 ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Green lobby calls for spending priority
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/14/20081119/tpl-green-lobby-calls-for-spending-prior-81c5b50.html
Politics.co.uk: The government should spend the revenues it receives from today's emissions trading scheme auction on meeting the UK's climate change obligations, campaigners have said. Skip related content Organisations such as WWF, Oxfam and thinktank IPPR are urging the government to make good use of the estimated £72 million the UK will make from auctioning four million carbon emission allowances today under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). "The UK government should grasp the chance ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
South Korea to lease half of Madagascar's arable land for corn, oil palm production
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1119-madagascar.html
Mongabay: South Korea's Daewoo has signed a 99-year lease for half of Madagascar's arable land, reports the Financial Times. The agreement covers 1.3 million hectares (3.2 million acres) -- an area half the size of Belgium. Daewoo says it plans to plant corn on 1 million hectares in the arid western part of the island and 300,000 ha (740,000 acres) of oil palm on land in the tropical east, a region that is home to the bulk of Madagascar's rare rainforests. The company will produce the food for ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Green use urged for carbon funds
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/green-use-urged-for-carbon-funds-1026317.html
Independent (UK): The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, is being urged to put £54m raised from auctioning carbon credits into a dedicated fund to promote green measures in Britain. Allowances granting the right to produce some four million tonnes of carbon went under the hammer yesterday, with each tonne selling for around £13.60. The funds, which were raised in the world's first carbon auction, go to the Treasury. Other European countries taking part in the EU's trading scheme have ensured that all ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Obama brings US in from the cold
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/obama-brings-us-in-from-the-cold-1026303.html
Independent: Prospects for success in the world's struggle to combat global warming have been transformed at a stroke after US President-elect Barack Obama made it clear that America would play its full part in renewing the Kyoto Protocol climate-change treaty. His words, in effect, brought an end to eight years of wilful climate obstructionism by the administration of George Bush, who withdrew the US from Kyoto in March 2001, thus doing incalculable damage to the efforts of the international ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
President for 60 more days, George Bush tearing apart protection for America's wilderness
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/20/george-bush-conservation-climate-change
Guardian: George Bush is working at a breakneck pace to dismantle at least 10 major environmental safeguards protecting America's wildlife, national parks and rivers before he leaves office in January. With barely 60 days to go until Bush hands over to Barack Obama, his White House is working methodically to weaken or reverse an array of regulations that protect America's wilderness from logging or mining operations, and compel factory farms to clean up dangerous waste. In the latest ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Broad Schwarzenegger emissions pledge caps summit
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AJ0PZ20081120?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Impatient with the pace of national governments in fighting global climate change, 13 U.S. state governors joined counterparts from six other countries on Wednesday to pledge cooperation to curtail Earth-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The declaration, issued by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, capped a two-day climate change summit he hosted in Beverly Hills attended by more than 800 environmental officials and politicians from regional, state and provincial governments from ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Not promising the earth, ethical banks win custom
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AJ0RP20081120?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: As the financial crisis hit a climax in Belgium with the split-up of its largest bank Fortis in October, new clients were rushing to a small, "ecologically correct" bank. Triodos -- investing not in derivatives but in tangible products such as wind turbines which the general public can understand and even applaud -- was not the only alternative institution to benefit in Europe. Around the world, the mainstream financial sector and its banks are facing flak for having crafted ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Automakers detail electric car plans at L.A. show
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AJ0Z720081120?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Many of the world's biggest automakers on Wednesday detailed ambitious electric-car plans that promise zero emissions but will demand patience from consumers and subsidies from governments to succeed. Nissan Motor Co, BMW's BMWG.DE> MINI, General Motors Corp and Volkswagen's Audi were among the automakers who promised, at the Los Angeles auto show, to bring electric cars to market in the next few years. Consumers have been clamoring for greener vehicles amid soaring gasoline ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Governors pledge to fight global warming together
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/11/19/governors_pledge_to_fight_global_warming_together/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news
Associated Press: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, his counterparts in 12 states and regional leaders from four other countries signed a declaration Wednesday pledging to work together to combat global warming, a move Schwarzenegger said will help push heads of state to curb their nations' greenhouse gas emissions. The document was signed on the last day of an international climate summit organized by the California governor, who hopes the two-day event will inform U.N. negotiations in Poland next month on ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
China may use existing tax, not new fuel tax: source
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AJ1KE20081120?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Chinese policy makers may decide to increase a refined oil consumption tax rather than impose a new fuel tax, as some market participants are expecting, a source familiar with the issue told Reuters. The consumption tax, currently levied on seven refined oil products rather than just the retail staples of gasoline and diesel, is paid by refiners and importers, who pass the cost on to their customers. Hiking the consumption tax might be simpler than introducing a new tax to be ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Poll: World wants green action, despite costs.
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/11/19/poll-world-wants-green-action-despite-costs/
Christian Science Monitor: A wide majority of the world's citizens are unhappy with the slow pace of their governments' moves toward renewable energy and want their leaders to do more, even if that raises their utility bills, according to a global opinion poll released today. The finding sends a clear signal to officials at next month's climate change meeting in Poznan, Poland, scheduled to lay the groundwork for a 2009 international treaty to limit greenhouse-gas emissions. "Governments have left a lot ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Malaria and dengue the sting in climate change
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AJ2RQ20081120?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Southeast Asia and South Pacific island nations face a growing threat from malaria and dengue fever as climate change spreads mosquitoes that carry the diseases and climate-change refugees start to migrate. A new report titled "The Sting of Climate Change," said recent data suggested that since the 1970s climate change had contributed to 150,000 more deaths every year from disease, with over half of the deaths in Asia. "Projections of the impact of climate change on malaria and ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Waxman wins control of energy and commerce committee
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/19/henry-waxman-john-dingell-environment-energy
Guardian: Democrats in the House of Representatives voted today to put Representative Henry Waxman, 69, of California in charge of the committee that supervises everything from prescription drugs to the environment. Waxman will head the House Energy and Commerce Committee, replacing Michigan Democratic Representative John Dingell, 82, the most senior member in the House. Today's Democratic caucus secret ballot, 137-122 in favour of Waxman, mirrored a decision a day earlier by the ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Greenwash: Fred Pearce on what BP really means when it says it is investing in 'alternative' energy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/20/fossilfuels-energy
Guardian: "We can't put all our energy in one barrel," says the BP billboard poster. The slogan is accompanied by fetching images of green plants, wind turbines and the sun. And BP's own logo, with its green tagline: Beyond Petroleum. But this is confection. Until 2004, BP was called British Petroleum. And in the real world of business, the giant energy company continues to plunder most of its profits from - and sink the great bulk of its investment into - barrels of oil. Who is it ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Indigenous people should be included in climate change talks, say campaigners
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/20/climatechange-poznan
Guardian: UN climate change talks are excluding communities who will suffer the most from changing weather patterns, according to a report released today. The report, released by Minority Rights Group International (MRG), says that the voice of indigenous and minority communities must be formally recognised in the climate change talks that begin in Poznan, Poland, on December 1. MRG said that "time is running out" for indigenous communities to get countries to acknowledge that they ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
New business group to flex muscles in call for tougher climate rules
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230942/business-group-flex-muscles
Business Green: For years, business groups have been formed to lobby for weaker and weaker legislation, but now a new industry coalition containing several of the world's most high profile brands has been launched with precisely the opposite goals. The new Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy group, or Bicep, was launched yesterday with founding members Levi Strauss, Nike, Starbucks, Sun Microsystems, The Timberland Company joining the high-profile Ceres group of environmentally ...
Fri, 21 Nov 08
Electric Car Manufacturer Hopes To Generate Sales
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97213232&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Even as America's troubled automakers seek a handout from Congress, a relatively new car manufacturer that's tailor-made for the 21st century is trying to get traction. In an upscale showroom in Menlo Park, Calif., a low-slung, sleek, black sports car crouches on the floor. Manager Jeremy Cleland shows off some features of the 2008 Tesla Roadster. "Now, this car here is 100 percent electric, operates off a lithium ion battery pack," Cleland says. "It has 6,831 commodity cells. ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Government raises £54m by auctioning extra carbonemmission permits
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/globalwarming/3486042/Government-raises-54m-by-auctioning-extra-carbon-emmission-permits.html
Telegraph: Energy producers and other companies anxious to increase their allowances made more than 16m bids for just 4m credits offered at a price of 16.15 per tonne. Buyers who bid at the offered price received 17.5pc of the credits requested, those who bid significantly higher received all their credits and those who bid lower received nothing. The price for one tonne of carbon emissions rose 1.39pc to 16.78 on the European futures market following the auction, which was open to ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
World Willing to Pay More for Green Energy
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44775
Inter Press Service: A new poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org, a global network of research centres, finds that a majority of people in 21 nations support greater use of alternative energies like wind and solar and modifications to make buildings more energy efficient, even if costs more in the short term. "People perceive that oil is running out and that it is necessary to take steps right away to replace it as a source of energy," Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org, told IPS. "They really think ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Locust Swarms Plague Australia
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081118-locusts-video-ap.html?source=rss
National Geographic: Watch as a destructive locust swarm moves across farmland in drought-ridden New South Wales state, prompting officials to prepare an airborne assault.
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Video Games Suck Up Energy Like Vampires
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97203137&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Want to cut down on your utility bills? You may want to take a second look at your Wii, Play Station and X-Box. A video game console can suck up as much energy as two refrigerators. Alex Cohen talks with Noah Horowitz, consumer electronics expert with the Natural Resources Defense Council, about the organization's new report on vampire video games.
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Governors Tackle Climate Change
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97203134&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is hosting an international climate change summit in Beverly Hills this week. He's partnered with governors from across the country to discuss how cutting emissions can help the economy. Madeleine Brand talks to Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who is co-hosting the summit. Sebelius has focused her attention on expanding wind power to the state of Kansas. She also recently vetoed the expansion of coal plants in her state.
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Nike, Starbucks calling for new U.S. climate policy
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AI71220081119?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Nike Inc, Starbucks Corp and investor coalition Ceres are among the founding members of a new coalition calling for strong U.S. climate and energy legislation in early 2009. The group, named Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP), will lobby for policies that encourage energy efficiency, renewable energy use and green job creation, while discouraging higher-polluting technologies. Other founding members of BICEP include Levi Strauss & Co, Sun Microsystems ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Obama climate pledge "very positive": U.N. official
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AI72F20081119?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Barack Obama's pledge to work to reduce emissions sharply by 2020 is a "huge signal" of encouragement to countries negotiating a new climate pact, the head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat said on Wednesday. The U.S. president-elect said on Tuesday the United States would engage vigorously in climate change talks when he is president, and he pledged to work to reduce emissions sharply by 2020, despite the financial crisis. "I think that will have a very positive influence ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Sea surges could uproot millions in Nigeria megacity
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AI74G20081119?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Millions of people in Nigeria could be displaced by rising sea levels in the next half century, as ocean surges swamp some of Africa's most expensive real estate and its poorest slums, scientists say. Africa's most populous nation, stretching from the southern fringe of the Sahara to the Gulf of Guinea, could come under triple attack from climate change as the desert encroaches on its northern pastures, rainfall erodes farmland in its eastern Niger Delta, and the Atlantic Ocean floods ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
California joins effort to fight global warming by saving rainforests
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1119-redd.html
Mongabay: California has joined the battle to fight global warming through rainforest conservation. In an agreement signed yesterday at a climate change conference in Beverly Hills, California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged financial assistance and technical support to help reduce deforestation in Brazil and Indonesia. The Memorandum of Understanding commits the California, Illinois and Wisconsin to work with the governors of six states and provinces within Indonesia and Brazil to help ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Malaysia's indigenous people to get land rights for first time
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1119-malaysia.html
Mongabay: But proposed legal changes may sound more like a development model for oil palm expansion rather than an affirmation of indigenous rights to some. Malaysia's government will for the first time grant ownership rights of land farmed by indigenous people, reports the Associated Press. Jaafar Jantan, a spokesman for the government's Orang Asli Affairs Department, said that some 20,000 Orang Asli families will obtain permanent ownership of 50,000 hectares of rural land currently ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Politicians persuaded to save Canada boreal forest
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AI5IZ20081119?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Politicians actually listened when experts told them to protect Canada's boreal forest, a potent weapon against global warming, and the plan for this vast green area could work on some of the world's other vital places, scientists told Reuters. Bigger than the Amazon and better than almost anywhere else on the planet at keeping climate-warming carbon out of the atmosphere, the boreal forest stretches across 1.4 billion acres (566.6 million hectares) from Newfoundland to ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
United Kingdom: First carbon auction raises £54 million
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenpolitics/carbontrading/3484219/First-carbon-auction-raises-54-million.html
Telegraph: Under the European emissions trading scheme (EU ETS), energy intensive industries - that are responsible for half the region's emissions - are given an allowance for the amount of carbon dioxide they produce. A certain number of these "carbon credits" are given to each of the 12,000 companies in the scheme and then traded in a "cap and trade" scheme that ensures companies that want to pollute more have to pay and industries that cut emissions are rewarded. However so far the ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
British Energy chief: "We can't meet our climate change obligations without nuclear"
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230832/british-energy-chief-meet
Business Green: The boss of nuclear operator British Energy yesterday urged the UK to "get on with" plans to build a new fleet of nuclear reactors, insisting that the country's soon to be legally binding emission reduction targets could not be met without it. Speaking at the release of a disappointing set of results for the six months to 28 September that saw profits decline 50 per cent, chief executive Bill Coley said it was vital that the company's plans to build new reactors were ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Businesses not to give up on green agenda says watchdog
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/businessandecology/3485093/Businesses-not-to-give-up-on-green-agenda-says-watchdog.html
Telegraph: Lord Chris Smith, chairman of the Environment Agency, said firms "cannot afford to put environment last on the list" during the credit crunch. The costs of waste disposal and energy could adversely affect the turnover of businesses while green markets could provide new opportunities. Lord Smith also said companies with a good green track record would see environmental regulation charges reduced while those who do not manage their impact on the environment properly could see ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Final plea on Earth observation
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7737425.stm
BBC: Earth observation scientists have made a last-minute plea to Gordon Brown to put the UK's weight behind Europe's environmental monitoring project, GMES. The 2bn-euro venture will build a full picture of the state of the planet from satellite and ground-based data. But despite the UK's oft-stated claim to lead the world on climate policy, it has so far been lukewarm on GMES. Three leading scientists have now sent a letter to the PM urging him to back GMES at a critical ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Missing Radioactivity In Ice Cores Bodes Ill For Part Of Asia
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081118122148.htm
ScienceDaily: When Ohio State glaciologists failed to find the expected radioactive signals in the latest core they drilled from a Himalayan ice field, they knew it meant trouble for their research. But those missing markers of radiation, remnants from atomic bomb tests a half-century ago, foretell much greater threat to the half-billion or more people living downstream of that vast mountain range. It may mean that future water supplies could fall far short of what's needed to keep that ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Potential 'Green Collar' Job Growth In US
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081118100729.htm
ScienceDaily: During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama proposed an economic plan that would create 5 million jobs in environmental industries. These so-called "green collar" jobs do, in fact, present the next frontier for U.S. manufacturing, says a new report from Duke University. Highlighting the direct linkages between low-carbon technologies and U.S. jobs, Duke researchers say U.S. manufacturing is poised to grow in a low-carbon economy. Their report, "Manufacturing Climate Solutions," ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
ICT Could Cut U.S. Emissions by 22 Percent, Save Billions
http://www.climatebiz.com/news/2008/11/18/ict-could-cut-us-emissions-22-percent-save-billions
Climate Biz: Properly deployed information and communications technology (ICT) could cut U.S.-based carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 22 percent by 2020, according to new research. ICT could also save the country up to $240 billion in gross energy and fuel costs, according to the Boston Consulting Group and The Climate Group. The organizations unveiled the U.S. addendum to a previously released report called "SMART 2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age," which used a ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Schwarzenegger opens climate summit with Obama
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/11/18/global_climate_summit_to_open_in_los_angeles/
Associated Press: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger opened his international climate change summit on Tuesday by upstaging himself with an even bigger political star -- President-elect Barack Obama. Schwarzenegger, a Republican whose efforts to combat global warming in California have generated worldwide acclaim, wants to show that governments can balance environmental protection and economic growth. He hopes his summit will influence negotiations over a new climate treaty during a U.N. gathering in Poland ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Ex-Soviet Bloc Leads CO2 Emissions Rise Since 2000
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51117/story.htm
Reuters: Economic revival in the former Soviet bloc has been the main driver in pushing up industrialised nations' greenhouse gas emissions since 2000, despite plans to cut them, UN data showed on Monday. "Emissions trends...continue to be a cause of concern," Yvo de Boer, head of the Climate Change Secretariat, told a news conference in Bonn that was also broadcast on the Internet. "Since 2000 they have been clearly on the rise." Emissions by 40 industrialised nations grew by 2.3 ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Partial Carbon Cut From Coal A Good First Step - MIT
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51111/story.htm
Reuters: Coal-fired power plants might adopt technology with potential to help fight climate change faster if they used it to capture about half of their greenhouse gas pollution instead of almost all of it, experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Monday. US power utilities have balked at calls for them to add carbon dioxide capturing equipment to their coal-fired power plants for storage underground because it is costly, unproven, and makes the plants less ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
UN: Industrialised countries' emissions on the rise
http://www.euractiv.com/en/climate-change/un-industrialised-countries-emissions-rise/article-177270?Ref=RSS
EurActiv: The five percent decrease in industrialised countries' CO2 emissions between 1990 and 2006 was mainly due to economic decline in Eastern and Central Europe in the 1990s, but the overall trend has been upward since 2000, according to UN data. "The picture is somewhat different for countries which have ratified the Kyoto Protocol," as their emissions fell by 17% in the same period, said Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Yvo de ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Obama vows to engage world on climate change
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20081118/tpl-obama-vows-to-engage-world-on-climat-10170b4.html
Agence France-Presse: Obama said in a surprise video message to an international conference on climate change hosted by five US state governors here that he would show new leadership on the issue as soon as he takes office in January. The president-elect also addressed his message directly to delegates at United Nations climate change talks in Poland next month. "While I won't be president at the time of your meeting and while the United States has only one president at a time, I've asked members of ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Coordinated effort needed to cut deforestation via carbon markets
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1118-redd.html
Mongabay: The Coalition for Rainforest Nations -- a group of 40 tropical countries seeking compensation in the form of carbon credits for protecting their forest cover -- will ask the United Nations at next month's climate conference in Poland to establish a single body to coordinate forest carbon trading, reports Reuters from a workshop on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) meeting in Milan, Italy. Currently the process for establishing "carbon conservation" ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Hollywood aims to put climate change on prime time
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AI0OI20081119?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Could TV really save the world from global warming? Maybe not, but network television writers gathered on Tuesday anyway to discuss how incorporating the growing threat of climate change into primetime storylines could inspire viewers to live green. Citing evidence that shows like crime drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" inspired a wave of wannabe forensic scientists, Hollywood movers and shakers said they believe more Americans will pay attention to the environment if they ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
China to impose fuel tax "very soon": paper
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AI0WI20081119?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: China will impose a long-awaited fuel tax "very soon," the head of National Development and Reform Commission's (NDRC) Energy Research Institute said in comments reported on Tuesday by the China Daily. "The announcement will come very soon, and actually specific plans have already been suggested to the government long ago," Han Wenke, director general of the research body, was quoted as saying. More than a decade in the works, the fuel tax -- experts expect 25 percent or more ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
As Global Recession Threatens, China Pulls Back on Environmental Efforts
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/18/AR2008111803625.html?nav=rss_world
Washington Post: In February, the Fuan textile factory became one of the first major casualties of China's anti-pollution campaign when the multimillion-dollar company was shut down for dumping waste from dyes into a neighboring river and turning it red. But as the country's economy began to cool this fall and job losses mounted, the company was resurrected. Encouraged by the government, Fuan changed its name, moved to a new location and quietly reopened. With the global economy at the edge of ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
October temperatures are second-warmest since 1880.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/sciencemedicine/story/FC5A1D2403BBFBDA8625750600011D94?OpenDocument
Bloomberg: Global temperatures last month were the second-warmest since recordkeeping began while Arctic sea ice fell to its third-lowest level, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. The combined land and ocean surface temperature for October was 58.23 degrees Fahrenheit, 1.13 degrees above the 20th century average, said NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The warmest October since 1880 occurred in 2003. Changing weather affects "every sector of the ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Environmentalists promote 'green stimulus'.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081119.GREEN19//TPStory/Environment
Globe and Mail: Saving the economy and saving the planet at the same time were once considered two mutually incompatible goals. But not any longer. A chorus of proposals from liberal-leaning think tanks and conservation organizations is suggesting that the best way to revive the faltering economy would be to finance solutions to pressing environmental problems. Supporters are calling the idea "green stimulus." They argue that directing new government expenditures to wind farms, solar panels, ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Carbon levels may trigger disastrous climate change.
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/carbon-levels-may-trigger-disastrous-climate-change_100120902.html
Indo-Asian News Service: Carbon levels have reached a point of no return and may trigger disastrous climate change -- unless they are reversed, scientists have warned. Their study is a departure from recent estimates that truly dangerous levels would be reached only later in this century. 'There is a bright side to this conclusion,' says James E. Hansen, the study`s co-author and director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, part of Columbia University`s Earth Institute. 'By following a path ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Groundwater seems to be taking on CO2 100 times faster than atmosphere.
