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'Pachauri didn't correct glaciers' report despite being informed'
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Pachauri-didnt-correct-glaciers-report-despite-being-informed/articleshow/5518163.cms
Times of India: LONDON: R K Pachauri, chairman of the UN panel on Climate Change, took two months to correct the report about melting Himalayan glaciers despite being informed before last year's Copenhagen Summit, a media report claimed today, but the climate czar termed it as "ridiculous". "Pachauri was told that the Inter-government Panel on Climate Change assessment that the glaciers would disappear by 2035 was wrong but he waited two months to correct it. He failed to act despite learning that ...
Sun, 31 Jan 10
China Leading Race to Make Clean Energy
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/business/energy-environment/31renew.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: China vaulted past competitors in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United States last year to become the world's largest maker of wind turbines, and is poised to expand even further this year. China has also leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world's largest manufacturer of solar panels. And the country is pushing equally hard to build nuclear reactors and the most efficient types of coal power plants. These efforts to dominate the global manufacture of ...
Sun, 31 Jan 10
Bulgaria's 'green' energy boom sparks fears
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/bulgarias-green-energy-boom-sparks-fears-1884265.html
Independent (UK): Bulgaria is undergoing a boom in the renewable energy sector that experts warn could see an influx of dodgy investment and actually end up doing more harm than good for the environment. And the government - the main driver behind the boom - is taking note. This month it imposed a half-year moratorium on new "green" energy projects in a bid to sift out those with serious financing and prevent a vital Black Sea bird migration route from being built over with wind ...
Sun, 31 Jan 10
One slip does not change the big picture
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/special-report/One-slip-does-not-change-the-big-picture/articleshow/5518665.cms
Times of India: After more than 20 years of concerted international effort, our understanding of the impact of human activity on the climate has improved dramatically. The results are sobering: unchecked, greenhouse gas emissions are leading to higher temperatures and sea levels, greater stresses on water supplies, and changes in ecosystems. They are also a leading factor in the retreat of most of the world's glaciers. But to judge from the hue and cry emanating from the IPCC's recent withdrawal of ...
Sun, 31 Jan 10
United States: Cleantech: Silicon Valley's next great wave of innovation
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_14224228?source=rss
San Jose Mercury News: Silicon Valley earned its name and first great fortune as the cradle of the computer age. Then it built a launching pad for the Internet age. Now the valley has assumed a leading role in the global competition to develop renewable energy and other clean, green technologies. Cleantech is poised to be the valley's third great wave of innovation -- not just the next big thing, but perhaps the biggest thing ever. Confronting the peril of greenhouse gases and climate change happens to be a ...
Sun, 31 Jan 10
Obama sets targets on agencies' greenhouse gas emissions
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012904145.html
Washington Post: President Obama set specific greenhouse-gas emissions targets for the federal government Friday, saying it would aim to reduce its emissions by 28 percent by 2020. The executive order, which covers 35 government agencies that must submit plans to the Office of Management and Budget by June for meeting the target, takes aim at the nation's single-largest energy consumer, although it represents a small fraction of total U.S. energy spending. The federal government spent more than ...
Sun, 31 Jan 10
As carmakers plug 'green,' consumers have plenty of questions
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012904106.html
Washington Post: "Where's the tailpipe?" asks a middle-age man as he steps off the escalator at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and spots the Fiat 500, a sporty, smaller car designed to appeal to the Mini Cooper set. "It's electric?" Yes. It's electric, just like the Chevy Volt, the Nissan Leaf and a host of other cars making an appearance this week at the annual Washington Auto Show. This year's show is heavy on the green, with 65,000 square feet of what show organizers call the ...
Sun, 31 Jan 10
Italy solar industry wants improved incentive plan
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60S5L220100129
Reuters: Italian government should improve its new incentive plan for booming solar sector including tariff cuts and cap on subsidized capacity to ensure investment flow and steady industry growth, an sector body head said on Friday. The government, which works on a new incentive plan as the current one is due to expire this year, has said it would cut incentives to ease the budget burden. It is expected to present the new scheme in mid-February. Cuts in a key feed-in tariff proposed by ...
Sun, 31 Jan 10
German biodiesel plants face closure on low sales
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60S42C20100129
Reuters: Germany's biodiesel industry expects to operate at around 50 percent of capacity in 2010 as taxes are making the green fuel too expensive for motorists, a biofuels industry leader said on Friday. Germany's 4.8 million tonne annual capacity biodiesel industry, Europe's largest, is estimated to have produced about 2.5 million tonnes in 2009, down from 2.7 million tonnes in 2008, said Elmar Baumann, chief executive of German biofuels industry association VBO. "We expect the same ...
Sun, 31 Jan 10
Obama Acts to Ease Way to Construct Reactors
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/science/earth/30nuke.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: The Obama administration moved vigorously on two fronts Friday to promote nuclear power, proposing a tripling of federal loan guarantees for new projects and appointing a high-level commission to study what to do with nuclear waste. Administration officials confirmed that their 2011 federal budget request next week would raise potential loan guarantees for the projects to more than $54 billion, from $18.5 billion. A new Energy Department panel will examine a vastly expanded list of ...
Sun, 31 Jan 10
U.S. Government Plans to Reduce Its Energy Use
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/science/earth/30efficient.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: The federal government will take steps to cut its energy use and reduce its heat-trapping emissions by 28 percent by 2020, compared with 2008 levels, the White House announced on Friday. The government is the largest user of electricity and fuel in the country, accounting for roughly 1.5 percent of the nation`s annual energy consumption and emissions of the gases that contribute to global warming. The White House said the emissions reduction goal, if met, would save $8 billion to $11 ...
Sun, 31 Jan 10
China Insists That Its Steps on Climate Be Voluntary
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/world/asia/30china.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: As a Sunday target date approaches for countries to submit to the United Nations their plans for fighting climate change, China is banding together with other major developing nations to stress that only the wealthier countries need to make internationally binding commitments. So while China, the world`s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, might put down in writing its targets for slowing the growth of emissions, it will make clear that those efforts are voluntary steps it plans to ...
Sun, 31 Jan 10
Bin Laden blast on climate change
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5glfuDuvBfTb9gBKCKCtD8UGAIfMw
Press Association: Terror chief Osama bin Laden sought to draw a wider public into his fight against the US in a new message, dropping his usual talk of religion and holy war and focusing instead on an unexpected topic - global warming. The al Qaida leader blamed the US and other industrialised nations for climate change and said the only way to prevent disaster was to break the American economy, calling on the world to boycott US goods and stop using the dollar. "The effects of global warming ...
Sun, 31 Jan 10
Pentagon review to address climate change for the first time
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/78855-pentagon-review-to-address-climate-change-for-the-first-time
The Hill: The Pentagon is addressing climate change for the first time in its sweeping review of military strategy. The Pentagon is set to release the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) on Monday, along with the 2011 budget request. In the review, Pentagon officials are expected to conclude that climate change will act as an "accelerant of instability and conflict," ultimately placing a burden on civilian institutions and militaries around the world. Senate Foreign Relations ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Climate: the long and winding road after Copenhagen
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-the-long-and-winding-road-after-copenhagen-1883767.html
Independent (UK): After the near-train wreck of last month's Copenhagen climate summit, what lies ahead for efforts to beat back global warming? Next week may yield the first clues. Countries are being asked to say by Sunday whether they will endorse an 11th-hour deal, the "Copenhagen Accord," which saved the marathon meeting from collapse but sparked accusations of failure and betrayal. By week's end, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will have a picture of the response, ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
US Commits to Greenhouse Gas Cuts under Copenhagen Climate Accord
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=us-commits-to-greenhouse-gas-cuts-under-copenhagen-accord
Scientific American: The U.S. officially committed in writing yesterday to the greenhouse gas emission cuts proposed by President Obama in Copenhagen--4 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. The letter to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) commits the nation to combat climate change, but with a caveat: any such commitment must be backed by legislation, which has not passed the U.S. Senate. "The U.S. submission reflects President Obama's continued commitment to meeting the ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Bin Laden condemns US for climate change
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2010/01/29/Bin-Laden-condemns-US-for-climate-change/UPI-98021264799305/
United Press International: Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden condemned the United States and other nations, saying Friday in a new audio tape they are responsible for global warming. Bin Laden criticized former President George W. Bush for rejecting the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions and condemned global corporations, reported al-Jazeera, which said it obtained the tape. "This is a message to the whole world about those responsible for climate change and its repercussions -- whether ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Climate change: sailing through the perfect storm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthcomment/geoffrey-lean/7106091/Climate-change-sailing-through-the-perfect-storm.html
Telegraph: That forecast proved to be as spot-on as the Met Office's recent predictions. First, the hacked emails from the University of East Anglia caused unprecedented public doubts about the climate science, which were later compounded by the discovery that the latest report of the official Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) contained the wildly inaccurate prediction that Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035. Copenhagen fell apart, only rescued from complete collapse by a hastily ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Climate change chief defends stance on melting Himalayan glaciers
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7009081.ece
Times (UK): The chairman of the leading climate change watchdog was informed that claims about melting Himalayan glaciers were false before the Copenhagen summit, The Times has learnt. Rajendra Pachauri was told that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment that the glaciers would disappear by 2035 was wrong, but he waited two months to correct it. He failed to act despite learning that the claim had been refuted by several leading glaciologists. The IPCC's report ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Cost of UK flood protection doubles to £1bn a year
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/29/cost-of-uk-flood-protection
Guardian: More than half a million homes are at "significant" risk of flooding and the cost of protecting them will double to £1bn a year by 2035, according to the latest data from the Environment Agency (EA). The rising costs will be incurred from the impacts of climate change that will take effect in the coming decades, meaning the risks to homes and communities will increase unless defences are improved. The costs of dealing with floods can run into the billions - the devastating ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Obama spells out differences with GOP on energy
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_environment
Associated Press: President Barack Obama says he and congressional Republicans could agree better on a national energy policy if they would accept that greater efforts are needed on a transition to cleaner technologies. Answering a question at a House GOP retreat Friday, Obama said "nobody has been a bigger advocate of clean-coal technology than I." But he also said he and Republicans "have a serious disagreement" about long-term energy strategy. Obama told the group, meeting in Baltimore, that ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Bin Laden blames industrial nations for global warming
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-01-29-bin-laden-blames-industrial-nations-for-global-warming/
Agence France-Presse: Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden blamed industrial nations for global warming and urged a boycott of the U.S. dollar to end "slavery" in an audio tape aired by Al-Jazeera television on Friday. "All industrial nations, mainly the big ones, are responsible for the crisis of global warming," bin Laden said in the message attributed to him by the pan-Arab news channel based in Doha. In an unusual message possibly timed to coincide with the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, he ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
China's clever water use boosts food yields
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/china-s-clever-water-use-boosts-food-yields.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment
SciDev.Net: China produces more food for the same amount of water than other countries in Africa and Asia, researchers have found. The report, completed by Li Baoguo and colleagues from the China Agricultural University, found that China produces 1--1.5 kilograms of wheat and corn per cubic metre of water, compared with Ethiopia's 0.1--0.2 kilograms, India's 0.2--0.7 and Kazakhstan's 0.2--0.3. The researchers calculated China's crop water productivity (CWP) by analysing national food ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Osama bin Laden enters global warming debate
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7104143/Osama-bin-Laden-enters-global-warming-debate.html
Telegraph: Apparently speaking in his second audio broadcast of the month, Bin Laden criticised George W Bush, the former US president, for not signing the Kyoto Protocol on regulating carbon emissions, and spoke out against excessive corporate influence in the United States. He also presented himself as an opponent of government bail outs to western banks, whose speculation and unfair competition practices, he claimed, were largely to blame for the global financial crisis. "When those ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Osama bin Laden lends unwelcome support in fight against climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/29/osama-bin-laden-climate-change
Guardian: Climate science is under assault, progress towards a treaty to end global warming is shuddering to a halt, and Barack Obama is struggling to press on with his clean energy agenda. This was the last conversion to the environmental cause that anybody would have wanted. In a new audiotape that surfaced today on the al-Jazeera network, Osama bin Laden has pronounced himself a believer in climate change and blames America and other industrialised economies for failing to rein in ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Gov't told to cut own greenhouse gases 28 percent
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/01/29/govt_told_to_cut_own_greenhouse_gases_28_percent/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news
Associated Press: President Barack Obama says the federal government will reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent in the next decade -- an ambitious goal that exceeds targets for the country as a whole. As the single largest energy consumer in the U.S. economy, Obama says the government spent more than $24.5 billion on electricity and fuel in 2008 alone. He says achieving the new pollution goal would cut federal energy use by the equivalent of 205 million barrels of oil, the same as ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Copenhagen talks and climate science survive stolen e-mail controversy
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=negating-climategate
Scientific American: Even under this city's low, leaden skies, at least one thing remained clear as leaders from 193 countries gathered to negotiate climate agreements: one ton of carbon dioxide emitted in the U.S. has the same effect as one ton emitted in India or anywhere else. That simple truism is part of a huge body of data pointing to humanity's effect on climate, and for most negotiators, the weight of that evidence seems to have crushed any doubt they may have felt in the wake of the 1,000-plus e-mails ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Senators try to raise climate bill from ashes
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/56519
Reuters: Senators are examining ways to fashion a climate control bill to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which might not include a cap-and-trade system, key senators said on Thursday. President Barack Obama called for a "comprehensive" bill during Wednesday's State of the Union address. In his speech, Obama did not specifically mention the need for a market-based emissions cap. Some interpreted the omission as signaling that he would not actively pursue wide-ranging climate control ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
In low-lying Bangladesh, the sea takes a human toll
http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2234
Yale Environment 360: Danish photographer and filmmaker Jonathan Bjerg Møller recently spent nine months in Bangladesh, chronicling the lives of people struggling to survive just a few feet above sea level. He traveled to the South Asian nation after hearing projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change about the millions of climate refugees that would be created this century by rising seas and more powerful storms. Møller wanted to put a human face on this issue, and decided there was no better ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Exclusive: UK firms to pioneer employee carbon cap and trade
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2257017/uk-firms-pioneer-employee
Business Green: A small group of UK firms are poised to trial an innovative new personal carbon trading scheme that promises to slash employees' carbon emissions by offering the greenest members of staff financial bonuses. The initiative, known as the personal allowance carbon tracking scheme (PACT), is being organised by environmental consultancy WSP Environment & Energy, which has successfully trialed its own employee carbon trading scheme for the past two years. Speaking to ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Indonesia: Indigenous people get '20%' REDD money
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/01/29/indigenous-people-get-%E2%80%9820%E2%80%99-redd-money.html
Jakarta Post: At least 20 percent of revenue from the forest carbon scheme should be transferred to indigenous people who play crucial roles in protecting the forest to avoid emission leakages, a minister said. State Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said that much revenue from the carbon trade was needed to ensure the sustainability of emission reduction in tackling climate change. "Giving indigenous people a fair share also acknowledges their rights," Gusti said. He said the ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
World may not do climate deal this year: UN
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60S39Z20100129
Reuters: Global climate talks may have to continue into 2011 after failing last month to agree on a Kyoto successor, the U.N.'s climate chief Yvo de Boer, told Reuters on Friday. A lack of trust and the economic crisis complicated prospects for a global climate deal in Mexico at a December meeting, said President Felipe Calderon, the prospective host of those talks. The world failed to commit in Copenhagen last month to succeed or extend the existing Kyoto Protocol from 2013. De Boer ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Canada: Olympic no-show snow due to climate change: scientist
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/01/28/bc-olympics-climate-change.html
CBC: Climate change and global warming are partly to blame for the current snow shortage on Vancouver's Cypress Mountain, according to the David Suzuki Foundation. (CBC) The David Suzuki Foundation says global warming and climate change are in part responsible for what's happening to a key Olympic venue. Olympic organizers are working around the clock to ensure there's enough snow on Cypress Mountain, home to freestyle ski and snowboard events for the Games. Record warm ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Bin Laden Rebukes U.S. on Climate Change
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/world/middleeast/30binladen.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, blamed the United States and developed countries for not halting climate change and said that the global economy should immediately abandon its reliance on the American dollar, according to an audiotape released Friday by the broadcaster Al Jazeera. "Talk about climate change is not an ideological luxury but a reality," Mr. bin Laden was quoted as saying in a report on Al Jazeera`s English-language Web site. "All of the industrialized ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Massachusetts Sets Ambitious Energy Standards
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/science/earth/30energy.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Massachusetts state officials announced on Friday new energy efficiency standards for utilities that aim to be the most ambitious in the nation. The plan calls for a statewide reduction of 2.4 percent in electricity use and 1.15 percent in natural gas use annually for three years. The savings are to be achieved largely through $1.6 billion in incentives for utility customers who take certain actions to conserve energy, like insulating their houses or replacing conventional light bulbs ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Obama seeks more nuclear loan guarantees
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100129/pl_nm/us_nuclear_loans
Reuters: President Barack Obama plans to propose a tripling of government loan guarantees for new nuclear reactors to more than $54 billion, an administration official said on Friday, a move sure to win over some Republican lawmakers who want more nuclear power to be part of climate change legislation. The loan guarantees, which follow Obama's pledge in his State of the Union address to work to expand nuclear power production, will be announced as part of Obama's budget proposal on Monday, the ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
U.S. government to reduce its emissions 28 percent by 2020
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60S42M20100129?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: President Barack Obama said on Friday the U.S. government would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 28 percent by 2020 as the result of an executive order he issued to set the example on fighting climate change.
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Germany aims to delay solar incentive cuts: sources say
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60S41N20100129?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen wants to delay his proposed 15-percent cuts in solar power incentives by one month until May 1 rather than April 1, government sources told Reuters on Friday. Roettgen has faced criticism from within his own party, with regional leaders urging him to delay or water down his proposed 15-percent cut in the incentives that utilities are obligated by law to pay producers of solar power. Solar power companies in Germany, where about half ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Indian glaciologist criticised by IPCC chief joins calls for resignation
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/29/ipcc-rajendra-pachauri-glaciers
Guardian: When it was announced that the International Panel on Climate Change would share the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore, its chairman, Dr Rajendra Pachauri became something of a national icon. Propelled into the spotlight, he was feted at home and abroad. India took him to its heart and he, in turn, was happy to share his good fortune: "I feel very good about being an Indian and if this brings joy to Indians, if it brings a sense of pride to the country, I would want them to share ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Bin Laden urges abandoning dollar: Al Jazeera tape
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100129/ts_nm/us_binladen_economy
Reuters: Osama bin Laden urged an end to reliance on the U.S. dollar as one solution to the global financial crisis and blamed developed countries for climate change, in an audiotape said to be of the al Qaeda leader. The authenticity of the tape, aired on Friday and the second by bin Laden to air on Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera this week, could not be immediately confirmed. "It is necessary for us to avoid doing business in the dollar, and to finish with it in the fastest possible ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
US submits Copenhagen Accord emission target
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2257012/submits-copenhagen-accord
Business Green: The US yesterday joined with the EU in formally submitting its proposed emission target for 2020 to the UN under the Copenhagen Accord. As widely expected, the US stuck with its negotiating position at last month's Copenhagen Summit saying that it would cut greenhouse gas emissions 17 per cent on 2005 levels by 2020, although it said the target was dependent on domestic climate change legislation being passed. The submission, which will be added to the annex of the Copenhagen ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
U.S. formally embraces Copenhagen climate deal
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60R6YF20100129?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The United States on Thursday formally notified the United Nations that it has embraced the Copenhagen Accord setting nonbinding goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that was negotiated last month. Todd Stern, the top U.S. climate negotiator for the Obama administration, also gave notice that, as expected, it will aim for a 17 percent reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming by 2020, with 2005 as the base year. A final emissions ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Nations Take First Steps on Copenhagen 'Accord'
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/29/29climatewire-nations-take-first-steps-on-copenhagen-accor-35621.html
ClimateWire: The United States has officially promised the world that it will reduce global warming pollution about 17 percent below 2005 levels in the next decade. Now the question is whether President Obama can deliver. In an announcement yesterday, U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern submitted America's target to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change as part of a Jan. 31 deadline negotiated in Copenhagen last year. In doing so, Stern made a point of noting that the final figure could change ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
U.S. embraces Copenhagen pact, Senators rework bill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60R5F520100128
Reuters: The Obama Administration formally embraced the Copenhagen Accord on global warming on Thursday, a day after the president urged a fractious U.S. Congress to get to work on comprehensive legislation to stem the nation's emissions. U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern gave notice to the United Nations that the country will aim for a 17 percent emissions cut in carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming by 2020, from 2005 levels. The move, which confirmed the goal set by ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Atmospheric dry spell eases global warming
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123075836
National Public Radio: A new study helps explain why the planet didn't warm up dramatically over the course of the past decade, even though the gases that cause global warming increased dramatically. Scientists have identified a surprising phenomenon 10 miles above our heads that explains part of this unexpected pause in warming. "People very reasonably have asked me why is it that in the last decade, it just doesn't look it got that much warmer, when CO2 has continued to increase, and in fact has ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Kentucky greenhouse-emission growth is worst in nation, panel told
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100128/NEWS01/1280362/Kentucky%20greenhouse-emission%20growth%20is%20worst%20in%20nation%20%20panel%20told
Courier-Journal: Kentucky's greenhouse gas emissions are increasing at twice the rate of the rest of the nation, according to a draft inventory prepared for state environment officials. The Center for Climate Strategies found greenhouse gases -- mainly carbon dioxide -- rose 33 percent from 1990 to 2005, compared to 16 percent for the nation. Left unchecked, emissions are projected to increase to 62 percent above 1990 levels by 2030. Those were among the numbers discussed Thursday as a newly ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Heathrow third runway pollution plan 'inadequate'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8486190.stm
BBC: There are "clear inadequacies" in pollution safeguards imposed on the planned expansion of Heathrow Airport, London Assembly members have said. Measures against the impact of a third runway were not "fit for purpose", its environment committee added. It was also concerned that no single authority would ensure owners BAA and airlines complied with pollution rules. A Department for Transport spokesman said its environmental criteria for the airport were "robust and ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Study Finds Less Water Vapor Slows Earth's Warming Trends
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/science/earth/29vapor.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: A decrease in water vapor concentrations in parts of the middle atmosphere has contributed to a slowing of Earth`s warming, researchers are reporting. The finding, they said, offers part of the explanation for a string of years with relatively stable global surface temperatures. Despite the decrease in water vapor, the study`s authors said, the overall trend is still toward a warming climate, primarily caused by a buildup in emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
Study: Water vapor may help 'flatten global warming trend'
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2010-01-29-watervapor29_ST_N.htm
USA Today: Why the Earth's surface temperature hasn't warmed as expected over the past decade continues to be a puzzle for scientists. One study out earlier this month theorized that the Earth's climate may be less sensitive to greenhouse gases than currently assumed. Another surprising factor could be the amount of water vapor way up in the stratosphere, according to a new study out Thursday in the journal Science. Water vapor, a potent, natural greenhouse gas that absorbs sunlight and ...
Sat, 30 Jan 10
With climate change, some birds are taking off for migration sooner; not reaching destinations earlier
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100128130221.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: Migrating birds can and do keep their travel dates flexible, a new study published online on January 28th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, reveals. But in the case of pied flycatchers, at least, an earlier takeoff hasn't necessarily translated into an earlier arrival at their destination. It appears the problem is travel delays the birds are experiencing as a result of harsh weather conditions on the final leg of their journey through Europe. The discovery may in a sense ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Landmark SEC ruling calls on firms to disclose climate impacts
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256948/landmark-sec-ruling-advises
Business Green: In a landmark ruling that could have a major impact on many firms' climate change strategies, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday stepped up pressure to disclose climate-related risks and opportunities as part of their annual reports. SEC Commissioners split along party lines, voting 3-2 in favour of new interpretative guidance that effectively requires firms to disclose business or legal developments relating to climate change. Under existing SEC rules, ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
S.E.C. adds climate risk to disclosure list
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/business/28sec.html
New York Times: The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday for the first time that public companies should warn investors of any serious risks that global warming might pose to their businesses. Although the agency has long required companies to reveal possible financial or legal impacts from a variety of environmental challenges, it has never specifically cited climate change as bringing potentially significant business risks or rewards. The S.E.C., on a party-line 3-2 vote, ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
China sea levels reach record high
http://www.china.org.cn/environment/2010-01/28/content_19320075.htm
China Daily: The sea level in China late last year hit a record high for the past three decades, threatening the safety of thousands of people in the coastal areas, the national ocean agency said yesterday. The average rise in sea level for the past three decades occurred at a rate of 2.6 mm a year, much higher than the average rate of 1.7 mm annually across the world, a report on the sea-level rise in China for 2009 released by the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) showed. "Last year, the ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
South Africa: The Solid Business Case for Cutting Carbon Emissions
http://allafrica.com/stories/201001280689.html
BusinessDay: AIRLINES are fast waking up to the fact that cutting carbon emissions is not just about saving the planet but is central to their future profitability. With the implementation of the European Union's (EU's) Environmental Trading Scheme for the aviation industry just two years away, carriers are realising that there is a real cost to not cutting emissions. In the next few years it will become central to the management of an airline and will affect everything from route and ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Norway: Oslo reiterates pledge of at least 30 pct CO2 cut
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60R2M020100128?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Norway reaffirmed on Thursday a unilateral pledge to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30 percent by 2020 as part of international efforts to combat global warming. Environment Minister Erik Solheim also restated a policy announced in October that Oslo was willing to deepen the cuts to 40 percent below 1990 levels if other nations showed more ambition as part of an international agreement. "For now we will report in the 30 to 40 percent range," he told a news ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Scientists in stolen e-mail scandal hid climate data
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7004936.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
Times (UK): The university at the centre of the climate change row over stolen e-mails broke the law by refusing to hand over its raw data for public scrutiny. The University of East Anglia breached the Freedom of Information Act by refusing to comply with requests for data concerning claims by its scientists that man-made emissions were causing global warming. The Information Commissioner's Office decided that UEA failed in its duties under the Act but said that it could not prosecute ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Experts fear count will reveal a deadly winter for birds
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/experts-fear-count-will-reveal-a-deadly-winter-for-birds-1880890.html
Independent (UK): It's been the hardest winter for 30 years -- but how bad has it really been for wildlife, and especially for birds? The first large-scale attempt to find out will take place this weekend, when half a million people will be counting the birds on their bird tables, patios and frozen lawns, in the Big Garden Birdwatch of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The annual survey, which is now the largest "citizen science' exercise anywhere in the world -- last year more than ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Wind farms can cause noise problems finds study
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7085086/Wind-farms-can-cause-noise-problems-finds-study.html
Telegraph: The study by a panel of independent experts found that the irritation caused by the noise around wind farms can effect certain individuals. Scientists dismissed the idea of a "wind turbine syndrome" where the vibrations in the air or the particular sound waves from wind turbines cause headaches, nausea and panic attacks. Plans for thousands of wind turbines and tidal barrage threatened by costs However, they did concede that the swishing sound caused by wind turbines can ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Is clean tech China's moon shot?
http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=reutersnews&articleid=TRE60R02S&feed=Bus&action=article
Reuters: So far, wind turbines are not Sputnik. But one day they could be. The global race to develop clean technology is not just about who can build the best solar parks or wind farms. It is also shaping up as a contest between Chinese-style capitalism and the more market-oriented approach fancied by the United States and Europe. The question comes down to this: will China's highly capitalized command-and-control economy trump laissez-faire in a low-carbon shift that is widely ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Fears 200,000 homes will be built on green belt land
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7083985/Fears-200000-homes-will-be-built-on-green-belt-land.html
Telegraph: The Natural England report found green belt contains a third of England's nature reserves, 44 per cent of country parks and has on average 20 per cent more public rights of way than the national average. But the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said the land is under threat from development as part of the Government's plans to build three million more homes by 2020. The group looked at the latest plans by local authorities to calculate the number of houses that could be ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
United Kingdom: E-mail row unit 'broke data law'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8484385.stm
BBC: A university unit involved in a row over stolen e-mails on climate research breached rules by withholding data, the Information Commissioner's Office says. Officials said messages leaked in November showed that requests under the Freedom of Information Act were "not dealt with as they should have been". But too much time has passed for action against the University of East Anglia. The UEA says part of a probe into the case will consider the way requests by climate change ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Obama eager to help advance climate bill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60R0ME20100128?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he wants to advance a climate bill that has been stalled in the U.S. Senate, but he did not say it had to include a cap-and-trade market for emissions blamed for warming the planet. Under cap-and-trade, utilities, oil refineries and factories would be required to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases over the next 40 years. Companies would have to obtain permits for each ton of carbon dioxide they emit and those permits would be traded on ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Research on global 'sun block' needed now, experts argue
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100127134243.htm
ScienceDaily: Internationally coordinated research and field-testing on 'geoengineering' the planet's atmosphere to limit risk of climate change should begin soon along with building international governance of the technology, say scientists from the University of Calgary and the United States. Collaborative and government-supported studies on solar-radiation management, a form of geo-engineering, would reduce the risk of nations' unilateral experiments and help identify technologies with the least ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Ambition, not tactics, must fix climate targets
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/ambition,-not-tactics,-must-fix-climate-targets/66994.aspx
European Voice: Although international negotiations on tackling climate change crashed horribly in December's talks in Copenhagen, they did not come to a complete standstill. The first significant post-Copenhagen deadline looms this weekend: by Sunday (31 January), countries are supposed to submit their emission-reduction pledges to the United Nations climate secretariat. The EU came out of Copenhagen bloodied and bruised. The Union's part in the debacle is still disputed, but one dominant account is ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Radiation Levels Cloud Vermont Reactor's Fate
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/business/energy-environment/28nuclear.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Levels of radioactive tritium have risen rapidly in recent weeks in the groundwater surrounding Vermont`s sole nuclear power plant, leading both longtime supporters and foes of the reactor to question whether it will be allowed to keep operating. Owners of the Vermont Yankee plant, along the Connecticut River just north of the Massachusetts border near Brattleboro, are seeking a 20-year extension of the plant`s operating license, which expires in 2012. But the rising radiation ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Climate change to triple Australia fire danger: report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100128/sc_afp/australiaclimatewarmingweatherfire
Agence France-Presse: Climate change could more than triple the risk of catastrophic wildfires in parts of Australia, a top environmental group warned Thursday, almost a year since savage firestorms that killed 173 people. Greenpeace warned that, without a new climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, the frequency of severe fire danger in drought-parched southeastern Australia would grow threefold by 2050. "Catastrophic" conditions similar to those ahead of February's so-called "Black Saturday" ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Harsh winter a sign of disruptive climate change, report says
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/28/AR2010012800041.html?wprss=rss_nation
Washington Post: This winter's extreme weather -- with heavy snowfall in some places and unusually low temperatures -- is in fact a sign of how climate change disrupts long-standing patterns, according to a new report by the National Wildlife Federation. It comes at a time when, despite a wealth of scientific evidence, the American public is increasingly skeptical that climate change is happening at all. That disconnect is particularly important this year as the Obama administration and its allies in ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Amplification of Global Warming by Carbon-Cycle Feedback Significantly Less Than Thought, Study Suggests
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100127134721.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: A new estimate of the feedback between temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration has been derived from a comprehensive comparison of temperature and CO2 records spanning the past millennium. The result, which is based on more than 200,000 individual comparisons, implies that the amplification of current global warming by carbon-cycle feedback will be significantly less than recent work has suggested. Climate warming causes many changes in the global carbon ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Egypt's fertile Nile Delta falls prey to climate change
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100128/sc_afp/egyptclimateagriculture
Agence France-Presse: The Nile Delta, Egypt's bread basket since antiquity, is being turned into a salty wasteland by rising seawaters, forcing some farmers off their lands and others to import sand in a desperate bid to turn back the tide. Experts warn that global warming will have a major impact in the delta on agriculture resources, tourism and human migration besides shaking the region's fragile ecosystems. Over the last century, the Mediterranean Sea, which fronts the coast of the Nile Delta, ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Obama aims to win climate bill with green jobs, nuclear
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SGE60R08F.htm
Reuters: President Barack Obama, trying to save a stalled bill to fight climate change, said on Wednesday clean energy investment could power jobs growth and made no mention of creating a market in planet-warming emissions. The bill aims to cut carbon pollution by putting a price on the emissions from utilities, refineries and factories and creating a market for pollution permits. It also commits the United States to carbon reduction targets for the next 40 years. Opponents fear the ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Explaining a Global Climate Panel's Key Missteps
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1957127,00.html
Time Magazine: When it was awarded a share of the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) may well have been one of the most respected organizations in the world. To some, the IPCC's co-Nobelist, Al Gore, would never be anything more than a Democratic politician, and therefore inherently untrustworthy, but the global climate body rose above politics, having the benefit of being made up of thousands of scientists from more than 100 countries, who drew ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Adviser: White House committed to climate change bill
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32124.html
Politico: The top White House climate adviser pushed back against reports that a climate bill would be scaled back -- but shied away from giving an exact time frame for when the Senate should take up the legislation. "I think predictions about when something is going to happen in the legislative process are very, very hard to make; you have to just continue working at it,' Carol Browner told an audience assembled for a climate and energy forum. "We're encouraged by what we are seeing, and we're ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Reforestation vital for Africa & climate: Developer
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1862
Carbon Positive: A forest carbon developer has claimed the first validation of a reforestation project to the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), using the opportunity to argue for what it sees as the critical role for forest planting in a sector where attention is turning very much to avoided deforestation, or REDD. Green Resources is currently developing two reforestation projects in Tanzania, one at Mapanda and Uchindele to the VCS, and another at Idete under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). ...
Fri, 29 Jan 10
Clean tech giants cling to start up pay mentality
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256891/clean-tech-giants-cling-start
Business Green: They are fast emerging as the new Silverbacks in the corporate jungle, but that has not stopped clean tech companies sticking with their start up roots when it comes to executive remuneration. According to a study of executive compensation data from 95 publicly traded clean tech firms undertaken by San Francisco-based consultancy Presidio Pay Advisors, listed firms operating in low carbon industries still resemble start ups with a surprisingly large proportion of executive ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Australia: Minimal climate goal set
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/minimal-climate-goal-set-20100127-myxn.html
Sydney Morning Herald: AUSTRALIA has declared it will not go beyond a 5 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 without guaranteed action by major emitters including the US, China and India. The Government's formal submission to the Copenhagen Accord - the widely criticised agreement hatched between the US and major developing countries at the conference last month - pledges to cut emissions between 5 and 25 per cent below 2000 levels. It is the same range taken to the December meeting, bucking ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
EU maintains pledge for deeper emissions cuts, if others follow
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100127/sc_afp/euclimatewarming
Agence France Presse: EU nations decided Wednesday to maintain their pledge to make 30 percent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions if other industrialised nations do the same, diplomats said. Representatives of the 27 European Union countries, meeting in Brussels decided to stick to the conditional pledge to make the deep cuts by 2020, an offer that was on the table at international climate talks in Copenhagen last month which failed to fix binding targets. The EU has already agreed unilaterally to cut ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Runaway CO2 rise 'could be lower'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8483722.stm
BBC: The most alarming forecasts of natural systems amplifying the human-induced greenhouse effect may be too high, according to a new report. The study in Nature confirms that as the planet warms, oceans and forests will absorb proportionally less CO2. It says this will increase the effects of man-made warming - but much less than recent research has suggested. The authors warn, though, that their research will not reduce projections of future temperature ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Texas waterway partially reopens after oil spill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60Q65C20100127?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A waterway in Port Arthur, Texas, used to supply oil refineries in the region was partially reopened to ship traffic on Wednesday, after a tanker collision and oil spill on Saturday had caused its closure, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The key Sabine-Neches waterway, which serves four major refiners that process up to 1.15 million barrels a day, was reopened to "limited" tanker traffic after the removal of the leaky Eagle Otome tanker from the waterway overnight, the Coast Guard said in ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Bacteria Transformed into Biofuel Refineries
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bacteria-transformed-into-biofuel-refineries
Scientific American: Scientists have transformed E. coli to produce diesel and other hydrocarbons from sugars--as well as secrete enzymes to break down cellulose. The bacteria responsible for most cases of food poisoning in the U.S. has been turned into an efficient biological factory to make chemicals, medicines and, now, fuels. Chemical engineer Jay Keasling of the University of California, Berkeley, and his colleagues have manipulated the genetic code of Escherichia coli, a common gut bacteria, so that ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Agency finds high benzene levels on Barnett Shale
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100127/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gas_drilling_pollution
Assiociated Press: Air testing over one of the nation's biggest natural gas fields revealed two sites with extremely high levels of cancer-causing benzene and 19 more with elevated levels of the chemical, Texas environmental regulators said Wednesday. The highly anticipated announcement of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's test results ended months of waiting for residents who've been worried since state and private surveys detected elevated levels of benzene last year on the ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Americans cooling on climate change, survey says
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/27/climate.report.america.trust/
CNN International: Public concern about global warming and trust in climate leaders has dropped sharply in the U.S. according to a survey. Fifty-seven percent of Americans polled at the end of 2009 and early 2010 believe climate change is happening compared with a figure of 71 percent in October 2008. The report, "Climate Change in the American Mind" published jointly by Yale University and the George Mason University Wednesday also reveals a picture of falling trust in scientists, politicians ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
US Senator vows action on climate change
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ilFyCxOzd5iPZs2LMeMqEcfz21vg
Agence France Presse: A US Senator leading efforts to pass legislation to battle climate change said supporters of the measure were "not scaling back" their efforts despite an election setback for the White House. "We are not scaling back our efforts. We have not changed our goals one bit," Democratic Senator John Kerry said of efforts to craft an approach that can rally the 60 votes needed to clear the US Senate. Supporters of the approach have seen their legislative options narrow after ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Brazil: Social forum activists talk of 'green' conspiracy
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100127/ap_on_bi_ge/lt_brazil_social_forum
Assiociated Press: Leftist activists protesting capitalism at the World Social Forum claimed Wednesday that multinational corporations in cahoots with governments are trying to take control of a new multibillion-dollar market for reducing emissions that cause global warming. They made the accusation on the third day of the gathering of leftists that serves as an annual counterweight to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "The companies that caused the problems are saying, 'Trust us, ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Yale Finds Climate-Change Concern Wanes in US
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-27/yale-finds-climate-change-concern-wanes-in-u-s-update1-.html
Bloomberg: Senators trying to salvage climate- change legislation this year are circulating a scaled-back plan to reduce emissions, as a Yale University poll showed public concern about global warming is declining. Among proposals being discussed to achieve President Barack Obama's goal of capping carbon-dioxide pollution to combat warming is a "hybrid' approach combining a tax on carbon emissions from refineries and emissions limits for other industries, according to Senator Lindsey Graham, a ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
University in hacked climate change emails row broke FOI rules
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/27/uea-hacked-climate-emails-foi
Guardian: The University of East Anglia flouted Freedom of Information regulations in its handling of requests for data from climate sceptics, according to the government body that administers the act. In a statement, the deputy information commissioner Graham Smith said emails between scientists at the university's Climatic Research Unit (CRU) that were hacked and placed on the internet in November revealed that FOI requests were "not dealt with as they should have been under the ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
China's Cabinet says pollution situation still serious
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60Q3N220100127?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: China still faces a serious threat from pollution despite recent government efforts to clean up, the Cabinet said on Wednesday, adding the country would step up investment in environmentally friendly industries. While noting some progress at closing outdated factories, cleaning up dirty rivers and increasing access to clean drinking water, the State Council, or Cabinet, warned against any resting on laurels during a regular meeting. "Though our country's environmental ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
No "scaling back" on U.S. cap-and-trade: John Kerry
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60Q44J20100127?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Senator John Kerry, a key U.S. lawmaker trying to craft a cap-and-trade bill, denied a report on Wednesday that advocates of this plan to curb climate change were scaling back their efforts. "Our goal remains exactly what it was before: to price carbon and to create a target for reduction of emissions that is real," the Massachusetts Democrat told a forum on clean energy, jobs and security. "So we have not scaled back our goals, they are the same," Kerry said. "We have not ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Survey reveals public support for more generous feed in tariffs
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256874/survey-reveal-public-support
Business Green: The campaign for the government to increase the proposed level of feed in tariffs for small scale renewable energy technologies received a boost today, with the release of a new survey suggesting almost three quarters of homeowners would install renewable energy systems if the financial returns were attractive enough. The YouGov survey of over 2,100 adults was commissioned by Friends of the Earth, the Renewable Energy Association and the Co-operative Group, and found that there is ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
EU says it has full confidence in key climate change report despite mistakes
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/greenpage/environment/82777937.html
Associated Press: The European Union says it has "full confidence" in a key United Nations climate change study after its authors apologized for mistakes. The EU has based an ambitious and costly plan to turn into a low-carbon economy on dire warnings of global warming from a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a panel of scientists affiliated with the United Nations. The Nobel-prize winning climate scientists have apologized for glaring errors that wrongly predicted ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Trinidad and Tobago: Expect droughts
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161587806
Trinidad and Tobago Express: Droughts can be experienced in Trinidad and Tobago due to climate change, says Prime Minister Patrick Manning as he noted his administration has already taken notice of the water shortages now facing several parts of the country. Manning acknowledged the severity of the situation and revealed the Government's planned response to it during a People's National Movement (PNM) public meeting in Malabar on Tuesday night where residents there told the Express that water problems have been a ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Wind power capacity up in 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60P36020100126
Reuters: U.S. wind power capacity soared 39 percent last year but job growth stalled as uncertainty about renewable energy policies and the recession slowed manufacturing, an industry group said. The combined power generating capacity of new U.S. wind turbines installed last year hit more than 9,900 megawatts, up from a gain of over 8,400 MW in the previous year. Total capacity hit more than 35,000 MW, or about enough to power 9.7 million homes, the American Wind Energy Association ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
India: Jatropha too good to be true?
