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Sat, 31 Jul 10
South Florida, East Coast likely spared oil impact
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100730/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_shoreline_impact
Associated Press: Federal officials predicted Friday that most Gulf Coast beaches have seen their last major oiling from the BP spill, and South Florida and the East Coast should be spared any impact because the crude never reached the powerful loop current. A new analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed most surface oil in the Gulf had degraded to a thin sheen. What remained on the surface and below was hundreds of miles from the loop current, which scientists feared ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
House takes up oil spill legislation
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100730/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_congress
Associated Press: The House approved a bill Friday to boost safety standards for offshore drilling, remove a federal cap on economic liability for oil spills and impose new fees on oil and gas production. Democratic leaders hailed the bill as a comprehensive response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and said it would increase drilling safety and crack down on oil companies such as BP. Companies with significant workplace safety or environmental violations over the preceding seven years would be banned ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Gulf Coast states push for offshore oil revenues
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100730/us_nm/us_oil_spill_revenues
Reuters: BP massive oil spill has given Gulf Coast lawmakers leverage to push for a larger share of the billions of dollars in royalties that oil companies pay to drill in U.S. waters. As a part of 2006 energy legislation, lawmakers like Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu secured a deal to direct a 37.5 percent share of U.S. offshore royalties to coastal states starting in 2017. The provision would net $650 million a year to Louisiana alone, with smaller amounts flowing to Alabama and ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Reducing Soot Might Be Shortcut to Reverse Climate Change, New Study Says
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-07/reducing-soot-might-reverse-global-warming-new-study-says
Popular Science: The quickest way to slow the melting of Arctic sea ice is through reducing soot emissions, according to a new study of soot's climate effects. Eliminating soot entirely could undo nearly a century of global warming, the study says. Stanford researcher Mark Z. Jacobson is the latest in a line of scientists to suggest reducing soot to slow global warming. He says it is second only to carbon dioxide in its ability to warm the climate -- it's even more powerful than methane, according to ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Despite anger over BP spill, Washington might not act
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100730/sc_mcclatchy/3582137
McClatchy Newspapers: As the Gulf of Mexico focuses on cleaning up the mess left by the BP oil spill, the question facing the nation's capital is: Will Washington clean up its act, too? Congress is considering stricter regulation of oil exploration, and the Obama administration has pledged to overhaul the disgraced federal agency that oversees oil drilling. Already, however, some of the toughest proposals are facing stiff opposition from Republicans and some Gulf Coast Democrats whose constituents ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Oil threat recedes for East Coast, much of Florida
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100730/us_nm/us_oil_spill_florida
Reuters: South Florida, the Florida Keys and the East Coast will likely be spared from any contamination from the ruptured BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. government scientists said on Friday. Scientists had issued dire warnings that the oil from the BP spill would float into the loop current in the Gulf of Mexico and then ride the powerful Gulf Stream current around the fragile islands at the southern tip of Florida and up the Atlantic Coast as far as North Carolina. But the ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
U.S. nuclear front-runners begin to slow spending
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100730/sc_nm/us_utilities_nuclear_slowdown
Reuters: Two companies leading the U.S. nuclear power revival may curb spending on the next generation of reactors due to delays in federal loan support, officials said. The Energy Department has had little to say in the five months since President Barack Obama announced the first nuclear loan commitment of $8.3 billion to a Southern Co-led consortium for two new reactors to be built in Georgia. The U.S. House of Representatives has approved the Obama administration's request to add $36 ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Russia: Tensions over Moscow's Khimki forest mounting to a boiling point as Bellona and activists appeal to government and forei
http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2010/Knimki_tensions
Bellona: Environmentalists say the highway can be built to bypass the old oak forest, but the authorities and the company responsible for razing the forest and build the highway, Teplotekhnika, have refused to consider alternative routes. Many former Soviet Republics, European countries and the European Parliament have also been summoned to help save the Khimki forest. Defenders of the Khimki Forest, the lead environmental organisation involved in the struggle, has also sent an appeal to the ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Weather or Not?: Last Winter's Record Snow Driven by Short-Term Meteorologic Patterns, Not Long-Term Climate
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=weather-or-not-last-winte
Scientific American: WEIRD WINTER: The record-breaking snowfalls of 2009-10 in the eastern U.S. resulted from the combination of two periodic weather phenomena, experts say. Just six months ago residents of the eastern U.S. were shoveling themselves out of the snowiest winter ever--weather that prompted mockery of global warming among some people. Now, scientists have a new explanation for why such anomalous snowstorms can coexist with global warming: The storms were kicked up by the convergence of two ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
U.N. panel to probe further Kyoto CO2-cut projects
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100730/india_nm/india505400
Reuters: A United Nations climate panel will ask a working group to investigate further claims that a Kyoto Protocol scheme may be incentivising participants to emit more greenhouse gases, it said on Friday. Several carbon-cutting projects approved under Kyoto's $2.7 billion Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which helps provide carbon finance to emerging economies, have been accused by green groups of intentionally increasing their emissions in order to destroy them and collect more carbon ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
A Lively Debate on Climate Change
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/a-lively-debate-on-climate-change/?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: At the Bowery Hotel in New York on Tuesday, Christopher Monckton, the Third Viscount Monckton of Benchley, debated Eric Bates, executive editor of Rolling Stone magazine, on the topic of climate change. Lord Monckton is an outspoken climate change skeptic, while Rolling Stone recently published a cover story maintaining that climate skeptics have enabled polluting industries to murder the climate. Tracy Morgan – stand-up comedian, "Saturday Night Live" alumni and Emmy nominee for his ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
How Prospects Cooled for U.S. Global Warming Bill
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/07/100731-energy-prospects-global-warming-bill/
National Geographic: This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge. For advocates of action on climate change, it seems like a long time since the hopeful first days of the Obama administration. Then, the political landscape appeared to have shifted into place to build a comprehensive program to limit U.S. fossil fuel emissions and pave the way to an international agreement. ee National Geographic's interactive map of global warming ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
David Cameron runs the greenest government ever? Tell it to the birds
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthcomment/geoffrey-lean/7919267/David-Cameron-runs-the-greenest-government-ever-Tell-it-to-the-birds.html
Telegraph: By Geoffrey Lean Published: 5:49PM BST 30 Jul 2010 Comments It says it is the most environmentally friendly government yet -- but already many leading greens are becoming distinctly browned off. Just days after taking office, David Cameron announced that he was "absolutely committed" to leading "the greenest government ever". That might have been setting the bar rather low, considering what had gone before -- but, even so, verdant voices warn, ministers are ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Pickens must wait for payday on energy bill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66T3QB20100730?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: T.Boone Pickens' proposal to run more U.S. vehicles on natural gas got a boost in Congress this week, but the energy billionaire must wait a few years before profiting from any investments linked to the plan. An energy bill introduced on Tuesday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would provide subsidies for natural gas-fired trucks and municipal vehicles, an idea long championed by Pickens as a way to curb U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Pickens told Reuters during a January ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Smart meter roll-out: consumer behaviour and data management questioned
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2267406/smart-meter-roll-consumer
Business Green: As part of its energy review, the government has announced plans to accelerate the roll-out of smart meters to every household in the UK. The intention is to provide real-time and more detailed information about energy usage change, thus motivating consumers to reduce demand when they see how much energy they are using -- and money they are spending on energy. Demand-reduction has been indentified by DECC as vital to meet the UK's carbon reduction targets. It is the motivation ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Labor's great climate change choke
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/labors-great-climate-change-choke/story-fn59niix-1225898997863
Australian: AUSTRALIANS were overwhelmingly on side, the government was hungry for leadership and it had a $60 million plus advertising and public relations strategy ready to launch. So why did Kevin Rudd choke when he was in a position to smash home a winner on climate change policy? Yes, the Copenhagen summit had been a failure. True, Tony Abbott had junked Malcolm Turnbull's deal with the government and was gaining traction with his line about a great big new tax. And Julia Gillard was urging ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
US Defense Department vows to march to a greener drum
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2267402/defense-department-vows-march
Business Green: The US Department of Defense (DoD) has inked an agreement with the Department of Energy (DoE) to accelerate the deployment of clean energy technology intended to provide better protection for troops and secure the country's energy supply. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the two departments last week will see the agencies collaborate on a number of areas including energy and water efficiency, renewable energy, transportation and deploying new nuclear power stations ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Glance: AEP's 2Q and carbon capture costs
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100730/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_aep_glance
Associated Press: WHAT: American Electric Power said in its Friday earnings release that a 57 percent drop in its second-quarter numbers was partly due to a charge related to a carbon capture project at its Mountaineer Plant in W.Va., serving that state and Virginia through AEP's Appalachian Power unit. THE DETAILS: AEP last fall commissioned a $70 million demonstration project at the plant designed to cut down on pollution by capturing carbon dioxide from the plant's emissions and storing it ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Angola: Environment Minister Wants More Support From Developed Countries
http://allafrica.com/stories/201007300813.html
ALLAFRICA: Angola's minister of Environment, Fatima Jardim, on Thursday here called for the assistance of developed countries to African projects of environmental protection and management of natural calamities, although the greenhouse gases emissions in Africa is reduced. FÃ¡tima Jardim who was speaking at the closing of a workshop on creation of the future regional centre of studies on the soils and climatic alteration (RSSC), in an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education of Germany, ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Global warming 'undeniable,' world report says
http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3336638
Daily News: The past decade was the warmest on record and, as glaciers melt, severe storms batter cities and heat waves increase, more than 300 scientists have concluded that global warming is "undeniable." A new report, published by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Thursday and compiled by investigators from 48 different countries including Canada, identified 10 climate indicators that are clearly linked to changing surface temperatures and they "all tell the same ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Controlling soot might quickly reverse a century of global warming
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/07/soot-control/
Wired: A massive simulation of soot`s climate effects finds that basic pollution controls could put a brake on global warming, erasing in a decade most of the last century`s temperature change. Compared to the larger, longer term task of getting greenhouse-gas pollution under control, limiting soot wouldn`t be hard. Unlike new energy technology and profound changes in lifestyle, the tools -- exhaust filters, clean-burning stoves -- already exist. "Soot has such a strong climate ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Sea level rise may be higher in Bangladesh than predicted
http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=107569&date=2010-07-30
Financial Express: Sea level rise may be higher in Bangladesh than prediction With the current level of continuation of human effects on climate, coasts of Bangladesh and India might experience higher sea level rise compared to mean level predicted for the planet, reports BSS. Researchers from the University of Colorado of the United States found this in their new study, published in Nature Geoscience this week, leading science and development network SciDev Net said. The same rise may ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Phytoplankton's dramatic decline: A food chain crisis in the world's oceans
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,709135,00.html
Spiegel: It is the starting point for our oceans' food chain. But stocks of phytoplankton have decreased by 40 percent since 1950, potentially as a result of global warming. It is an astonishing collapse, say researchers, and may have dramatic consequences for both the oceans and for humans. The forms that marine flora and fauna come in are varied and spectacular. From bizarre deep sea creatures to elegant predators and giant marine mammals, the diversity in our planet's oceans is ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Climate change could leave penguins in the dark
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=thaw-deal-climate-change-could-leav-2010-07-29
Scientific American: Few animals can live totally in the dark, and penguins are no exception. But new research shows that climate change could soon rob AdÃ©lie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) of the sunlight they need to survive, and that could drive them into extinction. The problem comes from melting sea ice, according to the report in the July 2010 issue of Ecology. As the climate changes and more of Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf melts, AdÃ©lie penguins will be forced farther inland. This will take the birds ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Declining algae threatens ocean food chain
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/declining-algae-threatens-ocean-food-chain-study-2039287.html
Agence France-Presse: A century-long decline in tiny algae called phytoplankton could disrupt the global ocean food chain, including the human consumption of fish, according to a study released Wednesday. The microscopic organisms - which prop up the pyramid of marine animal life from shrimps to killer whales - have been disappearing globally at a rate of one percent per year, researchers reported. Since 1950, phytoplankon mass has dropped by about 40 percent, most likely due to the accelerating ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Global climate effort 'still inadequate' as talks continue
http://www.euractiv.com/en/climate-environment/global-climate-effort-still-inadequate-talks-continue-news-496853
EurActiv: Published: 30 July 2010 Countries' pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions offer virtually no chance of halting global warming before it reaches dangerous levels, researchers said as negotiators gather in Bonn to continue climate talks next week. Background The Copenhagen UN climate change conference in December 2009 was designed to outline a new international treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. But after two weeks of extenuating talks, ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Malaysia: Sabah Parks checking if marine parks affected
http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=73761
Daily Express: Sabah Parks is checking all marine parks in the State for coral bleaching, Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Yahya Hussin said. If the situation arises, Sabah Parks would close the parks or take ameliorative actions to overcome the problem. "A few days ago, the Department of Marine Parks Malaysia announced that numerous islands in Kedah, Terengganu and Pahang have been closed for a few months due to coral bleaching. "The bleaching this time was more significant and ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
NOAA has 10 answers to allegations that 'Climategate' disproves warming
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/07/noaa-has-10-answers-to-allegatio.html
Science Mag: The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report today on 2009's climate, which says the decade of the 2000s was the warmest since readings were first kept. In a phone interview with reporters today, Peter Stott of the U.K. Met Office, a contributor to the 224-page report, said the scientists who wrote it had sought, among other things, to draw attention to 10 variables he said "most intuitively" reflect temperature. He called that part of the report a "response" to ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
China Oil Spill Photos: Fire, Crude, and an Inky Cleanup
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/07/photogalleries/100730-china-oil-spill-dalian-environment-world-pictures/?now=2010-07-30-00:01
National Geographic: A worker scoops up oil from a spill near Dalian, China (map), on Monday. An estimated 1,500 tons of crude oil spilled into the Yellow Sea when two pipelines exploded in the busy port city on July 16. Chinese authorities on Monday declared the oil spill contained, though the environmental group Greenpeace said that bays nearby remain covered in oil, the Associated Press reported.

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Eight killed as wildfires sweep central Russia
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66T1BI20100730?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Forest fires swept across central Russia on Friday, killing at least eight people and forcing the evacuation of thousands during the hottest summer since records began 130 years ago. Fanned by strong winds, raging fires ripped through woods and fields already scorched by the heatwave. The emergencies ministry said 866 square km, an area about the size of Berlin, was on fire in hundreds of peat and forest blazes. "We don't know where to go," said Galina Shibanova, 52, standing ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Fashion brand declares war on greenwash
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2267384/fashion-brand-declares-war
Business Green: The founders of sustainable fashion brand Rapanui Clothing have declared war on greenwash. Brothers Mart and Rob Drake-Knight are campaigning to make marketing as sustainable as the green products it pushes. "We feel that supply and demand should be allowed to work naturally, but the current trend of green marketing is making it difficult for consumers to work out what is a truly sustainable product and what is greenwash,' Rob Drake-Knight told Businessgreen.com. The ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
EPA denies challenges to greenhouse gas rule
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66S52720100729?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday rejected 10 petitions challenging EPA's 2009 finding that climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health and the environment. The EPA received petitions questioning the scientific basis for the so-called endangerment finding -- which cleared the way for the EPA to curb carbon dioxide emissions -- from Texas and Virginia and groups like the Ohio Coal Association. With the U.S. Senate abandoning climate measures ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Trapped glacier water threatens French Alps valley
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66S57H20100729?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A pocket of water big enough to fill 20 Olympic pools, trapped inside a glacier on Mont Blanc, could burst at any time and endanger lives in a French Alpine valley, officials said Thursday. Researchers at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) said 65,000 cubic meters of water discovered inside the Tte-Rousse glacier could explode and destroy everything in its path, including nearby villages and nearly 900 homes. Such a catastrophe happened in the area in 1892, ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
BP lawsuits over oil spill take center stage
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100730/ts_nm/us_oil_spill
Reuters: More than 2,000 miles from the Gulf of Mexico shoreline, a panel of U.S. judges heard arguments from lawyers on Thursday on how piles of oil spill-related lawsuits against BP Plc should be merged. The panel, meeting in Boise, Idaho, as part of its regularly scheduled rotation among federal courts, did not immediately rule on how it would handle the mounting civil litigation brought against BP and other defendants involved in the worst offshore oil disaster in U.S. history. A ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Australia: Marine Biodiversity Threatened by Oil, Gas Exploration
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52323
Inter Press Service: In early July, whales from the world's largest population of humpbacks began arriving in the warm, subtropical waters off Australia's north-west coast to breed and nurse their young. From May each year, some 22,000 humpbacks make the pilgrimage up Australia's west coast from their Antarctic feeding grounds before beginning the return journey in September. The whales, which usually grow to between 12 and 16 metres when mature, constitute just a tiny fraction of the wide variety ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
EPA rejects challenge to 'credible, compelling' climate science
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/07/epa-rejects-challenge-to-credible-compelling-climate-science.html
Los Angeles Times: The Environmental Protection Agency unleashed a full-throated defense on Thursday of scientific evidence that mankind is dangerously warming the planet, and of the Obama administration's unilateral moves to curb the heat-trapping gas emissions scientists blame for climate change. Rejecting a series of critiques lodged by groups seeking to block federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions -- including allegations linked to the so-called "Climategate" e-mail scandal and a pair of ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Ind. State Fair to include climate change exhibit
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-in-statefair-climate,0,2948197.story
Associated Press: Next month's Indiana State Fair will include a Purdue University science lesson tackling the hot topic of climate change. Fairgoers visiting the "Altered Earth" exhibit can learn how humans are contributing to climate change and how they can help reduce global warming. The display will explore climate, weather and global warming with the "Climate Kids." Register with Chicago Tribune and receive free newsletters and alerts >> Purdue agricultural events coordinator ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Climate change blamed for Portugal's Â“probableÂ” first case of West Nile virus
http://www.theportugalnews.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=1072-8
Portugal News: Experts are warning that climate change could heighten the risk of surges of infectious diseases more common to warmer climates, such as the West Nile virus or Malaria, in Europe. Last weekend the National Health Board (DGS) confirmed an investigation was taking place into a "probable case of West Nile Virus" in Portugal. DGS general sub-director JosÃ© Robalo said this week that the disease had still not been confirmed, but there is a "great probability" that it would ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
Global warming pushes 2010 temperatures to record highs
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2267348/global-warming-pushes-2010
Guardian: Global temperatures in the first half of the year were the hottest since records began more than a century ago, according to two of the world's leading climate research centres. Scientists have also released what they describe as the "best evidence yet" of rising long-term temperatures. The report is the first to collate 11 different indicators -- from air and sea temperatures to melting ice -- each one based on between three and seven data sets, dating back to between 1850 and the ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
US expert: China oil spill far bigger than stated
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100730/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_pipeline_explosion
Associated Press: China's worst known oil spill is dozens of times larger than the government has reported, and some of the oil was spilled deliberately to avoid an even larger disaster, an American expert said Friday. China's government has said 1,500 tons (461,790 gallons) of oil spilled after a pipeline exploded two weeks ago near the northeastern city of Dalian, sending 100-foot- (30-meter-) high flames raging near one of the country's key strategic oil reserves. It has not updated that estimate ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
US wind falls back to 2007 levels
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2267357/wind-falls-back-2007-levels
Business Green: Wind power installations in he US to date this year have dropped by 57 per cent and 71 per cent from 2008 and 2009 levels, respectively, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). Around 700MW of wind energy capacity was added in the second quarter of 2010. US manufacturing investment has also fallen below 2008 and 2009 levels. The US Government's tendency to blow hot and cold over incentives like the renewable electricity standard (RES) is to blame, says the ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
A piece of change is put on hold
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_15639405
Times-Herald: Senate Democrats have formally given up on attempts to enact comprehensive energy and climate-change legislation this summer. Backers have hinted at trying again in the fall, perhaps even in a post-election lame-duck session, but that seems unlikely. Even if President Barack Obama doesn't lose his House and Senate majorities, he will almost surely be working with narrower margins. If, as Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid observed, the votes just weren't there for the bill this year, ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
U.N. panel to probe further Kyoto CO2-cut projects
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66T2DI20100730?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A United Nations climate panel will ask a sub-panel to investigate further claims that a Kyoto Protocol scheme may be incentivizing participants to emit more greenhouse gases, environmental groups said on Friday. Several carbon-cutting projects approved under Kyoto's $2.7 billion Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which helps provide carbon finance to emerging economies, have been accused by green groups of intentionally increasing their emissions in order to destroy them and collect ...

Sat, 31 Jul 10
EPA rejects challenge to climate rules
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40417.html
Politico: The Environmental Protection Agency Thursday rejected an effort to keep it from regulating greenhouse gas emissions, saying that e-mails released in last fall's "Climategate' scandal gave it no reason to reconsider the science of global warming. In a sternly written opinion, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said she didn't agree with requests from the GOP attorneys general from Texas and Virginia, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other conservative groups that questioned the underlying ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
China flood and oil spill response improves. Prevention? Not so much.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100729/wl_csm/316817
Christian Science Monitor: A string of disasters in China has highlighted the government's improved crisis response, but also the many challenges facing Beijing as it seeks to strike a balance between economic growth and protecting the environment. A large China oil spill near Dalian was followed on Wednesday by 3,000 chemical barrels being swept swept into a major river network in Jilin Province by flooding. The same day, authorities in Nanjing were struggling with the aftermath of a chemical explosion that ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
U.N. ends Kyoto CO2 offset drought ahead of key meeting
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66S4GD20100729?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' climate secretariat on Thursday issued 228,400 Kyoto Protocol carbon offsets to three Asian clean energy projects, ending a two-week issuance drought but failing to reassure concerned investors. The offsets, called Certified Emissions Reductions, were given to two Chinese wind farms and an Indian biomass facility, and represented the largest daily issuance since June 16. Under Kyoto's Clean Development Mechanism scheme, investors can fund cuts in greenhouse ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Heat damage to Russia crop past worst-official says
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66S4L420100729?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Russia's worst drought for decades is set to drag on for at least the next 7 days in some areas but further serious damage to grain crops is not expected, a senior government weather forecaster said on Thursday. Drought in some regions of Russia, one of the world's biggest wheat exporters, has sent global prices soaring to year highs in July, putting U.S. wheat futures on track for their biggest monthly gain since 1973. Grain traders say the rally shows signs of continuing, ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
US EPA denies challenges to greenhouse gas rule
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66S4VZ20100729?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday denied 10 petitions challenging EPA's 2009 finding that climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health and the environment. The EPA had received the petitions from states such as Texas and Virginia and groups like the Ohio Coal Association.