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/groundwater-seems-to-be-taking-on-co2-100-times-faster-than-atmosphere_100120942.html
Asian News International: A new study has determined that groundwater seems to be taking on carbon dioxide (CO2) 100 times faster than the atmosphere. According to a report in Discovery News, Gwen MacPherson of the University of Kansas and a team of researchers made this discovery in the groundwater flowing beneath the pristine Konza Prairie in Kansas, US. From 1991 through 2005, dissolved CO2 levels went up about 20 percent. In the atmosphere, CO2 went up 23 parts per million during that time, ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Forestry carbon dioxide projects to close down.
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/081118/full/456289a.html
Nature: The US Department of Energy has decided to close several large-scale, open-air projects designed to evaluate how increased concentrations of carbon dioxide affect forests. The move is necessary, many researchers say, to free up funds for a new generation of more sophisticated experiments. Free-Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiments pump carbon dioxide into the air to raise the local concentration of the gas in forests, grasslands and agricultural fields. Forest sites are particularly ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Environmentalists rally against gasification plant.
http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/11/19/ap-state-id/d94hm6vg1.txt
Associated Press: A proposal to build a $1 billion coal gasification plant in eastern Idaho is drawing opposition from regional and national environmental groups concerned about the facility's greenhouse gas emissions. The conservation groups have also been joined by the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in expressing concern about the plant planned by Southeast Idaho Energy and designed to convert coal to fertilizer. The environmental groups and tribal officials are focusing their objections on the ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Indonesia's setback on climate change
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/71bb860a-b594-11dd-ab71-0000779fd18c,Authorised=true.html
Financial Times: Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer and emitter of greenhouse gases through deforestation, on Tuesday dealt a blow to hopes it would step up efforts to combat climate change. Anton Apriyantono, the agriculture minister, told the annual conference of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil that sustainability criteria should not be made a priority, particularly for smallholders, "when economic needs are not being met" in the global financial crisis. The announcement ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
United States: Young activists fired up in fight against coal.
http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/nov/19/young_activists_fired_up_fight_against_c62159/
Post and Courier: Outside the high school here Tuesday night, as people gathered for a public hearing, three young women wrestled with a big black inflatable coal plant that looked similar to a jump castle -- except for the words "CLEAN UP DIRTY COAL PLANTS NOW" on the side. One woman trying in vain to get the prop's smoke stacks raised was Katheryn Hilton, 20, of Aiken, who two months ago spent 11 hours in jail after being arrested at a demonstration at a coal plant in Virginia. Hilton said coal is a ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Canada: City reduces greenhouse gases
http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/485732
Times and Transcript: There is something about being hit in the pocketbook that makes us wince with pain. Our recent pain, the result of the financial credit crisis, monopolized political campaign rhetoric in both the Canadian and the American elections. It was as if our climate crisis had simply evaporated. Somehow the link between the economy and the environment escaped public dialogue. While politicians and economists in both countries focused on the economy, dedicated people here in New ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
United States: Scientists say chemically trapping carbon dioxide may fight climate change.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/388399_carbonbury19.html
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: A team of Northwest scientists report that it has figured out how to better chemically trap carbon dioxide gas underground and plan to field-test the approach early next year, aiming to prove this as a powerful weapon in the battle against climate change. "We see this as a significant scientific milestone," said Pete McGrail, leader of the carbon sequestration research project at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. McGrail presented his team's findings in Washington, D.C., ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Globe-warming CO2 already in danger zone.
http://news.smashits.com/318730/Globe-warming-CO2-already-in-danger-zone.htm
Asian News International: A revised theory by a group of 10 prominent scientists has suggested that the level of globe-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air has already reached the danger zone, and the levels must decline, not just stabilize. According to the scientists, the CO2 has probably already reached a point where world climate will change disastrously unless the level can be reduced in coming decades. The study, done by scientists from the United States, United Kingdom and France, is a ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Climate change threat to woodland.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7734980.stm
BBC: Climate change could be the "last straw" for rare woodlands in the far north of Scotland already damaged by overgrazing animals, it is claimed. The warning from the North Highland Forest Trust (NHFT) came as it received £250,000 from charities to help in its work to protect trees. Upland birch woods, oak woods, wet woodlands and ancient wooded pastures have been identified as under threat. NHFT said many of the habitats were on the very fringes of their UK ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
How air imperils the sea.
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/11/18/how-air-imperils-the-sea/
Christian Science Monitor: If the rising level of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere is a slowly ticking time bomb, some scientists say, the CO2 building in seawater is a depth charge about to explode. The world's oceans are growing more acidic at an increasing – and some say alarming – rate. More and more environmentalists and scientists are saying it may take a severe lowering of CO2 levels to keep ocean life from facing major disruptions, including possible mass extinctions of species. Seawater ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Report urges fuel revolution.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/11/18/iea.weo/
CNN: The International Energy Agency has called for a global energy revolution to ensure future supplies and to stem the rise of greenhouse gas emissions. The IEA said the economic crisis must not delay urgent action on energy supplies and emissions. In its annual report -- 2008 World Energy Outlook (WEO) -- published last week, the agency describes the world's energy system as being "at a crossroads" and calls for traditional supply and consumption methods to be ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Feds urged to stay course on 'green'.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081118/NEWS01/311180109
Cincinnati Enquirer: Even as lawmakers debate spending billions to keep America's turbulent economy from slipping into the red, "green" issues should remain a national priority, the CEO of the Nature Conservancy said today. Federal support for creating green jobs and industries would provide a valuable boost for the economy, said Mark R. Tercek, and re-establish the U.S. as a global leader in environmental issues. "In this economic environment, it's appropriate for some aggressive federal spending ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Indian Climate Treaty Negotiator: 'We Have Accepted a Limit on our Emissions'
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,590964,00.html
Spiegel: With its enormous population and booming industrial economy, India is set to become one of the planet's chief polluters. India's chief climate treaty negotiator, Shyam Saran, talks to SPIEGEL ONLINE his country's role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Saran, when will India oblige itself to start restricting its own CO2 emissions? Saran: Even though there is no legal obligation on India in this respect, the Prime Minister of India made a commitment that ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
EPA coal ruling reignites CO2 regulation row
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230770/epa-coal-ruling-reignites-co2
Business Green: The Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Appeals Board has paved the way for the new President to regulate CO2 emissions early in his administration, after ruling that a planned coal-fired power plant should address concerns over its carbon footprint. The Board has temporarily withheld a permit for the proposed Utah plant, arguing that the application should explore ways to control carbon emissions as a regulated pollutant. The appeal was heard after the Sierra Club ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Indonesia to plant 100 million trees this year
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AI2S920081119?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Indonesia, which has been losing forests at a rapid pace in recent years, plans to plant 100 million trees across the country this year in an effort to limit deforestation, a forestry official said Wednesday. Indonesia has lost an estimated 70 percent of its original frontier forest, but it still has a total forest area of more than 225 million acres (91 million hectares), with a host of exotic plants and animals waiting to be discovered. The richest forests are found in Borneo ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Obama claims green businesses will "have an ally in Washington"
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230775/obama-claims-clean-tech-firms
Business Green: US president-elect Barack Obama yesterday reiterated his plans to rebuild the reputation of the US as a leader in the fight against climate change, promising a decisive break with the environmental policies of the Bush White House. Speaking via video link to delegates at a climate change summit hosted by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Obama promised a "new chapter in America's leadership on climate change", and reiterated campaign commitments to cut greenhouse gas ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Cash from carbon permits should be used to improve energy efficiency
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/19/emissionstrading-energyefficiency
Press Association: Cash raised from selling carbon allowances to companies to cover their emissions should be used to pay for measures such as improving energy efficiency in homes, a thinktank urged today. Some 7% of the UK's carbon permits distributed under the new phase of the EU's emissions trading scheme (ETS) will be auctioned, instead of being handed out for free. The first sale of four million allowances today is expected to raise some £60m for the government, which the Institute for ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
China pushing fuel reform, debating details: source
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AI31R20081119?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: China's leaders are determined to seize the opportunity offered by falling global crude prices to push through reform of domestic oil pricing and introduce a fuel tax, a source said on Wednesday. The country's energy officials are still discussing technical details of the reform plans however, the source, with knowledge of the situation, told Reuters. "The cabinet leaders have sent a specific order that the reform should be pushed forward as soon as possible," the source ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
UK to cement role as world leader in marine energy
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230785/uk-world-leader-marine-energy
Business Green: The UK has the potential to generate up to 30 per cent of its electricity needs from marine power and should become a world leader in the field if it continues its rate of innovation, according to a report from industry analysts Frost and Sullivan. The report claims that while there remain a number of significant obstacles to widespread adoption of the technology, marine energy is the most reliable source of renewable energy and the UK is one of the best areas in the world for ...
Thu, 20 Nov 08
U.S. and Indonesia link up on forest carbon credits
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AI3BK20081119?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: California and two other U.S. states signed a pact late on Tuesday with Indonesia's Aceh province that could see forest carbon credits from Aceh accepted into U.S. emissions trading schemes. The pact, the first of its kind, marks a major step in global acceptance of carbon credits derived from projects aimed at halting the destruction of the developing world's remaining forests, which soak up vast amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide. The governors of Aceh, California, ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Tropical ocean dead zones could increase 50 percent by 2050
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1118-hance_oceans.html
Mongabay: If carbon dioxide levels continue to rise as expected, marine dead zones in the tropics are expected to increase by 50 percent in just over four decades, according to a new study from the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences in Germany. The expansion of marine dead zones in tropical seas could have devastating impacts on ocean ecosystems and fisheries. Hundreds of meters below the surface tropical oceans contain low amounts of oxygen, resulting in what scientists call 'dead zones' due ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Burying Greenhouse Gases: New Tool Could Aid Safe Underground Storage Of Carbon Dioxide
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081117131711.htm
ScienceDaily: To prevent global warming, researchers and policymakers are exploring a variety of options to significantly cut the amount of carbon dioxide that reaches the atmosphere. One possible approach involves capturing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide at the source -- an electric power plant, for example -- and then injecting them underground. While theoretically promising, the technique has never been tested in a full-scale industrial operation. But now MIT engineers have come up with ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
International biofuels conference gets underway in Brazil
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20081117/tsc-international-biofuels-conference-ge-8f176c0.html
Agence France-Presse: Brazilian government chief-of-staff Dilma Roussef opened the five-day event as a last-minute stand in for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Brazil is keen to see ethanol -- the carburant derived from processing organic materials -- used more frequently in vehicles around the world. The South American country is the biggest exporter of ethanol, which it makes from sugarcane, and the second-biggest producer, after the United States. The plummeting price of oil in recent ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Darkening economy must not undermine energy security
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=15608
Edie: Efforts to ensure a secure energy supply and reduce greenhouse gas emissions must not be derailed by the darkening economic forecasts. This is the central message of the latest report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), an organisation set up after the oil crisis of the 1970s to advise governments around the world on energy policy. Every year the IEA publishes a flagship report looking at the 12 months ahead, the World Energy Outlook. As might be expected, this ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
House Democrats battle over energy panel.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-11-17-congress_N.htm
USA Today: A fight brewing among congressional Democrats could shape the course of President-elect Barack Obama's plans for energy policy, climate change and health care reform. Barring a last-minute deal, House Democrats will decide this week, possibly Thursday, in a secret ballot who will lead the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, where major environmental, consumer safety and health laws have been crafted. Rep. Henry Waxman, a California liberal best known for his high-profile ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
France sets plan to double green share of electricity market.
http://www.terradaily.com/2007/081117154427.edsszbik.html
Agence France-Presse: France on Monday published details of plans to double the share of renewable sources in its electricity market to meet a 2020 EU objective. Solar will spearhead the challenge to give renewables a 23-percent share of the electricity mix by 2020, compared with 10.3 percent in 2005, Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said, as he unveiled the 50-point plan. "Solar is the big one," said Borloo. "In industrial terms, and in terms of lower industrial costs, it's there that we have the ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Australia: Closure of solar plant casts cloud over industry
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/closure-of-solar-plant-casts-cloud-over-industry/2008/11/18/1226770451101.html
Sydney Morning Herald: IN A body blow for Australia's solar industry, the nation's biggest solar-panel factory will close early next year, taking 200 skilled jobs with it, equal to one-eighth of the total Australian solar workforce. The move came as new figures from the United Nations showed greenhouse gas emissions from many developed countries are still rising, with Australia now 28 per cent above the benchmark year of 1990. The UN figures exclude the slowdown in land clearing that the Government ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Thousands of Bangladeshis urge action on climate
http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSDHA310924._CH_.2400
Reuters: Thousands of Bangladeshis urged big polluting nations on Tuesday to cut greenhouse gases and help low-lying countries prone to disasters adapt to powerful storms, floods and rising seas. The calls were made during a colourful rally sponsored by the international aid agency Oxfam at Gaibandha town in northern Bangladesh to draw attention to climate change that threatens millions of vulnerable people. More than 4,000 people holding placards and banners attended the rally and took ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Netherlands: Activists target E.ON coal plant
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=15618&channel=0&title=Activists+target+E.ON+coal+plant
Edie: More than 90 Greenpeace activists were arrested at the weekend after chaining themselves to building machinery and cranes being used to construct a new coal-fired power station. The campaigners were attempting to stop work on energy company E.ON's power station in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. Greenpeace said the occupation on Saturday morning was intended to highlight the role that coal plays in creating air pollution and contributing to climate change. "E.ON is ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Offshore drilling in Alaska: Obama must slow the rush
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/18/network-usa
Guardian: Now that the presidential campaign is over and gasoline has -- for the time being -- fallen well below $3 a gallon, the chants of "Drill, Baby, Drill!" have died down. That is a welcome development, for during the campaign voters were lured by the siren's song of offshore drilling and its supposed benefits, while hearing virtually nothing about its costs. But the truth is that the environmental price of offshore drilling could be very high, and in no place more so than the state where ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Global climate summit to open in Los Angeles
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2008-11-18-climate-summit_N.htm?csp=34
Associated Press: A day before he was to welcome hundreds of high-ranking officials for a summit on greenhouse gas emissions, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger raised the environmental stakes in California. Schwarzenegger signed an executive order committing the U.S. state to obtaining a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. California previously had committed to producing 20% of its power from renewables such as wind and solar by 2010. "I am proposing we set the most aggressive ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
British Energy talks up nuclear new deal as profits dive 50%
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/18/britishenergygroup
Guardian: The country should press ahead with building a new generation of atomic power stations as part of a nuclear new deal to suck in investment and create jobs, British Energy said today. The company, which runs most of the UK's fleet of reactors and which reported a 50% slump in profits today, has held talks with local communities around four possible sites. Bill Coley, the chief executive, said it was important to halt the discussions at some stage and start the serious planning ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Despite Kyoto "success" emissions keep climbing
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230718/despite-kyoto-success-emissions
Business Green: The world is on course to meet greenhouse gas emission targets set out under the Kyoto protocol, but only as a result of the collapse of eastern and central European economies in the 1990s. That is the stark warning issued yesterday by the UN climate change secretariat, which released new figures showing that while emissions in the 40 industrialised countries signed up to Kyoto are down five per cent on 1990 levels emissions have shown an upward trend since the turn of the ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Renewable groups call for Obama action
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230698/renewable-groups-call-obama
Business Green: Four US cleantech industry groups have clubbed together to issue a wish list for renewable energy development under the presidency of Barack Obama. The Solar Energy Industries Association, National Hydropower Association, Geothermal Energy Association and American Wind Energy Association have issued a set of requests for the next session of Congress, including calls for a nationwide carbon cap-and-trade system and enhanced tax credits for their industries. The group also wants ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Government beefs up climate change bill further
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230703/government-beefs-climate-change
Business Green: The government moved to tighten its climate change bill still further last night, tabling amendments designed to extend the reach of the feed in tariff and limit the extent to which carbon credits from overseas can be used to count towards UK emission targets. The bill is now expected to receive its final vote this week and is on track to receive Royal Assent on 27 November, making the UK the first country to feature legally binding emission reduction targets on the statute ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
New standard to help forestry projects enter carbon market
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230705/forest-offset-credits-valid
Business Green: A new global standard launched today will put in place a robust assessment scheme for ensuring agriculture and forestry protection projects are environmentally sustainable and credible providers of carbon offsets. Projects to tackle deforestation and reduce the carbon impact of agricultural practices can now be verified against the new Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) and issue credits that can be sold on the global carbon market. David Antonioli, chief executive of the VCS ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Global climate summit to open in Los Angeles
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/11/18/global_climate_summit_to_open_in_los_angeles/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news
Associated Press: A day before he was to welcome hundreds of high-ranking officials for a summit on greenhouse gas emissions, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger raised the environmental stakes in California. Schwarzenegger signed an executive order committing the state to obtaining a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. California previously had committed to producing 20 percent of its power from renewables such as wind and solar by 2010. "I am proposing we set the most aggressive ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
World emissions on target to meet Kyoto cuts, says UN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/18/greenhousegas-poznan
Guardian: The world is on track to meet its greenhouse gas targets under the Kyoto protocol, according to UN figures released today. Emissions by the 40 industrialised nations that agreed binding cuts in pollution are down 5% on 1990 levels -- the target set under Kyoto. But the drop has little to do with climate policies: the bulk of the decline is down to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent economic decline in eastern European countries in the 1990s. Without these nations, ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Water vapor will amplify global warming
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1117-water_vapor.html
Mongabay: The heat-amplifying effect of water vapor in the atmosphere could more than double the climate warming caused by increased carbon dioxide levels, report researchers using NASA data. While is has long been known that water vapor is an important greenhouse gas, its contribution to global warming has been hotly debated. Now, according to NASA, Andrew Dessler and colleagues from Texas A&M University in College Station have calculated to heat-trapping capacity of water ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
From Bad to Worse: Latest Figures on Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=from-bad-to-worse-with-greenhouse-gas-emissions
Scientific American: The 38 countries that pledged to restrain their emissions of climate change--inducing greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide (CO2), are failing, according to new figures released today. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the body charged with overseeing global emission reduction efforts, says that, overall, greenhouse emissions--measured in terms of the most ubiquitous: carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)--dropped by 894 million metric tons between 1990 ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
California seeks one third renewable power by 2020
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AH0C420081118?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: California committed to getting a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020 in a Monday executive order by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. California, which often leads the federal government on environmental issues, already had committed to produce 20 percent of its power from renewables such as wind and solar by 2010 as part of its plan to cut emissions of carbon that contribute to global warming. California's Air Resources Board had recommended the additional 2020 ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
UN warns of desertification crisis
http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=3428
People and Planet: "Without proper action, both in developing and developed countries, some 50 million people could be displaced by desertification and land degradation within the next ten years" the world conference on desertification, meeting in Turkey last week, was told. The warning from Mr. Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification came at the close of the meeting at the weekend. "The delegates here in Istanbul took a big stride to guide the next year's ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Pollution Has Leveled Off, but the Figures Have Holes, Report Says
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=110794
Various: Emissions from industrialized countries plateaued in 2006 after six years of growth, the United Nations said Monday. But the countries have not yet reported emissions from the past two years, and the new report did not include large emerging economies like those of India and China. The United Nations report was released two weeks before the world's environmental ministers are to meet in Poland to discuss ways to curb greenhouse gases and against the backdrop of the global financial ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Bark Beetles Kill Millions of Acres of Trees in West
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=110793
New York Times: On the side of a mountain on the outskirts of Montana's capital city, loggers are racing against a beetle grub the size of a grain of rice. From New Mexico to British Columbia, the region's signature pine forests are succumbing to a huge infestation of mountain pine beetles that are turning a blanket of green forest into a blanket of rust red. Montana has lost a million acres of trees to the beetles, and in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming the situation is worse. "We're ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Water Vapor Confirmed As Major Player In Climate Change
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081117193013.htm
ScienceDaily: Water vapor is known to be Earth's most abundant greenhouse gas, but the extent of its contribution to global warming has been debated. Using recent NASA satellite data, researchers have estimated more precisely than ever the heat-trapping effect of water in the air, validating the role of the gas as a critical component of climate change. Andrew Dessler and colleagues from Texas A&M University in College Station confirmed that the heat-amplifying effect of water vapor is potent ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Industrialized countries' emissions on the rise
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/11/17/emissions.un/index.html?eref=rss_latest
CNN: The greenhouse gas emissions of 40 industrialized nations that signed the Kyoto Protocol treaty in 1997 have collectively dropped by an average of 5 percent below 1990 levels, the UN reported on Monday. Many developed countries, including Germany, are still lagging behind their Kyoto Protocol treaty targets. However the 5 percent drop, which was the 2012 aim of the treaty signed in 1997, was attributed mainly to economic decline in central and eastern Europe in the early ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
Will Detroit's cash crisis kill the electric car?
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AH1QZ20081118?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Call it an economic and environmental murder mystery in the making: Will a cash-strapped Detroit kill the electric car -- again? Stung by an association with gas-guzzling SUVs and pushed to the brink of failure by plunging sales, U.S. automakers have been touting efforts to roll out more fuel-efficient small cars, gas-saving technology and gas-free electric vehicles. The star of that marketing show has been the Chevy Volt, a rechargeable car that General Motors Corp is ...