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/240486/jatropha-too-good-be-true
Agence France-Presse: To its fans, jatropha is a miracle crop, an eco-friendly answer to India's growing energy needs, but some experts are starting to question whether the wonder-shrub is too good to be true. The seeds of the wild plant, which grows abundantly across India, produce non-edible oil that can be blended with diesel to make the biofuel that is part of government efforts to cut carbon emissions and combat climate change. That, combined with the shrub's much vaunted ability to flourish on ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Australia: Scientists discuss climate change, bushfire link
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/27/2802346.htm?section=australia
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Climate experts are meeting in Canberra to discuss the impact of climate change on health and natural disasters. Scientists from across the country are taking part in the annual conference of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society at the Australian National University. Clem Davis from the ANU says the relationship between bushfires and climate change is coming under increasing scientific scrutiny. "That is one of the big concerns, that if we are getting ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Activists hold up Scottish coal terminal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/27/activists-scottish-coal
Guardian: Climate protesters claim they have closed down one of Scotland's main coal terminals, halting 11 coal trucks and a freight train, as activists extended their campaign against opencast mining in South Lanarkshire. Lucy, a camp spokesperson (she would not give her full name), said today's action at Ravenstruther led to 11 coal trucks queuing at the terminal's gate and prevented a coal train being loaded. She said today's action at Ravenstruther involved a male protester locking ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Climate, Energy Programs Could See Boosts Despite Budget Freeze
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/01/27/27greenwire-climate-energy-programs-could-see-boosts-despit-7681.html
Greenwire: Climate change and clean energy programs, which the Obama administration has championed, are expected to remain priorities at U.S. EPA and the Energy Department in the president's fiscal 2011 budget request despite a request to freeze non-military discretionary spending for the next three years. In an effort to make a dent in the federal deficit, the White House announced its plan yesterday to freeze non-military, discretionary spending for the next three years. The proposal -- which ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Gordon Brown could create Britain's own Great Barrier Reef
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7078688/Gordon-Brown-could-create-Britains-own-Great-Barrier-Reef.html
Telegraph: The Chagos Archipelago is home to some of the most endangered animals on Earth including the giant coconut crab, red-footed booby and silky shark. It is also the world's biggest living coral atoll covering an area twice the size of Britain. Conservationists fear that poaching for shark fins, tourism and overfishing could make many animals extinct and even destroy species that have not been discovered yet. They are campaigning for the area to be made a protected marine ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Sweet success for sustainable biofuel research
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100125094641.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: Scientists have found a way to increase fermentable sugar stores in plants which could lead to plant biomass being easier to convert into eco-friendly sustainable biofuels. Their research is highlighted in the latest issue of Business, the quarterly highlights magazine of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Energy is released in a usable form from biomass when biodegradable matter such as wood or straw is burnt or fermented. Fuel for use in cars ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
The Future Of Coal Power Will Require Hard Choices
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122952836&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Next Monday, governments of some of the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases are scheduled to announce how much they'll limit the emissions that warm the planet. That's the deal they made at the Copenhagen climate conference in December. No matter what cuts they promise, they'll all have to take a long, hard look at how much coal they use. It used to be that coal was king in the U.S. But now, coal is guo wang -- that's "king" in Chinese. "Coal is 80 percent of ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Australia: Turnbull to cross the floor on climate
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/govt-to-press-ahead-with-ets-rudd-20100127-my9e.html
AAP: Former opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull plans to defy his party and cross the floor of parliament over climate change next week. And he may not be the only Liberal MP to revolt, potentially launching another round of the climate wars which have twice ripped the party apart. Mr Turnbull's act of dissent comes as the government seeks to jog along troubled international climate talks by formally committing to cut greenhouse gas emissions by five to 25 per cent. Mr ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Courts as Battlefields in Climate Fights
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/business/energy-environment/27lawsuits.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Tiny Kivalina, Alaska, does not have a hotel, a restaurant or a movie theater. But it has a very big lawsuit that might affect the way the nation deals with climate change. Kivalina, an Inupiat Eskimo village of 400 perched on a barrier island north of the Arctic Circle, is accusing two dozen fuel and utility companies of helping to cause the climate change that it says is accelerating the island`s erosion. Blocks of sea ice used to protect the town`s fragile coast from October ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Iceland Leads Environmental Index as U.S. Falls
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/science/earth/27index.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: A new ranking of the world`s nations by environmental performance puts some of the globe`s largest economies far down the list, with the United States sinking to 61st and China to 121st. In the previous version of the Environmental Performance Index, compiled every two years by Yale and Columbia University researchers, the United States ranked 39th, and China 105th. The top performer this year is Iceland, which gets virtually all of its power from renewable sources -- ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Advocates of Climate Bill Scale Down Their Goals
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/science/earth/27climate.html
New York Times: As they watch President Obama`s ambitious health care plan crumble, the advocates of a comprehensive bill to combat global warming are turning their sights to a more modest package of climate and energy measures that they believe has a better chance of clearing Congress this year. Their preferred approach, a cap-and-trade system to curb emissions of climate-changing gases, already faced a difficult road in a bruised and divided Senate. Its prospects grew dimmer after the special ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
John Beddington: chief scientist says climate change sceptics 'should not be dismissed'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7081039/John-Beddington-chief-scientist-says-climate-change-sceptics-should-not-be-dismissed.html
Telegraph: Prof John Beddington admitted the impact of global warming had been exaggerated by some scientists and condemned climate researchers who refused to publish data which formed the basis of their reports into global warming. In an interview, Prof Beddington, called for a new era of honesty and responsibility from the environmental community and said scientists should be less hostile to sceptics who questioned man-made global warming. Prof Beddington said public confidence in ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Philippines: Don't rush acceding to Copenhagen Accord
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/240515/don-t-rush-acceding-copenhagen-accord
Manila Bulletin: With only four days left before governments decide the Copenhagen Accord, President Arroyo was urged by over 30 local and international civil society groups to resist being rushed into committing the Philippines to the widely-criticized agreement on climate change. The CSO Working Group on Climate Change and Development asked Mrs. Arroyo to conduct a thorough study on the Accord's implications on the country's climate survival and economic development. "If the President is ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Australia to put forward unchanged carbon cuts to UN
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100127/sc_afp/unclimatewarmingaustralia
Agence France-Presse: Australia on Wednesday said it would cut greenhouse gas emissions by between five and 25 percent of 2000 levels by 2020, depending on the commitments of other nations. Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said the proposal, consistent with that taken to global climate change talks in Copenhagen last month, would be submitted to the United Nations. "Consistent with our commitment to do no more and no less than the rest of the world, we are today submitting our existing target ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Fast charger promises to re-fuel electric cars within 15 minutes
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256823/fast-charger-promises-fuel
Business Green: One of the main barriers to adoption of electric vehicles could soon be overcome thanks to the development of new fast-charge technology that promises to recharge electric car batteries within a matter of minutes. Norway-based electric car firm Think announced yesterday that it has teamed up with charging technology specialist AeroVironment to produce a new system that promises to recharge a flat battery to 80 per cent capacity within 15 minutes. The two companies said that ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Australia: Toyota tackles Prius' lithium challenge with mining deal
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256833/toyota-goes-source-lithium
Business Green: Toyota may be many things: auto giant, producer of the iconic Prius, scourge of US car firms, but mining firm? Surprisingly, the answer could be yes. The company's Toyota Tsusho subsidiary announced last week that it will take a 25 per cent stake in a new joint venture with Australian mining firm Orocobre to develop Argentinian supplies of lithium, the key component in batteries for the electric and hybrid vehicles that Toyota expects to eventually dominate the global auto ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Car makers "failing consumers" on emission data
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256836/car-makers-failing-consumers
Guardian: Car makers are making the process of searching for a fuel-efficient car " like looking for a needle in a haystack" by burying CO2 figures for their models online, experts and campaigners claimed today. A report from the government's Energy Saving Trust, Friends of the Earth Europe and We are Futureproof, said car companies are failing consumers with "confusing" websites. The online survey involving members of the public found that only half (52 per cent) of attempts by ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Climate NGOs want India to reject Copenhagen Accord
http://sify.com/news/Climate-NGOs-want-India-to-reject-Copenhagen-Accord-news-National-kb1p4ecacih.html
Indo-Asian News Service: An umbrella group of green NGOs has called upon India and other south Asian countries to reject the Copenhagen accord because it was weak to fight climate change and did not have the approval of all countries. In a statement here Wednesday, Climate Action Network - South Asia (CANSA) said it was 'extremely concerned that some governments in Asia have either already associated with the Copenhagen Accord or will do so in due course of time'. The network of 60 organisations -- ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Australia opposition eyeing voluntary CO2 cuts plan
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60Q0XI20100127
Reuters: Australia's main opposition coalition, which has repeatedly blocked attempts to pass carbon trading laws, is eyeing a voluntary scheme based on buying up cheap offsets as a way to break the deadlock. According to documents obtained by Reuters, the scheme, funded with public money, would buy carbon offsets from energy efficiency and forestry projects, among others. The idea, crafted ahead of elections this year in which climate shift will be a big issue for voters, has sparked ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Groups link Maine winter changes to global warming
http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2010/01/27/groups_link_maine_winter_changes_to_global_warming/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news
Associated Press: As Maine experiences a January thaw, environmentalists are releasing a report that says the region faces more thin ice, shorter ski seasons and more winter flooding in the years ahead due to global warming. The National Wildlife Federation report is being released Thursday afternoon in Augusta. Authors see the report as a wake-up call for the northern United States. They say Maine's changing climate is causing more "odd ball" weather than ever before, and could mean more ...
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Fifty books to change the world
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/27/50-books-sustainability-cambridge
Guardian: From an elegy to natural land to a tirade against fast food, a list of the "top" sustainability books is aiming to give a little romance and verve to a category sometimes seen as worthy but dull. The 50 titles range from warnings of destruction - Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and George Monbiot's Heat - to a wide variety of suggested solutions. Some look for understanding in history - Jared Diamond's Collapse – others in philosophy – EF Schumacher's Small is Beautiful. But many focus ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
There is fundamental uncertainty in climate change, science tsar says
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7003622.ece
Times (UK): The impact of global warming has been exaggerated by some scientists and there is an urgent need for more honest disclosure of the uncertainty of predictions about the rate of climate change, according to the Government's chief scientific adviser. John Beddington was speaking to The Times in the wake of an admission by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that it grossly overstated the rate at which Himalayan glaciers were receding. Professor Beddington said ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Reaction Rates For Three Chemicals With High Global Warming Potential
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1813909/reaction_rates_for_three_chemicals_with_high_global_warming_potential/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: A study published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) provides new information about the rates at which three of the most powerful greenhouse gases are destroyed by a chemical reaction that takes place in the upper atmosphere. The three compounds are potentially important because they absorb infrared energy in the so-called "atmospheric window" region – at wavelengths where other major greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide allow radiation ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
IPCC condemns natural disasters claim as misleading and baseless
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/26/ipcc-natural-disasters-climate-change
Guardian: The UN body that summarises climate science for governments has condemned as "misleading and baseless" claims that it overstated the effect of global warming on natural disasters. A newspaper report alleged a section in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report incorrectly stated that the cost of natural disasters had risen gradually since 1970 due to climate change. Yesterday, the IPCC issued a statement saying the Sunday Times report was wrong on "two key ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Bulgaria's 'green' energy boom sparks fears
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100126/sc_afp/bulgariaenergyalternativeenvironment
Agence France-Presse: Bulgaria is undergoing a boom in the renewable energy sector that experts warn could see an influx of dodgy investment and actually end up doing more harm than good for the environment. And the government -- the main driver behind the boom -- is taking note. This month it imposed a half-year moratorium on new "green" energy projects in a bid to sift out those with serious financing and prevent a vital Black Sea bird migration route from being built over with wind ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Texas waterway still closed due to oil spill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60O42B20100126?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The Sabine-Neches Waterway remained closed Tuesday as crews prepared to clear the main channel for limited traffic and workers continued picking up oil spilled in a tanker-barge collision last weekend. Plans called for moving the tanker Eagle Otome to the side of the main channel Wednesday and to reopen the waterway to limited traffic on Thursday, a U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman said. The Eagle Otome, carrying crude to a refinery, was struck by a barge tow traveling in the ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
'Disastergate' is an excuse for IPCC critics to dig up old academic rows
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/jan/26/ipcc-climate-change
Guardian: The recent controversy over Himalayan glaciers has led to a predictable display of opportunism by the long-term critics of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), who are now digging up all of their old complaints. It is, then, hardly surprising that the Sunday Times has now drawn attention to a years-old row that now seems destined to be re-packaged by climate change sceptics as 'disastergate', the sequel to 'glaciergate' and 'climategate'. The controversy centres ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Ecologists outline necessary actions for mitigating and adapting to a changing climate
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100126123213.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: Global warming may impair the ability of ecosystems to perform vital services -- such as providing food, clean water and carbon sequestration -- says the nation's largest organization of ecological scientists. In a statement released Jan. 26, the Ecological Society of America (ESA) outlines strategies that focus on restoring and maintaining natural ecosystem functions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. "Decision-makers cannot overlook the critical services ecosystems provide," ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Ministry of Justice lists eco-activists alongside terrorists
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/26/ministry-justice-environmental-campaigners-terrorism
Guardian: Government officials have labelled environmental campaigners extremists and listed them alongside dissident Irish republican groups and terrorists inspired by al-Qaida in internal documents seen by the Guardian. The guidance on extremism, produced by the Ministry of Justice, says: "The United Kingdom like many other countries faces a continuing threat from extremists who believe they can advance their aims by committing acts of terrorism." It was sent to probation staff who ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Investors target Marcellus Shale drillers
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60P5P620100126?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A group of shareholders who focus on the environment said on Tuesday they are targeting companies operating in the Marcellus Shale to ensure development of natural gas does not pollute or endanger human health. The shareholder proposal campaign, aimed at 12 companies including Chesapeake Energy Corp, EOG Resources Inc and Exxon Mobil Corp, was sparked by mounting worry about chemicals used in a process to extract gas from rock called hydraulic fracturing, the groups ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
China's odd climate-change remark
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/01/26/Chinas-odd-climate-change-remark/UPI-85031264532972/
United Press International: China's top climate-change negotiator said he was keeping an open mind on whether global warming was man-made or the result of natural cycles. Speaking in New Delhi following the conclusion Sunday of a two-day meeting of ministers from the BASIC group of the most powerful emerging economies -- China, India, Brazil and South Africa -- Xie Zhenhua said climate change was a "solid fact." But, he said, more and better scientific research was needed to determine the causes. India ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Pachauri's IPCC didn't research Amazon climate change: Report
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pachauris-IPCC-didnt-research-Amazon-climate-change-Report/articleshow/5502549.cms
Times of India: A climategate and then a glaciergate and now an Amazongate. British media reports on errors made by R K Pachauri's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the Amazon forests. ( Watch Video ) An article in Britian's daily 'Telegraph' has made another damning case against Pachauri's IPCC on the effects of climate change on the Amazon. The report suggests the IPCC did not research the claims themselves. It says the claims were lifted off a report done by the WWF, an advocacy ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Methane causes vicious cycle in global warming
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122638800
National Public Radio: Carbon dioxide is the gas we most associate with global warming, but methane gas also plays an important role. For reasons that are not well understood, methane gas stopped increasing in the atmosphere in the 1990s. But now it appears to be once again on the rise. Scientists are trying to understand why -- and what to do about it. Methane gas comes from all sorts of sources including wetlands, rice paddies, cow tummies, coal mines, garbage dumps and even termites. Drew Shindell, at ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Energy efficiency can lower taxes
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20100126/LIFE/1260320/Energy%20efficiency%20can%20lower%20taxes
Associated Press: Making energy efficient improvements to your home will do more than reduce your energy costs -- they'll also reduce your tax bill. The tax credit for energy-efficient windows or doors, air conditioners or furnaces, or other energy-saving improvements disappeared in 2008, but returned for 2009 and 2010 -- at an even higher value. This is one case where procrastination paid off. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, homeowners who made the improvements are ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Russia's weather out of whack
http://www.mnweekly.ru/news/20100125/55405399.html
Moscow News: When it comes to global warming, don't let the cold snap fool you. January has seen temperatures in European Russia plunge 5 degrees Celsius below a 30-year average, but this is simply more evidence of man-made climate change, Russia's climatologists say. "Nature is looking for a new balance," said Viktor Danelyan, director of the Institute of Water Problems at the Russian Academy of Sciencies, of the record warm temperatures in December, followed by January's ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Oceans 'under new threat'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8480000/8480288.stm
BBC: Scientists are warning of the dangers of ocean acidification which is beginning to have an impact on the fundamental biology of marine ecosystems. In the 250 years since the start of the industrial revolution the acidity of the seas has increased by 30 percent. Science correspondent Tom Feilden reports on an issue biologists have dubbed the "elephant in the corner" of the climate change debate.
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Australia: Labor not so efficient in enacting change
http://www.smh.com.au/business/labor-not-so-efficient-in-enacting-change-20100126-mwc3.html
Sydney Morning Herald: Rudd is yet to deliver on his green promise, write Ruth Williams and Mathew Murphy. When the Rudd Government gained power in 2007, it rode part of the way on a green wave. Voters, demanding meaningful action on the environment, backed Kevin Rudd in what was dubbed the world's first climate change election. But although Mr Rudd promised ''decisive action'' on the issue, the Government's efforts at improving energy efficiency in its operations appear to have been anything ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Multinationals call on EU to raise emissions targets
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256781/multionationals-call-eu-raise
Business Green: Leaders from a number of EU multinationals including Shell, Tesco and Vodafone are calling for the EU to raise its greenhouse gas reduction target to 30 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. EU member states currently have a target to reduce their emissions by 20 per cent within the same timeframe, but have promised to up the target if other countries make similar commitments. But a weak agreement at Copenhagen and resistance from the heavier polluting nations have meant the ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
GM to build electric motors in Maryland
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/25/AR2010012503681.html?wprss=rss_technology
Washington Post: Betting that hybrid and electric vehicles will play a growing role on American highways, General Motors is expected to announce Tuesday a $246 million investment to add production of electric motors at its White Marsh, Md., manufacturing plant. The decision reflects confidence at GM and other automakers that the "electrification" of the U.S. fleet is not far away, with GM officials likening the importance of electric-motor technology to that of engines in gasoline cars. The ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Economic growth cannot buy the planet more time
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8479508.stm
BBC: Global economic growth - in its current form - cannot continue if nations are serious about curbing climate change, says Andrew Simms. In this week's Green Room, he warns that the consumer society cannot "have its planet and eat it". From birth until it reaches sexual maturity at about six weeks, a hamster doubles its weight each week. If, instead of levelling-off in maturity, it carried on growing - continuing to double its weight each week - we would be facing a ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
UN panel defends climate change evidence
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hAfcPOUUIZypGTTD3McHoiX-PU6w
Agence France-Presse: The UN climate panel has rejected as "baseless and misleading" a newspaper report that raised doubts about the evidence behind a claim that global warming is linked to worsening natural disasters. This weekend, the Sunday Times of London reported that a passage in one of the panel's reports, which suggested natural disasters including hurricanes and floods had increased in number and intensity, had been challenged. The IPCC insisted in a statement released late on Monday that ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
If Polls Say 'Yes' to a Climate Bill, Why Do Lawmakers Say 'Maybe'?
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/26/26climatewire-if-polls-say-yes-to-a-climate-bill-why-do-la-41121.html
ClimateWire: If one were to judge the fate of climate legislation based solely on public polling, it would appear that it is only a matter of time before the bill easily cruises through Congress and arrives on the president's desk. Hardly a week seems to go by without a new poll showing strong support for climate change legislation. And even though advocates on both sides have spent millions of dollars for or against the bill, those polling numbers have stayed fairly steady. Most polls show ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Japan sticks to 25 percent carbon cut target
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60P33O20100126?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Japan has stuck to its offer to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020 for a U.N. accord on condition major emitters agree on an ambitious climate deal, a statement from the foreign ministry showed on Tuesday. The target, based on 1990 levels, was submitted on Tuesday to the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat under a climate accord worked out by major emitters led by China and the United States last month in Copenhagen. The accord said rich nations should submit by ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Climate Campaigner Shifts From Skeptic to 'Agnostic,' Urges Caution
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/26/26climatewire-climate-campaigner-shifts-from-skeptic-to-ag-61610.html
ClimateWire: At the age of 52, Israeli-born Benny Peiser has become something of an institution in the combat-prone world of climate change politics. He is welcomed warmly by the skeptics and is rejected with equal fervor by the mainstream environmental movement. Peiser's CCNet climate news service has become required reading in recent years -- not least of all to find out what the skeptics are saying -- with close to 8,000 subscribers, including many U.S. scientists. A social ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Government vows to fight US airlines' emissions trading legal challenge
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256771/government-vows-fight-airlines
Business Green: The government has this week referred a legal challenge from a group of US airlines against their planned inclusion in the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to the European Court of Justice, vowing to vigorously contest the case and expressing confidence that it had a robust defence. Last month, American Airlines, Continental Airlines and United Airlines -- backed by the US Air Transport Association (ATA) - formally filed for a judicial review of their inclusion in the ETS in ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Indonesia cuts capacity of planned geothermal plants
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60P2FP20100126?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Indonesia has cut the planned capacity of geothermal power plants it will start building this year by 18 percent to 3,900 megawatts (MW), an official at the mines and energy ministry said on Tuesday. Indonesia has established two programs to increase power generation by 10,000 MW in a bid to resolve chronic power shortages in the country. One of these "crash programs" originally had nearly half or 4,733 MW of its power slated to come from geothermal sources across ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Ozone hole healing could cause further climate warming
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100125192016.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: The hole in the ozone layer is now steadily closing, but its repair could actually increase warming in the southern hemisphere, according to scientists at the University of Leeds. The Antarctic ozone hole was once regarded as one of the biggest environmental threats, but the discovery of a previously undiscovered feedback shows that it has instead helped to shield this region from carbon-induced warming over the past two decades. High-speed winds in the area beneath the hole ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Indonesia to kick off $1 bln green investment fund
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20100126/tbs-indonesia-environment-fund-b246348.html
Reuters: Indonesia plans a $1 billion green investment fund this year to drive infrastructure developments that aid growth and help cut greenhouse gas emissions, a finance ministry official said on Tuesday. Indonesia has promised to slash its emissions by at least 26 percent from business as usual levels by 2020 but recently re-elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has also vowed to boost economic growth to 7 percent or more by 2014. At global climate talks in Copenhagen last ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Wind Power Grows 39% for the Year
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/business/energy-environment/26wind.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Despite a crippling recession and tight credit markets, the American wind power industry grew at a blistering pace in 2009, adding 39 percent more capacity. The country is close to the point where 2 percent of its electricity will come from wind turbines. While that is still a small share, it is up from virtually nothing a few years ago. Continued growth at such a fast pace could help the nation lower its emissions of the gases that cause global warming. The American Wind ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Nike cuts carbon footprint
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/26/nike-cuts-carbon-footprint
Guardian: Footwear manufacturer Nike reduced the emissions of its supply chain by four per cent in 2009 compared to 2008 levels, according to the firm's corporate social responsibility report (pdf) released yesterday. Although the firm has been hit hard by the recession, revenue still grew by three per cent in 2009 and 14 per cent in 2008, indicating carbon cuts are not a result of decreased activity. Nike said its total greenhouse gas footprint stood at 1.53 million tonnes of CO2 ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
'Copenhagen Accord Not Legal, Kyoto Protocol Is'
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50104
Inter Press Service: While the BASIC bloc countries - Brazil, South Africa, India and China - will submit their plans for voluntary mitigation actions by the Jan. 31 deadline stipulated by the Copenhagen Accord, they have taken care to emphasise that the agreement, reached at the end of the December climate change summit in the Danish capital, has no legal basis. Addressing a joint press conference after a meeting of concerned BASIC ministers on Sunday, India's environment minister Jairam Ramesh said: "We ...
Wed, 27 Jan 10
Indian Glaciologist Fires Back at Climate Sceptics
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50103
Inter Press Service: "It is a fact that global warming is happening. If the Arctic Sea ice is melting, how can the Himalayan glaciers not be melting?" glaciologist Syed Iqbal Hasnain asked indignantly. Amid the brouhaha over last week's retraction by a United Nations body of its 2007 report that the Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035, global warming sceptics quickly seized on the error, noting the rash of media reports on the issue, which they believed bolstered their position. But Hasnain, ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
EPA cracks down on pollution spikes near roads
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/01/25/epa_cracks_down_on_pollution_spikes_near_roads/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news
Associated Press: The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that it would control -- for the first time -- short-lived spikes of an air pollutant common along major roads and linked to respiratory problems. The new national standard sets a one-hour limit for nitrogen dioxide, a gas created by emissions from automobiles, factories and coal-fired power plants that peaks along highways and near cities. Along with the new limit, the EPA is also requiring at least 40 new monitors in cities ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Sweet Success For Sustainable Biofuel Research
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1813436/sweet_success_for_sustainable_biofuel_research/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: Scientists have found a way to increase fermentable sugar stores in plants which could lead to plant biomass being easier to convert into eco-friendly sustainable biofuels. Their research is highlighted in the latest issue of Business, the quarterly highlights magazine of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Energy is released in a usable form from biomass when biodegradable matter such as wood or straw is burnt or fermented. Fuel for use in cars is ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Forestry sector needs transparency to reduce risks of REDD
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0125-transparency.html
Mongabay: A new project aims to increase transparency in the forestry sector, an area long plagued by corruption and mismanagement. The Forest Sector Transparency Report Card, launched by Global Witness, an environmental NGO, assesses 70 transparency indicators, evaluating the public availability of land use maps, logging contracts, and other forestry-related information in Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia and Peru. The effort will eventually be expanded to other countries. The report card found ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Ozone Hole Is Mending. Now for the 'But.'
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/science/earth/26ozone.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: That the hole in Earth`s ozone layer is slowly mending is considered a big victory for environmental policy makers. But in a new report, scientists say there is a downside: its repair may contribute to global warming. It turns out that the hole led to the formation of moist, brighter-than-usual clouds that shielded the Antarctic region from the warming induced by greenhouse gas emissions over the last two decades, scientists write in Wednesday`s issue of Geophysical Research ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
India: Pushing REDD plus at the expense of forests and forest dwellers
http://www.wrm.org.uy/bulletin/150/viewpoint.html#3
World Rainforest Movement Bulletin: The Copenhagen Accord - the agreement reached by a group of countries at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit and imposed on the rest - was defined by Transnational Institute's Praful Bidwai as "a travesty of what the world needs to avert climate change': The two degrees Celsius increase target in global temperature is 0.5 degrees above the target accepted by the majority of UN nations; poor countries are mainly left to fend for themselves in terms of adapting to climate change; and ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Carbon markets under 'dark cloud'
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1859
Carbon Positive: The future of carbon markets worldwide is under a dark cloud, a report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch concludes. The failure of the Copenhagen climate conference to agree decisive action to cut emissions, doubts over whether cap and trade legislation in the US and Australia can be passed this year and depressed demand in the existing European carbon market are all weighing heavily on the carbon trading outlook, the Merrill's report said. It forecast that CO2 emissions in the ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Don't let the carbon market die
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/jan/25/carbon-market-copenhagen-climate
Guardian: Some people have good reason to be shocked that banks have pulled out of the carbon market, not least recent economics graduates whose dissertations on carbon finance now qualify them only for unemployment. And JP Morgan, which paid a jaw-splitting $204m for carbon trader Ecosecurities last September, must be feeling a little sore. Perhaps it relied on the GHG Emissions Credit Trading report (yours for a mere $397), which predicts a $4.5 trillion carbon market by 2020. No less ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Another State of the Union Speech Looms, but Climate Activists Want Action
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/25/25climatewire-another-state-of-the-union-speech-looms-but-86243.html
ClimateWire: A leading congressional Democrat said President Obama needs to "lay the prestige of the presidency on the line" in his State of the Union address Wednesday and in the months to come on climate change. "I think the president needs to underscore that climate and energy reform is a priority for 2010, as specifically as possible," said Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who has been working to build a global warming compromise in the Senate, where legislation remains stalled after passage in the ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
UN's rogue glacier claim 'was just one page in report', says IPCC deputy
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7001693.ece
Times (UK): Calls for the resignation of the embattled head of the UN climate change body were dismissed by its vice-chairman today as the organisation sought to repair its damaged credibility. The discredited claim that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035 because of global warming was just "one page in a 938-page report', said Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, vice-chairman of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Mr van Ypersele praised the IPCC chairman, Dr ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
UK buildings could be pulled down to meet carbon standards
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256704/uk-buildings-pulled-meet-carbon
Business Green: Large swathes of buildings constructed in UK towns and cities during the sixties and seventies may need to be demolished to meet new carbon emission standards. According to the British Property Federation, real estate is responsible for a huge 50 per cent of the country's current emissions. But the government has had no strategy to date to deal with existing commercial properties -- only new ones. It has introduced targets stipulating that all new commercial buildings must ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Global warming is a proven fact - AG Week
http://www.agweek.com/articles/?id=8234&article_id=15984&property_id=41
Agweek: More than 40 scientists with expertise in climate, agriculture, soil and entomological science have sent a letter to American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman requesting a meeting to discuss his group's "inaccurate and marginalized" position on global warming. The Farm Bureau maintains that "there is no generally agreed upon scientific assessment on carbon emissions from human activities, their impact on past decades of warming or how they will affect future climate ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Climate science must stick to facts
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/editorial/climate-science-must-stick-to-facts-20100125-mudv.html
Sydney Morning Herald: IN NOVEMBER, weeks before the Copenhagen climate conference, it was ''Climate Gate''. This month it is ''Glaciergate''. Both episodes have fuelled claims that the science of climate change is dubious, if not fraudulent. However, the process of exposure of a false claim that Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035 is evidence to the contrary. In fact, the author of this passage in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report disregarded peer-review challenges before publication. Dr ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Copenhagen climate accord faces $30bn aid test
http://www.timeslive.co.za/scitech/article276760.ece
Reuters: Rich nations are pledging almost $30 billion in aid from 2010-12 to help the poor combat climate change in an early test of last month's "Copenhagen Accord" that is vague about conditions and who gets cash. Donors will probably have to decide for themselves how to spend money in 2010 since there is no mechanism to guide handouts. A "Copenhagen Green Climate Fund', also planned by last month's low-ambition summit, does not yet exist. "The expectation is that donor countries will ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Bill Gates: don't let climate change fight take money from health
http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/810300-bill-gates-dont-let-climate-change-fight-take-money-from-health
Metro: The annual letter, issued today on the website of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the charitable body Gates runs with his wife and his father, said that investment in science and technology can make more of a difference than charity and government aid alone. In his 19-page letter, Gates says the foundation currently is backing 30 areas of innovation including online learning, teacher improvement, malaria vaccine development, HIV prevention, and genetically modified ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
China has 'open mind' on cause of climate change
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8478643.stm
BBC: China's lead climate change negotiator has said he was keeping an "open attitude" as to whether global warming was man-made or due to natural cycles. Xie Zhenhua said climate warming was a "solid fact" and that mainstream scientific opinion held it was due to emissions of gases such as CO2. He was speaking in Delhi at a meeting of envoys from Brazil, China, India and South Africa. They agreed to submit their plans to cut emissions by the end of January. The ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Australia: Climate scientist says sceptics are winning
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s2800538.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Scientists at the United Nation's climate change body, the International Panel on Climate Change, have now accepted that they need to review two key claims in the IPCC's 2007 report. Last week the IPCC admitted that the claim that the Himalayan glaciers could melt within 40 years was false and that while this had been picked up by some reviewers, the error had not been corrected in the final report. Now the IPCC is investigating the claim of a connection between climate change and ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Hundreds protest S.China project over pollution worries
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60O10K20100125?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Hundreds of protesters in southern China donned masks to protest a planned incinerator plant, the latest grassroots initiative to target polluting projects in the region. Mobilized by phone and over the Internet, about 400 protesters from Foshan municipality showed up in surgical masks to urge local authorities to scrap the proposed construction of a Jiangnan sludge incinerator in Nanhai district, west of Shenzhen, the Guangzhou Daily newspaper reported on Monday. "Defend our ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Villagers protest Chinese incinerator
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100125/ap_on_re_as/as_china_trash_protest
Associated Press: About 100 villagers on Monday protested the construction of a garbage incinerator in southern China, alleging several residents have already become sick from pollution from another trash-burning facility in the area. Waste disposal is becoming a contentious issue as crowded China tries to find new places to dump garbage. Citizens have become more environmentally conscious, more worried about their health and property -- and more willing to protest. Monday's protesters came from ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Growth is good ... isn't it
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/jan/25/uk-growth-energy-resources-boundaries
Guardian: Like a patient waiting for hospital scan results, this week the government nervously anticipates new growth figures for the economy. Any sign of an increase and relief could quickly lead to self-satisfaction about its handling of the recession. Approving nods may be seen later this week in Davos at the World Economic Forum. Why? Because among political and business classes, growth, measured by rising GDP, is considered always a "good thing". But is it? The banking crisis taught us ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Australia: Scientists 'losing climate fight'
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/25/2800992.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A leading Australian climate change scientist says experts are losing the fight against sceptics, who are distorting the science of global warming. His comments come as a prominent British climate change sceptic tours the country. Lord Christopher Monckton has arrived in Australia for a series of lectures and is calling for a royal commission into the science around global warming. The former journalist and political adviser to Margaret Thatcher says the production of ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Climate change: Chinese adviser calls for open mind on causes
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256648/climate-change-chinese-adviser
Business Green: China's most senior negotiator on climate change said yesterday he was keeping an open mind on whether global warming was man-made or the result of natural cycles. Xie Zhenhua said there was no doubt that warming was taking place, but more and better scientific research was needed to establish the causes. Xie, Premier Wen Jiabao's special representative on climate change, was speaking in Delhi at the end of a two-day meeting of ministers from four of the most powerful emerging ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Early humans, not climate change, may have wiped out Australia's giant animals
http://news.oneindia.in/2010/01/25/earlyhumans-not-climate-change-may-have-wiped-outaustral.html
Asian News International: A new research has suggested that humans, not climate change, may have caused the mass extinction of Australia's giant animals, tens of thousands of years ago. Scientists have long argued over what killed off about 50 species of animals weighing more than 45 kilograms, including the gigantic kangaroo, Procoptodon, and the two-tonne wombat-like marsupial Diprotodon, late in the Pleistocene epoch, which stretched from 2.6 million until about 12,000 years ago. Some have proposed ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Using woodlands to cut emissions
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/25/woodlands-cut-emisssions
Carbon Commentary: The UK is one of the least forested countries in Europe. Although the amount of woodland cover has increased substantially since its nadir after the First World War, growth has slackened in recent years. The growing maturity of UK woodlands means that carbon sequestration is falling rapidly. An independent assessment commissioned by the Forestry Commission has proposed one way forward: a million new hectares devoted to woodland, generating a reduction of up to 15% of the UK emissions in ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Korea moves ahead with smart-grid plan
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256676/korea-moves-ahead-smartgrid
Business Green: South Korea will spend about 27.5 trillion won ($24 billion) by 2030 building smart electricity grids, according to a statement from the government. The private sector is expected to invest 24.8 trillion won ($21.6bn), with the government meeting the 2.7 trillion won ($2.4bn) shortfall, South Korea's Ministry of Knowledge Economy said today in an emailed statement. "After having tried to establish national plans on the smart grid throughout last year, we will come up with ...