Fri, 30 Jul 10
EPA denies challenges to greenhouse gas rule
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66S52720100729?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday rejected 10 petitions challenging EPA's 2009 finding that climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health and the environment. The EPA received petitions questioning the scientific basis for the so-called endangerment finding -- which cleared the way for the EPA to curb carbon dioxide emissions -- from Texas and Virginia and groups like the Ohio Coal Association. With the U.S. Senate abandoning climate measures ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Majority of Californians oppose offshore drilling
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100729/us_nm/us_oil_spill_california_poll
Reuters: Three months into the worst oil spill in U.S. history, most Californians oppose offshore drilling, marking a strong shift in opinion on the issue, a poll has found. Some 59 percent of residents say they are against drilling for oil off the state's coastline while 36 percent are in favor, according to the Public Policy Institute of California survey released on Wednesday. Last year the same poll showed 43 percent were opposed to offshore drilling and 51 percent ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
EPA Rejects Challenges to Finding That Climate Change Is Threat to Health
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-29/epa-rejects-challenges-to-finding-that-climate-change-is-threat-to-health.html
Bloomberg: The Obama administration rejected challenges to its finding last year that climate change caused by emissions of greenhouse gases is a danger to public health. The Environmental Protection Agency found that 10 petitions contesting the decision as flawed "provide no evidence to undermine our determination," Administrator Lisa Jackson said today in a statement. Industry groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have said the EPA's carbon rules will be a drag on the ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Partisan bickering delays oil spill legislation
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100729/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_congress
Associated Press: Partisan disagreements in the Senate will delay passage of legislation responding to the Gulf oil spill until at least September, when Congress returns from its summer recess. The House is scheduled to vote on its bill Friday but will be out of town by the time the Senate takes up its version next week -- meaning Congress would have to wait to reconcile the differences. The Senate might not have the necessary 60 votes to advance the Democrats' energy and oil spill legislation, anyway, ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
More frequent, more intense heat waves in store for New York, climate scientists predict
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100729101613.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: Heat waves like those that baked the Northeast in July are likely to be more frequent and more intense in the future, with their effects amplified in densely built urban environments like Manhattan, according to climate scientists at The City College of New York (CCNY). "Manhattan is subject to an urban heat island effect because its physical landscape is significantly different from the surrounding suburbs," said Dr. Jorge Gonzalez, NOAA-CREST Professor of Mechanical Engineering in ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Climate Study Finds Evidence Of Continued Global Warming
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1898036/climate_study_finds_evidence_of_continued_global_warming/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: The Earth has been getting warmer over the past 50 years, and the past decade was the hottest in recorded history, according to the results of the 2009 State of the Climate report, which were released on Wednesday. The findings--the work of over 300 scientists from 160 different research organizations in 48 countries--analyzed "10 key climate indicators that all point to the same finding: the scientific evidence that our world is warming is unmistakable," according to a National ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Climate-change policy: Let it be
http://www.economist.com/node/16693691?story_id=16693691&fsrc=rss
Economist: "THE one approach I will not accept," said Barack Obama in June of Congress's faltering efforts to fight global warming, "is inaction." Instead, the president instructed America's lawmakers to "seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels". Yet the energy bill unveiled by the Democratic majority in the Senate on July 27th does nothing of the sort. Harry Reid, the majority leader, having earlier abandoned as hopeless an effort to limit America's emissions of greenhouse gases through a ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Greenpeace makes fresh allegations against Indonesian firm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100729/sc_afp/indonesiaforestsenvironmentspeciescompanysinarmas
Agence France-Presse: Greenpeace made fresh allegations Thursday that units of Indonesian paper and palm oil giant Sinar Mas are clearing high conservation-value forests including habitats of endangered orangutans. Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Bustar Maitar said new investigations showed Sinar Mas subsidiaries logging peat forests and orangutan habitats on Borneo island despite repeated promises to end such practices. "Our photos provide fresh evidence of Sinar Mas's continued active ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Texas proposes new rules for shale gas drilling
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100729/ap_on_bi_ge/tx_gas_drilling_environment
Associated Press: Texas environmental regulators have formally proposed beefing up regulations on oil and gas drilling, in an attempt to reduce air pollution caused when companies use new technology to extract natural gas trapped in deep shales. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality formally submitted the proposal on Wednesday, and the rules will enter a one-month public comment phase on Aug. 13. The new rules come after the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality was accused of having ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Keep the coal fires burning a bit longer, says energy analyst
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2267316/keep-coal-fires-burning-bit
Business Green: Britain should renegotiate its commitment to close old coal- and oil-fired power stations by 2015, so it can decarbonise generating capacity without racking up high costs for business and consumers, claims a report from energy analysts to be published next week. The European Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD), first drawn up in 1988, imposes tough limits on emissions of sulphur and nitrogen oxides. To stay within those limits, coal-fired stations will have to fit expensive ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Energy policy, smart meters and electric cars
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/analysis/2267318/energy-policy-smart-meters
Business Green: Coincidental with DECC's release of its energy review, consultancy Arthur D Little is publishing a report on energy policy, Realigning UK energy policy -- from a high-cost, low-output system to a robust, cost-efficient infrastructure. BusinessGreen.com spoke to Nick White, UK managing director and energy practice leader at the consultancy and co-author of the report. BusinessGreen.com: Your report is quite critical of UK energy policy up until now, especially the recent emphasis on ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Fight Gears Up on Biomass
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/fight-gears-up-on-biomass/
New York Tiimes: There is evidently no form of energy, including renewable energy, that lacks opposition. A big spat right now centers on biomass power plants. Biomass is a broad category that encompasses everything from burning whole trees to burning leftover wood chips, agricultural residues or household garbage. The focus of the argument is currently in Massachusetts, where state regulators are considering raising the bar for biomass plants. Supporters say that cutting down trees to make ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
NC expert: Gulf oil unlikely to reach East Coast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100729/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_east_coast
Associated Press: An expert on marine sciences and coastal circulation says it's unlikely oil from BP's massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico will reach the East Coast. Roy He of North Carolina State University said Thursday the chances are low in part because the well is capped for now. BP expects to permanently kill it soon. He also says large amounts of oil haven't been observed in the Loop Current, which could carry oil around Florida and into East Coast waters. He also points to the ongoing ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Rwanda: REMA Launches Climate Change Project
http://allafrica.com/stories/201007290381.html
ALLAFRICA: Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), On Tuesday, launched a four year project aimed at protecting the population from the negative effects of climate change. Speaking during the launch, the environmental consultant, Mito Toshikazu, said the project will curtail future climate change consequences such as floods and landslides. "The project will reduce the causes of climate change by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases," Mito said. "It will sensitize the ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Boris' bike scheme goes live tomorrow
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2267294/boris-bike-scheme-goes-live
Business Green: The Mayor of London's cycle hire scheme sponsored by Barclays Bank launches tomorrow with cycles available for pre-registered members from 6am. Mayor Boris Johnson, himself a keen cyclist, has enthusiastically fronted the schem which aims to generate up to 40,000 extra cycle trips a day in central London, reducing car journeys, easing congestion on public transport and helping citizens to lead healthier life styles. But the scheme is not cheap to use. The initial Â£3 joining ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Where next for the wrecked US climate bill?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/29/wrecked-us-climate-bill
Yale Environment 360: Following the rocky path of climate legislation in the U.S. Congress these past years brought me back to the 1980s, and my time as a crime reporter in New York City. After a shooting in those days, a homicide detective named Marty Davin would go to the hospital and intercept the gunshot victim on a gurney outside the emergency room. If the victim was conscious, Davin would lean over and ask, "Who killed you?" That usually got the victim's attention, along with an I'm-not-dead-yet ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Marine 'hot spots' surprise researchers
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/07/28/marine-biodiversity-study.html
CBC: Ocean warming such as that due to climate change may rearrange the distribution of marine life, harming some species, according to a new study conducted by researchers from Dalhousie University in Halifax. A newly discovered species and genus of the burrower loriciferan, found at 4,141 metres depth in the Atlantic's Guinea Basin south of Cote d'Ivoire, Africa, is seen in this photo taken during the Census of Marine Life. (Census of Marine Life) However, the study published ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Pickens, Home Depot win in Senate's energy measure
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-28/pickens-home-depot-win-in-senate-s-energy-measure.html
Business Week: Boone Pickens, the billionaire energy hedge-fund manager, and Home Depot Inc., the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, are winners in energy legislation that fails to help solar-panel and wind-turbine makers. The measure proposed yesterday by Senate Democrats would give Pickens victory in his lobbying campaign for more use of natural gas, providing $3.8 billion in rebates for cars and trucks powered by the fuel. Home Depot would benefit from provisions to channel $5 billion in ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Judge backs biomass land-use change
http://www.bradenton.com/2010/07/29/2466663/judge-backs-biomass-land-use-change.html
Bradenton: The developer of a proposed biomass power-generating plant near Port Manatee has scored its first legal victory, but the battle over the project is not yet over. An administrative law judge recommended Wednesday that the state approve a proposed Manatee County land-use change that would allow the plant at U.S. 41 and Armstrong Road. In doing so, the judge rejected a neighboring property owner's contention that the change did not meet state law. "Petitioner has failed to ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Climate extremes fuel hunger in Guatemala
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ips/73b7489bb3c5811e3734645b9e9885cb.htm
Reuters: "Three-quarters of the fields are still under water. Maize, plantains, okra and pasture are all lost," JosÃ© Asencio told IPS at the village of Santa Ana MixtÃ¡n in southern Guatemala, the area worst affected by tropical storm Agatha. The villagers have been working for food in order to survive. "We've been shoring up the banks of the Coyolate and Mascalate rivers, and the mayor has been giving us food rations, although we haven't received any for the past two weeks because supplies have run ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Corals on the brink, warns expert
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/7/29/nation/6746036&sec=nation
Star: Some 90% of Malaysia's corals are dead due to global warming, and the reefs may never recover unless the people switch to a greener lifestyle. Universiti Sains Malaysia marine biologist Prof Dr Zulfigar Yassin said the lack of coral reefs, which provide a home to many marine species, would lead to fewer fishes in the ocean and hurt the fishing industry. Noting that coral life depends on how long it has been exposed to bleaching and its frequency, he said that even with measures ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Greece to invest Â€12 billion in "green growth" by 2015
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/58963
Reuters: Greece said on Wednesday it will invest 12 billion euros ($15.59 billion) on environmental and energy projects over the next five years to boost its ailing economy and create new jobs. The projects, ranging from renewables to town planning, may attract an additional 32 billion euros of private funds and create 192,000 jobs, Environment Minister Tina Birbili said. Greece needs to spur economic growth to fight rising unemployment and generate revenues to help pay down its debt ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Earth's climate future may be etched in Greenland bedrock
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/afp/earths-climate-future-may-be-etched-in-greenland-bedrock/388350
Jakarta Globe: Ice core samples from Eemian period 130,000 to 115,000 years ago -- the last time Earth's climate was a few degrees warmer than today -- could help forecast the impacts of current global warming, the researchers said. "Our findings will increase our knowledge on the climate system and increase our ability to predict the speed and final height of sea level rise," said Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, an ice expert at the University of Copenhagen and head of the project. "If the Eemian was ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
GM takes on Nissan in electric car battle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/27/BUMA1EKNEO.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: The next phase in the rebirth of the electric car is turning into a battle between General Motors and Nissan Motor Co. GM executives, speaking Tuesday at a plug-in car conference in San Jose, said their Chevrolet Volt will cost $41,000 when it hits the market later this year. The price had been the subject of intense speculation for years. That price puts the Volt in competition with the electric Nissan Leaf, which will cost $32,780 when it appears in December. Buyers of both ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
EU slashes low-carbon subsidies as budgets shrink
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/07/29/29climatewire-europe-slashes-low-carbon-energy-subsidies-a-61653.html
ClimateWire: What appears to be a bonfire of low-carbon energy subsidies has been lit in Europe as cash-strapped countries grapple with their empty coffers and start to cut back on what many see as over-generous support for industries from wind to solar that has created a green energy bubble. Spain, Germany, France, Italy and the Czech Republic have all announced subsidy cuts, and there are fears that the United Kingdom, making budget cuts across the board as it desperately seeks to reduce a ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Sea finds offer clues to climate change
http://www.metronews.ca/halifax/local/article/589467--sea-finds-offer-clues-to-climate-change
Metro News: When samples were dragged up from the ocean to the deck of the Canadian Coast Guard ship Hudson in the past month, scientists found more than they bargained for. Kevin MacIsaac, a Dartmouth-based scientist, said some undiscovered sea creatures tagged along for the ride. They found 10 possibly brand new species of coral and sponges, as well as others that are new to this area. Some of the samples will give scientists a better understanding of the effects of climate change ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Phytoplankton worldwide have been shrinking for 100 years
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-phytoplankton-20100729,0,6579046.story
LA Times: The world's phytoplankton appear to have been disappearing at a rate of about 1% a year for the last century, researchers announced Wednesday, a disturbing long-term trend for the microscopic algae that form the basis of the marine food chain and produce much of the world's oxygen. In reporting their findings in the journal Nature, the Canadian team said that, since 1950, phytoplankton biomass has shrunk about 40%. Scientists had known the population was shrinking, but the long-term ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Russia: Moscow chokes in smog amid record heat wave
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-moscow-smog-fires-20100729,0,855546.story
LA Times: As peat fires raged on the outskirts of town, shrouding Moscow in a thick cloud of smog, residents Wednesday sought to cope with a record-breaking heat wave that is expected to intensify further. Public health officials urged workers in non-essential jobs to stay home and people not to drive their cars as weather forecasters predicted temperatures exceeding 102 degrees Thursday, in a city more used to icy spells than such heat. With more than 1,480 fires in two weeks, the smog ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Lugar urges ethanol ruling
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100729/NEWS03/307299925/1002/LOCAL
Journal Gazette: The campaign to delay or even derail a proposed increase in the amount of ethanol in gasoline sold at U.S. pumps is misguided, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said Wednesday. Two environmental groups have joined with the oil industry to lobby Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency against a proposal to increase the amount of ethanol in gas to 15 percent. The EPA has said it will announce by the end of September whether tests show that newer car engines can handle fuel with 15 ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
WWF sorry for Saudi offenses
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/07/29/WWF-sorry-for-Saudi-offenses/UPI-93741280409845/
United Press International: Defiling the nameplate of Saudi Arabia at a U.N. climate change summit in Germany in June was unacceptable, environmental group WWF said. An unnamed employee of the World Wide Fund for Nature at the June meeting of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change caused a stir when the employee broke the nameplate of Saudi Arabia, dropped it into a toilet and distributed photographs of the defilement, the BBC reported. Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is often the target of environmental ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
California Republicans shunning one traditional path to victory: the environment
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-environment-20100729,0,5523418.story
LA Times: For decades, Republicans who won statewide office in California found success, at least in part, by showing sensitivity to voters' commitment to protecting the environment. But with state unemployment hovering at more than 12%, the two GOP candidates at the top of the ticket this year are betting that voters' concerns about jobs and economic uncertainty will trump any desire for environmental crusades. Republican Senate nominee Carly Fiorina has spent months charging Democratic ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Australia: Adaptation the best climate change policy
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2967794.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: We all know climate change was a major issue in the 2007 election. So much so that both Labor and the Coalition pledged to implement an emissions trading scheme in order to reduce the nation's carbon footprint. But those days are over: Copenhagen, the GFC, Tony Abbott's rise, climate-gate and glacier-gate have changed the politics of global warming. In 2010, although the media has dedicated much time and interest to both Labor and the Coalition's climate platforms, the issue itself is ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Climate Change Crosses County Lines
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:1063456
Austin Chronicle: Without Climate Change This map shows the anticipated risk of water shortages using traditional water-supply modeling. The predictions are based on "business-as-usual" assumptions about growth, energy and water consumption, agriculture, and so forth. Under that traditional scenario, Travis County rates high for risk of shortages. The global-warming perils for polar bears can seem pretty remote, but a new study released last week by the Natural Resources Defense Council brings the ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Gulf spill lacks societal punch of Santa Barbara
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100729/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_shaping_society
Associated Press: In 1969, Sen. Gaylord Nelson was so moved after seeing the devastation of an oil spill off the California coast near Santa Barbara that he called for a national teach-in on the environment. The resulting "Earth Day" the following year kick-started the modern environmental movement and shaped the way Americans thought about their air, water and soil. Forty years later, the magnitude of the Gulf oil spill far exceeds Santa Barbara's spill of up to 100,000 barrels, but there hasn't been ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
The BP Spill: Has the Damage Been Exaggerated?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100729/us_time/08599200720200
Time: President Obama has called the BP oil spill "the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced," and so has just about everyone else. Green groups are sounding alarms about the "Catastrophe Along the Gulf Coast," while CBS, Fox and MSNBC slap "Disaster in the Gulf" chryons on all their spill-related news. Even BP fall guy Tony Hayward, after some early happy talk, admitted the spill was an "environmental catastrophe." The obnoxious anti-environmentalist Rush Limbaugh has been a rare ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Expert: Win climate change debate by easing off science
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20100729/VALLEYNEWS/100729865/1083&ParentProfile=1074
Glenwood Springs Post Independent: The battle to get Americans to accept the science behind climate change has been "lost," an expert at the Aspen Environment Forum declared Wednesday, but there's still a way to win the war to reduce carbon emissions. Jonathan Foley, director of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota, said leaders on climate change need to concentrate on changing behavior in ways that appeal to people -- and also happen to reduce carbon emissions. "Climate scientists -- ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Russian subs dive deep for new energy sources
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10796629
BBC: Russia has some of the largest energy reserves in the world, but it keeps searching for new sources - even if it means going underwater. Two Russian deep-water submersibles have once again taken a dive in Lake Baikal, to study recently found fields of gas hydrates, a possible fuel of the future. Baikal is the world's deepest, oldest freshwater basin and one of the most biologically diverse. Located in East Siberia close to the Mongolian border, the lake holds one-fifth ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Hire scheme aims to get Londoners on bikes
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66S20S20100729?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A fleet of 6,000 bicycles for hire will hit the streets of central London on Friday when the city's mayor Boris Johnson launches a scheme intended to fuel a cycling revolution in the congested capital. The initiative, which follows similar projects in cities including Paris and Montreal, aims to ease overcrowding on London's commuter network, with 400 bicycle "docking stations" from Notting Hill in the west to the Tower of London in the east. "The new system could transform the ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
HSBC tapped to sell BP's stake in Vietnam gas project
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100729/ts_nm/us_bp_vietnam
Reuters: BP has tapped HSBC to sell its stake in the Nam Con Son gas project in Vietnam, as it scrambles to hive off $30 billion of assets to pay for the clean-up of the worst oil spill in U.S. history, three sources said. The British oil giant, which is on a campaign to sell a host of assets from Pakistan to Egypt, said last week it is seeking a buyer for its stake in the Nam Con Son gas project offshore southern Ho Chi Minh City, worth $966 million by one estimate. India's state-run ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Indonesian people-not international donors or orangutan conservationists-will determine the ultimate fate of Indonesia's
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0729-interview_meijaard.html
Mongabay: With 18,000 islands spanning two major bigeographic realms (and a curious outlier in Sulawesi) across an area of nearly 2 million square kilometers, Indonesia is one of the world's most biodiverse countries. It has the world's third largest extent of tropical forests, has the planet's richest coral reefs, and is home to more than 12 percent of plant and animal species. Indonesia is culturally rich as well. Its hundreds of cultures speak more than 500 languages. But Indonesia's ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Scientists say global warming is continuing
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/28/AR2010072803904.html
Washington Post: Scientists from around the world are providing even more evidence of global warming, one day after President Barack Obama renewed his call for climate legislation. "A comprehensive review of key climate indicators confirms the world is warming and the past decade was the warmest on record," the annual State of the Climate report declares. Compiled by more than 300 scientists from 48 countries, the report said its analysis of 10 indicators that are "clearly and directly related ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
Canadian researchers hope to green the web and make Canada the world's web server
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/canadian-researchers-hope-to-green-the-web-and-make-canada-the-worlds-web-server/article1654917/
Canadian Press: Canadian researchers hope to stem the global IT industry's rampant output of greenhouse gas emissions by perfecting a way to host the Internet's content purely on green power. And if their experiment succeeds, Canada could essentially become the world's largest Internet server -- powered with almost no carbon footprint -- and help reduce one of the most significant, growing sources of pollution. The GreenStar Network is a two-year project funded by the Canadian Advanced Network ...

Fri, 30 Jul 10
China: City ready to combat flooding
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2010/201007/20100729/article_444621.htm
Shanghai Daily: SHANGHAI has completed construction of a 523-kilometer flood-control dike able to combat severe flooding, local officials told a disaster risk reduction forum in Shanghai yesterday, the 34th anniversary of the Tangshan Earthquake. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake which hit Hebei Province's Tangshan City in July 28, 1976, killed more than 242,000 people. The forum organizer, the DEVNET Pavilion at the World Expo, teamed up United Nations' agencies and local governments to gather ...

Tue, 27 Jul 10
Unaccounted Feedbacks From Climate-Induced Ecosystem Changes May Increase Future Climate Warming
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1895995/unaccounted_feedbacks_from_climateinduced_ecosystem_changes_may_increase_future_climate/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: The terrestrial biosphere regulates atmospheric composition, and hence climate. Projections of future climate changes already account for "carbon-climate feedbacks", which means that more CO2 is released from soils in a warming climate than is taken up by plants due to photosynthesis. Climate changes will also lead to increases in the emission of CO2 and methane from wetlands, nitrous oxides from soils, volatile organic compounds from forests, and trace gases and soot from fires. All these ...

Tue, 27 Jul 10
Converging weather patterns caused last winter's huge snows in U.S
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100726124408.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: The memory of last winter's blizzards may be fading in this summer's searing heat, but scientists studying them have detected a perfect storm of converging weather patterns that had little relation to climate change. The extraordinarily cold, snowy weather that hit parts of the U.S. East Coast and Europe was the result of a collision of two periodic weather patterns in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, a new study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters finds. It was the snowiest ...

Tue, 27 Jul 10
Urban Air Pollutants Can Damage IQs Before Baby s First Breath
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=urban-air-pollutants-can-damage-iqs-before-babys-first-breath
Scientific American: In a sweltering summer in New York City back in 1999, Yolanda Baldwin was eight months pregnant with her first child. She lived near a gas station and across the street from an intersection choked with exhaust-spewing cars and buses. Sometimes the air was so thick with pollution that she could see it, breathe it, smell it, even taste it. And she often wondered what it might be doing to her unborn child. Now Baldwin and several hundred other mothers whose sons and daughters have been ...

Tue, 27 Jul 10
Iran ready to resume nuclear fuel swap talks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/26/iran-nuclear-fuel-swap-talks
Reuters: Iran said today it was ready to return to talks on a nuclear fuel swap, a surprise that came shortly after the EU agreed tougher sanctions, including a block on oil and gas investment. Shortly after EU foreign ministers approved extra restrictions that went well beyond UN sanctions agreed last month, Iran said it was prepared to return to negotiations on a nuclear fuel swap "without conditions", according to the official IRNA news agency. Talking of a letter that Iran handed to ...

Tue, 27 Jul 10
The Right and the Climate
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/opinion/26douthat.html?_r=5
New York Times: Climate change legislation has been dying in the Senate for months now, but Harry Reid's decision to finally admit as much – in the midst of an endless East Coast heat wave, no less – has supporters of cap-and-trade casting about for somebody to blame. They've blamed the Obama administration, for prioritizing health care reform over an energy bill. They've blamed the American people, for being too concerned with economic issues to grapple with longer-term threats. And they've blamed figures ...

Tue, 27 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Engineers race to design world's biggest offshore wind turbines
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/26/offshore-turbine-britain
Guardian: British, American and Norwegian engineers are in a race to design and build the holy grail of wind turbines – giant, 10MW offshore machines twice the size and power of anything seen before – that could transform the global energy market because of their economies of scale. Today, a revolutionary British design that mimics a spinning sycamore leaf and which was inspired by floating oil platform technology, entered the race. Leading engineering firm Arup is to work with an academic ...

Tue, 27 Jul 10
Senate Democrats to introduce energy bill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66P0WD20100726?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hopes to unveil his pared-back U.S. energy bill on Tuesday that focuses on reforming offshore oil drilling but Republicans were quick to dismiss its chances of passing. The bill would aim to hold BP Plc accountable for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill and boost investment in vehicles fueled by natural gas and electricity. Democrats, who last week abandoned a key Obama administration effort to forge a broad climate bill because of a lack of votes, ...

Tue, 27 Jul 10
Carbon policies will drive heavy industry out of UK, warns report
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2267081/carbon-policies-drive-heavy
Business Green: Rising energy prices and the Government's climate change policies will drive energy intensive industries overseas, warns a report published jointly today by the Energy-Intensive Users Group (EIUG) and the TUC. The Cumulative Impact of Climate Change Policies on UK Energy Intensive Industries cites steel making, ceramics, paper, cement and lime manufacture, aluminium and basic inorganic chemicals as industries based in the UK which face increases in their energy costs of up to 141 per ...

Mon, 26 Jul 10
Brazilian Indians take hostages at Amazon dam site
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66O20L20100725?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Brazilian native Indians on Sunday took 100 workers hostage at the construction site of a hydroelectric plant in the southern Amazon region, local media reported. As many as 400 Indians from several different tribes occupied a power plant they say was built on an ancient burial site. "They didn't take into account the situation of the Indians. The company used dynamite to blow up part of an archeological site," Antonio Carlos Ferreira de Aquino, a local administrator with the ...

Mon, 26 Jul 10
Greens attack Labor's inaction on carbon price
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/7645026/greens-attack-labors-inaction-on-carbon-price/
West Australian: Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has defended Labor's green credentials in the face of attacks by environmentalists frustrated by the lack of action on global warming, saying a carbon price will eventually be introduced. The Government has announced policies that offer cash handouts and tax breaks to motorists and building owners to cut greenhouse gases in the wake of its dumping of the emissions trading scheme, which was due to start next year but foundered in the Senate. Prime ...

Mon, 26 Jul 10
Bainimarama calls on leaders to address climate change
http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/regional/7221-bainimarama-calls-on-leaders-to-address-climate-change
Solomon Star: Fiji Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama last week told leaders at the Engaging with the Pacific meeting that the Pacific small islands states must make a stand on Climate Change. " We the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) face a number of challenges that are peculiar to us," he said. "We are at the cold face of climate change and some face almost complete annihilation or at best, changes in the way we live and reconfigurations of our economic base and ...

Mon, 26 Jul 10
Hayward leaving behind daunting tasks at BP
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100726/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_bp_what_s_next
Associated Press: For BP, removing Tony Hayward is just the beginning. The departure of the man who became the vilified public face of the Gulf oil spill changes very little for BP. His successor still faces what could be decades of cleaning up and paying for one of the worst environmental disasters in American history. Experts said Sunday that the new chief must also persuade thousands of employees to embrace a culture of safety that Hayward apparently failed to instill. He'll need to mend ...

Mon, 26 Jul 10
A look at Tony Hayward's tenure with BP
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100726/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_timeline
Associated Press: Here's a look at Tony Hayward's tenure with BP: 1982: Hayward joins the company as a rig geologist in the North Sea. March 23, 2005: An explosion at a BP refinery in Texas City kills 15 people and injures 170. March 2006: More than 200,000 gallons of oil spill from a BP pipeline in Alaska, the largest-ever spill on Alaska's oil-rich North Slope. BP eventually pays about $20 million in fines. May 2007: Hayward, head of exploration and production, takes over as CEO ...

Mon, 26 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Offshore wind needs Â£10bn to avoid missing green targets
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/offshore-wind-needs-16310bn-to-avoid-missing-green-targets-2035551.html
Independent (UK): Britain's offshore wind ambitions will face a Â£10bn funding gap within five years, energy experts will warn today, and the Government's legally-binding 2020 green targets will not be met unless the deficit can be closed. This comes a day after Energy Minister Chris Huhne revealed plans for a huge expansion of the UK's wind turbines, saying wind power would be an "important part" of meeting the country's energy demands in the future. A whopping Â£30bn of capital investment in ...

Mon, 26 Jul 10
Gulf Fisheries' Future In Doubt
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128752952&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Many fishermen and their boats are now working with BP in the oil spill cleanup effort, and the coastal waters which provide some of the most productive fishing are still closed. Even after all the oil is gone, it will likely be years before the Gulf fishing industry is as productive as it once was.

Mon, 26 Jul 10
Australia: The horror of a year in climate La La Land
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/the-horror-of-a-year-in-climate-la-la-land/story-e6frezz0-1225896722748
Daily Telegraph: NOT that she really needs another vote, the polls being where they now are, but Prime Minister Julia Gillard's climate speech last week absolutely guaranteed my support. "If we are re-elected," Gillard announced, "I will develop a dedicated process, a Citizens' Assembly, to examine over 12 months the evidence on climate change, the case for action and the possible consequences of introducing a market-based approach to limiting and reducing carbon emissions." Now, this I've just ...

Mon, 26 Jul 10
Montana-Saskatchewan climate project shelved
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100725/ap_on_bi_ge/us_climate_project_stalled
Associated Press: Money troubles have stalled indefinitely a proposal to capture carbon dioxide emissions from a Canadian coal plant and store the gas underground in Montana -- a largely unproven concept considered key for addressing climate change. Montana and Saskatchewan's elected leaders had sought $100 million from each of their federal governments for the proposal, but have failed to deliver the money. It was billed as an industrial-scale test of technologies that could reduce carbon ...

Mon, 26 Jul 10
Who's really accountable for the BP oil spill?
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0725-raybould_bpspill.html
Mongabay: Reading articles in the newspapers recently and online, I find the media's focus is on scrutinizing BP's way of paying for the damage done when an estimated 76,934,000 gallons of their oil leaked out into the Gulf of Mexico after the explosion of their Deepwater Horizon rig in April. It is not that they are being criticised for not standing up and taking full responsibility for their recklessness that caused the spill, but instead they are being accused of not paying enough money for its ...

Mon, 26 Jul 10
The science of climate change is alive and well
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/839644--the-science-of-climate-change-is-alive-and-well
Toronto Star: An inquiry into the "climategate" controversy reported recently what the scientific community and most Canadians have known for some time: the climate is changing and human activities are a major influence. The salient facts of climate change (including human-induced global warming) are accepted by the science academies of all G8 countries. These facts are persistently challenged by climate change deniers and skeptics. In climategate, scientists' emails were stolen and ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Australia: Debate climate change Julia, urges Stephen Newnham
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/debate-climate-change-julia-urges-stephen-newnham/story-e6frf7jo-1225896555034
Herald Sun: TONIGHT Julia Gillard needs to demonstrate to suburban voters she is on their side. Julia Gillard lives in Altona and it shows. But she needs to demonstrate that she shares the views of Altona. There are two ways of doing that - climate change and the proposed internet filter. While most of us are legitimately concerned about climate change, we are equally concerned that many of the "solutions" proposed will have a dramatic impact on our lives - and not necessarily for ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Australia: Climate change policy feels heat
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/climate-change-policy-feels-heat/story-fn59niix-1225896295616
Australian: TONY Abbott has attacked Julia Gillard's planned citizens assembly as "camouflage for the coming carbon tax". Campaigning in Perth, the Opposition Leader said Ms Gillard had said she wanted a price on carbon as had Greens leader Bob Brown, adding that it was inevitable under a returned Labor government because of the Greens-ALP preferences deal. "The Gillard-Brown secret green preference deal will give the Greens almost certainly control of the Senate. If the government is ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Australia PM offers 'cash for clunkers' climate policy
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100724/sc_afp/australiavoteclimatewarming_20100724072508
Agence France-Presse: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard Saturday pledged 400 million dollars (360 million US) to take old cars off the road and vowed to impose tougher fuel standards as part of her election policy on climate change. Gillard, who is seeking a second term for the ruling centre-left Labor party, said she would offer a 2,000 dollar rebate for people to trade in a car built before 1995 for greener hybrid models. "Australians own a lot of old motor cars, and those old cars guzzle a ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Gulf of Mexico storm nears BP oil spill zone
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100724/wl_uk_afp/usweatherstormbonnie
Agence France-Presse: A storm system moving across the Gulf of Mexico and disrupting oil clean-up efforts weakened significantly early Saturday, with forecasters saying it was likely to peter out in a few hours. At 1100 GMT, the National Hurricane Center reported that Bonnie was encountering atmospheric events over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico that were blunting its punch. Its center was located 260 kilometers (160 miles) southwest of Apalachicola, Florida, and 345 kilometers (215 miles) ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Iran launches nuclear fusion bid
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10749405
BBC: Iran has launched a programme aimed at developing a nuclear fusion reactor - an ambition long-cherished by Western nations. Asghar Sediqzadeh, head of the fusion research institute, said initial studies would last for two years, and a reactor would take 10 years to build. Fusion is used in hydrogen bombs, but scientists have been unable to harness the energy created in such reactions. Iran is already under UN sanctions because of its nuclear activities. Iran ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Ebook launched to help climate change
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/ebook-launched-to-help-climate-change-20100724-10piq.html
AAP: A free online book outlining 20 simple things children can do to help the environment in their own backyard is being launched on Sunday. Climate Change In My Backyard is the brainchild of the book's sponsor Ron Smith and environmentalist Bob Winters and can be accessed on www.thelittlegreenbooks.com. Some of the ideas put forward in the 27-page book are composting garden waste, setting up a worm farm, recruiting a couple of chickens to eat food scraps while fertilising the ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Obama and oil spill: Lessons from corporate world
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100724/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_ceo_obama
Associated Press: As chief executive officer of America Inc., Barack Obama has walked the factory floor when it comes to managing the federal response to the Gulf oil spill, going directly to front-line workers. He's used wiles respected in the boardroom in wringing a $20 billion commitment from BP. But what was that talk about kicking butt? That's so assembly line Ford Motor Co., circa 1930. And why on Earth did it take him so long to talk to BP's chief? A real CEO would have had Tony ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Australia: Climate assembly to receive 'range of information'
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/24/2963372.htm?section=justin
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has indicated her citizens' assembly on climate change will be given a range of information on the topic. Ms Gillard wants a group of 150 Australians to give her advice on how to deal with climate change. Labor is yet to provide specific details on how the group will be selected or what information they will be given. Ms Gillard was today asked whether the assembly will hear from scientists who believe in man-made climate change and those who ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Graphene organic photovoltaics: Flexible material only a few atoms thick may offer cheap solar power
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100723095430.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: "Organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells have been proposed as a means to achieve low cost energy due to their ease of manufacture, light weight, and compatibility with flexible substrates," wrote Chongwu Zhou, a professor of electrical engineering in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, in a paper recently published in the journal ACS Nano. The technique described in the article describes progress toward a novel OPV cell design that has significant advantages, particularly in the area of ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Charging up electric car batteries in environmentally-friendly way
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100421111353.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: Electromobility makes sense only if car batteries are charged using electricity from renewable energy sources. But the supply of green electricity is not always adequate. An intelligent charging station can help, by adapting the recharging times to suit energy supply and network capacity. Germany aims to have one million electric vehicles -- powered by energy from renewable sources -on the road by 2020. And, within ten years, the German environment ministry expects "green electricity" ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Building green without losing greenbacks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/23/AR2010072300085.html
Washington Post: Although home builders have the opportunity to make a huge impact on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing global warming, very few mention it in their sales pitches. To make a difference, home builders do not have to reinvent the house; they simply have to build ones that use less energy. Their challenges are minor compared with those faced by automakers shifting to plug-in hybrids, electric, and hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered cars. Builders can achieve significantly ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Ontario faces U.S. challenge in developing Great Lakes wind power
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/839471--ontario-faces-u-s-challenge-in-developing-great-lakes-wind-power
Toronto Star: Anders Soe-Jensen shows enthusiasm, he cites opportunity, he trumpets potential, but when asked if Denmark-based Vestas has plans to manufacture offshore wind turbines in Ontario the good-humoured executive backs away from commitment. The tease. "It's too early," he said, sipping coffee at a downtown hotel one morning. Still, as global president of Vestas' offshore wind division, Soe-Jensen made it clear that the province – and more generally, the prospect of developing ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Canada: The energy bridge to China
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/the-energy-bridge-to-china/article1650078/
Globe and Mail: They are the scouts of a new frontier, slipping beneath the Lions Gate Bridge. Few notice, and even fewer understand their importance. But the growing numbers of crude tankers steaming past Vancouver to the Pacific are quietly rewriting the politics and economics of Canadian energy. Their destination: China, land of mounting energy thirst and growing energy might. The first vessel, loaded with Alberta crude, set sail roughly half-a-decade ago. Ever since, the numbers have ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
How to purchase a carbon offset you can trust
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/carbon-offset-guide
Daily Green: You've got your bags packed full of all-natural sunscreens and bugsprays, a map of the local markets you can't miss and a trail guide for the nature hot-spots you'll be checking out while you're there. It sounds like it will be the perfect eco-friendly vacation, but there's still a problem. You have to get there, and getting there will take a lot of carbon, not exactly living up to your green vacation ideal. So carbon offsets are the answer, right? Carbon offsets are provided by ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Australia: Julia Gillard says she will pay $2000 to get old cars off the road
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/julia-gillard-says-she-will-pay-2000-to-get-old-cars-off-the-road/story-fn59niix-1225896392135
Australian: AUSTRALIANS who trade in older cars for more fuel-efficient vehicles will be eligible for a $2000 rebate under a new initiative unveiled by Labor. Julia Gillard also announced stricter compulsory pollution standards for new cars from 2015, adding new elements to Labor's climate policy. The Prime Minister said the $394 million cleaner car rebate would help take some 200,000 pre-1995 vehicles off the road over four years from January 1, 2011 to the end of 2014. However, ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
British Airways plans sustainable jet fuel from food waste
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/search-for-a-natural-high-20100723-10nt4.html
Sydney Morning Herald: British Airways will experiment with food leftovers and household waste to make jet fuel, writes Nick Galvin. If all goes to plan, by 2014 you could find yourself aboard a British Airways flight powered by lawn clippings, food leftovers and other waste. The airline has announced plans to set up what it claims is the first ''sustainable jet-fuel plant in Europe'' to power part of its fleet. The plant, in east London, will take 500,000 tonnes of domestic and municipal waste each ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Ethanol subsidy renewal in doubt
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100724/BUSINESS01/7240332/1001/NEWS/Ethanol-subsidy-renewal-in-doubt
Des Moines Register: The sultry days of July in the nation's capital haven't been kind to Iowa's biofuels industry. The ethanol industry is fracturing and under attack inside and outside the Capitol. The industry's 45-cent-a-gallon subsidy is due to end at the end of the year, but energy bills that could provide a means of extending the tax credit have been delayed, throwing the legislation's future in doubt. "My sense all along was that it would get extended at least for a year, but I'm not so ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Coal leader optimistic on carbon tax
http://www.register-herald.com/todaysfrontpage/x972388069/Coal-leader-is-optimistic-on-carbon-tax-measure
Register-Herald: The leader of the state`s biggest coal industry advocacy group expressed optimism concerning developments in the U.S. Senate related to efforts to pass climate change legislation this year. Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, reacted Friday to reports out of Washington that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has withdrawn the Senate`s present carbon reduction legislation, with the intention of drafting a new plan aimed at addressing the oil spill in the Gulf of ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Towering northwest forests stand out in global map
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/towering_northwest_forests_sta.html
Oregonian: Nowhere on Earth can you find forests as tall and vast as those in the Pacific Northwest. They make Canada's great boreal forests look like shrubs. Amazon rain forest trees are mere halflings by comparison. On a scale from one to 10, our forests go to 11. That's strikingly clear in the first global-scale map charting the heights of the world's forests. Michael Lefsky, a former Oregon State University scientist now at Colorado State University, devised a way to combine millions of ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Drilling down on fracking
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=10-P13-00030&segmentID=5
Living on Earth: YOUNG: Natural gas is a hot topic. A spate of high profile reports and a series of public hearings this month explore the pros and cons of this booming energy source. The Environmental Protection Agency is getting public input as it considers regulation for what's commonly called "fracking." Hydraulic fracturing releases natural gas from deep in the earth by injecting water and chemicals into layers of shale. As EPA is hearing, fracking is also creating problems. Colorado resident ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Critics blast emissions forum as more hot air
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/critics-blast-emissions-forum-as-more-hot-air-20100724-10pxd.html
Sydney Morning Herald: Labor's proposal for a citizen's assembly on climate change has been derided by environment groups, scientists and economists who say it will delay urgently needed action. Economist and Reserve Bank board member Warwick McKibbin said the government's climate policy was ''extremely disappointing''. ''The science and expert input has made a strong case for action for more than a decade,'' he said. ''What would be required to come out of a citizens' assembly to convince the ...