Wed, 19 Nov 08
New rules establish market for saving rainforests through carbon trading
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1118-vcs.html
Mongabay: A new carbon accounting standard will bolster efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from deforestation, thereby creating a financial incentive for saving rainforests, say backers of the initiative, known as the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS). Starting today, land use projects including forestry and agriculture can be validated and verified against VCS, qualifying them for credits tradable in voluntary carbon markets. "For the first time ever investors can rely ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
UK airport expansion should be halted to meet emissions target, say climate scientists
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/18/climatechange-aviation-emissions
Guardian: There should be a moratorium on the expansion of all UK airports if the government's ambitious targets to cut CO2 emissions by 60% by 2050 are to have any chance of success, according to a leading climate scientist. Kevin Anderson, a climate scientist at the University of Manchester's Tyndall Centre, said that technologies will not arrive quickly enough to offset the projected increase in air passenger numbers and that the only practical solution for the industry is to curb the demand ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Peers win concession on offset limits in climate bill
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/18/climate-change-carbon-emissions
Guardian: The government last night moved to tighten its commitment to the 80% reduction of carbon emissions by the year 2050, introducing a safeguard that a limit be placed on reductions achieved by buying international offsetting credits. During what will probably be the last few days of scrutiny before the climate change bill becomes law, the government made concessions in the House of Commons and the Lords, surprising green campaigners by tabling a further amendment to the energy bill - ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
New carbon standard set for forestry trading
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AH00L20081118?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: A new standard for carbon trading will help link forestry and agriculture projects into a million-dollar market to help fight global warming, backers said on Tuesday. Under rules set by the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), projects such as reducing the rate of tropical deforestation could get tradable credits for a voluntary market aimed at companies and individuals and worth $330 million in 2007, they said. "For the first time ever investors can rely on robust rules for ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Carbon software start up poised to debut trading platform
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230679/carbon-software-start-poised
Business Green: Fresh from securing $1m in additional funding, San Francisco software start up CarbonFlow has announced that it is just a month away from releasing the first version of its software platform, designed to make it easier and more cost effective for firms to partipate in the booming carbon offset market. The latest investment was provided by venture capitalist @Ventures and follows a $2.9 million round earlier this year from Clean Pacific Ventures, OVP Venture Partners and Meridian ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Boris pledges to help fight Heathrow third runway
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230678/boris-pledges-help-fight
Business Green: London Mayor Boris Johnson has waded into the escalating row over the proposed third runway at Heathrow, pledging to make a contribution of £15,000 towards a legal challenge if the government grants approval to the controversial expansion plans. Transport secretary Geoff Hoon is widely expected to give the go ahead to the plans next month, despite a threatened backbench rebellion on the topic and widespread criticism that expansion of the airport will undermine the UK's climate change ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Eastern Bloc collapse boosts climate outlook
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16060-eastern-bloc-collapse-boosts-climate-outlook.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: The world is on track to meet its Kyoto protocol target, according to very preliminary data released for the first time today, but not solely through a global willingness to regulate greenhouse gases. The efforts of some countries to rein back emissions have been bolstered by an economic downturn in others, says the UN. This means the encouraging news could be reversed if governments do not put policies in place to slow and eventually reverse the trend. Thirty-nine nations have ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Residents return to areas ravaged by California wildfires
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/17/california-wildfires
Guardian: Southern California started to count the cost of a series of wildfires that swept through the region over the weekend as fierce winds died down today. Thousands of people began to return home after being evacuated, and hundred of homes were destroyed as the fires raged from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles and Orange County, burning a total of 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares). Just one death was reported in the fires, although rescuers continued to search through a mobile home park ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Penguin plunge sends ocean warning signal
http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=3427
People and Planet: Plunging penguin populations are a signal that the world's oceans are suffering the effects of climate change, fishing and oil and gas development, according to an analysis that could provide new ammunition for groups seeking global protection for the birds. The paper's author, University of Washington conservation biologist P. Dee Boersma, who has studied the birds for more than 30 years, says that in recent decades, populations of the world's 16 to 19 penguin species have begun to ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Could fertilising trees save the climate?
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16061-could-fertilising-trees-save-the-climate.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: Should we "dope" trees with nitrogen fertiliser to engineer a cooler global climate? New findings suggest the nutrient could be a switch for determining how much solar energy forests in Earth's cooler regions reflect back out into space. Scott Ollinger of the University of New Hampshire, Durham, and colleagues measured the concentrations of nitrogen in forest canopies in 181 plots across the US, sampling trees that were anywhere from 15 to 500 years old. The team compared this ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Emissions up in developed nations
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7734547.stm
BBC: Emissions of greenhouse gases by industrialised nations rose 2.3% from 2000 to 2006, according to new figures from the UN's climate change agency. The biggest increases were in the former Soviet bloc - and Canada. A UN spokesman said countries had to work much faster to avoid the possibility of dangerous climate change. Next month the nations of the world meet in Poland for the annual negotiations on climate change. The new figures do not offer a great deal of ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Industrialized countries slow to reduce emissions
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1117-emissions.html
Mongabay: Industrialized countries are making slow progress in reducing emissions as pledged under the Kyoto Protocol, finds a new U.N. assessment of global emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions by 40 "Annex 1" countries under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) fell by 0.1 percent in 2006 and are presently 4.7 percent below the 1990 level which serves as the emissions benchmark. Most of the decrease resulted from the collapse of polluting industries in Eastern and Central ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Aviva launches 500m clean tech investment fund
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230661/aviva-launches-clean-tech
Business Green: UK insurance giant Aviva has announced it is to launch a clean tech investment fund designed to plough up to 500 million into a range of renewable energy projects around the world. The fund will be launched through Aviva Investors, the asset management arm of Aviva, the world's fifth largest insurer. Aviva Investors chief executive Alain Dromer said that the new fund had been launched in response to growing demand for green investments from customers. "These initiatives ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Ex-EPA Chief Whitman Wants Carbon Cap
http://www.cnbc.com/id/27416024
CNBC: There's no separating energy and the environment for Christine Todd Whitman, and she's made the two her business -- and cause -- since leaving government. Whitman, who earned recognition for her green ways as a two-term Governor of New Jersey and Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, founded the Whitman Strategy Group, a business consulting firm that specializes in government relations and such environmental and energy issues as climate change and green ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Desalination 'a waste of money', warns Australian economist
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/programguide/stories/200811/s2421337.htm
Radio Australia: A leading Australian economist says spending billions of dollars to build water desalination plants in a bid to drought-proof cities is a waste of money. The Australian National University's Economics Professor Quentin Grafton says a better solution is to put up the price of water. He was speaking at an international conference held at the weekend in Canberra, to look at planning for drought in expectation of climate change. Presenter: Sarina Locke Speaker: Australian National ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Indonesia: Govt taking no action to clean air, address climate change
http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20081117.H04&irec=3
Jakarta Post: Despite reports of improving air quality in some Asian cities, many Indonesian cities still fall well short of the World Health Organization's (WHO) standards. Rapid urbanization, growing vehicle ownership coupled with poor transportation management have lead to higher levels of air pollution in Indonesia. The Jakarta Post's Adianto P. Simamora discussed the issue with Budi Haryanto, chairman of the University of Indonesia's School of Public Health and head of the board of directors ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Australia: 'Too many tourists' threaten environment
http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=530959
AAP: Tourists visiting Australia's natural wonders in large numbers are threatening the environment they want to enjoy, a leading futurist says. Sydney-based writer and futurist Richard Watson warned an eco-tourism and green travel conference in Adelaide on Monday that there was a dark side to tourism. "In the short term there is a definite problem that people are possibly going to destroy the very thing they came to experience. "That is without a shadow of a doubt true ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Australia: Soil study muddies climate change debate
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/11/17/2421790.htm?site=science&topic=latest
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Climate change may not be as severe as predicted, suggests an international study that shows current modeling of carbon dioxide emissions from soils are overestimated by as much as 20%. The view, reported in the latest Nature Geoscience journal, is based on a study of Australian soils that finds the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) released by Australian soils is much lower than previously believed. The finding has major implications for climate change predictions as annual ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
A New Inconvenient Truth
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=971eed4b-1dc8-4afd-a8fe-193c373286ac
The New Republic: In a New York Times op-ed published on the first Sunday after Barack Obama's presidential election, Nobel prize winner Al Gore shifted from his longstanding focus on regulating carbon pollution to advocating direct government investments in clean energy as the best way to deal with climate change. Gore is the country's most prominent spokesperson on climate change and a shift in his thinking in reaction to new economic and political circumstances is highly significant. Of Gore's five ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Green New Deal makes sense but unlikely
http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed2/idUSTRE4AG16O20081117
Reuters: With Europe and the United States staring recession in the face, a growing chorus is calling for massive public investment in clean, green energy to revive economic growth while fighting climate change. Under the slogan of a "Green New Deal," leaders from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier argue that industrialized countries can kill two birds with one stone and create millions of "green collar" ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Jobs are there in renewable energy
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2008/11/17/news/opinion/letters/169622.txt
Bismarck Tribune:
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Australia: Industries warming to 'carbon bank' idea
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/industries-warming-to-carbon-bank-idea-20081117-690y.html
AAP: Industry and economic leaders are divided on how an emissions trading scheme should operate but have warmed to the idea of an environmental central bank. Leading climate change economist Warwick McKibbin wants a central carbon bank similar to how the financial system has a Reserve Bank of Australia. Prof McKibbin, who is a Reserve Bank board member, was a keynote speaker at an emissions trading conference in Brisbane on Monday. "We should run climate policy like we run ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
China, US to collaborate on solar energy technology
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-11/17/content_10372022.htm
Xinhua: China and the United States have agreed to work together on research into advanced solar energy technologies. The Institute of Electrical Engineering (IEE) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which is affiliated with the Department of Energy, signed a memorandum of understanding over the weekend. Under the pact, they'll share research on photovoltaic (PV) power generation technologies. One facet of ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Climate Change Capital to spend $732 mln in China
http://www.reuters.com/article/privateEquity/idUSHKG30820020081117
Reuters: London-based alternative investment manager Climate Change Capital plans to invest 5 billion yuan ($732 million) in environmental projects in China including industrial waste management and clean technology over the next two to three years. The firm, which has not yet put its capital to work in China, is also looking to expand its investment in the world's fourth-largest economy by setting up a yuan-denominated fund in the next two to three years. Ka Keung Chan, managing ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
United Kingdom: 2010 switch-on for wave project
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/7733036.stm
BBC: A ground-breaking wave energy project off the South West Coast aims to send power back to the mainland by 2010. That is the target for engineering firm JP Kenny, which has been appointed to oversee the project. The scheme, 10 miles off Hayle in Cornwall, will be the UK's first offshore facility for demonstrating a commercial-scale wave power plant. Up to 30 wave-energy machines could be sending power via a "socket" or wave hub, to be placed on the seabed. 'Great ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Conflict in PNG between govt and landowners over REDD carbon trading
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1117-png.html
Mongabay: The government of Papua New Guinea is facing criticism over its plan to seek compensation via the carbon market for protecting the country's rainforests, reports Australian Broadcasting Corporation News (ABC News). Landowners are concerned they will not see proceeds from the carbon trading mechanism the government has been instrumental in pushing at international climate talks. Under REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation), countries like Papua New Guinea would ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Alarming UN Report: Industrialized World Falling Short of Climate Goals
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,590969,00.html
Spiegel: A new report released by the United Nations shows that climate-damaging CO2 emissions in the industrialized world have rebounded in the 21st century after dropping in the 1990s. After a sharp dip following the collapse of the Soviet Union, global greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized countries began rising again between 2000 and 2006, according to a disappointing new report released on Monday by the United Nations. The dissolution of the Soviet Union brought emissions ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
US, Vietnam to study climate change impact on Mekong Delta
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hClwlQkGDNzVPsEHwJrNUyy3aaEw
Agence France-Presse: The United States and Vietnam will jointly study the impact of climate change on the Mekong Delta and other low-lying river regions worldwide, officials said Monday. Scientists from both countries will work at a new Delta Research and Global Observation Network (DRAGON) institute, the first of several that are due to be set up worldwide, at southern Vietnam's Can Tho University. Vietnam is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, said Tran Thuc, head of the ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Australia Unveils Blueprint For Clean Coal
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-11-17-voa10.cfm
Voice of America: A unique program to capture carbon at coal power stations has been unveiled in Australia. Operators of a demonstration plant say it is the first of its type in the world and involves burning coal in oxygen rather than air, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports. The pilot program in the northern Australian state of Queensland intends to show that existing power stations can be refitted to burn coal in a far cleaner way. Over the next four years ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Australia: Climate disaster awaits aged, poor
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/global-warming/climate-disaster-awaits-aged-poor/2008/11/17/1226770355976.html
Sydney Morning Herald: LOWER socio-economic groups and the ageing will bear the brunt of climate change in coastal areas, according to a report from the National Sea Change Taskforce. Those in temporary housing such as caravans and manufactured homes are at particular risk in the event of a natural disaster. "These housing forms are an important source of housing for low-income Australians and retirees, particularly along the coast," the report says. "Without proper insurance or ownership of land ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Earth needs all the friends it can get
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7730449.stm
BBC: After years of being a lone voice in the battle to save the planet, environmental NGOs now find themselves being joined by politicians and businesses, says Friends of the Earth's Andy Atkins. However, he argues, green groups are just as relevant as they were 30 years ago. NGOs have been in the vanguard of advocating practical solutions to environmental problems, and implementing them through political action These days it can feel as though the environment is holding us to ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Greenhouse-Gas Emissions Drop 0.1% in Developed World, UN Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aTiLgU4OcB04&refer=canada
Bloomberg: Greenhouse-gas emissions declined 0.1 percent during 2006 in industrialized nations, the United Nations said, showing that many of the world's biggest polluters are making slow progress in fighting global warming. Germany, Japan and 18 other nations that signed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol treaty that limits emissions aren't yet on target to meet their obligations of limiting output of carbon dioxide and other global-warming gases, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change said today ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
The greenhouse gas that nobody knew
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/17/network
Guardian: When industry began using NF3 in high-tech manufacturing, it was hailed as a way to fight global warming. But new research shows that this gas has 17,000 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide and is rapidly increasing in the atmosphere – and that's turning an environmental success story into a public relations disaster. Hypothetical question: You're heartsick about global warming, so you've just paid $25,000 to put a solar system on the roof of your home. How do you respond to ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Obama won't visit UN climate talks in Poland: UN
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE4AG3P620081117
Reuters: President-elect Barack Obama will not attend United Nations talks in Poland next month working on a new treaty for fighting global warming, the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat said on Monday. "There is not going to be an Obama delegation in Poznan," Yvo de Boer, head of the Secretariat, told a news conference in Germany that was also shown on the Internet. The 190-nation talks will be held from December 1-12 in the Polish city of Poznan. "There is one president at a time," he ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Climate change: emissions from industrialised world still high
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gkesiYQ8Rcb2Y4QdOshamudKKxLQ
Agence France-Presse: Two weeks before the start of key talks on global warming, the UN's climate-change watchdog issued figures here Monday that reflected poor headway by industrialised countries towards curbing dangerous carbon pollution. Greenhouse-gas emissions by 40 so-called Annex 1 countries under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change were almost unchanged in 2006, falling by a mere 0.1 percent from 2005, the UNFCCC said. From 2000 to 2006, though, emissions increased by 2.3 percent ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Cuba Gets Green Cred
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081114-conservation-video-wc.html?source=rss
National Geographic: Cuba is the only country that meets the criteria for sustainable development from the conservation group WWF. But concern persists for once thriving Caribbean marine turtles.
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Goldman Sachs continues offset spending spree
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230640/goldman-sachs-continues
Business Green: It may be in the midst of cutting 10 per cent of its workforce and halting bonuses for senior executives, but that has not stopped investment bank Goldman Sachs continuing its push into the carbon credit market with the announcement of its second acquisition in as many weeks. Following hot on the heels of its purchase of an equity stake in US-based offset specialist Blue Source, the company announced last week that it has agreed to buy the majority of the carbon offset portfolio ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Under-ice flood speeds up glacier
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7733509.stm
BBC: Great floods beneath the Antarctic ice sheet can now be linked directly to the speed at which that ice moves towards the ocean, scientists say. Leigh Stearns and colleagues have been able show how the giant Byrd Glacier in east Antarctica sped up just as two lakes under the ice overflowed. The flood water acts as a lubricant, easing the ice over the bedrock. The observation is described as critical because of how it informs our understanding of future sea ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
United Kingdom: FTSE debuts nine new environmental indices
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230635/ftse-debuts-nine-environmental
Business Green: Investors wishing to track the performance of clean tech firms will from today have access to a raft of new benchmarks following the launch nine new indices designed to track the performance of different sub sectors within the environmental investment sector. The indices, which have been developed by global index company FTSE Group and environmental investment company Impax, include benchmarks tracking the performance of investments in water technology firms, waste and pollution ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Norway: Glaciers melting at record rate
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/nov/17/norway-glaciers-miriam-jackson
Guardian
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Global warming causes winter migratory birds to shun UK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/17/wildlife-conservation-globalwarming
Guardian: Fewer birds will migrate to the UK each year as warmer temperatures caused by climate change will encourage them to spend winters closer to home, a report warned today. Research from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) has shown a big drop in the numbers of ducks, geese, swans and wading birds migrating to UK wetlands in winter. The report, published by the WWT, the British Trust for Ornithology and the RSPB, says climate change and milder winters may cause many birds to ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Surf's up for wave power in Hawaii
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230596/surf-wave-power-hawaii
Business Green: Wave energy specialist Ocean Power Technologies announced last week that it has deployed its first PowerBuoy wave power systems off the coast of Hawaii. The Hawaii project, which is the third site to be targeted by the company, is situated off the coast of Oahu. The device lies a mile off the coast in 100 feet of water. The project, which was undertaken with $300,000 (£201,000) of funding from the US Navy, involved the deployment of a single PowerBuoy capable of delivering 40kW ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
"Renewables and nuclear will not solve climate change, they'll only defer it"
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/analysis/2230598/renewables-nuclear-solve
Business Green: BusinessGreen.com: How big an impact will the economic slowdown have on the prospects for carbon capture and storage (CCS)? Jeff Chapman: It obviously will have an impact on the energy sector as a whole and environmental spending in particular. The big question is whether investment will hold up and the answer is "who knows?" It all comes down to how much political will remains. Unfortunately for CCS, the recession has come at a crucial time with the EU debating how best to fund the ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Paper is more carbon-intensive than even global aviation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/17/climatechange-carbonemissions
Guardian: Of all the natural resources we use every day, paper is one that hardly provokes a second thought. The thin films of tree fibres touch nearly every facet of our lives. From the napkins around paper coffee cups to our morning newspaper, the junk mail and the bedtime book, paper is everywhere. We use more and more of it, and its impact on the environment is huge. Paper manufacture consumes vast quantities of water. Chemicals are used to boost fast-growing monoculture plantations, and ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Schwarzenegger orders climate adaptation plan
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230629/schwarzenegger-orders-climate
Business Green: As wildfires devastated large swathes of southern California this weekend, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced plans designed to better prepare the state for the worst impacts of climate change, including the increased incidence of extreme weather events. The announcement - which came just a day after a study from the University of California, Berkeley claimed climate change impacts such as rising sea levels and the increased frequency of wildfires would put $2.5tr of real ...