Tue, 26 Jan 10
Carbon reporting software market poised for "explosive growth"
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256640/carbon-reporting-software
Business Green: The emerging US market for carbon reporting software is set to grow seven fold over the next two years as more and more firms begin measuring and reporting on their carbon emissions. That is the prediction of a new report from analysts firm Groom Energy Research, which found that despite the gloomy economic climate venture capital investment in Enterprise Carbon Accounting (ECA) firms topped $46m last year. The study also noted that the number of companies offering carbon ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
UN wrongly linked global warming to natural disasters
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7000063.ece
Times (UK): THE United Nations climate science panel faces new controversy for wrongly linking global warming to an increase in the number and severity of natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods. It based the claims on an unpublished report that had not been subjected to routine scientific scrutiny -- and ignored warnings from scientific advisers that the evidence supporting the link too weak. The report's own authors later withdrew the claim because they felt the evidence was not strong ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Malta's other seaborne migrants
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100124/environment/maltas-other-seaborne-migrants
Times of Malta: Selene dorsalis (African moonfish), one of the many newcomers to the Mediterranean, was first recorded in Maltese waters in 2008. "Don't forget the sea" was the strident call of Carl Gustaf Lundin, head of International Union for Conservation of Nature's global marine programme, in the frantic run-up to the botched Copenhagen climate talks. His cri du coeur went largely unnoticed as the plight of the arctic, glaciers, and drought-stricken regions dominated the conference proceedings ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Australia: Climate action begins at home for politicians
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-action-begins-at-home-for-politicians-20100123-mrny.html
Sydney Morning Herald: Premier Kristina Keneally will offset all her flights and trim her personal carbon footprint by 10 per cent this year, as part of a national campaign to get politicians to practise what they preach on climate change. Dozens of other state MPs are also lining up to meet their personal greenhouse-gas cuts targets, including Government frontbenchers Carmel Tebbutt, Frank Sartor, David Borger and Verity Firth. The campaign started in Britain, where it has been adopted by both major ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
India: Pachauri not to quit as IPCC Chairman
http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20100124/4844998451884770763.htm
Press Trust of India: Rajendra Pachauri today ruled out his resignation as Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change over the error in predicting the melting of Himalayan glaciers by 2035 and said the UN body will use more rigorous research systems in the future. He rejected allegations that The Energy and Resources Institute headed by him had benefited from the conclusions of the Fourth Assessment Report of the UN body and said that the focus would now be on bringing out a "robust and ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Climate talks bigger threat to Saudi than oil rivals
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60N0YE20100124
Reuters: United Nations climate talks are a bigger threat to top oil exporter Saudi Arabia than increased oil supplies from rival producers, its lead climate negotiator said on Sunday. Saudi Arabia's economy depends on oil exports so stands to be one of the biggest losers in any pact that curbs oil demand by penalizing carbon emissions. "It's one of the biggest threats that we are facing," said Muhammed al-Sabban, head of the Saudi delegation to U.N. talks on climate change and a senior ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Fewer temperature reports could underestimate warming trend, Environment Canada says
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Fewer%20temperature%20reports%20could%20underestimate/2476467/story.html
Canwest News Service: Environment Canada says climate scientists who track global temperature trends may be underestimating the amount of warming in the Canadian Arctic, because they are working with data from a declining sample of weather stations across the region. A U.S. government agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, compiles an important database of historic surface temperatures, based on readings from thousands of local weather stations across the planet. The raw data is ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Evidence for climate change caused by man mounts
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1685420566/Evidence-for-climate-change-caused-by-man-mounts
MetroWest Daily News: One degree Fahrenheit might not sound like a lot, but picture the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of a cup of water that amount. Multiply that for a swimming pool. Do so again for a planet, say Earth. For biology and environmental studies professor Dan Perlman of Brandeis University in Waltham, that's the import of a new report citing the past decade as the globe's warmest on record, by nearly one degree. "That, along with all the other evidence, continues to ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
28cm sea-level rise will drown 96 pc of Bangladesh Sunderbans
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/48592/28cm-sea-level-rise-drown.html
Press Trust of India: The increasing global temperature may spell doom for the Sunderban tigers as a WWF study has cautioned that rise of 28 centimetre in sea levels will engulf 96 per cent of their habitat. The findings, though specific for Bangladesh, may be a cause of concern for India as well because the Sunderbans are spread across India and Bangladesh having same ecosystem and tiger population. The increase of 28 cms from the sea levels of the year 2000 will cause 96 per cent decline in tiger ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Glacier scientist: I knew data hadn't been verified
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1245636/Glacier-scientists-says-knew-data-verified.html
Daily Mail: The scientist behind the bogus claim in a Nobel Prize-winning UN report that Himalayan glaciers will have melted by 2035 last night admitted it was included purely to put political pressure on world leaders. Dr Murari Lal also said he was well aware the statement, in the 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), did not rest on peer-reviewed scientific research. In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Dr Lal, the co-ordinating lead author of the ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
UN climate-change expert stands his ground over melting glaciers error
http://news.scotsman.com/world/UN-climatechange-expert-stands-his.6008987.jp
Scotsman: THE head of a panel of United Nations climate scientists yesterday said he would not resign despite admitting a warning that Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035 was hundreds of years off. Rajendra Pachauri also said he would take no action against the scientists who made the mistake, which was seized on by global warming sceptics last week. "I have no intention of resigning from my position," Pachauri said. "The errors were unintentional and not significant in comparison to the ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
United Arab Emirates: A green city arises from the desert of Abu Dhabi
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/a-green-city-arises-from-the-desert-of-abu-dhabi/story-e6frg8zx-1225823057250
Australian: IN the most unlikely of places, what could be the world's most expensive clean energy project is just eight months away from its first residents moving in. Masdar City, an ambitious $US22 billion ($24.3bn) carbon-neutral, no-waste community, lies on the outskirts of oil-rich Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi is one of the world's richest cities and one of the highest per capita greenhouse gas emitters. It sits on one-tenth of the world's known oil reserves and has enough to keep producing ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Wind farm subsidies top £1 billion a year
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/7061552/Wind-farm-subsidies-top-1-billion-a-year.html
Telegraph: The hidden levy is part of a Government scheme to force energy companies to fund green energy. The companies bear the cost but pass it on to consumers in the form of higher bills. The amount raised has climbed steeply since the introduction of the levy in 2002. Next month's annual report from Ofgem, the energy regulator, will show that it has risen above £1 billion for the first time, according to analysts at the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF), a green energy ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
China to rich nations: Hand out climate money now
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100124/ap_on_sc/climate_india
Associated Press: Brazil, China, India and South Africa called Sunday for developed countries to quickly begin handing over the $10 billion pledged in Copenhagen to poor countries to help them deal with the effects of climate change. The first funds should go to the least developed countries, including small island states and African countries, said Xie Zhenhua, China's top climate change negotiator after a meeting of the representatives of the four nations in New Delhi. The four developing ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Saudi sees deadlock in climate talks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100124/wl_mideast_afp/unclimatewarmingsaudi
Agence France-Presse: Saudi Arabia does not expect any global climate change pact soon because current proposals lack fair burden-sharing and would hit oil exporters unfairly, the country's top climate negotiator said on Sunday. "There was no real agreement in Copenhagen and I don't foresee any agreement in the near term," Mohammed al-Sabban told AFP, referring to December's summit in the Danish capital. "No one has submitted a burden-sharing agreement" that treats various parties equitably, he ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
China, India, Brazil to Meet Jan. 31 Deadline in Climate Accord
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-24/china-india-brazil-to-meet-jan-31-deadline-in-climate-accord.html
Bloomberg: China, Brazil, South Africa and India will meet a deadline set during international talks for disclosing the voluntary steps they plan to take to mitigate climate change. The four so-called BASIC countries will communicate their plans to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by Jan. 31, Jairam Ramesh, India's environment minister, said after a meeting of the countries in New Delhi today. They will also work together to build support for a preliminary agreement ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Glaciers error dents climate science
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/glaciers-error-dents-climate-science-20100124-mskv.html
Age: A MISTAKE about the timing of melting glaciers has snowballed into an unprecedented assault on the credibility of climate science, after revelations an author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's report knew one passage was wrong but included it. Pressure is mounting on the chairman of the IPCC, Rajendra Pachauri, with further elements of the IPCC's report being brought into question and the separate announcement of a government inquiry into climate data in ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
United Nations caught out again on climate claims
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/united-nations-caught-out-again-on-climate-claims/story-e6frg6n6-1225823075213
Australian: THE UN climate science panel faces new controversy for wrongly linking global warming to a rise in natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change based the claims on an unpublished report that had not been subjected to routine scientific scrutiny - and ignored warnings from scientific advisers. The report's author later withdrew the claim because the evidence was too weak. The link was central to demands at last month's Copenhagen ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Emerging nations pledge climate change unity in India
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hvbUR6tuzHAhWRBqauqAbvfLnUbQ
Agence France-Presse: Environment ministers from Brazil, South Africa, India and China said on Sunday that talks in New Delhi had further cemented their alliance following the Copenhagen climate change summit. The four emerging economies -- a key bloc within troubled negotiations on how to tackle global warming -- lobbied successfully at the Copenhagen meeting in December against binding emissions caps. Speaking after Sunday's talks, Indian environment minister Jairam Ramesh said the group -- known ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Glaciergate was a blunder, but it's the sceptics who dissemble
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/24/climate-change-glaciergate-mckie
Guardian: It was a strange moment that linked the fates of some of the world's poorest farmers to the interests of an increasingly powerful set of western lobby groups. Last week, UN climate researchers admitted they had grossly overestimated the chances that the Himalayas' glaciers would soon disappear as a result of global warming. For millions of Indian and Chinese families who till land washed by rivers that pour from the Himalayas, this was good news. The prospects of major droughts, loss ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Traffic fumes increase the risks of child pneumonia
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jan/24/traffic-pollution-child-pneumonia
Guardian: Children who live near a main road are in greater danger of catching pneumonia because pollution from passing traffic damages their lungs. A leading expert in childhood breathing difficulties has made the link between exposure to particles from vehicle exhausts and a child's susceptibility to the chest infection, which can be fatal. Professor Jonathan Grigg, an honorary consultant at the Royal London Hospital and academic paediatrician at Queen Mary, University of London, made the ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
UN pledges tighter controls after melting glaciers blunder
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/24/climate-change-un-row
Guardian: The head of the UN's panel of climate scientists, Rajendra Pachauri , has dismissed suggestions that he should resign over an erroneous projection that Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035, though he pledged that future research procedures by his organisation would be tightened up. A 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said global warming could cause the Himalayas' thousands of glaciers to vanish if it continued at its current pace. But ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
UN climate panel blunders again over Himalayan glaciers
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6999975.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
Times (UK): The chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has used bogus claims that Himalayan glaciers were melting to win grants worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Rajendra Pachauri's Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), based in New Delhi, was awarded up to £310,000 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the lion's share of a £2.5m EU grant funded by European taxpayers. It means that EU taxpayers are funding research into a scientific claim about ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
UN climate panel chief: Error shouldn't derail global warming efforts in India
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/23/AR2010012302399.html
Washington Post: For many Indians, the most powerful and urgent reason to battle global warming arose from a report warning that the Himalayan glaciers could melt away by 2035. But that prediction was an error, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which authored the report, said Wednesday. Speaking publicly on the issue for the first time Saturday, Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the Nobel Prize-winning panel, said the mistake occurred because rigorous procedures for scientific ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Tanker collision sends oil into Texas waterway
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60N0EI20100124?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A barge collided with a tanker on Saturday in the port of Port Arthur, Texas, sending thousands of gallons of crude oil into the water, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The tanker was carrying crude oil to Exxon Mobil Corp's refinery in Beaumont, Texas, located north of Port Arthur. The waterway, through which tankers carry oil to four refineries in Port Arthur and Beaumont, Texas, remained shut on Saturday night. A 15-foot-by-8-foot (4.6 meter-by-2.4-meter) hole was torn in the side ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
World climate event set for March 27
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100124/wl_asia_afp/climatewarmingearthhouraustralia
Agence France-Presse: Millions of people from Sydney to Sweden are set to switch off their lights on March 27, as part of the global 'Earth Hour' campaign to highlight climate change, organisers said Sunday. Some 250 cities around the world have already signed up for the symbolic, energy saving exercise which in 2009 saw landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and New York's Empire State Building plunged into darkness. "The event will be held at 8:30 pm Saturday 27 March in cities and towns all ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Emerging nations meet in India over climate change
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ipBLfSe9uNUB7zCXqO8ezdVGWV7w
Agence France-Presse: Environment ministers from Brazil, South Africa, India and China met in New Delhi on Sunday to agree a common position for future talks after the Copenhagen climate change summit, officials said. The four emerging economies -- a key bloc within troubled negotiations on how to tackle global warming -- lobbied successfully at the Copenhagen meeting in December against binding emissions caps. "The nations have come together to chalk out their post-Copenhagen strategy and organise ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Chile: Water a Matter of National Security
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50082
Inter Press Service: In its proposed constitutional reform, the Chilean government recognises that the availability of freshwater is a matter of national security. Environmentalists applaud the initiative, but some business groups are worried it will hurt their bottom line. The paragraph that will be added to Article 19 of Chile's Constitution, if Parliament approves the bill sent by President Michelle Bachelet on Jan. 7, states that water is a national good for public use, regardless of the state where ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
India: Pachauri rules out quitting climate change panel
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/01/24/stories/2010012451500700.htm
Hindu Business Line: Ruling out his resignation over an error in predicting the melting of Himalayan glaciers by 2035, Mr R.K. Pachauri, head of Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, said that the UN body will use more rigorous research systems in future. "I have no intentions of resigning. I have got a task to complete the Fifth Assessment report and I shall do it," Mr Pachauri told reporters. Admitting that there was a mistake in concluding that Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035, Mr ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Canada: Climate Slips Off US Agenda
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/01/23-0
Toronto Star: The Canadian government's strategy to let Washington set the pace on climate change has fallen into disarray as American lawmakers lose their appetite for aggressive carbon-cutting legislation in 2010. Public anger exposed by Tuesday's electoral uprising in Massachusetts is resetting Washington priorities across the board, as Democrats and Republicans scramble to address economic issues in a bid to outpace an anti-incumbent mood ahead of November's midterm elections. Few expect ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
IPCC to focus on humanitarian issues: Pachauri
http://twocircles.net/2010jan23/ipcc_focus_humanitarian_issues_pachauri.html
Indo-Asian News Service: Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Saturday said the UN body's fifth assessment report scheduled in 2013 will focus on "socio-economic factors and humanitarian" issues. "So far emphasis has been on physical, biological and geological aspects of climate change but we haven't really effectively translated that into what it would do at the economic and social level and most importantly at humanitarian level. So this something we will really ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Asian pollution worsens US air levels: study
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/asian-pollution-worsens-us-air-levels-study-1876850.html
Independent (UK): Pollution from Asia is boosting levels of ozone in the skies above the western United States, a trend that could hamper US efforts to meet tougher smog standards, experts said on Wednesday. Their study focusses on data for ozone in springtime above western North America at an altitude of between three and eight kilometers (two and five miles). This height is between the stratosphere - where a thin layer of ozone helps to filter out dangerous ultra-violet light from the Sun - ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Glacier alarm 'regrettable error': UN climate head
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/glacier-alarm-regrettable-error-un-climate-head-20100123-mrw9.html
Agence France-Presse: The head of the UN's climate science panel said Saturday a doomsday prediction about the fate of Himalayan glaciers was "a regrettable error" but that he would not resign over the blunder. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said the mistake arose from "established procedures not being diligently followed." "I am not resigning from my post. There has been an error but we ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
UN panel chief won't quit for Himalayan melt error
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100123/ap_on_re_as/as_india_climate_change
Associated Press: The head of a panel of United Nations climate scientists said Saturday he would not resign despite a recent admission that a panel report warning Himalayan glaciers could be gone by 2035 was hundreds of years off. The claim, made in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's voluminous, Nobel-winning report, came in a paragraph with several errors. Data indicates the ice could melt by 2350. The assertion went virtually unnoticed until The Sunday Times said the projection seemed ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Indonesia: RI wants UN to raise ocean issues at talks
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/01/23/ri-wants-un-raise-ocean-issues-talks.html
Jakarta Post: Indonesia will once again raise ocean issues at the upcoming UN conference in Bali, to press for world recognition of the role of oceans in climate change. The Indonesian Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry said the country's delegation would push the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to include oceans in its program of work to help protect the oceans from the impacts of rising temperatures. "We hope UNEP will adopt the ocean as its main mandate in its program of work," ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Indian makes molecule suck carbon dioxide
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100123/jsp/nation/story_12019003.jsp
Telegraph (India): A 29-year-old Indian scientist in the Netherlands has helped develop a molecule that sucks carbon dioxide from the air and could open a new line of research to combat global warming. Raja Angamuthu and his colleagues at Leiden University have shown that a complex molecule containing atoms of copper can remove carbon dioxide, create useful chemical by-products, and return to its original state to repeat the process. The technique appears to be an attractive way to capture carbon ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Nuclear power regaining favor amid recession, climate concerns
http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/1915766.html
Star-Telegram: The Obama administration may soon guarantee as much as $18.5 billion in loans to build nuclear reactors to generate electricity, and Congress is considering whether to add billions more to support an expansion of nuclear power. These actions come after an extensive, decade-long campaign in which companies and unions related to the industry have spent more than $600 million on lobbying and nearly $63 million on campaign contributions, according to an analysis by the Investigative ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Climate bill setback forces clean development rethink
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60L4DE20100122
Reuters: Still reeling from disappointing UN climate talks in Copenhagen in December, clean energy project developers were dealt another blow this week when U.S. Democrats lost their Senate supermajority, potentially killing a federal cap-and-trade scheme for years to come. Although the passage of a U.S. bill to cap greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 was far from certain, the election of a Republican in Massachusetts to the Senate on Tuesday derailed any momentum President Obama had following ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Carbon market exec still hopes for U.S. climate bill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60L3H420100122
Reuters: U.S. federal climate legislation may still pass this year even though a Republican who opposes the bill won a seat in the Senate this week, a carbon markets executive said on Thursday. "Our view is that it's not dead," Abyd Karmali, managing director and global head of carbon emissions at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, told Reuters in an interview. A climate bill passed the House last year, but the legislation has been bogged down in the Senate and its future is uncertain after ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
A-Power Texas project costs up; China may fund
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60L21E20100122
Reuters: Chinese wind turbine company A-Power Energy Generation Systems said cost overruns at its 600-megawatt wind power project in Texas could reach $500 million and it was talking to Chinese state banks about funding the project. A-Power, which is building the project with U.S. partners, said higher turbine and cable connection costs could push the total cost to $2 billion, a third more than the original estimate, Chief Operating Officer John Lin told Reuters. State-owned Bank of ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Global warming will require changes at Northwest dams
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/01/climage_change_means_changing.html
Oregonian: The Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Washington. Northwest dam managers will need to adjust their operations to account for climate change.Northwest dam managers will need to start filling the region's reservoirs earlier in the spring to minimize the impact of climate change on power production and salmon, a new study concludes. In a warmer future, scientists expect spring runoff to peak earlier, reducing summer flows in Northwest rivers for fish and hydro-power ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Offshore drilling language poses problems for 'Energy Only' bill
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/01/22/22greenwire-offshore-drilling-language-poses-problems-for-73614.html
Greenwire: The idea of passing an energy bill without cap and trade is gaining currency on Capitol Hill as Democratic leaders look at scaling back their agenda. But it may run into trouble from liberal and coastal lawmakers who oppose more offshore drilling. "Energy only" backers have portrayed such legislation as a path to a bipartisan achievement, particularly in the wake of the Massachusetts Senate election widely seen as a repudiation of the Democrats' ambitious agenda. But while ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Calif. nuclear revival? A French company rolls the dice
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/01/22/22greenwire-calif-nuclear-revival-a-french-company-rolls-t-32437.html
New York Times: In Berkeley, the city government won't buy services of any kind from a company that refuses to sign a "nuclear free" disclosure. In Sacramento, a moratorium against new reactor construction has held since 1976. And statewide, energy developers have a hard enough time securing permits for massive power plants run by renewable energy, much less finding enough political daylight to launch a multibillion-dollar nuclear project. The reality is California has become a kind of a nuclear ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Warming alarms Louisiana scientists
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/neworleans/index.ssf?/base/news-12/12641424389940.xml&coll=1
Times-Picayune: In a letter filled with citations of peer-reviewed scientific studies, 32 scientists -- including many working on the state's coastal restoration efforts -- told Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal that there's a direct link between the rising sea levels eroding the state's coastline and greenhouse gases produced by the state's industries. "We believe that the scientific evidence is compelling that sea level is highly likely to rise at faster rates than in the recent past and that this poses ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Mild weather in Canada forces Vancouver to ship in tons of snow for Winter Olympics
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1245478/Mild-weather-Canada-forces-Vancouver-ship-tons-snow-Winter-Olympics.html
Daily Mail: Snow-bound Britain may be slipping and sliding through the worst winter for decades, but it`s a different story in once-Arctic Canada. As spring flowers bloom early and birds start to nest around balmy Vancouver, officials there have chartered a fleet of helicopters to fly in thousands of tons of snow for the Winter Olympics. Without the emergency snowlift, which is also shipping in tons of snow in convoys of giant lorries, Olympic chiefs feared they might have to abandon the ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
United States: Gov. takes aim at coal-fired power plants
http://www.currentargus.com/ci_14251466
Associated Press: Gov. Bill Richardson has painted a target on New Mexico's coal-fired power plants, saying they provide a major source of electricity for homes and businesses in the state but pump far too much pollution into the air. Richardson called out the coal plants during his State of the State speech before the Legislature on Tuesday, but his administration says they're not only polluters the governor is after. "It could be any kind of entity that has an air permit. We're talking about ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
United States: Lawns may contribute to global warming
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Bright-Green/2010/0122/Lawns-may-contribute-to-global-warming
Christian Science Monitor: It's the sort of headline that would grab the attention of any city dweller: Urban 'Green' Spaces May Contribute to Global Warming. As it turns out, "green spaces" doesn't mean pocket parks or wooded areas. It refers to grass. Grass in parks and grass covering athletic fields. And, although the study – from the University of California Irvine – looked at grass in parks, the conclusions may give pause to lawn-proud homeowners, too: Dispelling the notion that urban "green" spaces ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
United States: Climate change raises concerns for state's recreation industries
http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/news/stories/2010/01/22/012310_3a_climate_and_rec.html
Grand Junction Sentinel: In the 20 years that Ken Murphy has worked in the rafting business, he has watched the commercial season start increasingly early, more people get drawn to the river by ever-warmer temperatures, and safety concerns lessen as flows have decreased. Short-term, Murphy said, climate change has been beneficial to Glenwood's rafting industry. "In the longer term, would I want my kids to get into the river outfitting business? No, because eventually we're not going to have the water, ...
Mon, 25 Jan 10
Climate panel admits glacier gaffe
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/01/2010123125937664296.html
Al Jazeera: The head of a United Nations panel of climate scientists has said that a prediction in one of the Nobel-prize winning panel's reports that Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035 was "a regrettable error". Rajendra Pachauri, who chairs the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), on Saturday dismissed talk of his resignation over the claim, but promised to tighten research procedures. "I am not resigning from my post. There has been an error but we will ensure ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Dems join effort to block global warming rules
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100121/ap_on_bi_ge/us_blocking_climate_rules
Associated Press: Three Democratic senators are joining an effort to block the Obama administration from taking steps to reduce the pollution blamed for global warming. Democrats Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas have signed onto a resolution introduced Thursday by Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. The measure, which must pass Congress and be signed by the President, would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing regulations to control ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Green group threatens legal challenge to government's nuclear plans
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/21/green-challenge-government-nuclear-plans
Guardian: Friends of the Earth has threatened to launch a legal challenge against the government over its "fundamentally flawed" plans to approve hundreds of new nuclear reactors, power plants, wind farms, electricity pylons and pipelines. The group has written to energy secretary Ed Miliband warning him that government planning statements issued in November breach environmental regulations and had not followed proper consultation. Friends of the Earth said it was also supported by conservation ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
UN Climate Head Offers Flexible Deadline On Copenhagen Accord
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1812365/un_climate_head_offers_flexible_deadline_on_copenhagen_accord/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: Yvo de Boer, head of the UN climate convention, said nations signing up to the accord reached at last month's summit would not have to do so by the deadline of January 31, BBC News reported. Originally, the "Copenhagen Accord" asked countries to send figures by the end of the month on how much they will curb emissions, but uncertainty over who is going to sign up has led the climate convention head to call the deadline "soft". De Boer said the Copenhagen summit had not ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Alaskan senator seeks to block EPA's power to regulate greenhouse gases
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/21/lisa-murkowski-epa-greenhouse-gases
Guardian: Barack Obama faced a direct challenge to his government's powers to curb global warming pollution today, just 48 hours after an election upset put the rest of his agenda at risk. In a speech to Congress, a Republican senator from Alaska announced she would use an obscure and rarely used measure to try to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its powers to regulate greenhouse gas emissions as a dangerous pollutant. "We cannot turn a blind eye to the EPA's efforts to ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Global warming opens up Arctic for undersea cable
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2010-01-21-arctic-ice-undersea-cable_N.htm?csp=34&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29
Associated Press: Global warming has melted so much Arctic ice that a telecommunication group is moving forward with a project that was unthinkable just a few years ago: laying underwater fiber optic cable between Tokyo and London by way of the Northwest Passage. The proposed system would nearly cut in half the time it takes to send messages from the United Kingdom to Asia, said Walt Ebell, CEO of Kodiak-Kenai Cable Co. The route is the shortest underwater path between Tokyo and London. The ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
German solar subsidy cut to spur price dip-iSuppli
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60K5XI20100121?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Germany's decision to cut solar subsidies would result in a significant fall in both the price of and demand for photovoltaic panels in the second quarter, research firm iSuppli said on Thursday. Germany, the world's biggest solar market by installed capacity, has proposed a cut in solar feed-in tariffs -- prices utilities have to pay generators of renewable energy -- by 15 percent, putting pressure on industry players. A final decision is planned within the next 10 ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
EPA shows TVA's Kingston coal ash cleanup options
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100121/ap_on_bi_ge/us_tva_coal_ash
Associated Press: As the cleanup of Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston ash spill continues, the Environmental Protection Agency has suggested ways to move forward and what it could cost, but a key question remains unanswered. The federal EPA is still trying to decide if coal ash should be reclassified as a hazardous material -- a step that would likely make disposal more expensive and affect TVA rate payers. EPA headquarters spokeswoman Latisha Petteway said the environmental agency doesn't ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Chu Defends UN Climate Science, Admin Efforts on Nuclear Waste
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/01/21/21greenwire-chu-defends-un-climate-science-admin-efforts-o-50012.html
Greenwire: Energy Secretary Steven Chu today dismissed accusations of fraud in climate science generated by the release last year of hacked e-mails between researchers, saying e-mails showed "warts and bumps" in the scientific process. Chu told a Senate panel there are "mountains" of evidence that climate change is real and the Energy Department will continue to rely on the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which critics say has been undermined by the so-called "Climategate" ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Settlement reached in NY nuclear plant labor talks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100121/ap_on_bi_ge/us_indian_point_contract_talks
Associated Press: The owner of New York's Indian Point nuclear power plant and its largest union have reached a tentative agreement that averts a strike. Entergy Nuclear and a spokesman for the Utility Workers Union of America announced the four-year deal Wednesday, just hours before a midnight strike deadline. The union represents 433 employees at Indian Point, located in Buchanan, 35 miles from Manhattan. Indian Point site vice president Joe Pollock said they now have a framework that will ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Climate chief admits error over Himalayan glaciers
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18420-climate-chief-admits-error-over-himalayan-glaciers.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: The head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been forced to apologise for including in its 2007 report the claim that there was a "very high" chance of glaciers disappearing from the Himalayas by 2035. Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the IPCC, conceded yesterday that "the clear and well-established standards of evidence required by the IPCC procedures were not applied properly" when the claim was included in the 900-page assessment of the impacts of climate ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Alaska governor takes aim at feds in address
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100121/ap_on_bi_ge/us_alaska_state_of_the_state
Associated Press: Gov. Sean Parnell took aim at the federal government in his first State of the State address Wednesday night, saying federal actions -- on endangered species protections, issues of land access, health care -- "often seem at war with Alaskan interests." It's a position that plays well in Alaska, a live-and-let-live state where the unemployment rate has reached its highest level in at least 17 years, and where the economy is almost wholly reliant on oil, gas and other natural resources. ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Brazil to create climate fund, technology for poor
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100121/india_nm/india455870
Reuters: Brazil will propose the creation of a joint fund with China, India and South Africa to help poor countries adapt to global warming as part of a broader attempt to revive stalled global climate talks. Brazil's Environment Minister Carlos Minc said in an interview late on Wednesday that he would make the proposal at a climate summit involving the four emerging market nations this weekend in New Delhi. "Its purpose will be to help very poor countries adapt to climate change," Minc ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Indigenous in Borneo win "landmark" court ruling over land rights
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0121-iban_sarawak.html
Mongabay: A Malaysian court has ruled in favor of indigenous communities in a dispute over land rights just two days after authorities "arbitrarily" destroyed 25 Iban homes in the village of Sungai Sekabai in Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo), reports the Bruno Manser Fund, a rights group. The cases (Agi Ak Bungkong & Ors versus Ladang Sawit Bintulu S/B & Others and Mohd Rambli Kawi versus Lands & Surveys Kuching & Another) had been filed by Iban and Malay communities against the Sarawak state government and ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Australia: Mr. Rudd's Climate-Change Pitch
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703699204575016341315039992.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Wall Street Journal: Climate-change legislation is declining in popularity the world over, so Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has concocted a new way to sell it--by telling voters they'll come to their senses, eventually. "The government's focus is taking decisions, hard decisions," Mr. Rudd declared Tuesday, referring to his cap-and-trade bill and other expensive, big-government ideas. "Some of those decisions will not be popular, but decisions in the national interest need to be taken for the future otherwise ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
All fired up - European biomass industry prepares for rapid expansion
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256548/fired-european-biomass-industry
Business Green: It might be the oldest form of harnessable energy known to man, but that has not stopped the humble lump of wood enjoying something of a renaissance in recent years as governments across Europe look for a cost-effective and reliable way to curb carbon emissions. Now the stellar growth enjoyed by the continent's emerging biomass power industry is set to accelerate further, according to a new study from German energy consultancy ecoprog and research institute Fraunhofer UMSICHT, which ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
US East Coast could generate more than a fifth of electricity from wind by 2024
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256520/per-cent-power-wind-2024-report
Business Green: More than 20 per cent of the US Eastern Seaboard's electricity could be provided by wind turbines by 2024, according to a government report released yesterday. The two-year technical study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) examined the economic, operational and technical implications of the proposed move and concluded that such a large-scale increase in renewable energy capacity was ambitious but possible. "Twenty per cent wind is an ambitious goal, but this ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Murkowski to call on Congress to block federal greenhouse gas regulation
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/21/murkowski-congress-vote
Guardian: A Republican senator from Alaska is expected to call on Congress today to strip the Obama administration - and any future US government - of its powers to curb global warming pollution. Lisa Murkowski, an emerging leader on energy in Republican ranks, told a press conference on Wednesday she was thinking of invoking an obscure, rarely used measure that allows Congress to roll back government regulations. "At this point in time, my inclination is to proceed with the resolution ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Obama's climate change plans attacked from all sides
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256529/obama-climate-change-plans
Business Green: The chances of the US passing climate change legislation this year appeared highly unlikely this morning, after Democrats lost their filibuster-proof Senate majority and a rejuvenated Republican party stepped up efforts to block carbon legislation. The election of Republican senator Scott Brown to the late Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts seat stoked speculation that the administration would now delay the vote on the proposed Boxer-Kerry cap-and-trade bill until after the mid-term ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Hill steepens for US climate bill
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1852
Carbon Positive: The uphill push toward a federal US cap and trade scheme and emissions regulation met a steeper incline this week as new political obstacles in Congress put a federal emissions trading scheme in further doubt. As a result, attention is already turning back to the states and regional approaches to climate action. Already facing a difficult task in the Senate to secure the required votes, Democrat cap and trade proponents have lost a vital seat to the Republicans. Murmurings among some ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
France targets businesses with revised carbon tax plans
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256533/france-revises-carbon-tax-plans
Business Green: The French government moved to revive its controversial plans for a carbon tax yesterday, announcing that it will extend the proposed tax to cover large-scale polluters until 2013, at which point they will be forced to purchase emission allowances at auction under phase three of the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS). French environment minister Jean-Louis Borloo said the temporary tax would address concerns that the original tax provided too many exemptions for big businesses, while ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Finnish winters less icy by century's end: study
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/finnish-winters-less-icy-by-centurys-end-study-1874407.html
Independent (UK): Freezing weather could be a thing of the past in parts of Finland by the end of the century as climate change leads to rising temperatures, Finland's Meteorological Institute said Tuesday. "Due to climate change, cold winters will become increasingly rare," the agency said in a statement, referring to data from a project it is conducting with the University of Helsinki. By the end of the century, daily average temperatures in the south and on the western coast of the Nordic ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Vt. lawmakers weigh crackdown on truck idling
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100121/ap_on_bi_ge/us_vt_idling_crackdown
Associated Press: Aiming to cut air pollution, a panel of Vermont lawmakers is considering a bill that would crack down on idling by trucks. The House Natural Resources and Energy Committee this week is taking testimony on the bill, which would require that trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds not idle for more than 5 minutes. The committee would make exemptions for public safety vehicles, those delivering oil and other energy products, and trucks with cabs designed for drivers to sleep in ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
United States: Sen.-Elect Brown Is a 'Blank Slate' on Climate, Drawing Concern and Optimism
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/21/21climatewire-sen-elect-brown-is-a-blank-slate-on-climate-41366.html
ClimateWire: Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown has taken largely a back-seat role in his state's energy and climate debates but supported key environmental initiatives when voting in the Legislature, according to state officials, environmental advocates and state records. The Republican state senator who won a special election Tuesday was not heavily involved in Massachusetts issues related to renewable power, energy efficiency, greenhouse gases or other high-profile energy topics as part of ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Wis. lawmakers draw battle lines on energy bill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100121/ap_on_bi_ge/us_wisconsin_clean_energy
Associated Press: State lawmakers started poring over a sweeping renewable energy bill Wednesday, establishing battle lines as the measure inches toward a vote. The bill creates new renewable fuel standards, lifts Wisconsin's ban on nuclear power plants and calls for new vehicle emission standards to match California's. Environmentalists have praised the package, saying it is a key step toward fighting global warming and it will create jobs. But the state's business community is divided over the ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
UN climate experts under fire for glacier melt error
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,672975,00.html
Spiegel: In its 2007 report on climate change, the United Nations included a prediction that the Himalayan glaciers had a high probability of melting by 2035 -- a forecast that came as an unpleasant surprise for many. But the forecast is wrong and the Nobel Prize-winning UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change is be criticized heavily for its methods. If they had only listened to Georg Kaser, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) would have been spared deep embarrassment. ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Germany: Not in our backyard
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,673023,00.html
Spiegel: Most Germans are in favor of the expansion of renewable energy -- provided the plants aren't built in their neighborhood. All over the country, local groups are coming together to stop solar, wind and biogas projects. But where can power plants be built if no one wants them in their backyard? Hans Fliege likes to go for walks, and he loves the view across the Main River, which is why he moved to the village of Obertheres in Bavaria 30 years ago. But he knows that it isn't a strong ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Chile water authority fears future water shortages
http://www.santiagotimes.cl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18079:chile-water-authority-fears-future-water-shortages&catid=44:environmental&Itemid=40
Santiago Times: Water shortages in one of Chile's prime agricultural districts "" Region III's Copiapo valley, home to Chile's early table grape deal "" have local fruit growers and government officials concerned. Tierra Amarilla and Alto del Carmen communities in Huasco have not experienced a drop of rain for over a year More than 700 fruit growers rely on the Lautaro water reservoir, fed by the Copiapo River, which has a maximum capacity of 23 million cubic meters of water and normally holds about ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
France to tax big polluters under revised scheme
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60J4FA20100120
Reuters: France plans to tax big polluters on their carbon dioxide emissions until 2013, when a separate EU-wide scheme will make such firms pay for emissions permits, Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said on Wednesday. In a shock move, France's Constitutional Court rejected an original version of the government's carbon tax late last year on the grounds that it exempted too many big firms and ran counter to the spirit of equality in the French tax system. Borloo told reporters ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
U.S. says wind could power 20 percent of eastern grid
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60J37V20100120
Reuters: Wind energy could generate 20 percent of the electricity needed by households and businesses in the eastern half of the United States by 2024, but it would require up to $90 billion in investment, according to a government report released on Wednesday. For the 20 percent wind scenario to work, billions must be spent on installing wind towers on land and sea and about 22,000 miles of new high-tech power lines to carry the electricity to cities, according to the study from the Energy ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Expanding use of wind power feasible, but may be costly
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/business/energy-environment/21wind.html
New York Times: Wind could replace coal and natural gas for 20 to 30 percent of the electricity used in the eastern two-thirds of the United States by 2024, according to a study released Wednesday by the Energy Department. But doing so would require a reorganization of the power grid and a significant increase in costs. And it would have only a modest impact on cutting emissions linked to global warming, the study found. The Energy Department under President Obama has been a proponent of ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Hacked e-mails add fuel to climate naysayers' fire
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122799611
National Public Radio: Scientists attending the American Meteorological Society meeting in Atlanta say the field has weathered a storm created two months ago when hackers released e-mails from some prominent climate scientists. They say the e-mails revealed bad behavior by a small number of researchers and revealed some weaknesses in the scientific process. But the scientists say the e-mails did nothing to undermine the data showing that climate change is real.
Fri, 22 Jan 10
The real holes in climate science
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100120/full/463284a.html
Nature: The e-mails leaked from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU) in November presented an early Christmas present to climate-change denialists. Amid the more than 1,000 messages were several controversial comments that -- taken out of context -- seemingly indicate that climate scientists have been hiding a mound of dirty laundry from the public. A fuller reading of the e-mails from CRU in Norwich, UK, does show a sobering amount of rude behaviour and verbal faux ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Delhi plans switch to clean, costly power
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/newdelhi/City-plans-switch-to-clean-costly-power/Article1-499972.aspx
Hindustan Times: Delhi's power is turning green, but customers must be prepared to pay more. In a move that would significantly slash air pollution levels in the city, the Delhi government has decided to shut all its coal-fired power plants over the next four years and replace them with plants that use environment-friendly natural gas as fuel. The shift to cleaner power will result in higher power bills for end- users, but Delhi's chief secretary Rakesh Mehta is hopeful that citizens would pick ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
UN climate report riddled with errors on glaciers
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/01/20/science-sci-un-climate-change_7290165.html?boxes=financechannelAP
Associated Press: Five glaring errors were discovered in one paragraph of the world's most authoritative report on global warming, forcing the Nobel Prize-winning panel of climate scientists who wrote it to apologize and promise to be more careful. The errors are in a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.N.-affiliated body. All the mistakes appear in a subsection that suggests glaciers in the Himalayas could melt away by the year 2035 - hundreds of years earlier than the ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
United States: Mt. Rainier's retreating glaciers are making a mess
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2010/0120/Mt.-Rainier-s-retreating-glaciers-are-making-a-mess
Christian Science Monitor: The fallout from Mt. Rainier's shrinking glaciers is beginning to roll downhill, and nowhere is the impact more striking than on the volcano's west side. "This is it in spades," says Park Service geologist Paul Kennard, scrambling up a 10-foot-tall mass of dirt and boulders bulldozed back just enough to clear the road. As receding glaciers expose crumbly slopes, vast amounts of gravel and sediment are being sluiced into the rivers that flow from the Northwest's tallest peak. ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Australia: Greens propose interim carbon tax
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/21/2797559.htm?section=justin
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The Greens are attempting to break the political deadlock over emissions trading by suggesting an interim two-year scheme with a fixed price on carbon. Greens Senator Christine Milne is writing to the Government and the Opposition proposing a carbon price of $20 a tonne. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will soon unveil his plan to cut greenhouse gases without a trading scheme or carbon tax and there is little, if any, prospect of the Government getting its legislation through the ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Global warming? Don't blame the car
http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/global-warming-dont-blame-the-car-20100121-mmry.html
Sydney Morning Herald: General Motors executive says solar flares are responsible for climate change, not car emissions or CO2. Senior General Motors executive Bob Lutz has slammed scientists and environmentalists, saying global warming has little to do with humans and more to do with solar flares and sunspots. The self-confessed petrolhead and man who proudly claims to be a progenitor of the Chevrolet Volt electric car (due in Australia in 2012) still scoffs at global warming. Lutz, who in ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Pacific's rising acid levels threatening marine life
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010846811_ocean21m.html
Seattle Times: The most extensive survey of pH levels in the Pacific Ocean confirms what spot measurements have suggested: From Hawaii to Alaska, the upper reaches of the sea are becoming more acidic in concert with rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. "If you see these changes across an entire ocean basin, you can be assured it's happening on a global scale in other ocean basins around the world," said Robert Byrne, a marine chemist at the University of South Florida and lead author of an ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Canada: Climate change a problem in desperate need of leadership
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/753595--climate-change-a-problem-in-desperate-need-of-leadership
Toronto Star: It is now an accepted fact here in Canada and around the world that our country has gone from being an environmental leader under former prime minister Brian Mulroney to a laggard under the Liberals – and now a pariah under the Stephen Harper government. The recent UN climate change conference in Copenhagen made this even more painfully clear as we were given the dubious Fossil of the Year award for the third straight time and dubbed a "corrupt petro-state." Copenhagen ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
California sees problems in U.S. vehicle pollution plan
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60K3J220100121?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: California has issues with federal attempts to weaken new vehicle pollution standards, but the state backed away on Wednesday from a report that it was threatening to pull out of a deal with U.S. President Barack Obama's administration. The California agency responsible for implementing the state's global-warming law and vehicle-pollution standards said in a November letter that federal agencies must address two issues "to ensure California's continued support for the national ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Iran pledges to boost renewable energy capacity
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256487/iran-pledges-boost-renewable
Business Green: Iran may have the world's most hazardous energy policy, with its plans to build nuclear power plants risking the onset of global conflagration, but the country is also quietly pursuing a far less controversial strategy that could see it become a major player in the Middle East's emerging renewable energy sector. Speaking over the weekend, Iran's deputy minister for electricity Abbas Aliabadi told attendees at a preparatory meeting of the International Renewable Energy Agency that the ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
Pollution sensors to provide early warning network
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256486/qinetiq-trials-environmental
Business Green: Defence and technology firm QinetiQ - the privatised R&D arm of the Ministry of Defence - has announced plans for a new research project to assess how advances in sensor technologies could revolutionise environmental monitoring. The Sensor Web for Infrastructure Management (Swima) initiative will evaluate how information can be gathered from a number of sensors placed in the wild, providing organisations with early notification of pollution incidents and potential environmental ...
Fri, 22 Jan 10
US flicks switch on $37m of LED funding
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256473/flicks-switch-37m-led-funding
Business Green: The guardians of the US government's economic stimulus treasure chest have dished out further funding for the country's clean tech sector, selecting 17 projects working on the development of energy efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as the lucky recipients of more than $37m (£22.7m). The awards were announced late last week by the Department of Energy, which predicted that developments in solid-state lighting such as those financed by the economic stimulus funds would reduce ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
Study links Asia to smog component in Western US
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100120/ap_on_re_us/us_asian_ozone
Associated Press: Ozone blowing over from Asia is raising background levels of a major ingredient of smog in the skies over California, Oregon, Washington and other Western states, according to a new study appearing in Thursday's edition of the journal Nature. The amounts are small and, so far, only found in a region of the atmosphere known as the free troposphere, at an altitude of two to five miles, but the development could complicate U.S. efforts to control air pollution. Though the levels ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
UN drops deadline for countries to state climate change targets
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/20/copenhagen-accord-deadline-climate-change
Guardian: The UN has dropped the 31 January deadline by which time all countries were expected to officially state their emission reduction targets or list the actions they planned to take to counter climate change. Yvo de Boer, UN climate change chief, today changed the original date set at last month's fractious Copenhagen climate summit, saying that it was now a "soft" deadline, which countries could sign up to when they chose. "I do not expect everyone to meet the deadline. Countries are ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
U.N. panel "regrets" exaggeration of Himalayan thaw
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100120/india_nm/india455550
Reuters: The U.N. panel of climate scientists expressed regret on Wednesday for exaggerating how quickly Himalayan glaciers are melting in a report that wrongly projected that they could all vanish by 2035. Leaders of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) "regret the poor application of well-established IPCC procedures in this instance", they said in a statement on the flaw in a paragraph of a 938-page scientific report. They noted that the projection of a thaw by 2035 ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Moorlands and hills targeted to grow crops for biomass and biofuels
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/20/moorlands-and-biomass-crops
Guardian: One tenth of Britain, including moorlands and hillsides, could be used to grow crops for biomass and biofuels. Countryside protection groups warned that this would turn large swaths of the countryside into monocultural landscapes and pose a threat to wildlife. The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), a £1bn public-private investment body, said it was launching a project to map all the "under-utilised" land in Britain to find out how much could be turned over to growing bioenergy ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
US Bound by Obama's Copenhagen Emissions Pledge -- UN Official
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/01/20/20greenwire-us-bound-by-obamas-copenhagen-emissions-pledge-17687.html
New York Times: The United Nations will hold President Obama to his promise that the United States will reduce carbon emissions even if the Senate cannot pass climate legislation, U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer said this morning. In his first public comments since the Copenhagen climate summit last month that produced a nonbinding promise from major-emitting countries to cut greenhouse gases, de Boer noted that Obama vowed the United States will slash carbon about 17 percent below 2005 levels in the ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
No guarantee of warming treaty this year: UN climate chief
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100120/sc_afp/unclimatewarming
Agence France-Presse: World talks on climate change may not yield a legally-binding pact by year's end, UN pointman Yvo de Boer said on Wednesday in his first public assessment after last month's turbulent Copenhagen summit. De Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said he had taken stock among a number of countries after the Copenhagen meeting. The mood among them was to forge an agreement this December on how to tackle climate change and then discuss ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
U.N. insists to guide climate talks, despite setback
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60J4DD20100120?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The United Nations insisted Wednesday that it should keep guiding talks on a new climate pact despite near-failure at a summit last month when a few countries agreed a low-ambition "Copenhagen Accord." Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N.'s Climate Change Secretariat, said negotiations in 2010 would be based on U.N. talks launched in 2007 about how to extend the existing Kyoto Protocol and on involving all nations in action. The three-page Copenhagen Accord, championed by big emitters ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
Sierra Club names new executive director
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100120/ap_on_re_us/us_sierra_club_director
Associated Press: Influential environmental group Sierra Club has named environmental activist and author Michael Brune (BROON) as its new executive director. The 38-year-old Brune replaces Carl Pope, who served as executive director for the nation's oldest environmental group for 18 years. Pope will remain with Sierra Club as executive chairman focusing on the organization's work battling climate change. For the past seven years, Brune served as executive director of the Rainforest Action ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
UN climate chiefs apologize for glacier error
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/01/20/glacier.himalayas.ipcc.error/?hpt=T2
CNN: The U.N.'s leading panel on climate change has apologized for misleading data published in a 2007 report that warned Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035. In a statement released Wednesday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said estimates relating to the rate of recession of the Himalayan glaciers in its Fourth Assessment Report were "poorly substantiated" adding that "well-established standards of evidence were not applied properly." Despite the admission, ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
Sen.-Elect Brown's Win Adds More Question Marks to Senate Climate Debate
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/20/20climatewire-sen-elect-browns-win-adds-more-question-mark-48190.html
ClimateWire: An already tough climb to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation in the Senate just got a bit tougher with Republican Scott Brown's upset victory yesterday in Massachusetts. Brown's win takes a guaranteed "yes" vote off the board for advocates of setting up a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions. It also could serve as a warning shot for moderate senators nervous about voting for a sweeping new government program headed into their own tough re-election ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
Canada: A case of good Karma for Fisker as green car firm raises $115m
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256438/fisker-raises-115m-equity
Business Green: California-based Fisker Automotive has confirmed that it has raised $115m (£70.6m) in equity to help finance construction of its Karma plug-in hybrid sports car. This fresh funding enables the company to meet the terms of a $528.7m conditional loan offer from the US Department of Energy, effectively removing the final hurdle for the company's plans to manufacture the Karma and develop a less expensive sedan model plug-in hybrid. The loan is now expected to close over the next ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
Republican Senator prepares move to block EPA carbon finding
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256426/republican-senator-prepares
Business Green: Lisa Murkowski, the Republican senator from Alaska, looks set to file an amendment that could prevent the EPA regulating carbon emissions, in what could prove a devastating blow for the Obama administration's attempts to pass climate change legislation. Murkowski, traditionally a strong opponent of carbon regulation, is reportedly planning to piggyback her amendment on a Congressional debate over increasing the federal debt later today. The debate on the debt bill features a ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
France prepares fresh carbon tax plans
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100120/sc_afp/franceenvironmentclimatepoliticstax
Agence France-Presse: France renewed efforts on Wednesday to become the first big economy to tax harmful carbon emissions, with the government due to thrash out new plans for the measure to curb climate change. Ministers were due to draw up amendments to a law that was rejected last month by the country's high court, days before it was to kick in -- an embarrassing setback for President Nicolas Sarkozy. The tax is aimed at encouraging French consumers to stop wasting energy, but the court ruled that ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Chief Scientist predicts "bottom-up" effort to tackle climate change
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256429/chief-scientist-predicts-bottom
Business Green: The government's chief scientific advisor, Professor John Beddington, has today predicted that the failure to deliver a binding international agreement at last month's Copenhagen Summit will force governments and businesses to take a more "bottom up" approach to tackling carbon emissions. Speaking at a roundtable hosted by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), Beddington admitted that the Copenhagen Summit had proved a "disappointment", but argued that national and state level ...