Sun, 25 Jul 10
Flooding, tornadoes in Midwest as storms continue
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66N1NA20100724?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Powerful storms spawned by intense heat and humidity produced flooding and tornadoes in the Midwestern United States on Saturday, disrupting travel and cutting power to thousands of homes. The National Weather Service said more than 7.5 inches of rain -- the amount the city would see over two months during a normal summer -- fell at Midway Airport in Chicago in the past day. "A large area is being impacted by this system," said Jack Hales, a weather service forecaster based in ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Harry Reid: Senate will abandon cap-and-trade energy reform
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100722/ts_csm/315779
Christian Science Monitor: After weeks of intense negotiations, Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada announced Thursday that comprehensive energy reform meant to address climate change could not be passed before the August break. The third leg of President Obama's domestic agenda "" after health care and financial reform "" energy reform is the last to come before the Senate, although in a more limited form than the game-changing overhaul the White House promised. Senator Reid said he'll take a ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Democrats Call Off Climate Bill Effort
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/us/politics/23cong.html?_r=5&partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: The effort to advance a major climate change bill through the Senate this summer collapsed Thursday even as President Obama signed into law another top Democratic priority – a bill to restore unemployment benefits for millions of Americans who have been out of work for six months or more. Bowing to political reality, Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and majority leader, said the Senate would not take up legislation intended to reduce carbon emissions blamed as a cause of ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
BP's Partners in Well Try to Distance Themselves
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/us/23liability.html?_r=5&partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: BP's partners in the blown-out Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico distanced themselves from the oil giant in a Senate subcommittee hearing on Thursday, though their arguments encountered a skeptical audience. "Our view is that this accident was preventable," said James T. Hackett, chief executive of the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, a part owner in the well. The well is owned jointly by BP and its investment partners, Anadarko and a subsidiary of the Mitsui Oil Exploration ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Australian prime minister lays out climate-change plan
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/07/22/australia.climate.change/
CNN: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Friday embraced the same policy on climate change that her predecessor failed to pass, but said in a campaign speech that any action would be delayed until at least 2012. "The price of inaction is too high a price for our country to pay," she said at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. "Because the price of inaction is price rises, job losses and innovations lost." The topic helped topple her predecessor, Kevin Rudd, whom Gillard ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Protester heckles Australian PM's climate speech
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100723/wl_asia_afp/australiavoteclimate
Agence France Presse: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was heckled by rowdy protesters on Friday as she announced her new climate change policy ahead of next month's elections. Security staff tackled one demonstrator to the ground and led him away in handcuffs, while chanting could be heard through much of Gillard's address at a Brisbane university campus. The prime minister made a slight pause and smiled briefly during the disturbance as she announced a community-based "citizens assembly" to ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Gillard defends climate change 'gobfest'
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/23/2962335.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Julia Gillard has defended her plans for a new climate change "citizens' assembly" amid claims it is nothing but a "community gobfest" designed to pave the way for the introduction of a carbon tax. Ms Gillard has been roundly attacked by both sides of politics and by environmental groups after unveiling Labor's climate change plan in front of rowdy protesters in Brisbane today. Her speech was also disrupted by protesters, one of whom was led away by police after he came within ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Protesters overshadow Australian PM's climate speech
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100723/wl_asia_afp/australiavote
Agence France-Presse: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was heckled by rowdy protesters on Friday as she delayed action on climate change to consult a "citizens assembly", in a major announcement before elections. Security staff tackled one demonstrator to the ground and led him away in handcuffs, while chanting could be heard through much of Gillard's address at a Brisbane university campus. The prime minister made a slight pause and smiled briefly during the disturbance, which overshadowed ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Labor's revised climate change policy
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s2962183.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: ELEANOR HALL: The Prime Minister launched the Labor Party's revised policy on climate change this morning. Julia Gillard promised to convene a citizens' assembly that will be given a year to consider what action the Government should take on climate change. She also promised that Australia would have no new dirty coal fired power plants. But a group of protesters shouted throughout the speech Ms Gillard gave on the new policy. PROTESTORS: Fossil fuels have got to ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Climate Debate: At The Table or On The Menu
http://www.dtnprogressivefarmer.com/dtnag/view/blog/getBlog.do;jsessionid=1DB46184A85AA7C4C0D6732D2B0CCC51.agfreejvm2?blogHandle=policy&blogEntryId=8a82c0bc29aa007f0129fb5d2ad503fa
Progressive Farmer: Need to update: After meeting with his party members on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he doesn't have the votes to pass a more comprehensive climate or energy bill this summer. Instead, the Senate would look at a narrow bill dealing largely with the issues surrounding the oil spill. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/... The Pew Center on Global Climate Change released a new report on reasons why farmers should be engaged in the debate over climate ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Democrats huddle to salvage climate bill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100722/ts_nm/us_climate_usa
Reuters: U.S. Senate Democrats said on Thursday they will wait until September at the earliest to take up broad climate-change legislation, a potentially fatal blow to the White House push to curb greenhouse gases. The delay means Democrats have little time to advance the complex legislation amid intense political pressure in the weeks before November congressional elections. It also could derail global climate change initiatives, as the world's major economies and greenhouse gas ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Senate Democrats abandon comprehensive energy bill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100722/ap_on_bi_ge/us_senate_energy
Associated Press: Senate Democrats on Thursday gave up plans to attempt to pass an energy bill that caps greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, abandoning a priority of President Barack Obama. Obama had hoped to add a climate bill to the two biggest legislative successes of his presidency, a comprehensive health care bill and a broad reform of the U.S. banking and financial sector. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said no Republican was willing to back a comprehensive energy bill, a ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Spain's Renewable Energy Heads West
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52241
Inter Press Service: Plagued by Spain's economic recession and subsidy cuts, renewable energy businesses are following the sun and wind to Latin America in search of profits. In 2009, the wind energy companies of the Madrid-based AEE (AsociaciÃ³n Empresarial EÃ³lica) reached 1,274 megawatts installed capacity in Latin America. At the head of the list was Mexico (650 MW), followed by Brazil and Chile. The plan is to expand to Argentina (700 MW), Peru (110 MW) and Venezuela (100 MW), with additional ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Senate leaders abandon effort to pass climate change bill until fall
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2010/07/senate_leaders.html
Boston Globe: Senate leaders acknowledged today they have no chance of passing a comprehensive climate change bill any time soon, saying they would abandon the effort for the time being and take it up again in the fall. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, standing with Majority Leader Harry Reid, and White House energy advisor Carol Browner, said a year of work had still not produced a deal that could gain GOP support. "We've always known from day one that to pass comprehensive energy ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Kinks in the Ethanol Message-Machine?
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/kinks-in-the-ethanol-message-machine/
New York Times: The ethanol industry is feverishly lobbying lawmakers in an effort to hang onto billions of dollars in subsidies that are set to expire -- although there appears to be some discord on the message front. Growth Energy, a leading ethanol industry association, threw some fuel makers for a loop last week by suggesting that they would be willing to trade tax credits for incentives aimed at making more cars and more gas stations ethanol-ready. From The Associated Press last ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Democrats put US climate change legislation plans on hold
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100722/pl_afp/usclimateenvironmentenergycongress
Agence France Presse: Democratic lawmakers scrapped plans Thursday to introduce climate change legislation, recognizing they do not have enough votes and preparing instead an energy bill addressing the BP oil spill. "Unfortunately, at this time, not one Republican wants to join us in achieving this goal" of adopting a comprehensive climate bill, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "That isn't just disappointing. It's dangerous." President Barack Obama has made climate change legislation a key ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Ancient Ocean Acidification Intimates Long Recovery from Climate Change
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=ancient-ocean-acidification-intimates-long-recovery-from-climate-change
Scientific American: Single-cell life-forms thrive throughout the world's oceans--and have for hundreds of millions of years. Tiny varieties known as calcareous nanoplankton build exuberant, microscopic shells--resembling wagon wheels, fishlike scales, even overlapping oval shields decorated with craggy explosions at their centers--known as "coccoliths". The ability to form these shells rests on the amount of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) dissolved in the seawater--and that amount depends on the concentrations of ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Democrats put US climate change legislation plans on hold
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ia4Z0AEwjR0bvg-mDNB2ZtQ_ylfQ
Agence France Presse: Democratic lawmakers scrapped plans Thursday to introduce climate change legislation, recognizing they do not have enough votes and preparing instead an energy bill addressing the BP oil spill. "Unfortunately, at this time, not one Republican wants to join us in achieving this goal" of adopting a comprehensive climate bill, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "That isn't just disappointing. It's dangerous." President Barack Obama has made climate change legislation a key ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Residents tell EPA Pa. gas drilling poisons water
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100723/ap_on_bi_ge/us_natural_gas_drilling
Associated Press: People who make a living from a natural gas drilling technique that involves pumping chemical-laced water into the earth and others who believe it has poisoned them or their well water packed into a hotel ballroom in southwestern Pennsylvania on Thursday night to make an impression on federal researchers. Residents of Hickory, about 15 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, called for intensive study of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and told a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency panel ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Retired KU professor finds climate change is good for marmots
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/jul/22/retired-ku-professor-finds-climate-change-good-mar/
Lawrence Journal World: A retired Kansas University distinguished professor has found that climate change has helped a population of yellow-bellied marmots in Colorado. Kenneth Armitage, an ecology and evolutionary biology professor, has been studying the rodent since 1962. Recently, warmer temperatures have allowed marmots to emerge from their hibernation earlier. Warmer temperatures mean earlier snowmelt, which means plants appear sooner, Armitage said. With more fat left from their hibernations, ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Warmer Climate Entails Increased Release Of Carbon Dioxide By Inland Lakes
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1895214/warmer_climate_entails_increased_release_of_carbon_dioxide_by_inland/index.html?source=r_science
Red Orbit: Much organically bound carbon is deposited on inland lake bottoms. A portion remains in the sediment, sometimes for thousands of years, while the rest is largely broken down to carbon dioxide and methane, which are released into the atmosphere. Swedish researchers have shown that carbon retention by sediment is highly temperature-sensitive and that a warmer climate would result in increased carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. The study is published in the current issue of the journal ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Groundbreaking Sandia Study Ties Climate Uncertainties To Economies Of US States
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1895202/groundbreaking_sandia_study_ties_climate_uncertainties_to_economies_of_us/index.html?source=r_science
REDORBIT: A climate-change study at Sandia National Laboratories that models the near-term effects of declining rainfall in each of the 48 U.S. continental states makes clear the economic toll that could occur unless an appropriate amount of initial investment -- a kind of upfront insurance payment -- is made to forestall much larger economic problems down the road. Why tie climate change to economics? "Absent any idea of costs, the need to address climate change seems remote and has a ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Australia PM: To Act On Climate When Economy Ready
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/bm/newsworld.php?id=515815
Reuters: Australia would take action on climate change when the economy was ready, but would not set up a carbon emissions trade scheme until after 2012 at the earliest, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Friday. Announcing her climate policy ahead of Australia's August 21 elections, Gillard stood by a government decision in April to defer the emissions trade scheme until at least the end of the current Kyoto Protocol period in 2012. Gillard also announced a new 150-member body would ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
BP 'frustrated' by storm delay
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10735166
BBC: Senior BP official Doug Suttles has said it is "frustrating" that a tropical storm could delay his company's plans to deal with its blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. There is a 20-30% chance of tropical storm force winds of 39mph (63km/h) or more at the spill site by Tuesday, the US National Hurricane Center has predicted.

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Australia: Gillard's climate change citizens' assembly is a smokescreen: Greenpeace
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/gillards-climate-change-citizens-assembly-is-a-smokescreen-greenpeace-20100723-10nfi.html
AAP: Labor's new climate change policy has been dismissed from both the left and the right, even before it has been unveiled. Prime Minister Julia Gillard is announcing details of the policy during a speech in Brisbane. But key features of the policy - including a citizens' assembly - were published this morning. Labor also plans to set up an independent commission to better explain the science behind climate change and report on international action. More funding will ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Australia's PM plans 'climate change commission'
http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201007/2962194.htm?desktop
Radio Australia News: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, says if the Labor party is re-elected, the government will create a climate change commission to provide evidence and information about climate change science to all Australians. Ms Gillard has also promised to spend $AU1 billion over ten years to connect electricity networks to renewable energy sources. Labor's new policy on climate change promisesr a panel of independent scientists and a citizens assembly to try to build community ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
United States: Huge Turnout for E.P.A. Fracking Hearing
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/huge-turnout-for-e-p-a-fracking-hearing/
New York Times: The Environmental Protection Agency will probably be getting an earful at a public meeting in southwestern Pennsylvania, part of its recently opened re-examination of hydraulic fracturing. Many Green readers will already know that gas drillers rely heavily on the practice, often called "fracking," which involves the high-velocity injection of a mixture of water, sand and chemicals designed to create fractures in rock formations deep underground so that gas can be ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Climate and energy bill delayed as political support withers
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100722/wl_mcclatchy/3574579
McClatchy Newspapers: Bowing a lack of support, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid on Thursday said there'd be no vote this summer on a bill that would put the nation's first limits on the carbon pollution responsible for global warming. The decision could doom the measure's long-term chances as well. If Democrats lose their narrow majority in the Senate in the November elections, they'd have to relinquish the leadership power that would allow them to bring it up for a vote next year. Many -- but ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
SCENARIOS-Future is cloudy for US climate change bill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2210242620100722
Reuters: Chances look slim to nil that President Barrack Obama will get Congress to pass a broad bill to combat climate change any time soon. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Thursday he plans to bring up a scaled-back energy bill next week but would postpone until September at the earliest broad climate change legislation. [ID:nN22265299] The stripped down bill to be considered next week will not contain caps on carbon emissions or mandates for renewable energy like wind and ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Pelosi: No Regrets Passing Climate Change
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/pelosi-no-regrets-passing-climate-change/
New York Times: On the same day that Senate Democrats rolled out a more limited energy proposal, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she didn't think it was a mistake to push a comprehensive climate change bill through her chamber last year. At her weekly briefing on Thursday, Ms. Pelosi said the House had "staked out a bold position" and rattled off a number of reasons why she said it was "absolutely essential" to pass the measure – including to help reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Group warns of water shortages by 2050 - UPI.com
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/07/22/Group-warns-of-water-shortages-by-2050/UPI-68611279839129/
United Press International: Global warming will cause a risk of water shortages in two-thirds of U.S. counties by 2050, an environmental group warns. The Natural Resources Defense Council says more than a thousand counties in 14 states will probably see limitations on water availability and use as demand exceeds supply in mid-century, USA Today reported Tuesday. The high-risk areas include parts of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Gillard heckled at climate policy launch
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/23/2962015.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Prime Minister Julia Gillard faced a small but vocal group of protesters as she launched Labor's climate change policy at the University of Queensland in Brisbane this morning. The centrepiece of Labor's plan is a so-called "citizens' assembly" which would gather together volunteers to sound out public support for a price on carbon. The assembly would be made up of up to 200 volunteers and would work alongside a group of scientists appointed by the government to advise it on ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Australia PM: to act on climate when economy ready
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66M00P20100723?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Friday her government would act on climate change when the economy was ready as she unveiled her August 21 election climate policy. Gillard did not change the Labor government's policy of deferring the introduction of a carbon emissions trading scheme until at least 2012, saying if re-elected she would form a citizens assembly to gather consensus on a market-based scheme. Gillard also said any future coal-fired power stations ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Cops tackle PM protester at climate change speech
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/cops-tackle-pm-protestor/story-e6freuy9-1225895974931
Daily Telegraph: Bradley Smith, a protestor detained at Julia Gillard's speech on climate change at the University of Queensland. Picture: Kym Smith Source: The Australian POLICE tackled a protester who attempted to gatecrash Julia Gillard?s anticipated speech on climate change in Brisbane this morning. The man made a dash for the podium but was crash tackled by the Prime Minister's security forces. He was shouting "coal and gas have got to go'' and struggled with security before being ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Mind the gap: UN sets out Kyoto plan B
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266930/un-sets-kyoto-plan-b-mind-gap
Business Green: The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has set out a contingency plan detailing options for members if they fail to commit to a new pledge before the existing Kyoto protocol expires. The note which was published this week, focuses on the legal options open to the group, in a bid to ensure that no gap arises between the first period, ending 31 December 2012 and a subsequent commitment. Suggested solutions include changing the commitment so all parties ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Storm threatens to derail BP oil spill efforts
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100722/ts_alt_afp/usoilpollutionenvironment
Agence France-Presse: The US government ordered certain ships working on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill back to port Thursday, amid fears that a brewing storm could force a mass evacuation and derail efforts to plug BP's runaway well. A full-scale evacuation could delay by up to two weeks the final operation to plug BP's runaway well, which has unleashed millions of barrels of crude on Gulf Coast shorelines in one of America's worst ever environmental disasters. "Activities that are under way for ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Indian Ocean sea levels 'rising at different rates'
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/indian-ocean-sea-levels-rising-at-different-rates-.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment
SciDev.Net: Mapping variations in regional sea level changes of different parts of the Indian Ocean could help developing countries better adapt to the effects of climate change, according to a study published in Nature Geoscience last week (11 July). Researchers from the University of Colorado, United States, identified distinct patterns of sea-level rises using observational and satellite data combined with climatic and ocean circulation models, including results from the Intergovernmental ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Dozens expected at EPA hearing on Pa. gas drilling
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100722/ap_on_bi_ge/us_natural_gas_drilling
Associated Press: Hundreds of people are attending a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hearing in southwestern Pennsylvania on a controversial natural gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." Drilling into the rich Marcellus Shale gas reserve below Pennsylvania is growing rapidly. Fracking is currently exempt from federal regulation, and is governed by states. The EPA is studying its effect on human health and the environment. The oil and gas industry says ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
U.N. urges investment policy to foster low-carbon growth
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66L45X20100722?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Developing economies can jumpstart low-carbon economic growth through "clean" investment promotion policies, despite slow progress in international climate negotiations, a United Nations agency said. The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) urged developing country governments to harness investments by multinational companies to ensure that economic growth does not drive up carbon emissions. Multinationals can help cut emissions by improving production processes in ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
While the world burns
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2010/jul/22/congress-climate-change-america-heating-up
Guardian: [Washington] just endured its hottest June since records began in 1872, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. So did Miami. Atlanta suffered its second-hottest June, and Dallas had its third hottest... ...Yet when United States senators and their aides file into work on Wednesday, on yet another 90-degree day, they may be on the verge of deciding to do approximately nothing about global warming. The needed 60 votes don't seem to be there, at least not at ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Scientists sound warning on forest carbon payment scheme
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0722-redd_atbc.html
Mongabay: Scientists convening in Bali expressed a range of concerns over a proposed mechanism for mitigating climate change through forest conservation, but some remained hopeful the idea could deliver long-term protection to forests, ease the transition to a low-carbon economy, and generate benefits to forest-dependent people. Presenting at the annual Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, scientists and policy experts warned that the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
China to launch domestic carbon trade in five years
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266875/china-launch-domestic-carbon
Business Green: China will introduce domestic carbon trading during the next five years, the China Daily said today, quoting reports from private government meetings. Officials have reached consensus on the need for carbon trading as the only way for China to meet its 2020 energy intensity targets. But there is still no agreement on the mechanism that should be used. "The consensus that a domestic carbon-trading scheme is essential was reached, but a debate is still ongoing among experts and ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Passing of a legend
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/07/22/passing-of-a-legend/
Stanford Daily: At a high-caliber research university such as Stanford, professors are often valued as much for their scholarship as they are for their teaching talents and personal relationships with students and other faculty. In Stephen H. Schneider, however, the University had a member whose contributions to the University spanned both, combining a shared passion for a cause with highly respected scientific research and influence. Schneider, a biology professor, Woods Institute senior fellow and ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
UK government axes green watchdog
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10725394
BBC: The UK government is to stop funding the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), its independent environmental watchdog and advisory body. Set up by the Labour government in 2000, the SDC is among a number of green bodies to be abolished. The news comes on the day the SDC, with a budget of Â£3m, published a report saying Whitehall had saved Â£60-70m as a result of introducing green measures. Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman announced the details in a ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
The world's first molten salt concentrating solar power plant
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/22/first-molten-salt-solar-power
Guardian: This month, the Italian utility Enel unveiled "Archimede", the first Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant in the world to use molten salts for heat transfer and storage, and the first to be fully integrated to an existing combined-cycle gas power plant. Archimede is a 5 MW plant located in Priolo Gargallo (Sicily), within Europe's largest petrochemical district. The breakthrough project was co-developed by Enel, one of World's largest utilities, and ENEA, the Italian National Agency for New ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Coral reefs doomed by climate change
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0722-coral_reefs_atbc.html
Mongabay: The world's coral reefs are in great danger from dual threats of rising temperatures and ocean acidification, Charlie Veron, Former Chief Scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, told scientists attending the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation meeting in Sanur, Bali. Tracing the geological history of coral reefs over hundreds of millions of years, Veron said reefs lead a boom-and-bust existence, which appears to be correlated with atmospheric carbon ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Government axes UK sustainability watchdog
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/22/government-axes-sustainability-watchdog
Guardian: The government's sustainability watchdog was today axed as part of coalition spending cuts, the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed. The closure, which was revealed by the Guardian earlier this week, was announced by the environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, as part of a package of reforms to more than 30 such arms-length bodies. Proponents of the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) had argued that its remit to advise government on ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
UK mulls Earth observing service
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10725054
BBC: Britain could soon have a privately financed, national Earth-observation (EO) service, if plans currently under consideration come to fruition. It could launch UK-built satellites to acquire imagery for the MoD and other government departments, while selling other data on the open market. The project has been dubbed "Skysight" after the City-backed Skynet system which provides a commercial satellite telecoms service to the armed forces. A report on the idea is being ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
United Nations Proposes Stopgaps as Global Talks Fail to Renew Kyoto Pact
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-22/united-nations-proposes-stopgaps-as-global-talks-fail-to-renew-kyoto-pact.html
Bloomberg: A United Nations climate group said it may be possible to extend emission caps included in the Kyoto Protocol for two years after they expire in 2012, preventing an interruption in the supply of offset credits. Extending the targets may help stop a "gap" in the Clean Development Mechanism, the world's second-biggest carbon market, should nations fail to agree on a treaty to replace or permanently extend the 1997 protocol, a committee for developed nations said in a July 20 discussion ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Exelon 2Q earnings slump as fuel costs rise
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100722/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_exelon
Associated Press: Exelon Corp. said Thursday its second-quarter net income dropped 32 percent as fuel costs for its fleet of nuclear power plants increased and its utilities spent more on battling storms. The Chicago utility, which powers customers in northern Illinois and southern Pennsylvania, said earnings fell to $445 million, or 67 cents per share, for the three months ended June 30 from $657 million, or 99 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue rose to $4.4 billion from $4.14 ...

Fri, 23 Jul 10
Prop 23, climate change, and our broken proposition system
http://www.caivn.org/article/2010/07/22/prop-23-climate-change-and-our-broken-proposition-system
IVN: Proposition 23, which will be on the California ballot in November, seeks to effectively abolish the landmark AB32 bill. Also known as the Global Warming Solutions Act, AB32 passed in 2006 and was strongly supported by Gov. Schwarzenegger. It requires that greenhouse gas emission levels be cut to 1990 levels by 2020. It does have a provision that the governor can suspend the act under "extraordinary circumstances" which include economic bad times. However, Schwarzenegger has said he ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
Researchers: EPA Should Recognize Environmental Impact Of Protecting Foreign Oil
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1894735/researchers_epa_should_recognize_environmental_impact_of_protecting_foreign_oil/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: U.S. military operations to protect oil imports coming from the Middle East are creating larger amounts of greenhouse gas emissions than once thought, new research from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln shows. Regulators do not currently attribute these emissions to U.S. gasoline use – but they should, the authors say. UNL researchers Adam Liska and Richard Perrin estimate that emissions of heat-trapping gases resulting from military protection of supertankers in the Persian ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
China embraces emissions trading
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=2055
Carbon Positive: China is set to pilot an emissions trading scheme before 2015 after a decision at a high-level meeting between government and industry, according to local media. A closed meeting chaired by Xie Zhenhua, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and involving officials from a range of government ministries as well as industry, policy experts and environmental exchange representatives agreed the initiative in principle, the China Daily reports a source ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
China oil spill spreads but not as big as BP oil spill in Gulf
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100721/wl_csm/315321
Christian Science Monitor: The estimated size of an oil spill off China's northeast coast doubled Wednesday, as workers raced against the clock to contain a growing environmental disaster. Oil is now spread over about 165 square miles of water, according to Chinese officials. By comparison, though, that's still nowhere near the magnitude of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, estimated at 2,700 square miles of visible surface slick, according to the Associated Press on July 16. Chinese oil ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
Forest Service Shifts Strategy to Address Changing Climate
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/21/21greenwire-forest-service-shifts-strategy-to-address-chan-26203.html
Greenwire: The Forest Service has issued a national road map for responding to climate change, along with a performance scorecard to measure how well each individual forest implements the strategy. The new blueprint outlines a series of short-term initiatives and longer-term projects for field units to address climate impacts on the country's forests and grasslands. "A changing global climate brings increased uncertainties to the conservation of our natural resources," Agriculture ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
Future Supply, Support Decisions Loom for Ethanol
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/07/102107-energy-supply-support-decisions-ethanol/
National Geographic: By now, well into the 21st century, at least some U.S. cars were supposed to be running on an exciting new power source--clean fuels refined from corn husks, timber waste and tall, fast-growing grasses. But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, acknowledging that not a single facility is yet producing this advanced "cellulosic" ethanol, has proposed dramatically scaling back a federal program to promote the fuel for the second straight year. Instead of requiring that the ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
Judge refuses to reinstate first oil drill ban
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100721/us_nm/us_oil_spill_moratorium
Reuters: A U.S. judge on Wednesday refused a request by environmental groups to reinstate the Obama administration's original moratorium on deepwater drilling set in the wake of the BP Plc oil spill. Defenders of Wildlife and other groups requested that U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman lift his injunction blocking the moratorium because he had owned stock in several oil and offshore energy companies, arguing that showed he should be disqualified from the case. Feldman had granted an ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
Oil companies start $1 billion Gulf spill project
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100721/ts_nm/us_oil_spill_response
Reuters: Big oil companies including Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell will spend $1 billion to develop a new oil spill containment system for the Gulf of Mexico, the companies said on Wednesday. The project, a response to BP Plc's Gulf oil leak, will be engineered for water depths up to 10,000 feet -- about twice the depth of BP's crippled Macondo well. It will have initial capacity to contain 100,000 barrels (4.2 million gallons/15.9 million liters) of oil per day, the companies ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
You can't explain away climate change
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-climate-20100722,0,4284048.story
LA Times: You probably won't hear it from columnist George F. Will, Fox News commentators or the plethora of conservative blogs that have claimed global warming essentially stopped in 1998, but recent figures released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that global land and ocean surface temperatures in June were the highest since record-keeping began in 1880. What's more, the first half of 2010 was the hottest such period ever recorded, and Arctic sea ice melted at a ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
UN in fresh bid to salvage international deal on climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/22/un-bid-international-deal-climate-change
Guardian: Climate change campaigners yesterday welcomed UN plans to amend the way changes to the Kyoto protocol are made in an effort to salvage negotiations on a new international deal. Under the plans, countries could be forced to accept decisions made by a majority of members. Currently, no resolution can be passed by the group without full agreement. The UN's suggestion shows its acceptance that, after two years of deadlock, there is little chance the body will reach a global deal to ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
Ex-Australian PM Rudd linked with UN climate job
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100722/wl_asia_afp/australiavoterudd
Agence France-Presse: Ousted Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd Thursday confirmed talks over a possible United Nations role but said he did not plan to quit the national parliament. Rudd, who was replaced by Julia Gillard last month in a party coup, said he had discussed a "development" role with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, after reports linked him with a new climate-change position. "Among other matters, (Ban) raised the possibility of Mr. Rudd being appointed to a United Nations panel ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
UN lists Kyoto 'plan B' options if climate talks fail
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/21/climate-talks-un-kyoto
Reuters: The UN is considering reducing the number of countries involved in faltering international climate talks in an effort to push through a deal. In a document published yesterday, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) outlined the idea among back-up plans if stalled talks fail to produce a successor to the Kyoto protocol, which expires in 2012. Countries which are party to the Kyoto protocol in June asked the UN climate secretariat to report on legal ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
BP chief Tony Hayward to outline strategy that restore firm's fortunes
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/21/bp-oil-spill-tony-hayward
Guardian: BP boss Tony Hayward will next week launch a fight back against the wave of criticism that has engulfed him and BP following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Hayward is set to outline a new corporate growth strategy in a bid to reassure shareholders and, at the same time, cement his position as chief executive. His move comes as pension funds in New York and Ohio unveiled plans to sue BP for "securities fraud" as a result of the oil company's allegedly misleading comments on its ability ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
An evil atmosphere is forming around geoengineering
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727696.100-an-evil-atmosphere-is-forming-around-geoengineering.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: IN 1892 Edvard Munch witnessed a blood-red sunset over Oslo, Norway. Shaken by it, he wrote in his diary that he felt "a great, unending scream piercing through nature". The incident inspired him to create his most famous painting, The Scream. The striking sunset was probably caused by the eruption of Krakatoa, which sent a massive plume of ash and gas into the upper atmosphere, turning sunsets red around the globe and cooling the Earth by more than a degree. Now a powerful ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
Climate change makes marmots munch and mate: study
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100721/sc_afp/climatewarmingevolutionmarmots
Agence France-Presse: Global warming has been rough on polar bears, but for Colorado's marmots it has meant more food and more sex, according to a unusual study released on Wednesday. Longer summers -- and less time spent burning up stored fat during hibernation -- have given the large burrowing rodents an evolutionary leg up, said the research, published in Nature. Not only has climate change made individual specimens heavier and healthier, it has led to a marmot baby boom as ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
China's worst-ever oil spill threatens wildlife as volunteers assist in clean-up
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/21/china-oil-spill-disaster-wildlife
Guardian: Chinese officials have warned of a severe threat to wildlife from one of the country's worst reported oil spills as an army of volunteers was dispatched to beaches to try to head off the black tides. At least one man has drowned in crude during the clean-up operation, which has expanded as the area of the slick has doubled in size despite earlier government assurances that it was being contained and posed no risk to ecologically sensitive areas. Five days after a pipeline ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
Agencies Differ on Oil Sands
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/on-oil-sands-an-agency-clash/
New York Times: As we've reported, the State Department is considering whether to approve a huge new pipeline called Keystone XL that will bring crude from Canada's oil sands all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. A new pipeline would vastly expand the amount of oil extracted from Canadian oil sands that is used in the United States – which could be good in terms of energy security. But environmental groups contend that this oil comes with an unacceptable array of environmental problems, from a ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
UK seas cleaner but getting warmer and higher: government
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66K3AA20100721?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Britain's coasts have become cleaner but sea levels and temperatures are rising due to climate change, a government report said on Wednesday. The five-year study by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) examined how climate change has affected sea levels and temperatures, species in the sea and pollution. The report includes evidence from government agencies, industry, non-governmental organizations and academics. Defra said there were ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
Australia: Kevin Rudd in line for climate change adviser position with United Nations
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/kevin-rudd-in-line-for-climate-change-adviser-position-with-united-nations/story-e6freon6-1225895290474
Courier Mail: Ousted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has confirmed he has been approached to take up a job with the United Nations. But Mr Rudd today reaffirmed he intends to serve a full term if elected in Griffith, saying any role with the UN would only be part time. ``The UN Secretary General telephoned Mr Rudd a couple of weeks ago and among other matters raised the possibility of Mr Rudd of being appointed to a United National panel which might look at a number of issues related to ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Water shortages will drive demand for smart water meters, analysts predict
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266822/water-shortages-drive-demand
Business Green: While smart meters for electricity have yet to be rolled out on any scale in the UK, smart water meters will be next on utility companies' agendas, a new report predicts. Water scarcity is a looming issue that will affect nearly half the world's population by 2030, yet developing countries lose as much as half their treated water to distribution system leaks, theft, and poor measurement techniques, according to Pike Research. Pike's report says these factors will push water ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
Economic Scene: Overcome by Heat and Inertia
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/business/economy/21leonhardt.html?_r=5&partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: This city just endured its hottest June since records began in 1872, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. So did Miami. Atlanta suffered its second-hottest June, and Dallas had its third hottest. In New York, the weather was relatively pleasant: only the fourth-hottest June since 1872. Then again, New York is on pace for its hottest July on record. Yet when United States senators and their aides file into work on Wednesday, on yet another 90-degree ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
China oil pollution worries grow
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10708375
BBC: China is boosting effort to clean up a major oil slick off its north-east coast, following a pipeline explosion. There are growing fears that strong winds have dispersed the pollution more widely than previously thought. The environmental group Greenpeace told the BBC the oil was up to 20cm thick along parts of the coast near the city of Dalian. Shipments of oil from the north to the industrial belt in the south have been disrupted since the accident. At least one ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
Dead penguins wash up on Brazil's beaches
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/21/dead-penguins-brazil-beaches
Associated Press: Hundreds of penguins that have apparently starved to death are washing up on the beaches of Brazil, worrying scientists who are investigating what exactly killed them. About 500 penguins had been found in the last 10 days on Peruibe, Praia Grande and Itanhaem beaches in SÃ£o Paulo state, said Thiago do Nascimento, a biologist at the Peruibe aquarium. Most were Magellan penguins migrating north from Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands in search of food in warmer ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
China flooding causes worst death toll in decade
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/21/china-flooding-worst-decade
Associated Press: Flooding in China this year has killed 701 people, left 347 missing and caused billions of pounds in damage, a senior Chinese official has said. Three-quarters of China's provinces have been hit by flooding and 25 rivers have seen record high water levels, causing the worst death toll in a decade, Liu Ning, general secretary of the government's flood prevention agency, told a news conference. Aside from the dead and missing, 645,000 houses were toppled and overall damage ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
BP's Tony Hayward 'set to step down'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/21/bp-tony-hayward-set-to-step-down-press-reports
Guardian: BP chief executive Tony Hayward is preparing to step down within the next 10 weeks, according to a report this morning, as the embattled oil giant announced plans to sell $7bn (Â£4.6bn) of gas assets for its Gulf of Mexico clean-up fund. Hayward was heavily criticised for his reaction to the Deepwater Horizon disaster including the statement, "I want my life back", that led to accusations of insensitivity. The beleaguered chief executive may get his wish soon, amid a growing ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
Amazon drought raises research doubts
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100720/full/466423a.html
Nature: A once-in-a-century drought struck much of the Amazon rainforest in 2005, reducing rainfall by 60–75% in some areas -- and giving scientists a window on to a future coloured by climate change. The drought foreshadowed the Amazon drying that many climate modellers expect to see in a warmer world. But five years on, a spate of research, including 13 papers published on 20 July in a special issue of the journal New Phytologist , shows that researchers are still grappling with the impact ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
$6.6 million dedicated to Prairie provinces for climate change impact
http://www.leaderpost.com/technology/million%20dedicated%20Prairie%20provinces%20climate%20change%20impact/3301655/story.html
Leader Post: A $6.6-million program to help the Prairie provinces deal with the impact of climate change on water resources, forests and grasslands was announced at the University of Regina Tuesday. Ottawa and the governments of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba will fund the three-year Prairie Regional Adaptation Collaborative program, which is part of the federal government's plan to help Canadians adapt to climate change. Natural Resources Canada will provide $3.3 million of the ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
UN humanitarian chief: 10 million in Africa's drought-stricken Sahel hungry, need help
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jeg5Eoxjn-ivdeZ-vjPDaLa_RTNA
Canada Press: The United Nations said Tuesday that more than 10 million hungry people across Africa's drought-stricken Sahel region need help and appealed for $230 million for impoverished Niger, which has been hardest hit. Niger, one of the poorest countries in Africa, has been most severely affected, with more than 7 million people -- almost 50 per cent of the population -- suffering from a lack of food, U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said. "The levels of food insecurity have begun to ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
Homebuyers to pay thousands more in stamp duty if homes not energy efficient
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1296342/Homebuyers-pay-thousands-stamp-duty-homes-energy-efficient.html
Daily Mail: Homebuyers would be forced to pay thousands of pounds extra in tax if they buy a property that doesn't meet tough climate change targets, under plans being considered by the Government. The higher rate of stamp duty would hit millions of 'energy guzzling' homes with draughty windows, insufficient loft insulation and old inefficient boilers. The controversial proposals are aimed at slashing the UK's greenhouse gas emissions. Yesterday, critics warned that a hike in stamp ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
DHL hybrid 18-tonner debuts in Britain
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266802/dhl-hybrid-tonner-debuts
Business Green: Logistics heavyweight DHL has chosen the UK to trial what it claims is the world's first 18-tonne hybrid distribution truck with an eye to siphoning 15 per cent off its fuel bill. Powered by an electric motor and a diesel engine, which can be used separately or together, the Volvo hybrid vehicle should mean reduced fuel consumption, lower emissions and lower noise levels. DHL and Volvo have formed a partnership to jointly develop the vehicle for a two-year period. DHL says the ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
China beaches closed after oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100721/wl_asia_afp/chinaenvironmentoilpollution
Agence France-Presse: Chinese authorities have closed several beaches and an island resort near the major port of Dalian as they try to clean up an oil spill that has affected crude shipments, state media said Wednesday. Tourists were barred from Bangchui island and city beaches amid ongoing efforts to clean up the slick that stretches over at least 183 square kilometres (70 square miles) of ocean, the China Daily newspaper said. More than 23 tonnes of oil-eating bacteria and dozens of oil-skimming ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
UK to open Earth observation hub
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10705614
BBC: Science minister David Willetts is to announce a new UK centre for monitoring the Earth from space. The Earth observation hub will focus on acquiring environmental data, such as information on deforestation and the impact of climate change. The hub will be based at the International Space Innovation Centre (ISIC) in Harwell in Oxfordshire, which will open in April 2011. The aim is to bring together UK expertise in Earth observation. The hub will also be used as a ...