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Ex-Soviet bloc leads rises in CO2 emissions: U.N.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AG36X20081117?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Greenhouse gas emissions in many industrialised nations are still rising, especially in the former Soviet bloc, despite agreements to cut back, the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat said on Monday. Emissions by 40 industrialized nations grew by 2.3 percent to the equivalent of 18.0 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2006 from 17.6 billion in 2000, it said. They dipped 0.1 percent in 2006 compared with 2005 but underlying trends were still up. "Greenhouse gas emissions in ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
United States: LA ringed by wildfires
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081116/us_nm/us_wildfire_california_22
Reuters: Fires whipped up by hot, gusty and erratic winds darkened Los Angeles skies on Saturday, scorching thousands of acres and hundreds of homes in the second-largest U.S. city. More than 10,000 people were ordered to evacuate as a fire that exploded overnight on the edge of the Angeles National Forest, north of Los Angeles, barreled into the San Fernando Valley and burned more than 8,000 acres. Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said one-fifth of the fire had been ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
California fires still raging and ravaging
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008396682_fires16.html?syndication=rss
Associated Press: Southern Californians weathered a third day of devastation Saturday as wind-blasted wildfires destroyed hundreds of homes, shut down major freeways and forced thousands of residents in the path of flames to flee. No deaths were reported, but the Los Angeles police chief said he feared authorities might find bodies among the 500 burned dwellings in a devastated mobile-home park that housed many senior citizens. A fire that ravaged Sylmar in the hillsides above Los Angeles' San ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Santa Ana-Fed Fires Burn 22,000 Acres in California
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBQyds9FCoz0
Bloomberg: Hot, dry Santa Ana winds are driving wildfires across Southern California's Riverside and Orange counties today, the latest in a series that have burned 22,000 acres in the state and put 3,700 firefighters to work. The winds, which blow from California's inland deserts over the mountains to the coastline and bring hot, dry weather, are responsible for the conditions, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. September through November is the peak season for such ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Wildfires Result In Loss Of Forests Reserved By Northwest Forest Plan
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081107143853.htm
ScienceDaily: Although the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) significantly reduced cutting of old-growth forests on federal land, forests in the driest regions are now at greater risk of being lost to wildfire than to logging. A team of federal and university scientists recently completed a study and analysis of large-diameter forests and discovered that elevated fire levels in the Pacific Northwest outweighed harvest reductions in the loss of older forests. "Fire is a more important factor of loss to ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Improving Carbon Measurements In Global Climate Studies
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081114134923.htm
ScienceDaily: University of Iowa researchers and their colleagues have found a way to improve existing estimates of the amount of carbon absorbed by plants from the air, thereby improving the accuracy of global warming and land cover change estimates, according to an article in the journal Science. By knowing the effects of plants on the atmosphere, scientists will be better able to determine the amount of human-generated carbon dioxide (CO2) injected into the atmosphere, according to Greg ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Wildfires rage in So. California
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_10993405?source=rss
Associated Press: Southern Californians weathered a second straight day of devastation today as wind-blasted wildfires destroyed hundreds of homes, shut down major freeways and forced thousands of residents in the path of flames to flee to safety. A fire that ravaged the Sylmar community in the hillsides above Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley grew to 6,500 acres -- more than 10 square miles -- and was only 10 percent contained. It sent residents fleeing in the dark this morning as notorious Santa Ana ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Democratic Republic of Congo: Guerrillas threaten gorillas in Africa's oldest national park
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=255031&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21
Agence France-Presse: Wildlife officers escaped into the forest when fighters loyal to renegade general Laurent Nkunda occupied part of the park as they launched their march on Goma, the main city in the east of DR Congo, which is now surrounded. Set up in 1925, Virunga covers some 7,800sw km. Its varied terrain includes two of Africa's most active volcanoes, swamps and snow-capped mountains. It is also home to more than half of the world's 700 remaining mountain gorillas as well as 20,000 ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Carbon trading to fight deforestation
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Carbon_trading_to_fight_deforestation/articleshow/3721379.cms
Press Trust of India: An initiative to fight deforestation in developing economies by tapping emissions trading markets will commence in full swing shortly, involving a World Bank-managed facility financed in part by Japan. The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility to finance projects to curb slash-and-burn farming and other forms of forest degradation will begin soon in Vietnam, Madagascar and 23 other countries formally selected at the facility's first meeting in the United States in late October, the ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Ecuador keeps up oil cleanup fight against Chevron
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-amazonoil17-2008nov17,0,7299994.story?track=rss
LA Times: Abel Garrido has just struck oil and he's not happy about it. Using a tree branch, the weathered farmer probed the edge of a pond that his cattle use for drinking water and soon turned up the smelly black sludge that he says has killed much of his livestock and sickened his family. "I've lost 30 cows," Garrido said. "I cut them open and their insides are black." Paying the medical bills to treat his three children for skin cancer has cost him his meager ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
PNG landowners, government at loggerheads over carbon trading
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/200811/s2421141.htm?tab=pacific
Radio Australia: Papua New Guinea landowners have called on the government to understand climate change and carbon trading before it makes any concrete decisions. The issue of carbon trading is causing friction between the Papua New Guinea government and local landowners. PNG's new climate change office says all future carbon trading deals will be done through the government. But 90 per cent of PNG land is owned by its people, and Ken Mondiai, a spokesman for landowners angry about the ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Mass migration threatens Britain's national security, says John Reid
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/3467978/Mass-migration-threatens-Britains-national-security-says-John-Reid.html
Telegraph: National crises which threatened the UK were happening far more than people thought, he added, and were no longer "one-off events". The MP for Airdie and Shotts, who will leave the House of Commons at the next general election, said he is setting up a new think tank called the Institute of Security and Resilience Studies. The new centre will assess long term threats against the UK and other countries. International migration had increased the range of threats against the ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Climate change threatens wetlands
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/3467943/Climate-change-threatens-wetlands.html
Telegraph: There has been a big drop in the numbers of ducks, geese, swans and wading birds visiting some of Britain's internationally important wetlands, the latest survey has revealed. While the numbers have increased for some species, most have suffered a dramatic decline, according to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust report. Its UK 2006/2007 waterbirds survey reveals that 143 sites acros the country are of international importance for 43 species of waterbird either during the winter or ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Erratic climate takes toll on economy
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081117/jsp/nation/story_10120056.jsp
Telegraph India: Orissa, in the transition of transforming its agriculture and forest-based economy to industrial economy, is already reeling from the problems of the warm climate. The state's erratic weather suggests that climate is changing from bad to worse, said experts at a two-day forum on climate change here today. For more than a decade now, Orissa has experienced contrasting extreme weather conditions from heat waves to cyclones, from droughts to floods. In the past four years, natural ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Britons gloomiest over 'green jobs'
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ea63955c-b41d-11dd-8e35-0000779fd18c.html
Financial Times: British people are markedly more likely to believe that tackling climate change will cost jobs than other Europeans and people in the US, according to the most recent Financial Times/Harris poll. About 30 per cent of Britons thought efforts to combat global warming would reduce the number of jobs available, compared with 24 per cent who said it would increase job numbers. The British and Spanish were also least likely of those surveyed to say it was important for their country ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Australia: Climate right for organic food surge
http://www.streem.com.au/green/7523-climate-right-for-organic-food-surge
Streem: With climate change, environmentalism and health on the minds of many Australians, organic food is very much in vogue. A survey conducted by Newspoll has revealed that 61% Australian grocery buyers buy some organic products. The poll was commissioned by the Organic Federation of Australia, the peak body for the organic sector and was conducted nationally among nearly 1,000 shoppers. A previous survey, conducted in 2003 by the University of Central Queensland, showed that ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Floods under Antarctic ice speed glaciers into sea: study
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hT_Rgq5gv_BwoorjrHCV3JNlYAEg
Agence France-Presse: Scientists unveiled Sunday the first direct evidence that massive floods deep below Antarctica's ice cover are accelerating the flow of glaciers into the sea. How quickly these huge bodies of ice slide off the Antarctic and Greenland land masses into the ocean help determine the speed at which sea levels rise. The stakes are enormous: an increase measured in tens of centimetres (inches) could wreak havoc for hundreds of millions of people living in low-lying deltas and island ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Crisis Parting Solar Sector's Weak From Strong
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51095/story.htm
Reuters: A global credit crisis and a steep slide in prices of solar panels has sent makers of the clean energy source reeling, but the damage done to share prices presents an opening for investors to buy into the stronger players. Investors have fled the burgeoning solar sector in the past three weeks, sped along by a global financial crisis and warnings from sector heavyweight SunPower Corp and China's JA Solar that the declining euro would weigh on revenue and profits. Chinese solar ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Climate Progress Unlikely At Global Meeting - GEF
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51081/story.htm
Reuters: The Bush administration's lame-duck status means major progress on climate change will be unlikely at an international meeting next month, the chief of a multibillion dollar environmental group said Friday. Monique Barbut, who heads the Washington-based Global Environmental Facility, had doubts about any big agreements from December's meeting in Poznan, Poland. The Poznan conference is being convened as part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and is meant to help ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Centrica Says Reviewing New Wind Farm Economics
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51084/story.htm
Reuters: Britain's Centrica is reviewing the economic viability of planned wind farms due to soaring costs and the credit crunch, the owner of British Gas said. Centrica, which is raising 2.2 billion pounds (US$3.26 billion) to help fund its proposed 25 percent stake in nuclear power generator British Energy, said it was "revisiting the economics of wind farms given rising raw material and credit costs". The company, which hopes to start full operation of its new Lynn & Inner Dowsing ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Credit Crisis Not Threatening UN Climate Talks - Envoy
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51088/story.htm
Reuters: UN-led climate change talks that aim to rein in planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions are running out of time but have not been derailed by the financial crisis, Australia's top climate diplomat said on Friday. Officials from about 190 nations gather from Dec. 1 in the Polish city of Poznan as part of a series of meetings on how to expand the Kyoto Protocol climate pact from 2013. The talks are meant to conclude at the end of next year in the Danish capital Copenhagen and aim ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Germany Wants CO2 Relief For Energy Guzzling Firms
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51085/story.htm
Reuters: The German government wants extensive exemptions for energy intensive industrial sectors for their carbon emissions caps from 2013, Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief spokesman said on Friday. "We've got to prevent companies from being threatened by climate protection requirements," government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told a news conference. Wilhelm gave no further details and said negotiations were taking place. The Financial Times Deutschland newspaper reported on Friday that ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Natixis Sees Opportunity In China Renewables Sector
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51096/story.htm
Reuters: Natixis Private Equity Asia Capital (NPEA) sees opportunity in China's renewable energy sector, particularly wind power companies and makers of energy-efficient equipment, but has reduced its exposure to solar-power companies. It sees potentially strong returns from wind projects over a two- to three-year period as a result of a tight supply of parts for wind power plants, Gael de Barmon, president of NPEA, said on the sidelines of a private equity conference. The fund recently ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
France Proposes Reduced Funding For CO2 Capture
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51086/story.htm
Reuters: A European Parliament proposal to give billions of euros to power generators to explore new technology for trapping and burying carbon dioxide should be scaled back by some two thirds, the EU's French presidency says. The parliament has suggested funding the cutting-edge technology with 500 million credits, worth about 10 billion euros ($12.7 billion), from the European Union's flagship Emission Trading Scheme. But France, which is seeking a common position among EU member ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Australia's States Press For Carbon Trade Changes
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51077/story.htm
Reuters: Australia's influential states have written to the national government to raise concerns about a planned carbon emissions trading scheme amid warnings it may drive big polluting firms offshore or out of business. The premiers of South Australia and Tasmania states wrote to centre-left Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to press for changes in design of the scheme, which will begin in 2010 and force 1,000 of Australia's largest polluting companies to buy emissions permits. "We made submissions ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Storage fears over high-level nuclear waste
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/17/nuclear-power-waste-energy-pollution
Guardian: Government plans for a new generation of nuclear power plants face growing concerns the industry needs another waste repository involving a massive escalation in cost. Ministers insist they still expect only one high-level geological disposal facility (GDF) will be needed at a possible cost of £12bn but a discussion paper produced by the department of energy and climate change (DECC) indicates a second cannot be ruled out. The moves come as the British Geological Survey (BGS) ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
The animals and plants we cannot live without
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/3463912/The-animals-and-plants-we-cannot-live-without.html
Telegraph: Bees are just one of the many animals facing possible extinction due to pollution, habitat loss, climate change and hunting Photo: PA Nearly 17,000 species are now considered to be threatened with extinction and 869 species are classed as extinct or extinct in the wild on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List. In the last year alone 183 species became more endangered. Now, in the face of the growing threat posed by environmental changes around the globe, ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Coal regains crown as slump in nuclear output raises fears of power shortages
http://www.sundayherald.com/business/businessnews/display.var.2468254.0.coal_regains_crown_as_slump_in_nuclear_output_raises_fears_of_power_shortages.php
Sunday Herald: POWER SUPPLIERS are turning back the clock to use coal-fired plants as their main source of electricity in a bid to avert potential shortages this winter. Latest figures from the National Grid show that the fuel accounted for 42.5% of all power generation, overtaking natural gas production for the first time in years. The surge, from a usual level of little more than a third of total output, comes as the major networks seek to fill a gap caused by a slump in nuclear energy ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Canada awaits Obama's word on oilsands
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Columnists/Weston_Greg/2008/11/16/7426751-sun.html
London Free Press: As the worsening economic crisis has Canadian business and government seeing red ink, the Conservatives' green plans are fading to grey. In an exclusive interview, Canada's new environment minister, Jim Prentice, made clear the green that matters most to the federal government these days doesn't grow on trees. "Ensuring our economy stays as strong as possible through the economic downturn is the government's fundamental priority," the Calgary MP said. That means ensuring "any ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Philippines: Manila unit of Global Green eyes $200-mln biomass projects
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSMAN36036320081116
Reuters: The Philippine unit of British firm Global Green Power Plc wants to invest $200 million in five biomass projects with combined capacity of 87.5 megawatts as the country pursues more alternative energy sources, company officials said. The investment would be part of a total $1 billion in renewable energy ventures the company plans to pursue in the Philippines over the long-term, Global Green Power chief executive David de Montaigne told reporters over the weekend. The company is ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Australia: CO2 released from soils may be lower than predicted
http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=08111611-co2-released-from-soils-may-be-lower-than-predicted
Nature: The amount of carbon dioxide released from Australian soils may be lower than previously predicted, according to a study online in Nature Geoscience. Carbon dioxide emissions from soil are an order of magnitude greater than all human-made carbon dioxide emissions put together. As global warming continues, increasing temperatures look set to increase the decomposition of soil carbon, releasing more and more carbon dioxide and making matters worse. Australian researchers have analysed ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Netherlands: Greenpeace says blocking Rotterdam harbor basin
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AF1R020081116?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Two Greenpeace ships are blocking a dock at Rotterdam port used to unload coal as part of a protest against the construction of a coal-fired power plant there, the environmental group said on Sunday. But a port spokesman called the blockade largely symbolic. Greenpeace activist Agnes de Rooij said the ships Rainbow Warrior and Beluga II were blocking Rotterdam port's Mississippi dock, where they were expecting a coal ship to dock later on Sunday. "We will try to stay as ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
United States: Climate change already felt in South Sound
http://www.theolympian.com/127/story/663564.html
Olympian: The natural features that make Washington uniquely beautiful also make the state especially vulnerable to climate change. Take the mighty Cascade mountains. They are home to glaciers and snowpack that feed many of the state's rivers, which, in turn, supply water to central Puget Sound cities, nourish Eastern Washington crops, sustain salmon runs and spin the turbines at hyrdroelectric dams that generate clean, inexpensive power -- the backbone of the region's economy. But an ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Australia: 'Jelly balls' may slow global warming
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/jelly-balls-may-slow-global-warming/2008/11/16/1226770256757.html
Sydney Morning Herald: VAST numbers of marine "jelly balls" now appearing off the Australian east coast could be part of the planet's mechanism for combating global warming. The jellyfish-like animals are known as salps and their main food is phytoplankton (marine algae) which absorbs the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the top level of the ocean. This in turn comes from the atmosphere. Mark Baird of the CSIRO said salps were notoriously difficult for scientists to study in the laboratory and ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Australia: Renewable energy fund fizzles out
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,24660568-36418,00.html
Australian: INVESTMENT in Australia's renewable energy sector has failed to take off, totalling just $3 billion in the eight years since the scheme was introduced. Modelling by the Energy Supply Association of Australia estimates that a $23 billion investment in renewable energy will be required to achieve the federal Government's goal of doubling the market share of renewable energy from 10 per cent to 20 per cent by 2020. Uncertainty over interim Mandatory Renewable Energy Targets (MRET) ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Netherlands: Greenpeace ships block coal shipments heading to Rotterdam port
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/releases/greenpeace-ships-block-coal-sh
Greenpeace: Two Greenpeace ships, the Rainbow Warrior and the Beluga II, have blocked the Mississippi harbour in Rotterdam to prevent coal cargo ships coming in to unload. Today's action, part of a weekend long protest in the Netherlands against German utility company E.ON, follows the arrest of 90 Greenpeace activists yesterday after they peacefully stopped construction of E.ON's new coal plant at Maasvlakte, Rotterdam. E.ON plans to build eight new coal plants across Europe (1). Coal is the ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Ninety Greenpeace activists arrested at E.ON coal plant construction site, Rotterdam
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/releases/ninety-greenpeace-activists-ar
Greenpeace: Ninety Greenpeace activists have been arrested following an action this morning in which they chained themselves to building machinery and cranes to stop the construction of a coal fired power at Maasvlakte, Rotterdam. The action began at 7am with police beginning the arrests at midday. Coal is the worst polluting of all fossil fuels, and the single greatest threat facing the climate. Coal-fired power stations undermine European targets to cut emissions by 30% by 2020. Energy company ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
United States: Los Angeles fears blackouts as wildfire burns
http://www.globaltv.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=964009
Reuters: Fires whipped up by hot hurricane force gusts ringed Los Angeles Saturday, charring thousands of acres and hundreds of homes in California's largest city and threatening the city's power supply. More than 10,000 residents were under mandatory evacuation orders as a fire that exploded overnight in the foothills of the Angeles National Forest barreled into the San Fernando Valley and burned more than 6,500 acres The dry Santa Ana winds sweeping in from the desert fanned the fire ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Co2 cuts 'can be achieved without nuclear power'
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Co2-cuts--39can-be.4697571.jp
Scotsman: MAJOR reductions in Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved by 2050, experts said yesterday. A Co2 cut of 75 per cent is possible even without controversial measures such as building nuclear power stations, they said. The findings came in one of three Scottish Government-commissioned reports on aspects of climate change published yesterday. Stewart Stevenson, the climate change minister, said: "Taken together, these reports give us further evidence that we ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
United States: State of emergency declared in Los Angeles while fire raging
http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/node20676/userobject1ai3986021.html
Shanghai Daily: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles County yesterday following the loss of at least 165 homes by a raging wildfire fire. The brush fire, drive gusts that reached 70 mph overnight and into yesterday morning, has burned 2,600 acres (about 1,053 hectares) of land and prompted authorities to order the evacuation of 10,000 residents. The fire that was ripping through the city's northern foothills jumped two freeways, leading police ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Some see opportunity in China's coalfield fires
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/world/story/357315.html
McClatchy Newspapers: BEIJING The burning Shuixi Gou coalfield in far western China is terrible for the environment, belching smoke and noxious gases. Some experts look at the fire, however, and see hope for progress against global warming. That's because the burning coalfield in western Xinjiang province may not be that hard to put out. So it's become a guinea pig of sorts for the notion that big polluters in other parts of the world might pay to fix environmental problems in countries such as ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Australia: Water waste of our dam money
http://business.theage.com.au/business/water-waste-of-our-dam-money-20081116-685h.html
Age: ONCE Melbourne's water supply levels fall below 29.3% of catchment capacity by year end, unless there is above normal rainfall, level 4 water restrictions are supposed to apply to Melbourne consumers automatically. Even so, the problem for Melbourne is more a lack of confidence than a lack of water. Even at 29% capacity, this amounts to 516 gigalitres compared with Melbourne's annual consumption, under current 3a restrictions, of 380GL. Even without rain and the 150GL at the ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Britain's water mills given role in fight against climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/16/watermills-electricity-climatechange
Guardian: Britain's iconic water mills, some of which date back to the 11th century, are to become a major force in the fight against climate change. Mill owners around the UK have started to refurbish their old buildings and install turbines in order to show that they can be used as a source of clean electricity. Government figures suggest that if the resource is fully tapped, small-scale hydropower from the old mills and weirs could provide up to 10,000GWh per year - 3% of the UK's ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Wind farm in doubt after backer quits
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/16/wind-farm-backer-quits
Guardian: One of the UK's largest wind farm projects is in doubt after the credit crunch has forced a backer to pull out. Statoil, the Norwegian oil giant, is now looking for a new joint venture partner to help develop the £700m offshore wind project off the Norfolk coast. If built, the 108 turbines would provide enough electricity for the homes of a city the size of Cambridge. Statoil's original partner, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning company Ecoconcern, pulled out about two months ago. ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
California to Plan Climate Change Strategy
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=110656
New York Times: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has instructed state agencies to prepare for climate change, especially rising seas, as they plan to replace, upgrade and repair the system of pipelines that distributes water around sewage treatment plants and low-lying airports, among other things. 'We have to adapt the way we work and plan in order to manage the impacts and challenges that California and our entire planet face from climate change,' Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, said on Friday after ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Green Is for Sissies
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=110655
New York Times: SIX years of relentlessly rising prices have showered the oil industry with record profits even as whipsawing energy costs have left many Americans alternately furious and baffled. Now that the roller coaster ride appears to be screeching to a halt, one corporate giant remains confident it can weather the slowdown and uncertainty better than its rivals. "It's not that we like lower prices, but our competitive advantage is more obvious to people in a low-price environment," says ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
CO2 emissions penalties may cost 20 countries $46 billion
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1116-co2.html
Mongabay: Japan, Australia, and several European countries face billions of dollars in emissions penalties under the Kyoto Protocol, reports Bloomberg. According to an analysis by New Carbon Finance, 20 countries may miss targets agreed upon under Kyoto, the international climate agreement signed in 1997. As a penalty the countries will be required to buy permits for a collective 2.3 billion tons of CO2. At current prices the permits would cost 36 billion euros ($46 billion). Canada, Japan ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Greenpeace joins Polish demonstration against coal
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/releases/greenpeace-joins-polish-demon
Greenpeace: 400 people living around a huge open pit mine near Konin, Poland, joined Greenpeace today to reclaim the land occupied by the mine, which threatens their homes and livelihoods. At noon, local residents together with 7 mayors from villages and towns that are facing destruction because of the mine's expansion, gathered at Greenpeace's Climate Rescue Station on the edge of the mine. A four-storey tall planet Earth sitting on the edge of the vast open pit mine, the Rescue Station opened ...
Mon, 17 Nov 08
United States: L.A. Fire Official Describes Scene
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97058234&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Inspector Paul Hartwell, public information officer with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, says what the region experience Friday night "was a whole different animal" from previous fires.
Mon, 17 Nov 08
Thousands Flee As Wildfires Ravage Southern Calif.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97058231&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Wind-driven wildfires have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced thousands of people in Southern California to take refuge in shelters. In the Los Angeles suburb of Sylmar, a neighborhood of 500 mobile homes was wiped out.