Thu, 21 Jan 10
Government tightens sustainable timber procurement policy
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256430/government-tightens-sustainable
Business Green: The government has today announced that it is to tighten its procurement policy for timber products to better ensure timber used by the public sector is both legal and sustainable. Public sector bodies already have to comply with procurement criteria designed to ensure the timber they purchase is not from legal and sustainably managed plantations. However, from April 1 the rules will be extended to include social criteria intended to better protect communities impacted by ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
The risks of nuclear energy are not exaggerated
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/20/evidence-nuclear-risks-not-overrated
Guardian: You reported the view that radiation risks are exaggerated, but left out vital information on radiation protection (Radiation health threat overstated – Oxford professor, 11 January). The article relied upon and extensively cited a retired professor of particle physics, Wade Allison, who is neither a radiation biologist nor an epidemiologist, and is not in my view an expert in radiation risks. Indeed, the other three scientists quoted in the article pointedly refrained from supporting ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Eco-bling and retrofitting won't meet emissions targets, warn engineers
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/20/eco-bling-retrofitting-carbon-emissions
Guardian: Attaching "eco-bling" such as wind turbines or solar panels to buildings will not help the UK cut the carbon emissions from buildings fast enough to meet the government's ambitious targets, engineers warned yesterday . They also said the building industry will "struggle" to meet requirements to make all new buildings zero-carbon by 2020 because of a lack of skilled workers who understand how energy is used, and therefore saved, in buildings. The UK government has committed the country ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Roof-mounted wind turbines 'no help in reducing carbon'
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6994439.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
Times (UK): Roof-mounted wind turbines and solar panels are "eco-bling' that allow their owners to flaunt their green credentials but contribute very little towards meeting Britain's carbon reduction targets, according to the Royal Academy of Engineering. Developers will waste millions of pounds installing such micro-generation devices unless the Government revises its building regulations on carbon-neutral homes and offices. Doug King, Professor of Building Engineering at the University ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Political turmoil shakes US climate bill
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN1915009420100119
Reuters: A U.S. climate change bill, already facing a difficult fight in the Senate, is facing new political problems that could sink "cap and trade" this year. A leading Senate Democrat on Tuesday said he does not think the Senate can pass a bill in 2010. A special election on Tuesday for a Massachusetts Senate seat could spell deeper problems for the long-delayed legislation. Republican state Senator Scott Brown is aiming to defeat Democratic state Attorney General Martha Coakley to ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Solomons says developed countries must show climate change commitments
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=51482
Radio New Zealand: The Solomon Islands environment minister says developed countries must now show full commitment in helping small island states adapt to climate change. Under last month`s Copenhagen Accord, developed countries have pledged funding for climate change adaptation for small island states and developing countries. While being disappointed with the Accord, Gordon Darcy Lilo believes it`s a good starting point, saying it`s the first document where a strong political commitment has ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Why hasn't Earth warmed as much as expected? New report on climate change explores the reasons
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100119112050.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: Planet Earth has warmed much less than expected during the industrial era based on current best estimates of Earth's "climate sensitivity" -- the amount of global temperature increase expected in response to a given rise in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2). In a study to be published in the Journal of Climate, a publication of the American Meteorological Society, Stephen Schwartz, of Brookhaven National Laboratory, and colleagues examine the reasons for this ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Scientists: park in Ecuador likely contains world's highest biodiversity, but threatened by oil
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0119-hance_yasunibio.html
Mongabay: In the midst of a seesaw political battle to save Yasuni National Park from oil developers, scientists have announced that this park in Ecuador houses more species than anywhere else in South America--and maybe the world. "Yasuní is at the center of a small zone where South America's amphibians, birds, mammals, and vascular plants all reach maximum diversity," Dr. Clinton Jenkins of the University of Maryland said in a press release. "We dubbed this area the 'quadruple richness ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
India: Climate body admits glacier error
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8468358.stm
BBC: The vice-chairman of the UN's climate science panel admits that it made a mistake in asserting that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) included the date in its 2007 assessment of climate impacts. A number of scientists have recently disputed the 2035 figure, and Jean-Pascal van Ypersele told BBC News that it was an error and would be reviewed. But he said it did not change the broad picture of man-made climate ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
German solar industry faces subsidy cut: minister
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100119/sc_afp/germanyalternativesolarenergyenvironment
Agence France-Presse: Germany, the world's biggest market for solar cells, is poised to slash its subsidies for solar power by as much as 17 percent, Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said on Tuesday. "I envisage an order of magnitude of 16 to 17 percent," Bruederle said at an energy conference in Berlin. Electricity produced by solar power in Germany is sold at a minimum price guaranteed by the government to help producers compete with firms using fossil fuels and nuclear power that can produce ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Climate Bill Watchers Keeping Eyes on Senate Race in Mass.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/01/19/19greenwire-climate-bill-watchers-keeping-eyes-on-senate-r-58287.html
Greenwire: Massachusetts voters are at the polls today to determine who will replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D) in a tightly contested special election with implications for President Obama's legislative agenda back in Washington. For starters, the two leading candidates -- Republican state Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic state Attorney General Martha Coakley -- are poised to offer critical votes in the closing moments of the Capitol Hill debate over Obama's sweeping health care reform ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
United States: Urban 'green' spaces may contribute to global warming
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100119133515.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: Dispelling the notion that urban "green" spaces help counteract greenhouse gas emissions, new research has found -- in Southern California at least -- that total emissions would be lower if lawns did not exist. Turfgrass lawns help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and store it as organic carbon in soil, making them important "carbon sinks." However, greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer production, mowing, leaf blowing and other lawn management ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Report to highlight Chesapeake's biofuel potential
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100119/ap_on_bi_ge/us_chesapeake_biofuels_maryland
Associated Press: The Chesapeake Bay Commission says a new report outlines the Chesapeake Bay watershed's biofuel potential. The report, scheduled to be released Wednesday by the commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, will detail the findings and recommendations of the Chesapeake Biofuels Advisory Panel. The report is the third and last in a series by the commission. The commission says the emerging biofuels industry has the potential to provide thousands of jobs over the ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Two in three Indians don't know about climate change
http://www.livemint.com/2010/01/20000949/Two-in-three-Indians-don8217.html
Livemint: Indians, by their own admission, are largely unaware of climate change, says a survey released on Tuesday by polling agency Gallup Inc. Even as the country emerged as a key player in global warming talks, less than one-third of Indian respondents in the survey said they knew anything about the issue--well below levels of awareness shown by people in other emerging climate negotiators such as China, Brazil and South Africa. The survey, conducted before last month's climate ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Cheerios maker linked to rainforest destruction
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0119-palm_oil.html
Mongabay: An activist group linked General Mills to destruction of rainforests in Southeast Asia in dramatic fashion on Tuesday, when it unfurled a giant banner, reading "Warning: General Mills Destroys Rainforests", outside the company's Minneapolis headquarters building. The stunt was executed by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), an activist group campaigning to highlight the role that palm oil consumption has in deforestation in Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. Expansion of oil ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Measuring carbon dioxide over the ocean
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100119103555.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: Reliable measurements of the air-sea flux of carbon dioxide -- an important greenhouse gas -- are needed for a better understanding of the impact of ocean-atmosphere interactions on climate. A new method developed by researchers at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) working in collaboration with colleagues at the Bjerknes Center for Climate Research (Bergen, Norway) promises to make this task considerably easier. Infrared gas sensors measure carbon dioxide based on ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Senate Not Seen Passing Climate Bill In 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/01/19/us/politics/politics-us-senate-climate.html?_r=5
Reuters: U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan said on Tuesday he did not think the Senate would pass climate change legislation this year, but instead would focus on separate energy legislation that would require more electricity supplies to be generated from renewable sources and expand offshore drilling into the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Dorgan said it would be difficult for the Senate to turn to controversial climate change legislation after it just had to deal with the health care bill. "It is ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
German minister pushes for solar subsidy cuts
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256385/german-minister-confirms-solar
Business Green: A senior figure within the German government has today confirmed he is pushing for cuts of up to 17 per cent in feed-in tariffs for solar power, further raising the prospect that deep cuts in renewable energy subsidies will be announced later this week. "Regarding the photovoltaic (industry), cuts of 16 to 17 per cent can be made," German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle told Reuters, although he was keen to emphasise that "this is my opinion, this is not yet the position of the ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Prices, lack of government support impeding renewable energy
http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=2456257
Financial Post: Despite public support for alternative energy - and the opportunity it presents to replace carbon-based fossil fuels - its progress in Canada is impeded by uncompetitive prices and the lack of clear government policy, accounting firm Ernst & Young said in a report Monday. "We've seen a real willingness from the Canadian public to embrace the virtues of 'going green,' but price is still a top consideration," said Cathy Cobey, Canadian leader for Ernst & Young's climate change ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
UN glacier blunder a 300-year mix-up
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/un-glacier-blunder-a-300-year-mix-up/story-e6frg6nf-1225821001387
Australian: A UN agency has wrongly claimed that most Himalayan glaciers would melt almost 300 years earlier than forecast, leading glaciologists claim. Picture: Barcroft Pacific FLAWED communication between teams of scientists caused the UN climate change agency to claim most Himalayan glaciers would melt almost 300 years earlier than forecast, leading glaciologists claim. The Autralian revealed yesterday the claims by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were based on the work ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
U.N. panel re-examines Himalayan glacier thaw report
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60H3VE20100118
Reuters: The U.N. panel of climate scientists said Monday it was reviewing a report containing a little-known projection that Himalayan glaciers might vanish by 2035, a finding trenchantly criticized by the Indian government. The 2007 U.N. panel report says global warming could cause the Himalaya's thousands of glaciers to vanish by 2035 if current warming rates continue. "We are looking into the issue of the Himalayan glaciers, and will take a position on it in the next two or three ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
A search for rules before climate-changing experiments begin
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/18/18climatewire-a-search-for-rules-before-climate-changing-e-40048.html
ClimateWire: Responding to renewed interest in geoengineering schemes to combat global warming, scientists and policymakers are beginning several efforts that could set new ground rules for research, including large-scale field experiments. Last week, a committee in Britain's House of Commons began an inquiry to determine whether developing and deploying geoengineering methods will require new British or international regulations. The U.K. panel is cooperating with an American counterpart, the ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
A Pacific Island Challenge to European Air Pollution
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/business/global/19power.html
New York Times: A Pacific island nation has challenged plans by the Czech Republic to refit a coal-fired power station, in an appeal that environmental advocates on Monday described as the first of its kind. The case focuses on efforts by a Czech utility, the CEZ Group, to prolong the life of the power plant in Prunerov, close to the German border. The Federated States of Micronesia maintains that doing so would result in continued emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
United States: UW biomass power plant a gamble for state
http://www.jsonline.com/business/82008452.html
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A state-funded, $250 million project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison aims to convert a coal-fired power plant on campus to one that primarily burns biomass such as tree trimmings and crops, ideally becoming a model for how the state can reduce its carbon output and its dependence on fossil fuels. But the massive venture - accounting for nearly one-fifth of the state's capital budget during the 2009-'11 budget period - faces considerable hurdles. Among them: * ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Alberta's CO2 targets 'ambitious,' research warns
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Alberta%20goals%20ambitious/2454305/story.html
Calgary Herald: For all the criticism environmentalists have heaped on Alberta's climate change program, the goals the province has set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will be extremely diffi cult and expensive to meet, says a University of Alberta researcher. Andrew Leach, an assistant professor and researcher in energy and environment economics, says the Stelmach government's plan to capture and store 50 million tonnes of carbon annually by 2020 and 139 million tonnes annually by 2050 without ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Low carbon living on the way
http://english.cctv.com/program/bizchina/20100119/102314.shtml
CCTV: An increasing number of people are becoming aware of climate change and environmental issues. These people are helping the Earth's fragile environment. Zhu Fengying is one person making a difference by living a low-carbon life. After washing her hands, Zhu Fengying saves the used water. Cleaning with a mop and flushing the toilet, Zhu always makes full use of every drop of water. Her home is extremely energy-efficient. She has a bigger apartment, but chooses to live in this small one. ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Congress vote: Obama faces emissions U-turn
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/19/obama-emissions-congress-murkowski
Guardian: The Obama administration faces a challenge in Congress that could strip it of its powers to cut greenhouse gas emissions, barely a month after committing to action at the Copenhagen climate change summit. An Alaska Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski, is expected to put forward a proposal for a vote as early as tomorrow that would seek to prevent the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gas emissions. A show of support for Murkowski's proposal ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Antarctic station cuts ribbon on world's southern-most wind farm
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256321/science-station-cuts-ribbon
Business Green: It may already be on the front line of climate change, but the frozen continent of Antarctica is increasingly on the front line of efforts to curb carbon emissions as well. The world's most southerly wind farm was formally opened over the weekend with the installation of three wind turbines, which together are expected to supply about 11 per cent of the power to New Zealand's Scott Base and the American McMurdo Station, cutting diesel use at the Antarctic stations by about 463,000 ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Masdar and Deutsche Bank close first clean tech fund
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256320/masdar-deutsche-bank-launch
Business Green: Deutsche Bank and Abu Dhabi state-owned energy firm Masdar yesterday announced that it has closed its first joint clean tech fund, having raised $265m (£162m) for investment in low-carbon technologies. The companies said the new fund will be co-managed by Masdar Venture Capital and DB Climate Change Advisors and will invest primarily in later-stage companies looking to expand in the clean energy, water and waste management and energy efficiency sectors. The joint DBCCA and ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Tide turning for UK renewables projects
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256309/tide-turning-uk-renewables
Business Green: The Scottish government last week approved three large-scale wind energy projects, which together are expected to provide enough energy for 100,000 homes while creating 240 construction jobs. A 118MW-capacity wind farm on the Isle of Lewis, a 52.5MW wind farm near Thurso, and a 45MW extension to the Rother wind farm near Elgin were all granted planning approval, further underlining Scotland's burgeoning status as a leader in the UK's wind energy industry. The announcements came ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Canada: Quebec charging ahead with $4.5 million electric vehicle trial
http://www.thestar.com/business/cleanbreak/article/751962--quebec-charging-ahead-with-4-5-million-electric-vehicle-trial
Toronto Star: Hydro-Québec plans to launch the largest electric-vehicle trial in the country later this fall, a $4.5 million project over three years that will put 50 electric cars on the streets of Boucherville. The utility has partnered with Mitsubishi Motors, which will supply its i-MiEV electric cars for the trial. "This is a major step for us," said Stacey Masson, a spokeswoman for Hydro-Québec. "We want to make sure we can support this kind of transition (to electric vehicles) with the ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
MPG standards loom, so designers look afar
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/automobiles/autoshow/17design.html
New York Times: IT wasn't a particular look or style that dominated the conversations of designers at the 2010 Detroit auto show, and it wasn't a buzzword like retro or kinetic or flame-surfaced. It was the shadow of a number: 35.5. That number is not the median age of the United States population, which is 36.7 years and rising, according to the government. Rather, 35.5 is miles per gallon, the required fleet average fuel economy that automakers must achieve in 2016 under the Obama administration's ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Tofu is bad for the environment, finds food study
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport-environment/tofu-is-bad-for-the-environment-finds-food-study-1.999440
Scotland Herald: Vegetarians have claimed for years that their meat-shy ways are helping save the world but a new study has found that tofu may actually be worse for the environment than beef. In a stark report on the environmental impact of the global food industry, WWF has warned that replacing meat with "highly refined' substitutes such as Quorn could increase the area of farmland needed to feed the UK. Instead, the charity has said, a wide range of measures will be required to bring harmful ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
UN science report stating Himalayan glaciers would melt within 25 years 'was a guess.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1243963/UN-science-report-stated-Himalayan-glaciers-melt-25-years-guess.html
Daily Mail: Claims by the world's leading climate scientists that most of the Himalayan glaciers will vanish within 25 years were last night exposed as nonsense. The alarmist warning appeared two years ago in a highly influential report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. At the time the IPCC insisted that its report contained the latest and most detailed evidence yet of the risks of man-made climate change to the planet. Misleading: UN climate change ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Plug-in and hybrid ships in the pipeline
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY201001170225.html
Asahi Shimbun: As interest in "green" vehicles rises on land, shipbuilders too are developing vessels that could emit fewer or no greenhouse gases. Currently on the drawing board are two concept vessels--a plug-in ship that runs entirely on lithium-ion batteries and a diesel-electric hybrid vessel. IHI Marine United Inc., a subsidiary of heavy machinery maker IHI Corp., is developing a plug-in ship powered by lithium-ion batteries. Its Zero Emission Electric Propulsion Ship will use batteries ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
United Kingdom: BAA shelve plans for third Heathrow runway but is it too late for Sipson?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/18/baa-third-runway-heathrow-sipson
Guardian: BAA has shelved plans for building a third runway at Heathrow until after the general election, a year after the government controversially approved expanding Britain's largest airport. BAA secured government approval for its plans a year ago this week amid protest from green groups and local residents. For the last seven years, a loose coalition of Sipson villagers, more seasoned environmental campaigners and celebrities have been battling BAA's plans to expand northwards. The ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Fresh call for clean energy commitments
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/165747/fresh-call-for-clean-energy-commitments
Agence France-Presse: World leaders raised a fresh alarm on global warming Monday, urging international action to increase use of clean energy at a four-day forum that opened in the oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi. "If we don't act now, our coral reefs and rainforests will die, desert countries will become unbearably hot and low lying countries like the Maldives, will slip beneath the rising seas,'' said the president of the Maldives, Mohammed Nasheed. "Tackling climate change is not like dealing with ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
New energy bill not a green light for nuclear power
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/environment/article_cd38ddac-90fc-56a9-a664-50185d6fbc75.html
Capital Times: The new clean energy bill trumpeted by Gov. Jim Doyle has been called everything from a forward-thinking green initiative to a jobs-killing mandate that would cripple the Wisconsin economy. One thing it's not, however, is a green light for nuclear power. While the measure does modify the state's quarter-century moratorium on nuclear plant construction, enough obstacles remain that make it doubtful a new facility would be built here anytime soon. This comes despite the fact that ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Uncertain future for US climate law after Copenhagen
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100118/tpl-uncertain-future-for-us-climate-law-10170b4.html
Agence France-Presse: The future of a US climate law is hanging in the balance in Congress as lawmakers gear up for crucial midterm elections amid a persistent economic slump, experts say. Further reducing the impetus, UN climate talks in Copenhagen ended last month with a non-binding agreement to limit warming to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (two Celsius) that did not set binding targets to reduce the emissions of gases scientists say are heating up the world's atmosphere to dangerous levels. Among the ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Haiti and the politics of climate change
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2010-01/18/content_9332945.htm
China Daily: A chilling cartoon by Steve Bell in The Guardian says it all. Standing among the ruins of the Haitian presidential palace in Port-au-Prince are two persons. A speech balloon above one reads: "Perhaps if Haiti were a bank..." The country has been the victim of nature's fury before. Barely one and half years ago, it was battered by four devastating hurricanes. And now this killer quake, which has leveled Port-au-Prince, has killed tens of thousands of people, left many trapped under ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
California approves tough new green building code
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256263/california-approves-toughest
Business Green: California has again underlined its status as a pioneer of green legislation, mandating tough new building rules that will require all new buildings in the State to comply with demanding environmental and energy efficiency standards by January 2011. Known as Calgreen, the green building code, which was formally adopted late last week, has been in development since 2007 by California's Building Standards Commission (BSC). It requires half of all construction waste to be re-used ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Reduced Himalayan Snowfall Could Spark Water War
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50014
Inter Press Service: The declining snow cover and receding glaciers in the Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir could trigger renewed hostilities between India and Pakistan, neighbouring states in the South Asian region that are at odds on a host of issues, experts warn. The two countries share the Indus River, one of the longest rivers in the world. The river rises in southwestern Tibet and flows northwest through the Himalayas. It crosses into the disputed Kashmir region, mending its way to the Indian- ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Chances of EU adopting 30 per cent emission target ebb away
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256282/chances-eu-adopting-per-cent
Business Green: With just a fortnight to go until signatories to the Copenhagen Accord are required to submit new emission targets, it appears increasingly unlikely that the EU will up its target for 2020 and pledge to cut emissions by 30 per cent. A number of EU states, including the UK, France, Germany, Belgium and Spain, had been pushing for the bloc to act unilaterally and increase its emission reduction target for 2020 from 20 to 30 per cent below 1990 levels. Officials had hoped that ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
All is not lost in fight against climate change, says UK climate expert
http://www.bristol247.com/2010/01/18/all-is-not-lost-in-fight-against-climate-change-says-uk-climate-expert/
Bristol 24-7: After the disappointment of Copenhagen, many climate activists feel wholly dispirited about the world's ability to prevent catastrophic global warming. But all is not yet lost, as one of Britain's key climate experts made clear in a debate in the House of Lords on Friday. Lord Stern of Brentford, author of the influential 2006 Stern Review on the cost of tackling global warming, admitted the outcome of the Copenhagen climate change talks was "disappointing" and "chaotic" , but said ...
Wed, 20 Jan 10
Therapists report increase in green disputes
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/science/earth/18family.html
New York Times: Gordon Fleming is, by his own account, an environmentally sensitive guy. He bikes 12 1/2 miles to and from his job at a software company outside Santa Barbara, Calif. He recycles as much as possible and takes reusable bags to the grocery store. Still, his girlfriend, Shelly Cobb, feels he has not gone far enough. Ms. Cobb chides him for running the water too long while he shaves or showers. And she finds it "depressing," she tells him, that he continues to buy a steady ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Toyota to build 1 million hybrid cars in 2011: report
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60G2K720100117?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FbusinessNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Business+News%29
Reuters: Toyota Motor Corp plans to increase global production of gas-electric hybrid cars to 1 million units in 2011, twice the volume of last year, as it tries to keep its leading position in the growing low-emission car market, the Nikkei business reported on Monday. The automaker plans to add about 10 new hybrid models in the next few years to its existing lineup and to increase the number of sites where they can assemble hybrid models, the Nikkei said without citing ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
'Keep oil for future, tap solar energy'
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=131387&d=18&m=1&y=2010
Arab news: A prominent expert in the field of renewable energy technology has called on Saudi Arabia to invest heavily in solar technology. Professor Ali Sayigh, director general of the UK-based World Renewable Energy Network, was speaking at a public lecture on solar energy organized by the Center of Research for Excellence in Renewable Energy at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). "Saudi Arabia has the resources to allocate substantial funds for research in this particular ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Boris Johnson acts to boost London's recycle rates
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jan/18/boris-johnson-recycling-boost-rates
Guardian: The mayor of London Boris Johnson will today outline plans for a scheme that rewards recycling households as he aims to cut the amount of rubbish going to landfill sites. Johnson is backing a London-based trial of an American scheme called Recycle Bank, which gives householders shopping vouchers or donations to charity to the value of how much they recycle. Johnson estimates a typical London household would make £14 a month under the scheme, one of a series of proposals ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Shell faces shareholder revolt over Canadian tar sands project
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/18/shell-shareholders-fury-tar-sands
Guardian: Shell chief executive Peter Voser will be forced to defend the company's controversial investment in Canada's tar sands at his first annual general meeting, after calls from shareholders that the project be put under further scrutiny. A coalition of institutional investors has forced a resolution onto the agenda calling for the Anglo-Dutch group's audit committee to undertake a special review of the risks attached to the carbon-heavy oil production at Athabasca in ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Damaged credibility doesn't alter climate facts
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/0118/1224262564923.html
Irish Times: IT HAS been a bad winter for the environmental movement. It started with climategate. Hacked or leaked e-mails from prominent climate scientists revealed a clique of academics who were sloppy with the science, tried to hide from outside scrutiny and worked hard to suppress contradictory evidence. These scientists had made only minor contributions to the science of climate change. Climate change is as real now as it was before climategate. At the same time, these people were prominent ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
White House signals support for low carbon transit plans
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256257/white-house-streamlines-green
Business Green: The Obama Administration has announced plans to revamp its funding guidelines for local transportation projects in an attempt to help speed the flow of cash to infrastructure projects that aim to curb carbon emissions and congestion. Announcing the proposed changes last week, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that the parameters for transit project funding should be expanded to increase the chances of green projects getting approval. He said that in addition to cost ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
2007 floods cost UK £3.2bn, says Environment Agency
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256256/2007-floods-cost-2bn
Business Green: The urgent need to increase investment in climate adaptation measures will be again be underlined later today with the release of a major new report from the Environment Agency, which calculates that the floods of summer 2007 cost the UK £3.2bn. The study, which is being positioned as one of the most comprehensive assessments of flood costs ever undertaken, calculates that the widespread flooding cost households and businesses a total of £2bn. It found that the average cost for ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Canada: EVs in a cold climate - Mitsubishi to trial electric cars in icy Quebec
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256243/quebec-trial-mitsubishi
Business Green: Quebec's power utility Hydro-Québec has announced it is to team up with Mitsubishi to road-test 50 electric Mitsubishi i MiEVs in the Canadian province as part of research that could have significant implications for the wider electric vehicle industry. The C$4.5m (£2.6m) project will aim to assess the performance of the vehicles in harsh winter conditions, and represents the first initiative of its kind to include the participation of a car manufacturer, a public utility, a ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
UN's global warming claim 'based on dated, obscure source'
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10620811
New Zealand Herald: A leading British newspaper claims the United Nations body on climate change has made a blunder of Himalayan proportions over key evidence on global warming. The Sunday Times says a key finding on melting glaciers by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change may have been simply taken from a press interview with an obscure Indian scientist. Latest reports say the finding that climate change will melt most of the Himalayan glaciers by 2035 is now likely to be retracted due ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
United States: Why coastal oil spills can pollute for decades: study
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100117/sc_afp/environmentpollutionoilexxonclimatewarming
Agence France-Presse: Oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker spill that devastated Alaska's Prince William Sound still lies trapped beneath its beaches, continuing to pollute once pristine shores, scientists reported Sunday. As climate change opens the Arctic region to oil exploration and shipping, the findings could prove crucial in devising effective methods for cleaning up future spills, the researchers said. Up to now, experts puzzled over why remnants of the 11 million gallons of crude that ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Forget Harry Potter: Saci Lloyd thrills teenagers with a heroine who battles climate change and extremism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/17/carbon-diaries-saci-lloyd-television
Guardian: Not many sixth-form teachers from east London can claim to have said "No" to Johnny Depp, but Saci Lloyd is getting used to her double life. By day, she teaches A-level students at an inner-city college: by night, she is one of Britain's most successful crusading authors. Her first book, The Carbon Diaries 2015, shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards last year, already has a slavish following among teenagers in this country and in America. The futuristic story introduced the world to a ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Beaches trapping some oil from Exxon Valdez spill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60G1QJ20100117?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A lack of oxygen and nutrients below the surface of beaches in Alaska's Prince William Sound is slowing the dissipation of oil remaining from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, U.S. researchers said on Sunday. The team conducted field studies over the past three summers using geologic information and hydraulics to try to determine why patches of oil linger on the beaches 20 years after the worst oil spill in U.S. history. The supertanker Exxon Valdez spilled more than 11 million ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Renault Pledges to Build New Electric Vehicle in France
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/business/energy-environment/18renault.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Carlos Ghosn, the Renault chief executive, sought over the weekend to defuse an employment conflict with the French government, telling President Nicolas Sarkozy that the automaker would split production of its new Clio model between France and Turkey and would produce its new electric vehicle entirely in a plant near Paris. The French state is Renault`s largest shareholder, with just over 15 percent, and Mr. Sarkozy and Industry Minister Christian Estrosi have been pressing the ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
India: 'Negotiations have dictated our climate change moves'
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news//negotiations-have-dictated-our-climate-change-moves//382963/
Business Standard: In this concluding part of his extended interview to Business Standard, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh talks of his agenda for greening Indian industry: new energy efficiency norms for industry, applying a new environment index at industrial clusters, and the like. Excerpts What is the scope of your green plan for industry? The big thing we are awaiting is the national energy efficiency mission, which we have announced. The amendments to the Energy Conservation Act are now ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Indian judge to rule on UK activist arrested for carrying satellite phone
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/17/andy-pag-satellite-phone-arrest
Guardian: A British environmental campaigner who was arrested in India during a crackdown on terrorism for carrying a satellite phone without permission will tomorrow hear if he will be released after a week in custody. Andy Pag, 35, was driving in an old school bus fuelled by chip fat when he was arrested by Indian police following a tipoff from the army. Pag set off from London three-and-a-half months ago on a trip powered only by biofuel. He was arrested last week in Pushkar after ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Chief constable accused of undermining power station protest
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/17/policing-kingsworth-climate-camp-protest
Guardian: A chief constable was tonight accused of undermining the public's right to protest after documents revealed he urged the owner of a power station to do more to disrupt environmental demonstrators. Mike Fuller, the chief constable of Kent police, told E.ON it was "grossly inappropriate" for taxpayers to be paying extra for policing of protests at Kingsnorth, and the energy firm should "intervene" beforehand to prevent them taking place. He has been accused of straying from his ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
New Zealand: Public still sceptical about climate change
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/89395/public-still-sceptical-about-climate-change
Otago Daily Times: Almost half of New Zealanders are not convinced global warming is real, a survey suggests. A survey by The New Zealand Herald has found that although United Nations experts have grown steadily more certain about climate change, the public is not so sure. Almost one in five of 2296 respondents said the concept was a giant con, and a further 28% said global warming had not been conclusively proved. Prime Minister John Key's science adviser, Sir Peter Gluckman, said the 28% ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
World misled over Himalayan glacier meltdown
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6991177.ece
Times (UK): A WARNING that climate change will melt most of the Himalayan glaciers by 2035 is likely to be retracted after a series of scientific blunders by the United Nations body that issued it. Two years ago the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a benchmark report that was claimed to incorporate the latest and most detailed research into the impact of global warming. A central claim was the world's glaciers were melting so fast that those in the Himalayas could vanish by ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
United Arab Emirates: Most say they can help solve climate ills
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100117/NATIONAL/701169828/1040
National: We are concerned about climate change and recognise the impact individuals can have on the nation's excessive carbon footprint. But when it comes to personal initiative, we are reluctant to take a stand or pay a price. A survey commissioned by The National ahead of the four-day World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, which begins tomorrow, indicates that while the vast majority of people in the UAE (88 per cent) are concerned about climate change, a similar proportion (82 per ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Gaining a toehold for the e-bike
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/business/17ping.html
New York Times: TECHNOLOGY has eliminated many of life`s milder physical demands, like getting off the couch to change the channel, or going to the store to buy a book. The latest exertion to be conquered: biking uphill. Electric bicycles -- a regular pedal-driven bike with a motor for steeper slopes and an optional extra boost -- is an idea that has been around for more than a century. But while e-bikes have caught on in certain parts of the world, particularly China, where tens of millions ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
United States: Adviser: Government needs to look at global warming
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/542977-196/adviser-govt-needs-to-look-at-global.html
Nashua Telegraph: New Hampshire would seem to be surprise proof when it comes to visits from prominent people urging support for various causes, but it was something of an eyebrow raiser a when a former policy adviser for John McCain's presidential campaign went before business folks Tuesday to say that federal oversight is needed to control greenhouse gases. "I won't pretend that I get standing ovations," joked Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who was a staff economist for President George H.W. Bush and served as ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
United States: DHEC says greenhouse gas plan is too costly
http://www.heraldonline.com/109/story/1873393.html
Columbia State: South Carolina's environmental agency is fighting federal rules to control greenhouse gas pollution that contributes to global warming. The Department of Health and Environmental Control says the proposed rules will be expensive for South Carolina -- and, as written, could hurt the state's struggling economy. DHEC has written the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at least twice in the past two months to complain about the rules, records show. "This proposal would have a ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Colorado coal miners fear losing jobs if access to federal lands curbed
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14208902
Denver Post: Two miles deep in their latest tunnel, coal miner Steve Baker and his cohorts barely blink at underground hazards: a cavern collapsing behind them, explosive gas around their boots, roiling clouds of black dust. But they dread the above-ground parrying of state and federal politicians over protection of the nation's forests. Decisions expected soon by Gov. Bill Ritter and the Obama administration may threaten the miners' livelihoods -- and the future of a traditional industry in ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
United States: Second Fort Collins brewer adds solar panels
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_14208620
Denver Post: A second brewery here has launched a photovoltaic solar electrical system to utilize the sun's rays to help make beer. Days after New Belgium Brewing Co. launched the largest privately owned photovoltaic solar array in Colorado, Odell Brewing Co. activated its own solar array on Jan. 7. Owner Doug Odell said the brewery's expansion project was a wonderful opportunity to be able to add the photovoltaic panels as part of the brewery's vision to operate a sustainable ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Earth still warming despite cold snap
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100117/GREEN/1170315/1001/news
Associated Press: Beijing had its coldest morning in almost 40 years and its biggest snowfall since 1951. Britain has been suffering through its longest cold snap since 1981, and freezing weather recently gripped the Deep South, including Florida's orange groves and beaches. Whatever happened to global warming? Such weather doesn't seem to fit with warnings from scientists that the Earth is warming because of greenhouse gases. But experts say the cold snap doesn't disprove global warming at all ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Australia: Greenhouse gas emissions
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/switch-to-gas-helps-nsw-cut-carbon-output-temporarily-20100117-mecz.html
Sydney Morning Herald: Greenhouse gas emissions from energy production declined across eastern Australia last year because less coal was burnt, and NSW cut back more than the other states, research has shown. The result reflects the first tangible hints of a switch to natural gas and away from coal as a source of baseload power. Wind and solar energy made little impact on the energy grid last year, and still contribute just a sliver of the state's power mix. Despite a rising population and economic ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Made in Scotland - from gusts
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Made-in-Scotland--from.5988907.jp
Scotsman: MADE from girders no more. Irn-Bru, the iconic fizzy drink imbibed by generations of Scots, will now be manufactured by soft Atlantic breezes. Owners AG Barr are turning production of the orange-coloured drink green by harnessing the power of the prevailing westerly winds. The company has just received planning permission to erect a £2.5 million turbine to provide most of the electricityADVERTISEMENT from wind power at its Cumbernauld factory. The massive two megawatt ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
EU States Diverge on Emissions
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703569004575008872683618374.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Wall Street Journal: Spain--European Union countries are struggling to agree on a target for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions ahead of a Jan. 31 deadline to deliver a concrete offer to the United Nations following the Copenhagen accord. France, Germany, the U.K. and Spain said they favor adopting a more-ambitious target to reduce emissions to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020, compared with the 20% target the EU is already committed to--if others were to match that offer. But EU Environment ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Investments in China's coal, oil industry up 17 pct
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTOE60G00P20100117
Reuters: Fixed-asset investments in China's electricity, coal and oil industry rose 17 percent in the first 11 months of 2009 to 1.4 trillion yuan ($205.1 billion), the official Xinhua news agency said on Sunday, quoting China's energy chief. Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Agency, also said energy consumption in the first 15 days of this year is at 12 billion kilowatt hours compared with 11 billion kilowatt hours in November last year. "The is the strong evidence for China's ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Farm ministers back climate-change action at Berlin talks
http://www.paltelegraph.com/panorama/climate-change/3664-farm-ministers-back-climate-change-action-at-berlin-talks
Palestine Telegraph: Agriculture officials from 50 countries on Saturday backed calls for the world's farms to drastically cut emissions of climate-changing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Whether it is burping cows or slash-and-burn agriculture, farmers have been accused worldwide of being major contributors to climate change. Climate issues have taken centre stage at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), an event held as part of the 10-day International Green Week trade fair for ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
United Nations' blunder on glaciers exposed
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/united-nations-blunder-on-glaciers-exposed/story-e6frg6n6-1225820614171
Australian: THE peak UN body on climate change has been dealt another humiliating blow to its credibility after it was revealed a central claim of one of its benchmark reports - that most of the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035 because of global warming - was based on a "speculative" claim by an obscure Indian scientist. The 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which claimed to incorporate the latest and most detailed research into the impact of global warming, ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Australia: Downturn triggers slump in emissions
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/downturn-triggers-slump-in-emissions/story-e6frg6nf-1225820596251
Australian: THE eastern states slashed their carbon emissions from energy use by almost 2 per cent last year, as weak economic conditions caused electricity demand to fall. The Climate Group's annual Greenhouse Indicator, to be released today, shows emissions in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and South Australia were 5.3 million tonnes, or 1.8 per cent, lower last year than in 2008. This followed a rise in emissions from energy use of 1.3 per cent in 2008. The fall in emissions occurred despite ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
World misled over glacier meltdown: Report
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/global-warming/World-misled-over-glacier-meltdown-Report-/articleshow/5456090.cms
Press Trust of India: A warning that most of the Himalayan glaciers will melt by 2035 owing to climate change is likely to be retracted after the United Nations body that issued it admitted to a series of scientific blunders. Two years ago, the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) headed by India's Rajendra Pachauri, issued a benchmark report that claimed to have incorporated the latest and most detailed research into the impact of global warming. A central claim was that world's ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
Naga Sadhus campaign against global warming in Kumbh Mela
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/Naga-Sadhus-campaign-against-global-warming-in-Kumbh-Mela/articleshow/5456074.cms
Times of India: Naga sadhus who smear their naked bodies with ash and sport long matted hair are using the Maha Kumbh Mela here as a medium to campaign against global warming. Juna Akhara council General Secretary Mahant Hari Giri, speaking to PTI, warned of an environmental backlash if the world continues to exploit the nature in the manner it is being done now. Juna Akhara is one of the largest groups of Naga sadhus. "You really can't mess up with the nature and think you can get away with ...
Mon, 18 Jan 10
EU seeks to gain clout in climate-change debate
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/eu-seeks-to-gain-clout-in-climate-change-debate_100305010.html
Indo-Asian News Service: European Union countries struggled Saturday to reach a consensus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in an attempt to regain influence in the global debate on climate change ahead of the next UN climate conference later this year. Environment ministers meeting informally in the Spanish city of Seville disagreed on whether the EU should commit to cutting its emissions by 20 or 30 percent, sources close to the negotiations said. Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and France were ...
Sun, 17 Jan 10
Frozen In France? Thank The Arctic Oscillation
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122649916&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: This winter, many Brits have been shivering through their coldest cold snap in 30 years. Beijing's residents witnessed their city's biggest one-day snowfall in nearly 60 years. And on a flight from Dallas to Washington, D.C., an All Things Considered producer encountered a headwind strong enough to delay his plane. That's uncommon, because the wind usually blows the other direction. So what's behind all this unusual weather? According to Mark Serreze, it's the ...
Sun, 17 Jan 10
EU pushes for deeper carbon emissions cuts
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100116/sc_afp/euspainclimate
Agence France-Presse: The EU remained firm Saturday on its push to move to a 30 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 despite the failure of last month's UN climate summit to secure a legally-binding deal. Several participants at an informal meeting of European environment ministers in Seville in southeastern Spain said the proposal must remain on the table in the wake of the failed Copenhagen summit to keep the momentum in global climate talks going. "We definitely think we should ...
Sun, 17 Jan 10
Orangutans vs palm oil in Malaysia: setting the record straight
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0116-orangutans.html
Mongabay: The Malaysian palm oil industry has been broadly accused of contributing to the dramatic decline in orangutan populations in Sabah, a state in northern Borneo, over the past 30 years. The industry has staunchly denied these charges and responded with marketing campaigns claiming the opposite: that oil palm plantations can support and nourish the great red apes. The issue came to a head last October at the Orangutan Colloquium held in Kota Kinabalu. There, confronted by orangutan biologists, ...
Sun, 17 Jan 10
Polar bears now fighting both climate change and man-made pollutants
http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/pets-animals/stories/polar-bears-now-fighting-both-climate-change-and-man-made-pollutants
Mother Nature Network: The polar bear is perhaps the most quintessential representation of the seriousness that is the climate change problem. As if the fluffy white bears of the north didn't already have enough to deal with, now they face even greater peril in the form of man-made pollution. A recent review of research gathered over the course of more than a decade suggests that toxic chemicals are reaching the polar Arctic region via air and water. The review, which was published in the journal ...
Sun, 17 Jan 10
Antarctica goes green with launch of wind farm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/15/AR2010011503990.html
Associated Press: A small part of Antarctica turned green Saturday as the ice-covered continent's biggest wind farm, which can generate enough electricity to power 500 homes, was formally switched on. The joint New Zealand-U.S. project's three huge turbines will provide 11 percent of the power needed to run the two nations' science bases on Antarctica's Ross Sea coast, cutting greenhouse gas output, lowering fossil fuel use and reducing the risk of fuel spilling in the continent's pristine environment, ...
Sun, 17 Jan 10
An ice shelf the size of Rhode Island breaks up in just 24 hours
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=148897
Daily Green
Sun, 17 Jan 10
Australia: Carbon plan may break us: Generator
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/carbon-plan-may-break-us-generator-20100115-mcg3.html
Sydney Morning Herald: The country's largest single power generator, Macquarie Generation, has warned that its viability is threatened by the Federal Government's proposed emissions trading scheme. Its concerns throw into doubt the State Government's plans to privatise the power industry by selling electricity retailers and output from power generators. Under an electricity sales contract written with its main customer, the Tomago aluminium smelter in the Hunter Valley, Macquarie Generation carries ...
Sun, 17 Jan 10
Antarctic wind farm reduces bases' reliance on diesel
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=antarctic-wind-farm-reduc
Reuters: The world's southernmost wind farm has been opened in Antarctica, the first in what could be a number of renewable energy projects aimed to lower the frozen continent's reliance on diesel for power. The construction of the three-turbine Ross Island wind farm was a huge challenge in an environment where the temperature can fall as low as -57 degrees Celsius. The wind farm will supply about 11 percent of the power to New Zealand's Scott Base and the American McMurdo Station, and ...
Sun, 17 Jan 10
Climate-proof food plants are coming
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=87752
IRIN: What if we could create a food plant that defied all those doomsday scenarios where extreme temperatures take us all to oblivion, and instead kept growing and fruiting regardless of whether it got very hot or very cold? "We would never run out of food!" remarked Philip Wigge, a scientist at the Norwich-based John Innes Centre, a member institute of Britain's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. That day could come sooner than we think - perhaps in the next 10 ...
Sun, 17 Jan 10
German tariff cuts to spark solar sector bloodbath
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60E31Z20100115
Reuters: A potential deep cut in feed-in tariffs in Germany will hit solar companies around the world and increases pressure on large players to reduce exposure to the world's largest photovoltaic market. Analysts say that lower prices could result in a shakeout in the industry that drives higher cost players out of business and dissuades new entrants. Shares in solar firms plummeted after a Reuters report that the German government plans to chop feed-in tariffs -- prices utilities pay ...
Sun, 17 Jan 10
McCully opens Antarctic wind farm
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10620606
New Zealand Herald: A new joint-venture wind farm at the bottom of the world is expected to cut diesel use by nearly 500,000 litres a year at Scott Base and McMurdo Station. The wind farm on Ross Island in Antarctica was to have been opened remotely in Auckland by Hillary Clinton, the United States Secretary of State, during her visit to New Zealand. However, she abandoned her visit to return to Washington to co-ordinate the American aid effort for earthquake-devastated Haiti. Today foreign ...