Thu, 22 Jul 10
BP Continued Drilling Despite Report of Leak, Official Says
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/us/21hearings.html?_r=5&partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Government investigators looking into the causes of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion are colliding with a frequent obstacle: witnesses canceling their scheduled testimonies. So far, nine witnesses have withheld or delayed testimony here before a panel of federal government officials. Many were top-ranking officials aboard the rig, with critical roles in decisions that may have contributed to the disaster. Reasons for cancellation have varied: some cited health ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Florida's Crist Dealt Blow Over Offshore Drilling Ban
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128655219&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Polls show a majority of Floridians support Gov. Charlie Crist's call to put a ban on offshore drilling on the ballot. But that wasn't always the case. Two years ago, years of high gas prices -- and accident-free drilling in the Gulf -- led a majority of Floridians and their governor to support drilling off Florida's coast. But, as the saying goes, that was then. Outside the state Capitol in Tallahassee on Tuesday, a couple of hundred people gathered for a rally calling ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
2010 on track for warmest year
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=2054
Carbon Positive: The next month or two will go a long way to determining whether 2010 is to be the hottest year since temperature record began in the mid-1800s. Whether this occurs or not has implications for the climate change debate because a key argument among climate change sceptics in recent years is that global warming "stopped in 1998', based on the fact that the average annual temperature following that peak year has not been surpassed. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
BP CEO reported to leave soon
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100721/bs_nm/us_oil_spill
Reuters: BP Plc on Wednesday denied a report its heavily criticized chief executive would soon leave, after the company lined up $7 billion in asset sales to help pay for the worst oil spill in U.S. history. CEO Tony Hayward had the full support of the board and would stay in office, a BP spokesman told Reuters, dismissing a report in the Times newspaper that he would step down within the next 10 weeks. Hayward has been roundly criticized for a series of PR gaffes and a failure to ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
House Approps Chairman Supports Funding for 'Civic Activism' on Climate
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/20/20greenwire-house-approps-chairman-supports-funding-for-ci-48045.html
Greenwire: The leader of the House appropriations panel that oversees U.S. EPA's budget said he would support additional funding for efforts to spur "civic activism" on environmental issues, including climate change. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, met with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and other agency leaders today to discuss the Gulf spill response, outreach programs and other agency initiatives. Moran also hosted a town ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Australia: Libs' climate cuts 'scandalous': Garrett
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/libs-climate-cuts-scandalous-garrett-20100721-10kfy.html
AAP: Environment Protection Minister Peter Garrett says the opposition's plan to axe climate change programs is "scandalous". But Mr Garrett has declined to say whether he is helping form the government's election climate change policy, or when it will be announced. Speaking in Melbourne, Mr Garrett slammed Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's announcement on Tuesday that he would cut $345 million from climate change programs. "What is scandalous about the coalition is not only ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Remembering a climate warrior
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/20/ED301EH49D.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: Long before the eruption of "Climategate," Stephen H. Schneider had taken up the cause of climate change, armed with the sword of his convictions and the shield of scientific data. His fierceness in battle earned him plaudits as an advocate, and derision from climate-change skeptics. "There was no better person to argue with about climate change - what we know, what we don't know, and what we can and should do with our knowledge in a democratic society in a world we are rapidly ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Climate Change and Increased Demand Cause Shift in Water Supply
http://www.wgrz.com/news/national/story.aspx?storyid=79892&catid=2
Associated Press: A new report predicts an increased water supply in the Northeast over the next 40 years, while many other regions could face major shortages. The report, released by the Natural Resources Defense Council, cited warm climate change for the increased use of bodies of water already stressed by agricultural and consumer use, causing shortages. The climate change could also be responsible for shifting weather patterns that would bring more water to the Northeast. While the report ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Half a loaf on climate change
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2010/07/21/half_a_loaf_on_climate_change/
Boston Globe: IF THE US Senate can`t bring itself to take bold steps to promote cleaner energy, members should at least take more basic ones. More than a year ago, the House of Representatives passed a comprehensive bill to put a price on carbon across the economy. The most ambitious measure that the Senate seems likely to approve, in contrast, is a limit on greenhouse gas emissions only from electric utilities. This is half a loaf, if that, but it`s well worth passing. Utilities produce ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Nations pledge clean energy
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/nations-pledge-clean-energy-20100721-10k89.html
Agence France-Presse: Australia is among a group of nations pledging to work together to improve the efficiency of energy-guzzlers from televisions to cars, showing practical cooperation on climate change despite a deadlock on sealing a treaty. Senior officials from economies that make up more than 80 per cent of global gross domestic product on Tuesday agreed on 11 initiatives during talks in Washington, which betrayed none of the sharp divisions typical of climate negotiations. Australia and ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Nations pledge clean energy amid treaty stalemate
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100721/ts_afp/usenergyclimatewarming
Agence France-Presse: Nations pledged to work together to improve the efficiency of energy-guzzlers from televisions to cars, showing practical cooperation on climate change despite a deadlock on sealing a treaty. Senior officials from economies that make up more than 80 percent of global gross domestic product agreed on 11 initiatives during talks in Washington, which betrayed none of the sharp divisions typical of climate negotiations. US Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who led the meeting, said ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
NOAA ship Fairweather maps aid shipping through Bering Straits
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100720152254.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: As Arctic ice recedes, countries are looking forward to faster, safer and more efficient sea routes across the top of the world. Responding to a request from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, Alaska Maritime Pilots and the commercial shipping industry, NOAA sent one of its premier surveying vessels, NOAA Ship Fairweather, to detect navigational dangers in critical Arctic waters that have not been charted for more than 50 years. Fairweather, whose homeport is Ketchikan, Alaska, will ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
United States: Climate change threatens state's water supplies, report says
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/jul/20/climate-change-threatens-states-water-supplies/
Ventura County Star: More than three-quarters of the counties in California face the possibility of water shortages by the middle of the century as a result of global warming, a new study suggests. The study, commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council, concluded that 48 of the state's 58 counties are at risk of water shortages by 2050, putting some $22 billion worth of crops in jeopardy and raising the possibility of long-term rationing and other restrictions. "Even without climate ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Dead penguins washed up in Brazil
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10707906
BBC: Hundreds of penguins have been washed up dead on the beaches of Brazil. Scientists are still investigating what could have caused the death of around 500 animals found on the shores of Sao Paulo state. They say autopsies carried out on some of the carcasses suggest they could have starved to death, as their stomachs were completely empty. They are now trying to establish if strong currents and colder temperatures may be to blame. Thiago do Nascimento of the ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Letters: Speculation does raise food prices
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/21/speculation-does-raise-food-prices
Guardian: Goldman Sachs dismisses the World Development Movement's new report, The Great Hunger Lottery, as "horribly misinformed" (Hedge funds accused of gambling with lives of the poorest as food prices soar, 19 July). Goldmans is clearly on the defensive again and its reply is both disingenuous and misleading. The profit figures cited in our report are derived from numbers published in Goldmans' own annual report, which also states quite openly that commodities produced "particularly strong ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
China 'leapfrogs US to become biggest energy user'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10703518
BBC: China has overtaken the United States to become the world's top energy consumer for the first time, a new report says. Provisional figures from the International Energy Agency indicate that China's energy demand has doubled in a decade. The IEA said China had taken first place because it was hit less hard than the US by the global financial crisis. China challenged the report's findings, saying its figures were unreliable. The US has been the biggest consumer of ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
US oil spill could destroy 100,000 jobs: experts
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100720/ts_alt_afp/usoilpollutionenvironmenteconomy
Agence France-Presse: The impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill was thrown into sharp relief Tuesday, as US data showed rising unemployment in Louisiana and experts warned the disaster could cost up to 100,000 jobs. The US Department of Labor said Louisiana -- among the US states worst hit by the spill -- was one of only five states across the country to see a rise in unemployment last month, with the jobless rate up 0.2 points to seven percent. While the bayou state's unemployment rate remains ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
BP accused of ignoring internal report of Deepwater leak
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/20/bp-oil-spill-cleanup-threatened-tropical-storms
Guardian: BP came under fresh attack last night amid accusations that it had ignored internal safety reports of a leak on the Deepwater Horizon rig and had not used industry best practice for avoiding oil spills. The news comes just as BP officials were hoping that their long nightmare was starting to be over as the new cap on the leaking oil well appeared to be holding firm and working well. There had been concerns that the cap might damage the stricken well and allow oil to burst out ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Coal companies sue EPA over mine permit delays
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66J5UZ20100720?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The National Mining Association, which represents most major U.S. coal mining companies, on Tuesday filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency, saying it was unlawfully obstructing permits for coal mining operations in Central Appalachia. EPA's delaying of mountaintop mining permits has jeopardized thousands of jobs and supply of a fuel vital to meeting national electric power needs, said the lawsuit, filed in the Federal District Court for the District of ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
BP to sell $7 billion in assets to Apache
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100720/bs_nm/us_oil_spill_deal
Reuters: BP Plc (BP.L) (BP.N) said on Tuesday it had reached a deal to sell $7 billion in assets to Apache Corp (APA.N) as it tries to raise money to deal with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Apache will buy oil and gas assets in Texas, western Canada and Egypt. BP is supposed to get a $5 billion cash deposit on July 30 as part of the agreement.

Wed, 21 Jul 10
BP to sell assets for $7 billion to Apache
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100720/ap_on_bi_ge/us_bp_apache
Associated Press: BP PLC said Tuesday it will sell assets in the U.S., Canada and Egypt to Apache Corp. for $7 billion to help pay the costs from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. At least part of the proceeds will go towards a $20 billion fund that BP agreed to last month under pressure from the Obama administration. The fund will help pay cleanup costs and damages from the spill. As the spill escalated in the weeks after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig, BP realized it would need to ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Evaluating How Americans Respond to Climate Change as a Health Problem
http://scienceblogs.com/framing-science/2010/07/study_re-framing_climate_chang.php?utm_source=sbhomepage&utm_medium=link&utm_content=channellink
ScienceBlogs: How do Americans respond when they are asked to reflect on the public health risks of climate change and the benefits to health from mitigation-related actions? In other words, if we were to re-frame climate change in terms of localized impacts that people personally experience and can understand--such as vulnerability to extreme heat or poor air quality--could we shift public thinking on the issue? Those are the questions that I examine with Ed Maibach and colleagues in a study published ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Senator Reid seeking consensus on climate bill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66J6C020100720?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: With time running out on the congressional calendar, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday he was still grappling for consensus among Democrats to forge a new climate and energy bill. "We're really not at the point where I can determine what is best for the caucus," Reid told reporters when asked whether he would have a bill ready next week for the full Senate to debate. Reid is trying to produce a bill from pieces of other legislation that could include reforming ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
WSI cuts U.S. hurricane forecast to 19 named storms
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66J67I20100720?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Private weather forecaster WSI Corp cut its forecast for named storms in the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season on Tuesday, but still sees an active season with water temperatures and wind conditions conducive to violent storms. In its latest tropical storm update, WSI called for 19 named storms, down from 20 in its June forecast, but maintained its outlook for 11 hurricanes and 5 intense hurricanes of category three or higher. The 2010 forecast is well above the 1950-2009 averages ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Major nations pledge to improve energy efficiency
http://au.biz.yahoo.com/100720/33/2efs8.html
Agence France Presse: The world's top economies pledged Tuesday to work together to improve efficiency of electricity-guzzlers from televisions to cars, hoping to eliminate the need for hundreds of power plants. Senior officials from economies making up more than 80 percent of global gross domestic product agreed on a slew of projects to promote clean energy, belying the prolonged stalemate in negotiations on a new global climate treaty. US Energy Secretary Steven Chu voiced hope that the 11 ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
EPA takes new look at gas drilling, water issues
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100720/ap_on_bi_ge/us_natural_gas_drilling
Associated Press: So vast is the wealth of natural gas locked into dense rock deep beneath Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Ohio that some geologists estimate it's enough to supply the entire East Coast for 50 years. But freeing it requires a powerful drilling process called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," using millions of gallons of water brewed with toxic chemicals, that some fear could pollute water above and below ground and deplete aquifers. As gas drillers swarm to this ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Finger-Pointing on Oil Shifts to Bush Era
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/finger-pointing-shifts-to-bushs-oil-regulation/
New York Times: Dirk Kempthorne, who served as interior secretary under the Bush administration, was grilled on his oversight of the oil industry. House Democrats sought Tuesday to use a hearing on the Interior Department's role in the Gulf Coast oil spill to blame the Bush administration for regulatory failures that may have contributed to the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee traced the roots of the disaster back to Vice ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
New York Mandates Cleaner Heating Oil
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/new-york-mandates-cleaner-heating-oil/
New York Times: It's official: New York State is drastically reducing sulfur in home heating oil. After some uncertainty, Governor David A. Paterson on Tuesday signed into law a bill that limits the sulfur content of No. 2 heating oil to no more than 15 parts per million starting in July 2012, down from the current range of 2,000 to 15,000 parts per million. No. 2 oil is the most commonly used by household across the state, so the ultra-low sulfur oil is expected to significantly reduce air ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Wildlife in war
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8835791.stm
BBC: Research shows that the vast majority of armed conflicts occur in areas rich in biodiversity, says Eva Fearn. In this week's Green Room, she explains how conservationists often find themselves on more than the front line in the battle to save species. In Afghanistan's Wakhan region, a mountainous area bordered by Tajikistan and China, a herd of ibex deftly climbs a steep hillside. Across the valley, a man in Wakhi headdress views them through a spotting scope. His ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
'Cool' roofs could combat climate change
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/07/20/Cool-roofs-could-combat-climate-change/UPI-20541279663687/
United Press International: Light-colored rooftops and roads could significantly cut emissions and combat global climate change by cooling cities and the world, researchers say. Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California say cool roofs and cool pavements in cities around the world could cancel the heating effect of up to two years of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions, ScienceDaily.com reported Tuesday. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has announced efforts at the Department of ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
June was the 304th month in a row above average temperatures
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0720-hance_june_temp.html
Mongabay: Data released from the US's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Climatic Data Center shows that June 2010 was a record breaker. It was the warmest month of June globally since record-taking began in 1880 and it is the 304th month in a row that has been above the 20th Century average. The last month to fall below the average was February 1985: the month Nelson Mandela, who recently celebrated his 92nd birthday, rejected an offer of freedom from the then ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Bjork and CEO in public spat over Iceland energy takeover
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100720/wl_canada_afp/icelandcanadaenergytakeoverpeople
Agence France-Presse: Icelandic singer Bjork and the chief of Canada's Magma Energy company are publicly feuding over Magma's planned purchase of an Icelandic geothermal power group, according to comments published Tuesday. The artist, who was crowned Best Actress in Cannes in 2000, has led a public campaign against Magma gradually raising its stake Iceland's HS Orka, which produces energy from the island's geothermal power. At a press conference on Monday, the 44-year-old singer called for a ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Ensco challenges new U.S. oil drilling moratorium
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100720/ts_nm/us_oil_spill_moratorium
Reuters: Ensco Plc filed a lawsuit on Tuesday challenging the Obama administration's new deepwater oil drilling moratorium, saying it was mostly the same as the first ban that a U.S. court already put on hold. The Interior Department "did not analyze the situation anew and with an open mind when deciding to impose the second moratorium," Ensco said in a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. "Instead, it was a pre-ordained result that was ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Countries pledge global support for clean energy
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66J5O320100720?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 and dozens of other countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars toward clean energy initiatives to help battle climate change, U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said on Tuesday. Meeting in Washington, D.C., for a two-day conference, delegations from 24 countries representing 80 percent of global energy consumption promised 11 initiatives that would mean building fewer power plants and using more clean energy. "We know the clean energy challenge ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Tropical weather in the Caribbean gaining steam
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/20/tropical.weather/index.html?eref=rss_latest&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+Most+Recent%29
CNN: NEW: The Hurricane Center reports a high chance of weather system becoming tropical depression or storm NEW: The weather system is already dumping rain on several Caribbean nations NEW: Floods are reported in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico The system would be named Bonnie if it becomes a tropical storm (CNN) -- A "vigorous" tropical weather system forming in the eastern Caribbean has a "high" chance of turning into a tropical depression or more serious ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Bush Interior chiefs: No one expected major spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100720/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_washington
Associated Press: Two former Interior secretaries told Congress Tuesday they did not anticipate an accident as large as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But Gale Norton and Dirk Kempthorne say no one else did either -- including members of Congress who are now blaming the Bush administration for failing to prevent the tragedy. Kempthorne, who served as Interior secretary from 2006 to January 2009, while George W. Bush was president, said he did not recall being asked at his confirmation ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Vt. legislative panel releases revised nuke report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100720/ap_on_bi_ge/vt_vermont_yankee
Associated Press: A panel appointed by Vermont lawmakers to examine the reliability of Vermont Yankee said Tuesday that a change in corporate culture is needed if the 38-year-old nuclear power plant is to operate past its scheduled 2012 closing. In a revised version of its March 2009 report, the Vermont Yankee Public Oversight Panel took up two issues stemming from developments since then -- a leak of radioactive tritium that contaminated soil and groundwater around the Vernon power plant and owner ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
7,500 UK firms face fines under CO2 scheme: WSP
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66J4IR20100720?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Some 7,500 British firms are expected to miss a September 30 deadline to register for the UK's new energy efficiency scheme, meaning they face fines of at least 5,000 pounds each ($7,644), an environmental consultancy said on Tuesday. The mandatory Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRCEES), which began on April 1, forces businesses like banks, hotels, hospitals and schools to register with the Environment Agency and monitor energy usage. According to the ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
BP to sell assets to pay for spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100720/us_nm/us_oil_spill
Reuters: British energy giant BP Plc on Tuesday announced plans to sell assets worth about $1.7 billion as it seeks to build up cash to pay for the worst oil spill in U.S. history. As British Prime Minister David Cameron sought to defend the energy giant before meeting President Barack Obama and U.S. senators, the energy company outlined its latest plans to raise money. Exactly three months after an explosion on an offshore rig killed 11 workers and caused millions of barrels of crude ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Gulf cattle ranchers fear toxins after oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100720/us_nm/us_oil_spill_cattle
Reuters: The cattle in these parts don't seem to mind the helicopters hauling oil booms overhead, nor the response boats hurrying past their banks. But the oil that British energy giant BP is scrambling to clean up from its massive Gulf of Mexico spill threatens the animals' grazing land and the income of the ranchers who own them. Over 1,000 head of cattle graze on marshy islands off Louisiana's southeast tip and thousands more are found in the coastal low-lying pastures highly ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Kansas heat wave has killed 2,000 cattle: state
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66J4MG20100720?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The intense heat and humidity that blanketed central Kansas since late last week have killed more than 2,000 cattle and one state official called the heat-related losses the worst in his 17 years on the job. However, conditions for the cattle improved somewhat on Tuesday as the humidity has decreased and the wind has picked up, state and feedlot sources said. Kansas is the third largest cattle state with more than 2 million cattle in feedlots. "It is all cattle in ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Sustainability watchdog will be axed to meet public sector spending cuts
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/20/sustainability-watchdog-axed-cuts
Guardian: The coalition government will on Thursday announce plans to axe its sustainability watchdog in order to meet targets for public sector spending cuts. Proponents of the Sustainable Development Commission argue that its remit to advise government on reducing its carbon emissions and other resource use saves far more money that it costs. The plan to scrap the Sustainable Development Commission is scheduled to come ironically on the day that the agency will release its annual ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Oliver Stone: US should nationalize oil resources
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100720/ap_en_ot/eu_oliver_stone_bp
Associated Press: The Gulf of Mexico oil spill shows that the United States should follow the example of South American socialists in nationalizing its energy industry, filmmaker Oliver Stone said Tuesday. The Academy Award-winning director of "Born on the Fourth of July" and "JFK" said that America's country's natural wealth was too important to be left in private hands, telling journalists in central London that oil and other natural resources "belong to the people." "This BP oil spill is ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Scientists Pore Over Data On Gulf Well Cap
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128645943&ft=1&f=1025
Associated Press: Scientists huddled Tuesday to analyze data from the ocean floor as they weigh whether a leaking well cap is a sign BP's broken oil well is buckling. Oil and gas started seeping into the Gulf of Mexico again Sunday night, but this time more slowly, and scientists aren't sure whether the leaks mean the cap that stopped the flow last week is making things worse. The government's point man on the disaster, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, will decide again later Tuesday whether ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Meat may be less of a climate-change burden than some experts have claimed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/19/AR2010071904750.html
Washington Post: This week the Lantern is taking a break from answering your green lifestyle questions to report on three studies that raise brand-new environmental dilemmas. Is meat less of a climate-change culprit than we thought? One of the Lantern's frequent tips is to cut back on your meat intake for the sake of the planet. But according to Frank Mitloehner, a researcher from the University of California at Davis, that advice is hogwash. Mitloehner takes exception to the widely ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
BP, Lockerbie cloud Cameron's White House visit
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100720/wl_afp/usbritainpoliticsdiplomacy
Agence France-Presse: British Prime Minister David Cameron Tuesday rejected an inquiry into Scotland's release of the Lockerbie bomber, and said BP did not sway the decision, as he met US President Barack Obama. Cameron however told his top civil servants to assess whether new information needed to be made public on the release last year of terminally ill Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi. "I don't need an inquiry to tell me what was a bad decision," Cameron said, but also rejected suggestions ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
China uses oil-eating bacteria to clean up spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100720/sc_afp/chinaenvironmentoilpollution
Agence France-Presse: Authorities in China are using over 23 tonnes of oil-eating bacteria to help clean up an oil spill in the Yellow Sea caused by a pipeline explosion and fire at the weekend, state media said Tuesday. Yang Jiesen, head of the research and development division of a Beijing biotechnology company, said the Maritime Safety Administration had placed its order for the bacteria on Saturday, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Dozens of oil-skimming vessels and hundreds of fishing ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
A Russian Warning on Retreating Ice
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/a-russian-warning-on-retreating-ice/
New York Times: Sea ice in the Arctic is again in rapid retreat this summer, putting the region on pace to match the record lows seen in 2007, the head of Russia`s environmental agency said Tuesday, according to a Bloomberg News report. The sea ice figures cited by Aleksandr Frolov, chief of Russia`s federal Hydrometeorological and Environmental Monitoring Service, dovetail with data released this month by the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Both ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Governments Get Together to Talk Clean
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/governments-get-together-to-talk-clean/
New York Times: Two dozen countries representing 80 percent of the world`s commercial energy consumption on Tuesday announced initiatives to build more efficient appliances and buildings, "smart" electric grids and electric vehicles. "We're taking aggressive immediate actions together to confront the energy challenge head on,'' said Energy Secretary Steven Chu, the host of a two-day conference dubbed the Clean Energy Ministerial. "We know the energy challenge won't wait, and we won't wait ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
China recuits 800 fishing boats to disperse Yellow Sea oil slick
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/20/china-fishing-boats-oil-slick
Guardian: Chinese authorities stepped up their efforts to disperse a major oil slick in the Yellow Sea yesterday by mobilising 800 fishing boats to help the clean-up operation. The flotilla will join the 24 specialist ships that have been spraying dispersal agents, soaking up crude with panels of absorbent felt and using a floating barrage to prevent the slick from contaminating the beaches near Dalian. Investigators have also launched a probe into the pipeline explosion that caused the ...