Sun, 16 Nov 08
Italy to Miss Kyoto Treaty Carbon-Pollution Pledge
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601092&sid=aPdeNqAohUU4
Bloomberg: Italy will fail to meet its pledge to limit greenhouse gases under the Kyoto treaty to stem global warming, an environment ministry official said. ``It's obvious the goals are not possible,'' Corrado Clini said today at a Rome energy conference. Carbon-market analysts have estimated Italy will release more than 400 million tons of excess carbon dioxide during the 2008-2012 Kyoto measurement period. The Mediterranean nation's government has publicly complained about the ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
Marine dead zones set to expand rapidly
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/081114/full/news.2008.1230.html?s=news_rss
Nature: Rising levels of carbon dioxide could increase the volume of oxygen-depleted 'dead zones' in tropical oceans by as much as 50% before the end of the century -- with dire consequences for the health of ecosystems in some of the world's most productive fishing grounds. At depths between several tens and hundreds of metres, large parts of the tropical oceans are poorly supplied with dissolved oxygen, and are therefore hostile to most marine life. Scientists suspect that these zones are ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
Financial crisis threatens climate-change momentum
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/11/13/financial-crisis-threatens-climate-change-momentum/
Christian Science Monitor: As financial mayhem and recession increasingly demand the attention and resources of governments around the world, environmentalists are starting to fret: What about climate change? Their concern is not just that the trillions devoted to rescuing the global financial system mean less cash for the climate-change agenda; they are worried a prolonged recession will deflect consumers from green habits and drain corporate and government coffers of funding for research and development into ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
Global warming human rights issue in Arctic
http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20081115/APC0204/811150682/1892/AAA&located=RSS
Appleton Post-Crescent: For Sheila Watt-Cloutier, global warming is not just a theory, and it's not just an environmental issue. For Watt-Cloutier and the Inuit people she represents, climate change is a human rights issue. I had the opportunity to hear her speak while attending a conference in Montreal for my day job. Watt-Cloutier was named one of Time magazine's 2008 Heroes of the Environment, awarded the Rachel Carson Prize and nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. She grew up in ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
Himalayan glaciers 'melting away'
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/climatewatch/article.html?Himalayan_glaciers_melting_away&in_article_id=403107&in_page_id=59
Metro: Glaciers in the Himalayas are at risk of disappearing by the year 2035, according to Ajit Tyagi, Director General of the Indian Meteorological Department. Studies have shown evidence of an accelerated rate of glacier-melt at the roof of the world. One example is Kolhai glacier in Kashmir, one of the largest glaciers in the Himalayas. According to Muneer Ahmad of the National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad, India, the nose of this glacier receded by nearly 22 metres ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
Mankind 'will regret' not taking action to tackle global warming
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/mankind-will-regret-not-taking-action-to-tackle-global-warming-1540728.html
Irish Independent: THE future of the world is at risk unless the problem of global warming is tackled, a leading United Nations expert warned yesterday. Dr Rajendra K Pachauri, head of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), told a conference in Cork that mankind would "regret" not taking action, and raised the possibility of global conflict unless greenhouse gas emissions were reduced. "The climate system of the earth is on a warming trend. The rate of change has become much ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
Drought worsening in Georgia, USA
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/15112008news.shtml
BBC: The ongoing drought affecting much of the state of Georgia is growing worse. Northern parts of the state are hardest hit. Georgian officials have now described the drought as "exceptional" in the northeast. Water levels in lakes and streams right across the state have fallen to record low levels, with 60 percent of Georgia classified as being in moderate drought. Georgian authorities are particularly concerned about water levels in Lake Lanier – Atlanta's main water supply, and ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
Fierce winds fan Calif. fires overnight
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wildfires/2008-11-15-calif-fire-saturday_N.htm?csp=34
USA Today: The raging wildfire that destroyed more than 100 plush homes in the hills above Santa Barbara, Calif., also claimed a hilltop oasis for thousands over the years, an Episcopalian monastery. About 25 guests and the seven monks who lived and worked at the Mount Calvary Monastery and Retreat House fled Thursday night with the approach of the fast-moving blaze, said Brother Robert Sevensky, superior of the Order of the Holy Cross in West Park, N.Y. Today, a few of the monks are ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
United States: Governor tells staff to prepare for warming
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/14/BA9N144TDG.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order Friday directing state agencies to study the effects of global warming and recommend how the state needs to adapt to such changes in land use planning and building new infrastructure. "Given the serious threat of sea level rise to California's water supply, population and our economy, it's critically important that we make sure the state is prepared," Schwarzenegger said in a written statement. The executive order was signed ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
Thousands march across Australia for climate action
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/200811/s2420772.htm?tab=latest
Radio Australia: Thousands of people have marched in cities across Australia, urging the Federal Government not to bow to the interests of powerful industry lobby groups when deciding its policy on global warming. In Sydney, 17-year-old schoolgirl Sasha Hunt has told the Walk Against Warming crowd urgent action is needed to save the environment for future generations. She says the federal government needs to respond with strong carbon pollution reduction targets. "We have the opportunity ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
Climate change warriors step out in Brisbane
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/climate-change-warriors-step-out-in-brisbane/2008/11/15/1226318997863.html
Brisbane Times: A cohort of climate warriors including members of the Greens, Queensland Conservation (QC) and the World Wildlife Fund marched today in Brisbane's Walk against Warming, in conjunction with walkers from every other Australian capital city. "A good outcome for us would be for the Rudd government to take a strong role in the lead-up to the UN climate negotiations in Poland," QC spokesman Toby Hutcheon said. "Mr Rudd was elected for his strong stance on climate change and we'd like ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
Plan to cut greenhouse gas by 2050
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5iMcXmS2umdibbIIN3GoYrS4ItdKQ
Press Association: Big cuts in Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved by 2050, experts said. A reduction of 75% is possible even without "controversial" measures like building nuclear power stations or the widespread adoption of veganism, they said. The findings came in one of three Scottish Government-commissioned reports on aspects of climate change. The findings were welcomed by climate change minister Stewart Stevenson. "Taken together, these reports give us further evidence that ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
Marine reserves can help restore world fisheries
http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=3425
People and Planet: Speaking at the launch of the 2008 World Resources Report earlier this week, WRI President Jonathan Lash warned that the loss of coastal ecosystem services combined with rising seas due to climate change mean that the 500 million people who depend on the sea for their livelihoods and as the main source of protein in their diets, are increasingly at risk. "The climate is changing at a much accelerated pace, faster than previous models suggested," said Lash. "And at the same time the ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
California ordered to prepare for sea-level rise
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AD8KN20081115?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday ordered preparations for rising sea levels from global warming, a startling prospect for the most populous U.S. state with a Pacific Ocean coastline stretching more than 800 miles. Recorded sea levels rose 7 inches during the 20th century in San Francisco, Schwarzenegger said in the executive order for study of how much more the sea could rise, what other consequences of global warming were coming and how the state should ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
As First Plan Stalls, Mayor Tries New Push for Green Taxis
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=110624
New York Times: After a federal court ruling stalled a city initiative to make most new taxis hybrid vehicles, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on Friday that he would seek another way, announcing new financial incentives aimed at pushing taxi owners to buy the more environmentally friendly gas-and-electric cars. The goal of the new incentives, which involve changes in how much fleet owners can charge drivers for the use of cars, was to make it more expensive for the owners to use the Ford Crown ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
In Times Square, a Company's Name in (Wind- and Solar-Powered) Lights
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=110623
New York Times: The first eco-friendly billboard is coming to Times Square, entirely powered by the sun and the wind -- but there is one small catch. When there`s no sun, and no wind? The $3 million billboard goes dark: there is no backup generator. 'We think if that happens, it`s just fine,' said Ron Potesky, a senior marketing vice president for Ricoh Americas Corporation, the office equipment and document-storage supplier that owns the sign. The billboard -- traditionally called a ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
Australians march against climate change
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AE1DT20081115?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Tens of thousands of Australians took part in mass protests around the country Saturday to call for tough government action on climate change, organizers said. The demonstrations were held as Australia prepares to set national greenhouse gas emissions targets, expected around the end of this month. Environmentalists accuse industry of pushing for targets that are likely to compromise the environment. Australia is the world's 16th biggest carbon polluter, producing about 1.5 ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
Climate change will cost California billions
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1114-ca.html
Mongabay: $2.5 trillion of real estate assets in California are at risk from extreme weather events, sea level rise and wildfires expected to result from climate change over the course of a century, according to a new assessment from UC Berkeley researchers. The report, California Climate Risk and Response, estimates that climate change could cost the state $300 million to $3.9 billion per year in damages to real estate depending on its severity. In addition to real estate, California could ...
Sun, 16 Nov 08
First commercial biofuel flight cleared for take off next month
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230568/first-commercial-biofuel-flight
Business Green: The world's first commercial aviation test flight powered by a sustainable second-generation biofuel will take place on 3 December 2008 it was announced this week. The flight will be powered by a 50:50 blend of standard jet fuel and kerosene derived from jatropha oil. The fuel will power an Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400 with four Rolls-Royce RB211 engines and will be virtually indistinguishable from conventional jet fuel, according to Chris Lewis, fuel specialist with ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Governors' Policy Academy Formed for Energy Efficiency in Buildings
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2008/2008-11-14-091.asp
Environment News Service: The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices has selected seven states to participate in a Policy Academy designed to help states develop an action plan and implementation strategy to improve energy use in buildings. Buildings consume more energy than any other sector of the U.S. economy and account for nearly three-quarters of electricity generation, about 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, and large amounts of on-site fuel use. "States can play a major ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Brown Clouds Melt Glaciers, Darken Cities Across Asia
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2008/2008-11-13-02.asp
Environment News Service: A brown cloud of pollution caused by human activities, three kilometers thick and stretching from the Arabian Peninsula across Asia to the western Pacific Ocean, is darkening cities, speeding the melting of Himalayan glaciers and affecting human health, finds a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme. Atmospheric brown clouds, formed by the burning of fossil fuels, biofuels, wood and plants, absorb sunlight and heat the air, experts write in the study released today ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Enviros' Obama To-Do List: Safeguard Climate, Water, Wildlife
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2008/2008-11-14-10.asp
Environment News Service: The end of the Bush administration can't come soon enough for U.S. conservation groups, who believe that the election of Barack Obama has ushered in a "new era of hope" for the environment. "Eight dismal years of environmental abuse and neglect are now coming to an end," said Betsy Loyless, the National Audubon Society's senior vice president for policy. Loyless joined other conservation leaders in a telephone briefing with reporters on Thursday, outlining their commitment to ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
EPA ruling over climate jeopardizes coal plants
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AD71120081114?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: U.S. environment regulators late Thursday rejected a permit for a new coal-fired power plant in Utah over the issue of its greenhouse gas pollution, putting in question the future of new coal plants that do not to curb their emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency's appeals panel rejected the permit issued by its Denver office, saying it had failed to support a decision to grant the plant a permit without requiring the best available controls to limit carbon dioxide, the main ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
As Economy Slows, Green Business Frets
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97028855&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Capital-intensive green-energy projects are scrambling to adapt to a harsh new reality of tight credit, cash-poor investors and falling oil prices. Entrepreneurs are worried their industry may repeat the boom-bust cycle that followed the Carter administration.
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Group may sue EPA under Clean Water Act to address ocean acidification
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1114-epa.html
Mongabay: An environmental group plans to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to uphold water standards in the face of ocean acidification. The Center for Biological Diversity today announced its intent to file a lawsuit against the EPA if the agency does not promptly respond to a petition the environmental group submitted last year. The petition asked the EPA to impose stricter pH standards for ocean water quality and publish guidance to help states protect U.S. waters ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Power-hungry Senegal to go solar in energy overhaul
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AD50N20081114?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Senegal hopes to rein in surging electricity prices, reduce frequent blackouts and power most of its street lighting through an energy policy using solar panels, the government said Friday. Located on Africa's west coast at one end of the arid Sahel belt south of the Sahara, Senegal has huge solar potential but has so far lacked the expertise and investments to harness it. President Abdoulaye Wade, 82, instructed his energy minister to extend the national electricity grid over ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
UN: Clouds of pollution threaten glaciers, health
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_BROWN_CLOUDS?SITE=TXDAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Associated Press: A dirty brown haze sometimes more than a mile thick is darkening skies not only over vast areas of Asia, but also in the Middle East, southern Africa and the Amazon Basin, changing weather patterns around the world and threatening health and food supplies, the U.N. reported Thursday. The huge smog-like plumes, caused mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and firewood, are known as "atmospheric brown clouds." When mixed with emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
U.N. Reports Pollution Threat in Asia
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=110592
New York Times: A noxious cocktail of soot, smog and toxic chemicals is blotting out the sun, fouling the lungs of millions of people and altering weather patterns in large parts of Asia, according to a report released Thursday by the United Nations. The byproduct of automobiles, slash-and-burn agriculture, cooking on dung or wood fires and coal-fired power plants, these plumes rise over southern Africa, the Amazon basin and North America. But they are most pronounced in Asia, where so-called ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Coal plants jeopardized over climate
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/11/14/coal_plants_jeopardized_over_climate/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news
Associated Press: The fate of scores of new coal-burning power plants is now in limbo over whether to regulate heat-trapping greenhouse gases. The uncertainty resulted when an Environmental Protection Agency appeals panel on Thursday rejected a federal permit for a Utah plant, leaving the issue for the Obama administration to resolve. The panel said the EPA's Denver office failed to adequately support its decision to issue a permit for the Bonanza plant without requiring controls on carbon ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Group Set to Sue Over Clean Water Act
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=110586
New York Times: The Center for Biological Diversity said it was prepared to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to use the Clean Water Act to respond to the threat of ocean acidification as the oceans absorb an estimated 22 million tons of carbon dioxide from the 80 million tons emitted each day by human activities. The result is a buildup of carbonic acid, which is lowering the pH of seawater. That trend toward acid conditions could threaten corals and plankton with shells containing ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
UK Coal to mine wind farm potential
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230534/uk-coal-mines-earmarked-wind
Business Green: Green groups may have to rethink at least some of their oppostion to the UK's largest mining company, UK Coal, after the firm announced plans to turn 14 of its former mines into wind farms. The company has signed an agreement with alternative energy developer Peel Energy to develop the sites, which could house 54 turbines producing up to 133 MW of energy - enough to power 80,000 homes. Jon Lloyd, chief executive of UK Coal, said that he was convinced "there is significant ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Unelected, yes. But Prince Charles has always been right on environmental issues
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/14/monarchy-prince-charles
Guardian: Prince Charles comes in for criticism for all sorts of reasons, in particular from those who want to abolish the monarchy and replace it with an elected head of state. Those campaigning on that issue sometimes find it necessary also to attack the opinions Prince Charles holds, as if that will somehow strengthen their case. In the area where I work, campaigning to protect the environment and to move farming and food away from environmentally destructive, cruel and unhealthy systems that ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Tories edging away from green tax plans
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230529/tories-consider-edging-away
Business Green: The Conservative Party is reportedly poised to water down its green tax plans, amid fears that the policy could prove unpopular during a recession. According to a story in today's Guardian newspaper, shadow chancellor George Osborne is to take action as part of a wholesale review of Tory economic policy. This has been prompted by party perception that it is being outmanoeuvred by the government's response to the downturn. Citing anonymous senior figures within the party, The ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
UK coal agrees windfarm venture
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/uk-coal-agrees-windfarm-venture-1018680.html
Press Association: Britain's biggest coal mining company has embarked on an alternative energy scheme which may see wind farms built at its sites across the country. UK Coal has agreed a two-year deal giving Peel Energy exclusive access to wind farm opportunities on the mining company's land. Under the agreement, Peel Energy will lead the development of windfarms through to planning permission, the companies said. Individual joint ventures between Peel Energy and UK Coal will then ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Greenpeace activists prevent Sinar Mas palm oil tanker from loading in Indonesia
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/releases/sinar-mas-palm-oil-action-14112008
Greenpeace: Greenpeace today prevented the loading of crude palm oil on the Isola Corallo, a Rotterdam-bound tanker in Dumai, Indonesia's main palm oil export port. Greenpeace is calling upon the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which meets in Bali next week, to take urgent action against member companies who destroy forests and peatlands. A Greenpeace activist was locked onto the anchor chain of the Isola Corallo for over 36 hours to stop it from moving. The Greenpeace ship, Esperanza, ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
China outlines plans for domestic carbon trading
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230544/china-outlines-plans-domestic
Business Green: Just days after Barack Obama's transition team signalled that the creation of a US carbon cap-and-trade scheme would be an early priority for the new administration, the global carbon market received another boost after Chinese officials said the government will establish a nationwide carbon trading scheme. According to reports in the South China Morning Post, the State Forestry Administration said yesterday that the central government will enforce a compulsory carbon trading scheme ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Setback for carbon-trapping technology in EU talks
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AD3AU20081114?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Plans to put billions of euros of public funds behind cutting-edge technology to trap and bury global warming gases suffered at setback in European Union talks on Friday. France, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said a European Parliament proposal to give around 10 billion euros ($12.7 billion) to power generators to explore the technology should be scaled back by some two thirds. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is seen as a potential silver bullet to curb emissions ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Climate change 'to halt ice age'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7722300.stm
BBC: A new model of the Earth's climate suggests that human-made carbon dioxide emissions may prevent the onset of the next ice age. Based on geological history, the Earth would be expected to enter a new ice age in 10,000 to 100,000 years. Researchers say even small changes in carbon dioxide levels right now could prevent this from happening. They tell the journal Nature this may not be good news as the planet could change in ways that are unprecedented. Man made ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Coal to remain world's top power source: IEA
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AD3CQ20081114?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Coal, which produces more climate-warming carbon dioxide than oil or gas, will remain the world's main source of power until 2030 and nuclear will lose market share, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday. Expectations of slower economic growth have led the IEA to downgrade its 2030 world electricity demand forecast to 23,141 terawatt hours (TWh), but the share of coal generated power would rise to 44 percent by 2015 from 41 percent in 2006. It would stay at that ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Brazilian biofuels get $1bn vote of confidence
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230548/brazilian-biofuel-gets-1bn-vote
Business Green: In one of the largest cleantech deals of the year and a ringing endorsement of the booming Brazilian biofuel sector, Sao Paulo-based Vital Renewable Energy Company (VREC) has announced this week that it has secured over $1bn (£680m) of funding from a group of US, European and Middle Eastern investors. The company said that the investment would be used to help fund a wide range of renewable energy projects across Brazil, mainly focused on ethanol production and electricity ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Climate change to put $2.5tr of Californian real estate at risk
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230552/climate-change-put-5tr-real
Business Green: Rising sea levels and the increased frequency of wild fires and extreme weather events could cost the Californian economy billions of dollars a year and put $2.5tr (£1.7tr) of real estate assets at risk, according to a major new report from the University of California, Berkeley (UCB). The study looked at three separate global warming scenarios and found that the insurance and real estate sectors alone could face annual bills of between $300m and $3.9bn a year as they attempt to cope ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Mysterious Microbe Plays Important Role in Ocean Ecology
http://www.physorg.com/news145816756.html
Physorg: An unusual microorganism discovered in the open ocean may force scientists to rethink their understanding of how carbon and nitrogen cycle through ocean ecosystems. A paper describing the new findings appears in the November 14 issue of the journal Science. A research team led by Jonathan Zehr, a marine scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, characterized the new microbe by analyzing its genetic material, even though researchers have not been able to grow it in the ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Global Investors With $6 Trillion Call for CO2-Emission Targets
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601130&sid=aJeoOnFjfNzk
Bloomberg: A group of 135 investors including HSBC Holdings Plc and Germany's DWS Investments that manage more than $6 trillion are calling for binding targets on carbon-dioxide emissions ahead of United Nations talks next month. They proposed CO2 cuts of as much as 85 percent by 2050 for wealthy countries and said China and India would benefit from adopting emission limits because investors seek regions with stable policies, according to an e-mailed statement from Ethos Foundation, a Swiss ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Engineer has leak proof CO2 storage idea
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2008/11/13/Engineer_has_leak_proof_CO2_storage_idea/UPI-34401226602797/
United Press International: A U.S. engineer says he's developed a leak-proof carbon sequestration storage method that eliminates the risk of CO2 escaping via buoyancy. Engineering Professor Steven Bryant and colleagues at the University of Texas at Austin note the standard approach to carbon capture and storage involves injecting compressed CO2 into a deep underground formation. But Bryant said that risks the gas, which is less dense than water, might escape from the storage formation through ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
MIT analysis shows how cap-and-trade plans can cut greenhouse emissions
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-11/miot-mas111308.php
EurekAlert: Researchers at MIT's Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research have produced a report concerning key design issues of proposed "cap-and-trade" programs that are under consideration in the United States as a way of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The first contribution of the three-part study found that, based on an examination of the European Union's system and of similar U.S. programs for other emissions, such a program can indeed be effective in reducing emissions without ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
United States: Coal plant permit blocked
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/nov/13/coal-plant-permit-blocked/
Associated Press: The Environmental Protection Agency has been blocked from issuing a permit for a proposed Utah coal plant without addressing global warming, jeopardizing the fate of scores of other proposed coal plants that will likely be left to the Obama administration. An EPA appeals panel ruled Thursday that the agency's regional office didn't adequately support its decision to issue a permit for the Bonanza coal burning power plant in Utah without requiring controls on carbon dioxide, the ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Study: Warming could cost Calif. trillions
http://politicom.moldova.org/stiri/eng/164824/
United Press International: A study released Thursday estimates around $2.5 trillion of California's real-estate value is at risk from climate change. The study conducted at the University of California Berkeley is the first to examine the potential economic damage the state faces from global warming and warns that everything from agriculture, energy and tourism would be affected. "The scale of climate risk over the coming decades dwarfs today's financial crisis and will long outlive it," said Noel Perry, ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Is the Nation Ready for Obama's Energy Plan?
http://www.alternet.org/environment/106980/is_the_nation_ready_for_obama%27s_energy_plan/
Christian Science Monitor: If President-elect Barack Obama enacts the energy plan he laid out during his campaign, American taxpayers will each get a $500 rebate check -- funded by a windfall profits taxes on big oil companies. But that's just for starters. Besides taxing oil giants more, Senator Obama's detailed 30-point energy agenda calls for big changes to address carbon emissions, fuel efficiency for vehicles, and domestic and renewable power and efficiency. While many candidates' platform promises ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
How much carbon does a plant absorb and release?
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-45971.html
Indo-Asian News Service: Scientists are on the verge of overcoming a major hurdle in calculating how much carbon is absorbed and released by plants. The information could be vital for understanding how the biosphere responds to stress and in determining the amount of carbon that can be safely emitted by human activities. The problem is that ecosystems simultaneously absorb and release carbon dioxide (CO2). The key finding is that the compound carbonyl sulfide, which plants consume in tandem with CO2, can be ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
How fast can Obama fix US environment policy?