Sun, 17 Jan 10
Canada should consider slowing oil sands boom: official
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ixJaUmqWPW_wcn8ue60KyED2CAgg
Agence France-Presse: Canada should consider reining in development of its booming oil sands, the world's second largest reserve behind Saudi Arabia, Alberta's new energy minister said in an interview published Friday. "I believe we have an opportunity to sit down as a cabinet and have that discussion and say, 'As this thing starts to crank up again, are we going to change our policy of come one, come all into the development of the oil sands?" Alberta Energy Minister Ron Liepert told the daily Globe and ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Conditions for EU to deepen CO2 cuts not met: report
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE60E5VG20100115
Reuters: The European Union's conditions for moving to a 30 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions over the next decade have not been met, an informal European Commission position paper says. The EU has already set its own internal target of cutting CO2 to 20 percent below 1990 levels over the next decade. It promised ahead of climate talks in Copenhagen in December that it would deepen those cuts to 30 percent if other countries followed suit. "In particular due to the insufficient ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
U.S. government says loans for nuclear plants complicated
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60E5PJ20100115?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on Friday that the process for approving federal loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants has become "complicated," but the department still expects to issue its first loan deals very soon. "It was more complicated than I thought...these are multibillion dollar loans," Chu told reporters at a lunch briefing at Energy Department headquarters, when he was asked why it was taking so long for the department to make a decision on the loan ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Company seeks to log forest reserve for palm oil in Uganda
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0115-uganda.html
Mongabay: A company in Uganda is pressuring the environment ministry to allow it to log a protected forest reserve to establish a palm oil plantation, reports The New Vision. BIDCO, a Kenyan company, has been lobbying since 2006 to log the forest reserve on Bugala island in Lake Victoria, but has face stiff resistance due to environmental concerns, including deforestation, sedimentation, and biodiversity loss. This time, in a letter written by the agriculture minister, Hope Mwesigye, and ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
World's largest agriculture fair opens in Berlin, highlighting climate change
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/16/content_12818363.htm
Xinhua: The 75th International Green Week in Berlin, the world's largest agricultural and food fair opened doors to the public Friday. Some 1,600 exhibitors from 56 countries will show visitors their best agriculture products, livestock, farm machines, garden tools and newly-developed technologies. Organizers of the fair were expected to receive 400,000 people over the next 10 days, with Hungary as this year's guest of honor. Various sample foods and drinks, traditional and modern, ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Smog leaves Utah coughing, sneezing and wheezing
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100115/ap_on_re_us/us_utah_air_pollution
Associated Press: A thick layer of smog stubbornly lingering over parts of Utah has fouled the state's air so badly this week that health officials warned people not to exercise outside and some schools kept children inside for recess and sports. The haze that has obscured Utah's picture-perfect mountain views for the last several days is blamed on a weather phenomenon called an inversion that pins pollution to the valley floors and doesn't relent until a major storm blows through. The smog ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
EPA proposes water pollution legal limits in Fla.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100115/ap_on_bi_ge/us_algae_blooms_florida
Associated Press: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed the first numeric limits in the nation for farm and urban runoff polluting Florida's waterways, limits supporters say could set precedent and lead to similar federal standards in other states. The agency released its proposed rules after reaching a settlement last year with environmentalists who sued EPA in 2008. They claimed the agency was failing to force Florida to meet requirements under the Clean Water Act, and sought ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Hale and Harmful: Are the Healthful Effects of Riding a Bike on City Streets Ruined by Inhaled Pollutants?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=earth-talks-hale-and-harmful
Scientific American: Ironically, many communities build dedicated bike lanes right next to busy bus routes, unintentionally ensuring that bicyclists breathe in maximal diesel exhaust Aside from the obvious physical safety considerations (especially when talking on a cell phone!), biking on highly trafficked roads exposes riders to considerable amounts of fine particles, nitrogen dioxide and volatile organic compounds spewing out of tailpipes. Getty Images Dear EarthTalk: I ride my bike to ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Science vs. Global Warming: Can CO2 Catchers Combat Climate Change?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,672072,00.html#ref=rss
Spiegel: While nations bicker about who should cut greenhouse gas emissions and by how much, scientists are dreaming up their own solutions to global warming. A German professor has created a filter which extracts more than a thousand times more carbon dioxide from the air than a tree. The situation may not be nearly as grim as it looks. For Klaus Lackner, at least, human-induced global warming is a problem that can be controlled, perhaps even solved -- even if humankind doesn't manage to ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Abbott 'walking away' from climate change policy
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/16/2793780.htm?section=australia
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The Federal Government has accused Tony Abbott of walking away from his promise to release a detailed climate change policy. The Government is putting pressure on the Opposition leader to announce his plans for tackling climate change, after unveiling environment policies on water and nature conservation. Mr Abbott has told Fairfax Radio he will release his alternative to the emissions trading scheme before Parliament resumes next month. "I won't have every 'i' dotted ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
California Adopts Green Building Codes
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/california-adopts-green-building-codes/
New York Times: California officials adopted the country's first mandatory statewide green building code on Tuesday. The regulations, called Calgreen, will help the state meet its goal of trimming greenhouse gas emissions by 33 percent by 2020. Beginning next January, every new building in the state will have to reduce water usage by 20 percent and recycle 50 percent of its construction waste instead of sending it to landfills. Commercial buildings will be required to have separate water ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Electric cars struggle to spark enthusiasm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/15/electric-cars-detroit-motor-show
Guardian: With a curiously squashed, elongated body, the Tango electrically-powered car is as narrow as a single passenger and as nippy as a motorbike. Billed as the world's fastest urban car, it can reach a speed of 130mph. Satisfied customers include the actor George Clooney, and its inventor describes the bizarre vehicle as a "chick magnet". Built by a US start-up called Commuter Cars, the Tango takes up only half a traffic lane. It can carry two people tandem-style in slightly cramped ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Soros calls for US cap-and-trade scheme
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256225/soros-calls-carbon-pricing
Business Green: Billionaire financier George Soros has thrown his weight behind the campaign to introduce a legally-binding cap on US emissions, warning that without some form carbon pricing mechanism the country's clean tech sector will quickly lose ground to foreign rivals. Speaking at the UN-backed Investor Summit on Climate Risk in New York, Soros urged Congress to pass the cap-and-trade bill that is currently being debated by the Senate and is facing fierce opposition from ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Purdue researchers test new nuclear plant design
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100115/ap_on_bi_ge/us_purdue_nuclear_design_indiana
Associated Press: Purdue University researchers are testing a new design for nuclear power plants to make sure it can survive strong earthquakes. The Purdue team will test components of an "enhanced shield building" designed by Westinghouse Electric Co. to contain the main system components of nuclear power plants. That building consists of an inner steel-wall containment vessel and an outer radiation shield made using a technology called steel-concrete-composite ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Soros Says U.S. Needs Carbon Cap to Unlock Clean-Energy Finance
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20100115/pl_bloomberg/ajbtrwjtb0im_1
Bloomberg: A U.S. law to curb carbon emissions would spur billions of dollars of spending on green-energy projects in developing countries, billionaire George Soros said. "If you had the legislation in the United States you would have a market" for carbon emissions and for offsetting credits provided to clean-energy projects in the developing world, Soros said at a conference yesterday in New York. "Right now you don't even have that. The United States is the laggard." Without a cap on ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Drought hits rice harvests in Thailand, Philippines
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2010/january/15/news4.isx&d=2010/january/15
Bloomberg: EL NIÑO threatens to parch rice crops in the Philippines, the world's biggest importer, and in Thailand, the largest exporter, according to officials in both countries. "Between 20 and 30 percent of the areas planted to rice in provinces hit by El Niño are at risk of damage due to the dry spell," Agriculture Undersecretary Emmanuel Paras said. "That's why we're planning measures to counter the effects," including spending P2 billion.'' Thailand's rice output might drop ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Wetlands' Carbon, Methane Emissions Boost Global Warming
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1953751,00.html?xid=rss-health
Time Magazine: Big, bad carbon dioxide gets most of the attention when it comes to greenhouse gases, but it's not the only one that's warming the earth. Methane -- a gas that is found in everything from landfills to cow stomachs -- also plays a big role. Although global methane-emissions levels are much lower than CO2 emissions, pound for pound methane is a more powerful greenhouse gas; a ton of it has 23 times the warming effect of a ton of CO2. And methane, like CO2, is on the rise thanks to us: about ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Soros Says Copenhagen Climate Summit Was A Failure
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201001141826dowjonesdjonline000708&title=soros-says-copenhagen-climate-summit-was-a-failure
Dow Jones: Billionaire investor George Soros on Thursday said December's summit on climate change in Copenhagen was "a failure" and that the event, after tremendous buildup "delivered very little." Speaking at the 2010 Summit on Climate Risk at the U.N., Soros urged the 520 or so institutional investors gathered to lead the charge on green investments. Earlier in the day, four investment groups representing institutional investors such as the California Public Employees Retirement System, or ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
As Aid Efforts Flounder, Haitians Rely on Each Other
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49994
Inter Press Service: The roof of Haiti's national penitentiary is missing. The four walls of the prison rise up and break off, leaving only the empty sky overhead. The gate to the jail in downtown Port-Au-Prince is wide open; the prisoners and police are all gone. Bystanders walk freely in and out, stepping over the still-hot smoldering remains of the facility's ceiling. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday afternoon broke it to pieces. "I don't know if he's alive or not alive," said ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Solidarity Economy Thriving
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49991
Inter Press Service: The initiatives were already there, in the form of cooperatives and a variety of related activities. But they have a new connectedness thanks to the growing solidarity economy, which has opened up new horizons for alternative forms of production and social relations. The Fio Nobre Cooperative, founded 15 years ago by Idalina Boni, evolved from craftsmaking to textiles, and now produces shirts, blouses, t-shirts, skirts, pants, shorts, dresses and handbags, as well as accessories like ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Congo basin rainforest countries
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0115-congo_basin.html
Mongabay: REDD, responsible logging could help preserve Congo forests, reduce poverty, says report Payments for ecosystem services and sustainable forest management may be key components in maintaining Central Africa's rainforests as healthy and productive ecosystems, finds a comprehensive assessment of the region's forests. The review, entitled State of the Forest 2008, was released Thursday at an event hosted by the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Extreme Migrations Spell Safety For Arctic Shorebirds
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122550556&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: The further north an arctic shorebird flies, the less likely it is that a foxy predator will gobble the eggs in its nest. A new study suggests that's one reason why some migratory shorebirds like the white-rumped sandpiper are willing to make exhausting annual journeys that can be more than 18,000 miles round-trip, from their wintering areas at the southern tip of South America to their breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic. "Their migration is a pretty amazing feat," says ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Japan to propose detailed marine fuel levy plan
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60E0T220100115?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Japan, one of the world's top shipping operators, will submit details of its proposal for an international levy on marine fuel ahead of a meeting of the U.N.'s shipping agency in March, a government official said on Friday. Under the proposal, which was first touted last year as an alternative to an idea supported by some European countries to introduce an emissions trading system in the sector, money raised would be used to help cut carbon dioxide emissions relating to shipping in ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
'Radical rethink' on sea defences
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8460089.stm
BBC: Rising sea levels and more storms could mean that parts of at-risk cities will need to be surrendered to protect homes and businesses, a report warns. The authors say that "radical thinking" is needed to develop sea defences that can cope with the future threats. About 10 million people in England and Wales live in flood risk areas. The project, launched on Friday, is a joint venture between the Institution of Civil Engineers (Ice) and the Royal Institute of British ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Climate is an investment chance of a lifetime: Deutsche
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/climate-isinvestment-chancea-lifetime-deutsche_435894.html
Reuters: Green technologies posed the investment opportunity of our lifetime said Deutsche Bank's global head of asset management, in a study published on Thursday. A Deutsche Bank report found that companies specialising in energy efficiency and renewable energy such as wind and solar power outperformed peers across the wider global economy last year and expected more to come in 2010. Clear proof of the threat posed by climate change meant that governments will only ramp up steps to ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
How climate change is shrinking the Nile
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2010/jan/15/climate-change-nile
Guardian: The water level of the river Nile - crucial to the economy in many parts of Uganda, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia - is dropping. Film-maker Andrew Johnstone follows the course of the Nile to discover how climate change is already affecting the river's farming communities.
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Ghana: Govt Targets $30 Billion Climate Change Money
http://allafrica.com/stories/201001150439.html
Public Agenda: Ghana is positioning herself for a share of the billions of dollars expected to flow to African states, small island nations and other developing nations as a result of the commitments made in the Copenhagen Accord adopted at the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) last December. Under the accord, global leaders committed themselves to provide amounts in the region of $30 billion for the period 2010-2012 ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Hedegaard says now is not the time for carbon tax
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256219/hedegaard-carbon-tax
Business Green: The debate surrounding the relative merits of carbon taxes and emissions trading schemes heated up today after Connie Hedegaard, leading nominee for EU climate commissioner and the chair of last year's Copenhagen Summit, rejected calls for the introduction of a carbon levy. However, she did not rule out the idea of a carbon tax completely, raising the possibility that an EU charge on carbon emissions could be introduced at a later date. "It would be wrong timing at this stage ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Can you bring 'eco-chic' to a characterless 1960s house
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/jan/15/oliver-heath-eco-home
Guardian: It's taken some time to realise that I don't like to make things easy for myself - but I do like to make things right. A year ago we moved into a detached 1960s four-bedroom house in Brighton. Hardly the designer home one might expect for a man who enthuses about good sustainable design on TV, but it took a year and a half to find this ugly house on a nice streetand I really believe this 1960s-style house offers us a golden eco-friendly opportunity. On the plus side it's something of ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
EU Seeks to Regain Influence on Response to Climate Change
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/business/global/16iht-inside16.html
New York Times: Stunned by having been sidelined in the endgame of the Copenhagen world climate summit meeting, the European Union is debating how to regain influence in the fight against global warming. Should the E.U., the world`s largest trading bloc and economic area, respond to the policy setback and the diplomatic humiliation of the bare-minimum Copenhagen accord by playing Mr. Nice, Mr. Nasty, Mr. Persistent or Mr. Pragmatic? The first two options -- setting a more ambitious example to ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Sustainable Forestry Initiative Releases New Standard
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256223/sustainable-forestry-initiative
Business Green: The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), which has certified more than 180 million of acres in North America, has released an updated version of its certification standard. The new SFI 2010-2014 Standard came about after an 18-month public review process and includes updated and expanded principles, objectives and performance indicators. Changes to the standard address conservation of biodiversity in North America and offshore forests, climate change, bioenergy, fiber ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
Forest carbon market: 20mT in 20 years
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1807
Carbon Positive: The forest carbon market is now two decades old but the bulk of its 20-million-tonne contribution to carbon sequestration and emissions reduction has come in the last three years - despite the global financial crisis and recession. This picture emerges from the 'State of the Forest Carbon Markets' report released by Ecosystem Marketplace (ESM) this week. Its landmark report appears the best attempt yet at a comprehensive estimate of the volumes and value in the forest carbon sector ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
North Dakota vs. Minnesota: Dust-up over carbon
http://www.startribune.com/business/81606907.html?elr=KArksD:aDyaEP:kD:aUnc5PDiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7DYaGEP7vDEh7P:DiUs
Star Tribune: A long-simmering dispute between North Dakota and Minnesota appears to be coming to a head. North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem is saying he very likely will sue Minnesota over its so-called "carbon tax" on emissions, calling it an illegal attempt to regulate another state's industry. "We simply feel that we've been forced into this posture," Stenehjem said in an interview this week. "We have attempted everything we can think of to work with officials in ...
Sat, 16 Jan 10
From Climate Bill Co-Sponsor to EPA Critic, Murkowski's Motives Draw Scrutiny
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/15/15climatewire-from-climate-bill-co-sponsor-to-epa-critic-mu-3343.html
New York Times: Sen. Lisa Murkowski has built a reputation in her eight years in Washington as a moderate Republican willing to engage with Democrats and environmentalists in the climate change debate. But Murkowski, who last year took on a much higher profile in the GOP leadership, is now at the center of a storm by pushing to strip U.S. EPA of its ability to regulate for greenhouse gas emissions. Murkowski insists that her efforts -- which could come to a head on the Senate floor as early as ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
British coastal cities threatened by rising sea 'must transform themselves'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/15/hull-venice-north-coastal-erosion
Guardian: Hull could be transformed into a Venice-like waterworld and Portsmouth into a south coast version of Amalfi, engineers and architects have claimed in a study of options for developing Britain's coastal cities in the face of rising sea levels. The Institution of Civil Engineers and the Royal Institute of British Architects yesterday warned the future of cities including London, Bristol and Liverpool was at risk from seas which the Environment Agency predict could rise by as much as ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Investors urge governments to act on climate change
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60D6IP20100114?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Global investors representing $13 trillion in assets called on the United States and other countries on Thursday to adopt policies to fight climate change they said would unleash a potential flood of private money into renewable and efficient energy. "Without policies that create a stable investment environment our hands are tied," Anne Stausboll, chief executive of the California Public Employees Retirement System, a pension fund with more than $205 billion in assets, said at a ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Car giants giving false hope of emission-free future, report says
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6988468.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
Times (UK): Car companies are raising false hopes of emission-free motoring in order to continue profiting from large, fuel-hungry vehicles, according to a study. Cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells are not expected to be available widely until after 2050 because of the high cost of the platinum in their catalysts. Battery-powered vehicles will also remain a niche product because of their limited battery life. The University of Oxford study, edited by Sir David King, the Government's ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
California toughens up biofuel standards
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256188/california-firms-biofuels
Business Green: Californian regulators this week approved tough new standards governing the carbon intensity of bioethanol that will force producers to account for the lifecycle emissions that result from the production of biofuels. The Californian Air Resources Board (CARB) said the new Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) will reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels used in California by an average of 10 per cent by the year 2020, by forcing bioethanol producers to measure the emissions that ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
United States: Toxic waste facility rejects radioactive waste
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100114/ap_on_bi_ge/us_lab_cleanup
Associated Press: The largest toxic waste facility in the West rejected a proposal by Boeing Co. and NASA to accept tainted soil from the site of a partial nuclear meltdown. Chemical Waste Management, which operates the San Joaquin dump, sent a letter Tuesday to Linda Adams, head of the state Environmental Protection Agency, saying the facility would not accept the hazardous waste "because of the uncertainty and community concerns about levels of radioactive constituents in these materials." The ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
U.S. climate envoy urges nations pledge carbon cuts
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60D5KE20100114?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The top U.S. climate envoy on Thursday urged other countries to set carbon emission targets to fight global warming by the end of this month as a crucial step toward a global legally-binding agreement. Todd Stern said the Copenhagen Accord hammered out last month provided the best path toward a concrete, binding climate agreement, but first countries needed to pledge targets and put them in the document. "We have an accord that is lumbering down the runway and we need for it to ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Warming 'speeds' up gas emissions
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8459770.stm
BBC: Rising temperatures are not just a sign of climate change but are also a cause of it, a new study has suggested. Higher temperatures on the surface of the earth are fuelling a further increase in emissions of methane, Edinburgh University experts found. Methane is a greenhouse gas which is more potent than carbon dioxide. The study indicated warmer temperatures in regions which were at higher latitudes increased methane - exacerbating global warming. Scientists ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Major Investor Groups Urge Tougher Action On Climate Change
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201001141429dowjonesdjonline000594&title=major-investor-groups-urge-tougher-action-on-climate-change
Dow Jones: Investor groups representing $13 trillion in assets Thursday urged the U.S. and other governments to put in place stronger policies to curb climate change, warning political uncertainty surrounding the issue stunts development and exposes companies to considerable risk. Four investor groups, made up of more than 200 institutional investors such as the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or Calpers; Deutsche Bank AG (DB); and HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC), called for short- and ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Scientists push "Doomsday Clock" back a minute
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100114/sc_nm/us_nuclear_doomsday
Reuters: Scientists pushed back the hands on the symbolic Doomsday Clock by one minute citing hopeful developments in nuclear weapons and climate change. The symbolic clock that shows how close mankind is to self-annihilation was moved back to six minutes before midnight from five minutes on Thursday. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which maintains the clock and puts an illustration of it on its cover, attributed the move to efforts by world leaders to reduce their countries' nuclear ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Arctic permafrost leaking methane at record levels, figures show
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/14/arctic-permafrost-methane
Guardian: Scientists have recorded a massive spike in the amount of a powerful greenhouse gas seeping from Arctic permafrost, in a discovery that highlights the risks of a dangerous climate tipping point. Experts say methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame. The discovery follows a string of reports from the region in recent years that previously frozen boggy soils are melting and releasing ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Anti-malaria plant genes mapped
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8454721.stm
BBC: Global supply of a key, plant-based, anti-malaria drug is set to be boosted by a genetic study, scientists say. Researchers have mapped the genes of Artemisia annua to allow selection of high-yield varieties. The study, published in the journal Science, aims to make growing the plant more profitable for farmers. "It's a major milestone for the development of this crop," Professor Ian Graham from the University of York in the UK told BBC News. Short ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
MSU experts help East Africa model climate change
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100114/ap_on_bi_ge/us_msu_africa_climate
Associated Press: Drought blamed on global warming is the latest source of uncertainty for East African farmers, and experts at Michigan State University are working to develop climate data that helps growers pick crops that can take the heat. The project, financed by a Rockefeller Foundation grant, will focus on the effects of climate change on Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. "This part of Africa is getting over the worst drought it has had in many years," said lead researcher Jennifer Olson. ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Next few weeks vital for Copenhagen accord, says US climate change envoy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/14/climate-change-us-envoy-copenhagen
Guardian: The next few weeks will be critical in deciding whether the Copenhagen accord succeeds in halting global warming, America's top climate change envoy said today. "We have an accord that is lumbering down the runway, and we need it to get enough speed so it can take off," Todd Stern, the state department climate change envoy, told an investor meeting at the United Nations in his first public remarks after the Copenhagen summit. "We need to get this up and running." He said the ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Investors urge governments to take immediate action on climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/14/business-low-carbon-economy
Guardian: Over 450 investors controlling $13tn of assets yesterday urged world governments to pre-empt an international climate change treaty and take immediate action on global warming, or risk losing the opportunity to establish a clean and sustainable low-carbon economy. At a conference at the United Nations in New York, the first gathering of business leaders since the disappointment of last month's Copenhagen climate summit said governments -- even in the absence of a treaty -- must adopt ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Ecuador to push Amazon oil proposal with "dignity"
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60D4WE20100114?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Ecuador's President Rafael Correa will keep promoting his initiative to protect the country's Amazon region by refraining from drilling for oil, but warned on Thursday that his government will negotiate the deal hard. Under the Yasuni initiative, OPEC-member Ecuador would leave 850 million barrels of oil, worth $6 billion, underground in the Amazon as a contribution to countering climate change. In return for not extracting the oil, Ecuador is looking to donor countries to pay ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Climate change pushes massive Antarctic glacier past tipping point
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0114-hance_antglacier.html
Mongabay: A new study shows that a major Antarctic glacier has likely passed its tipping point, putting it on track to lose 50 percent of its ice in 100 years. Such a loss is estimated to raise global sea levels by 24 centimeters (9.4 inches), according to the study published in the Proceedings of Royal Society A. Based on computer modeling, the study found that Pine Island glacier probably passed the point of no return in 1996 due to warming in the Amundsen Sea caused by climate change. If ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
India's prime minister unveils 'solar valley' vision
http://www.scidev.net/en/climate-change-and-energy/india-s-prime-minister-unveils-solar-valley-vision-.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_climatechangeandenergy
SciDev.Net: A network of 'solar valleys', generating the know-how to realise India's solar energy ambitions, has been mooted by its prime minister, Manmohan Singh. India's solar energy mission, launched this week (11 January), is one of its eight core national missions under a national action plan on climate change (see 'Doubts raised over India's plans for solar power'). The country aims to generate 20,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity from the sun by 2020. "If the ambitious mission is to ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Forest CO2 market in the balance: report
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60D4H220100114?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The global market for carbon offsets from planting trees and preserving forests, worth nearly $150 million to date, could stall without a U.S. climate bill or a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol, a report said on Thursday. "At the end of 2009, the market for forest carbon stands in an uncertain position on the verge of potentially enormous growth," the State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2009 report said. "Amidst this scene of opportunity and risk, investors are still eyeing ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
UK won't use recession to meet emission cut goals
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60D49P20100114?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Britain will not rely on the carbon dioxide emissions reductions made due to a weaker economy to meet its climate targets, Britain's Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said on Thursday. Britain is set to over-achieve on its so-called "carbon budgets" with an estimated 36 percent cut in emissions from 1990 levels by 2020. This was aided by the economic slowdown which reduced industrial output in 2008, causing emissions to fall by 2 percent. Any ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Investors Representing $13 Trillion Call for Climate Action Now
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2010/2010-01-14-01.html
Environment News Service: Investors Representing $13 Trillion Call for Climate Action Now Investors Representing $13 Trillion Call for Climate Action Now NEW YORK, New York, January 14, 2010 (ENS) - The world's largest investors today issued a statement calling on the United States and other governments to "act now to catalyze development of a low-carbon economy and to attract the vast amount of private capital necessary for such a transformation." The U.S., European and Australian investor ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Copenhagen Accord Makes Sham of Global Environmental Justice
http://allafrica.com/stories/201001140623.html
South African Civil Society Information Service: After the 1999 WTO meeting in Seattle, the Copenhagen Climate Summit will probably go down as the next biggest multilateral meeting failure of the 21st century, but I wouldn't say for the right reasons. In biting cold Copenhagen, there was little recognition that 400 years of capitalism is the underlying cause of global warming and simply not enough understanding that the market-driven solutions espoused by the Kyoto Protocol will only exacerbate the climate crisis and global ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Groups fight effort to regulate emissions in NM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100114/ap_on_bi_ge/us_nm_greenhouse_gases_lawsuit
Associated Press: New Mexico's largest utility, three state lawmakers and other industry groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday to stop New Mexico regulators from adopting a cap on greenhouse gas emissions. The lawsuit in state district court targets New Energy Economy, a group that has filed a petition with the state Environmental Improvement Board to adopt regulations that would reduce global warming pollution over the next decade. The group maintains the board has the authority under existing law ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Most Norwegians want Arctic drilling study: survey
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60D2E520100114?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: An industry-backed survey published on Thursday shows most Norwegians favor an impact study that could pave the way to open a pristine, fish-rich Arctic area to oil activities and prolong Norway's energy boom. The oil industry says the waters near the Lofoten and Vesteraalen islands in the Arctic now have the most prospects off Norway and must be tapped to prolong the North Sea state's oil bonanza as output from mature oilfields declines. Environmentalists say that any spill in ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
United States: U.S. to make decision on Cape Wind by April
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60C6JK20100113
Reuters: The U.S. Interior Department said on Wednesday it will issue a final decision by the end of April on a proposal to build the first major U.S. offshore wind farm. The announcement followed three meetings in which key stakeholders could not reach an agreement to settle their nine-year regulatory struggle over the proposed $1 billion Cape Wind power project off the coast of Massachusetts. The wind farm would provide electricity to about 400,000 homes, with its tall turbines ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Snubbed in Copenhagen, EU weighs climate options
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60C3HB20100113
Reuters: Stunned by being sidelined in the endgame of the Copenhagen world climate summit, the European Union is debating how to regain influence over the fight against global warming. Should the world's largest trading bloc and economic area respond to the policy setback and the diplomatic humiliation of the bare-minimum Copenhagen accord by playing Mr Nice, Mr Nasty, Mr Persistent or Mr Pragmatic? The first two options -- setting a more ambitious example to others, or threatening ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
United States: Biobutanol firm aims to compete with ethanol in 4 years
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/13/13climatewire-biobutanol-firm-aims-to-compete-with-ethanol-29682.html
ClimateWire: Having launched its first pilot facility yesterday with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger looking on, California startup Cobalt Technologies is the latest in a growing number of biofuel ventures banking on biobutanol as an attractive ethanol alternative. Like ethanol, biobutanol can be fermented from plant sugars, either food grains or cellulosic plant parts. But because its structure is heavier than ethanol and more similar to gasoline, the advanced biofuel has a wider range of end uses -- ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Forget wind. Pickens turns focus to gas
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/business/energy-environment/14boone.html
New York Times: Arabic script is about to appear on television sets across the country, with the Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens helpfully reading an English translation. "Go back to sleep, America; the oil crisis is over," Mr. Pickens intones, deadpan, in the new video. Seductive Middle Eastern music plays in the background. But suddenly, the picture switches to American troops on a desert battlefield as flames leap skyward, and Mr. Pickens declares, "I don`t think so!" What, exactly, is ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Indonesia signs climate funding agreements
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/01/14/ri-signs-bilateral-funding-agreements.html
Jakarta Post: While the pledges for huge amounts made at multilateral talks remain to be seen, Indonesia has signed a number of bilateral agreements with richer nations to get climate funding -- mostly in forest-related areas. State Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta argued that the bilateral deals were currently the faster way to get climate funding. "But, even without their money Indonesia will go ahead to protect the planet," Hatta told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. "It is ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Australia: Rudd's taxing climate policy is a liability
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/rudds-taxing-climate-policy-is-a-liability/story-e6frg6zo-1225819411611
Australian: IN the lead-up to the December climate change conference in Copenhagen the Rudd government was full of bravado as it threatened to reintroduce, next month, its legislation for an emissions trading scheme which the Liberals had just defeated in the Senate. This was clearly designed to unsettle the opposition, and its new leader, Tony Abbott, by holding out the prospect of a double dissolution election if the legislation was again rejected. The Prime Minister may have believed he was on solid ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Government raises prospect of increase to 2020 emission target
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256177/government-raises-prospect
Business Green: The government looks set to increase the UK's emission reduction target for 2020 after confirming that it will not rely on the reduction in emissions brought about the recession to help it meet future carbon budgets. In its formal response to the first annual report from the independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC), the government accepted the committee's recommendation that it effectively ignores emission reductions that have been achieved as a result of the economic ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
India becomes largest buyer of palm oil
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0114-palm_oil.html
Mongabay: New report documents billions of dollars in losses from Indonesia's reforestation fund between 1989 and 2009. India surpassed China as the world's largest buyer of palm oil in 2009, reports Bloomberg. According to figures from the Solvent Extractors' Association of India, a processor group based in Mumbai, India imported 7 million metric tons of palm oil in 2009. China imported 6.4 million tons last year. B.V. Mehta, executive director of the association, said the rise ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Errors and lies thrive in cold weather
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527436.100-errors-and-lies-thrive-in-cold-weather.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: HERE'S the question to put to all those who confidently declare that the recent severe winter conditions prove that global warming is nonsense: "Next time there's a heatwave in summer or an unusually mild spell in winter, will you publicly accept that the 'warmists' were right all along? If not, why not? If a cold snap means the climate is getting colder, surely a spell of hot weather proves it is getting warmer?" The point, of course, is that a bout of extreme weather does not prove ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Earth's growing nitrogen threat
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Living-Green/2010/0113/Earth-s-growing-nitrogen-threat
Christian Science Monitor: Dennis Lindsay still recalls the day four decades ago when his father, an Iowa farmer, began using nitrogen fertilizer on the family's 160 acres. With nitrogen, the family's corn crop suddenly grew much higher and stronger, and produced full ears and big harvests. When fed to their cows and pigs, that high-quality corn produced far more milk and meat. As a result, the family bought more livestock – and the farm grew. "I remember Dad bringing the neighbors over to see how much greener ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Sun shines on Italy's solar market
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256139/italy-solar-coverage-grows
Business Green: Italy's solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity has risen more than 36-fold in the past three years, according to figures released this week by state energy management agency GSE, which confirmed installed capacity had reached 795MW by the end of November. The country is closing in fast on the one gigawatt mark, and Italy's solar PV association GIFI said in a statement that last-minute updates to the data for grid connections in December means that GSE should soon confirm capacity at the end ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Use charcoal to fight global warming
http://www.malaysianews.net/story/588515
Malaysia News.Net: Biochar, a material used by Amazonian Indians to enhance soil fertility centuries ago, may help slow global warming. Mass production of biochar could capture carbon that otherwise would wind up in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas leading to global warming. Kelli Roberts and colleagues of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, note that biochar is charcoal produced by heating wood, grass, cornstalks or other organic matter in ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Heat and moisture from Himalayas could be a key cause of the South Asian monsoon
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100113131509.htm
ScienceDaily: Harvard climate scientists suggest that the Tibetan Plateau -- thought to be the primary source of heat that drives the South Asian monsoon -- may have far less of an effect than the Himalayas and other surrounding mountains. As the monsoon brings needed rainfall and water to billions of people each year, understanding its proper origin, especially in the context of global climate change, is crucial for the future sustainability of the region. The researchers say the their findings, ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Birds forced to battle for food during cold weather
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6986998.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
Times (UK): First they came for Tippi Hedren. Now they are turning on each other. Wild birds are invading Britain's gardens, driving off smaller species as they compete for scarce food during the cold snap. Birds that usually eat seeds, berries or farmland insects are flocking to gardens as the frozen ground cuts off their usual sources of food. Redwing and fieldfare, both types of thrush, have been seen in almost four times as many gardens as usual, while sightings of reed bunting and ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
UN should be sidelined in future climate talks, says Obama official
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/14/climate-talks-un-sidelined
Guardian: America sees a diminished role for the United Nations in trying to stop global warming after the "chaotic" Copenhagen climate change summit, an Obama administration official said today. Jonathan Pershing, who helped lead talks at Copenhagen, instead sketched out a future path for negotiations dominated by the world's largest polluters such as China, the US, India, Brazil and South Africa, who signed up to a deal in the final hours of the summit. That would represent a realignment of ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Australia, ADB Help Vietnam Fight Climate Change
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=468218
Bernama: Australia and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have decided to grant 1.3 million USD to help Vietnam cope with potentially devastating impacts of climate change in Mekong Delta, Vietnamese news agency, VNA, reported. Technical assistance grants will be used to carry out a full assessment of the climate change threats posed to the Mekong Delta region, and the actions needed for it to adapt in the face of an expected sea-level increase and more frequent and severe floods, according to ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
United States: Decision Promised Soon on Cape Cod Wind Farm
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/science/earth/14wind.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: The Obama administration moved a step closer on Wednesday to ending the nearly decade-long conflict over a major wind power installation off Cape Cod, Mass. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, after meeting with virtually all of the parties to the dispute, said that he intended to decide whether to approve the wind turbine project no later than April. "What I want everyone to understand is that we will bring this process to a conclusion," Mr. Salazar said at a news briefing. He ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
From the ancient Amazonian Indians: 'Biochar' as a modern weapon against global warming
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100113172252.htm
ScienceDaily: Scientists are reporting that "biochar" -- a material that the Amazonian Indians used to enhance soil fertility centuries ago -- has potential in the modern world to help slow global climate change. Mass production of biochar could capture and sock away carbon that otherwise would wind up in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. Their report appears in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a bi-weekly journal. Kelli Roberts and colleagues note that ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Australia: Government 'too focused' on climate change
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/14/2792490.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has accused the Federal Government of being too focused on tackling climate change and neglecting other environmental problems. Mr Abbott will outline the Coalition's priorities for the environment in a speech tonight. He has foreshadowed new measures to manage water in the Murray-Darling Basin and nature conservation. Mr Abbott says Australia is losing the fight to preserve its natural heritage. "Because of his pre-occupation with ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
India: Combating climate change, with help from Lord Ram
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/the-good-earth/Combating-climate-change-with-help-from-Lord-Ram/articleshow/5443522.cms
Times of India: Ram, Ramayana and global warming - the association may sound odd, until you realise how the religious context helped an NGO in Uttar Pradesh combat the ill effects of climate change. The NGO Raunak Evam Jagruk Samaj Sanstha (REJSS) in Sonbhadra district, some 250 km from Lucknow, conducts recitation of the Ramayana epic in parts of Uttar Pradesh, holds prayers for Lord Ram and distributes saplings as prasad (consecrated offering) among the devotees. "You can say it's our ...
Fri, 15 Jan 10
Forest carbon conservation projects top $100 million
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0114-forest_carbon_market.html
Mongabay: New report documents billions of dollars in losses from Indonesia's reforestation fund between 1989 and 2009. The market for carbon credits generated through forest conservation topped $100 million from 2007 through the first half of 2009, despite a global recession and plunging carbon prices in regulated markets, reports a new assessment by Ecosystem Marketplace. The study, State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2009: Taking Root & Branching Out, found that the market for ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
EU chief vows action on economy, climate
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100113/sc_afp/financeeconomygermanyeu
Agence France-Presse: The European Union's new permanent president Herman Van Rompuy vowed Wednesday to make the fight against climate change and the economic crisis his top priority in the months ahead. Speaking ahead of a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel on his first official visit to Germany, Europe's most populous country and its top economy, Van Rompuy said that the 27-member bloc must strive for two percent average annual growth. "One thing is clear now. We need economic growth which is ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Baucus: Drilling leases along Front to be given up
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100113/ap_on_bi_ge/us_rocky_front_leases_montana
Associated Press: Montana Sen. Max Baucus plans to announce Thursday that five oil and gas companies will relinquish drilling leases they hold on the Rocky Mountain Front, an area prized by conservationists. In 2006, Congress banned new leasing of federal lands along the east side of the Montana mountain range, but existing lease holders could still develop the property. The same law also created tax incentives for relinquishing leases. Leases on at least 83,000 acres on the Front have been ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
S.Africa to introduce new car tax despite concerns
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60C4IU20100113?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: South Africa's National Treasury will press on with plans to introduce a new tax on vehicles designed to curb carbon dioxide emissions, an official said Wednesday, despite concerns this could hamper the ailing auto sector's recovery. The motor industry is struggling to get back on its feet after being been hit by the global economic crisis and depressed local demand which saw new vehicle sales fall to 6-year lows in 2009. The new tax, mooted last February, is part of government ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Europe mulls deeper emissions cuts, deadline looms
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60C4JL20100113?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: European Union environment ministers will seek a strategy for reviving global climate talks at a meeting in Spain this week, after a U.N. meeting in Copenhagen last month ended in failure. A U.N. deadline is looming for countries to commit to emissions cuts as part of the U.N. process, and EU diplomats expect the bloc to make the lowest bid in its range of options. The talks in the Danish capital last month ended with a bare-minimum agreement that fell far short of its original ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Grasslands To Combat Climate Change
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/environment/Grasslands-To-Combat-Climate-Change-81332832.html
Voice of America: A new report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says grasslands have vast untapped potential to limit climate change by absorbing and storing carbon dioxide. The report says proper land use can also help one billion people who depend on livestock. The United Nations report says if pastures and rangelands are properly managed, they can be a useful carbon sink - potentially more powerful than forests in the battle against climate change. The report says that ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Major Antarctic glacier is 'past its tipping point'
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18383-major-antarctic-glacier-is-past-its-tipping-point.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: A major Antarctic glacier has passed its tipping point, according to a new modelling study. After losing increasing amounts of ice over the past decades, it is poised to collapse in a catastrophe that could raise global sea levels by 24 centimetres. Pine Island glacier (PIG) is one of many at the fringes of the West Antarctic ice sheet. In 2004, satellite observations showed that it had started to thin, and that ice was flowing into the Amundsen Sea 25per cent faster than it had 30 ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Scrap-and-Trade: Would An Energy Bill Alone Do Any Good?