Wed, 21 Jul 10
Cool Roofs, Cool Pavement Reduce Climate Change Effects
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHLcnltKgOULK6eukjnrtcCck8PdA&url=http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/42395/
Kansas City infoZine: Light colored roofs and pavements in cities around the world can not only help cities stay cooler, they can also cool the world, with the potential of canceling the heating effect of up to two years of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions. It's not a new idea but now, a new study by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is the first to use a global model to study the question. Because white roofs reflect far more of the sun's heat than black ones, buildings with white ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Oil disaster threatens Gulf of Mexico's deep water titans
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0719-kozloff_spermwhale.html
Mongabay: As I discovered in the course of researching my book, No Rain in the Amazon: How South America's Climate Change Affects the Entire Planet (Palgrave, 2010), the oil industry has had a poor record when it comes to protecting aquatic sea life. Take for example the manatee, which has been put at risk from the Amazon to the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the oil industry. One of the most outlandish creatures on the planet, the shy and retiring manatee, which gets its name from an American Indian ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Utilities and Environmentalists Haggle Over Climate Bill
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/utilities-and-environmentalists-haggle-over-climate-bill/
New York Times: Utility executives plan to head to Washington this week to weigh in on the latest iterations of legislation to control carbon dioxide emissions. Among them are Michael G. Morris, president and chief executive of American Electric Power, and James Rogers, chairman of Duke Energy. Intense negotiations have been unfolding over the possible architecture of a Senate energy bill pulled together by the chamber`s majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, to control those emissions, beginning ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Funding cuts will finish Britain's clean energy race
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/jul/19/funding-cuts-low-carbon-technologies
Guardian: In the 1970s the UK invested about 0.15% of GDP each year in research and development (R&D) into providing cheaper and cleaner energy. Britain was putting more public money into nuclear power and other new sources of electricity than almost any other economy. From the mid-1980s the amount invested each year has fallen almost continuously. The figure today is about 0.01%, one 15th of what it was a generation ago. We now sit at the bottom of the international league. The US, for ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Feinberg urges spill claimants to opt for fund
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100719/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_feinberg
Associated Press: The administrator of a $20 billion Gulf oil spill compensation fund offered a hard sell Monday, promising fishermen and others with lost income claims from the disaster that he'll be more generous with them than any court would be. Kenneth Feinberg noted that claimants are free to instead file a lawsuit, but added, "You're crazy to do so, though." "Because under this program, you will receive, if you're eligible, compensation without having to go to court for years, without the ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
China isn't the villain on climate change
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/adrianmichaels/100047793/china-isnt-the-villain-on-climate-change/
Telegraph: It has just been announced that China has become the world's largest consumer of energy, overtaking the US in absolute hunger for oil, burnt coal, combusted gas and split atoms, if not in consumption per person. No wonder the Middle Kingdom is gobbling up resources in sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and wherever it can find them -- its energy needs have already risen more than four times since 1978 and it still derives 70 per cent of its energy from coal. China is often cast as the ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
BP oil cap 'closed for extra day'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10685152
BBC: BP is being allowed to keep the cap on its damaged well shut for another 24 hours, says the US official in charge of the Gulf of Mexico oil clean-up. In a letter to BP, Adm Thad Allen expressed concern about a "detected seep" on the sea floor near the well and other "undetermined anomalies". US Oil Spill Damage assessment Alaska heals from 1989 spill Which way forward for BP? Ways BP has tried to stop the leak The firm has pledged to monitor the sea floor for ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Gates and Khosla give lean engine a push
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266701/gates-khosla-give-lean-engine
Business Green: Technology gurus turned venture capitalists Bill Gates and Vinod Khosla have invested a combined $23.5m in EcoMotors. This will enable the company to complete development and testing of its Opoc engine. Opoc -- opposed piston, opposed cylinder -- is essentially a two-stroke engine which is half the size and weight of a conventional internal combustion engine of comparable output and can thus achieve up to 50 per cent greater fuel efficiencies with commensurate emission reductions. It ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
US offshore wind coalition formed
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266704/offshore-wind-coalition-formed
Business Green: The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has announced the formation of the Offshore Wind Development Coalition (OffshoreWindDC), which will focus on advocacy and education efforts to promote offshore wind energy. The coalition, based in Washington DC, will be headed up by Jim Lanard, formerly managing director for Deepwater Wind. "The creation of this coalition demonstrates the growing interest in offshore wind energy in the US,' said AWEA chief executive Denise Bode. ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Britain says no plans to review Libya prisoner deal
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100719/ts_nm/us_oil_spill_britain_libya
Reuters: The British government said it had no plans to re-examine a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya after oil company BP confirmed it had lobbied its predecessor on the issue. U.S. politicians angry with BP over a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico want to know if the company played a role in securing the release of a Libyan convicted of the 1988 bombing of a U.S. airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie. Scottish authorities, who have broad legal powers, released Libyan ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Time to Unleash American Innovation on Energy and Climate Change
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lowell-feld/time-to-unleash-american_b_649786.html
Huffington Post: BP's oil gusher has induced a collective sense of helplessness, and even despair, in many Americans, while underscoring our country's long-standing failure to develop a serious national energy policy. But helplessness and despair are precisely the wrong reactions to the worst environmental catastrophe in U.S. history. In an Op-Ed earlier this week in Politico, four entrepreneurs - Environmental Entrepreneurs co-founder Nicole Lederer. BrightSource Energy President and CEO John ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
When climate change becomes a health issue, are people more likely to listen?
http://www.physorg.com/news198758269.html
Physorg: Framing climate change as a public health problem seems to make the issue more relevant, significant and understandable to members of the public -- even some who don't generally believe climate change is happening, according to preliminary research by George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication (4C). The center recently conducted an exploratory study in the United States of people's reactions to a public health-framed short essay on climate change. They found ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
A Livelihood from Whales - Without Hunting
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52202
Inter Press Service: If you want to observe the charismatic southern right whale (Eubalaena australis), the most popular place to do so is off Argentina's ValdÃ©s Peninsula, an enclave on the Atlantic coast that relies on tourist dollars -- and therefore opposes whale hunting. From May to December, about a thousand of these whales gather in the Argentine waters to reproduce. Located in the southern province of Chubut, the peninsula is a protected natural area and, in 1999, UNESCO (United Nations ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Solar Drone Aims for a Record
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/solar-drone-aims-for-a-record/
New York Times: A British company is hoping that the Zephyr, a solar-powered drone, can stay aloft above the Army's Yuma Proving Ground until Friday. This month we reported on the flight of the Solar Impulse, an experimental aircraft that broke the world record for continuous solar-powered manned flight by staying aloft for 26 straight hours. But the Solar Impulse is not the only solar aircraft breaking records. For more than a week, the Zephyr, a solar-powered drone, has been circling high ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Cave yields marsupial fossil haul
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10686515
BBC: The rare haul of fossils includes 26 skulls from an extinct, sheep-sized marsupial with giant claws. The finds come from the Riversleigh World Heritage fossil field in north-west Queensland. Continue reading the main story "Start Quote To find a complete specimen like that and so many from an age range is quite unique' End Quote Liz Reed Flinders University The beautifully-preserved remains have been described in the Journal of Vertebrate ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Britain at risk of being left behind in low carbon future
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7898979/Britain-at-risk-of-being-left-behind-in-low-carbon-future.html
Telegraph: Greenhouse gas emissions will be cut by a third in world's first carbon Budget Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope discovers 'superheated planet with comet tail' World temperatures set for record highs India leads demands for Â£120bn climate change fund paid for by the West Jack Eddy The new Government has also recently cut Â£34 million of funding for new projects like offshore wind and solar. Rather than developing new industry like the Silicon Valley in ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
World warned energy path unsustainable at US talks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100719/sc_afp/usenergyclimatewarming
Agence France-Presse: Major economies looked Monday at how to cooperate in shifting to cleaner sources of energy, with a top policy board warning the world's current path was unsustainable. Senior officials from economies making up 80 percent of global Gross Domestic Product opened two days of talks in Washington in a US initiative to find common ground amid torturous negotiations on a new climate change treaty. The meeting comes as the United States tries to end the worst oil disaster in its ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Decision Time for Climate Provisions
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20100719/pl_cq_politics/politics3704245
CQPolitics.com: It's a make-or-break week for environmental advocates and senators struggling to keep climate change provisions in the mix during a pre-recess energy debate. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is sticking with his plan to start debate on an energy bill July 26, a deadline that means he must quickly produce legislation -- and that increases pressure on supporters of adding carbon dioxide controls to the measure. "At this point in the calendar, time is a big constraint on action," ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Paddy Power pays out on departure of BP chief Tony Hayward
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/19/paddy-power-pays-out-tony-hayward
Guardian: Paddy Power is paying out more than Â£10,000 to customers who bet that Tony Hayward would step down as BP's chief executive by the end of this year, even though he is still running the company. The Irish betting firm closed its book after seeing a surge of wagers on Hayward's imminent departure over the last few days. It believes he is now certain to quit BP before the end of December, even if the company is successful in permanently capping the oil leak in the Gulf of ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Kline's New Research on the Implications of Climate Change on Agribusiness
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/klines-new-research-on-the-implications-of-climate-change-on-agribusiness-98755864.html
PR Newswire: Kline & Company, a worldwide consulting and research firm, announced a groundbreaking new research initiative designed to gather research on climate change and its implications for agribusiness companies in the U.S. region. The first edition of Implications of Climate Change on Agribusiness 2010: U.S. Analysis is designed to help marketers with the essential long range planning in today's investment-heavy agricultural sector. Whether one believes that climate change is man-made or ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
US gives BP 24 hours to monitor capped oil well
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/19/us-bp-capped-oil-well
Guardian: A standoff between BP and the US government over the handling of the stricken Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico continued with a sharp exchange of words over the best way to keep the oil contained before the well is permanently plugged next month. Thad Allen, the official appointed by Barack Obama to lead the federal response to the disaster, gave BP another 24 hours in which to keep the new containment cap on the broken well closed. But he warned that the US government would ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Bjork leads protest against Iceland energy sale
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66I4L720100719?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Icelandic singer Bjork, known for her political activism, urged parliament Monday to review the planned sale of a local geothermal energy company, saying the deal could harm Iceland's interests. Environmental issues have caused friction in Iceland before, with construction of a power plant for an aluminum smelter triggering street protests in 2005. Bjork said she was unhappy with the sale of Icelandic power company HS Orka to Canada's Magma Energy and asked members of ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Toyota settles patent dispute with technology firm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100719/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toyota_patents
Associated Press: Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday it has settled a years-long dispute with a U.S. company that had claimed the Japanese automaker used its technology without permission in its hybrids. The deal ends a squabble that had briefly threatened to block the Prius from being sold in the U.S. Toyota and Paice LLC said they have settled their patent dispute and agreed to have all lawsuits between them dismissed. The terms were confidential, the companies said. No financial details were ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
"Extinct," Pop-Eyed Primate Photographed for First Time
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/07/100719-horton-plains-slender-loris-pictures-first-time-science/
National Geographic: Long thought to be extinct, one of the world's rarest primates has been caught on camera for the first time, scientists announced Monday. Discovered in 1937 but "missing" for 60 years, Sri Lanka's Horton Plains slender loris was presumed to have died out. In 2002 a fleeting nighttime sighting of something looking like the elusive tree-dweller, however, gave conservationists hope. Follow-up surveys led by the Zoological Society of London finally confirmed the lorises are ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Climate scientist Stephen Schneider dead at 65
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100719/ap_on_re_us/us_obit_schneider
Associated Press: Stephen Schneider, a Stanford University scientist who served on the international research panel on global warming that shared the 2007 Nobel Prize with former Vice President Al Gore, has died. He was 65. Schneider died of an apparent heart attack Monday while on a flight from Stockholm to London, Stanford officials said. Schneider studied climate change for decades and wrote a number of books charting its effects on wildlife and ecosystems in the United States, and later ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Report maps perils of warming
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100719/full/466425a.html
Nature: An 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions (green line, top graph) would be needed to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of the gas (green line, bottom graph). Click for a larger version.Ref. 1 As the US Senate gears up to debate the latest incarnation of proposed climate legislation next week, a blue-ribbon panel has released what it hopes will be a definitive guide to the consequences of climate change for lawmakers and the public. In offering a degree-by-degree breakdown of the ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
US fears Gulf seabed oil seepage
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10679973
BBC: The US fears oil may be seeping from the ocean floor near the stricken Gulf of Mexico oil well. The official in charge of the clean-up, Thad Allen, said if a substance leaking from the seabed was found to be methane this might mean oil was also leaking. US Oil Spill Damage assessment Alaska heals from 1989 spill Which way forward for BP? Ways BP has tried to stop the leak He ordered BP to submit a plan to reopen the capped well if the seepage was confirmed, so ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
BP puts Gulf oil spill cost at nearly $4 billion
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100719/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_britain_bp
Associated Press: Oil company BP says that the cost of dealing with the Gulf of Mexico spill has now reached nearly $4 billion. The company, which last week managed to place a temporary cap on the leak, said Monday it has made payments totaling $207 million to settle individual claims for damages from the spill along the southern coast of the United States. To date, almost 116,000 claims have been submitted and more than 67,500 payments have been made, totaling $207 million. Including the ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Fishing families turn to fast food, 'grind meats'
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100719/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_feeding_fishermen
Associated Press: Grow up on the water, the children of southern Louisiana learn, and you'll never go hungry. As long as you can toss a line, a net or a trap, you can eat -- and eat well. Or you could, until now. Millions of gallons of oil from the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig have fouled some of the world's richest fishing grounds from Florida to Texas, and even though BP stopped the leak for the first time Thursday, more than a third of the Gulf of Mexico remains closed. For ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
RICO law made to combat Mafia used in BP lawsuits
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100719/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_rico
Associated Press: Using a law originally enacted to combat the Mafia, attorneys are filing lawsuits accusing BP PLC and Transocean Ltd. of committing a longterm series of crimes by concealing flaws in deepwater drilling plans and lacking safeguards to contain a catastrophic Gulf of Mexico spill. BP has been named in at least three lawsuits brought under the federal law known as RICO, which stands for Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations. Transocean, which leased the ill-fated Deepwater ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Spill probe eyes anomalies in crew's response: report
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66I0AF20100719?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. authorities probing BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are looking into why workers missed signs of an impending explosion and have drawn up a list of more than 20 anomalies in the crew's response to them, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. Investigators are also looking at decisions made by employees of Transocean Ltd, the rig's owner, and disagreements between workers from the two companies, the paper reported on its website, citing an internal document put together ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
A celebration of hope in a dry land
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/jul/19/farming-celebration-hope-dry-land
Guardian: On ranches like mine, perched on the windy northern Great Plains, drought is a daily companion. Our official average rainfall is about 16 inches a year, one of the few statistics I know by heart – and I don't believe it. During four normal years, for example, our rainfall was 6.45, 6.15, 17.65, and 8.12 inches, averaging about 10 inches a year. And that included winter storms with 60mph winds. Ranchers have, like native plants and animals, adapted. Lately, the land of ranchers who ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
UK needs to invest more in low-carbon technologies
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66I16F20100719?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Britain needs to invest more in low-carbon technologies to reach its goal of cutting harmful greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, a climate advisory body to the government said Monday. The UK aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 from 1990 levels to help fight climate change. As part of this goal, low-carbon technologies will be vital to generate cleaner forms of electricity for electric vehicles, heating and delivering energy-efficient ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Kabul faces severe water crisis
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/19/kabul-faces-severe-water-crisis
Guardian: Kabul and its surrounding region are perilously short of water and may not be able to supply a fast-growing, more affluent population, a joint US and Afghan government scientific report has warned. Rapid population growth and expected temperature rises due to climate change mean the area – which just manages to support 6 million people today – will need six times more water by 2050, the US Geological Survey report says. More than half the shallow wells people now rely on will ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
BT in smart energy meter plan
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/19/bt-smart-energy-meter-plan
Guardian: BT is launching a bid to take part in the multi-billion pound rollout of smart energy meters across the country. BT will today announce a partnership with broadcasting firm Arqiva and Detica, a branch of BAE Systems. The three companies hope to persuade the government that they should build and operate a new nationwide long-range radio network to communicate with the intelligent meters that are being installed in Britain's 28 million homes and small businesses over the next ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Smear tactics endanger climate
http://www.centredaily.com/2010/07/19/2100278/smear-tactics-endanger-climate.html
Centre Daily Times: Just before Independence Day, Penn State issued a report completely vindicating Michael Mann, one of the world's premier climate scientists, from the trumped-up charges of scientific misconduct, dubbed "Climategate' by right-wing apologists. Time for an apology, right? Unfortunately, no. Instead those who would deny the reality of climate change simply charge that Penn State whitewashed the investigation. And that reveals the real scandal -- not Climategate, but ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Carbon price may be loser in Australian election
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266654/carbon-price-loser-australian
Business Green: Carbon trading was the first issue on the agenda of the Australian federal election campaign this weekend after prime minister Julia Gillard said the country will go to the polls on 21 August. The opposition stepped up pressure on Gillard to outline her policy over the weekend and vowed that any Liberal government would never introduce a price on carbon. Liberal leader Tony Abbott said that even if the international community agreed on a carbon price, a government led by him ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
UK urged to invest more in low-carbon technologies
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/19/uk-invest-low-carbon-technology
Guardian: Low-carbon technologies must continue to get government support, or risk falling into the "valley of death" where they never reach market, according to the latest report from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). The independent body set up to report on progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, recommended that the UK must protect funding for green industries and identified offshore wind, carbon capture and storage and smart grids among the six priority areas that should be ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Wind strengthening across Europe to 2020
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266660/wind-strengthening-across
Business Green: Wind power will dwarf all other renewable energy technologies in Europe, with more estimated installed capacity by 2020 than hydropower and solar put together, according to a report by ENDS Europe, based on analysis of 13 national renewable energy action plans. In 2020, with estimated generation of more than 100,000GWh, Germany will confirm its lead ahead of Spain and the UK, both at around 78,000GWh. The UK plans to grow its generation more than fivefold from current ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Gulf forecast: Cloudy with a chance of tar balls
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100719/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_forecasters
Associated Press: Call it cloudy with a chance of tar balls. TV forecasters along the Gulf Coast have been adding a new ritual to their daily weather lineup -- predicting the path of oil spewing from the Deepwater Horizon rig. But predicting the oil's movement is proving more difficult than predicting sunshine or showers. "It's the biggest challenge in forecasting simply because it's all new," said Jason Smith, a meteorologist at the Fox 10 station in Mobile, Ala. "I've tracked a lot of ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
China to build new nuclear power plant: state media
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100719/wl_asia_afp/chinaenergynuclear
Agence France Presse: China has approved plans to build a nuclear power plant in the southwestern region of Guangxi, state media reported Monday, as Beijing makes good on a pledge to boost renewable energy sources. The first phase of the project in Fangchengchang city will involve investing 24 billion yuan (3.5 billion dollars) in two Chinese-made 1.08 gigawatt reactors, the People's Daily said, citing local government officials. Beijing has stepped up investment in nuclear power in an effort to ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Britons need more incentives to cut emissions - MP
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66I1QX20100719?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Controversial measures to force Britons to use less energy and cleaner forms of transport could be necessary to aid Britain's fight against climate change, a senior Conservative member of parliament said on Monday. Tim Yeo, chairman of Parliament's energy and climate change select committee, advocated more investment in nuclear power and renewable energy, but also said much bigger incentives were needed to encourage people to shift to low-carbon technologies. His ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
China tackles oil slick after pipeline blast
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/19/china-oil-spill-dalian
Guardian: Chinese authorities have closed a major oil terminal and dispatched a flotilla of dispersal vessels to tackle a 50 square kilometre slick of crude that was released after a pipeline explosion near Dalian. Amid fears that the spill could contaminate local beaches, maritime safety officials have also put in place a 9km long floating boom to try to keep the seepage from coastal waters near China's largest deep-water port. The oil started to leak into the sea late on Friday night ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Defra lays out actions for structural reform
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266671/defra-lays-actions-structural
Business Green: Despite facing budget cuts of up to 50 per cent, Defra has laid out its Structural Reform Plan (SRP) for public comment. The plan underlines the department's commitment to make British farming more competitive while making food production more sustainable, protecting biodiversity and boosting the green economy. "The food and farming industry, from the farm to the plate, has demonstrated its ability to withstand economic shocks and will be a pillar of the new green economy, so ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Government must keep investing in green technologies, watchdog says
http://www.greenwisebusiness.co.uk/news/government-must-keep-investing-in-green-technologies-watchdog-says-1652.aspx
Greenwise Business: The Government adviser on climate change has said the UK should ring-fence funding for green technologies in order to meet long-term climate change targets and low carbon economic growth. In a report published today, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said Government support must be protected for "at least" six low carbon technologies, including carbon capture and storage, marine and offshore wind. It also recommends funding for nuclear. The watchdog said the Government must not ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Does Middle East Oil Get a Carbon Subsidy?
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/does-middle-east-oil-get-a-carbon-subsidy/?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: The federal government's position on ethanol fuel is that it must contribute less to global warming than gasoline does, or why bother promoting it. Yet by some calculations, ethanol is worse because it encourages the destruction of forests to make way for new farmland, many assert. Burning trees releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; what is more, the trees are no longer there to absorb carbon dioxide. Now, two professors at the University of Nebraska counter that gasoline is an ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
European Commission boosts environmental research with Â€205m
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266676/european-commission-boosts
Business Green: Environmental research projects across the EU are to get a EUR205m (Â£173m) leg-up courtesy of the European Commission. The cash is part of a EUR6.4bn programme of investment in "smart growth and jobs' unveiled in Brussels today by EC innovation commissioner MÃ¡ire Geoghegan-Quinn. "Investment in research and innovation is the only smart and lasting way out of crisis and towards sustainable and socially equitable growth,' said Geoghegan-Quinn. "This package will contribute to new ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Europe set for warmer than normal summer: WSI
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66I2LG20100719?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Temperatures across Europe for the coming three months are set to be above average across Europe and especially in the eastern mainland, Weather Services International said on Monday. "We expect the recent warm, dry weather across the eastern and southern mainland to continue into August, while the UK and Scandinavian temperatures run slightly above to slightly below normal," WSI Chief Meteorologist Todd Crawford said. "By September, the mainland heat will abate a bit, while ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Lake Superior, a Huge Natural Climate Change Gauge, Is Running a Fever
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/07/19/19climatewire-lake-superior-a-huge-natural-climate-change-83371.html
ClimateWire: The Great Lakes are feeling the heat from climate change. As the world's largest freshwater system warms, it is poised to systematically alter life for local wildlife and the tribes that depend on it, according to regional experts. And the warming could also provide a glimpse of what is happening on a more global level, they say. "The Great Lakes in a lot of ways have always been a canary in the coal mine," Cameron Davis, the senior adviser to the U.S. EPA on the Great Lakes, ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
Coalition ''must go much further'' on climate change
http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=13524
Public Service: The coalition government must take greater steps in addressing climate change, Conservative MP and Chair of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, Tim Yeo has warned. Western countries, including Britain, risk being left behind in the low carbon technology industry, he suggests, as countries such as China invest heavily in this field. In addition to the social and environmental pressures, Yeo highlights that green technologies can play a vital role in economic stability. His ...

Tue, 20 Jul 10
China: Three Gorges dam faces major test
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/19/three-gorges-dam-flood-test
Guardian: China's Three Gorges dam faces its biggest test this week as rain storms threaten to swell upstream water levels beyond those that preceded the Yangtze's last devastating flood in 1998. Flood control is one of the major objectives of the 16m tonne concrete barrier, which was pushed through by the government despite concerns about the environmental and social impact. Torrential downpours, which have claimed at least 146 lives since the start of the month, have created the most ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
'Climategate' fallout may impact legislation
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/18/MNNS1EFLDU.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: Five investigations into the "Climategate" scandal have now cleared a group of scientists accused of twisting data in an effort to prove the world is getting warmer. But many environmentalists and climate researchers fear the damage has already been done. The scandal spawned big headlines and heated blog posts when it erupted last fall after hackers released a stash of unflattering e-mails from a climate research lab in Britain. In one message, a scientist wrote of using a ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Spill probe eyes anomalies in crew's response: report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100719/us_nm/us_bp_probe
Reuters: U.S. authorities probing BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are looking into why workers missed signs of an impending explosion and have drawn up a list of more than 20 anomalies in the crew's response to them, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. Investigators are also looking at decisions made by employees of Transocean Ltd, the rig's owner, and disagreements between workers from the two companies, the paper reported on its website, citing an internal document put together ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Engineers detect seepage near BP oil well
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100719/ts_nm/us_oil_spill
Reuters: Engineers monitoring BP Plc's damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico detected seepage on the ocean floor that could mean problems with the cap that has stopped oil from gushing into the water, the government's top oil spill official said on Sunday. Earlier on Sunday, BP officials had expressed hope that the test of the cap which began Thursday could continue until a relief well can permanently seal the leak next month. Oil gushed from the deep-sea Maconda well for nearly three months ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Australia: Alliance says climate change is a health issue
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201007/s2957550.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: With climate change set to dominate the environmental debate in this year's federal election, one expert says it should also be seen as a health issue. Andrew Phillips, policy advisor for the National Rural Health Alliance, says a warming climate will see certain diseases spread further and even affect mental health. He says as the higher temperatures cause agricultural production to fall, rural Australians will become anxious about job security. "It has been well ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Cousteau scion hopes oil spill boosts awareness
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100718/ts_alt_afp/usoilenvironmentpollutioncousteau
Agence France-Presse: The Gulf of Mexico calamity could be a catalyst for greater understanding of the marine environment, says Philippe Cousteau, grandson of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau and member of a family devoted to the sea. "What is the legacy of this oil spill? I hope this reminds us of the true cost of our addiction to fossil fuels," Cousteau said in an interview with AFP. "I hope this adds to the dialogue and gets us to realize we need to get off fossil fuels, that there are ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Experts fear long oil effect on marine life, food chain
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100718/sc_afp/usoilenvironmentpollutionwildlife
Agence France-Presse: Scientists studying the massive BP oil spill fear a decades-long, "cascading" effect on marine life that could lead to a shift in the overall biological network in the Gulf of Mexico. With some 400 species estimated to be at risk -- from the tiniest oil-eating bacteria to shrimp and crabs, endangered sea turtles, brown pelicans and sperm whales -- experts say the impact of oil and chemical dispersants on the food chain has already begun, and could grow exponentially. "A major ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Australia: Marine tourism operators complacent on climate change: survey
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/19/2957283.htm?section=business
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Queensland marine park tourism operators have been asked to consider the impact climate change will have on the Great Barrier Reef. The results of a survey of the tourism operators will be presented at workshops in Airlie Beach in north Queensland and Cairns in the state's far north this week. The workshops will look at the predicted change in weather patterns and how businesses can become carbon neutral. Col McKenzie from the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Pay-as-you-drive scheme urged by MP
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gIIC_EnTlDhS3pDZtbL1L6l7lydQ
Press Association: A "truly radical" pay-as-you-drive scheme for Britain's motorways should be introduced to help the country switch to a low-carbon economy, a senior Tory MP has said. Tim Yeo, who chairs the Commons Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, called for drivers to be charged based on emissions and time of travel to promote green vehicle choices and cut peak time congestion. He also urged ministers to consider the "overdue" privatisation of Britain's motorway network to fund ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Hedge funds accused of gambling with lives of the poorest as food prices soar
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/19/speculators-commodities-food-price-rises
Guardian: Financial speculators have come under renewed fire from anti-poverty campaigners for their bets on food prices, blamed for raising the costs of goods such as coffee and chocolate and threatening the livelihoods of farmers in developing countries. The World Development Movement (WDM) will issue a damning report today on the growing role of hedge funds and banks in the commodities markets in recent years, during which time cocoa prices have more than doubled, energy prices have soared ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Britain trails China in dash to low-carbon economy, warns Tim Yeo
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/19/britain-trails-china-low-carbon-economy
Guardian: Britain and other western countries are in danger of being left behind by China which is investing "furiously" in low carbon technology, aiming to profit from tough climate change targets in the next 20 years, a leading Tory warns today. Tim Yeo, the chairman of the Commons energy and climate change select committee, says China may deliberately be acting the "bad guy" to divert attention from preparations for a low carbon economy. China faced international criticism last year ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Curry spices for cows and sheep could cut methane emissions
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/curry-spices-for-cows-and-sheep-could-cut-methane-emissions-2029761.html
Independent (UK): Curry spices could hold the key to reducing the enormous greenhouse gas emissions given off by grazing animals such as sheep, cows and goats, scientists have claimed. Research carried out at Newcastle University has found that coriander and turmeric -- spices traditionally used to flavour curries -- can reduce by up to 40 per cent the amount of methane that is produced by bacteria in a sheep's stomach and then emitted into the atmosphere when the animal burps. Working rather ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Nigeria: Underwriters explore goldmine in climate change
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/07/19/underwriters-explore-goldmine-in-climate-change/
Vanguard: Insurance industry in the country is cashing in on the opportunities that climate change has availed the sector in terms of premium generation. Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years. It can be a change in the average weather or a change in the distribution of weather events around an average (for example, greater or fewer extreme weather events). Climate change may be limited to a ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
BP, feds clash over reopening capped Gulf oil well
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100719/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
Associated Press: BP and the Obama administration offered significantly differing views Sunday on whether the capped Gulf of Mexico oil well will have to be reopened, a contradiction that may be an effort by the oil giant to avoid blame if crude starts spewing again. Pilloried for nearly three months as it tried repeatedly to stop the leak, BP PLC capped the nearly mile-deep well Thursday and wants to keep it that way. The government's plan, however, is to eventually pipe oil to the surface, which ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Labour Party signifies climate change as key in elections
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/36376/20100719/australia-wayne-swan-deputy-prime-minister-labour-party-elections-campaign-platforms-prime-minister.htm
International Business Times AU: Labour Party signifies climate change as key in elections The election campaign fever in Australia is starting to heat up as declarations of key campaign platforms are being revealed. Australia's Federal Treasurer Swan with Treasury Secretary Henry pose for photographers in Melbourne Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan said that action on climate change would be part of the campaign in the lead up to Australia's Aug. 21 election by Labour Party ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
CBI calls for global aviation emissions trading scheme
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266650/cbi-calls-global-aviation
Business Green: The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) will today issue a new report voicing concern at government plans to impose a new per-plane tax on flights in and out of the UK, arguing that the most effective means of curbing aviation emissions is through a global cap-and-trade scheme. The report, entitled Green Skies Ahead: Creating a Low-carbon Aviation Industry, warns that without a global emissions pricing scheme for aviation there is a risk that any national levies will simply ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
UK takes bronze in green building league
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266642/uk-takes-bronze-green-building
Business Green: The UK has climbed to third in a global league table of green buildings, according to a major new report from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) that highlights Norway and Brazil as the two countries that have made the greatest progress towards developing a zero-carbon built environment. The 2009 RICS Global Zero Carbon Capacity Index draws on data from the International Energy Agency to analyse the energy efficiency of households, offices and domestic transport, as ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Palestinians build solar car from scratch
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/18/palestinian-territories-solar-power-car
Guardian: Visitors to the West Bank town of Hebron this summer might find a strange-looking white vehicle motoring through its streets – the first Palestinian solar-powered car. The product of an environmentally friendly project for Palestinian engineering students, the car is bedecked with banks of solar panels and doesn't manage to reach a speed much above 19mph (30kph) – but it is being lauded as a feat of creative engineering in the face of limited funds and scant resources. "It was ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Sea Level Rise Swamps Islands
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=sea-level-rise-swamps-islands-10-07-18
Scientific American: It's a restful sound, waves, unless they happen to be submerging the island or coastal plain you call home. A combination of climate change and bad environmental practices like coral mining is now swamping some low-lying lands. Take the islands off the coast of Panama. These Caribbean islands regularly find themselves inundated with seawater for days--and some indigenous inhabitants have begun to move to hillsides on the mainland. New research from the National Center for ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Spin city: London's Strata tower
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/jul/18/strata-tower-london-green-architecture
Guardian: I am standing on the wind-buffeted tip of the Strata tower, looking out through the blades of what appear to be an enormous propeller, at the London skyline and the green basin beyond. St Paul's cathedral, across the river, seems close enough to touch. It's the kind of view, and the kind of heroically stylised building, you would expect to see in some 1930s sci-fi movie: the perfect place for a hero and a villain to have a rooftop showdown. At 147 metres, the newly opened Strata is ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
United States: Solarfest powers on for the 16th year
http://www.timesargus.com/article/20100718/NEWS02/707189955/1003/NEWS02
Times Argus: SolarFest entered its second day of revelry Saturday, despite weather reports that its namesake would be absent. Instead, the sun did shine, providing the festival not only with an enjoyably hot day, but also the power needed to run operations. Solar energy arrays dotted the fields of Forget-Me-Not Farm, pushing green power to the myriad of vendor booths, food stations and musical stages set up for the 16th annual renewable energy festival. The celebration began at noon Friday, ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Beyond a Gulf Cleanup
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/beyond-a-gulf-cleanup/?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: In Sunday`s paper, my colleague Justin Gillis and I present a science-based analysis of the environmental future of the Gulf Coast. It`s fairly optimistic, considering how badly polluted the coastline appears today in many places. In the course of our reporting, we were struck by how adept nature can be in healing itself from exposure to a "naturally occurring" substance (meaning oil, even if its spread results from human error) as opposed to say, PCB`s. Of course, nature`s ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
BP canvassing investors on possible break up: report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100718/bs_nm/us_bp_breakup
Reuters: Under-fire oil company BP Plc (BP.L) has started canvassing shareholders about a restructuring in the wake of its Gulf of Mexico oil spill which could include a break up of the business, the Sunday Times newspaper reported. The newspaper, citing unnamed BP insiders, said options included selling the group's refineries and petrol stations, scaling back its U.S. operations and ramping-up in-house engineering instead of outsourcing. These are on top of the sale of about 10 percent ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Himalayan ice shrivels in global warming: exhibit
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/himalayan-ice-shrivels-in-global-warming-exhibit-2029568.html
Agence France-Presse: When British climbing legend George Mallory took his iconic 1921 photo of Mount Everest's north face, the mighty, river-shaped glacier snaking under his feet seemed eternal. Decades of pollution and global warming later, modern mountaineer David Breashears has reshot the picture at the same spot - and proved an alarming reality. Instead of the powerful, white, S-shaped sweep of ice witnessed by Mallory before he died on his conquest of Everest, the Main Rongbuk Glacier today is ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
BP says "hopeful" well can stay shut indefinitely
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100718/ts_nm/us_oil_spill_cap
Reuters: BP Plc is "hopeful" that its blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico can remain sealed until a pair of relief wells permanently stop the flow, a company executive said on Sunday. BP is more than two days into a pressure test on its crippled Macondo well, which had been described as a temporary measure to stop oil from gushing into the Gulf while engineers study pressure within the well. Now, BP officials say they want to keep the well sealed in until they finish a pair of relief ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Rethinking the measure of growth
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/business/energy-environment/19green.html?_r=5
New York Times: Almost overlooked amid BP's debacle in the Gulf of Mexico was an oil spill in the Singapore Strait, where in late May two tankers collided and disgorged the equivalent of 18,000 barrels of oil into one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. The Singapore incident was small compared with the 87-day catastrophe bubbling away in the gulf, and the Singapore authorities, responding with characteristic efficiency, mopped up the mess with booms and chemical dispersants in just six ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Our beaker is starting to boil
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/opinion/18kristof.html?_r=5&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1279483254-+C57ud5bFEu9IEZzbd0Tbg
New York Times: David Breashears is one of America's legendary mountain climbers, a man who has climbed Mount Everest five times and led the Everest IMAX film team in 1996. These days, Mr. Breashears is still climbing the Himalayas, but he is lugging more than pitons and ice axes. He's also carrying special cameras to document stunning declines in glaciers on the roof of the world. Mr. Breashears first reached the top of Everest in 1983, and in many subsequent trips to the region he noticed ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Why going green won't make you better or save you money
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/16/AR2010071606839.html
Washington Post: Like most Whole Foods shoppers, David Bain thinks he is a decent citizen of Earth. His family buys mostly organic food. They recycle. He recently fortified his green credentials by removing a leaking oil tank in his yard. But here's a head scratcher: Though the Bains live in Arlington within walking distance of Whole Foods, they often drive there in an SUV that gets just 19 miles per gallon. He has noticed that his SUV is not alone in the lot. Does that make Bain a hypocrite? ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
The forgotten footprint: Nitrogen
http://www.timesargus.com/article/20100718/ENVIRONMENT/707189977/1003/NEWS02
Times Argus: You may know your carbon footprint, but do you know your nitrogen footprint? Nitrous oxide is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Nitrogen has been pegged as an over-looked cause of climate change and as a culprit in some of the most insidious forms of environmental pollution. "Nitrogen's role as a greenhouse gas is mostly as nitrous oxide," said Jeff Merrell, environmental analyst for the Vermont Agency of Natural Resource's Air Pollution Control Division. Nitrous oxide ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Scientists hope to solve mystery of algae blooms in open ocean
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20100718_Scientists_hope_to_solve_mystery_of_algae_blooms_in_open_ocean.html
Star Advertiser: Scientists are deploying a fleet of robotic instruments in Hawaiian waters to try to solve an oceanographic puzzle: how microscopic algae thrive in vast ocean areas with few nutrients needed to grow and reproduce. University of Hawaii microbial oceanographer Dave Karl has been collaborating with chemical oceanographer Ken Johnson of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and oceanographer Stephen Riser of the University of Washington on investigations of mid-ocean ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Australia: It's good to be Greens, as balance of power tipped
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/its-good-to-be-greens-as-balance-of-power-tipped-20100717-10f4t.html
Sydney Morning Herald: THE Greens are widely tipped to hold the balance of power in the Senate after August 21 and have promised to use their numbers to push for tougher action on climate change and a more compassionate approach to asylum seekers. Polling suggests the Greens could pick up an extra four Senate spots, taking their numbers from five to nine. The Greens' Senate hopeful in NSW, Lee Rhiannon, is rated a 50-50 chance by pollsters of claiming a seat. The party needs 14.3 per cent of the vote ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
The incredible shrinking solar cell
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/61141/title/The_incredible_shrinking_solar_cell
ScienceNews: The next generation of solar cells will be small. About the size of lint. But the anticipated impact: That's huge. Some of these emerging electricity-generating cells could be embedded in windows without obscuring the view. Engineers envision incorporating slightly larger ones into resins that would be molded onto the tops of cars or maybe the roofs of buildings. One team of materials scientists is developing microcells that could be rubber-stamped by the millions onto a yard of ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
New 'ocean acidification' monitoring equipment deployed off LaPush
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20100718/news/307189981/new-ocean-acidification-monitoring-equipment-deployed-off-lapush
Peninsula Daily News: Scientists are optimistic that sophisticated monitors now operating off the North Olympic Peninsula coast will help them understand acidity levels that are skyrocketing both in the ocean and in Puget Sound and Hood Canal. To check the composition of seawater coming into the Sound and Hood Canal, a high-tech buoy was deployed Friday about 15 miles off LaPush. It will keep track of the weather, the atmosphere, water chemistry and plankton growth. Nearby, a seaglider -- a ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Oregon trims tax credits for residential solar panels
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/07/oregon_trims_tax_credits_for_r.html
Oregonian: Gone are the days when you could pay $650 for a $13,000 solar system installed on your roof. Oregon solar installers say a rule quietly enacted by a state agency July 1 -- and announced late Wednesday -- cuts a crucial tax credit, boosting costs of rooftop residential energy production. A 2,000-watt solar system that once cost a homeowner about $650, after credits and a rebate, will now cost about $3,325, Oregon Energy Department officials confirm. That could still ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
N.J. firms pouring billions into wind, solar ventures
http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2010/07/nj_firms_pouring_billions_into.html
New Jersey: Investors chasing high returns like to get in early on the next big thing. For some pioneering firms in New Jersey, that means multimillion dollar bets on clean energy. From Short Hills to Princeton, public and private companies are committing their own capital, or that of large investors, to building wind and solar farms and developing other types of renewable power, as well as smart-grid and energy-storage technologies. Despite the worldwide recession, total venture capital ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Legislation would grant states revenue from clean-energy projects
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jul/17/making-fed-land-benefit-states/
Las Vegas Sun: Nevada could finally make some money off the dozens of giant solar arrays and wind farms planned for its deserts and mountain peaks if legislation introduced this week by Rep. Dean Heller and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid passes. The Clean Energy, Community Investment and Wildlife Conservation Act would change the system for acquiring federal land for solar and wind developments from revolving around rights of way, a process originally intended for multiple-use applications such ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Cabinet to consider conservation land mining
http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/cabinet-consider-conservation-land-mining-3651062
TV New Zealand: Cabinet will today consider and possibly make decisions on proposals to mine on conservation land, Prime Minister John Key said. The government has proposed removing 7000 hectares of conservation land in the Coromandel, Great Barrier Island and Paparoa National Park from schedule four of the Crown Minerals Act, which protects it from mining, so valuable minerals can be extracted. However Labour has previously said that figure has been reduced to 3500ha. More than 30,000 ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Windfarms only giving half power
http://news.scotsman.com/news/Windfarms-only-giving-half-power.6426015.jp
Scotsman: SCOTLAND'S wind farms have produced only around half the amount of power they were expected to this year, Scotland on Sunday has learned. The government blamed the low generation levels on unusually calm weather, but critics said the figures showed the danger of becoming too dependent on renewable energy. Turbines are expected to operate at an average output of about 30 per cent of their maximum installed capacity. But the average output over five months this year was 17 ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Drought is bad news for anglers in Scotland
http://news.scotsman.com/environment/Drought-is-bad-news-for.6426032.jp
Scotsman: THE worst summer drought in more than 30 years has dried up some of Scotland's top salmon rivers, leading to unusually low catches and fish found with bellies rubbed raw by gravel. Anglers on major fishing beats say water levels are at their lowest since the long hot summers of the mid-1970s, stopping wild salmon and sea trout from getting up rivers. The water is so shallow in places on the North and South Esks that midstrADVERTISEMENTeam gravel banks are clearly visible and anglers ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
The case of the poisoned fuel cell
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/07/the-case-of-the-poisoned-fuel-ce.html
Science Mag: Battery-powered cars may be on the cusp of the mainstream auto market, but scientists and car makers still have high hopes for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, which should refuel faster and travel longer distances between fill-ups. Hydrogen fuel cells have their own Achilles' heel, however: They are easily poisoned by carbon monoxide (CO). Now, researchers report that they've created novel catalysts for fuel cell cars that strongly resist carbon monoxide contamination, potentially solving a ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Philippines: NGO promotes ducks as solution to global warming, rice insufficiency
http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27825:ngo-promotes-ducks-as-solution-to-global-warming-rice-insufficiency&catid=53:agri-commodities
Business Mirror: While the world's leaders are scratching their heads and expensive think tanks wrack their brains trying to find answers to global warming and food security, a nongovernment organization here is propagating a solution that hit these two problems at one go, but has not talked much about its successes. Instead, the Philippine Agrarian Reform Foundation for National Development (Parfund) Inc. is letting its ducks do all the "quacking." Through its Rice-Ducks Integrated Farming ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Australia: Economists waive any responsibility on climate
http://www.smh.com.au/business/economists-waive-any-responsibility-on-climate-20100718-10g1d.html
Sydney Morning Herald: Julia Gillard's stop-gap substitutes for Labor's abandoned emissions trading scheme is unlikely to produce much reduction in emissions or be cost-effective. I reckon just about every economist would agree with that proposition, just as they'd agree with its corollary: the key to reducing emissions is to put a price on carbon. Yet the nation's economists were neither unanimous nor active in supporting the Rudd government's carbon pollution reduction scheme. Why weren't they? Why ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
BP mulling break-up after oil spill: report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100718/bs_afp/usenvironmentpollutionbreakup
Agence France-Presse: Oil giant BP could split itself up by scaling back its US operations and selling refineries and petrol stations in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported. The troubled British-based firm is facing a battle to rebuild its reputation following the worst environmental disaster in US history, which may now have been contained following the capping of a ruptured oil well. Directors of the firm are at an early stage of canvassing ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
United States: Museum exhibit explores impact of shifting climate
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=394241
Chicago Daily Herald: The "Climate Change" exhibition features a collage portraying technological advances since the Industrial Revolution. An illuminated LED line runs through this timeline, portraying the corresponding rise in CO2 in the earth's atmosphere. What: "Climate Change" Where: Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, (312) 922-9410, fieldmuseum.org Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Nov. 28 Admission: $22, $18 seniors and students, $15 kids ages ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Optimistic BP Hopeful That Damaged Well Can Stay Closed
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/us/19oilspill.html?_r=5&partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: After three days of encouraging test results, BP said Sunday that it planned to leave its well in the Gulf of Mexico closed until it could be permanently plugged, perhaps in several weeks. There has been no oil leaking into the gulf since Thursday, when valves on a new cap atop the well were closed for the test, an effort that was initially seen as a stopgap measure. But if conditions allow BP to continue to keep the cap closed, the gusher, which spewed tens of millions of gallons of ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
BP cleanup wages to be deducted from spill claims
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100718/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_claims
Associated Press: The federal administrator of a $20 billion Gulf oil spill compensation fund says the wages earned by people working on BP's cleanup will be deducted from their claims against the company. Kenneth Feinberg told The Associated Press on Sunday the fund is designed to compensate fishermen and others for their lost income. If BP PLC is already paying someone to help skim oil and perform other cleanup work, those wages will be subtracted from the amount they're eligible to claim from the ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Boeing's Dreamliner lands safely in Britain for the first time
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/18/boeing-dreamliner-airline-industry
Guardian: Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, the aircraft maker's riposte to the Airbus A380 super jumbo, landed in Britain for the first time today at the Farnborough airshow. Although it does not match the A380 for sheer scale, the Dreamliner claims to herald a step-change in engineering and efficiency by virtue of a hi-tech fuselage constructed from carbon fibre rather than riveted metal sheets. The 250-seater aircraft is trumpeted as being lighter and less fuel-thirsty than its peers, with Boeing ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Off death watch, BP's future still open question
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100718/ap_on_bi_ge/us_britain_bp_rebound
Associated Press: The future of BP PLC has shifted in recent days from a death-watch discussion to a debate about how valuable the British oil giant will be after it finishes paying for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. BP gained temporary control of its broken well in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday and is counting on shutting it off permanently within weeks. Its shares have regained more than a quarter of the value lost in the wake of the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
Australia: Distinct change in spirit of the times looms large
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/distinct-change-in-spirit-of-the-times-looms-large-20100719-10g8p.html
Sydney Morning Herald: This poll will be prosecuted on very different policy terrain, and Abbott must neutralise his negatives, writes Katharine Murphy. WHAT a difference an election cycle makes. In 2007, Kevin Rudd was able to deploy the issue of climate change against John Howard with devastating effectiveness. The Labor victory coincided with a period of community consensus about the need to adopt policies reducing the threat of dangerous warming - a consensus killed by the global financial ...