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16040-how-fast-can-obama-fix-us-environment-policy.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: For eight years the US has been seen as a global outlier on climate issues. Now, with just 12 months to go until the world decides on a new Kyoto protocol, it is catch-up time for president-elect Barack Obama. What can he reasonably achieve in that time? One of his first steps at home is likely be the adoption of cap-and-trade legislation. This would set the foundation for carbon trading: as in the European Union, the amount of greenhouse gases that industries can lawfully emit would ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Coal power plants may have to limit emissions
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2008-11-13-coal-plants-emission-limits_N.htm?csp=34
USA Today: About 100 proposed coal-fired power plants in the USA may be required to limit their greenhouse gas emissions after the Environmental Protection Agency was blocked Thursday from issuing a permit for a proposed Utah plant without addressing the issue of global warming. The EPA's appeals board said the agency didn't adequately justify its decision last year not to require controls for carbon dioxide emissions when it tentatively issued a permit for Deseret Power Electric Cooperative's ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Are Human Beings Hard-Wired to Ignore the Threat of Catastrophic Climate Change?
http://www.alternet.org/environment/106982/are_human_beings_hard-wired_to_ignore_the_threat_of_catastrophic_climate_change/
AlterNet: Three years ago, I became obsessed with global warming. Practically overnight, my worries about its potential effects outstripped my worries about so many other national and global issues, even personal ones. Indeed, as the mother of two young boys, I began to think it a bit crazy that I attended to every bump and scrape on my children's little bodies and budding egos, but largely ignored the threat likely to put sizeable areas of the world, including parts of the coastal city where ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Corralling The Carbon Cycle: Calculating How Much Carbon Dioxide Is Absorbed And Released By Plants
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081113181050.htm
ScienceDaily: Scientists may have overcome a major hurdle to calculating how much carbon dioxide (CO2) is absorbed and released by plants, vital information for understanding how the biosphere responds to stress and for determining the amount of carbon that can be safely emitted by human activities. The problem is that ecosystems simultaneously take up and release CO2. The key finding is that the compound carbonyl sulfide, which plants consume in tandem with CO2, can be used to quantify gas flow ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
EU unveils plan to weaken Russian grip on gas supply
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/14/russia-europe-gas-gazprom
Guardian: Europe yesterday stepped up attempts to reduce its exposure to potential Russian blackmail over energy supplies, unveiling an ambitious strategy aimed at weakening Russian giant Gazprom's domination of Europe's gas imports. On the eve of the Russia-EU summit today in France, the energy package released by the European commission highlighted Europe's dependence on Russian exports and sought to devise strategies to wean Europe off the addiction. Of six energy projects pinpointed ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
Fedex pledges to slash aircraft emissions
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230513/fedex-announces-emissions
Business Green: Logistics and delivery giant FedEx has announced plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from its aircraft fleet by 20 per cent and improve the fuel efficiency of its vehicle fleet by 20 per cent. The company said this week that it had already reduced aircraft carbon dioxide emissions by 3.7 per cent per available ton mile over the past three years and improved vehicle fuel efficiency by 13.7 percent, but was now looking to accelerate efforts to cut its carbon footprint. Chief ...
Sat, 15 Nov 08
First batch of "sustainable" palm oil on way to UK
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230512/first-batch-sustainable-palm
Business Green: The first shipment of palm oil certified as environmentally sustainable by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is on its way from the rainforests of Malaysia to the UK this week, where it will eventually end up on the shelves of Sainsbury's supermarkets. Last year, the trade group launched a certification scheme designed to allow palm oil producers to prove their crops have come from legal and environmentally sustainable plantations that have not contributed to rainforest ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Brown Smog Clouds Mask Impacts of Global Warming
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1601029/brown_smog_clouds_mask_impacts_of_global_warming/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: Thick smog clouds that loom over Asia threaten the livelihood of crops and contain particles that actually reflect the sun's rays away from the earth, the United Nations reported on Thursday. "One of the impacts of this atmospheric brown cloud has been to mask the true nature of global warming on our planet," United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) head Achim Steiner said at the launch in Beijing of a new report on the phenomenon. Caused by the burning of fossil fuels, wood ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Chile: Scientists find 'biofuel-making' fungus
http://www.scidev.net/en/climate-change-and-energy/scientists-find-biofuel-making-fungus.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_climatechangeandenergy
SciDev.Net: A fungus found in a Patagonian rainforest could provide an alternative source of biofuel, according to new research. The fungus, Gliocladium roseum, grows in the ulmo tree (Eucryphia cordifolia), a species native to the Patagonia -- the southern territories of Argentina and Chile. Researchers, whose work is published in Microbiology this month, found that G. roseum possesses the metabolic machinery to produce a wide variety of hydrocarbons virtually identical to the compounds ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Brazil OKs $4 billion dam in the Amazon rainforest
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1113-madeira.html
Mongabay: Brazil has given final go-ahead on a controversial dam on the Madeira river in the Amazon rainforest provided environmental conditions are met, reports the Associated Press. The $4 billion Jirau dam is expected to have a capacity of 3,300 megawatts of power when completed in 2013. It is one of two proposed dams for the Maderia in Rondonia state. The dams are expected to have the capacity to produce 6,450 megawatts of electricity, about 8 percent of Brazil's demand, but have proven ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Developing countries must limit emissions to prevent global warming, says energy agency
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1113-iea.html
Mongabay: In a report released Wednesday the International Energy Agency warned that a business-as-usual approach to energy use would result in a 6°-degree rise in temperatures putting hundreds of millions at risk from reduced water supplies and diminished agricultural production. But the energy think tank said that limiting temperature rise to 2-3°-rise by the end of the century would be "possible, but very hard." "Current trends in energy supply and consumption are patently unsustainable – ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Scientists can explain cause of amphibian extinction crisis
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1113-frogs.html
Mongabay: Scientists have yet to conclusively explain the underlying cause of global declines in amphibian populations, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research says that two leading theories for the demise of amphibians -- both related to the emergence and spread of the deadly chytrid fungus -- are not supported by scientific data. The researchers don't dispute that chytrid is killing amphibians but they say that data does not ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Greenpeace urges South Africa to end dependence on coal
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AC56020081113?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Environmental group Greenpeace opened its first office in Africa on Thursday and urged South Africa, the continent's biggest economy, to reduce its dependence on coal and cut emissions of greenhouse gases. Experts say poverty means Africa is ill able to adapt to severe weather changes forecast to be triggered by global warming, while African nations have been among the lowest emitters of the gases blamed for causing it. South Africa relies on coal to generate much of its ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Spain buys 6 million emissions rights from Hungary
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AC50420081113?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Spain has bought rights from Hungary to emit 6 million tons of greenhouse gas through a government-level emissions trading scheme under the Kyoto Protocol, a Hungarian government official said on Thursday. "We have sold 6 million (emissions rights) to the Spanish government. According to our knowledge this is the biggest single sale (of its kind) in the world so far," said Lajos Olah, state secretary for Hungary's Ministry of Environment and Water. Spain plans to buy 159 ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Boeing to test biofuel on Air New Zealand flight
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/13/travelandtransport-biofuels
Guardian: Boeing and Air New Zealand will fly a jumbo jet powered partly by biofuel next month, the two companies announced today. An Air New Zealand jet will leave Auckland on December 3 with a 50-50 mix of jet fuel and oil from jatropha trees, in one of its four engines on a flight designed to show that jatropha biofuel is suitable for use in aviation as well as economical to produce . "This flight strongly supports our efforts to be the world's most environmentally responsible ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
UK Coal to build wind farms on old collieries
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/13/carbonemissions-windpower
Guardian: Over a dozen of the UK's former coalmining sites are to be redeveloped as wind farms under a revolutionary energy scheme to turn old energy into new. UK Coal, once the main part of the National Coal Board, has unveiled a joint venture with Peel Energy that would see 14 old colliery locations used to erect 54 turbines generating around 133MW of electric power. Shares in UK Coal raced forward 10% in early trading as the City welcomed the initiative. "We believe there is ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Earth would be heading to a freeze without CO2 emissions
http://www.climatechangenews.org/rss.php?url=http://www.physorg.com/news145725882.html
Agence France-Presse: Scheduled shifts in Earth's orbit should plunge the planet into an enduring Ice Age thousands of years from now but the event will probably be averted because of man-made greenhouse gases, scientists said Wednesday. They cautioned, though, that this news is not an argument in favour of global warming, which is driving imminent and potentially far-reaching damage to the climate system. Love personal electronics? Link up with the like minded at PEbuzz Earth has experienced ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Time to focus on climate change
http://www.climatechangenews.org/rss.php?url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/global-warming/time-to-focus-on-climate-change/2008/11/13/1226318832743.html
International Herald Tribune: As world leaders gather in Washington, they would do well to remember that we face two crises. The global financial crisis is most immediate; the more existential is climate change. The urgency of the first is no excuse for neglecting the second. To the contrary, it is an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Put aside the familiar arguments: that the science on climate change is clear, that every day we do not act the problem grows worse, that fighting global warming is a ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Canada: Carbon tax chances 'slim,' Boudreau says
http://www.climatechangenews.org/rss.php?url=http%3A//www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/11/13/nb-carbon-tax.html?ref=rss
CBC: Finance Minister Victor Boudreau offered his strongest statement yet that the Liberal government is backing away from implementing a carbon tax. The New Brunswick government issued a discussion document in the spring that called for deep cuts in personal and corporate income taxes that then would be offset by cutting government spending, increasing the Harmonized Sales Tax by two points and bringing in a carbon tax. The carbon tax concept was immediately assailed by critics as ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Bush's Parting Shots at the Environment Are Major
http://www.alternet.org/environment/106444/bush%27s_parting_shots_at_the_environment_are_major/
Christian Science Monitor: The changes seem minor: clarifications of regulations, revisions to rules, updated land-management proposals. But some recent proposals from the Interior Department - many likely to be finalized in the waning months of the Bush administration and pushed through with a shortened comment period - are seen by critics as an assault on America's environmental resources and an attempt to solidify industry-friendly policy. The proposals include changes to the Endangered Species Act, ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
EU seeks to expand energy grids
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7727028.stm
BBC: The European Commission has unveiled plans to diversify the EU's energy imports and reduce dependence on Russia, the main gas supplier. The EU will remain dependent on imported fossil fuels for many years to come, the Strategic Energy Review says. Some member states "are overwhelmingly dependent on one single supplier," the document says, without naming Russia. It urges the EU to develop energy infrastructure in the Baltic states and the Mediterranean region. It ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Alaskan hydrates, or methane crystals, hold promise as energy source
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/5min/story/768805.html
Miami Herald: Frozen crystals packed with concentrated natural gas and buried 2,000 feet below the permafrost on Alaska's North Slope could become the next major domestic energy source, according to an assessment released Wednesday by the U.S. Geological Survey. The study finds that in the North Slope, frozen methane-and-water crystals known as hydrates contain as much as 85.4 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas. That's enough to heat 100 million homes for as long as 10 years, Interior ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Australia: Labor divided over emissions trading
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=665389
AAP: Tasmanian premier David Bartlett says his federal Labor colleagues have "got it wrong" on emissions trading, after a large metals company warned the scheme would drive its smelters out of business. Nyrstar, which produces zinc and lead, says its smelters in Tasmania and South Australia would not be viable under emissions trading. The company employs 1,500 people in Hobart and a similar number at its Port Pirie plant in South Australia. Nyrstar says emissions trading ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Marine invasive species advance with a rate of 50 kilometers per decade caused by global warming
http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/biowissenschaften_chemie/marine_invasive_species_advance_a_rate_50_kilometers_122257.html
Innovations Report: The fast migration of invasive marine species from the south to the north, caused by global warming, is one of the results disclosed today Tuesday during the presentation of the First World Conference on Marine Biodiversity in the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, in Valencia. The investigators report that invasive species of macroalgae spread at 50 Km per decade, a distance far larger than that covered by invasive terrestrial plants, possibly due to the rapid dispersion of their ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Meat production: Another ingredient added to global warming pot
http://www.thepost.ohiou.edu/Articles/News/2008/11/13/26388/
Post: While many people are aware that their cars could be contributing to global warming, they might not realize that their cheeseburgers may have a worse effect. Meat production, primarily the raising and slaughtering of cattle, is an unlikely contributor to global warming. Global warming is the process of greenhouse gases acting as a blanket for the earth's surface, said Arthur Trese, an associate professor of plant biology at Ohio University. More greenhouse gases are ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Obama plan will breathe fresh air into renewables
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=553&fArticleId=4709610
Business Report: The imminent departure of the dynasty of US President George W Bush from the White House is great news for far too many reasons to list here, but chief among them is that it paves the way for a potentially major shift to an alternative energy economy. Add to that the possibility that, after more than a century, the planet will no longer be held hostage by the financial interests of the world's oil barons. US president-in-waiting Barack Obama announced his plan for a so-called ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
EU's ideas for energy looking tired
http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/climate_change/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=150383
WWF: A coherent plan to reduce energy consumption was conspicuous by its absence from the European Union's latest attempt to deal with the energy and climate crisis. The European Commission today released an "Energy security and solidarity action plan", which addresses some of the gaps in the present EU climate and energy policy. But there were major contradictions among suggested policies, a lack of ambition and a mixture of actions with little relevance for the environmental and ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
United States: US government begins offshore drilling study on Atlantic coast
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/13/offshore-drilling-environment-usa
McClatchy Newspapers: The US government has taken the first step in 25 years toward offshore drilling in the mid-Atlantic region, launching a study of a potential exploration area just north of the North Carolina border. The 2.9m-acre study area off the Virginia coast is within 55 miles of the North Carolina coast. The US Minerals Management Service said yesterday it would prepare an environmental-impact study, beginning a 45-day public comment period. A decision whether to sell leases to the area ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
EU seeks new gas and wind to boost energy security
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AC5W820081113
Reuters: Europe must harness more energy from the wind, sun and sea and tap new gas sources in Africa and the Caspian, the European Commission said Thursday, as the EU seeks to limit its growing dependence on Russian gas. "We must break the vicious circle of increasing energy consumption and increasing imports," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. "We must shield EU citizens from the risk external suppliers can not honor their commitments." The 27-nation bloc is ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Brussels debuts plans for green super-grid
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230499/brussels-debuts-plans-europe
Business Green: The European Commission has today unveiled a wide-ranging package of energy proposals designed to bolster the bloc's energy security and help ensure the EU meets its climate change targets. Central to the new strategy are proposals for a raft of energy network projects, including plans for a super-grid to connect offshore wind farms in the North Sea with the UK, Scandinavia and Baltics; upgraded energy efficiency standards to enhance the energy performance of buildings and appliances; ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Asian cities are getting dimmer
http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=3424
People and Planet: Cities from Beijing to New Delhi are getting darker, glaciers in ranges like the Himalayas are melting faster and weather systems becoming more extreme, in part, due to the combined effects of human-made Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABCs) and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These are among the conclusions of scientists studying a more than three km-thick layer of soot and other manmade particles that stretches from the Arabian Peninsula to China and the western Pacific ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
South Africa: Demand for export of agrofuels threatens local energy, food needs
http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=3423
People and Planet: Although agrofuels are often described as an opportunity to unleash Africa's agricultural potential, these crops are grown to meet the needs of a global energy market, while Africans face an insecure energy future. In the Southern Africa region, more than 80 per cent of the population is still dependent on biomass for energy, particularly, wood, cow dung and coal. It is mainly women and children in rural areas who collect wood and search for coal in and around operating and abandoned ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Air Pollution Affects Health In Asian Cities
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=371409
Bernama: A first-of-its-kind rigorous multi-city study on the effects of air pollution on health in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Wuhan has found significant mortality effects of acute exposure to urban air pollution. Dr Frank Speizer of the Harvard Medical School and chairman of the Health Effects Institute's (HEI) International Oversight Committee, said the study brought fresh local evidence that the substantially higher levels of air pollution in Asia were also associated with ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Rising emissions may force Japan to enforce restrictions
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/13/business/japankyoto.php
Reuters: Japanese greenhouse gas emissions rose to a record high in the year to March, putting it at risk of an embarrassing failure to achieve its Kyoto target over the next four years. The increase of 2.3 percent last year, largely due to the closure of the biggest nuclear power plant in Japan after an earthquake, will increase the pressure for it to give up its efforts to control emissions through voluntary measures and adopt tougher limits on industry like the European Union and ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Plea to avert 'shocking' climate change
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3814841c-b10f-11dd-8915-0000779fd18c.html
Financial Times: Restricting the rise in global temperatures to just 2°C will require the use of new technologies that are not yet widely available, and a price for carbon dioxide emissions well above today's levels, the International Energy Agency warned on Wednesday. The developed countries' watchdog said in its annual World Energy Outlook that continued growth in energy use with "business as usual" policies would have "shocking" consequences for the climate, raising average temperatures by up to ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
No Gore in any 'climate czar' post
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/13/no-gore-in-any-climate-czar-post/
Washington Times: President-elect Barack Obama's transition team is flirting with creating a White House "climate czar," but climate change crusader Al Gore says he doesn't want the job. The Obama team declined to comment on such a post, even as environmentalists and power industry executives say it's being widely discussed inside the transition offices as a way to spur a clean energy industry, which Mr. Obama has promised will ween the U.S. from foreign oil and create millions of "green ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Climate change poses US security risks
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/13/us-dealing-with-security-concerns-from-change-in-c/
Washington Times: As a new administration committed to addressing climate change takes office, intelligence and defense officials are laying plans to address the national security implications of a warmer planet. In recent months, U.S. military planners have discussed the impact on personnel, equipment and installations of extreme weather events, rising ocean temperatures, shifts in rainfall patterns and stresses on natural resources. Among the concerns: 63 U.S. coastal military facilities and ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Chevron Chief Calls On Obama To Create Energy Policy
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51040/story.htm
Reuters: The head of oil giant Chevron Corp on Wednesday called on President-elect Barack Obama to create a national energy policy that promotes efficiency, opens up new areas for oil production and sets a clear policy on carbon dioxide emissions. "The new administration has an opportunity to make realistic changes to our approach to energy and to create a comprehensive energy policy," David O'Reilly, chairman and chief executive of Chevron, said in a speech to the Council on Foreign ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
JA Solar Cuts Forecast, Sees Solar 'Panic'
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51044/story.htm
Reuters: Chinese solar cell maker JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd said on Wednesday the global economic slump had triggered a "panic" in the solar market, prompting it to slash its sales forecasts and sending its shares down more than 30 percent. Sales of solar cells and panels have risen sharply in recent quarters as companies such as JA Solar ramped up production of the clean power source, but the global economic slowdown has caused that growth to slow, leading to a supply glut. "At this ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
China Cools To Clean Diesel For Vehicles - Paper
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51038/story.htm
Reuters: As China struggles to choose the best powertrain for future vehicles, an influential minister has gone cold on clean diesel in favour of gasoline hybrids and electric drive trains, the Automotive News said on Wednesday. "Minister Wan is very much in favour of hybrid technology because he sees it as a bridge to electric cars -- the medium- to long-term solution to vehicle power in China," the newspaper said citing the adviser, who declined to be identified. He was referring to ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Blow to Brown as BP scraps British renewables plan to focus on US
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/07/bp-renewable-energy-oil-wind
Guardian: BP has dropped all plans to build wind farms and other renewable schemes in Britain and is instead concentrating the bulk of its $8bn (£5bn) renewables spending programme on the US, where government incentives for clean energy projects can provide a convenient tax shelter for oil and gas revenues. The decision is a major blow to the prime minister, Gordon Brown, who has promised to sweep away all impediments to ensure Britain is at the forefront of the green energy revolution. BP and ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Coal is the climate culprit says new assessment
http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=3422
People and Planet: Calling for an 'energy revolution' The International Energy Agency (IEA)warned today that unless governments put into place the right policies and measures, global coal use will grow by at least two per cent a year until 2030 - much more than the other conventional fuels. This would make it very difficult for the world to make the emissions cuts necessary to avoid dangerous climate change in the future. Commenting on the IEA's new World Energy Outlook, WWF said it shares the view that ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
United States: Schwarzenegger summit: A sizable carbon footprint
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2008/11/12/schwarzenegger_summit_a_sizable_carbon_footprint/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news
Associated Press: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, seeking to further burnish his environmental credentials, is convening a global summit on greenhouse gas emissions next week in Los Angeles in an attempt to influence a United Nations conference on the topic next month. His conference, announced just six weeks ago, itself will be a sizable source of the gases blamed for global climate change, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. The AP obtained a list of the more than 1,400 invitees ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Himalayan glaciers may disappear by 2035
http://www.enn.com/climate/article/38627
Tribune India: The glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world and, if the present rate continues, a large number of them may disappear by 2035 because of climate change, warn Indian and foreign environmentalists and geologists. The Himalayas have the largest concentration of glaciers outside the polar caps. That is why, they are called the 'Water Towers of Asia.' The Himalayas lie to the north of the Indian subcontinent and to the south of the central ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
United Kingdom: The woman with a tiny carbon footprint
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/13/ethicalliving-carbonfootprints
Guardian: We all know we are meant to be reducing our carbon footprint, but I suspect that many people wouldn't be prepared to go as far as Joan Pick. She hasn't driven a car since 1973 and has only been in a petrol-guzzling vehicle twice since then (once in the hearse at her mother's funeral, the other time when an ambulance came to pick her up after she dislocated her shoulder). Her gas supply was cut off sometime when the last Labour government was in power, and her electricity usage is minimal. ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Five in court for rooftop protest at Westminster
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/13/activists-climate-change
Guardian: Rooftop protests at the Palace of Westminster were intended to highlight a conspiracy between the government and Heathrow's owner over building a third runway, campaigners told a court yesterday. Five members of Plane Stupid, who threw paper planes and dangled banners from the roof after breaching security in February, said they had protested in order to prevent a greater crime. Leo Murray, one of the five, told Westminster magistrates that documents obtained under freedom of ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
IEA Calls For Significant New Steps To Battle Looming Climate Change
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1600393/iea_calls_for_significant_new_steps_to_battle_looming_climate/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: The International Energy Agency reported on Wednesday that it is too late to rely on gradual curbs in greenhouse gas emissions to limit the effects of global warming. The energy adviser to 28 rich countries detailed two paths for limiting warming to 2 and 3 degrees Celsius respectively, which would both require huge annual investments to deploy fossil fuels alternatives. "Both scenarios imply that net greenhouse gas emissions turn negative -- carbon absorption exceeds gross ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
California dirty air costs over $28 billion a year: study
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AC08F20081113?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: California is losing $28 billion annually in health-related costs because of air pollution in and around Los Angeles and in its San Joaquin Valley, according to a report released on Wednesday. The two regions in the most populous U.S. state routinely rank among the nation's dirtiest in terms of air pollution. The results are a variety of costs associated with poorer health ranging from missed work days, to increased respiratory troubles to premature deaths. Emissions from ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
New Ice Age Predicted -- But Averted by Global Warming?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081112-ice-age-global-warming.html?source=rss
National Geographic: Deep ice sheets would cover much of the Northern Hemisphere thousands of years from now--if it weren't for us pesky humans, a new study says. Emissions of greenhouse gases--such as the carbon dioxide, or CO2, that comes from power plants and cars--are heating the atmosphere to such an extent that the next ice age, predicted to be the deepest in millions of years, may be postponed indefinitely (quick guide to the greenhouse effect). "Climate skeptics could look at this and say, ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Challenges Ahead For Obama's Energy Plan
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96917781&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: All Things Considered, November 12, 2008 · President-elect Barack Obama has elevated the subject of energy to urgent status, a tier above its usual place in presidential campaigns. Obama has promised big: a $150 billion undertaking over 10 years to "green" the country's use of energy. His newly minted energy plan promotes hybrid cars, clean coal, more wind and solar power, more efficient appliances and new fuels from plants, to name just a few items. Providing all this, he says, will ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Sun, wind power may threaten grid, report suggests
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2008/11/10/sun_wind_power_may_threaten_grid_report_suggests/
New York Times: Adding electricity from the wind and the sun could increase the frequency of blackouts and reduce the reliability of the nation's electrical grid, an industry report says. The North American Electric Reliability Corp. says in a report scheduled for release today that unless appropriate measures are taken to improve transmission of electricity, rules reducing carbon dioxide emissions by utilities could impair the reliability of the power grid. The corporation is the industry body ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Factoring social and economic instability into ecological catastrophe and the decline of western civilization
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1113-ryan_king.html
Mongabay: "If war, waste, and moneylenders were abolished, you'd collapse. And while you people are over consuming the rest of the world sinks more and more deeply into chronic disaster... as prosperity goes down political ruthlessness and one-party rule, nationalism and bellicosity begin to rise." -Aldous Huxley, Island When proposing and exploring solutions to environmental crises we rarely, if ever, consider social and geopolitical factors such as massive refugee migrations, economic ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Stopping ocean acidification would save billions of dollars in revenue
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1112-hance_oceans.html
Mongabay: A new report from Oceana shows that action taken now to curb ocean acidification would not only preserve the world's coral reefs, but also save billions in lost revenue in the fishing and tourism industries. Acidification of the oceans, a result of increasing carbon dioxide emissions, threatens marine animals with calcium carbonate skeleton and shells, such as crabs, lobsters, clams, oysters, and coral. A lower pH makes it more difficult for these animals to produce the shells and ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Humans may have prevented super ice age
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16026-humans-may-have-prevented-super-ice-age.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: Our impact on Earth's climate might be even more profound than we realise. Before we started pumping massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the planet was on the brink of entering a semi-permanent ice age, two researchers have proposed. Had we not radically altered the atmosphere, say Thomas Crowley of the University of Edinburgh, UK, and William Hyde of the University of Toronto in Canada, the current cycle of ice ages and interglacials would have given way in the ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Earth may face freeze worse than Ice Age: study
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AB6YG20081112?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: The planet could face a freeze worse than an Ice Age starting in as little as 10,000 years, giving future societies a headache the opposite of coping with global warming, scientists said on Wednesday. The researchers, based in Britain and Canada, said that now-vilified greenhouse gases might help in future to avert a chill that could smother much of Canada and the United States, Europe and Russia in permanent ice. They said the study, based on records of tiny marine fossils and ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Obama will act quickly on climate change: adviser
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AB84K20081112?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: President-elect Barack Obama will act against climate change early in his presidency, an environment adviser said on Wednesday amid doubts that a U.S. carbon-capping program will be in place before 2010. "The president-elect will move quickly on climate change," Jason Grumet, the Obama campaign's lead energy and environment adviser, told a conference on carbon trading. Grumet, who has been mentioned as a possible choice for the new U.S. administration's energy secretary, told ...