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2010/01/13/scrap-and-trade-would-an-energy-bill-alone-do-any-good/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Fenvironmentalcapital%2Ffeed+%28WSJ.com%3A+Environmental+Capital+-+WSJ.com%29
Wall Street Journal: Is the climate part of energy-and-climate legislation about to get thrown under the bus? As Congress gets back to work, one of the big questions looming on the Hill is whether it's time to park plans for a national curb on greenhouse-gas emissions and focus on a narrower energy bill. The rationale? Energy reform, even to boost clean energy, enjoys some cross-aisle support. Capping greenhouse-gas emissions has proven a tough slog even within the majority Democrats. And the health-care ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
A Cement Giant Tackles its CO2 Emissions
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/cement-giant-tackles-its-footprint/
New York Times: Bloomberg A Cemex cement plant in Monterrey, Mexico. The company is angling to reduce its carbon footprint at plants around the world. With cement production accounting for as much as 5 percent of global emissions of carbon dioxide -- and the potential for expanded carbon caps looming -- Cemex, one of the world's largest producers of building materials, is angling to bring down its carbon dioxide emissions and perhaps wind up with some credits it can sell. "We are preparing ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Colo. Dems want to raise renewable energy standard
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100113/ap_on_bi_ge/us_renewable_energy_colorado
Assiociated Press: Colorado Democratic state lawmakers want to increase the amount of electricity coming from renewable sources, saying the move will help the environment and create jobs. Under current law, investor-owned utilities like Xcel Energy must get 20 percent of their power from renewable sources like wind and solar energy by 2020. Gov. Bill Ritter announced Tuesday that he is backing planned legislation requiring them to hit 30 percent over the next 10 years instead. Democratic state ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
China, India, Brazil and South Africa prepare for post-Copenhagen meeting
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/13/developing-countries-basic-climate-change
Guardian: One month after the Copenhagen climate summit ended in recriminations and and a weak outline of a global deal, key groups of developing countries will meet to try to explore ways to get to agree a legally binding final agreement. As the dust settles on the stormy Danish meeting, environment ministers from the so-called Basic countries – Brazil, South Africa, India and China – will meet on January 24 in New Delhi. No formal agenda has been set, but observers expect the emerging ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
United States: Composting center plans to profit from food waste
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100113/lf_nm_life/us_composting
Reuters: On a windswept industrial site near the Port of Wilmington, a front-end loader tips a fetid mass of half-rotted food and plastic bags onto a 20-foot heap inside a large blue shed. It's the start of a process that will turn thousands of tons of rotting food, yard waste and paper products into rich compost that will be used to help farmers grow crops and homeowners nurture their shrubs. The compost also reduces the volume of landfill waste, saves waste-disposal fees, cuts ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Arctic a growing security issue for U.S
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/749795--arctic-a-growing-security-issue-for-u-s
Canadian Press: The CIA normally concerns itself with terrorism and other threats to U.S. security, so the recent revelation that it is routinely monitoring the Arctic's rapidly shrinking ice cap, and now sharing spy satellite photos with climate-change scientists, caught some by surprise. The little-known CIA program has been restarted after being shuttered by the George W. Bush administration for several years. The CIA is once again giving a select group of environmental scientists access to ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Australia: Relentless summers create dam dilemma
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/relentless-summers-create-dam-dilemma-20100112-m4tx.html
Sydney Morning Herald: RISING average temperatures are reducing run-off into Sydney dams when it rains, putting the future of the city's water supplies under a cloud. As a result, Sydney Water wants to operate the Kurnell desalination plant even when there are several years' water supply in the Sydney dam network. Trials are under way at the desalination plant, which is expected to be in full operation soon. The State Government is yet to decide how soon the desalination plant will begin operations ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Australia: Sydney's new seat of solar power
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/citys-new-seat-of-power-20100113-m71q.html
Sydney Morning Herald: SYDNEY Town Hall has been brought into the era of carbon emissions and climate change, with the City of Sydney converting the 121-year-old building into the largest photovoltaic installation in the central business district. The council was yesterday installing 240 cutting-edge solar panels on the roof, capable of producing up to 48 kilowatt hours of energy. That is enough to supply the Town Hall, the council chambers and the council offices next door. ''The solar panels ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Biomass seen fueling California economic revival
http://www.sacbee.com/378/story/2457556.html
Sacramento Bee: California could tap the energy stored in wood, garbage, plants and animal waste to fuel a job creation engine that could pull the state out of its economic doldrums, biomass energy advocates said Tuesday. So far, though, the engine has barely crept out of the station, said James D. Boyd, vice chairman of the California Energy Commission. "(Biomass) is a treasure sort of waiting to be discovered," he said. Boyd on Tuesday addressed attendees of the Pacific West Biomass ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
United States: Bio energy backers stay upbeat despite setbacks
http://www.ajc.com/business/bio-energy-backers-stay-273950.html
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The December announcement from a small Atlanta company vowing to turn wood scrap into fuel in nearby Thomaston rang all too familiar: Yet another bold promise to create rural jobs, help wean the country from foreign oil and stem global warming. Enlarge photo Brant Sanderlin, bsanderlin@ajc.com Cosmas Bayuadri with American Process calibrates a machine for testing samples of advanced yeast for ethanol production from woody biomass. American Process hopes their technology will finally ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Baillie and Rothes wind farm projects approved
http://news.scotsman.com/environment/-Baillie-and-Rothes-wind.5975466.jp
Scotsman: WIND FARM projects capable of supplying power to about 45,000 homes were given the green light by ministers today. The Scottish Government approved the 52.5-megawatt Baillie wind farm near Thurso and agreed to an extension of Rothes wind farm near Elgin. The £80 million Baillie wind farm could create power to supply almost 25,000 homes and will feed electricity into the upgraded Beauly-Denny power line, given the go-ahead last week. And the production capacity of Rothes ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
India: Temperature shift shrinking Siachen glacier
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/78916/India/Temperature%20shift%20shrinking%20Siachen%20glacier.html
India Today: The Siachen glacier has undergone a shift in temperatures over two decades. A study has shown that the glacier has warmed between 1° and 1.5° Celsius at its ablation zone - where the ice melts - and cooled by about 0.5° to 1° Celsius in its accumulation zone - where it bulks up ice. It was also found that the accumulation zone was shrinking and the ablation zone was expanding. The study was conducted by A. P. Dimri of the School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Canada's climate change plan should not single out oilsands
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Canada%20climate%20change%20plan%20should%20single%20oilsands%20report/2432710/story.html
Edmonton Journal: Canada's comprehensive climate change plan must strike a balance between energy producers and consumers and not single out the oilsands as the source of Canada's poor record on greenhouse gas emissions, the Conference Board of Canada said Tuesday. In its publication Getting the Balance Right: The Oil Sands, Exporting and Sustainability, the national independent research organization gathers all the facts related to the oilsands and its environmental impacts, assesses those facts and ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Human civilisation 'will collapse' unless greed culture is stopped, report warns
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/6979611/Human-civilisation-will-collapse-unless-greed-culture-is-stopped-report-warns.html
Telegraph: The world's population is burning through the planet's resources at such a reckless rate -- about 28 per cent more last year - it will eventually cause environmental havoc, said the Worldwatch Institute, a US think-tank. In its annual State of the World 2010 report, it warned any gains from government action on climate change could be wiped out by the cult of consumption and greed unless changes in our lifestyle were made. Consumerism had become a "powerful driver" for ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Google steps up efforts to develop renewables that are "cheaper than coal"
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256050/google-plan-develop-renewables
Business Green: Google has revealed further details of its plans to establish the company as a major player in the clean energy field, underlining its commitment to the development of concentrated solar thermal, enhanced geothermal and, most intriguingly, high-altitude wind systems. In an interview with the New York Times, the company's Green Energy Czar Bill Weihl said the company was fully committed to accelerating the development of renewable energy technologies that can prove more cost-effective ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Indonesia: Forest policy undercuts SBY's emission pledge
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/01/13/forest-policy-undercuts-sby%E2%80%99s-emission-pledge.html
Jakarta Post: The Forestry Ministry's plan to allow more mining firms operate in forests could hinder the government's efforts to meet emission reduction targets, as pledged by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The ministry said it planned to allocate 2.2 million hectares of forests for mining activities between 2010 to 2020. "The plan to convert 2.2 million hectares of forests for mining could release about 550 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere," Greenomics Indonesia executive ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
New York to trail blaze electric cars' journey into the mainstream
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256054/york-trail-blaze-electric-car
Business Green: Electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are just a few years away from mainstream adoption in some of the world's largest cities, according to a study from McKinsey & Co which predicts they will account for up to 16 per cent of new car sales in New York City by the year 2015. The report, which surveyed 1,500 motorists in cities around the world, predicted New Yorkers could buy as many as 70,000 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2015. It similarly found that electric or plug-in ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Haiti earthquake adds to woes of a benighted country
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/13/haiti-earthquake-history-disasters
Guardian: The earthquake that has hit Haiti, raising fears that thousands have been killed, is the latest in a long line of natural disasters to befall a country ill equipped to deal with such events. Hurricanes and flooding are perennial concerns for the poorest country in the western hemisphere, which has time and again been dependent on foreign aid in emergencies. In 1963 hurricane Flora, the sixth deadliest Atlantic hurricane in history, devastated the island. The US weather bureau ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Energy-Only Option Tests Senate's Climate Bill Backers
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/01/12/12greenwire-energy-only-option-tests-senates-climate-bill-b-4157.html
Greenwire: Advocates for Senate climate legislation are pushing back against calls to abandon a mandatory cap on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in favor of a stand-alone energy bill that some say has a better chance of passing in an election year. For starters, President Obama's top energy adviser insisted yesterday that the administration's goal remains a "comprehensive bill" that touches on all corners of the energy and climate debate, including the controversial cap-and-trade program that most ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
EU downplays prospect of carbon tariffs, pushes for end to levies on green goods
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256062/eu-downplays-carbon-tariff-risk
Business Green: The EU's new trade commissioner-designate, Karel De Gucht, has signalled that he opposes proposals to introduce tariffs on imports from economies without carbon emission controls, but would like to see an end to all tariffs on low-carbon goods and services. Addressing members of the European Parliament yesterday, De Gucht warned that any attempt to protect those energy-intensive imports affected by European carbon caps from international competition would prove ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
China-led group to meet ahead of climate deadline
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60C21420100113?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Four of the world's largest and fastest-growing carbon emitters will meet in New Delhi this month ahead of a Jan 31 deadline for countries to submit their actions to fight climate change. The meeting, to be held either on Jan 24 or 25, would be attended by the environment ministers of Brazil, South Africa, India and China -- the BASIC bloc of nations that helped broker a political accord at last month's Copenhagen climate summit. The non-binding accord was described by many as ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Democrats rally to defend climate bill and EPA ruling
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256072/democrats-rally-defend-climate
Business Green: The row over the proposed US climate change bill rumbled on this week, as a number of Democrat Senators called on the architects of the bill to scale down its ambitions and Republicans moved forward with efforts to block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating against carbon emissions. Both moves brought a robust response from senior Democrats and White House officials who said they remained committed to passing a cap-and-trade bill this year and would defend the ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Spanish firm green lights giant UK recycled paper mill
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256078/spanish-firm-greenlights-290m
Business Green: Spanish paper firm SAICA has announced it will build one of Europe's largest paper recycling mills at a site near Manchester. Construction work on the £290m development will start later this year, and the plant is expected to begin operating from February 2012. The company said that when fully operational, the plant will produce approximately 400,000 tonnes of recycled paper a year, which will be used to manufacture recycled corrugated boxes. It added that its new ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
A Smoking Dragon in Sheep's Clothing
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/opinion/14iht-edchellaney.html
New York Times: China presents itself as a schizophrenic power: a developing country on select international issues, but in other matters a rising superpower with new muscular confidence that supposedly is in the same league as the United States. At the recent Copenhagen climate-change summit, China was the former: It loudly emphasized its membership in the developing world and quietly used poor countries, especially from Africa, to raise procedural obstacles in the negotiations. Make no ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Insurance Group Says Stolen E-Mails Show Risk in Accepting Climate Science
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/13/13climatewire-insurance-group-says-stolen-e-mails-show-ris-91554.html
New York Times: A major trade group for the insurance industry is warning that it is "exceedingly risky" for companies to blindly accept scientific conclusions around climate change, given the "serious questions" around the extent to which humans cause atmospheric warming. The assertion was made in a letter (pdf) to insurance regulators, who will administer the nation's first mandatory climate requirements on corporations in May. Large insurers will have to answer about a dozen questions related to ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Climate change: investors ignore it at your peril
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/6981278/Climate-change-investors-ignore-it-at-your-peril.html
Telegraph: In the investment world it is a challenge to predict with accuracy what will happen in the next week, let alone the next decade. But there are three trends which are set to unfold in the coming years which will have such a major impact on the global economy that the investment implications are reasonably easy to foresee. The first and most potentially calamitous trend is climate change, both in terms of costs of mitigating its effects and also adjusting global energy use to ensure ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
South Africa: Was Copenhagen the Death of Multilateral Environmental Agreements?
http://allafrica.com/stories/201001130800.html
All Africa. Com: What do secret declassified documents from the Clinton era tell us about the future of climate negotiations? While a great hope hung on the Copenhagen Climate Summit, right up to the end, the meeting was bogged down with uncertainty and controversy. There were no targets, no binding agreements and there was no real money to show. Some governments didn't even bother with the requirements of science or the immorality of not acting with urgency. Denmark's inability to play ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Exaggerating the impact of climate change on the spread of malaria
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/13/climate-change
Guardian: A recent press release from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) suggested that millions more people in Kenya are susceptible to malaria as a result of mosquitoes colonising higher ground as global temperatures rise. ('New evidence of a link between climate change and malaria', 30.12.09 – see below). The press release was extensively covered in UK newspapers and elsewhere. Simple analysis shows that the claims of the press release are almost entirely without ...
Thu, 14 Jan 10
Tourist killed by 'dinosaur-sized' shark off South African beach
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/13/cape-town-giant-shark-attack
Guardian: Witnesses today described their horror at seeing a tourist being eaten by a "gigantic" shark in South Africa's most popular holiday destination. Lloyd Skinner was pulled under the surf and dragged out to sea by the shark, believed to be a great white, off Fish Hoek beach in Cape Town. His diving goggles and a dark patch of blood were all that remained in the water. "Holy shit. We just saw a gigantic shark eat what looked like a person in front of our house," witness Gregg ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
India: Climate policy needs a basic shift
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Editorial/Climate-policy-needs-a-basic-shift/articleshow/5439118.cms
Economic Times: India's climate policy is at a crossroads. The Copenhagen Accord has transformed the global climate discourse, fostered new groupings of countries and created a policy vacuum at the global level. We now need to develop our vision of a climate constrained future. For eight years after the Rio Conference we were in a state of denial. Seven years ago, when the annual climate conference was held in Delhi, we stated what we will not do "" our per capita emissions will never exceed the ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Indonesia: Indonesia forest plan at odds with carbon target
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1802
Carbon Positive: The Indonesian government's pledge to cut greenhouse emissions growth via forestry efforts can't be achieved under its own existing and proposed forest policies, according to a local non-government policy research organisation. Greenomics Indonesia say the country's proposed Forestry Program for Climate Change and existing forest concessions would result in the release of up to 850 millions tonnes over the next ten years. This would seriously undermine the national target to cut ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Predicting Seasonal Weather
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1808256/predicting_seasonal_weather/index.html?source=r_science
REDORBIT.COM: Large-scale weather patterns which occur in various locations around the Earth, from the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the tropics to the high latitude Arctic Oscillation (AO) play a significant part in controlling the weather on a seasonal time scale. Knowing the condition of these atmospheric oscillations in advance would greatly improve long-range weather predictions. Scientists search for clues in the earth's surface conditions such as tropical sea surface temperatures and snow ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Ecuador foreign minister quits over Amazon project
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60B5UV20100112?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Fander Falconi quit on Tuesday after President Rafael Correa criticized the way he was negotiating a project to protect the Amazon rain forest. "Falconi presented his resignation," a government statement said. He had served as the Andean country's chief diplomat since December 2008. Under Correa's Yasuni initiative, OPEC-member Ecuador would leave 850 million barrels of oil, worth $6 billion, underground in its Amazon region as a contribution to ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Expectations Not Met in Copenhagen
http://allafrica.com/stories/201001120426.html
All Africa: Expectations for southern Africa and the rest of the continent were not met at the recent United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference at Copenhagen. The conference ended without a legally binding agreement but a political agreement termed the Copenhagen Accord. Southern Africa expressed dissatisfaction with the contents of the Accord as expectations were not met especially regarding binding emission targets and binding financial contributions to tackle the impacts ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Seeking a Consumer Culture Revolution
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49953
Inter Press Service: The last 50 years have seen an unprecedented and unsustainable spike in consumption, driven by a culture of consumerism that has emerged over that period, says a report released Tuesday by the Worldwatch Institute. This consumerist culture is the elephant in the room when it comes to solving the big environmental issues of today, the report says, and those issues cannot be fully solved until a transition to a more sustainable culture is begun. "State of the World 2010", ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
US cult of greed is now a global environmental threat
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/12/climate-change-greed-environment-threat
Guardian: The average American consumes more than his or her weight in products each day, fuelling a global culture of excess that is emerging as the biggest threat to the planet, according to a report published today. In its annual report, Worldwatch Institute says the cult of consumption and greed could wipe out any gains from government action on climate change or a shift to a clean energy economy. Erik Assadourian, the project director who led a team of 35 behind the report, said: "Until we ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Organic farmers must embrace GM crops if we are to feed the world, says scientist
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/earth-environment/article6985295.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
Times (UK): The organic movement should overcome its hostility to genetically modified crops and embrace the contribution that they can make to sustainable farming, one of the world's leading agricultural scientists has told The Times. Although organic farmers are among the most implacable opponents of genetic engineering, it should be accepted as legitimate, according to Gordon Conway, Professor of International Development at Imperial College London and a former government adviser. In an ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Wild boar forage in bins as cold weather drives them out of the woods
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6985473.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
Times (UK): Forest of Dean Wild boar raid rubbish bins to find food. Sub-zero temperatures have left the ground so hard that the animals cannot forage on the forest floor. Elsewhere, local authorities have been told to reduce the amount of gritting salt they are using by up to 50 per cent to help to meet critical shortfalls in parts of the country. The Highways Agency has ordered 100,000 tonnes of rock salt from the United States and Spain but the European supplies will not arrive until ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
42 tons of poison to purge island of rats
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/42-tons-of-poison-to-purge-island-of-rats-1866136.html
Independent: Lord Howe, an idyllic island off the Australian mainland, carefully conserves its natural treasures. The World Heritage-listed chunk of rock has strict quarantine laws, and limits the number of tourists who may visit. But its unique birds, insects and plants are under threat from an implacable foe: the black rat. Accidentally introduced in 1918 when a ship ran aground, rats are blamed for the extinction of five endemic bird species. Wildlife experts warn that 13 other native birds, ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
U.S. carbon emissions to rise next two years-EIA
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60B4TW20100112?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels like coal and oil should rise this year and next as the economy recovers, making the Obama administration's goal to cut emissions by 2020 a tougher task, the government's top energy forecaster said on Tuesday. U.S. emissions of the main planet-warming gas should rise 1.5 percent this year to 5.53 billion tonnes as "projected improvements in the economy" boost demand for the fuels, the Energy Information Administration said in its monthly ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Ecuador ForMin, criticized for Amazon project, quits
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60B4SI20100112?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Fander Falconi stepped down Tuesday, a source at the ministry said, after President Rafael Correa criticized the way that Falconi was negotiating an Amazon rain forest protection project. "He resigned this morning," said the source, who has direct knowledge of the situation and asked to remain anonymous. Under Correa's Yasuni initiative, Ecuador would leave 850 million barrels of oil, worth $6 billion, underground in the country's Amazon region as a ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Largest U.S. farm group: Stop EPA on greenhouse gases
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60B57720100112?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The largest U.S. farm group called on Congress on Tuesday to prevent the government from regulating greenhouse gases if lawmakers kill climate change legislation. The 6-million-member American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) also underlined its firm opposition to legislation to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for boosting global temperatures. In their first item of policy work, delegates at the AFBF annual meeting voted to support "any legislative ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Dem candidate promotes energy in bid for Utah gov
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100112/ap_on_bi_ge/us_corroon_governor_utah
Associated Press: Democrat Peter Corroon launched his gubernatorial bid Tuesday by saying Utah should become energy independent within 10 years by investing in renewable energy. "While our federal government talks about it, Utah can achieve it." the mayor of Salt Lake County said in a speech officially announcing his candidacy. "We can and should become self-sustaining like the pioneers before us." Utah has an abundance of energy resources -- including coal, natural gas and wind energy -- to ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
The sustainability of the tar sands
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=148593
Globe and Mail
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Texas town welcomed drilling, now fears pollution
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100112/ap_on_re_us/us_gas_drilling_pollution
Associated Press: Like thousands of other Texans living atop one of the country's most productive natural gas fields, folks in this tiny town were giddy when drillers started offering up the fat checks. The mayor likened it to the Gold Rush, and many of the 200 residents of a town that once sold its name to a satellite television company were hoping to be next in a long line of landowners to strike it rich by drilling into the Texas earth. Many in the town on the rural plains of Fort Worth ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Group seeks chicken farm records from Md. agency
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100112/ap_on_bi_ge/us_perdue_suit_maryland
AP: An environmental group says it has filed a Public Information Act request with Maryland's Department of the Environment for records about a Berlin chicken farm it says is polluting waterways. The Waterkeeper Alliance has threatened to sue the Hudson Farm and Perdue Farms, which buys chickens from the farm. State officials said last month that a mound photographed by the group on the Berlin farm was treated sewage sludge, not poultry manure. MDE spokeswoman Dawn Stoltzfus says ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
NH officials: Ag has key role in saving energy
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100112/ap_on_bi_ge/us_farm_energy_conference_new_hampshire
Associated Press: A state official told a gathering of farmers Tuesday that they will play a big part in the push for energy efficiency as climate change affects New Hampshire. Thomas Burack, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Services, reviewing the state's climate action plan at a farm energy conference, said research indicates that New Hampshire and the rest of the Northeast will see more rain and shorter, warmer winters, which means changes such as the pest population moving ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
NM Indian tribe hopes to profit from solar energy
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100112/ap_on_bi_ge/us_tribal_solar_energy
Associated Press: A poverty-stricken Indian tribe that holds the sun and nature's other gifts sacred sees a brighter future for itself in solar power. The 3,000 members of the Jemez Pueblo are on the verge of building the nation's first utility-scale solar plant on tribal land, a project that could bring in millions of dollars. Experts say tapping into the sun, wind and geothermal energy on Indian land could generate the kind of wealth many tribes have seen from slot machines and blackjack ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Obama, Senate Allies Weigh Strategy in Face of Double-Digit Unemployment
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/12/12climatewire-obama-senate-allies-weigh-strategy-in-face-o-36820.html
ClimateWire: Advocates for comprehensive climate legislation should look no further than the nation's unemployment rate as they ponder their chances for success this year. With more than 10 percent of the country's work force currently out of a job, experts say it won't bode well for the climate bill's prospects if that number gets any worse. "It was already difficult to achieve agreement in the Congress on climate change, but in the presence of double-digit unemployment, which it appears ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Avoiding dangerous warming by 2100 'barely feasible'
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18374-avoiding-dangerous-warming-by-2100-barely-feasible.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: Fat chance then. Even with all the green power we muster, preventing dangerous climate change by the end of the century is "barely feasible". So says an analysis of how fast low-carbon energy sources can be introduced. For a 50:50 chance of keeping a global temperature rise within 2 °C by 2100, we must halve emissions by 2050. This is the message of climate models by Keywan Riahi of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria, and colleagues. That ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Malaysia: Dams a 'monument of corruption': Baru Bian, new leader of Sarawak's People's Justice Party
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0112-hance_barubian.html
Mongabay: In an interview with the Bruno Manser Fond, the new leader of the Malaysian state Sarawak's People's Justice Party (PKR), Baru Bian, spoke out against the state government's plans for mega-dams in the middle of the rainforest, as well as continued rainforest destruction and corruption. Baru, a lawyer by trade, stated that the indigenous communities "very existence and livelihood is being threatened" by the dozen mega-dam projects, which would flood vast areas of rainforest ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
James Hansen rails against cap-and-trade plan in open letter
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/12/james-hansen-carbon-emissions
Guardian: "You are choosing the path focused on corporate greed," climate scientist James Hansen has told carbon traders in a open letter which he and climate activists attempted to deliver to a carbon trading conference in New York today. In below-freezing temperatures, climate change campaigners gathered at midday at the Irish Hunger Memorial in Vesey Park, near the Embassy Suites Hotel where the conference is being held, to hear Hansen read parts of his open letter. Tomorrow there will be ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Pacific islanders bid to stop Czech coal plant
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60B36U20100112?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A small pacific island state's challenge to a Czech coal-fired power plant extension some 6,000 km away on grounds it could harm its environment could open a new front in the fight over global climate change. Micronesia has filed a plea with the Czech environment ministry using a measure designed originally to settle disputes between near neighbors but which could spur others to do the same when opposing power plants, environmental advocates said. "This is part of a new phase ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Unusual Arctic warmth as north hemisphere shivers
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60B3MC20100112?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: While much of the Northern Hemisphere has shivered in a cold snap in recent weeks, temperatures in the Arctic soared to unusually high levels, U.S. scientists reported. This strange atmospheric pattern is caused by natural variability and not by rising levels of greenhouse gases. However, it could affect Arctic ice which in turn may impact global warming, said Mark Serreze, director of the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado. "It's very warm over the Arctic, with ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Police prepared to admit Climate Camp 'stop and search' was unlawful
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/12/climate-camp-police-unlawful
Press Association: Police are prepared to admit that the "stop and search" of 11-year-old twins and a veteran environmental campaigner going to a climate camp protest was unlawful, the high court was told today. The twins were stopped while attending a demonstration against the proposed Kingsnorth coal-fired power station in Kent in August 2008. The energy company E.ON owns the power station on the Medway estuary, but in 2006 sparked a long-running campaign by environmental activists by ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Climate change to make icy UK winters rarer
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60B3TX20100112?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Severe winter freezes, like the one gripping parts of Europe over the last few weeks, will become increasingly rare because of the warming effect of climate change, the UK's official forecaster said on Tuesday. Europe's deep winter freeze, partly due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, has shocked parts of northwest Europe that usually escape the coldest winter temperatures, driving heating gas demand to records in Britain [ID:nWLA2033] and disrupting supplies of the fuel when it was ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Climate scientists convene global geo-engineering summit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/12/geo-engineering-summit
Guardian: Scientists are to hold a high-level summit to discuss how the world could take emergency measures such as blocking out the sun to slow dangerous global warming. Experts from around the world have been invited to attend the meeting in March in California, which will examine possible field trials of so-called geo-engineering schemes, such as pumping chemicals into the air and oceans to combat climate change. The move follows the failure of the recent Copenhagen climate talks to ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Lobbyists helped Murkowski write bill to limit EPA
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/1024776.html
News Tribune: Her first attempt failed, but on Monday Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, moved again to try to halt the Environmental Protection Agency's movement toward regulating the emission of greenhouse gases. The federal agency last week announced that global warming pollution endangers public health, and announced plans to move forward with regulations that will limit emissions by large producers of greenhouse gases. It could be years before any EPA regulations take effect, and the White ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Australia: Animals under fire in methane blame game
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/animals-under-fire-in-methane-blame-game/story-e6frg6z6-1225818573869
Australian: IF you look at a map of southeast NSW where grazier John Alcock and his children run three properties on the edge of the Snowy Mountains, you'll see that national parks and state forests cover at least the same area as private grazing country. Out of the national parks come mobs of kangaroos that know their way into Alcock's drought-hit land when he plants improved pasture and fodder crops for cattle and fine-wool Merinos. "Good heavens, if we sow something, they just invade ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Wind power takes a blow around Minnesota
http://www.startribune.com/local/81195972.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
Star Tribune: very sunny morning, shadows from the massive rotating blades swing across their breakfast table. The giant towers dominate the view from their deck. Noise from the turbines fills the silence that Dolores and Rudy Jech once enjoyed on their Minnesota farm. "Rudy and I are retired, and we like to sit out on our deck," Dolores said. "And that darned thing is right across the road from us. It's an eyesore, it's noisy, and having so many of them there's a constant hum." Just as they ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
California wants EPA to slow down climate rules
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1116469620100111
Reuters: California has urged U.S. environmental regulators to slow down implementation of rules on greenhouse gas emissions, saying they could hurt the state's plans to transform its energy system to run more on renewable energy like solar power. The Environmental Protection Agency proposed last year to require power plants and factories emitting more than 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year to obtain operating permits. The EPA has said the rules could take effect as soon as this ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Climate clash in Midwest could trigger more border challenges
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/12/12climatewire-climate-clash-in-midwest-could-trigger-more-37291.html
New York Times: Climate change may have sparked its first border war. Two states are in early maneuvers for a potential legal battle over one's effort to curtail carbon and another's aspiration to become an energy "powerhouse." Those divergent designs have driven coal-rich North Dakota to threaten Minnesota with a lawsuit that could rise to the Supreme Court, observers say, while challenging an untested pillar in climate policy: the ability of states to place carbon fees on electricity imported from ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
A future that doesn't guzzle
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/automobiles/autoshow/12electric.html
New York Times: About 98 percent of the vehicles sold in the United States last year were powered by conventional gasoline engines, and hybrids occupied just a tiny niche. But at the opening Monday of the big Detroit auto show, the internal-combustion engine seemed almost passé. The world`s automakers unveiled a number of hybrid gas-electric and battery-powered models, several of which might not be available for years to come. It is a telling sign of how much emphasis that car companies ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Thailand: Is strange weather due to warming?
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2010/01/12/national/national_30120121.php
Nation National: EXTREME WEATHER conditions such as dense fog blanketing Bangkok, heavier floods in the South and fewer frosty mornings in the North seem to be hitting Thailand. Scientists are conducting studies to see if global warming is to blame for these strange patterns. It is still in doubt that climate change has resulted in different strange phenomenon occurring on the earth, including in Thailand where the occurrences of natural phenomenon have changed. A Thai academic is now ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Report says global warming may force Canada to change approach to polar bears
http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/live/article/419025--report-says-global-warming-may-force-canada-to-change-approach-to-polar-bears
Metro: A study that recorded 25 years worth of bear sightings on the Alaskan coast suggests that polar bears are now spending more time either on land or in the open ocean instead of the sea ice they normally use as a hunting platform. Sea ice in the Beaufort Sea has been declining more quickly than in other parts of the Arctic. At the same time, humans and bears have been running into each other more often. Biologist Karyn Rode of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that decline ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Cold snap linked to global warming
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-01/12/content_9303887.htm
China Daily: Kuang said most regions that are located north of 40 degrees latitude are suffering from the freezing cold this year. Beijing, at 39 degrees north latitude, has witnessed its coldest morning in almost 40 years and its biggest snowfall since 1951. Britain is suffering through its longest cold snap since 1981 and the freezing cold is gripping millions in the deep south of the US. According to the latest data from the National Meteorological Center, many provinces and ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
International biomass trading platform to tap soaring pellet demand
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255996/international-pellet-trading
Business Green: With the European biomass energy market continuing to go from strength to strength, an innovative UK start-up has sought to exploit the growing demand for biomass pellets with the launch of a new international trading service designed to bring together fuel suppliers and power plants. The service was debuted last week by Norfolk-based Pellet Zone Ltd (PZL) and will see the company act as the principal in any trades, generating a small margin by purchasing biomass pellets from ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Pick-your-own vegetables to replace flowers in high street
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/12/pick-your-own-vegetables-street
Guardian: A Lancashire town is experimenting with using traditional floral displays, including hanging baskets and herbaceous borders, to grow slightly less colourful but more practical greens. The idea taking shape in Clitheroe is to replace flowers with edible vegetables and offer a modest "pick-your-own" service of plantings to anyone passing by. The most striking feature will be three-tiered flower/vegetable structures in the centre of the town, if a motion put forward by councillors ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Consumers should help pay the bill for 'greener' palm oil
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0112-palm_oil.html
Mongabay: Palm oil is one of the world's most traded and versatile agricultural commodities. It can be used as edible vegetable oil, industrial lubricant, raw material in cosmetic and skincare products and feedstock for biofuel production. Growing global demand for palm oil and the ensuing cropland expansion has been blamed for a wide range of environmental ills, including tropical deforestation, peatland degradation, biodiversity loss and CO2 emissions (Koh & Wilcove 2008; Butler & Laurance 2009; ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Vatican City: Pope Denounces Failure of Copenhagen Climate Change Negotiations
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Pope-Denounces-Failure-of-Copenhagen-Climate-Change-Negotiations-81225017.html
Voice of America: Pope Benedict XVI focused his annual address to ambassadors accredited to the Vatican on the environment and the protection of creation. He denounced the failure of world leaders to agree to a new climate change treaty in Copenhagen last month. In his address to diplomats from more than 170 nations accredited to the Vatican, Pope Benedict expressed concern about the failure to reach agreement on climate change at the Copenhagen summit last month. Speaking in French, he said he ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Exclusive: Ecotricity aims to deliver first biogas to UK this year
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255989/exclusive-ecotricity-aims
Business Green: Ecotricity is forging ahead with plans to establish itself as a provider of green gas as well as green electricity, pledging to connect its first gas customers next month and begin delivering biogas before the end of the year. The company announced the launch of its dual gas and electricity tariff late last year and is now in advanced discussions with a number of firms about delivering on its promise to provide customers with low carbon biogas made from organic ...
Wed, 13 Jan 10
Germany stands by carbon target, US insists Copenhagen delivered progress
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255972/germany-stands-carbon-target
Business Green: Germany will retain its ambitious target to cut carbon emissions 40 per cent by 2020, despite the failure of the Copenhagen Summit to deliver a binding international agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions. There had been fears that the failure of the Copenhagen Summit to deliver an agreement featuring binding emission targets could prompt some countries to downgrade their domestic targets. But a senior advisor to the German government insisted yesterday that it would stand by an ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
White House climate adviser offers hope after Copenhagen
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/11/copenhagen-emissions-obama-climate
Guardian: More considered verdicts of what was -- and what was not - achieved at the Copenhagen climate change summit are beginning to come out. In this the first assessment of the new year from the Obama administration, Carol Browner, the White House environment and climate change adviser, admits that the summit did not live up to expectations. Those who went to Copenhagen hoping for a binding legal treaty, or even an operational agreement, did not get what they wanted. "But what is important ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Temperatures Drop Across Europe, and Tempers Flare
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/world/europe/12europe.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Weeks of wintry weather have left Britons bickering over dwindling salt supplies, Germans worrying over the economic costs of a ferocious start to winter, and residents in the usually warmer corners like Spain and the south of France struggling with rare accumulations of snow. And everywhere travelers bore the brunt of the cold snap caused by the low-pressure system known as Daisy, which has brought a deep chill to the Continent and disrupted roads, rails and runways. In ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Petrol engines will rule for at least another decade - top GM executive
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/andrew-clark-on-america/2010/jan/11/automotive-industry-generalmotors1
Guardian: The car industry may be all atwitter with talk of plug-in cars and hybrid engines. But there was a cold, hard assessment on the ongoing dominance of petrol today from Bob Lutz, the veteran vice-chairman for product design at General Motors. Lutz, a top lieutenant to GM's chairman Ed Whitacre, predicted that more than 90% of the automotive industry's sales will continue to be petrol-driven vehicles for at least another decade - because the vast majority of motorists simply will not pay ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Nine meals from anarchy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/11/nine-meals-anarchy-sustainable-system
Guardian: 'Man has lost the capacity to foresee and forestall," wrote Albert Schweitzer. A colossal banking crisis and a big freeze in the middle of what was meant to be a mild winter don't encourage confidence to the contrary. Reassurance is fine as long as it's well founded. And in the midst of fears about gas supplies and the panic buying of food Gordon Brown is hardly likely to scream that we are all doomed. It is, after all, his job to tell us that all will be well. But will it? People ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Heroism fatigue: another hurdle for US climate change action?
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/scitech/20167
Ethiopian Review: Could "heroism fatigue" be yet another bump in the road for any U.S. law to curb climate change? And what is "heroism fatigue" anyway? To Paul Bledsoe of the bipartisan National Commission on Energy Policy, heroism fatigue is what happens when the Congress has spent most of the year doing something heroic, like trying to hammer out an agreement on healthcare reform, when what lawmakers might rather be doing is naming a new post office. Following one big, gnarly piece of legislation ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
United States: Environmental groups threaten to sue Massey Energy
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100111/ap_on_bi_ge/us_massey_lawsuit_west_virginia
Associated Press: Several environmental groups are threatening to sue coal producer Massey Energy Co. for what they claim are more than 12,000 violations of pollution laws. The Sierra Club and several West Virginia groups said Monday they've given Massey a notice that gives the company 60 days to reach a settlement or face a lawsuit. The groups claim Massey has continued with the same pattern of violations covered by a $20 million settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency two years ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
California wants EPA to slow down climate rules
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60A4BM20100111?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: California has urged U.S. environmental regulators to slow down implementation of rules on greenhouse gas emissions saying they could hurt the state's plan to transform its energy system to run more on renewable energy like solar power. The Environmental Protection Agency proposed last year to require power plants and factories emitting over 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year to obtain operating permits. The EPA has said the rules could take effect as soon as this ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Germany sticking to ambitious CO2 target: adviser
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60A4D020100111?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Germany will stick to a more ambitious goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 even though the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen fell short of expectations, a government adviser said on Monday. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, head of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said it was unclear if the European Union as a whole would pursue a 30 percent target when it submits its plan to the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat by January 31. Germany ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Police extremist unit helps climate change e-mail probe
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/8453117.stm
BBC: A police unit set up to support forces dealing with extremism in the UK is helping investigate the leaking of climate change data in Norfolk. In November it was revealed that the computer server at the Climate Change Unit at the University of East Anglia had been hacked and e-mails leaked. An inquiry was started by Norfolk Police. Now it has been revealed the force is getting help from the National Domestic Extremism Unit, based in Huntingdon. A spokesman for the ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Canadians say climate change bigger threat than terrorism
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0111-hance_canclimate.html
Mongabay: A new poll shows that Canadians now see climate change as a larger threat than terrorism, even though their government has largely scaled back efforts to combat climate change. Half of the poll's respondents said that climate change was a 'critical threat', while only a quarter said the same about terrorism. The number of Canadians viewing climate change as a 'critical threat' dropped 3 percent in the last six years, from 52 percent to 49 percent (close to the polls margin of error of ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
US carbon market growth seen without climate bill
http://www.malaya.com.ph/01122010/envi1.html
Reuters: Voluntary carbon markets in the United States will grow especially at the regional level even if a stalled federal climate bill fails to impose "cap and trade" on American industry, the chairman of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) said on Tuesday. "I think we will continue to see interest in voluntary carbon markets ... And I would expect that without a federal law you will continue to see growth in regional initiatives in the United States," Richard Sandor, the exchange's founder, ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Australia: Floodwaters fail to stop drought's creep across state
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/floodwaters-fail-to-stop-droughts-creep-across-state-20100111-m2s6.html
Sydney Morning Herald: Roads remain submerged in floodwater, ghostly rivers have risen from the dead, paddocks are a sea of green, and mosquitoes are breeding like it's the tropics. Welcome to the drought, NSW style. Despite a surge of devastating floodwaters through parts of the west and central west since Christmas, drought crept across a further 1 per cent of the state last month, taking its claim to 81.8 per cent at the beginning of the year. State Government figures to be released today show 95 ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
UK Must Raise CO2 Cut Target To 42% By 2020 -Environment Panel
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/uk-raise-cut-target----environment-panel/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxbusiness%2Flatest+%28Text+-+Latest+News%29
Dow Jones: The U.K.'s Environmental Audit Committee Monday said the government should increase its target to cut emissions to 42% from 34% below 1990 levels by 2020. "Setting a target of 42% now and moving to the intended budget should increase the long-term stability of the policy framework by removing any uncertainty about whether the higher target and budget might be imposed," the committee said in a report published Monday. It added that the government should implement the new higher ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Report: 2009 was a warm year in USA
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2010-01-11-climate-report_N.htm?csp=34
USA Today: Despite an unusually chilly year in the Midwest, the national U.S. temperature was slightly above average in 2009, according to the National Climatic Data Center. This marked the 13th consecutive year the nation experienced a warmer-than-normal average temperature. Since the late 1980s, 21 of the last 24 years have been unusually warm in the USA. Beginning in late 1800s, when accurate weather records began, the country has been warming at a rate of about 0.1 degree per decade, ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Australia: Small but deadly jellyfish stings increase
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/11/2789847.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Asked to describe the pain caused by an Irukandji jellyfish sting, Tamara Binamat refers to the universal barometer of female suffering. "I've given birth and that was painful but this was excruciating," she said. "Five times worse than childbirth." Tamara is one of ten people stung by the small but highly toxic jellyfish in Broome waters in the last fortnight. It was mid morning when Tamara's Boxing Day paddle with her young son went awry. She felt the ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Canada: Geist: Ottawa pulls own Internet hoax
http://www.thestar.com/news/sciencetech/technology/lawbytes/article/748958--geist-ottawa-pulls-own-internet-hoax
Toronto Star: Last month, the Canadian delegation at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen found itself targeted by the Yes Men in a widely publicized hoax. The well-known activists satirized the Canadian government's position on the environment by launching a pair of phoney websites that looked official but promoted different policies. The hoax attracted considerable media attention, prompting Prime Minister's Office spokesman Dimitri Soudas to label it a childish prank. Soon after, Canadian ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Germany's Merkel: Fight Against Climate Change Must Go On
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201001110611dowjonesdjonline000111&title=germanys-merkel-fight-against-climate-change-must-go-on
Dow Jones: The fight against climate change and securing biodiversity is crucial to preventing costly environmental damage, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday. "Copenhagen hasn't made us optimistic," Merkel said at an environmental event on biodiversity. "But we will go on. There is no alternative to it." Her comments come after the disappointing outcome of the United Nations- sponsored climate summit in December, which ended with a face-saving note and no agreement on binding ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Canadians believe planet in peril
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2010/01/04/12337416-sun.html
C News: More than half of Canadians believe greenhouse gases produced by human activity are a key factor spurring climate change, and they say the planet is in peril if significant action isn't taken soon. The findings of the Leger Marketing poll conducted less than a week after the end of climate talks in Copenhagen suggest that Canada's political leaders must more clearly explain their plans for the environment. But the survey's regional results highlight the dilemma climate change ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Australia: States escape catastrophe despite fire dangers
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/11/2790070.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Four Australian states have avoided major fire activity despite the extreme conditions across the regions yesterday. South Australia and Victoria had catastrophic warnings in place Monday and Victoria's north and north-eastern areas face code red conditions today. There are 19 bushfires burning across Tasmania and southern New South Wales firefighters were on alert for any new fires that could be sparked by strong winds combined with the higher temperatures. The weather ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Australia: Massive crop losses predicted from heatwave
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201001/s2789453.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The heatwave across south east Australia is worrying fruit and vegetable growers, with one table grape grower predicting a 70 per cent drop in yields. As the heat continues today across South Australia and Victoria, fire authorities say conditions are at their worst in the south east of the country since the Black Saturday fires just over a year ago. An expected top of 42 degrees in Adelaide will officially be a heatwave for the South Australian capital. Other capitals ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Saving biodiversity 'on the same scale' as climate change
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0111-hance_merkel.html
Mongabay: In a kick-off event for the UN's Year of Biodiversity, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, compared the importance of saving biodiversity to stopping climate change. "The question of preserving biological diversity is on the same scale as climate protection," Merkel said today according to Reuters. Germany is the current chair of the UN Convention on Biodiversity. "We need a sea change. Here, now, immediately -- not some time in the future. This year has to be used to relaunch this ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Hybrid Cars Won't Save Much Oil
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/hybrid-cars-wont-save-much-oil/
New York Times: Hybrid cars may be as popular as ever, but they may not have much impact on the nation's – or the world's - oil consumption over the next two decades, according to J. Marshall Adkins and Pavel Molchanov, analysts for the financial services firm Raymond James. Roughly 290,000 hybrids were sold last year in the United States, about the same as in 2008, and down from a high of 347,000 in 2007. Last year, hybrid cars -- which have both conventional and a battery operated-engines -- had a ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Kyoto to Copenhagen: Why UN's glacial global warming talks need overhaul
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2010/0111/Kyoto-to-Copenhagen-Why-UN-s-glacial-global-warming-talks-need-overhaul
Christian Science Monitor: Evidence at the recent Copenhagen climate talks that the whole process is overdue for an overhaul, according to several specialists. Bolstered by a process that angered many and an outcome that pleased few, some analysts argue that the major issues – emissions reductions, levels of financial aid, for instance – are best resolved among a relatively small number of countries that are or will be top emitters of greenhouse gases. Oversight would fall to the United Nations Framework ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
United Kingdom: North East biofuel venture targets £236m in fresh funding
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255929/north-east-biofuel-venture-call
Business Green: A UK-based biofuel firm backed by investment group Future Capital Partners is aiming to raise £236m to fund the development of a major new ethanol plant in Grimsby. According to reports from Reuters, Future Fuels - a joint venture between Future Capital Partners, biofuels company Vireol and engineering group Simon Carves - has already purchased a site for the facility and secured planning permission, and is now seeking to raise finance to fund the project. Future Capital ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Japan: Toyota unveils pint-sized hybrid concept car
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100111/ap_on_bi_ge/us_auto_show_toyota
Associated Press: Toyota unveiled a new hybrid concept car that is smaller than the Prius and geared toward younger buyers, as part of the Japanese automaker's strategy to expand its lineup of hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles. Toyota showed off the FT-CH compact car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Monday. The company also confirmed plans to badge future hybrids with the Prius name, expanding the Prius brand into an entire family of hybrid vehicles. A production ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Gas industry says trying to reduce smog in Wyoming
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100111/ap_on_bi_ge/us_epa_smog_wyoming
Associated Press: The gas industry says it has taken steps to reduce smog in western Wyoming, but whether that will be enough to comply with a proposed new federal smog rule remains to be seen. Thousands of new natural gas wells have created smog problems in parts of western Wyoming over the last five years. The problem becomes more pronounced each January through April because of weather conditions. Last winter, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality twice issued advisories warning ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
The Asia-Pacific Partnership and the Kyoto Protocols: In conflict or cooperation?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100111102529.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: President Obama's visit to China before December's Copenhagen conference underlined views that the international strategy to tackle climate change truly hinges on cooperation between the United States and the developing Asian economies. This relationship, as represented in the Asia-Pacific Partnership (APP), is controversial to environmental analysts. In two papers published in WIREs Climate Change, analysts debate the significance of the APP and its role as an alternative to the Kyoto ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Germany: Leading climate scientist challenges Mail on Sunday's use of his research
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/11/climate-change-global-warming-mojib-latif
Guardian: A leading scientist has hit out at misleading newspaper reports that linked his research to claims that the current cold weather undermines the scientific case for manmade global warming. Mojib Latif, a climate expert at the Leibniz Institute at Kiel University in Germany, said he "cannot understand" reports that used his research to question the scientific consensus on climate change. He told the Guardian: "It comes as a surprise to me that people would try to use my ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Three Britons charged over 3m carbon-trading 'carousel fraud'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/11/eu-carbon-trading-carousel-fraud
Guardian: Belgian prosecutors highlighted the massive losses faced by EU governments from VAT fraud today after they charged three Britons and a Dutchman with money-laundering following an investigation into a multimillion-pound scam involving carbon emissions permits. The three Britons, who were arrested last month in Belgium, were accused of failing to pay VAT worth EUR3m (£2.7m) on a series of carbon credit transactions. European authorities believe the EU has lost at least EUR5bn to ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
United Kingdom: How will the snow and ice affect the public's attitudes to climate change?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/jan/11/snow-ice-climate-change
Guardian: Will the prolonged snow and ice of this winter mean the public decide that climate change isn't happening after all, or will it perhaps reinforce worries about extreme weather? Probably neither. For most people there remains little contention about the existence of climate change, even if not everyone is convinced it is solely man-made. Most of us (77%) already say we are concerned about it, but fewer than one in 10 see it as one of the major problems facing Britain. The recent ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
India can be solar power leader: PM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100111/sc_afp/indiaenergyalternativesolar
Agence France-Presse: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid out ambitious plans to make his country a global leader in solar power on Monday as he launched a government initiative to boost use of the technology. Solar can help secure India's energy independence and tackle climate change, Singh said, as well as offering new opportunities for industry in a country with a crippling shortage of power. The National Solar Mission, launched Monday, could "establish India as a global leader in solar ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Sea icy off part of Antarctica despite fear of melt
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60A2T520100111?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Sea water under an East Antarctic ice shelf showed no sign of higher temperatures despite fears of a thaw linked to global warming that could bring higher world ocean levels, first tests showed on Monday. Sensors lowered through three holes drilled in the Fimbul Ice Shelf showed the sea water is still around freezing and not at higher temperatures widely blamed for the break-up of 10 shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula, the most northerly part of the frozen continent. "The water ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
UK gas reserves down to six hours as imports fail to arrive
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/11/uk-gas-reserves-imports-fail
Guardian: Britain's reserves of stored gas stood at just six hours at lunchtime today as imports from Norway failed to arrive. National Grid issued an appeal for more gas to be pumped to the UK after unusually cold weather led to a shutdown of the Ormen Lange processing centre in the Norwegian Sea, interrupting gas flows to the UK at a time of peak demand. It is the fourth time this month that the company has issued the notice to the market. The so-called gas balancing alert has been ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Germany: World must step up efforts on saving species: Merkel
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60A32420100111?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged industrialized and emerging countries to invest more in protecting wildlife and said the U.N. should create a body to refine scientific arguments for saving animal and plant species. Researchers say preserving nature is crucial to the fight against climate change and warn that human activity is speeding up extinctions. They also argue that peoples' livelihoods depend on natural assets worth trillions of dollars. Extinction rates run at ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
"Boy, its cold outside" and the nature of climate change / Global Warming
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/a-siegel/boy-its-cold-outside-and_b_418331.html
Huffington Post: It is cold in my backyard, therefore global warming isn't real. It is that sort of quite natural human (ego-centric) perspective that contributes to the difficulty that many face in comprehending climate change / Global Warming. Of course, this difficulty is exacerbated by those who actively distort, seeking to emphasize "cold" records while failing to discuss "hot" records. Even honest and truthful reporting can lead to confusion, remembering that far too many people have a hard time ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Vatican City: Pope Benedict XVI lambasts Copenhagen failure
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8452447.stm
BBC: The Pope has criticised the failure by world leaders to agree to a new climate change treaty in Copenhagen last month. He told nearly 100 ambassadors accredited to the Vatican that world leaders had a continuing responsibility towards preserving God's creation. He criticised the "economic and political resistance" to fighting environmental degradation and creating a new climate treaty at Copenhagen. Benedict XVI was speaking in his annual talk to the Vatican diplomatic ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
A trove of stories ... lost in a sea of noise?