Mon, 19 Jul 10
A Spill Into the Psyche, and a Respite
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/weekinreview/18goodman.html?_r=5&partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Out on the Gulf of Mexico, where the surface has come to resemble a floating intensive-care unit – all those hulking ships laden with specialized machinery, bobbing in wait for the next emergency – something good finally happened last week. If only provisionally, oil stopped spewing into the sea. As BP ended its string of futility and affixed a cap to the wellhead, the news comforted a battered American psyche, a counterpoint to a ceaseless narrative of plans going spectacularly ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
BP oil spill: failed safety device on Deepwater Horizon rig was modified in China
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/18/deepwater-horizon-blow-out-preventer-china
Guardian: BP ordered the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig, whose explosion led to the worst environmental disaster in US history, to overhaul a crucial piece of the rig's safety equipment in China, the Observer has learnt. The blow-out preventer – the last line of defence against an out-of-control well – subsequently failed to activate and is at the centre of investigations into what caused the disaster. Experts say that the practice of having such engineering work carried out in China, ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
The well is capped. But what else lurks below the surface for BP?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/18/bp-oil-spill-gulf
Guardian: On Friday afternoon, BP senior vice-president Kent Wells was trying hard to contain his elation. The well in the Gulf of Mexico, which had been leaking oil for 88 days, was holding up. The cap, lowered onto the well on Thursday, remained in place. And after numerous failed attempts, the torrent of oil had finally stopped. "It felt very good to see no oil going into the Gulf of Mexico," Wells told reporters on the daily conference call he hosts from Houston on BP's attempts to stop the ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
10 ways vegetarianism can help save the planet
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jul/18/vegetarianism-save-planet-environment
Guardian: If we really want to reduce the human impact on the environment, the simplest and cheapest thing anyone can do is to eat less meat. Behind most of the joints of beef or chicken on our plates is a phenomenally wasteful, land- and energy-hungry system of farming that devastates forests, pollutes oceans, rivers, seas and air, depends on oil and coal, and is significantly responsible for climate change. The way we breed animals is now recognised by the UN, scientists, economists and politicians ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Philippines: Climate change chief clueless on euro loan
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=594290&publicationSubCategoryId=63
Philippine Star: Climate Change Commission vice chairman Heherson Alvarez said he was unaware of the disbursement of the 150-million euro (roughly P10.5-billion) French loan that was originally intended to enhance the Philippines' capability to deal with climate change but was used instead to plug the yawning budget deficit. Alvarez, a former senator, said he never received any information about the loan and he only learned of its existence on June 23 in a meeting with officials of the Agence ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Coast Guard Official: Battling 'Blob' Make Take Years
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128590782&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Host Guy Raz speaks with Commander Nathan Knapp of the U.S. Coast Guard about what the water looks like now that the leak has been stopped and what's next in the cleanup. Knapp is the deputy incident commander for operations based in Houma, La.

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Brazil vows to continue clean energy push at summit
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100717/sc_afp/brazilusenergy
Agence France-Presse: Brazil hopes to demonstrate its commitment to renewable energy, which currently provides half the country's power, at a clean energy summit in Washington this week, Energy Minister Marcio Zimmermann said Saturday. "Brazil is committed to continuing its renewable energy grid and our plans for 2019 and 2030 maintain that characteristic," Zimmermann told AFP in an interview. Energy ministers or senior officials from 21 major economies -- who together account for 80 percent of the ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Rep. Markey Faults BP Along The Way
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128584701&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Congressman Ed Markey has been one of the major critics of BP's efforts to contain the oil that, until late this week, was spreading into the Gulf of Mexico. Host Scott Simon talks with Markey, who chairs House committees on climate and energy and says BP should measure more precisely the amount of oil that has spilled into the ocean.

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Gulf Gusher Capped, But Worries Remain
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128584697&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: SCOTT SIMON, host: This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. Im Scott Simon. The well in the Gulf of Mexico stopped spewing oil more than a day and a half ago, but officials aren't sure that they can keep it shut down. Tests of the well has given them ambiguous results. The concern is that now that the top of the well is closed off, oil could potentially cut a new path to the surface through rock and mud. NPR science correspondent Richard Harris joins us in our ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Traffic Pollution Linked to Risk Factor for Sudden Cardiac Death
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20100717/hl_hsn/trafficpollutionlinkedtoriskfactorforsuddencardiacdeath
Health Day: Exposure to high levels of traffic air pollution among people with heart or lung disease is associated with reduced heart rate variability (HRV), a risk factor for sudden cardiac death, finds a new study. The study included 30 Atlanta-area residents with lung disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) or heart disease (previous heart attack). The Harvard School of Public Health researchers found no link between reduced heart rate variability and ambient levels of air ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Gulf well test could exceed 48 hours: BP executive
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100717/ts_nm/us_oil_spill_cap
Reuters: A critical test on BP Plc's blown-out Gulf of Mexico oil well could last beyond the original 48-hour deadline as pressure continued to rise very slowly, a company executive said on Saturday. The pressure test is intended to show whether the blowout damaged the piping and cement inside the stricken well, which could allow oil and natural gas to leak out the sides and possibly breach the seabed. The 48-hour mark originally touted as the end of the test loomed Saturday ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Capped BP Gulf well under scrutiny as Obama cautious
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100717/us_nm/us_oil_spill
Reuters: BP Plc extended for another 24 hours a critical test of its blown-out Gulf of Mexico well that so far has shut off the huge oil leak, the top U.S. official overseeing the spill response said on Saturday. The British energy giant, which cut off the flow of oil from the lengthy deep-sea well on Thursday when it began the test to gauge its structural integrity, expressed growing confidence that the well was sealed. When BP choked off the flow of oil on Thursday using a new, ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Families 'must guard against floods as they do against fire'
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/welsh-politics/welsh-politics-news/2010/07/17/families-must-guard-against-floods-as-they-do-against-fire-91466-26871278/
Western Mail: HOUSEHOLDS in Wales should prepare for the threat of flooding in the same way they guard against the risk of a fire, a draft government strategy document recommends. The growing danger of flooding in Wales is laid bare in a major consultation launched yesterday which makes clear that bold changes are needed in the way the nation guards against such disaster. It makes no secret of the fact that Wales cannot afford to carry on building ever-higher coastal defences and funds must ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Sorting Bangladeshi disasters from the fact or myth of climate change
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/sorting-bangladeshi-disasters-from-the-fact-or-myth-of-climate-change/story-e6frg6z6-1225892653229
Australian: CAKED in sweat and slime, Mohamed Abdul Wozad pauses for breath before heaving another basket of river mud on his head, and starting up the slippery path towards the embankment above. A lifetime resident of Gabura Island in southwest Bangladesh, Wozad lives at the battlefront of global climate change, a 28sq km patch of damp earth clasped in the estuarine fingers of Bangladesh's sprawling river network. Bangladesh squeezes its roughly 160 million population into an area one-sixth the ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Ad blitz accompanies Senate push on climate, energy
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/16/16greenwire-ad-blitz-accompanies-senate-push-on-climate-en-88973.html
Greenwire: Senate Democrats' effort to pass climate or energy legislation before the August recess has spurred a flurry of advertising as companies and their lobbying groups work to sway votes. Diverse interests, from the trade group for oil and natural gas to an alliance of renewable power interests, pumped money into television and newspaper ads. The influence efforts accelerated after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he would bring a bill to the floor. More ads are planned for ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Zephyr Solar Powered Plane Sets Endurance Record
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1892977/zephyr_solar_powered_plane_sets_endurance_record/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: The Zephyr solar-powered plane recently broke the endurance record for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The aircraft took off from the U.S. Army's Yuma Providing Ground in Arizona last Friday and is still in the air. Its non-stop operation has gone five times longer than the official mark recognized by the world air sports federation. The defense and research company Qinetiq has developed the UK-built Zephyr. Jon Saltmarsh, its project manager, told BBC news that ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Global temperatures rise to record levels
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/global-temperatures-rise-to-record-levels-20100717-10eof.html
Reuter: The world is enduring the hottest year on record, according to a US national weather analysis, causing droughts worldwide and a concern for US farmers counting on another bumper year. For the first six months of the year, 2010 has been warmer than the first half of 1998, the previous record holder, by 0.03 degree Fahrenheit, said Jay Lawrimore, chief of climate analysis at the federal National Climatic Data Center. Period of a El Nino weather pattern is being blamed for the hot ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
When a Billion Chinese Jump by Jonathan Watts | Book review
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/17/when-billion-chinese-jump-watts
Guardian: It's always wise to be careful what you wish for. When China was poor and communist, its government disdained consumption and castigated the evils of capitalism, while in the west we argued that happiness lay in the joy of stuff. The good news is that China now agrees about the stuff, embracing a strange hybrid capitalism with distinctly Chinese characteristics. But that is also the bad news, as Jonathan Watts memorably explains in When a Billion Chinese Jump. When a Billion Chinese ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Australian PM Gillard announces Aug 21 elections
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100717/ap_on_re_as/as_australia_election
Associated Press: Australia's first female Prime Minister Julia Gillard will attempt to win a second term for her center-left government at Aug. 21 elections, with battle lines drawn on climate change, asylum seekers, and record-high public debt. Buoyed by opinion polls endorsing her new leadership, Gillard called the election on Saturday only three weeks after grabbing power in a surprise ruling Labor Party coup. She said the government had "lost its way" under her predecessor, Kevin Rudd, and has ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Australia: Climate could hurt or help Gillard
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Climate-could-hurt-or-help-Gillard-7F98B?opendocument&src=rss
AAP: Climate change is set to be a big issue at the 2010 poll - but it's not clear whether it will hurt or help Prime Minister Julia Gillard's chances. The issue was central to the 2007 election and helped deliver a win to Labor. Times have changed. Global warming has been one of the toughest issues for Labor in its first term, and it could cost the government votes. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd famously declared climate change was "the great moral challenge of our time", ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Study quantifies potential impacts of climate change
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_15536630
Denver Post: A new National Academy of Sciences study quantifies potential impacts of climate change -- linking reduced streamflow, rainfall and crop yields, and more wildfire damage to specific temperature increases. For example, for every 1.8 degrees of warming, Colorado can expect 5 percent to 10 percent less water in the Arkansas River and Rio Grande, the government-funded study found. The Colorado River Basin, which sustains people in seven western states, likely would see 6 percent ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Australia: Climate change flagged as key election issue
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/17/2956698.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has listed climate change as among her top three priorities, but the Opposition says it is the only major party with a clear policy. Ms Gillard has sought to gain the upper hand on climate change on the first day of the election campaign. Labor's support dropped in the opinion polls earlier this year when it announced it was shelving the emissions trading scheme. But Ms Gillard says she will unveil new policies during the campaign. She ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
The power of green
http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27782:the-power-of-green&catid=46:bloomberg-specials&Itemid=70
Business Mirror: Bill Gates and Exxon Mobil are among those who see huge potential--and challenges--in wringing fuel from algae. Inside an industrial warehouse in South San Francisco, California, Harrison Dillon, chief technology officer of startup Solazyme Inc., examines a beaker filled with a brown paste made of sugar cane waste. While the smell brings to mind molasses, this goo, called bagasse, won't find its way into people-pleasing confections. Instead, scientists will empty it into ...

Sun, 18 Jul 10
Philippines need to invest more in climate change adaptation
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-07/17/c_13402354.htm
Xinhua: The Philippine government needs to put more funds in climate change adaptation given that the country is now reeling from the impact of a warmer planet. Climate change is now here as evidenced by the intense dry spell that struck in the second quarter and typhoons Ketsana and Parma that swept most areas in Luzon, northern Philippines. These disasters damaged property and lives, reduced food production and dented economic growth. This is why, advocates said, vulnerable sectors ...

Sat, 17 Jul 10
Gulf Coast Residents Relieved Leak Has Stopped
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128556739&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: In New Orleans, people have been watching closely for any hopeful signs that the well in the Gulf would stop gushing oil. At one oyster house, news that the leak has stopped, at least temporarily, was tempered after nearly three months of waiting. Many people in the city have lost their jobs because of the BP spill.

Sat, 17 Jul 10
An Armada Of Vessels Work In Gulf Spill Site
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128556735&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: The site of the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico has been packed with boats and workers trying to stop the spill. The leak has been stopped at least temporarily. The Coast Guard Cutter Resolute is the area to provide support to helicopters and boats.

Sat, 17 Jul 10
Hope And Disbelief As Gulf Gusher Cap Holds Steady
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128559002&ft=1&f=1025
Associated Press: The oil has stopped. For now. After 85 days and up to 184 million gallons, BP finally gained control over one of America's biggest environmental catastrophes Thursday by placing a carefully fitted cap over a geyser that has been gushing crude into the Gulf of Mexico since early spring. Though a temporary fix, the accomplishment was greeted with hope, high expectations – and, in many cases along the beleaguered coastline, disbelief. From one Gulf Coast resident came this: ...

Sat, 17 Jul 10
Green Awards celebrate ecological business practices
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-awards-celebrate-ecological-business-practices-2027988.html
Agence France-Presse: The Global Green awards reward companies which have made contributions to environmentally friendly or sustainable business practices, consumers can find out about the green business practices of previous winners or follow this year's awards on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. The Global Green awards, previously the Green Awards, are awarded to companies within the media and marketing industries which have undertaken creative work demonstrating the importance of corporate social ...

Sat, 17 Jul 10
Ethanol industry scrambles to keep incentives
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100716/ap_on_bi_ge/us_ethanol_tax_credits
Associated Press: The once-popular ethanol industry is scrambling to hold onto billions of dollars in government subsidies, fighting an increasing public skepticism of the corn-based fuel and wariness from lawmakers who may divert the money to other priorities. The industry itself can't agree on how to persuade Congress to keep the subsidies, which now come in the form of tax credits worth about $6 billion annually. One industry group, Growth Energy, made the bold move Thursday of calling for ...

Sat, 17 Jul 10
Talks inch ahead as political sands run on climate change bill
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/109177-talks-inch-ahead-as-political-sands-run-on-climate-bill
The Hill: Eleventh-hour talks between big utilities and environmentalists on Senate legislation that curbs carbon emissions from power plants are showing hints of progress, but time is running out to achieve breakthroughs that would keep the struggling plans alive. Senate debate on wider energy legislation is slated to begin as soon as the week of July 26. "The schedule is not our friend," acknowledged Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who is fighting to include climate provisions in a broader energy ...

Sat, 17 Jul 10
BP halts Gulf oil flow for first time since April
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/bp-halts-gulf-oil-flow-for-first-time-since-april-2028048.html
Agence France-Presse: British energy giant BP says it has temporarily stopped oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in three months as it began key tests hoping to stem the spill for good. Shortly after BP engineers shut down the last of three valves on a giant new cap placed on the blown-out well at around 2:25 pm (1925 GMT) Thursday, senior vice president Kent Wells announced no oil was leaking into the sea. "I'm very excited to see no oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico," Wells ...

Sat, 17 Jul 10
BP shares rise on news of oil-well capping
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/16/bp-shares-rise-oil-well-capping
Guardian: BP's shares jumped more than 5% this morning as British investors welcomed last night's capping of the well which has been spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico since April. The company said last night that its latest attempt to staunch the gushing well had worked and that for the first time in 87 days oil was no longer gushing from a mile-deep well off the Louisiana coast – raising hopes that it could be sealed for good. This sent BP's shares straight to the top of the FTSE 100 risers ...

Sat, 17 Jul 10
BP awaits crucial well test data
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10658519
BBC: Oil firm BP is awaiting test results from the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico, a day after staunching the flow of oil for the first time since April. The firm is checking how much pressure the well can withstand while the valves on its new capping device are closed. US President Barack Obama hailed the move as a "positive sign", and BP's shares rallied in early trading in London after sharp rises in New York. Oil has been flowing from the well since a rig exploded ...

Sat, 17 Jul 10
Britons urged to count trees to fight climate change
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/16/AR2010071600941.html
Reuters: A British museum is urging the public to record trees in parks, streets and gardens as part of a three-year survey to uncover how climate change is affecting the environment. London's Natural History Museum is enlisting the public's help to locate, identify and count trees to find out which species is growing where and how climate change impacts the tree population. Scientists know a lot about trees in rural areas but relatively little is known about urban areas, the survey's website ...

Sat, 17 Jul 10
Red Sea coral 'feeling the heat'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10646290
BBC: A species of coral in the Red Sea could stop growing by 2070 if current warming trends continue, say scientists. A team of US researchers, using 3D technology, said that the rate of growth of Diploasterea heliopara had declined by 30% since 1998. Rising sea surface temperature was already "driving dramatic changes" in the growth rate in the important reef-building organism, they observed. The findings have been published in the journal Science. Co-author Anne ...

Sat, 17 Jul 10
BP says it has finally stopped oil leaking into Gulf of Mexico
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/jul/16/usa-bp-oil-spill
Guardian

Sat, 17 Jul 10
Heat wave ignites climate change debate, 2010 warmest year ever
http://www.independentreview.net/community/devonp/heat-wave-ignites-climate-change-debate-2010-warmest-year-ever
Litchfield Independent Review: A scorching heat wave on the east coast is intensifying the climate change debate. The climate change debate was also hot last March when raging blizzards battered the east. Extreme weather events are getting used by both sides to support their global warming arguments in the debate about climate change and energy bill in Congress. A British panel exonerated the "Climategate" scientists, saying it found no evidence the group manipulated research to back up global warming. Meanwhile, 2010 is ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
BP Says Cap Has Stopped Flow Of Oil Into Gulf
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128546321&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: The flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico was halted this afternoon as BP began an "integrity test" of a new cap on the Deepwater Horizon well. Scientists are watching the pressure that is building up under the cap to make sure that no oil is leaking into the rock below the well. The test will last anywhere from six to 48 hours. Robert Siegel speaks with NPR's Richard Harris, who has the latest.