Fri, 14 Nov 08
U.S. estimates 85.4 tcf in Alaska natural gas hydrates
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AB8C520081112?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: The Alaskan North Slope contains 85.4 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered technically recoverable gas from natural gas hydrates, the U.S. Interior Department estimated in a study released on Wednesday. "This is a huge source of untapped energy," Interior Department Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said at a press conference. "These ice-like solids can be turned into usable natural gas." The gas from Alaska's natural gas hydrates would be enough to heat more than 100 million average ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Farmers Want Special Consideration Over Greenhouse Gas Emissions
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1599635/farmers_want_special_consideration_over_greenhouse_gas_emissions/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: The head of the world's leading farming lobby said on Tuesday that farmers want a special deal in global climate negotiations so they are not saddled with excessive costs for curbing Greenhouse gas emissions. Ajay Vashee, president of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers said that agriculture is responsible for up to 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming, but farmers were limited in how much they could cut emissions. Vashee ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Ethanol makers push U.S. to boost fuel blend rate
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AA7IW20081111?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: The U.S. government should set the ethanol-to-gasoline blend rate above the current 10 percent to ensure federal targets for using the renewable fuel are met, industry leaders said on Tuesday. They said a blend rate of 15 percent or 20 percent may be more appropriate. Jeff Broin of POET, the largest U.S. ethanol maker, said a newly formed trade group, Growth Energy, would work with the Environmental Protection Agency on the issue. Asked if the Obama administration would support ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Effects of ocean acidification will come 30 years earlier than expected
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1111-oceans.html
Mongabay: The Southern Ocean may be 30 years closer to a tipping point for ocean acidification than previously believed, putting sea life at risk, according to research published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Analyzing seasonal changes in pH and the concentration of carbonate in the Southern Ocean, scientists from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and CSIRO found that seasonal swings will amplify the effects of carbon dioxide emissions on ocean acidity, ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
CarbonNeutral Company buys up GreenLife in global push
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230256/carbonneutral-company-buys
Business Green: UK-based carbon offset provider The CarbonNeutral Company has today bolstered its presence in the fast-expanding US market, shelling out an undisclosed sum to acquire New York-based The GreenLife Organisation LLC. The company said that the deal will give it a foothold in a US carbon management services industry estimated to be worth $66bn (£43bn) last year, as well as provide it with offices in New York, San Francisco and Washington DC. "We're seeing more and more business ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
First "sustainable" palm oil on way to Rotterdam
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AA5Y820081111?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: The first shipment of palm oil which is certified as "sustainable" by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is due to reach Rotterdam next week, as critics still question whether the label is justified. Under fire for its role in rainforest and wildlife destruction, the palm oil industry established the RSPO in 2004 to develop a certification system and this first shipment is a milestone, industry leaders said on Tuesday. "The upcoming arrival of this first batch of oil ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
The sun rises slowly for Australian solar
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/features/20081211-18431.html
ScienceAlert: Energetic founder and chairman of solar thermal startup company Ausra, Dr David Mills, says Australia still has a long way to go when it comes to supporting solar technology. After working as a solar energy researcher in Australia for more than 30 years, Dr Mills left last year for the US where he says there is greater support for his solar technology. However, he highlights that the landscape in Australia has changed tremendously since he left, with federal and state governments now ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Early greenhouse move 'favourable for Australia'
http://business.theage.com.au/business/early-greenhouse-move-favourable-for-australia-20081111-5mkx.html
Business Day: THE deteriorating state of world financial markets does not materially affect Treasury's economic model for reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, according to the man behind the model. Treasury's macro-economic group executive director, David Gruen, also played down the cost of cutting emissions, saying the resulting 0.1% decline in gross national product by 2050 was five times less than the effect on the economy of the ageing of the population. Dr Gruen moved to ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
"Solar City" proves allure of sun's energy in Japan
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE4AA2L620081111
Reuters: Solar panels glisten across Ota City's tiny Pal Town neighbourhood, nestled among strawberry fields in one of Japan's sunniest spots, a testament to the allure of renewable energy in this resource-poor country. Three-quarters of Pal Town's homes are covered by solar panels, which are distributed for free and have become one of the main draw-cards for residents keen to minimise their power bills. "We moved here because of the panels -- it was something we wanted, but not ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
The ocean's acid test
http://www.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/acid-test/the-oceans-acid-test
The Daily Climate: The most pressing example of climate change's impact is not monster hurricanes, retreating glaciers or water wars. It's the humble swimming sea snail. The tiny pteropod has difficulty growing a shell in a warmer planet's acidified ocean waters. Given the snails' role at the base of the cold-water food chain, its struggle threatens the entire polar ecosystem, through salmon to seals and whales. The problem is one of many associated with ocean acidification already underway as a ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
The ocean's acid test
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/the-oceans-acid-testc
Environmental Health News:
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Egyptians Battle The 'Black Cloud' Of Cairo
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96772655&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: In Cairo, this is the season of the Black Cloud -- the inky haze of pollution that on its worst days descends on the Egyptian capital with noxious, throat-burning fumes. The black cloud, a decade-old phenomenon, has been attributed to farmers burning rice straw after their harvest. But studies show there are several contributors to the foul air, and while the government has made some progress reducing the smog level, it has a long way to go. October and November are wonderful ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Obama Asks Bush to Provide Help for Automakers
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=110316
New York Times: The struggling auto industry was thrust into the middle of a political standoff between the White House and Democrats on Monday as President-elect Barack Obama urged President Bush in a meeting at the White House to support immediate emergency aid. Mr. Bush indicated at the meeting that he might support some aid and a broader economic stimulus package if Mr. Obama and Congressional Democrats dropped their opposition to a free-trade agreement with Colombia, a measure for which Mr. Bush ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Alstom Seeks to Buy Solar, Wind Companies to Expand in Asia
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aiCHEHhciIKQ&refer=india
Bloomberg: Alstom SA, the world's third-biggest power-plant builder, is looking to buy some of its parts suppliers and makers of equipment for solar, wind and biomass energy in Asia as demand for non-fossil fuels soars. The company expects to make the acquisitions in the next one year, Philippe Joubert, president of the company's power systems unit, said today in an interview in the western Indian city of Vadodara, without giving financial details. ``For sure, in a matter of a semester or ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Industry: Climate Fight Would Strain Electric Grid
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/smart-grid-47111102
Daily Green: Scaling up renewable energy on a national scale will strain the electric grid, and threaten blackouts, according to a new report by the American Electric Reliability Corporation, an industry group for utilities and other power producers. But while the report outlines potentially serious consequences from regulating carbon dioxide to combat global warming, it concludes that the most important thing is that president-elect Barack Obama and Congress set a clear strategy so the market can ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Australia: CSIRO warns of climate change doomsday
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24638655-662,00.html
Herald Sun: THE world may be on track to face economic and ecological collapses by the middle of the century, according to CSIRO research. The 1972 bestselling scientific report The Limits to Growth warned of possible doomsday scenarios created by unchecked use of resources. A study by CSIRO physicist Dr Graham Turner found data projections made in The Limits to Growth were correct. Dr Turner said projections relating to population, food and industrial production, pollution and ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Australia: Coal industry unveils its climate solutions
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,24639109-16222,00.html
Australian: AUSTRALIA'S $60 billion coal industry, long painted as the villain in the climate change debate, will launch a fightback campaign today. The Australian Coal Association will unveil a climate change communications campaign and release details of extensive market research on climate change, the coal industry and carbon capture and storage. "The coal industry is sticking its hand up and saying 'We know we're part of the problem and we want to be part of the solution'," an industry ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Farmers want special deal on carbon emissions
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AA38E20081111?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Farmers want a special deal in global climate negotiations to make sure they are not saddled with excessive costs for curbing Greenhouse gas emissions, the head of the world's leading farming lobby said on Tuesday. Agriculture is responsible for up to 20 percent of global Greenhouse gas emissions, blamed for global warming, but farmers were limited in how much they could cut emissions, International Federation of Agricultural Producers president Ajay Vashee said. Vashee, who's ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
European Commission signals support for CCS carbon credits plan
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230222/european-commission-signals
Business Green: European energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs has signalled that the Commission will support proposals to help fund a raft of carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration projects using carbon allowances issued as part of the European emissions trading scheme (ETS). In a speech at the Zero Emission Platform General Assembly in Brussels yesterday, Piebalgs said the Commission would "be sending a positive signal regarding the so-called Doyle-Davies amendment" to proposed CCS ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
The Heat Can Be Deadly
http://allafrica.com/stories/200811100785.html
Namibian: WITH the heat wave Namibia is currently experiencing, people should be careful to avoid heat stroke or sunstroke - a potentially fatal condition which occurs when the body heats up faster than it can cool down. It is usually caused by prolonged exposure to high temperatures. Sweating is one of the body's most important methods of temperature regulation. Evaporation of the sweat cools the body. When the body becomes dehydrated, the production of sweat stops and the ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Obama Could Quickly Reverse Bush Climate Policies
http://www.climatebiz.com/news/2008/11/11/obama-could-quickly-reverse-bush-climate-policies
ClimateBiz: President-Elect Barack Obama's transition team is reportedly evaluating a range of environmental policies put in place by the current administration that could be reversed once he assumes office in January. Some of those actions are being pushed through in the final days of the Bush administration, according to the Washington Post and New York Times. Others have been in place longer, such as the decision last December to deny California a waiver it needs from the U.S. Environmental ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Climate justice to guide global deal?
http://www.euractiv.com/en/climate-change/climate-justice-guide-global-deal/article-177041?Ref=RSS
EurActiv: Parliamentarians, business and civil society representatives have called for a "human dimension" based on justice and dignity to be taken into account during upcoming climate change negotiations in Poznań this December. Background: The global community must decide on a new international agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol on climate change before the United Nations conference in Copenhagen in December next year. The first critical step was taken at the UN ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Clouds Can Predict Climate Changes
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081110071245.htm
ScienceDaily: The properties of clouds can be a key to predicting coming climate changes. This is shown by research at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden - which has also studied urban pollution. The earth's climate field is regulated by the balance between incoming solar radiation and outbound heat radiation. The aerosol content of the atmosphere, that is, the proportion of particles in the air, functions as a regulator: cooling off by reflecting incoming light, warming up by absorbing the ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Global investors urge action on climate change
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AA1CM20081111?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Global institutional investors holding more than $6 trillion in assets pushed policymakers Tuesday to quickly hash out a binding agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean technology. More than 130 big investors, including London Pensions Fund Authority, want countries to agree to reduce the climate- warming emissions by 50 percent to 80 percent by 2050. Those numbers are in line with global warming policy favored by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, who ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
A climate change conversion
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2008/nov/11/religion-worth-abbey
Guardian: Can the climate change crisis be answered purely by science and technology, or does it need to be understood as a moral and spiritual issue too? In a lecture for the Christian climate change agency, Operation Noah today, Christopher Jamison, the Abbot of Worth Abbey that featured on the TV series The Monastery, will make a compelling case that it is very much the latter. An abbot would say that, wouldn't he. But read on. At root, Jamison is calling for a more serious engagement with ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Vattenfall and ScottishPower give thumbs up to UK wind
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230201/vattenfall-scottishpower-give
Business Green: In a case of one step back, two steps forward for the UK wind energy industry, the recent news that BP is to exit the market was followed yesterday by fresh commitments to the sector from Swedish energy giant Vattenfall and ScottishPower Renewables, a subsidiary of Spanish powerhouse Iberdrola Renewables. The two companies announced that they are to form a consortium to bid for the third round of offshore wind farm licenses that are currently being put up for tender by the UK's Crown ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
US green airport scheme fails to take off
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230203/airports-applying-green-grant
Business Green: A scheme that provides funding to help US airports reduce ground-based emissions is not being adopted because airport operators mistakenly think it will mean funding cuts in other areas, according to a new report from the US Government Accountability Office. Only nine of the 160 airports that were eligible for grants under the Voluntary Airport Low Emissions (VALE) programme have applied for funding, the report said. "Some airports have a misconception that VALE projects ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Investor groups team up to issue post-Kyoto wish list
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230208/investor-groups-team-issue-post
Business Green: The leading climate change investor groups in Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand have come together today for the first time to call on global leaders to deliver a post-Kyoto deal before the end of next year. The European Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), US-based Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR) and the Investors Group on Climate Change (IGCC) in Australia and New Zealand -- which together represent 130 investors and $6.4 trillion (£4.1 trillion) ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Credit Crunch Could Dull Appetite For Green Tech
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/51000/story.htm
Reuters: The global credit crunch and easing oil prices may take some of the immediate wind out of the sails for investing in green energy, a major growth initiative for General Electric Co, but it is unlikely to reverse a long-term trend toward renewable power sources. Concerns throughout corporate America that the volatility of energy prices will remain and a new, Democratic administration in Washington that is expected to take a stronger stance on environmental policy than its predecessor ...
Wed, 12 Nov 08
EU To Launch Plan For Caspian Gas, Wind Power
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/50998/story.htm
Reuters: Europe should erect more wind turbines, keep a closer watch on oil stocks and improve access to Caspian gas, Europe's energy chief will say this week. The 27-nation bloc is seeking to reduce its reliance on Russian gas after pricing disputes between Russia and transit states disrupted supplies in recent years and Russia's invasion of Georgia in August stoked tensions. "A southern gas corridor must be developed for the supply of gas from Caspian and Middle Eastern sources... ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Australian Alps Awarded National Heritage Status
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2008/2008-11-10-02.asp
Environment News Service: The Australian Alps, encompassing Australia's highest mainland peaks and most spectacular mountain scenery, have been awarded the country's highest heritage honor with their inclusion Friday in the National Heritage List. Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts Peter Garrett said the Australian Alps National Parks is the largest and most complex National Heritage assessment to date. They stretch across 1.6 million hectares of national parks and reserves including 11 ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
California betting on Obama embracing state's climate policies
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/10/MNLI141O9P.DTL&type=politics
San Francisco Chronicle: California officials, who have battled the Bush administration for years over the state's attempt to set the nation's toughest regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, are counting on a much warmer reception for their climate policies under an Obama administration. Obama plans US terror trials to replace Guantanamo 11.10.08 CSU plan would turn away thousands of students 11.10.08 California betting on Obama embracing state's climate policies 11.10.08 Google CEO's ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Climate Change Is Impeding Agricultural Production in Uttar Pradesh (India)
http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=7547
Seoul Times: During the last one decade, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has been witness to many climatic changes. Eastern Uttar Pradesh has faced severe floods, while Bundelkhand region has faced one of the worst famines of the last decade. Thus, the impact of climate change has adversely affected agricultural production resulting in huge loss of paddy and corn crops in eastern districts and regional crops in Bundelkhand. Climate-related disasters have brought widespread misery and huge economic losses ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Tighter timeline for ocean organisms
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2008/s2416423.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: ELEANOR HALL: Now to that alarming research on marine life in the southern ocean which shows that the tipping point where animals will struggle to survive will come sooner than scientists previously thought. Researchers at the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales are warning that acidity in the Southern Ocean will reach destructive levels where it will dissolve the shells of marine organisms by 2030. As Jane Cowan reports that is at least twenty ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
If a Tree Falls in the Forest, Are Biofuels To Blame? It's Not Easy Being Green
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122636711059015989.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Wall Street Journal: Biofuels are under siege from critics who say they crowd out food production. Now these fuels made from grass and grain, long touted as green, are being criticized as bad for the planet. At issue is whether oil alternatives -- such as ethanol distilled from corn and fuels made from inedible stuff like switch grass -- actually make global warming worse through their indirect impact on land use around the world. The EPA will weigh distant deforestation in gauging biofuels' net ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Maldives Considers Buying Dry Land if Seas Rise
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=110286
New York Times: The president-elect of the Maldives, a nation of 1,200 low islands in the Indian Ocean, is planning to establish an investment fund with some of its earnings from tourism so it can buy a haven for its citizens should global warming raise sea levels at a dangerous pace, according to several news reports. Mohamed Nasheed, a former political prisoner who will be sworn in Tuesday as the country`s first democratically elected president, named Sri Lanka and India as possible spots for a ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Greenpeace Says It Blocked Vessel Carrying Wilmar's Palm Oil
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601130&sid=aKbcWWn2m2XM
Bloomberg: Greenpeace International said it stopped a vessel carrying 27,000 metric tons of palm oil owned by Wilmar International Ltd. from leaving a port in Indonesia. A port official denied the incident. A member of the environmentalist group was chained to the anchor of the vessel bound for Europe since 1 p.m. today in Indonesia, to pressure Wilmar and the Indonesian government to support its call for a moratorium on deforestation, Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace forest campaigner in Southeast ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Greenpeace stops palm oil shipments from leaving Indonesia
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081110/sc_afp/indonesiaenvironmentforestsprotest_081110171142
Agence France-Presse: Environmental group Greenpeace said Monday it had stopped several palm oil shipments from leaving Indonesia and called for an end to forests and peatlands being destroyed to make way for plantations. The ships were about to leave from Dumai, Indonesia's main oil export port, to Europe. "Greenpeace activists painted the words 'Forest Crime' and 'Climate Crime' on the hull of three palm oil tankers and a barge full of rainforest timber," Greenpeace Southeast Asia Forest ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
United States: Group appeals Forest Service oil and gas decision
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081110/wst_oil_and_gas_appeal.html?.v=1
Associated Press: Western conservationists want the U.S. Forest Service to reconsider a decision they say opens up tens of thousands of acres to oil and gas development in a northern New Mexico forest. The Santa Fe National Forest amended its land and resource management plan in August to give forest officials more guidelines for dealing with oil and gas exploration and development on forest land that borders the San Juan Basin, one of the largest natural gas fields in the nation. Forest ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Greenpeace Blocks Palm Oil Export From Indonesia
http://news.ino.com/headlines/?newsid=111020081895
RTTNews: Monday, Greenpeace activists stopped exports of tens of thousands of tons of palm oil shipments from Indonesia to Europe in protest against the ongoing destruction of Indonesia's rainforests, an activist said. The activists allegedly hung on to the chains of the anchors of three ships that were due to depart Monday from Indonesia's main export point, the port of Dumai in Riau province, to Europe. Two ships were reportedly loaded with over 27,000 tons and 2,600 tons of palm oil. The ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Climate change drives Maldives to buy land
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e4d63c6a-af55-11dd-a4bf-000077b07658.html
Financial Times: The Indian Ocean state of the Maldives will start to divert cash from its largest industry, tourism, to buy land in case rising sea levels submerge the country's low-lying coral islands, spokespeople for the president-elect, Mohamed Nasheed, said on Monday. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, the vice-president-elect, said the "worst-case scenario due to sea level rise would be that some or even all of our islands would become uninhabitable and we would have to look for alternative places ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Total sees nuclear energy for growth after peak oil
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLA60620320081110
Reuters: French oil and gas giant Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is targeting nuclear energy to drive growth long after oil and gas output peak, a top executive said on Monday. "In the future, energy demand will be constrained by tight supply," Arnaud Chaperon, Total's senior vice president for electricity and new energies, said in a presentation to a nuclear energy conference in Qatar. "Oil and gas will still play a big role in the energy balance. But in the ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Climate Change, One Light Bulb at a Time?