http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2010/01/2009-offers-a-trove-of-climate-coverage
Daily Climate: Journalists worldwide published more than 32,400 articles on climate change in last year, yet the coverage was not enough to warrant a spot on a map showing major news events of 2009. Amid gloomy reports of shrinking news holes and contracting news rooms, some 11,000 different reporters, columnists and editorial boards at nearly 2,000 media outlets across the globe published climate-related stories, based on an analysis of DailyClimate.org's archives. Reuters led the pack, ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
United States: Berkeley's radicals spreading heat, light
http://www.thestar.com/business/cleanbreak/article/748956--hamilton-berkeley-s-radicals-spreading-heat-light
Toronto Star: You want to put solar panels on your rooftop, a geothermal system in your backyard, or maybe spend $20,000 doing a comprehensive energy retrofit of your home. It will pay off over time, right? But there's one big stumbling block: the high upfront cost. And what if you decide to sell your home and can't recoup that investment? Even in Ontario, where you can earn a hefty premium by selling solar power back into the grid, there's still much reluctance in the market to drop that ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Cities struggle to find new uses for auto plants
http://www.suntimes.com/business/1984291,new-uses-for-auto-plants-011110.article
Associated Press: Henry Ford's great-grandson arrived at the shuttered auto plant to brag about a plan to revive the vast empty space: Investors would transform it into a modern factory to make solar panels and high-tech energy systems instead of Town Cars and Thunderbirds. "I can't imagine a better way to reuse the facility," Bill Ford said during his visit to the former Wixom Assembly plant in September. Several months later, a plan that exists only on paper is still awaiting final approval. ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
US grants $187 million for fuel efficiency research
http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-fuel-efficiency,0,3009444.story
Associated Press: The Obama administration will announce on Monday funding for nine projects designed to significantly increase fuel efficiency in heavy trucks and passenger vehicles, with more than half the money coming from the $787 billion (euro550 billion) stimulus package. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu will detail the projects during a ceremony in Columbus, Indiana, home of Cummins Inc., which will receive nearly $40 million to develop a more efficient and cleaner diesel engine, a more aerodynamic ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
You can thank him for energy savings
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-rosenfeld11-2010jan11,0,6662806.story
LA Times: When octogenarian Arthur H. Rosenfeld vacates his utilitarian office at the California Energy Commission this week, one of his final tasks might seem of little consequence: He'll turn off the lights. But that simple act -- some would say compulsion -- has transformed California into a world leader in energy efficiency. California homes are loaded with personal computers, widescreen TVs, iPods, PlayStations, air conditioners, massive refrigerators, hot tubs and swimming pool ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
United States: Task force touts many benefits of biomass
http://www.kentucky.com/latest_news/story/1090352.html
Lexinton Herald-Leader: Kentucky has the potential to develop thousands of jobs in the renewable-fuels industry, but it will take a lot of work and investment to achieve that, according to a state task force. A full-scale system to produce fuel for power plants and vehicles made from renewable sources such as grass and wood chips could create 10,000 lasting jobs in 15 years, many in farming areas of the state, and generate billions in economic activity, the task force said in a report. If the state ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
U.S. announces $187 million for fuel efficiency
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN1013464420100111
Reuters: The Obama administration plans on Monday to announce the selection of nine projects totaling $187 million aimed at improving the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks. The funding includes more than $100 million from the $787 billion economic stimulus plan President Barack Obama pushed through Congress last February. An additional 50 percent will come from the private sector, according to the announcement to be made by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu in Columbus, Indiana. The ...
Tue, 12 Jan 10
Ford puts focus on fuel efficiency
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704500104574650563758782446.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories&mg=com-wsj
Wall Street Journal: Ford Motor Co. unveiled its all-new Focus compact car on Monday, and a telling detail is a small bump on each of the vehicle's taillights. These lips jut out just enough to interrupt the airflow around the back of the car, reducing turbulence and allowing the redesigned Focus to travel a bit farther on a tank of gas. Most customers might never notice, but it is the kind of detail Ford engineers now refer to as "one percenters"--tweaks that add up to increased fuel ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Green economy may help mich.
http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2010/01/green_economy_may_help_mich
State News: New opportunities to combat environmental issues, such as global warming, could give Michigan a chance to emerge as a leader in the reduction of greenhouse gases and tackle the state's high unemployment rate. A study released Jan. 4 and led by Steven Miller, an assistant professor in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and director of MSU's Center for Economic Analysis, predicts going green could create 129,000 new jobs in Michigan by 2025 and save consumers billions of ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Cold comfort for climate change brigade
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10619560
New Zealand Herald: After the sensational flop that was the Copenhagen climate meeting I can't help but think what incredibly bad timing nature has for those leaders who were set with the task of convincing us the world is getting hotter. Following a recent news story that confirms the past decade was the hottest decade in recorded history much of the northern hemisphere has been plunged into record breaking cold - and it's grabbing the headlines on all the major news organisations. CNN has a ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
In praise of... Michael Pollan
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/11/in-praise-michael-pollan-food
Guardian: Few Britons know how to cook with high-fructose corn syrup, a sweetener made by adding enzymes to corn starch. In the US, however, it is ubiquitous in processed food. Just as American farmers feed their cattle corn because the government subsidises it – and must dose cows so their stomachs can tolerate grain rather than grass – the US population is hooked on corn, for the worst of reasons. It was Michael Pollan who chronicled how this unhealthy state of affairs had come about in his 2006 ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
United Kingdom: New offshore wind projects to enjoy burgeoning investor confidence
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255875/industry-outlook-improves
Business Green: Leading figures within the wind energy industry have downplayed fears that uncertainty over the future of the government's financial subsidy mechanism will make it difficult for developers to raise capital for the new wave of offshore wind projects that were awarded late last week. The scale of the financial returns from the nine so-called Round Three projects, which together are expected to provide the UK with 32GW of new offshore wind energy capacity, are in large part dependent on ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Climate Fight's New Pitch: More Jobs
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126316299869923853.html?mod=rss_economy
Economy: If the public has to choose between creating jobs and spending billions to scrub invisible heat-trapping gases from the sky, jobs will win. That's why the campaign to combat climate change is morphing, at least politically, into an economic-development drive with an environmental twist. Many billions of dollars are being spent on clean energy, even amid the recession. One key to combating climate change will be increasing that investment so the economy keeps growing but coughs out ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Feeling That Cold Wind? Here's Why
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/weekinreview/10chang.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: A bitter wind has been blowing over parts of North America, Europe and Asia. Some places have been colder than ever, like Melbourne, Fla., which dipped to 28 degrees last Thursday, a record low. Europe has been walloped by snowstorm after snowstorm. What's going on? Global cooling? Nope. A mass of high pressure is sitting over Greenland like a rock in a river, deflecting the cold air of the jet stream farther to the south than usual. This situation is caused by Arctic ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Second-hand pollution
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100105131922.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: Everything from simple tools to complete factories is available for export from the US and Europe to the developing world. At first site, such "recycling" of equipment sounds laudable, but a European research team argues in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Global Environmental Issues that such exports are slowing the adoption of more environmentally friendly and non-polluting technology across the globe. Luisito Bertinelli and Benteng Zou of the University of ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Coral can recover from climate change damage, new research suggests
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100109002310.htm
ScienceDaily: A study by the University of Exeter provides the first evidence that coral reefs can recover from the devastating effects of climate change. Published Jan. 11, 2010 in the journal PLoS ONE, the research shows for the first time that coral reefs located in marine reserves can recover from the impacts of global warming. Scientists and environmentalists have warned that coral reefs may not be able to recover from the damage caused by climate change and that these unique environments ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
The unintended ripples from the biomass subsidy program
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/09/AR2010010902023.html
Washington Post: It sounded like a good idea: Provide a little government money to convert wood shavings and plant waste into renewable energy. But as laudable as that goal sounds, it could end up causing more economic damage than good -- driving up the price of raw timber, undermining an industry that has long used sawdust and wood shavings to make affordable cabinetry, and highlighting the many challenges involved in decreasing the nation's dependence on oil by using organic materials to create ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Time of change for coal industry
http://www.trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_c64e7471-008e-523f-86ce-141caa20a97f.html
Wyoming Tribune: Coal Facts * Wyoming mines accounted for 39.5 percent of the nation's coal production in 2009. * An average of 70 to 80 trains move coal out of Wyoming's Powder River Basin each day. * Some coal seams in the Powder River Basin are 80 feet thick. * The average spot price for 8,800 Btu Powder River Basin coal was about $8.25 per ton in November, rising to $8.40 per ton in December. * The coal industry contributed an estimated $852 million to local and state ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
United States: Confronting global warming
http://www.theunion.com/article/20100110/FEATURES/100109801/1017&parentprofile=1055
The Union: Nevada City will become a center of activism to halt global warming when the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival opens Friday for a weekend of movies and other events. Antarctica will be among the places featured as signaling the effects of human interaction with Mother Nature. "The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning," by award-winning Canadian filmmaker Mark Terry, is a one-hour documentary that profiles how the issues of global warming are impacting the southern ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Why India cannot deliver on climate change
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=217930
: Last month, the world failed to agree on a process that would slow down the rate of climate change. Scientists believe that the world is heating up because of an increase in three gases in our atmosphere: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing due to human activity. It is already at its highest in 650,000 years; we know this from analysing ice that has remained frozen during this period with bubbles of air trapped ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Prime Minister's climate talks cost $1.5m
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/prime-ministers-climate-talks-cost-15m/story-e6frg6nf-1225817484341
The Australian: KEVIN Rudd spent nearly $1.5 million on travel and accommodation costs for his delegation to the failed Copenhagen global climate conference last month. The Nine Network reported last night it had obtained confirmation of the figure under the Freedom of Information Act. Nine News reported that the 68 delegates spent $541,271 on airfares, with 53 delegates entitled to business-class travel. The delegates spent $244,848 on hotel accommodation and $156,738 on meals and ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Rich nations 'ganged up' in Copenhagen
http://www.theage.com.au/world/rich-nations-ganged-up-in-copenhagen-20100110-m0nq.html
Age: CHINA has no regrets over its abrasive negotiating tactics at Copenhagen, saying the ''key lesson'' rich countries should take from the conference is that China cannot be pushed around. In the first detailed, post-Copenhagen interview with the Western media by a Chinese official, climate change ambassador Yu Qingtai told The Age that the summit was ''a step in the right direction''. But he repeatedly accused rich countries of ganging up on China. ''During and before ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Scientists fish for fresh clues in a deep planetary mystery
http://www.theage.com.au/national/scientists-fish-for-fresh-clues-in-a-deep-planetary-mystery-20100110-m0o8.html
Age: DURING the two-week voyage from Hobart to the Antarctic ice at Casey station, a team of biologists aboard the ship Aurora Australis were busy fishing for clues about the hidden worlds beneath them. As the ship ploughed south over 2000 kilometres, the four scientists on board trawled the Southern Ocean at various depths, hauling in samples of seawater teeming with a prized catch barely visible to the naked eye. The water samples they have collected and catalogued contain ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Rhode Island joins 10 other states to cut emissions
http://www.projo.com/outdoors/environmentaljournal/environmental_journal_10_01-10-10_SMH198D_v11.31cef92.html
Providence Journal: Rhode Island has joined with 10 other states to try to reduce the amount of carbon emissions produced by vehicles. It didn`t get much public attention over the holidays, but on Dec. 29 Governor Carcieri signed a memorandum of understanding that links Rhode Island with 10 other states in an unusual effort to lower the amount of carbon emissions produced by cars, buses and trucks. The agreement calls on the states to study establishment of a so-called "low carbon fuel standard" ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Are we doomed to dither and deny as earth grows warmer?
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/jan/09/ben-bova-doomed-dither-deny-earth-climate-warmer/
Naples News: As the Copenhagen conference on global warming ends inconclusively, I am reminded strongly of the world`s reaction in the 1930s to the rise of Nazi Germany. As Adolf Hitler took his first steps toward conquest, many thinking people realized that the Nazi regime was a grave threat to world peace. But what to do about it? Scarred by the slaughter of World War I, most European nations -- and the United States -- wanted to avoid war at almost any cost. They dithered while Hitler ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
United States: County seeks to reduce its carbon footprint
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2010/01/10/news/local/doc4b4969c1942b9117849500.txt
Napa Valley Register: Napa County now has a ballpark estimate of its greenhouse gas emissions, credited as the source of global warming. The numbers are daunting. Residents, businesses, agriculture and pass-through travelers were responsible for 1.2 million metric tons of emissions in 2005, the most recent year for which data was available, the Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency reported. The figure puts Napa County emissions lower per capita than those in most Bay Area counties. But the local ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Commuters are leaving mass transit for their cars, and they have their reasons
http://www.insidebayarea.com/bay-area-transportation/ci_14142274)
Bay Area News Group: "It's outrageous," Selgado said. "At what point do they stop raising the prices, Should you drive or should you ride? when it's $50 a day to go round-trip to work? At what point does BART stand back and say, 'People can't pay that much to commute'?" The math also stopped adding up for Castro Valley computer data analyst David Ross, 53. After BART and AC Transit raised fares, and BART started charging $1 to park at the Castro Valley station, he and his girlfriend began paying $14.25 ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Ukraine: Chernobyl nuclear accident: figures for deaths and cancers still in dispute
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/10/chernobyl-nuclear-deaths-cancers-dispute
Guardian: At the children's cancer hospital in Minsk, Belarus, and at the Vilne hospital for radiological protection in the east of Ukraine, specialist doctors are in no doubt they are seeing highly unusual rates of cancers, mutations and blood diseases linked to the Chernobyl nuclear accident 24 years ago. But proving that infant mortality hundreds of miles from the stricken nuclear plant has increased 20-30% in 20 years, or that the many young people suffering from genetic disorders, internal ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Largest U.S. farm group rallies against climate bill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6091WT20100110?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The largest U.S. farm group will oppose aggressively "misguided" climate legislation pending in Congress and fight animal rights activists, said American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman on Sunday. In a speech opening the four-day AFBF convention, Stallman said American farmers and ranchers "must aggressively respond to extremists" and "misguided, activist-driven regulation ... The days of their elitist power grabs are over." Stallman's remarks held a sharper edge ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
McDonald's seeks to cut cows' methane emissions
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/10/mcdonalds-methane-emissions-cattle
Guardian: McDonald's has long been the butt of jokes about what goes into its burgers, but now it is to spend thousands of pounds investigating what comes out of its beef cows. The fast food chain, which uses beef from 350,000 cattle a year for its burger meat, is to conduct a three-year study into methane emissions from cattle on 350 farms across Britain. Gas produced by flatulent livestock accounts for 4% of the UK's total carbon emissions. It is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
No let-up as cold snap set to go on for another week
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/10/no-let-up-big-freeze
Guardian: Even in a country where discussing the weather is almost hardwired into its citizens' DNA, many people are struggling to make sense of the sustained icy conditions that have transformed Britain into a real-life Narnia. The extraordinary conditions that last week saw a temperature of -22.3C registered in Altnaharra, Scotland, close to the -22.9C at the south pole, are expected to continue for another week The extreme weather is stretching the resources – and the ingenuity – of ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
The resurgence of El Niño means that 2010 could yet be the hottest year on record
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/10/climate-change-uk-big-freeze
Guardian: It may be a hard notion to accept after a week that has seen the nation paralysed by snow and ice. Nevertheless, meteorologists are adamant that our world is still getting warmer. Indeed, many now believe that 2010 may turn out to be the hottest year on record. Britain may be shivering, the Met Office may have issued emergency weather warnings for the entire country and hundreds of trains and flights may have been cancelled, but our future is destined to be a hot and sticky one. And ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Cold weather fuels use of coal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/10/coal-power-cold-energy
Guardian: A large number of older coal-fired power stations which until recently had been operating on restricted hours as they incur tough emissions restrictions are working around the clock to counter concerns over dwindling energy stocks during the extreme cold weather. Andrew Horstead, risk analyst for energy and carbon specialist Utilyx, said: "The extreme conditions of the last week show that now, more than ever, the UK government needs to embrace a diverse mix of energy. While it is ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
What's the green alternative to joining a gym?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/10/lucy-siegle-green-alternative-gym
Guardian: Tradition dictates that this is a difficult time of year. It's the point where we have to swap the sofa for a sweaty gym. We'll also be deluged by diet and fitness advice. Sadly, tradition also dictates that you'll ignore this. In Europe, there has been a serious decline in physical activity over the past 50 years. Adults aged 20-60 years expend 500kcal less energy per day than they did 50 years ago. As Dr Jules Pretty, professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex, puts ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Brazil: Who will pay for Amazon's 'Chernobyl'?
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/who-will-pay-for-amazons-chernobyl-1863284.html
Independent (UK): It's barely eight in the morning and already the dusty oil town of Lago Agrio, on the fringes of the Ecuadorian Amazon, is sweltering. Its name means "sour lake" in Spanish, after the hometown of Texan oil company Texaco -- a fitting name for an area of once-pristine rainforest that has been decimated in the pursuit of oil. So severe is the environmental damage here that experts have called it an "Amazon Chernobyl". But the people of Lago Agrio and its surrounding area have been ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
The end of consumerism: Our way of life is 'not viable'
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/the-end-of-consumerism-our-way-of-life-is-not-viable-1863278.html
Independent (UK): Ditch the dog; throw away (sorry, recycle) those takeaway menus; bin bottled water; get rid of that gas-guzzling car and forget flying to far-flung places. These are just some of the sacrifices we in the West will need to make if we are to survive climate change. The stark warning comes from the renowned Worldwatch Institute, a Washington-based organisation regarded as the world's pre-eminent environmental think tank. Its State of the World 2010 report published this week ...
Mon, 11 Jan 10
Climate change experts clash over sea-rise 'apocalypse'
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6982299.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
Times (UK): Climate science faces a new controversy after the Met Office denounced research from the Copenhagen summit which suggested that global warming could raise sea levels by 6ft by 2100. The research, published by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, created headline news during the United Nations summit on climate change in Denmark last month. It predicted an apocalyptic century in which rising seas could threaten coastal communities from England to ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
Climate change: Believe it
http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/81039167.html
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: With the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen concluding a few weeks ago, all of us in Wisconsin should take a hard look at how climate change will affect Wisconsin and at the consequences of no action. The science now convinces us that calls for immediate action are warranted to avoid the worst consequences of climate change on Wisconsin's economy and environment, including the Great Lakes. While slowing the damaging effects of climate change poses challenges, we ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
Food costs to soar as big freeze deepens
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/09/food-costs-soar-big-freeze
Guardian: Britons have been warned to brace themselves for an increase in food prices as plunging temperatures leave farmers unable to harvest vegetables and hauliers struggle to distribute fresh produce. Gordon Brown, who will chair a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee early this week to discuss the freeze, was forced to reassure the country that it would not run out of gas or grit for its roads during the coldest weather in 30 years. Police confirmed last night that the ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
China would never accept checks at Copenhagen: official
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100109/sc_afp/unclimatewarmingchina
Agence France-Presse: China was never going to accept outside reviews in Copenhagen of its efforts to slow greenhouse gas emissions, a top official said Saturday, after critics accused Beijing of blocking the talks. Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission, told a forum that Beijing achieved its goal at the climate talks by ensuring aid for developing nations was not linked to external checks. "Developing countries, especially China, would surely never ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
EPA using grants to combat climate change
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/01/09/EPA-using-grants-to-combat-climate-change/UPI-41781263062107/
United Press International: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is offering grants of up to $5 million to groups working on projects intended to combat global warming. The federal department said in a release Friday that U.S. and international organizations alike can get money through the Methane to Markets Partnership if they are working on projects aimed at limiting environmental pollution such as greenhouse gas emissions. The public-private partnership is already supplying other projects ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
At Detroit auto show, small cars make this year's big splash
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/08/AR2010010803681.html
Washington Post: The North American International Auto Show, the annual automotive gala in Detroit, may be best known as a stage for manufacturers to display their latest rolling leviathans. But to judge from this year's show, the next big thing may be small. Driven in part by the recession, and in part by shifting consumer tastes and global marketing strategies, the U.S. manufacturers who once obsessed over trucks and muscle cars are casting a spotlight on their diminutives. Chevrolet ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
Prius No. 1 in Japan sales as green interest grows
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2010-01-08-prius-tops_N.htm
Associated Press: The Toyota Prius is so sought after in Japan it is the first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle to top annual sales, with buyers willing to wait six months for deliveries of the curvaceous "green" car The Prius has caught on in the U.S. and other parts of the world as well, although not with quite the same passionate intensity as it has in Japan, Toyota Motor's (TM) home market. Its success underlines the shift among consumers to embrace green auto technology that appears to go ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
Canada: Pine beetles transform B.C. forests into greenhouse enemy
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/pine-beetles-transform-bc-forests-into-greenhouse-enemy/article1424989/
Globe and Mail: In a single season, an army of pine beetles has transformed our allies in the battle against climate change into the enemy. Now the province is in a race against nature, as one billion beetle-killed trees across the province slowly seep the greenhouse gases they had so generously stored up in their decades of growth. Such a turnaround seemed unimaginable back in February, 2008, when Premier Gordon Campbell first seized on the value of B.C.'s forests in his campaign against ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
U.S. to give $2.3 billion in clean-tech credits
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/09/BUB81BFM49.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: President Obama announced $2.3 billion in tax credits Friday for 183 ventures to build advanced batteries, wind turbines and other "clean energy technology" nationwide, including projects in the Bay Area. The tax credits, which are funded by the $787 billion economic stimulus package enacted in February, are designed to defray up to 30 percent of the cost of new investments in manufacturing facilities to produce clean energy products. "Building a robust clean energy sector is ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
China says achieved goal in Copenhagen climate deal
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6080GZ20100109
Reuters: Chinese negotiators achieved their goal at Copenhagen climate talks in ensuring financial aid for developing nations was not linked to external reviews of China's environmental plans, its top climate envoy said on Saturday. Britain, Sweden and other countries have accused China of obstructing the climate summit, which ended last month with a non-binding accord that set a target of limiting global warming to a maximum 2 degrees Celsius but was scant on details. China would never ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
United States: Climate expert in the eye of an integrity storm
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/20100109_Climate_expert_in_the_eye_of_an_integrity_storm.html
Philadelphia Inquirier: Michael Mann switched from physics to climate science back in graduate school because he thought climate offered a better chance to work "on a frontier." He got his wish, and now, as the director of Pennsylvania State University's Earth System Science Center, he has experienced an aspect of frontier life more like the Wild West - a bounty on his head. After dozens of Mann's personal e-mails were hacked in November, the tenured professor has been called a fraud, a clown, and ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
Thousands of wind turbines coming to British seas
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/business/energy-environment/09wind.html
New York Times: In an ambitious bid to revamp Britain's energy strategy, Prime Minister Gordon Brown awarded contracts to major energy companies that are to erect wind farms along Britain's coastline. The project will be one of the biggest wind power initiatives anywhere in the world. Beginning construction in 2014, it promises to be a bold, even risky bet to erect thousands of turbines along Britain's 7,500 miles of turbulent waterfront. For Mr. Brown, who remains embattled politically just ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
Comparing Earth's current warming to the Pliocene
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Bright-Green/2010/0108/Comparing-Earth-s-current-warming-to-the-Pliocene
Christian Science Monitor: About 4.5 million years ago, during the early Pliocene period (3 to 5 million years ago), temperatures on Earth were some 3 to 4 degrees C (5.4 to 7.2 degrees F.) higher in the tropics, and perhaps 10 degrees C (18 degrees F.) warmer near the poles. To get that much warming, current climate models have to pump up atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to between 500 and 600 parts per million -- about twice the preindustrial level of 280 ppm. We're currently around 387 ppm. And, ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
eSolar strikes deal to build power plants in China
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/business/article_c0aceee4-9ea6-587f-8c25-c81bb9f96a4f.html
Bismarck Tribune: A U.S. solar power company said Saturday it will help build a series of solar thermal power plants in China, as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases tries to decrease its heavy reliance on coal, imported gas and oil. California-based eSolar Inc. will provide Shandong Penglai Electric Power Equipment Manufacturing Co. with the technology and information to build the concentrated solar thermal power farms with a capacity totaling 2,000 megawatts. The $5 billion ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
Philippines: A climate of insecurity
http://businessmirror.com.ph/component/content/article/53-agri-commodities/20687-a-climate-of-insecurity.html
Business Mirror: Sometime in May, mango producers belonging to the Mango Product Exporters Confederation Inc. (MPECI) complained that their output would go down by 15 percent year-on-year. The main culprit: erratic weather patterns due to climate change. MPECI president Roberto Amores complained that early and intermittent rains, coupled with the early onset of the typhoon, is projected to slash mango production this year to 650,000 metric tons (MT), from 750,000 MT in 2008. "Two years ago, ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
Why Antarctica isn't melting much - yet
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18364-why-antarctica-isnt-melting-much--yet.html
New Scientist: Antarctica is warming, but not melting anything like as much as expected. In fact, during the continent's summer this time last year, there was less melting than at any time in the 30 years that we have had reliable satellite measurements of the region. The apparent contradiction is explained by the seasonal pattern of warming, say two glaciologists writing in Eos, the weekly newspaper of the American Geophysical Union. The continent's winters and springs have warmed most, but it is ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
United States: State lawmakers, business groups reject proposed greenhouse gas limits
http://www.missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_40125e96-fcb8-11de-a176-001cc4c002e0.html
Various: A bipartisan legislative panel Friday voted to delay the creation of rules to regulate greenhouse gases as a pollutant in Montana, after a host of business interests objected to the initiative. "I think we need to slow things down and get some answers," said Rep. Mike Milburn, R-Cascade, who made the motion to formally object to the Board of Environmental Review's rule-making process. The Environmental Quality Council, a legislative and citizen panel that examines environmental ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
Hurricane propels Jackson's justice quest at EPA
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100109/ap_on_re_us/us_out_for_environmental_justice
Associated Press: More than four years after Hurricane Katrina, the single-story brick rancher in Pontchartrain Park where Lisa Perez Jackson grew up stands empty. Floodwaters long ago ate away the walls of her corner bedroom, where the current head of the Environmental Protection Agency once hung Michael Jackson and Prince posters and studied her way to the top of her high school class. Faded spray paint, left by search teams to indicate that no bodies were found, serves as a reminder of the ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
Biographical information on EPA's Lisa Jackson
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100109/ap_on_re_us/us_bio_box_jackson
Associated Press: Lisa P. Jackson. AGE-BIRTH DATE-LOCATION -- 47; Feb. 8, 1962; Philadelphia. EXPERIENCE -- Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, 2009-present; member of President-elect Barack Obama's energy and natural resources transition team; chief of staff, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, 2008; commissioner, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2006-08; assistant commissioner for land use management, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2005; assistant ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
UK plans for most ambitious offshore wind project in the world will need 'supergrid'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6952119/UK-plans-for-most-ambitious-offshore-wind-project-in-the-world-will-need-supergrid.html
Telegraph: The most ambitious offshore wind project in the world would see 6,400 turbines built around the coast by 2020 -- the equivalent of building almost two turbines every day for the next ten years. In the most significant boost for industry in the UK since the exploration of North Sea oil in the 1970s, the Prime Minister announced the power companies that will raise around £100bn to construct the new turbines including major players like E. ON, RWE Npower, Scottish Power and ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
Heavy Rains End Drought for Texas
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/science/earth/09drought.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: The worst drought to strike Texas in the last 50 years has broken, ending a year-and-a-half dry spell in which farmers and ranchers suffered devastating losses, climatologists and agronomists said this week. Heavy rains since September have replenished reservoirs, filled stock tanks and quenched huge expanses of parched earth across Central and South Texas, where state officials estimate that farmers and ranchers suffered losses of around $4 billion. John Nielsen-Gammon, the ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
China Tries a New Tack to Go Solar
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/business/energy-environment/09solar.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: As it moves rapidly to become the world`s leader in nuclear power, wind energy and photovoltaic solar panels, China is taking tentative steps to master another alternative energy industry: using mirrors to capture sunlight, produce steam and generate electricity. So-called concentrating solar power uses hundreds of thousands of mirrors to turn water into steam. The steam turns a conventional turbine similar to those in coal-fired power plants. The technology, which is potentially ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
United Kingdom: £100bn wind farm plan heralds green energy era
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/163100bn-wind-farm-plan-heralds-green-energy-era-1862392.html
Independent (UK): Revolutionary plans for a massive expansion of offshore wind farms have been unveiled in a £100bn project designed to usher in a new era of green energy for Britain. A quarter of the country's electricity needs would be met through wind power by 2020 under the strategy, with the construction of 6,400 turbines within nine sites dotted around the coast. The programme amounts to the biggest energy supply shake-up since the discovery of the North Sea oil and gas fields more than 40 years ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
United Kingdom: If I hear another global warming joke, I'll . . .
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/giles_coren/article6981487.ece
Times (UK): Right, there is something that is going to have to stop right this second, and that is people making jokes about "If the globe is warming up then where did all this snow come from, eh? Eh? Tell me that?' Because it is driving me crazy. And when I say "people', I mean mostly columnists, cartoonists and comedians. I know there is nothing else to write about at the moment (God help me, I'm writing about people writing about the snow) and I grant that it was a nice little coincidence that ...
Sun, 10 Jan 10
Maldives: Paradise threatened?
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/topofthetimes/features/la-tr-maldives10-2010jan10,0,1654565.story
LA Times: Here's what happens when you travel to the Maldives with someone who followed an Indian guru for 20 years: You find yourself convinced that the dazzling liquid topaz ocean surrounding you is energizing your chakras and healing your inner turmoil. You may not have been aware of any inner turmoil, but apparently most of us suffer it, and isolated tropical islands such as the Maldives are just the sort of place to wrestle it to the ground. Sally Tagg, a dear friend from New Zealand, was ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Tide Of Arab-Turk Tension Rises Amid Water Shortage
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122365133&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Turkey's Bosphorus strait is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes for oil transport. On a recent day, more than a dozen tankers are on the horizon, but none of the oil comes from Turkey. The resource that counts here is water. Turkey is one of the only countries in the region to have enough water for its population. "The Arabs, the Iraqis and the Syrians feel very much that Turkey is asserting itself as a regional hydrological superpower," says Hussein Amery, a water specialist ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
EU to pursue climate deal through G-20
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100108/ap_on_re_eu/eu_climate_change
Associated Press: The EU said Friday it will pursue a new deal on global warming through the Group of 20, since last month's U.N. climate conference of nearly 200 nations led to unwieldy negotiations that didn't accomplish much. Herman van Rompuy, the new EU president, said halting global warming remains a key target for the Europeans whose proposal for ambitious pollution cuts by 2020 found no takers at the December climate conference in Copenhagen. "The European Union must continue to be the ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Obama awards $2.3 billion clean energy tax credits
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6074UW20100108?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a $2.3 billion tax credit on Friday to boost jobs by promoting clean energy, as new data showed the country's unemployment rate remained stuck in the double digits. Obama said the credit, from funds earmarked under a $787 billion stimulus package he signed last February, would create 17,000 U.S. jobs and be matched by an additional $5 billion in private capital. "Building a robust clean energy sector is how we will create the jobs of the ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
W.Va. Experts Say Climate Change Debate Is Over
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9515981
Associated Press: There's no point in debating the science of climate change, because it's already a political and legal reality, energy industry experts said Friday. Representatives from the United Mine Workers of America and American Electric Power, the nation's largest single buyer of coal, told The Associated Press' annual Legislative Lookahead forum that West Virginia policymakers need to recognize that new reality. Requirements ordering companies to reduce their carbon emissions are on ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Uruguay: Coming Together to Tackle Climate Change
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49926
Inter Press Service: Fighting the front line battle against global warming, with the participation of all sectors of society, is the cornerstone of a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) pilot project in Uruguay that is drawing attention from the rest of the world. The idea is to identify the most vulnerable areas and design mitigation and adaptation strategies, based not only on expert opinions, but particularly on the input of all the people involved, project coordinator Federico Ferla told ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
US car fleet shrinks for first time
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255847/car-fleet-shrinks-first
Business Green: Pundits are predicting an end to car culture in the US, following the release of statistics showing that the country's vehicle fleet is shrinking for the first time. The Earth Policy Institute said that the US had scrapped more vehicles than it sold last year, causing the national fleet to shrink by two per cent. The revelation left commentators divided as to whether the US was facing a temporary contraction in vehicle ownership brought about by the recession, or seeing a more ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Wildlife huddles down to beat the cold
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8449020.stm
BBC: But with freezing temperatures affecting much of Britain and northern Europe, those who do fly south hoping to find some ice-free conditions could be out of luck, he says. "Birds will generally make short-distance movements when their energy levels are low," he says. "But those birds that fly even as far as southern Ireland at the moment aren't going to find what they are looking for. They may have to go further into southern Europe." The RSPB has also noticed that ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Echinoderms contribute to global carbon sink; impact of marine creatures underestimated
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100108101425.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: The impact on levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere by the decaying remains of a group of marine creatures that includes starfish and sea urchin has been significantly underestimated. "Climate models must take this carbon sink into account," says Mario Lebrato, lead author of the study. The work was done when he was at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) and affiliated with the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES); he is ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
NM utility to refile renewable energy plan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100108/ap_on_bi_ge/us_renewable_energy_new_mexico
Associated Press: Public Service Co. of New Mexico and environmental and energy groups have reached an agreement the utility says could lead to nearly 80 megawatts more of solar power -- enough for 26,000 homes. The agreement will be the basis for a renewable energy plan PNM will file with the state Public Regulation Commission by Jan. 25. The PRC gave the state's largest utility extra time to spell out how it will incorporate renewable energy into its portfolio. PNM, a subsidiary of PNM ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Obama to announce clean tech jobs effort - W.House
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6070MG20100108?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: President Barack Obama will announce funding to promote clean technology manufacturing jobs in remarks expected later on Friday, the White House said. The money will go to projects including solar, wind and energy management, a White House spokesman said. Obama is scheduled to make a statement about the economy at 2:40 p.m. (1940 GMT). A Labor Department report showing unexpected U.S. job losses in December has boosted pressure on the administration to step up ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
UK plans massive wind farm expansion
http://www.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/01/08/uk.windfarms/index.html?eref=rss_latest&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+Most+Recent%29
CNN: Britain is about to have a massive expansion in renewable energy after awarding licenses for nine offshore wind farms Friday. The energy generated from the new wind farms will provide a quarter of Britain's electricity needs by 2020, according to the Crown Estate, which awarded the contracts. Companies had bid for the right to build wind farms in nine zones around Britain, from the English Channel to the North Sea off Scotland. The successful bidders must now plan their ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
'Wildlife in crisis' in frozen UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8449089.stm
BBC: Britain's wildlife is being pushed to "the brink of a crisis" as sub-zero temperatures continue to grip the nation, according to conservationists. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is organising emergency feeding of several threatened species, including bitterns and cirl buntings. The RSPB is also asking people to feed garden birds, which are struggling to find food in the freezing weather. The harsh winter could hit bird numbers "for many years to ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Google wants to buy, sell electricity in US
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100108/ts_alt_afp/usitinternetcompanygoogleelectricity
Agence France-Presse: Internet search giant Google is seeking government authority to buy and sell electricity in the United States, a further expansion of its operations aimed at boosting renewable energy. In a document filed last month with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and obtained by AFP, Google indicated that its Google Energy unit asked for "market-based rate authority." Under that authority, "Google Energy will engage in wholesale electric power and energy transactions as a ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Is Google poised to become a green utility?
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255853/google-poised-become-green
Business Green: Google's growing interest in the energy sector was underlined this week when it emerged that a new subsidiary of the company has lodged a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that it be allowed to buy and sell electricity on the wholesale market. The search giant created a Delaware-based company called Google Energy back on December 16 last year, and the Federal Register revealed earlier this week that the firm had been named in a formal request to FERC, the ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Southern Idaho ethanol plant resumes operations
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100108/ap_on_bi_ge/us_ethanol_plant_restart_idaho
Associated Press: A southern Idaho ethanol plant has resumed production after being shuttered for nearly a year. Pacific Ethanol Inc. announced Wednesday that its plant in Burley is up and running again. The plant ceased operations in February 2009 amid falling corn prices and sharp market declines. In May 2009, a subsidiary of the Sacramento Calif.-based company called Pacific Ethanol Holding Co. that runs the plant in Burley filed for federal bankruptcy protection and is still working through ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Paint away the carbon dioxide
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527424.400-paint-away-the-carbon-dioxide.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: GROWING grass on your roof and other attempts to make homes carbon neutral are mere "green bling". So says Rachel Armstrong of University College London (UCL), who suggests that her smart paint can turn buildings into carbon sinks. Armstrong created the paint by dissolving salts and esters in oil droplets. Repeated coatings react with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to produce calcium carbonate - which is the main constituent of limestone - and alcohol. The resulting "biolime" will ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
The day offshore wind power came of age in the UK
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/michael-mccarthy-the-day-offshore-wind-power-came-of-age-in-the-uk-1862168.html
Independent (UK): Think of a big power station, a 1,000 megawatt job that can provide the electricity for a major city. Think how enormous it is, visible for miles around with its giant chimneys and cooling towers. Now think of 32 of them. Now think of 32 of them out at sea. That's one way of envisaging the real significance of the new programme to build offshore windfarms around the coasts of Britain, announced today by the Government. Offshore wind has hitherto seemed like a novelty, almost a ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Obama awards $2.3 billion clean energy tax credits
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6073WL20100108?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: U.S. President Barack Obama will unveil a $2.3 billion tax credit on Friday to boost jobs by promoting clean energy, as fresh data showed that the country's unemployment remains stuck in the double digits. The White House said the credit, from funds already earmarked under a $787 billion stimulus package Obama signed last February, would create 17,000 new U.S. jobs and would be matched by an additional $5 billion in private capital. High unemployment is one Obama's most ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Dispute Over 'Fracking' For Natural Gas
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122362623&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," uses water and an array of chemicals to push apart underground rock formations, releasing natural gas for collection. Environmental groups want more regulation of the chemicals used in fracking; industry groups say more rules aren't necessary.
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Stashing Carbon Dioxide In Rocks
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122362619&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Basalt formations off the East Coast of the U.S. could suck up a billion tons of carbon dioxide, according to a new study. Paleontologist Paul Olsen, of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, explains how to get the CO2 into the rocks, and why scientists believe it won't leak out. Video: visit a New Jersey basalt quarry.