Fri, 16 Jul 10
June Earth's hottest ever: US monitors
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100715/ts_afp/environmentclimatewarmingus
Agence France-Presse: Last month was the hottest June ever recorded on Earth, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday, amid global climate warming worries. The combined global land and ocean surface temperature data also found the January-June and April-June periods were the warmest on record, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, which based its findings on measurements that go back as far as 1880. In June, the combined average for global land and ocean ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
BP exec: Halt of oil flow a "great sight"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100715/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_suttles
Associated Press: A top BP executive says the company's success in stopping the flow of oil for the first time since April is a "great sight" but not cause for celebration. Doug Suttles, the company's chief operating officer, told reporters on Dauphin Island, Ala., Thursday that the effort to permanently stop the flow of oil is "far from the finish line." Suttles said BP PLC should know more about the effort within 48 hours, as engineers perform tests on the new, tightly fitted cap on the ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Senate climate bill falls short of Copenhagen aim
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66E6L420100715?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A scaled-back climate change bill Senate Democrats are considering would achieve far less than President Barack Obama promised at a U.N. global warming conference last year -- but even this may be too much for Congress. With little time left in a short, crowded legislative schedule this year, Senate Democratic leaders are weighing a final attempt to begin reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Instead of the kind of economy-wide scheme the House of Representatives approved last ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Carbon airliner with a small footprint readied for take-off to Britain
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/carbon-airliner-with-a-small-footprint-readied-for-takeoff-to-britain-2027709.html
Independent (UK): Shortly after 9am on Sunday, a new chapter will begin in European aviation history when flight ZA003 touches down in Hampshire and heralds the arrival of the much-anticipated -- and greatly-delayed -- Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the world's first airliner to be largely built from carbon fibre. The first Boeing 787 to leave American soil will arrive at the Farnborough International Air Show this weekend for a three-day international debut to display the aircraft that the US aviation giant ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
BP says test shuts off oil leak from Gulf well
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65O5TA20100716?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: BP Plc said on Thursday it stopped the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from its deep-sea well for the first time since it ruptured in April, prompting hope that the leak can be plugged for good. BP conducted a test in which it closed valves and vents on a tight-sealing containment cap installed atop its the well earlier this week. BP said results early in the test showed the cap had completely contained the flow of oil. "It's a great sight but it's far from the finish ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Government slated for missing microgeneration deadline
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266571/government-slated-missing
Business Green: Companies interested in installing small-scale wind turbines and air-source heat pumps are still having to clear demanding planning hurdles after the government missed a deadline for introducing permitted development rights for the installations. Climate change minister Greg Barker found himself on the back foot on Monday after he was forced to explain why the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) had failed to comply with a statutory deadline to introduce micro-wind ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Global warming slows coral growth in Red Sea
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100715152909.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: In a pioneering use of computed tomography (CT) scans, scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have discovered that carbon dioxide (CO2)-induced global warming is in the process of killing off a major coral species in the Red Sea. As summer sea surface temperatures have remained about 1.5 degrees Celsius above ambient over the last 10 years, growth of the coral, Diploastrea heliopora, has declined by 30% and "could cease growing altogether by 2070" or sooner, they report in ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Firm proposes 200 megawatt Nebraska wind farm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100715/ap_on_bi_ge/ne_wind_energy
Associated Press: A Chicago company submitted plans Thursday to build a 200-megawatt wind farm in northeast Nebraska on the same day a new state law encouraging wind power development took effect. Invenergy submitted a proposal to the Nebraska Power Review Board to spend $448 million installing 133 wind turbines on about 45,000 acres of Antelope and Boone counties. One megawatt is roughly enough to power 200 to 300 American homes for a day. The American Wind Energy Association says Nebraska ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
U.S. green groups attack Alberta tourism industry
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66E6CA20100715?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Environmentalists are taking aim at Alberta's C$5.6 billion ($5.4 billion) tourism industry in the latest battle over the impact of developing the Canadian province's oil sands. Alberta is the largest supplier of crude oil to the United States and the environmentalists say their "Rethink Alberta" campaign is in response to pro oil-sands lobbying and advertising in the United States by the Alberta government and the province's oil industry. The campaign, led by San ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
BP says oil has stopped leaking
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10654584
BBC: BP says it has temporarily stopped oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico from its leaking well. It is the first time the flow has stopped since an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig on 20 April. US Oil Spill Damage assessment Which way forward for BP? Ways BP has tried to stop the leak BP facing 7-year US offshore ban The well has been sealed with a cap as part of a test of its integrity that could last up to 48 hours. US President Barack Obama said the ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
BP says oil has stopped leaking into Gulf of Mexico
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/15/bp-deepwater-oil-well-sealed
Guardian: BP says oil has stopped leaking into the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon rig for the first time since April. The oil well has been sealed with a cap, which engineers are now monitoring to see if it holds. They will watch pressure readings to see if the cap is working. High pressure is better, because it means the oil is staying within the cap and not escaping through an unknown leak. Low pressure means there could be another leak. BP executive Kent Wells said ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Deforestation moratorium is not panacea?
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/01/deforestation-moratorium-not-panacea.html
Jakarta Post: At the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference, the Indonesian and Norway governments had signed a partnership agreement on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) with an immediate two-year moratorium. The deal signed with Norway aimed at mitigating greenhouse gas emissions earnings worth US$1 billion. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged that the two-year moratorium would not affect the current palm oil industry, which means business as usual. REDD is a ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Illegal logging declining worldwide, but still 'major problem'
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0715-hance_illegal_logging.html
Mongabay: A new report by the Chatham House finds that illegal logging in tropical forest nation is primarily on the decline, providing evidence that new laws and international efforts on the issue are having a positive impact. According to the report, the total global production of illegal timber has fallen by 22 percent since 2002. Yet the report also finds that nations--both producers and consumers--have a long way to go before illegal logging is an issue of the past. "If laid end to end the ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Analysis: U.S. drill ban casts shadow over Gulf prospects
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100715/ts_nm/us_oil_spill_ban
Reuters: Oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico will be curtailed far beyond the end of November, when the U.S. moratorium on drilling is set to end, putting dozens of planned energy projects at risk. Drillers are beginning to make good on their threat to move equipment and people out of the Gulf to work at overseas projects, even though they will receive lower rates at those jobs. That could also have long-lasting impact on output from the Gulf, which contributes 30 percent of U.S. ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Environment's Poverty-Fighting Potential Largely Ignored
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52168
Inter Press Service: The environment remains a second-tier matter in Latin America and the Caribbean despite being interwoven with persistent poverty and stalled economic development in the region, according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme. Dozens of experts from the region were convened by UNEP to contribute to the report "Environment Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean" (GEO- LAC3), following in the steps of reports presented in 2000 and 2003. "Our intention ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
More than half new power in U.S., EU is green: study
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66E4VS20100715?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: More than half of all new electricity capacity added in the United States and Europe last year was from renewable power such as wind and solar, a body backed by the International Energy Agency and the UN reported. Last year was also a record year for the amount of new green power added to the grid, partly a result of shifting deployment and manufacture to emerging economies including Brazil, India and China, from flagging developed countries. "In 2009, China produced 40 percent ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
NYTIMES.COM: Success With Starlings, and Meeting the Chief
http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/success-with-starlings-and-meeting-the-chief/?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: We awoke early this morning to put in a long day of trapping in the village. The kids should be back in school, so we hoped that we would be able to work without too much disruption. Wilson drove over just after sunrise to begin setting up while I finished getting a few things ready at camp. While walking over to the village a few minutes later, I noticed a large mixed-species flock of starlings foraging on the ground in an enclosed area of houses. Although Wilson had found a few smaller ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Firm Seeks 'Blue Gold'
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/blue-gold-for-parched-lands/
New York Times: Freshwater supplies are strained in countries all over the world. But in a few places like Alaska, Greenland and Canada, there`s more than enough to go around. So why not ship water from where it`s plentiful to where it`s scarce? Associated Press Heading across a dry riverbed in Palghat, India, in a past drought. Most people would call this a fool`s errand: water is heavy and transporting it thousands of miles is tremendously expensive and energy-intensive. But not S2C Global ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
BP: New Cap Has Stopped Flow Of Gulf Oil
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128545316&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: BP says a new cap has stopped oil from leaking into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since April. The energy giant has been slowly dialing down the flow as part of a test on a new cap, and engineers are now monitoring the pressure to see if the broken well holds. "The test is looking at the condition of the well under the sea and if it turns out that the well is in good shape, this could well be the beginning of the end of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe," NPR's Richard ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Real BP Gulf oil disaster is still to come
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/jul/15/real-bp-gulf-oil-disaster-still-to-come
Guardian: Despite BP fighting valiantly to keep reporters and photographers away from the affected areas, the oil is still erupting out of the sea bed, making the waters of the Gulf of Mexico heavy with petroleum and smearing the coastline with black goo. So what is going to happen now the hurricane season has arrived? The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration claims there won't be any oil droplets in any hurricane's precipitation. But Jeff Masters, the founder of Weather ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
BP fixes leaking cap on oil well
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us+canada-10650590
BBC: BP has fixed a problem with the cap on the leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well, which delayed a crucial test. Work on starting the test, which was due to begin on Tuesday, has resumed. The oil giant needs to shut all the valves on the new cap in order to test the well's integrity. If the test is successful the flow of oil could be halted until relief wells can stop the leak permanently. The government's incident commander Thad Allen said "hopefully" the test would ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
House panel OKs overhaul of oil drilling agency
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100715/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_washington
Associated Press: A House panel has approved legislation that would overhaul the government agency responsible for regulating offshore drilling. The bill would divide the agency into three parts: one for leasing and permitting; another for inspections and investigations; and a third to collect revenue. It also seeks to clamp down on the revolving door between government and industry by adding a two-year ban on offshore drilling regulators taking jobs with certain companies. The House Natural ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Google Climate Change Map Revealed
http://www.itproportal.com/portal/news/article/2010/7/15/google-climate-change-map-revealed/
ITProPortal: The UK government has launched an interactive Google Earth map showing the effect on the planet of a rise in temperature of four degrees Celsius. According to news agency AFP, the interactive Google Earth map will let public see the effects global warming can have on the environment, in a bid to rebuild trust in climate science. Speaking to The Telegraph, Google's Ed Parsons said: "This is a great example of the benefits of using the latest web technology to visualise ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Doors Wide Open for Renewable Energy
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52165
Inter Press Service: Heavy reliance on petroleum imports, the need for electricity in rural areas, and the ongoing effort towards sustainable development have focussed Central America's attention on renewable energy. But that doesn't mean there isn't opposition. This year, Honduras plans to have one of the largest wind energy farms in Latin America up and running, with an output of 100 megawatts of electricity. Located in the municipality of Santa Ana, 24 kilometres from the Honduran capital, it ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Volvo calls for emission openness
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10647233
BBC: CO2 is not the only harmful emission from cars The Swedish carmaker Volvo has called for greater openness about all harmful emissions from cars. Currently, consumers are told how much carbon dioxide CO2 a car emits. But Volvo's UK's managing director Peter Rask told BBC News that buyers should also be told about the level of nitrogen oxide (Nox) and hydrocarbons vehicles churn out. "We think it is time to give consumers information about all emissions," he ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Timber piracy down - but we're not out of the woods
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19178-timber-piracy-down--but-were-not-out-of-the-woods.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: Green campaigning really does work. Illegal logging in deforestation hotspots like the Brazilian Amazon, Indonesia and central Africa has fallen by between 50 and 75 per cent in the past decade, according to a new study by the international affairs think tank Chatham House in London. And pressure from consumers and rich-world environment groups has been the prime reason, concludes the report. But despite the improvements, many forests remain lawless. In both the Amazon and Indonesia, ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
A Grilling on Oil Dispersants
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/a-grilling-on-oil-dispersants/
New York Times: The heavy use of dispersants in the gulf oil spill is unprecedented and troublesome, two top Obama administration officials told a Senate subcommittee on Thursday, but their use has been sharply reduced since late May. In fact, said Lisa P. Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the daily use of dispersants is down 72 percent since May 26, when her agency and the Coast Guard told BP to use dispersant on the gulf`s surface only as a last resort. "Every ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
China seizes eight tonnes of endangered pangolins
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100715/sc_afp/chinaanimalcrimeconservation
Agence France Presse: Chinese customs said they have seized nearly eight tonnes of frozen pangolins -- an endangered species of scaly anteater -- from a fishing boat off the southern coast. The vessel was intercepted in June carrying the huge haul of animals and nearly two tonnes of their scales, said a statement on the website of customs authorities in Jiangmen in Guangdong province. The pangolin is designated as endangered in China, and anyone found guilty of smuggling the rare animals or their ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Europe must up CO2 cuts to 30%: EU's big three
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100715/sc_afp/climatewarmingeufrancegermanybritain
Agence France-Presse: Germany, France and Britain on Thursday jointly called for the European Union to deepen its planned reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions from 20 to 30 percent by 2020. Ministers from Europe's three biggest economies made the exceptional move in a commentary published by the Financial Times, the Frankfurter Allgemeine and Le Monde. "If we stick to a 20-percent cut, Europe is likely to lose the race to compete in the low-carbon world to countries such as China, Japan or the US ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
$20 billion oil fund to begin payments in August
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100715/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_feinberg
Associated Press: The $20 billion that BP has set aside to pay for losses caused by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill will start making payments in early August. Ken Feinberg, who is in charge of paying individuals and businesses for lost income, told a meeting of government officials in Louisiana on Thursday that he expected a seamless transition from BP management to his administration. "My goal is to improve that system," Feinberg said. "I'm determined to come up with a system that is more ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
European Commissioner talks tough in fight against illegal logging
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266553/european-commissioner-vows
Business Green: The European Commission will act "without pity" in its effort to enforce the newly passed ban on the import of illegal timber to the EU, and will take direct action against any member state that fails to crack down on the trade. That is the stark warning from Andris Piebalgs, European commissioner for development, who today revealed that the commission was already undertaking the groundwork to ensure the EU ban on importing and selling illegal timber proves effective when it comes ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Audio: The Guardian's 'climategate' debate in full
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/audio/2010/jul/15/guardian-climategate-hacked-emails-debate
Guardian: A live debate in London last night bought together a panel of experts to debate what the 'climategate' affair did – and did not – reveal about the study of global warming. The panel included: * Professor Trevor Davies, pro-vice-chancellor (research), University of East Anglia, and former director of the Climatic Research Unit. * Professor Bob Watson, chief scientific advisor, Defra, visiting professor at the University of East Anglia and former head of the ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
GE adds $200 million "Ecomagination Challenge" to its $10 billion eco-R&D push
http://www.fastcompany.com/1669875/ges-200-million-ecomagination-challenge
Fast Company: Got a bright idea? How about an energy-saving one? GE announced today a $200 million "open innovation challenge" that invites inventors, entrepreneurs, and startups of all stripes to compete to develop the next-generation of power grid technologies. Called the Ecomagination Challenge, this huge investment comes only weeks after GE announced a $10 billion injection into its own eco-R&D projects. Along with four VC firms that have pledged half of the $200 million to the challenge, ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
New congestion charge plans 'will make London pollution worse'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/15/london-congestion-charge-change
Guardian: The mayor of London's proposed changes to the Congestion Change scheme could exacerbate the capital's air pollution problems and stifle take-up of electric cars, campaigners said today. The changes will also mean that tens of thousands of hybrid owners will lose their exemption status. The warning comes as a major carmaker launches a campaign to create a consumer label showing cars' air pollution impact. In May, Boris Johnson proposed a "greener vehicle discount" ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Happy (wet and windy) St Swithin's Day
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/happy-wet-and-windy-st-swithins-day-2027087.html
Press Association: Folklore says today's rain heralds 40 days of downpours - and forecasters have not dismissed the possibility. Legend has it that showers on July 15 - St Swithin's Day - are an omen for a lengthy spell of wet weather. Forecasters said many parts of the UK would be deluged with showers this morning following heavy rain in the past 12 hours. Met Office forecaster Charles Powell said 25mm to 30mm fell overnight and warned bad weather and unseasonably strong winds will ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
China merges steelmakers to create top 10 producer
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100715/bs_afp/chinasteelmergercompanytianjin
Agence France Presse: China launched a new steel group this week after merging four companies amid efforts to eliminate excess capacity, slash carbon emissions and strengthen the nation's position in iron ore price talks. The four steelmakers in the northern port city of Tianjin have merged to create Tianjin Bohai Iron & Steel Group, Dow Jones Newswires reported late Wednesday, citing the local government. The steelmakers had a combined output of 21 million tonnes in 2009, making the new company ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Suicide tied to air pollution and asthma
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100715/hl_nm/us_suicide_pollution
Reuters: Air pollution and asthma symptoms may increase suicide risk, two new studies from Asia suggest. According to Taiwanese researchers, as many as 1 in 14 suicides among Taiwanese youth may have been caused by asthma, a condition that affects about 10 percent of children. "It points out another negative part of air pollution," said Dr. Wayne Katon, a psychiatrist at the University of Washington in Seattle. "In a way, suicide is a proxy for a bad effect on the whole society," ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
BP Faces More Test Delays On Well Cap
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128532123&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: BP's attempt to shut down the spewing well in the Gulf of Mexico has been interrupted. The equipment on the sea floor sprung a leak, and BP is working on a repair. It's been 12 weeks since the Deepwater Horizon disaster when oil began leaking into the Gulf after a fatal explosion.

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Climate Change report sets out impact on British seas
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7891531/Climate-Change-report-sets-out-impact-on-British-seas.html
Telegraph: The study said global warming contributed to a 9% decline in the number of seabirds breeding in the UK between 2000 and 2008 and a drop in breeding success. UK sea levels rose in line with global rises of an average 1.8mm a year since 1955. The rate of increase escalated in recent years, with sea levels rising by 3mm a year on average since 1992, the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership said. The oceans are becoming more acidic, at a rate faster than anything ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
EU-U.S. ties not living up to potential: Barroso
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_europe_barroso
Reuters: The European Union's relationship with the United States is not living up to its potential, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in an interview published on Thursday. Barroso, the head of the EU executive, told the Times newspaper the new era at the White House under President Barack Obama was in danger of becoming a missed opportunity. "The transatlantic relationship is not living up to its potential. I think we should do much more together. We have ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Jobs 18 Months Away At New Mich. Battery Plant
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128531739&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: President Obama travels to Holland, Mich., to attend the groundbreaking for a factory that will make batteries for electric cars. The $300 million factory is one of nine battery plants the government is helping to fund with its economic stimulus program. Obama often talks about these plants as engines for a new, clean-energy economy. But the plants have been slow to jump-start the nation's sputtering job market. Well before Thursday's ceremonial groundbreaking, construction ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Woolly mammoth hunters helped change climate
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66E17R20100715?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Ancient hunters who stalked the world's last woolly mammoths likely helped warm the Earth's far northern latitudes thousands of years before humans began burning fossil fuels, according to a study of prehistoric climate change. The demise of the leaf-chomping woolly mammoths contributed to a proliferation of dwarf birch trees in and around the Arctic, darkening a largely barren, reflective landscape and accelerating a rise in temperatures across the polar north, researchers at the ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Jumbo squid survive 'dead zones'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8819000/8819578.stm
BBC: Jumbo squid have developed a novel strategy that allows them to maintain a super-charged predatory lifestyle. After spending the night hunting fish near the surface, the squid dive into deeper cold waters to rest. To survive in these depths, where little oxygen remains, the squid shut down their metabolism, before cranking it up to rise and resume their hunt. The discovery explains for the first time how jumbo squid survive in these deep water dead zones. Details ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
Prince attacks climate change sceptics
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/prince-attacks-climate-change-sceptics-20100715-10chb.html
Associated Press: Prince Charles has accused climate change sceptics of peddling "pseudo science" and bullying governments. The Prince of Wales said those who question whether human activity is causing global warming and climate change are intimidating governments into not "adopting the precautionary measures necessary to avert environmental collapse", the Daily Mail reports. In a speech to world business leaders in St James's Palace, Prince Charles launched an attack on those who question ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
India: Fighting Drought With Check Dams
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52162
Inter Press Service: Gazing out at the lush greenery that surrounds the village of Salaita in northern India, a smile of satisfaction appears on retired army general A.P.S. Chauhan's face. "Hard to imagine now, but these were dusty ravines just two or three years ago," he told IPS. In recent years, large tracts of land along the river Yamuna had eroded so much that they appeared like a series of deep serrated ravines. The cover of vegetation that would have retained rainwater and held intact the ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
BP oil spill cap ready for testing
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/15/bp-oil-spill-leak-cap
Guardian: BP engineers trying to stop the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico have fixed a leak in the new containment system and are preparing to start critical pressure tests of the cap, the company has said. Kent Wells, BP's senior vice-president of exploration and production, said the team had replaced the defective hose and would launch the test later today. "We landed it this morning," Wells said of the replacement hose. "I'm expecting that we'll start up (the test) here later this ...

Fri, 16 Jul 10
GUARDIAN.CO.UK: Prince Charles attacks climate change sceptics
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/15/prince-charles-attacks-climate-sceptics
Guardian: The Prince of Wales last night launched an attack on climate sceptics, deriding them for peddling "pseudo science". In a speech to world business leaders at a climate change seminar, Charles criticised such sceptics for apparently intimidating people from "adopting the precautionary measures necessary to avert environmental collapse". Charles, speaking yesterday at the event staged by the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership at St James's palace, did not mention ...

Thu, 15 Jul 10
BP delays pressure test on well
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10616596
BBC: BP has delayed a key test on a newly installed well cap aimed at stopping the flow of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. BP and US Coast Guard officials said further analysis was needed before pressure testing could begin. If it proves successful, the well will be kept "shut in" and the leak halted until relief wells plug it entirely. The blown-out well has been spewing oil into Gulf waters since April. The US administration has sent BP and other parties a new bill for the ...

Thu, 15 Jul 10
Nepal to host int'l climate change meeting in Oct.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2010-07/14/c_13399420.htm
Xinhua: Nepali government has sent invitation to 51 mountainous countries for a meeting on climate change scheduled for October 4-5 in capital Kathmandu. According to Wednesday's The Himalayan Times daily report, the cabinet on June 23 decided to host a ministerial-level meeting in Nepal. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal had announced the meeting at the Copenhagen summit on climate change held in December 2009. Countries having mountains over 4,000 meters high are included in this ...

Thu, 15 Jul 10
Australia: C'mon Julia: we need some hope on climate change
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/cmon-julia-we-need-some-hope-on-climate-change-20100714-10a4j.html
Sydney Morning Herald: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has pressed the reset button on the mining tax and border protection. Next on the to-do list is climate change, but is she up to the task? The rapid slide of her predecessor, Kevin Rudd, down the greasy pole of public opinion began when, with Gillard's support, he put fighting climate change in the too-hard basket. There are worrying signs that our new Prime Minister is about to adopt a similar position, and that just may lead her to a similar fate. ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
BP to start Gulf well test by midday Tuesday
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_oil_spill_cap
Reuters: BP Plc said it will begin pressure tests at its undersea oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico by midday on Tuesday after it placed a new containment cap and seal on the wellhead late on Monday. Kent Wells, senior vice president of exploration and production, told reporters that BP and government scientists would monitor the six- to 48-hour well integrity test at "very minute intervals." If the test progresses as hoped, BP said no oil will flow from the well for the first time since a ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Making UK homes energy efficient would cost less than Â£3,000 per house, survey claims
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/13/energy-efficiency-analysis-domestic-uk
Guardian: The majority of the UK's least energy-efficient homes could be brought up to near-average green standards for less than Â£3,000, a new analysis claims today. The Energy Saving Trust says the cost of upgrading such properties may be less than many consumers think, while also revealing that the numbers of energy-inefficient homes in both the private and rented sectors has decreased. The Trust found that in 2008, the most recent year for which data is available, 17% of English ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Cambodia: Mine plan threatens Koh Kong woodland
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010071340445/National-news/mine-plan-threatens-koh-kong-woodland.html
Phnom Penh Post: THE conservation NGO Wildlife Alliance yesterday criticised plans for the development of a titanium mine in Koh Kong province, saying the project would scare off ecotourism investors and derail implementation of a lucrative pollution-reduction scheme. Suwanna Gauntlett, the group's country director, said the United Khmer Group had recently obtained a permit from the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy for the mine, which she said would cover 15,000 to 20,000 hectares in Thma Bang ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Kerry, Lieberman craft scaled back climate bill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100713/pl_nm/us_climate_usa_congress
Reuters: The Senate's two biggest backers of climate change legislation have scaled back ambitions for a broad attack on greenhouse gases with a new draft bill focusing on cutting pollution from electric power utilities. Democratic Senator John Kerry and independent Senator Joseph Lieberman have crafted a 667-page draft bill, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, that would impose new pollution controls on utilities starting in 2013 as a first step toward battling global warming. But ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Ad campaign takes personal look at climate change scientists
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2010/07/union-for-concerned-scientists-are-curious-for-life/1
USA Today: The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has launched a new national campaign called "Curious for Life" which is aimed at bringing awareness to scientists and their work on climate change. The advertisements show scientists as children who are curious about the world around them. The ads can be seen on UCS's website. "People like science and scientists, but they often don't have a good idea of who they are as people," said UCS President Kevin Knobloch, in a statement. The ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Gulf of Mexico oil clean-up by the numbers
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/gulf-of-mexico-oil-cleanup-by-the-numbers-2025749.html
Agence France-Presse: Below are the most recent figures on the Gulf of Mexico oil clean-up, provided by the US Joint Information Center and BP as they address the worst environmental disaster in US history. COASTLINE POLLUTED: Some 553 miles of Gulf shoreline has been contaminated by oil: 313 miles in Louisiana, 99 miles in Mississippi, 66 miles in Alabama, and 75 miles in Florida. WATERS RESTRICTED: Some 81,181 square miles of Gulf of Mexico federal waters - about one-third of the ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Obama administration bills BP for $99.7 million
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100713/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_bill
Associated Press: The Obama administration says it has sent a fourth bill to BP and other parties seeking $99.7 million for costs related to the response and cleanup of the Gulf oil spill. The administration says three earlier bills, totaling $122.2 million, have been paid in full. The White House has said all along that BP is responsible for the disaster and must pay all costs associated with the response to the spill, including efforts to stop the leak, reduce the oil's spread and the ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
And Now, Bring On the Engineers
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/and-now-bring-on-the-engineers/
New York Times: The National Academy of Engineering has appointed a panel to investigate the technical failures that resulted in the gulf oil spill. Donald C. Winter, a former secretary of the Navy, will lead the group, which is to issue an interim report in October and a final report next year. Its eight other members are mostly academics and include experts on management and human factors as well as marine engineering. More members will be added later. The academy instructed the members not ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Louisiana Oil Industry Reacts To New Drilling Ban
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128495075&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: MICHELE NORRIS, host: Drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico now have a new suspension order to contend with. Following court rejection of its previous moratorium, the Department of Interior yesterday released a new, differently worded version. The oil and gas industry, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and others, have come out against a six-month restriction. They say that it, like the first one, will force many rigs to leave and lead workers to lose their jobs. NPR's Yuki ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
BP To Test New Cap On Leaking Well
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128495071&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: MICHELE NORRIS, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris. ROBERT SIEGEL, host: I'm Robert Siegel. And we begin this hour with what we hope will be the end. Twelve weeks after the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, BP may be on the verge of shutting off the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. An operation planned for today will be just a test, but if it works, the gusher could soon be over. Joining us with the latest is NPR science ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
$200 Million for Smart Grid Ideas
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/200-million-for-smart-grid-ideas/
New York Times: The program, called the Ecomagnination Challenge, is aimed at fostering ideas that will help speed up the development of the so-called "smart grid" -- that is, what energy experts say is a much-needed digital upgrade to the nation`s aging and largely analog electric system. In announcing the program, G.E.`s chief executive, Jeff Immelt, said the company was hoping to make resources available to those with the most innovative ideas for improving energy creation and distribution in the ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
BP tests oil well cap, but says success is not assured
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/13/bp-tests-oil-well-cap-success-not-assured
Guardian: BP began a series of critical tests on a new cap placed over its leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico today, expressing hope that it may finally bring the disaster under control. But the company warned that the process was "not simple stuff." Oil was still gushing from the well, as expected, as engineers prepared to gradually choke off the flow by closing three vents on a new device lowered on to the blown-out well on Monday. Once the vents are closed, pressure readings will ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Offshore Drilling: To Pause or Not to Pause
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/offshore-drilling-to-pause-or-not-to-pause/
New York Times: Three weeks ago, William K. Reilly, the newly named co-chairman of the presidential commission appointed to investigate the BP oil spill, said he thought the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico was necessary – and maybe even too short. Associated Press William K. Reilly, right, and Bob Graham, co-chairmen of a panel of inquiry, with President Obama last month. He said in an interview with The Times that the commission was unlikely to recommend that ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Kerry, Lieberman craft scaled back US climate bill
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFWNA548220100713
Reuters: A scaled-back climate change bill that focuses largely on mandating carbon emissions reductions on electric power utilities has been drafted by U.S. Senators John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman in the hopes of winning Senate passage in coming weeks. The draft bill, which was obtained by Reuters, could still change. Also, it has not yet been decided whether the Kerry-Lieberman proposal will be included in a larger energy and environment bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants the ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Large-scale forest destruction in Sumatra undermines Indonesia's deal with Norway
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0713-hance_app_april.html
Mongabay: While the Indonesian government basks in a recent agreement with Norway to slow deforestation to the tune of a billion US dollars, a new report by Eyes on the Forest shows photographic evidence of largely government sanctioned deforestation that flouts several Indonesia laws. Potentially embarrassing, the report and photos reveal that two companies, Asian Pulp and Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resource International (APRIL), have destroyed 5 percent of Riau province's forests since 2009, ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
UN Panel Seeks Financing Sources to Offset Climate Change
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/UN-Panel-Seeks-Financing-Sources-to-Offset-Climate-Change-98355189.html
Voice of America: The co-chairs of the United Nations advisory group charged with finding $100 billion a year to help developing countries meet the challenges of climate change said Tuesday that they will present their final report in October, ahead of the U.N. climate conference in Mexico. The 21 member high-level advisory panel headed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his Norwegian counterpart Jens Stoltenberg wrapped up its second meeting on Tuesday in New York. The panel is ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Green Goes Mainstream: Biodiversity Is Climbing The Corporate Agenda
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1891227/green_goes_mainstream_biodiversity_is_climbing_the_corporate_agenda/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: Business leaders in biodiversity-rich developing economies are concerned about losses of 'natural capital', a new report launched today highlights. Over 50 per cent of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) surveyed in Latin America and 45 per cent in Africa see declines in biodiversity as a challenge to business growth. In contrast, less than 20 per cent of their counterparts in western Europe share such concerns. The findings, compiled by a study of The Economics of Ecosystems and ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
BP Is Set to Test Whether New Well Cap Stops Gulf Oil Spill
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/us/14cap.html?_r=5&partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Workers on surface ships continued to flare gas and oil on Tuesday at the site of BP's runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico, as officials announced that a critical pressure test on the well would be postponed, pending further analysis. The test would shut the well by closing off valves on a tight-sealing cap that was installed at the wellhead, 5,000 feet down and a few miles from this Coast Guard cutter. But Thad W. Allen, the retired Coast Guard admiral who is overseeing the federal ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Warming Waters Exacerbate Dwindling New England Fisheries
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=warming-waters-exacerbate-dwindling-new-england-fisheries
Daily Climate: Pete Libra is frustrated. The 40-year-old cod fisherman sees lots of fish in the ocean, and he wants to catch more. Fishing authorities see fewer, and want him to catch less. "I'm not a scientist. But I see the fish," said Libra. His is the voice of many of the fishermen in Gloucester, the heart of a once-great fishing industry that powered fledgling America and underwrote New England's economy. Many fishermen here feel threatened by a sweeping new set of fishing limits imposed ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
BP Oil Spill: How Thad Allen Is Tackling the Disaster
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599200305200
Time Magazine: Every few years, government officials gather to prepare for the unthinkable. Back in April 2002, the Coast Guard held one such exercise, a three-day summit at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. It was designed to simulate a response to an oil spill of "national significance." The catalyst? A hypothetical explosion on an ExxonMobil platform off the coast of Morgan City, La., that sent 126,000 gal. of crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. The man in charge was a Coast Guard vice admiral ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Probe shows climate data weren't rigged
http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/Opinion-story.asp?ID=14130
Canon City Daily Record: Accusing scientists of making up their minds before performing the necessary observations to prove a hypothesis is a serious charge. So it seemed with the global climate change scientists at the University of East Anglia in Great Britain, who were accused of tampering with data, withholding some data and viewing the information in a way to support the conclusion that human factors were behind recently observed years of above-average temperatures across the globe. The ramifications of ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Australia: Heat on McKim to deliver on climate change
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/14/2952931.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The Tasmanian Opposition has challenged the new Climate Change Minister, Nick McKim, to start delivering results. Mr McKim is promising strong action from the Government to slash Tasmania's carbon emissions. Tasmania's Climate Action Council has made a raft of recommendations to the Greens' cabinet member on how to meet the state's emissions reduction targets. The report suggests a raft of ways to make the cuts and ensure new polluters do not add to the ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
World watches Indonesia forest deal
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=2050
Carbon Positive: A deal welcomed as a breakthrough initiative in the worldwide fight to halt tropical deforestation is running into problems amid the practical challenges to making it work on the ground. An agreement announced in May would see Norway pay $1 billion to Indonesia for forest protection in return for Jakarta declaring a two-year moratorium on forest clearing. Indonesia is home to the world's third largest area of tropical rainforest and its high deforestation rates make it a major ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Our "meddling" Prince gets sustainability high on the agenda
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/comment/2266421/meddling-prince-gets
Business Green: On Monday I got out my somewhat dishevelled dinner jacket (it didn't appreciate being slept in) for a second time in a week, this time to go the 25th gala celebration of the work of Prince Charles at Business in the Community. The whole event was hosted by Stephen Fry who clearly has a huge amount of respect for the work of the Prince, and it all soon became a bit of a mutual adoration society. However, Stephen Fry did reveal his mischievous side with his totally incongruous ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Fairtrade towns to top 500
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jul/13/fairtrade-towns-ethical-shopping-twinning
Guardian: When a group of residents declared Garstang in Lancashire a Fairtrade town 10 years ago, few imagined it was the start of a grassroots social movement that would sweep throughout the UK and beyond. "Our aim was simply to get people to help make trade fairer for farmers from developing countries," says Garstang campaigner Bruce Crowther. "We never dreamed that we would inspire people around the world to campaign within their communities to make people's shopping habits more ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Sea levels rising in parts of Indian Ocean; Greenhouse gases play role, study finds
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100713101412.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: Newly detected rising sea levels in parts of the Indian Ocean, including the coastlines of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Java, appear to be at least partly a result of human-induced increases of atmospheric greenhouse gases, says a study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder. The study, which combined sea surface measurements going back to the 1960s and satellite observations, indicates anthropogenic climate warming likely is amplifying regional sea ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
BP oil spill: Michelle Obama urges US holidaymakers to support Gulf coast
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/13/michelle-obama-gulf-coast-oil-spill
Guardian: Michelle Obama today used her first visit to the Gulf coast devastated by the BP oil spill to urge Americans to support the local economy by spending their summer holidays there. However, after extolling the "thousands of miles of beautiful beaches" untouched by the spill and urging people to "do a few things [to] help this community", America's first lady headed back to Washington to prepare for a family holiday to a national park in Maine at the weekend. Conservative blogs, ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
BP Prepares To Test New Cap At Gulf Spill Site
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128487396&ft=1&f=1025
Associated Press: After securing a new, tight-fitting cap on top of the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, BP prepared Tuesday to begin tests to see if it will hold and stop fresh oil from polluting the waters for the first time in nearly three months. The oil giant expects to know within 48 hours if the new cap, which was affixed Monday after almost three days of painstaking, around-the-clock work a mile below the Gulf's surface, can stanch the flow. The solution is only temporary, but it offers the ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
United Kingdom: 60 miles of canal closed in drought
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/60-miles-of-canal-closed-in-drought-2025712.html
Press Association: Almost half of Britain's longest canal is to be closed in the face of drought conditions, British Waterways announced today. Some 60 miles of the 127-mile Leeds and Liverpool Canal will be closed early next month, by which time the reservoirs which feed it are expected to have fallen to just 10 per cent of their capacity. The closure to boating traffic aims to prevent the loss of water from the canal through the opening of locks, and maintain sufficient water levels in the ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Spain overtakes US with world's biggest solar power station
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/13/spain-solar-power
Guardian: Spain has opened the world's largest solar power station, meaning that it overtakes the US as the biggest solar generator in the world. The nation's total solar power production is now equivalent to the output of a nuclear power station. Spain is a world leader in renewable energies and has long been a producer of hydro-electricity (only China and the US have built more dams). It also has a highly developed wind power sector which, like solar power, has received generous government ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
India proposes eve of Cancun climate meeting
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266406/india-proposes-eve-cancun
Business Green: India is set to host the final meeting of the Major Economies Forum ahead of the November's UN climate change summit in Cancun, Mexico in an effort to break the deadlock surrounding the transfer of clean technologies to developing economies. Indian officials have confirmed Delhi will hold a two day ministerial meeting on November 8-9, just weeks ahead of the crucial Cancun summit. According to Reuters' reports, the offer to host the meeting was made by Indian Environment ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
United States: States see rebirth in auto battery manufacturing
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/12/12greenwire-states-see-rebirth-in-auto-battery-manufacturi-12034.html
Greenwire: Kevin Czinger, an all-Ohio football player in his high school days at Cleveland's St. Ignatius High School, returned to his home state last month, making as big a splash as he did on the football field. Czinger, the president and CEO of CODA Automotive, announced that his company was planning to build a battery manufacturing plant outside of Columbus, contingent on a loan from the Department of Energy. The announcement was hailed by Ohio politicians, who hope to capitalize on the ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Kerry looking to strike deal with utilities on carbon emissions cap
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/07/13/13climatewire-kerry-looking-to-strike-deal-with-utilities-16078.html
ClimateWire: Senate Democrats are searching for a way to entice the utility sector to sign on to an industrywide emissions cap in a final bid to salvage President Obama's goal of pricing carbon this year. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) told reporters yesterday that conversations between Democrats and utilities are ongoing and that he remained optimistic that they could strike a deal. Convincing the electric power industry to back a scaled-down carbon cap as part of a utility-only proposal is widely ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
United States: CO2 absorption and nutrient runoffs Increase acidity of Puget Sound
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/07/13/13climatewire-co2-absorption-and-nutrient-runoffs-increase-87120.html
ClimateWire: A combination of carbon dioxide emitted by human activities and nutrient runoff is transforming the chemistry of Washington state's Puget Sound, according to a new study. Without intervention, the one-two punch could threaten the area's shellfish industry, said lead author Richard Feely, a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. Feely and his team sampled waters in Puget Sound in February and ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Teaching 'stuff' about ecology
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-story-of-stuff-20100713,0,5779944.story
LA Times: Annie Leonard used to spout jargon. She reveled in the sort of geek-speak that glazes your eyeballs. Externalized costs, paradigm shifts, the precautionary principle, extended producer responsibility. That was before she discovered cartoons. Get important science news and discoveries delivered to your inbox with our Science & Environment newsletter. Sign up Â» Today the 45-year-old Berkeley activist is America's pitchperson for a new style of environmental message. ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
China, EU strengthen space technology co-op to monitor climate change
http://www.globaltimes.cn/www/english/sci-edu/china/2010-07/550964.html
Xinhua: China and the European Union have strengthened their cooperation in space technology to better monitor climate change and improve the ability to prevent and control natural disasters. At a conference entitled "Let's Embrace Space" , held by the EU pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, Reinhard Schulte Braucks, head of Unit Space Research and Development, European Commission, said air pollution is a common problem facing the entire world. He said China and the EU should strengthen ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Australia: WA coal projects anger green groups
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/wa-coal-projects-anger-green-groups-20100713-108n7.html
AAP: The West Australian government has cleared the way for three coal-fired power station projects, prompting the anger of green groups. Environment Minister Donna Faragher has given the a tick of approval for the new Aviva proposed Coolimba power station at Eneabba, about 270km north of Perth. In determining appeals against the plans, Ms Faragher also approved, the expansion of the state-owned generator Verve's Bluewaters power station and the refurbishment of the Muja A/B power ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Small wind is powering ahead
http://www.e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2294
Environment 360: With a Boost from Innovation, Small Wind Is Powering Ahead New technologies, feed-in tariffs, and tax credits are helping propel the small wind industry, especially in the United States. Once found mostly in rural areas, small wind installations are now starting to pop up on urban rooftops. The Solarium, a new 8-story apartment building in New York City, is part of a new wave of green buildings in Gotham. Its exterior is made from 100 percent recycled material. The ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Eco-friendly ski resorts offset glacial melting
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/ecofriendly-ski-resorts-offset-glacial-melting-2025327.html
Independent (UK): Northern Italian officials have begun covering the Presena glacier with an insulating blanket and parts of the Andes have been painted white to try to reduce glacial melting. Now eco-friendly ski resorts around the world are also working on reducing that sport's ecological impact. Officials have begun covering some mountains in Northern Italy with a giant blanket in an attempt to slow the rate at which the ice is melting, reported BBC Brazil on July 8. 970,000 square feet ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Gods, floods - and global warming
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/steve-jones/7887202/Gods-floods-and-global-warming.html
Telegraph: 'Global warming is a myth.' Type that into a search engine and you get thousands of hits -- but global warming is not a product of the human imagination; or no more so than any other scientific claims for -- like them -- it depends on its data, the accuracy of which has been affirmed by the inquiry into the leaked East Anglia documents. The subject has, alas, become the home of boring rants by obsessives. More interesting is the notion that myths themselves may reflect real happenings ...