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1682097,00.html
Time Magazine: Energy -- and results -- is something that the campaign to create political action on climate change in the U.S. has often lacked. Over the past few years there has been a grassroots groundswell on global warming, but the focus has been on personal action, small behavioral changes individuals can make -- or more often, buy -- to reduce their impact on the Earth. It's the light bulb theory -- switch your wasteful incandescent lights for more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs, and ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Marine invasive species advance 50km per decade, World Conference on Marine Biodiversity told
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-11/coml-mis111008.php
EurekAlert: A rapid, climate change-induced northern migration of invasive marine is one of many research results announced Tues. Nov. 11 during opening day presentations at the First World Conference on Marine Biodiversity, Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, in Valencia. Investigators report that invasive species of marine macroalgae spread at 50 km per decade, a distance far greater than that covered by invasive terrestrial plants. The difference may be due to the rapid dispersion of ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Southern Ocean close to acid tipping point
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/11/11/2415539.htm?site=science&topic=latest
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Australian researchers have discovered that the tipping point for ocean acidification caused by human-induced CO2 emissions is much closer than first thought. Scientists from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and CSIRO looked at seasonal changes in pH and the concentration of an important chemical compound, carbonate, in the Southern Ocean. The results, published in today's Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, show that these seasonal changes will actually ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Developed countries urged to set targets
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4677f2ce-af47-11dd-a4bf-000077b07658.html
Financial Times: A group of large financial institutional investors will on Tuesday call on rich countries to cut their emissions by up to 95 per cent by 2050, in the sector's strongest demand yet on climate change. The group of more than 130 investors, with a combined $7,000bn under management, includes Calpers, Calsters, several other US public sector pension funds, and several UK public sector pension funds. The group also includes Blackrock Investment Management, Deutsche Asset Management, HSBC ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Report: Greenhouse gases imperil oceans' web of life
http://www.physorg.com/news145559293.html
Physorg: Corals, lobsters, clams and many other ocean creatures - including some at the bottom of the food chain - may be unable to withstand the increasing acidity of the oceans brought on by growing global-warming pollution, according to a report Tuesday from the advocacy group Oceana. Based on scientific findings of the past several years, Oceana's report "Acid Test" examines the far-reaching consequences of the accumulation of heat-trapping gases, particularly carbon dioxide, in the ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Maldives: The last days of paradise
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/11/climatechange-endangered-habitats-maldives
Guardian (UK): So what do you do if you are the newly elected president of a small, relatively impoverished country whose greatest claim to fame, besides arguably the finest beaches in the world, is the fact that it is slowly sinking into the sea? You lose no time reminding the world of that fact, obviously. And to underline the urgency of the problem, you reveal the startling news that you are seriously thinking about moving the whole nation somewhere else. That at least is what Mohamed Nasheed, ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Windfarm consortium to invest billions off UK coast
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/11/windfarm-consortium-vattenfall-thanet
Guardian: Two of the world's leading wind farm operators have teamed up to make joint bids for the next round of offshore licences in Britain. ScottishPower Renewables, part of Spain's Iberdrola Renovables, is joining forces with Sweden's Vattenfall with the aim of developing 6,000 megawatts of installed capacity. The partners have not said how much the development will cost, but industry experts believe the investment will run into several billions of pounds. The partnership will take ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
U.S. chains aim at saving energy - and money
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/09/business/build.php
Various: In new Wal-Mart stores in the United States, the baseboards and moldings are made of plastic left over from diaper manufacturing. Chipotle, the burrito chain, has installed an energy-producing wind turbine outside a new store in the Chicago suburbs. And a Florida chain called Pizza Fusion reuses the draft from its ovens to heat water. Across the United States, a race is under way among stores and fast-food restaurants to build environmentally friendly outlets, as a way to curry favor ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Carbon cost fears won't dent EU climate plan: analysts
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20081110/twl-environment-us-carbon-poland-1202b49.html
Reuters: Cutting carbon costs for power plants and factories under European Union plans from 2013 will not harm the bloc's fight against climate change but could hold back energy market liberalization, say analysts. Skip related content Several member states are resisting EU plans to force electricity generators to buy carbon permits in state-run auctions under the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) after 2012. The plan is to tilt competitiveness in favor of low-carbon energy sources ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Environmentalists look to Obama to limit drilling
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4A97OB20081110?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Environmentalists on Monday applauded an announcement that U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama would consider curtailing oil and gas drilling in some areas, and expressed hope future energy policy decisions would contain more environmental protections. The co-chair of Obama's transition team, John Podesta, said on Sunday that Obama probably would reverse an executive order by President George W. Bush allowing drilling in fragile lands in Utah. Mike Daulton, legislative director ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Utilities to test solar power at traditional plants
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4A972E20081110?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: A U.S. utility group announced on Monday a plan to test adding solar thermal energy to natural gas and coal-fired power plants in a move designed to cut fuel costs and greenhouse gas emissions. The Electric Power Research Institute said Dynegy Inc and NV Energy will host case studies of the technology at natural gas plants in Arizona and Nevada, respectively. Both projects will add steam generated by a solar thermal field to a conventional natural gas-powered steam cycle, EPRI ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Facing extinction from rising seas, Maldives establishes fund to buy homeland abroad
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1110-maldives.html
Mongabay: The Maldives will establish a trust fund to buy a homeland abroad once rising sea levels swamp the island nation, says Mohamed Nasheed, president-elect of the Maldives. The funds would come from the country's revenue from tourism. "Global warming and environmental issues are issues of major concern to the Maldivian people. We are just about three feet above sea level," Ibrahim Hussein Zaki, Mr Nasheed's spokesman, told the BBC's World Today program. "So any sea level rise could have a ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
A "biocentric" perspective on environmental degradation
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1110-ei.html
Mongabay: A new online magazine will take a "biocentric" perspective to the planet's environmental problems. Ecological Internet, a pioneering environmental campaign group, published its first issue of New Earth Rising on Sunday. The issue includes original essays on climate change, water scarcity, over-consumption of Earth's resources, and deforestation. "New Earth Rising intends to be at the vanguard of bright green thought and a movement committed to ecological truth-telling that ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Life at the Poles: Arctic Animals Face Promise and Peril of Climate Change
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=animal-strife-at-earths-poles
Scientific American: Polar bears and penguins get all the attention but there's more than large, fuzzy and feathered animals thriving at the frozen antipodes of our planet. Both of Earth's polar environments host rich webs of plants and animals--and all of these inhabitants face a changing clime. A warming global climate may favor species that don't intimately depend on ice that floats on the sea to hunt or are more versatile in what they can eat as well as those able to thrive in higher temperatures. ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
First RSPO-certified ("eco-friendly") palm oil shipment to arrive in Europe
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1110-palm_oil.html
Mongabay: The first shipment of palm oil certified under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is expected to arrive in Europe Tuesday, but an environmental group is already criticizing the initiative's credentials. Wetlands International warns that the batch of certified palm oil originates from a plantation which has palm oil grown on peatlands, a carbon-rich ecosystem that releases massive amounts of CO2 when cleared, drained, and converted for agricultural use. It says that RSPO ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Green power needs reliable U.S. grid planning: NERC
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4A94R620081110?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: As the United States attempts to lower carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation, it needs a national policy on climate change to help ensure reliable power delivery, said the U.S. watchdog for electric reliability. Included in such a plan is the need to smoothly develop a transmission grid backbone that can handle new types of power generation such as wind-generated power. "Inadequate attention to the transmission grid will undermine all efforts to address climate ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
EU energy chief backs $13 billion for carbon capture
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4A958020081110?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Europe's energy chief gave his backing on Monday to a source of billions of euros of public funding for power stations to trap and bury carbon dioxide in the battle against climate change. New technology to trap CO2 and pump it underground is seen as a potential silver bullet to curb emissions from coal-fired power plants, which are multiplying rapidly worldwide and threaten to heat the atmosphere to dangerous levels. But while the technology exists, utilities are reluctant to ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Australia: Large cuts in carbon emissions possible soon: report
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/australian-news/5135789/large-cuts-in-carbon-emissions-possible-soon-report/
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: New research has found the Victorian Government's goal of halving carbon emissions by 2050 could easily be met 30 years earlier. Environment Victoria's report is based on the same modelling the State Government used to calculate its targets. The report has found that Victoria's emissions can be slashed from 125-million tonnes to 49.5-million in 2020. That is a drop of 60 per cent from 2006 levels. The organisation's Campaigns Director, Mark Wakeham, says large ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Firms urged to re-think recycling approach as prices plummet
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230157/firms-urged-think-recycling
Business Green: Businesses are being urged to think carefully about how best to dispose of their recyclable materials, following the recent collapse in prices for materials such as paper, cardboard and plastics. The spot price for many recyclable materials plummeted last month after recycling plants in China largely stopped buying material from Europe, amid fears that the global economic slowdown would dampen demand for their end products. The price of a tonne of cardboard, for example, ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
A Day to Prevent Exploitation of the Environment in War
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2008/2008-11-06-02.asp
Environment News Service: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on all nations of the world to prevent the exploitation of the environment in times of conflict. "The natural environment enjoys protection under Protocol 1 of the Geneva Conventions," Ban said. "But this protection is often violated during war and armed conflict. Water wells are polluted, crops torched, forests cut down, soils poisoned, and animals killed, all in order to gain military advantage." The ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Biomass to Gasoline Production Plant Dedicated in Texas
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2008/2008-11-07-092.asp
Environment News Service: Texas Governor Rick Perry was on hand today for the dedication of a unique biofuels conversion facility in Bryan, about 70 miles northwest of Houston. The new facility built by Terrebon, LLC will confirm the scaled-up, commercial feasibility of the company's MixAlco technology, which converts non-food biomass into industrial chemicals and transportation fuels. Governor Perry encouraged continued investment in researching and marketing alternative energy sources as a way to move ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Is 'ecoterrorism' really a threat?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2008/nov/10/activists-kingsnorth
Guardian: When the Observer reported the growing threat of ecoterrorism this weekend, most readers will have felt a nervous chill. For many of us, after all, the word terrorism summons up images of suicide bombers, dead bodies, bereft relatives. It's hardly surprising that we should feel anxious at the idea of rabid environmentalists roaming the country, dynamite in one hand and molotov cocktail in the other. But this is completely wrong and ecoterrorism is itself one of the most pernicious ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
United Kingdom: Gardens in the sky
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/nov/06/gardens-ethical-living-london-boris
Guardian: It is quite utopian, in its way: Boris Johnson and Rosie Boycott, in her first major initiative since being appointed chair of London Food, announced this week that they would aim to have 2,012 new green spaces growing food for Londoners by the 2012 Olympics. They even hoped, in a slightly literal manner, to be able to feed some of the resulting fruit and vegetables to visiting Olympians. There are official allotments, of course, but in London keen gardeners are currently waiting up ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Obama and 'tyranny of oil'?
http://old.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20081110.E03&irec=2
Jakarta Post: One of the pledges made by Barack Obama during his campaign is that he will end the "tyranny of oil". He made the promise during a certain period of the campaign when the oil price became nightmarish as it continued to climb, sparking a sharp increase in the prices of all commodities and raising production costs in all industries. The oil price was then considered public enemy No. 1, not only in the United States but also in many other parts of the world, including ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Recession Will Allow Lower Emissions Caps, Carbon Investor Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601130&sid=aOzyE2rLwKHw
Bloomberg: The prospect of a global recession will allow governments to set lower emission targets, an investor in carbon credits said. The U.S. and European Union can afford to set tougher limits on emissions because slower economic activity will cut greenhouse gas output and lower emission permit prices, said James Cameron, executive vice chairman of Climate Change Capital, a London fund manager with more than $1 billion to invest in credits. ``Governments should notice how relatively ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
China says not enough expertise to cut greenhouse gases
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Not_enough_expertise_to_cut_emissions/articleshow/3694818.cms
Indo-Asian News Service: The Chinese government rejected suggestions that it could use $1.9tn of foreign exchange reserves to pay for cleaner forms of energy to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions rather than asking developed countries to pay for and provide much of it. Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of China's main economic planning body, told reporters the government is already spending huge amounts to try to cut emissions, but the country is still developing and needs funds and expertise from richer ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
The price of our oil addiction
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/11/10/what.matters.niger/index.html?section=cnn_latest#cnnSTCText
CNN: The following is an excerpt from "What Matters," the latest book by "Day in the Life" series creator David Elliot Cohen. For more information, see whatmattersonline.com In the Ogoniland village of Kpean, an oil wellhead that was leaking for weeks turns into a raging inferno. Addiction exposes the deepest forms of physical and psychological dependency. It is typically considered a personal affliction or an individual failing. But the deadly solicitations of any addictive ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Canada: Inuit activist pushes Harper for action on environment
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=aaf6a2ea-b9f3-4653-a8e5-a1b694e1fac8
Gazette: Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier says Prime Minister Stephen Harper's intention to engage U.S. president-elect Barack Obama on climate change is "a good step forward." The prime minister said Thursday that he hopes to engage Obama in a deal to curb greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming. Watt-Cloutier expressed skepticism that anything substantial will come out of Harper's pledge to make the United States a full partner in dealing with environmental ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Bolivia: Electric car race
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7707847.stm
BBC: High in the Andes, in a remote corner of Bolivia, lies more than half the world's reserves of a mineral that could radically reduce our reliance on dwindling fossil fuels. Lithium carries a great promise. It could help power the fuel efficient electric or petrol-electric hybrid vehicles of the future. But, as is the case with fossil fuels, it is a limited resource. Lithium carbonate is already in the batteries of laptop computers and mobile phones. It is used ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Climate activists disrupt Australian power plant
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4A91CK20081110?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Protesters forced the evacuation of an Australian power station on Friday, attempting to chain themselves to a coal conveyor-belt and ratchet up pressure on an industry blamed for half the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. The incident, the latest in a series of environmental protests against Australia's coal-fired power stations and coal export industry, disrupted production at the state-owned Tarong power station in northern Queensland state. "Australia's greenhouse ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Oman: Scientists say peridotite rock can soak up CO2
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4A59IB20081110?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: A rock found mostly in Oman can be harnessed to soak up the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide at a rate that could help slow global warming, scientists say. When carbon dioxide comes in contact with the rock, peridotite, the gas is converted into solid minerals such as calcite. Geologist Peter Kelemen and geochemist Juerg Matter said the naturally occurring process can be supercharged 1 million times to grow underground minerals that can permanently store 2 billion or more of ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
United Kingdom: We need a rethink on eco-towns
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/10/housing-eco-towns
Guardian: While the country was gripped by American election fever this week the government was trying to slip out the latest news on its sinking flagship initiative – eco-towns. As Chris Ames noted on Comment is free Gordon Brown's eco-towns programme is slowly dying, but like so many of Labour's pet projects it is being kept alive for political reasons. A statement and a series of documents released on Tuesday revealed that the government misled us all by previously releasing ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Japan bank bolsters role as CO2 offset info provider
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4A62OZ20081110?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Three more companies on Monday started providing price data on U.N. carbon offsets to the state-backed Japan Bank for International Cooperation, bolstering the bank's role as a supplier of such information in Japan. The three are Barclays Capital Japan, orbeo/Rhodia Japan and Sumitomo Corp, JBIC said in a statement. The Japanese government and big companies, including utilities, have been active in buying offsets to help the world's fifth-biggest polluter meet its greenhouse ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Obama will move to veto Bush laws
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/10/obama-white-house-barack
Guardian: Barack Obama will move swiftly to unpick many of what he sees as the most egregious acts of the Bush administration when he enters the White House in January, including restrictions on stem cell research and moves to allow oil drilling in wilderness areas, a leading member of his transition team said yesterday. John Podesta, a former chief of staff to Bill Clinton whom Obama has put in joint charge of his transition process, indicated the incoming president would use extraordinary ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
US scientists urge grid upgrade to meet booming electric car demand
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230122/scientists-warn-energy-needs
Business Green: The US President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has challenged government predictions of US electricity consumption, arguing that they could be badly underestimated. PCAST has released an update to its 2006 report, The Energy Imperative: Technology and the Role of Emerging Companies, which questions the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) projections for US energy usage. The updated report argues that an expected increase in the use of plug in ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Team Obama hints at roll back of Bush's anti-green measures
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230123/team-obama-hints-roll-back-bush
Business Green: Barack Obama will act swiftly to reverse some of the environmentally damaging measures undertaken by the Bush administration, according to a senior member of the president-elect's transition team. Speaking on Fox News Sunday yesterday, John Podesta said that the incoming president would use his executive authority to reverse some of the more divisive policies of the Bush White House as soon as possible, including controversial plans to open up large areas of public land for oil ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Plants: The Fuel Of The Future?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95444264&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: The recent run-up in gasoline prices was a not-too-subtle reminder that there's a limited amount of oil on Earth. Someday soon, we're going to need a new source of fuel. Part of the answer could be fuels made from the plant material cellulose. Researchers at the new Energy Biosciences Institute at the University of California-Berkeley are working on a recipe for this biofuel. From Plant To The Pump The institute is trying to make at least part of the economy run on fuel ...
Tue, 11 Nov 08
Greenpeace says blocks palm oil ships in Indonesia
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4A922Y20081110?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
Reuters: Greenpeace has blocked three tankers due to transport crude palm oil to China and Europe from leaving an Indonesian port in a bid to highlight deforestation caused by the cash crop, the environmental group said on Monday. The rapidly expanding palm oil industry in Southeast Asia has come under attack by green groups for destroying rainforests and wildlife, as well the emission of greenhouse gases. The blocked ships included Gran Couve, owned by the world's largest listed palm ...
Mon, 10 Nov 08
Climate Activists Disrupt Australian Power Plant
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/50979/story.htm
Reuters: Protesters forced the evacuation of an Australian power station on Friday, attempting to chain themselves to a coal conveyor-belt and ratchet up pressure on an industry blamed for half the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. The incident, the latest in a series of environmental protests against Australia's coal-fired power stations and coal export industry, disrupted production at the state-owned Tarong power station in northern Queensland state. "Australia's greenhouse ...
Mon, 10 Nov 08
Changing climate may push more countries past the brink of war
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/881881.html
Kansas City Star: A warmer planet could find itself more often at war. The Earth`s fast-changing climate has a range of serious thinkers -- from military brass to geographers to diplomats -- predicting a spate of armed conflicts driven by the weather. Shifting temperatures lead to shifting populations, they say, and that throws together groups with longstanding rivalries and thrusts them into competition for food and water. 'It`s not hard to imagine violent outbursts,' said Julianne Smith ...
Mon, 10 Nov 08
Obama likely to boost alternative energy
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/08/BUFQ13VMHM.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: Barack Obama's election has members of the alternative energy world sounding positively giddy, an enthusiasm not shared by their competitors in the oil industry. Obama's energy plans read like a wish list for the companies that make solar cells, wind turbines or alternative fuels. He wants to pump money into energy research and force all electric utilities to use renewable power. He has proposed creating a cap-and-trade system that would put a price on the greenhouse gas ...
Mon, 10 Nov 08
Obama expecte