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Debate heats up over IPCC melting glaciers claim
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18363-debate-heats-up-over-ipcc-melting-glaciers-claim.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: Glaciologists are this week arguing over how a highly contentious claim about the speed at which glaciers are melting came to be included in the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In 1999 New Scientist reported a comment by the leading Indian glaciologist Syed Hasnain, who said in an email interview with this author that all the glaciers in the central and eastern Himalayas could disappear by 2035. Hasnain, of Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Warmer Climate Could Stifle Carbon Uptake By Trees
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1806759/warmer_climate_could_stifle_carbon_uptake_by_trees/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: Contrary to conventional belief, as the climate warms and growing seasons lengthen subalpine forests are likely to soak up less carbon dioxide, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study. As a result, more of the greenhouse gas will be left to concentrate in the atmosphere. "Our findings contradict studies of other ecosystems that conclude longer growing seasons actually increase plant carbon uptake," said Jia Hu, who conducted the research as a graduate student ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Foreign firms gain most from off-shore wind power deals
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/08/north-sea-wind-contracts
Guardian: Foreign-owned firms today seized the lion's share of the development contracts to kickstart a wind revolution in offshore Britain that ministers say will eventually match the glory days of the North Sea oil industry. But Gordon Brown said he was still confident that UK supply firms could win many of the £75bn-worth of contracts needed to build enough clean power to generate 25% of the country's electricity. Nine wind power consortiums have signed agreements with the Crown Estate, ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Beleaguered climate bill seeks lift from Obama
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6074F620100108?type=politicsNews
Reuters: President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech to Congress could indicate how badly he wants a global warming bill, which opponents say will cost U.S. jobs and raise prices -- a scary prospect for politicians trying to ride out a horrible economy in an election year. Obama, who played a dramatic role in negotiating a nonbinding international climate change accord last month in Copenhagen, now faces a tough economic and environmental balancing act to win the climate change ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
Solarcentury to sun itself in brightening Middle East solar market
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255794/solarcentury-sun-itself-middle
Business Green: The growing attractiveness of the solar energy market in the Middle East and North Africa was underlined this week as a flurry of new project announcements underlined the potential for the region to establish itself as a major renewable energy hub. UK-based solar energy firm Solarcentury led the way, inking a major new partnership agreement with Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy firm Enviromena Power Systems that will see the two companies co-operate in the development of commercial ...
Sat, 9 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Gas shortages highlight firms' exposure to energy security risks
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255793/gas-warning-lesson-energy
Business Green: National Grid yesterday sought to downplay reports that businesses are having their gas supplies "cut off" as it battles to cope with the increased demand brought about by the on-going cold smap. The Guardian revealed yesterday that 94 businesses on " interruptible" contracts have had their supply of gas cut off for the first time since the 1970s as energy firms seek to avert the risk of a gas shortage. The National Grid, which operates the UK transmission networks for both ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Super-Earth 'began as gas giant'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8446125.stm
BBC: The smallest-known planet outside our Solar System, Corot-7b, probably began as a Saturn-sized "gas giant" planet, say researchers. They say the planet, which orbits at one-sixtieth the distance from the Earth to the Sun, has had much of its mass boiled away by the star's heat. The team also suggests that, if its orbit is not exactly circular, Corot-7b is a hotbed of volcanic activity. The research was presented at the 215th American Astronomical Society ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Now the hard work begins for UK's offshore wind industry
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255760/offshore-wind-faces-cost-battle
Business Green: As Winston Churchill once observed, "it is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning". Tomorrow, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to announce the names of those firms that have successfully secured the rights to build the UK's next wave of offshore wind farms, the so-called Round Three projects that are widely regarded as the most important plank in the UK's strategy to dramatically increase its renewable energy capacity over the next ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Gatecrash protesters released
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/07/copenhagen-climate-change
Guardian: Four protesters held for 20 days in a Copenhagen prison have been released today after embarrassing the Danish state by impersonating world leaders at last month's UN climate summit. The four, from Greenpeace groups in Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Spain, have had to promise that they will return to Copenhagen for a trial later this year. They will be accompanied by a further five protesters who took part in the action, the details of which were passed to police by Greenpeace this ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
EU carbon price stabilises following UK auction
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255772/eu-carbon-price-stabilises
Business Green: The spot price for EU emission allowances (EUAs) inched back up above EUR12.15 this afternoon after hitting a nine-month low of EUR12.12 ahead of the latest UK auction of emission permits earlier today. The drop in prices was mirrored by the price of EUA futures for delivery in December 2010, which similarly fell to a low of EUR12.25 before recovering to EUR12.42 by mid-afternoon. The fall in prices came ahead of the UK auction of 4,886,799 EUAs, which fetched a price of ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Carbon Market Grew as Prices Fell in 2009
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/carbon-market-grew-as-prices-fell-in-2009/
New York Times: The global carbon market rose to 8.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2009, according to a consulting firm. In spite of the global economic slowdown, the market for trading carbon dioxide jumped by 68 percent last year compared with the previous year, but the value of the market remained roughly unchanged after carbon prices fell. The global carbon market rose to 8.2 billion metric tons -- or gigatons -- of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to the ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Grassley seeks accounting of 'Cash for Clunkers' costs
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/06/AR2010010604896.html
Washington Post:
Fri, 8 Jan 10
U.S. carbon rules pose hurdles for oil sands
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/us-carbon-rules-pose-hurdles-for-oil-sands/article1421521/
Various: Canada's oil sands producers face the prospect of a patchwork of costly climate regulations in their key U.S. markets as American states step up their efforts to adopt California-style low-carbon fuel standards. Dozens of states are moving ahead with regulations that would penalize more carbon-intensive fuels like those made from oil sands bitumen, and encourage the use of greener alternatives. The states are proceeding amid growing doubts about President Barack Obama's ability to get ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Coastal ban could cost NSW billions
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/coastal-ban-could-cost-nsw-billions/story-e6frg6n6-1225817137536
The Australian: THE NSW government could be up for billions of dollars if it accepts a radical coastal management plan proposed by civic leaders in the resort centre of Byron Bay. Researcher Ralf Buckley, who established the climate response research program at Griffith University on the Gold Coast, said the Byron Shire policy of "coastal retreat" effectively handed responsibility for protection of homes on the coast from those who lived there to governments. "If that precedent is accepted by ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Smart grids: The energy storage problem
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100106/full/463018a.html
Nature: In February 2008, during a sudden cold snap, the normally relentless winds of west Texas fell silent and the thousands of wind turbines that dot that part of the state slowed to a halt. Local utility operators, unable to make up the shortfall with power from elsewhere in the grid, were forced to cut service to some users for up to an hour and a half before the winds picked up again. It is refreshing to see that the issue of energy storage for renewables is being discussed and brought ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
BBC probes bias in its science coverage
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1241209/BBC-probes-bias-science-coverage.html
Daily Mail: The body which oversees the BBC is to launch a full-scale review into whether its coverage of science and the environment is biased. The BBC Trust acted after a string of complaints that the corporation is acting as a cheerleader for the theory that climate change is a man-made phenomenon. There have also been concerns over its coverage of genetically-modified foods and the MMR vaccine. The year-long investigation will establish whether the complaints are justified -- ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Graham says he's ready to make a deal on climate change legislation
http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/news/32355-graham-says-he-rsquo-s-ready-to-make-a-deal-on-climate-change-legislation?rss=0
Charleston Business Journal: Sen. Lindsey Graham is ready to be the 60th Senate vote to get the climate change and energy bill passed, he told a Midlands audience Tuesday at Harbison State Forest. "Since they've got no Republicans but me, business is open," Graham said. Graham has been criticized by his own party for pursuing bipartisan resolutions on such issues as illegal immigration and possible filibusters of judicial nominees. And he believes that the cap-and-trade bills being debated this year are ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Melt season for Canadian Arctic sea ice outpacing global average
http://www.brandonsun.com/story.php?story_id=178090
Brandon Sun Online: American researchers suggest the melting season for Arctic sea ice is growing faster across much of the Canadian Arctic than anywhere else in the world. A recently published article outlines how they used satellite microwave data to measure when sea ice begins to melt in the spring and when it starts refreezing in the fall. The researchers were able to look with 99 per cent accuracy as far back as 1979 and examine the entire circumpolar globe, the first time scientists have been able ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Ottawa orders study into environmental, health effects of making renewable fuels
http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/Canada---World/Society/2010-01-06/article-407293/Ottawa-orders-study-into-environmental,-health-effects-of-making-renewable-fuels/1
New York Times: The Harper government is taking a harder look at an industry that has been a political and policy darling amid soaring fuel prices and fretting about greenhouse gases. A study has been ordered into the environmental and health effects of producing ethanol and biodiesel after other countries found facilities that make renewable fuels could be behind problems with air, water and human health. "Based on global production levels from the past three years alone, there is now ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Extreme weather: Why has mother nature gone bonkers?
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/01/06/extreme-weather-mother-nature-gone-bonkers/?test=latestnews
Fox News: With record snowfalls in China and freezing cold blanketing the U.S., this winter has been a doozy for half the planet! Yet the other half is enduring unseasonable heat. What's going on? A wave of frigid air spilled down over Europe and Russia from the Arctic in mid-December, creating a deadly cold snap. Blue indicates temperatures as low as -20 Centigrade. What happened to global warming? Mother Nature is in a very, very bad mood. Much of the Northern Hemisphere is in ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Long drought ahead from global warming, study says
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/long_drought_ahead_from_global_warming_study_says/C41/L41/
New West News: A University of Montana study led by acclaimed scientist Steven Running shows that climate change will significantly extend drought periods in the Northern Rockies, stressing forests and inviting more frequent and virulent wildfires. Running, the author of the study, is a Regents professor of ecology in UM`s College of Forestry and Conservation and a co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his leading role with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The peer-reviewed ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Greens seek review of carbon offsets on U.S. lands
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6055MK20100106
Reuters: Conservationists urged Obama administration officials on Wednesday to move cautiously on the use of carbon offsets on public lands, saying the mechanisms may interfere with land managers charged with protecting forests and other lands. Under cap-and-trade legislation being considered by Congress, private carbon offsets could be applied to public forests and other federal lands. Some federal forests, such as ones in the Pacific Northwest, have some of the highest carbon storage ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Could re-wilding avert the 6th Great Extinction?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=could-re-wilding-avert-6th-great-extinction
Scientific American: Over the years, coyotes ate many of Michael Soulé's cats. For most people, this might have been the end of the story, a nasty reminder of nature's darker proclivities. But Michael Soulé is not most people. Soulé is a biologist. At the time, he was a professor at the University of California at San Diego, living in the chaparral canyons outside the city. He had grown up in the canyons, poking around in the leaf litter, catching lizards. When the boy became a biologist, he ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
UK young suffering from "nature starvation": charity
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6062NY20100107?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Young people in Britain are increasingly missing out on the stress-relieving benefits of spending time in nature, Europe's largest wildlife conservation charity said on Thursday. Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said it uncovered a worrying trend of "nature starvation" among young Britons when it conducted a study to find out just how important it is for people to connect with the natural world. The survey of 1,000 people found that only about a third ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Kenya green lights wind farm as Spain eyes expanding African renewables market
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255717/kenya-greenlights-wind-farm
Business Green: The Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has this week invited tenders for the construction of a 10MW wind farm, following the award of a EUR20m concessional loan from the Spanish government to help finance the project. KenGen, which generates approximately 77 per cent of Kenya's electricity, has been assigned the responsibility of choosing a contractor for the project by the Kenyan energy ministry. An advertisement, published in the local Daily Nation stated: "KenGen ...
Fri, 8 Jan 10
Global carbon market expanded 68 per cent in 2009
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255709/global-carbon-market-expands-68
Business Green: Despite global recession, falling carbon prices and ongoing questions about the effectiveness of carbon trading, credits equivalent to 82bn tonnes of carbon dioxide were traded last year, an increase of 68 per cent. According to research released yesterday by analyst firm Point Carbon, the falling price of carbon meant that the value of the global carbon market rose only marginally from EUR92bn (£82bn) in 2008 to EUR94bn (£84bn) in 2009. However, the market still continued to ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
Energy use surges as cold shocks northern hemisphere
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60545P20100106?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Icy conditions have driven a surge in energy demand in heavily populated parts of the northern hemisphere but some countries are enjoying a relatively mild winter, data shows. Severe weather, partly due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, has frozen parts of northwest Europe that usually escape the coldest winter temperatures, driving gas demand to records in Britain [ID:nWLA2033] and straining French power systems. In China there are energy rations. "I think the impression is ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
'Frozen Gore' sculpture spouting hot air fuels global warming debate in Alaska
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-frozen-al-gore,0,3653263.story
LA Times: Another two-ton ice sculpture of former Vice President Al Gore is back in front of a Fairbanks liquor store. "Frozen Gore" is a dig at Gore's beliefs about climate change. The first statue went on display last year. This year's version is hooked up to the exhaust of a pickup truck to make it appear Gore is spouting hot air. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the smoke drew laughs from a crowd Tuesday as a Gore speech on climate change played over a ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
Copenhagen climate accord avoids legally binding goals
http://www.thebruns.ca/content/2010-01/copenhagen-climate-accord-avoids-legally-binding-goals
Brunswickian: While the Copenhagen Accord, released to the world in December, recognized the problem of climate change, it contained no legally binding emission reduction goals and was not formally adopted by participating countries. The Copenhagen Accord was the result of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). COP15 represented the result of two years of planning and pre-negotiations, and took place Dec. 7-18 in Copenhagen, ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
Report: Most money managers ignore climate risk to profit
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/6801364.html
Bloomberg: In a survey of asset managers, almost three quarters said they don't take into account global warming when analyzing a company, CERES, whose investors have $8.5 trillion under management, said today in a report. Almost half said climate change isn't relevant to their investment decisions. Pension funds, governments and private institutional investors are beginning to ask asset managers to include climate risk in their due diligence, according to the report. U.S. regulators are trying ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
Methane release 'looks stronger'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8437703.stm
BBC: Scientists have uncovered what appears to be a further dramatic increase in the leakage of methane gas that is seeping from the Arctic seabed. Methane is about 20 times more potent than CO2 in trapping solar heat. The findings come from measurements of carbon fluxes around the north of Russia, led by Igor Semiletov from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. "Methane release from the East Siberian Shelf is underway and it looks stronger than it was supposed [to be]," he ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
Four Nations Notify Support for Climate Accord; Cuba Is Opposed
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-06/four-nations-notify-support-for-climate-accord-cuba-is-opposed.html
Bloomberg: Australia is among four nations to notify the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of their support for the Copenhagen climate-protection accord. Cuba is the only nation so far to say it doesn't want to be associated with the plan struck last month in the Danish capital, UNFCCC spokesman John Hay, based in Bonn, Germany, said today by e-mail. Australia, Canada, Papua New Guinea and the Maldives have "notified us that they wish to be associated with the Copenhagen ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
America's love affair with cars stalls as car sales slump to record low
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/06/us-cars-sales-record-low
Guardian: America's love affair with the automobile could be sputtering to an end. Some 14m cars were taken out of action in 2009, 4m more than rolled off the assembly lines and onto the roads, a report from the Earth Policy Institute said today. It was the first time more cars were scrapped than sold since the second world war, reducing the size of the US car fleet from an all-time high of 250m to 246m. Last year was an extraordinarily bad year for the US auto industry. Two of the three ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
United States: Dorgan's Next Step: Coal Advocate?
http://washingtonindependent.com/73297/dorgans-next-step-coal-advocate
Washington Independent: Unlike Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who was getting clobbered in his bid for reelection this year, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) had a great shot of retaining the upper-chamber seat that he`s held for the past 17 years. (Indeed, his most competitive challenger, North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven (R), hadn`t even committed to entering the race before yesterday, when Dorgan announced his intent to retire at the end of this year.) So, for a moment, let`s take Dorgan at his word when he says that ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
Scottish minister gives green light to controversial 137-mile power line
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/06/power-line-scotland-green-energy
Guardian: Britain's largest overhead power line project has been approved despite fierce protests over the decision to erect towering pylons along 220km of the Highland's finest scenery. The long-awaited go ahead for the power line, which will stretch from Beauly near Inverness to Denny near Falkirk on pylons up to 65m high, is expected to kickstart a huge overhaul of the UK's electricity network at a cost of up to £4.7bn. The decision was applauded by the renewable energy industry and ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
Spread of animal disease to humans blamed on climate change
http://www.bolohealth.com/news/2387-spread-of-animal-disease-to-humans-blamed-on-climate-change
Bolohealth: The year 2009 hit the headlines for many reasons, but ultimately emerged as the H1N1 year. Spread of the mutating H1N1 virus that causes swine flu affected thousands of people worldwide and the number of confirmed cases still continues. This transmission of animal virus to humans is majorly due to the global warming and effects of climate change. Diminishing glaciers, droughts and a list of infections spread from animal virus. Climate changes have a direct effect on the animals who ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
Tipping elements in the Earth System: How stable is the contemporary environment?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091209193728.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: A Special Feature of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences presents the latest scientific insights on so-called tipping elements in the planetary environment. These elements have been identified as the most vulnerable large-scale components of the Earth System that may be profoundly altered by human interference. If one or more of those components is tipped -- especially in the course of global warming -- then the age of remarkably stable environmental conditions on Earth ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
In Wake of Climate Research Controversy, MIT Faculty Discuss Validity of Concerns
http://tech.mit.edu/V129/N60/climate.html
Tech: Last December, a panel of MIT faculty organized "The Great Climategate Debate" to address the media fallout from England's University of East Anglia's e-mail scandal preceding the Copenhagen climate summit. While examining the issue of scientific standards, panelists also raised concerns that the mass media and politics have taken the science out of climate science. Controversy emerged after so-called hackers released several thousand private e-mails and documents from that ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
Japanese project aims to turn CO2 into natural gas
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100106/sc_afp/japanscienceclimatewarming
Agence France-Presse: Japanese researchers said Wednesday they hoped to enlist bacteria in the fight against global warming to transform carbon dioxide buried under the seabed into natural gas. The researchers at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology aim to activate bacteria found naturally in earth to turn CO2 into methane, a major component of natural gas. A team led by chief researcher Fumio Inagaki have already confirmed that the bacteria exists in the crust deep under the ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
United States: Cape Wind project in balance as US wind farms face stiff opposition
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255663/cape-wind-project-balance-wind
Business Green: The US government is edging towards a final decision on the controversial Cape Wind offshore wind project following a landmark ruling by a federal agency that could render the proposed site unusable. The Department of the Interior has said it is aiming to reach a resolution over the future of the development by March 1. The announcement came as the chances of the project getting the go ahead this week received a further blow when the National Park Service's (NPS) Keeper of the ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
Indonesia: Australia helps REDD projects in Jambi
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/01/06/australia-helps-redd-projects-jambi.html
Jakarta Post: Indonesia and Australia are set to launch the first-ever forest carbon project in Jambi following the adoption of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) scheme at the recent UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen. The A$30 million project, to be launched this month, will be held in production, protected, conservation and communal forests in the province. "This will be the first REDD application in communal forests," Wandojo Siswanto, head of the ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
Namibia's landmark trees dying from climate change
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100106/wl_africa_afp/namibiaclimatewarming
Agence France-Presse: An old man gently touches the trunk of the huge quiver tree with a worried look on his wrinkled face, as he points at several dead branches lying on Namibia's rugged terrain. "When I was a boy, my grandfather made my first quiver from a branch of this old tree about seventy years ago, but I fear the tree is dying -- too many dead branches. Things changed over the past few years, and these trees just die," he tells AFP. Aaron Kairabeb works on a farm 200 kilometres (125 miles) ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
Cold snap spurs power rationing in China
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6050LW20100106?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Cities across eastern and central China are rationing power for industry and urging residents to limit gas use after a wave of icy weather sent energy demand soaring while straining supplies of coal that were already tight. Much of China's manufacturing and farming heartland shivered on Wednesday under snow, sleet and unusual cold that drove south after dumping big snowfalls on Beijing and much of the country's north in past days. Daytime temperatures in Shanghai and across the ...
Thu, 7 Jan 10
Bolivia proposes world conference on climate change
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/06/content_12763878.htm
Xinhua: Bolivian President Evo Morales on Tuesday called for a world conference to discuss the effects of climate change and ways to tackle it. "Due to a historical responsibility for the mankind, we decided to summon the First World Conference of the People on Climate Change," Morales told a press conference. He urged all leaders of the world's indigenous ethnic groups, scientists and experts on environmental issues to attend the Conference, which was scheduled for April 20-22 in the ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Forests & REDD: US climate bills compared
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1795
Carbon Positive: The two climate and energy bills in the US Congress, one passed in the House last June, the other being drafted in the Senate, both make provision for large use of international forest carbon offsets as a cornerstone of emissions reduction efforts. But the role of the growing project-based forest carbon sector, where mainly private project developers initiate forest activity, remains very much up in the air in these bills. The Congressional Research Service has released a detailed ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
North America's Cooling Due to Natural Causes in 2008?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100105-natural-cooling-north-america-2008.html
National Geographic: Average temperatures across North America dropped in 2008–which may seem to contradict global warming theory. Not so, scientists say. The cooling, caused by natural changes in global air circulation, temporarily masked the effects of global warming, which is getting worse, a new study says. New computer-model simulations suggest that the continent-wide dip resulted from an unusually long cooling of the Pacific Ocean, driven by the La Niña phenomenon. During a La Niña, ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
United States: Native tribes fight Cape Cod wind farm
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/native-tribes-fight-cape-cod-wind-farm-1859009.html
Independent (UK): The plan to build an enormous wind farm in Nantucket Sound, off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, has seen off a string of formidable enemies. They include the Kennedy clan, and others among the old money families of the coast, and Bill Koch, the billionaire oil and coal tycoon, the main financial force behind the opposition. The struggle to obtain the necessary permits has been under way for almost a decade. The installation would, if constructed, be the biggest offshore wind ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Heavy snowfall sees Met Office put Britain on high alert
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/heavy-snowfall-sees-met-office-put-britain-on-high-alert-1858997.html
Independent (UK): Millions of people living in southern England and the Home Counties were told to prepare themselves for up to 40cm (16in) of snow last night, as Britain remained in the grip of the longest prolonged spell of cold weather in 30 years. The Met Office issued its highest level of alert, warning of an impending "extreme weather event" that would bring travel chaos and threaten power supplies. Worst hit overnight will be Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire -- parts of ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Global warming is happening, even if it doesn't feel like it
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/global-warming-is-happening-even-if-it-doesnt-feel-like-it-1858998.html
Independent (UK): You might think the current weather conditions are almost Siberian -- and you'd be right. Britain's most prolonged spell of freezing weather since 1981 is being caused by a huge mass of intensely cold air over north-east Russia, with easterly winds sweeping its glacial temperatures across northern Europe to the UK. And just as in the 20th century's coldest ever winter in Britain, of 1962-63 -- although not on such a severe scale -- the cold is being held in place over the British ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Secretive carbon startup brings Condoleezza Rice and $26m on board
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255650/secretive-carbon-start-brings
Business Green: A secretive US startup specialising in energy and emissions management has revealed that it has raised $26m (£16m) in funding and put together a board dominated by influential political and business figures including former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. The company, known as C3, was founded a year ago by Thomas Siebel, the entrepreneur who sold his business software firm Siebel to Oracle $5.7bn, and over the past two weeks has filed documents with the Securities and Exchange ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Miliband: UK will push EU to raise emissions target to 30 per cent
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255649/miliband-eu-raise-targets-per
Business Green: Energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband yesterday said that he would continue to press other European countries to raise the EU's emissions reductions targets, as part of efforts to secure a legally-binding international climate change deal in Mexico at the end of the year. Updating the House of Commons on the failure of last month's Copenhagen Summit to deliver an ambitious and binding international deal, Miliband vowed that the government would continue to lobby other ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Tobacco: bad for you, good for the planet?
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255648/tobacco-bad-planet
Business Green: It may be bad for your health, but it appears that tobacco might yet prove good for the environment. Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University's Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories in the US have genetically engineered the plant's leaves to create a biofuel that they claim is more efficient than biofuels made from any other agricultural crop. "Tobacco is very attractive as a biofuel because the idea is to use plants that are not used in food production," said Dr Vyacheslav ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
The Blowback Effect: 2020
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-t-klare/the-blowback-effect-2020_b_412254.html
Huffington Post: As the second decade of the twenty-first century begins, we find ourselves at one of those relatively rare moments in history when major power shifts become visible to all. If the first decade of the century witnessed profound changes, the world of 2009 nonetheless looked at least somewhat like the world of 1999 in certain fundamental respects: the United States remained the world's paramount military power, the dollar remained the world's dominant currency, and NATO remained its foremost ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Bingaman: Cap and trade bill unlikely this year
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100105/ap_on_bi_ge/us_energy_bingaman_new_mexico
Associated Press: The chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said Tuesday that it's unclear whether Congress will be able to pass cap and trade legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions this year. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said there's no consensus on what form a cap-and-trade system would take, but strong desire exists in both the Senate and House to pass other energy-related bills that would curb pollution blamed for global warming. Bingaman said the ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Mexico vows to set new efficiency rules for autos
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6044XP20100105?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Mexico will limit imports of inefficient used cars and encourage low-carbon technology to reduce its overall volume of tailpipe exhaust, the energy ministry said on Tuesday. The ministry said it was also mulling regulations that would for the first time set a national standard for auto emissions. Such standards would be at the "vanguard" of international best standards, the agency said. Officials hope to slowly purge heavy, inefficient autos from among the roughly 21 million ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Starving hyenas kill and eat 12-foot-long python during drought
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0105-hance_hyena.html
Mongabay: Members with the conservation group Lion Guardians stumbled on a rare site in the Amboseli area of Kenya recently: six hyenas and a number of jackals were attacking and eating a 12-foot-long python. On their blog at WildlifeDirect, Lion Guardians describe the attack: "[the hyenas and jackals] tore into its body from the back, and were taking their share while the upper part of the python was still alive! The Lion Guardian team was shocked and surprised at the same time, having never ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Winter, Nighttime Tornadoes Pose Greatest Risk, National Weather Service Warns
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100104135143.htm
ScienceDaily: Shrouded in darkness, nighttime tornadoes can be deadly, especially during the winter season when people are not accustomed to such severe weather. Given the dangers, forecasters with NOAA's National Weather Service are increasing efforts to alert people of a potential threat in their area before they go to sleep. The NOAA Storm Prediction Center, in conjunction with local National Weather Service offices across the country, is now issuing new public severe weather outlooks when ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Australia suffers hottest decade as globe warms
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100105/wl_asia_afp/australiaweatherclimate
Agence France-Presse: Australia has sweltered through its hottest decade on record, officials said Tuesday, linking a rise in heatwaves, drought, dust storms and extreme wildfires with global warming. The Bureau of Meteorology also said 2009 was the second warmest year since detailed records began in 1910, with an annual mean temperature almost one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above average. Senior climatologist Dean Collins said the average for the decade -- about 22.3 degrees Celsius ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
IPCC chair warns of threat from climate change deniers
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=147996
Guardian
Wed, 6 Jan 10
EPA launches New Year crackdown on chemicals and pollutants
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255583/epa-kick-starts-chemicals
Business Green: The US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) delivered an unwelcome Christmas gift to the chemical industry over the holiday period, making two decisions that were welcomed by environmentalists but which have angered industry groups. The watchdog announced tough new measures to regulate the use of four chemical groups, and also listed the chemicals industry as one of three sectors that will face more demanding environmental clean-up regulations. In a move that mirrors a similar ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Householders to get £400 for old boilers
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6934673/Householders-to-get-400-for-old-boilers.html
Telegraph: Up to 125,000 households with working boilers with the lowest ''G'' rating in England can apply for vouchers from the Energy Saving Trust towards ''A'' rated boilers or renewable heating systems such as a biomass boiler or heat pump. The Government said the £50 million scheme will save as much carbon as taking 45,000 cars off the roads and will also cut a household's energy bill by up to £235 a year. The average cost of a boiler and its installation is around £2,500, according ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Britain must grow more sustainable food, says Benn
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/05/uk-farming-2030-food-report
Guardian: Britain must grow more food, while using less water and reducing emission of greenhouse gases, to respond to the challenge of climate change and growing world populations, the environment secretary, Hilary Benn, said yesterday. "Food security is as important to this country's future wellbeing, and the world's, as energy security. We need to produce more food. We need to do it sustainably. And we need to make sure what we eat safeguards our health," he said. Launching the ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
United Kingdom: Oil rig-style "offshore communities" to maintain wind farms
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2255606/offshore-communities-maintain
Business Green: The difficulties in accessing and maintaining offshore wind farms around the UK means that "offshore communities" will have to live and work near the turbines on accommodation facilities similar to oil rigs. That is the view of experts at the Carbon Trust who have identified accessing turbines in high seas as one of the main barriers to the successful development of the government's £100bn offshore wind strategy. The improvement of maintenance support for offshore wind farms is ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Rahall: EPA drops objection to W.Va. surface mine
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100105/ap_on_bi_ge/us_mountaintop_mining_patriot
Associated Press: The Environmental Protection Agency has dropped its objections to a permit that would allow a large West Virginia surface mining complex to continue operating, U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall said Monday. The Democratic congressman said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson told him on New Years Eve that the agency will send Patriot Coal Corp.'s application for the Hobet 45 mine to the Army Corps of Engineers this week. The EPA reviews applications; it's up to the corps to issue Clean Water Act ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
A new app to become an undercover environmentalist
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/a-new-app-to-become-an-undercover-environmentalist-1858427.html
Independent (UK): The EcoSnoop social networking application, launched December 16, allows users to document bad environmental behavior in their communities, share it with fellow microbloggers, and work together to find a solution. The application relies on both the camera and GPS features of the iPhone and iPod Touch. Imagine you see an office building with all its lights on, even though the business is closed. Or you spot a public faucet with a steady leak. Simply open an EcoSnoop case, including a ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
The coldest winters in the UK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/05/coldest-winters-britain-snow
Guardian: Apart from the "little ice age" that held Britain in its frosty embrace between the 16th and 19th centuries, allowing frost fairs and bull-baiting on the Thames, the UK has largely escaped the savage winter weather that afflicts our more northern neighbours. The four coldest winters of the last century were, in order of chilliness: 1963, 1947, 1940 and 1979. But it is 63 and 47 that remain the benchmarks for seasonal suffering. It was 1963 that had the distinction of being the ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Australia has its hottest decade on record
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6976240.ece
Times (UK): Australia has sweltered through its hottest decade on record and its second warmest year since records began, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Weeks before the first anniversary of the country's worst wildfires, which killed 173 people, the bureau said that 2009 would be remembered for extreme bushfires, duststorms, lingering rainfall deficiencies, areas of flooding and record-breaking heatwaves. With an annual mean temperature almost 1C (1.8F) above average, ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
North Sea nations planning renewable energy network
http://www.thelocal.de/sci-tech/20100105-24363.html
Local: Germany and several other European nations are planning to create a billion-euro renewable energy network spanning the North Sea, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Tuesday. The EUR30-billion project would link German and British offshore wind farms, Norwegian hydroelectric plants, and Belgian and Danish tidal power stations with undersea cables in order to compensate for the irregular nature of renewable energy. According to the paper, representatives from Germany, Britain, ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Australia: Labor seizes on temperature figures as evidence of global warming
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/labor-seizes-on-temperature-figures-as-evidence-of-global-warming/story-e6frg6xf-1225816209762
Australian: AUSTRALIA had the second warmest year on record last year, the Bureau of Meterology confirmed today in a finding the Rudd government has seized on as fresh evidence of climate change. The BOM said 2009 "will be remembered for extreme bushfires, dust-storms, lingering rainfall deficiencies, areas of flooding and record-breaking heatwaves'. Extreme heatwaves across southern Australia during late January/early February set a new Melbourne maximum temperature record of 46.4C, new ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
United States: New coal-fired power plant fuels debate
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/2348C14F38D7FAB8862576A200102815?OpenDocument
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: On a clear December morning, drivers traveling south on state Route 4 in southwest Illinois can see the Prairie State Energy Campus' stack rising 700 feet above the surrounding corn fields -- 70 feet taller than the Gateway Arch. The scope of project is even more striking once on site. The hulking plant will consume more than 50,000 tons of structural steel, 15,000 tons of steel rebar and 160,000 cubic yards of concrete. It is surrounded by more than a dozen tower cranes, their jibs ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
China blames freak storm on global warming
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/china-blames-freak-storm-on-global-warming-20100104-lq6t.html
Sydney Morning Herald: Freak snowstorms and record low temperatures sweeping northern China are linked to global warming, say Chinese officials. But, unlike the unseasonal snow falls that hit Beijing at the start of winter, the dump this week appears to have no link to the Government's relentless efforts to change the micro climate. There are about 2000 weather modification offices in China, according to the media, which are responsible for bombing the skies with silver iodide to induce ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
For Cape Cod wind farm, new hurdle is spiritual
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/science/earth/05wind.html
New York Times: In a new setback for a controversial wind farm proposed off Cape Cod, the National Park Service announced Monday that Nantucket Sound was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, guaranteeing further delays for the project. Known as Cape Wind, the project is the nation's first planned offshore wind farm and would cover 24 square miles in the sound, an area roughly the size of Manhattan. The park service decision came in response to a request from two ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
U.S. government seeks agreement on Cape Wind power project
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60402320100105
Reuters: The U.S. Interior Department said on Monday it hopes to reach an agreement by March 1 over the controversial and long-delayed Cape Wind power project that would be located in federal waters off Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Approval of the offshore wind farm would be a big boost to the Obama administration's plan to increase U.S. renewable energy production and create advance-technology jobs, while a defeat of the project could undermine White House efforts to develop a clean energy ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Man saves energy, angers neighbors
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/92/2010/january/05/man-saves-energy-angers-neighbors.html
Bucks County Courier Times: Some neighbors in Plumstead are unhappy with a homeowner's backyard solar panels. Andy Capreri believes he's doing his part to help the environment. But some of his neighbors in Plumstead aren't so enthusiastic about his efforts. "I'm very, very disappointed," said Chess Schmitt, whose Cheshire Road property sits behind Capreri's. "We used to have a beautiful panoramic view." The problem is three soaring solar panels Capreri just had mounted in his Essex Drive backyard. ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
A once-dark Polaroid factory goes green
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122230089
National Public Radio: Many old factories around the country now sit dark and empty. But at a once-defunct Polaroid film factory in New Bedford, Mass., the lights are on again and a new industry is rising up inside the ruins of an old one. The company Konarka makes solar panels, but not the kind most people have seen. These are thin, lightweight, flexible plastic sheets, and that enables them to be used in all sorts of new ways. "We make what's called plastic solar cells; we call it 'power plastic,' ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Lebanon: A year of inaction on the environment
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=110314
Daily Star: Whereas some countries spent the last year preparing negotiating positions to take to Copenhagen, Lebanon left it late in 2009 to work out how to approach the climate change summit. The COP15 round of talks was billed by politicians and environmentalists alike as the last chance for the world to agree on a binding framework for curbing carbon emissions and limiting global temperature rises. The lack of concrete legislation for CO2 cuts prompted many to label Copenhagen a failure. The ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
United States: Trash to gas: Landfill energy projects increasing
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/01/05/trash_to_gas_landfill_energy_projects_increasing/
Associated Press: Hundreds of trash trucks across California are rumbling down city streets using clean fuel made from a dirty source: garbage. The fuel is derived from rotting refuse that San Francisco and Oakland residents and businesses have been discarding in the Altamont landfill since 1980. Since November, the methane gas created from decaying detritus at the 240-acre landfill has been sucked into tubes and sent into an innovative facility that purifies and transforms it into liquefied natural ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Australia bakes through warmest decade on record
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/05/2785653.htm?site=idx-act
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The Bureau of Meteorology says figures showing Australia has experienced its hottest decade since records began in 1910 are clear evidence of climate change. The Bureau's annual report has found the average temperature over the past 10 years was 0.48 degrees Celsius above average. Climatologist David Jones says each decade since the 1940s has been warmer than the previous one. And he has warned that this year is set to be even hotter, with temperatures likely to be ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Climate change warning for UK farmers
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Farming-To-Be-Affected-By-Climate-Change-And-Rising-Prices-Says-Former-NFU-Boss-Sir-Ben-Gill/Article/201001115514212?lpos=UK_News_First_UK_News_Article_Teaser_Region_3&lid=ARTICLE_15514212_Farming_To_Be_Affected_By
Sky News: British farming is about to get political, as climate change and rising prices mean food security will become a major issue. Agriculture will increasingly become a political issue, warns ex-NFU boss Sir Ben Gill Climate change will help British farmers in some ways, giving them better growing conditions. But since most of our food is imported, falling yields and increased demand for staple foods like wheat and milk could have serious consequences for UK ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Brunei: UK expert warns of greater likelihood of drought
http://news.brunei.fm/2010/01/05/climate-change-uk-expert-warns-of-greater-likelihood-of-drought/
Brunei Times: THERE is a strong chance of Brunei suffering from droughts due to an increase in temperatures, despite the Sultanate enjoying good forest cover, said a climate change researcher. Dr Daniel P Bebber, head of climate change research at Earthwatch Institute in United Kingdom, said that a small temperature increase in the tropics could push trees and plants to their limit of being able to survive. "Global warming increases temperature and this may result in droughts. So in the ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Sarkozy wants French carbon tax to start in July
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100105/sc_afp/franceenvironmentclimatepoliticstax
Agence France-Presse: The French government decided Tuesday that a new carbon tax to fight global warming will go into force in July, a week after the constitutional court struck down a previous version of the measure. President Nicolas Sarkozy told the council of ministers that the revamped tax would be presented to the cabinet later this month and that it would go into force on July 1, government spokesman Luc Chatel told reporters. The Constitutional Council last Tuesday declared the tax illegal, ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Big French firms to pay variable carbon tax
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BT1HD20100105?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Large French companies that pollute heavily will be penalized under new carbon tax legislation but are likely to pay variable rates, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said in remarks published on Tuesday. More than 1,000 companies would be penalized according to how much energy they use to produce and how much competition their sectors face, Lagarde told French daily Les Echos. The companies had been exempted from paying carbon tax in France under legislation that was ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
'No conflict' between Big Freeze and climate change
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/no-conflict-between-big-freeze-and-climate-change-1858530.html
Press Association: The current cold weather gripping the UK does not undermine the fact the world is warming, experts said today. Stephen Dorling, of the University of East Anglia's school of environmental sciences, said it was not surprising the cold period raised questions over climate change - but the snowy weather should not be used as evidence against it. He said: "It's no surprise that people look out of their window at the snow and find it hard to rationalise what's going on with the ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Food labels to show 'carbon footprint' under Government plans
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6936658/Food-labels-to-show-carbon-footprint-under-Government-plans.html
Telegraph: Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, said in future people will have to eat less "carbon intensive' foods like red meat or excessively packaged products to make sure Britain meets targets to cut greenhouse gases. To help consumers do this, new "green' food labels will show how much carbon was produced in the manufacture and transportation of f Tesco, Pepsi and other leading brands are already displaying a "carbon reduction label' on certain products showing the amount of ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
'Grow your own' strategy unveiled
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8440863.stm
BBC: It says it will pilot healthy cooking classes for "at risk" families as part of efforts to tackle obesity and will help local landowners and community groups work together to make land available temporarily, to grow food. It would also look into a community "land bank" to act as a broker between land-holders and community groups who want somewhere to grow food. Mr Benn said the expansion of fair trade and free-range food illustrated how shoppers could drive trends in food ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Chinese official links extreme snowstorm to global warming
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0105-hance_extreme.html
Mongabay: Bitter cold and snow have shut down Beijing after it received 4-8 inches (10-20 centimeters) of snow on Sunday, the largest snowfall since 1951, according to the Sydney Morning Hearld. Guo Hu, the head of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau linked the storm to global climate change. "In the context of global warming, extreme atmospheric flows are causing extreme climate incidents to appear more frequently, such as the summer's rain storms and last year's icestorm disaster in southern ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Intrigue over new role for climate negotiator
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/05/he-yafei-china-climate-negotiator
Guardian: A senior member of the Chinese negotiating team at Copenhagen has been shifted from his post, prompting speculation that he has been punished for the debacle of the climate talks. He Yafei, who was at the forefront of China's blocking actions on the final fraught day of the summit, has been removed as vice foreign minister, according to a short summary of government appointments by the Xinhua news agency. The agency gave no explanation, but the Hong Kong newspaper Sing Tao ...
Wed, 6 Jan 10
Snow globe: How the freeze has hit abroad
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/snow-globe-how-the-freeze-has-hit-abroad-1858687.html
Independent (UK): How the freeze has hit abroad With snow in the UK causing mass travel disruption it's good to remember it's not just us who have been hit by the freeze. From China right across to the USA, here's a selection of snowy scenes from around the world this week.
Tue, 5 Jan 10
Taiwan's temperatures, emissions rise
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/01/04/Taiwans-temperatures-emissions-rise/UPI-20991262627909/
United Press International: Taiwan's temperatures have risen by an average of 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century, according to a government study. Despite Taiwan's rise in temperatures, sunny hours in the country have fallen. The decline -- attributed to air pollution and suspended particles that had blocked the sunshine -- ranges from 176 hours per year in the north to 552 hours per year in central Taiwan, the Central News Agency reports. Taiwan's sea level has risen an average of 1.18 inches ...
Tue, 5 Jan 10
Study says Mich. climate plan would boost economy
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100104/ap_on_bi_ge/mi_michigan_climate_plan
Associated Press: Michigan could gain a significant economic boost and thousands of new jobs by reducing emissions of gases that cause climate change, according to an analysis released Monday. The report by the Center for Climate Strategies said a plan devised last year for battling global warming in Michigan would help limit the state's heat-trapping gas emissions over the next 15 years. But more than the environment would benefit, the nonprofit group said. It projected gains of 129,000 jobs, a ...
Tue, 5 Jan 10
China: Hong Kong air pollution at 'life-threatening' levels
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/hong-kong-air-pollution-at-lifethreatening-levels-1857827.html
Independent (UK): Hong Kong's roadside air pollution reached life-threatening levels one in every eight days last year, a report said Monday, citing figures obtained from the government. The roadside air pollution index recorded by the Environmental Protection Department showed there were 44 days of "very high pollution" in the Central district last year, the South China Morning Post said. The figure was significantly higher than 39 days in 2008 and 13 days in 2005, the newspaper ...
Tue, 5 Jan 10
C.I.A. Data Sharing With Environmental Scientists Is Revived
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/science/earth/05satellite.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: The nation's top scientists and spies are collaborating on an effort to use the federal government's intelligence assets – including spy satellites and other classified sensors – as sensitive instruments that can assess the hidden complexities of environmental change. They seek in