Wed, 14 Jul 10
Badger cull halted after appeal
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/wales/wales_politics/10612240.stm
BBC: A controversial cull of around 1,500 badgers in south-west Wales has been halted after protesters won their legal challenge to stop it. The Badger Trust appealed against Welsh Assembly Government plans for a trial cull to reduce TB within cattle. The trust had questioned the cull's effectiveness, though farmers losing diseased stock wanted action. The assembly government said it was "disappointed" with the Court of Appeal's judgement. Wales' Rural Affairs Minister ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
BP to attach new cap on leaking Gulf well on Monday
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100712/ts_nm/us_oil_spill_cap
Reuters: BP Plc said it expects to attach a new containment cap later Monday that should more than triple the amount of oil being collected from the energy giant's leaking Gulf of Mexico wellhead. "We have the cap very close and later today we'll be attaching it," Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, told a media briefing. "It could take well through the day to complete." Once the new and larger cap is installed, Suttles said BP will shut down two vessels siphoning oil from the ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Moment of truth for energy bill
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39590.html
Politico: The next three weeks represent Democrats' last, best shot at getting an energy and climate change bill passed this year. In the White House and the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, it's moment-of-truth time. People on every side of the energy debate say that Reid must unveil a concrete plan backed by a full-court press from the president this week, or the entire effort will fall apart in the run-up to the midterm elections. After weeks of indecisive caucus meetings ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Change coming slowly on climate law
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39584.html
Politico: Congress may or may not pass a serious climate bill this year, but one thing is certain: It won't be business as usual. While Republicans and polluting industries will celebrate, most know their victory will be fleeting and, with or without a bill, they'll soon face a cascade of onerous and expensive new regulations that could fundamentally reshape the nation's economic, environmental and legal landscape. That's because the Obama administration spent the past year setting up a ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
The sayings of Chairman Zhang
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/07/12/12climatewire-the-sayings-of-chairman-zhang-a-clean-tech-e-50021.html
ClimateWire: Clean technology in China has left other nations in the dust largely because its centralized government enables policy creation at the snap of a finger. At least, that's what many outside observers think. Zhang Yue, founder and chairman of Broad Air Conditioning, achieved the new Chinese dream of making millions, but then dropped the jet-setting life for a green philosophy that determines company policy. He began doing this well before the mandarins in Beijing began encouraging clean ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Poor 'hardest hit' by fuel policies
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5iw8kuAgljr6HVB9tWs_xXXDLFyEw
Press Association: People in fuel poverty are being hardest hit by climate change policies - without seeing much benefit from efforts to reduce energy use, a Government advisory group has warned. According to the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group, energy bills have increased by 125% in the past six years, with the number of households in fuel poverty in England quadrupling as a result. Some 4.6 million households in England now spend more than 10% of their income on heating their homes - the measure of ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Business warns on need for investment in energy
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d319e78c-8d1c-11df-bad7-00144feab49a.html
Financial Times: The UK is in the "last chance saloon" to secure investment in its creaking energy infrastructure, ministers are being warned by a leading business group. The EEF manufacturers' federation is urging the new government to "show leadership" by setting out a timetable for action, or risk undermining energy security within five years. There is only a limited window of opportunity to implement new policies and market reforms to generate the estimated Â£200bn of investment the UK ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Greenland: Glacier loses ice chunk equal to one-eighth of Manhattan
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20010213-501465.html
CBS: A glacier in Greenland lost 2.7 square mile piece of ice - roughly one-eighth the size of Manhattan Island - in a single day last week. Greenland's Jakobshavn Isbrae glacier broke up on July 6 and 7, pushing the point where the ice sheet meets the ocean further inland than at any time previously observed, NASA-funded researchers said. As much as 10 percent of all ice lost from Greenland comes through Jakobshavn, which scientists also believe to be the single biggest contributor to sea ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Kenya: Budget plan paves way for carbon trading hub
http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/Budget%20plan%20paves%20way%20for%20carbon%20trading%20hub/-/539550/956150/-/12uo7mpz/-/
Business Daily: Kenya is set to become a carbon trading hub in Africa if plans to establish a regional carbon emissions trading market prove successful. During the 2010/2011 budget of June 10, Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta proposed to develop a frame-work for carbon trading that would outline how to register and participate in the a scheme in which polluters would buy and sell the right to emit carbon. The framework will also guide how revenue generated from carbon trading would be shared to ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Power of God? Churches urged to cash in with solar panels on roofs
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Power-of-God-Churches-urged.6413494.jp
Scotsman: CHURCHES and mosques could raise up to Â£34 million a year by installing solar panels on their roofs, an electricity supplier has claimed. British Gas urged religious groups to make the most of the new feed-in tariff, a scheme that pays households and organisations for electricity from their small-scale generators. It calculated that religious centres could generate Â£29 million from feed-in tariff payments, and could save a further Â£5 million on electricity bills by generating their ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
California Schemin'
http://motherjones.com/environment/2010/07/california-ab32-prop-23-climate-change
Mother Jones: Coal is America's cheapest and most plentiful energy source. But in California, coal is a small, shrinking part of the energy picture, and the industry is usually a minor player in state politics. So why are out-of-state coal companies suddenly trying to sink California's groundbreaking climate change law? The first law of its kind in the nation, California's Assembly Bill 32 is intended to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent by 2020 through a variety of means, ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Law of hurricane power discovered
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19157-law-of-hurricane-power-discovered.html
New Scientist: The intensity of hurricanes follows a simple mathematical law "" a finding that could help us predict how they will respond to climate change. ÃƒÂlvaro Corral of the Centre for Mathematical Research in Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues looked at records of hurricanes from four ocean basins around the world between 1966 and 2007. For each known hurricane, they calculated how much energy it released, based on the wind speeds and how long the hurricane lasted. Regardless of region, ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Global warming presents itself as Kenyan city's fiercest foe
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0712/1224274512625.html
Irish Times: MOMBASA IS used to being on the defensive. Fought over by the Arabs and Portuguese, and eventually the British, the island city`s sun-bleached Fort Jesus has witnessed a battle or two since it was built on the orders of King Philip of Spain in 1593. But Kenya`s second-largest city, like the rest of East Africa, is now facing an adversary it might have little chance of beating: global warming. According to a report released last year, rising sea levels brought about by ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Anger as plug pulled on home energy scheme
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport-environment/anger-as-plug-pulled-on-home-energy-scheme-1.1040681
Scotland Herlad: Environmental organisations have reacted with anger to the scrapping of a scheme that helped homeowners meet the cost of installing green devices such as solar panels and small wind turbines. Almost 3000 households have benefited from the Scottish Government's home renewables grant scheme, which offered up to Â£4000 towards the cost of environmentally friendly power systems. It was set up in 2007 and has handed out a total of Â£7.4 million -- but budget cuts mean it will ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
United Kingdom: UK farmers' leaders are calling for a national water grid
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/07/12/uk-farmers-leaders-are-calling-for-a-national-water-grid-and-plaid-mp-says-wales-should-be-compensated-for-its-use-91466-26831785/
Western Mail: FARMING leaders last night called for a "national water grid" to channel future supplies from wet to dry UK regions in an age of unpredictable weather. As the UK endures the driest spring and early summer for more than 80 years, and with rainfall becoming less predictable with global warming, farming union NFU said water management was becoming increasingly important. A national grid would essentially see Britain`s water resources moved around according to need via a linked-up ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
United States: Lobbyists heat up over climate law
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/12/2883633/lobbyists-heat-up-over-climate.html
Sacramento Bee: The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 is beginning to look like a stimulus package for the lobbying trade. During the past year, oil companies, manufacturers and trade groups have made a big push to shape the rules and regulations behind California's landmark greenhouse gas reduction law, The Bee has found in a review of lobbying disclosure statements filed with the California secretary of state's office. Environmental groups, clean-energy advocates and utility companies ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Australia: Every drip has a climate story to tell
http://www.smh.com.au/national/every-drip-has-a-climate-story-to-tell-20100711-105pv.html
Sydney Morning Herald: WALKING into a cave of stalagmites and stalactites is like entering a Tiffany's showroom. But unlike an expensive ring, the sparkle of these formations is a precious record of climate history. Australian scientists are using structures from the Wombeyan Caves, south-west of Sydney, to build a picture of rainfall patterns in NSW over the past 1000 years. Until now, rainfall records extended back only to the 1800s, the lead researcher, Janece McDonald, of the University of ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Australia: A family affair to test low-energy gadgets
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/a-family-affair-to-test-lowenergy-gadgets-20100711-105p9.html
Sydney Morning Herald: Michael Adams and Claire Joyce, with daughter Ava, inspect their new pergola made of solar panels. Photo: James Alcock. AS THE federal government puts the finishing touches to its new climate change policy, one Sydney family is embarking on a year-long experiment to live in an energy-constrained home of the future. Clare Joyce, Michael Adams and their daughter Ava will live rent free for a year in a house in Newington crammed with solar technology and gadgets designed to slash ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Electric cars coming, but can California take charge?
http://www.thestar.com/article/834056--hamilton-electric-cars-coming-but-can-california-take-charge
Toronto Star: There are two things I couldn't help but notice last week during a brief trip to Los Angeles. One was the earthquake that shook my hotel room and scared the bejesus out of me. The second was the number of hybrid-electric vehicles on the road. Californians like their hybrid-electric cars, and it's widely expected they will become the earliest adopters of a new generation of plug-in electric vehicles such as the Chevy Volt, the Nissan Leaf and the Prius Plug-In Hybrid. For ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Climate change needs a plain English guide
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/climate-change-needs-a-plain-english-guide-20100712-107y5.html
Age: The science is solid but popular understanding of climate change lags. SCIENTISTS at the University of East Anglia have emerged from the six-month ''climategate'' inquiry with their reputations for honesty intact. The challenge for scientists across the world now, however, is to communicate clearly the realities of climate change to a public that simply wants straight answers. The Independent Climate Change Email Review in Britain, led by Sir Muir Russell, a former top civil ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Australia: Gillard tipped to hold back climate policy
http://www.theage.com.au/national/gillard-tipped-to-hold-back-climate-policy-20100712-107wd.html
Age: PRIME Minister Julia Gillard could hold her fire on a new climate change policy until an election campaign is well under way, with the release date of the new policy still undetermined. Many observers expected to see the government's new climate change policy this week as Ms Gillard prepares for an imminent election, but the government could hold the announcement back to ensure the policy is bedded down before its release. A decision about the details of Labor's policy to fill ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Tesla and Toyota cement electric car alliance
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266318/tesla-toyota-cement-electric
Business Green: Tesla is to deliver two prototype electric vehicles to Toyota within the next few weeks after the two car manufacturers signed a memorandum of understanding formalising their recent agreement to work together on the development of zero emission vehicles. The company confirmed that it signed the deal last Thursday and now expects to deliver two prototypes combining Toyota models with Tesla electric powertrain technology by the end of the month. Tesla Chief Technology Officer JB ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Climate Change Risk Management
http://www.industryweek.com/articles/climate_change_risk_management_22217.aspx?SectionID=2
Industry Week: The potential impact of global climate change has generated proposals for new U.S., Canadian and international laws and regulations, and it is likely that North American companies soon will incur costs to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Weather conditions, rising sea levels and changing snow and rainfall patterns may also affect operations, supply chains and profitability. Corporations may face investor claims for losses blamed on company operations, and directors and officers ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Congress returns from recess to even more of the same
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/11/AR2010071103548.html
Washington Post: Congress will return this week from the July 4th recess to a pile of unfinished business. Yes, the same might be said of every Congress returning from every recess since lawmakers wore wigs and tights. But this time it could be a big problem, especially for the party in power. When Barack Obama took office and the Democrats took control of Washington, they made ambitious promises about how much they'd get done, with or without Republican help. Now, with relatively few working ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Govt will copy Coalition on climate: Abbott
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Gillard-is-a-climate-copycat-Abbott-7A8D8?opendocument&src=rss
Business Spectator: With the emissions trading scheme (ETS) shelved, cabinet is expected on Tuesday afternoon to sign off on a fresh approach to address global warming, focusing on renewable energy and energy efficiency. The federal opposition says Labor is likely to copy its climate change policy when cabinet signs off on Prime Minister Julia Gillard's new direction -- possibly as soon as Tuesday. After shelving its emissions trading scheme (ETS) until at least 2013, the government is expected to ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Bali talks target tiger decline
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10594304.stm
BBC: Officials from 13 countries are meeting in Bali, Indonesia, to agree on ways to try to double the number of tigers in the world. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) conservation group has warned that a lack of global action could kill off the endangered species. Hunting and a loss of habitat had cut numbers to about 3,200 tigers - the lowest ever. The Bali Tiger Forum is a precursor to a planned global summit in December. There is a particular focus on China, where a ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Can Culture Make the California Condor Wild Again?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100712/hl_time/08599200300700
Time: The cage door is open but the young California condor, as immense as he is with his nine-foot wingspan, remains timid. He's not about to leave the captivity he's known his entire life to head into the unknown. But there are teachers out there waiting to instruct him in the wild life. A handful of older, already free-flying condors have gathered outside his pen, gnawing on the calf corpse that biologists put there the night before, specifically to attract the experienced birds. Soon enough, ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
BP Waits To See If New Cap Provides Tighter Seal
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128458157&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: BP continues its efforts to contain the Gulf oil leak. A new cap being placed atop the gusher is intended to provide a tight seal and might eventually allow the oil giant to capture all the crude leaking from the well for the first time since the April oil rig explosion that set off the environmental disaster.

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Egypt unveils plans for 100MW solar power plant
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266286/egypt-unveils-plans-100mw-solar
Business Green: The Egyptian electricity ministry has unveiled plans to build a new $700m 100MW solar power plant between 2012 and 2017 that should further establish the country as one of the leading developers of utility-scale solar plants. According to reports in the local Al-Ahram newspaper, the solar power project at Kom Ombo, near the Aswan High Dam hydroelectric plant, will be financed by a number of international institutions, including the African Development Fund and the World Bank. ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Babies of the oil spill face an uncertain future
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100712/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_baby_animals
Associated Press: The smallest victims are the biggest challenge for crews rescuing birds fouled with oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill. There's no way to know how many chicks have been killed by the oil, or starved because their parents were rescued or died struggling in a slick. "There are plenty of oiled babies out there," said Rebecca Dmytryk of the International Bird Rescue Research Center, one of the groups working to clean oiled animals. The lucky ones end up in a cleaning center ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Climate change cuts could push up bills
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/climate-change-cuts-could-push-up-bills-2024665.html
Press Association: The increasing costs of energy as a result of green policies could hit the UK's manufacturing sector - just as the country needs industry to help boost the economy, a think-tank warned today. A report from Civitas said efforts to tackle climate change through cutting greenhouse gas emissions and increasing renewable energy generation would significantly push up energy bills for business. Extra costs are put on energy from policies including the EU's emission trading scheme, the ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Stay cool and considerate in the summer heat
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100712/lf_nm_life/us_etiquette_summer_city
Reuters: The confinements of office life can be even more frustrating in the summer months. Every lunchtime, workers flock to the nearest green space to hastily catch a few rays before heading back into the air-conditioned environment of the office. The hot weather, however, can encourage some social faux pas, fashion mistakes and inappropriate behavior. Here's how to stay cool and professional in a well-mannered way... HOT FASHION It may be boiling outside, but it's inadvisable ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Clean tech investment records solid second quarter
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266297/clean-tech-investment-records
Business Green: The global clean tech and renewable energy industry enjoyed a solid second quarter to the year as levels of venture capital investment, project financing and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity all continued to recover strongly. That is the conclusion of a new report from UK-based analyst firm VB/Research, which reveals investment in low carbon businesses is fast returning to pre-recession levels. According to the new figures global venture capital and private equity ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
India climate meet ahead of Mexico to push tech deal
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66B1US20100712?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: India will try to push climate talks forward at a two-day ministerial meeting in November by focusing on winning agreement on sharing clean technologies, a sticky issue that divides rich and poor countries. The Nov 8-9 talks are aimed at clarifying rules on sharing future innovations and existing technologies involving contentious intellectual property rights (IPR) issues. The talks will come just weeks before a major U.N. climate meeting in Mexico and are an attempt to breathe ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Rising sea drives Panama islanders to mainland
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N18154792.htm
Reuters: Rising seas from global warming, coming after years of coral reef destruction, are forcing thousands of indigenous Panamanians to leave their ancestral homes on low-lying Caribbean islands. Seasonal winds, storms and high tides combine to submerge the tiny islands, crowded with huts of yellow cane and faded palm fronds, leaving them ankle-deep in emerald water for days on end. Pablo Preciado, leader of the island of Carti Sugdub, remembers that in his childhood floods were ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
New York talks to tackle climate financing deadlock
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266282/uk-calls-climate-financing
Business Green: The latest round of crucial UN-backed talks to identify how to raise climate finance for developing countries will take place in New York later today, with the UK warning that progress is essential to the chances of an international climate treaty being agreed. The UN-appointed High Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing will hold its first meeting since Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg replaced outgoing British prime minister Gordon Brown as co-chair of the group, ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Coalition outlines microgeneration ambitions
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266280/coalition-outlines
Business Green: The government will today launch a major consultation exercise designed to identify how the UK can accelerate the rollout of small-scale renewable energy technologies. The consultation will look at how the UK can expand its support for microgeneration technologies on the back of the introduction of feed-in tariff incentives earlier this year. In particular, it will look at how to improve the reliability and performance of microgeneration technologies, build the skills base and ...

Tue, 13 Jul 10
Five forces driving corporate sustainability management
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/comment/2266283/five-forces-driving-corporate
Business Green: With a nod to McKinsey's research on how global forces will drive business strategy over the next five years, this article explores five forces which will shape the management of corporate sustainability in all businesses by 2015. There is now a choice facing businesses: they can try to understand what these forces mean for their organisation, or try and fight these market changes that we are already experiencing. 1. Brand competition As we emerge from one of the deepest ...

Sun, 11 Jul 10
Value of oil skimming Gulf flotilla is uncertain
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100710/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_cleanup_guesswork
Associated Press: The value of one highly touted facet of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup -- the small navy of vessels skimming oil from the surface -- has proven all but impossible to measure, which could make it difficult to figure out how much damage BP is liable for when the gusher is finally stopped. BP and the federal government admit they have no idea how much oil has been collected by hundreds of boats that range from retrofitted fishing vessels to state-of-the art craft designed ...

Sun, 11 Jul 10
Schwarzenegger to host third round of Governors' Global Climate Summit
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-07/10/c_13392967.htm
Xinhua: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on Friday that he will host the third round of the Governors' Global Climate Summit later this year to rally efforts in confronting climate change. Building on the accomplishments made at the first two summits in 2008 and 2009, the upcoming Governors' Global Climate Summit will bring together leaders from around the world to collaborate on efforts that will further the global fight against climate change, work towards collaborative ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Obama loses in court again over deepwater drilling moratorium
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100709/ts_csm/313191
Christian Science Monitor: A federal appeals panel in New Orleans on Thursday denied the federal government's bid to reinstate a six-month moratorium on offshore deepwater oil drilling issued by the Department of Interior, as part of the Obama administration's response to the ongoing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The ruling, though it buttresses the position of companies fighting the moratorium, is not likely to mean a return to drilling in the deepwater Gulf any time soon. The Obama administration will ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Senate set for energy, environmental bill debate
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100709/pl_nm/us_oil_spill_climate_usa
Reuters: Democrats in the U.S. Senate aim to debate in late July a bill clamping down on offshore oil drilling practices and fostering more alternative energy use, but no decision has been made on whether to include controversial climate change provisions, aides said on Friday. As the Gulf of Mexico oil spill entered its 81st day with BP still unable to plug its leaking undersea well, the Senate was planning a two-week debate on an energy and environmental bill that could start as early as ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
IRS phone number set up for Gulf oil spill victims
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100709/ap_on_go_ot/us_gulf_oil_spill_taxes
Associated Press: Taxpayers affected by the oil spill can call a special IRS phone number for questions about BP payments or if they have problems filing taxes. The Internal Revenue Service announced Friday that Gulf oil spill victims can call 866-562-5227 on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. local time. Last month, the IRS said payments for lost wages from BP's $20 billion victims compensation fund are taxable just like regular income. But, in certain cases, the IRS can help oil spill ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
NAACP: Minorities assigned tougher oil spill jobs
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100709/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_naacp
Associated Press: The NAACP has sent a letter to BP expressing concerns that minorities helping to clean up after the massive oil spill tend to be assigned tougher, lower paying jobs than whites. NAACP president, Ben Jealous, says in the letter dated Friday that he wants to meet with BP's chief executive officer. E-mail messages left with several BP spokespeople were not immediately returned. The NAACP says minority contractors are not receiving equal consideration for opportunities to ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Easy living: The truth about modern communes
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/easy-living-the-truth-about-modern-communes-2020668.html
Independent (UK): It was on a summer's afternoon in 2005 that Paul Wimbush made his decision. He'd spent the day celebrating Lammas, the original Celtic harvest festival, with friends in a field in Pembrokeshire; as the sun began to fall, a group of them sat down to discuss the implications of a proposed local planning act known as Policy 52. If this neatly titled initiative were to get the go-ahead as hoped, there would -- for the first time since the introduction of the Town and Planning Act of 1947 -- be a ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
It's official: There's no consensus on climate change
http://opinion.financialpost.com/2010/07/09/it%E2%80%99s-official-there%E2%80%99s-no-consensus-on-climate-change/
Financial Post: A panel criticizes the Climategate scientists for being defensive and unhelpful, for withholding data, for providing misleading information, for having been "blinded ... to the possibility of merit" in the claims of their critics 'Panel in Britain clears scientists of misconduct allegations in 'Climate-gate'," read the Washington Post headline, one of many describing a vindication of the Climategate scientists at East Anglia University`s Climatic Research Unit in the U.K. Other press ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
BP set to install bigger cap on leaking Gulf well
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65O5TA20100710?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: BP was set on Friday to install a bigger cap that could contain almost all the oil leaking from its blownout Gulf of Mexico well, a top U.S. official said. The Obama administration has been pressing the British energy giant to install the new cap, which could capture up to 80,000 barrels (3,360,000 gallons/12,700,00 liters) of oil a day, versus the 25,000 barrels currently being contained. The government has estimated the well is leaking a maximum of 60,000 barrels a day, ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Feds say new cap could contain Gulf leak by Monday
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100710/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
Associated Press: The BP oil leak could be completely contained as early as Monday if a new, tighter cap can be fitted over the blown-out well, the government official in charge of the crisis said Friday in some of the most encouraging news to come out of the Gulf in the 2 1/2 months since the disaster struck. If the project planned to begin this weekend is successful, it would simply mean no more oil would escape to foul the Gulf of Mexico. The well would still be busted and leaking -- workers would ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
New Rules Threaten Future of Biomass Power
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/business/energy-environment/10biomass.html?_r=5&partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: An energy technology that has long been viewed as a clean and climate-friendly alternative to fossil fuels is facing tough new regulatory hurdles that could ultimately hamper its ability to compete with renewable power sources like wind and solar. Dozens of biomass power plants, which typically burn plant or tree matter to generate electricity, are already in operation in a variety of states, like California, Michigan and Maine. In most cases, those plants have qualified for some ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
BP Is Ready to Put Tighter Cap on Runaway Well
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/us/10spill.html?_r=5&partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: BP will begin replacing the cap on its runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico with a new one that has a tighter seal and could funnel all the oil spewing from the well to surface ships, the leader of the federal response effort said Friday. The leader, Thad W. Allen, a retired Coast Guard admiral, said at a briefing in New Orleans that perhaps as early as Saturday, technicians would remove the containment cap at the top of the failed blowout preventer, the giant stack of safety devices ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
We fiddle while Farm Belt copes with climate change
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7101753.html
Houston Chronicle: Legend has it that the Emperor Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Almost two millennia later, Congress keeps quarreling while the world keeps warming. Greenhouse gas emissions have grown by 70 percent from 1970 to 2004 and are projected to increase from 25 percent to 90 percent more by 2030. By the end of the century, global average temperatures are expected to increase by from 1.1 to 6.4 degrees Celsius. In the face of this, food production is at risk and actions are needed. While the ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
U.S. farmers can't meet booming corn demands
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6685B020100709?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Exporters, livestock feeders and ethanol makers are going through the U.S. corn stockpile faster than farmers can grow the crops, the government said on Friday. Despite record crops in two of the past three years and another record within reach this year, the Agriculture Department estimated the corn carryover will shrink to the lowest level since 2006/07. In a monthly look at crop supply and usage, USDA estimated 1.478 billion bushels of corn will be in U.S. bins on August 31, ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Millions face starvation as Niger prays in vain for rain
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/millions-face-starvation-as-niger-prays-in-vain-for-rain-2022190.html
Independent (UK): To the north of Niger, the creeping Sahara; to the south, oil rich and agriculturally lush Nigeria -- this nation straddles the Sahel -- dry, hot and cruel. It has suffered catastrophic droughts -- 1974, 1984 and 2005. And now, another. Five times the size of the United Kingdom, Niger is one of the poorest nations on earth with child mortality worse than Afghanistan. The absence of regular rainfall throughout 2009 has led to poor harvests, lack of grazing for animals and food reserves ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Navy blimp arrives in New Orleans for Gulf duty
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100709/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_blimp
Associated Press: A blimp that will fly over the Gulf of Mexico so observers can spot oil slicks and ailing wildlife has arrived in the region. After being delayed by bad weather, the 178-foot long airship landed Thursday in New Orleans, where it will be based for the next several days. Coast Guard Cmdr. Howard Wright says the blimp is better suited for observation than a helicopter or plane, because it can move slowly over the sea at low elevations for up to 12 hours at a stretch. It is ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
On climate change, let cool heads prevail
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/08/AR2010070804271.html
Washington Post: It's odd how little we've heard lately from the skeptics who deny that climate change is real. What's the matter, people? Heat stroke? The Venus-like heat that much of the country has been suffering this summer is almost enough to make anybody a believer in global warming. Almost, but not quite: Honesty compels me to acknowledge that a few weeks of record-setting temperatures do not constitute proof of anything. Climate scientists have to analyze data covering decades and centuries to ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Maine Voices PRO: Are strong measures needed to forestall climate change?
http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/pro-are-strong-measures-needed-to-forestall-climate-change__2010-07-09.html
Press Herald: I applaud the newspaper for calling on Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins to continue to work toward solutions to climate change and to create a clean-energy economy. The Massey Energy coal mine tragedy and BP's oil disaster currently unfolding along the Gulf Coast highlight the desperate need for a new clean-energy economy that ends our self-destructive addiction to dirty energy. Mainers overwhelmingly support action on clean energy and climate. A May poll from Critical ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Maine Voices CON: Are strong measures needed to forestall climate change?
http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/con-are-strong-measures-needed-to-forestall-climate-change__2010-07-09.html
Press Herald: I know your papers have vast resources for research, but you seem to keep missing the fact that man-made global warming has been almost entirely discredited. Unfortunately, along with the rest of the mainstream press, you (at least all but editorial writer M.D. Harmon) ignore the Climategate scandal of the e-mails urging "tricks" to "hide the decline" between contributors to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change at the University of East Anglia pushing "anthropogenic ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
US appeals court opens door to new drilling in Gulf of Mexico
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/09/us-appeals-court-drilling-gulf
Associated Press: A US appeals court has rejected the federal government's effort to restore an offshore deepwater drilling moratorium, opening the door to resumed drilling in the Gulf of Mexico while the legal fight continues. The ruling is not the final word on the Obama administration's fight to suspend new drilling projects so it can study the risks revealed by the disastrous BP oil spill. The same appeals court is expected to hear arguments on the merits of the moratorium case in late ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
APA encouraged forest views being listened to by donors
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/stories/07/01/apa-encouraged-forest-views-being-listened-to-by-donors/
Stabroek News: -still sees gaps in plan for World Bank project President of the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA), Tony James says he is encouraged that countries and institutions involved in forest protection efforts seem to be listening to the concerns of indigenous peoples here. James, other APA members, representatives from Peruvian non-governmental organisations and a member of the Coordinating Body for Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin, spoke about their concerns on forest ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
REDD and poor rainforest countries: The unfolding of a global scam
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/features/07/04/redd-and-poor-rainforest-countries-the-unfolding-of-a-global-scam/
Stabroek News: On reflection, several readers have communicated to me over the past few weeks, in different ways, the grave difficulty they were having in trying to fathom the interconnections between the global carbon market, the LCDS, and the resolution of the global climate problem. They find that there continues to be a real disconnect in comprehending the concrete nature of the linkages I have been pin-pointing between trading in both carbon emissions allowances/permits and carbon offset projects ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Analysis: Who benefits from 2-year moratorium on forest clearing?
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/05/analysis-who-benefits-2year-moratorium-forest-clearing.html
Jakarta Post: It didn't take long for palm oil producers to respond to Norway's recently signed US$1 billion grant, given in exchange for a two-year moratorium on any new clearing of Indonesia's rainforest and peatlands. Association of Palm Oil Producers secretary-general Joko Supriyono urged the government to reassess the planned moratorium, citing that its members were struggling with forest concessions that contained unproductive land not suitable for productive growth. Indonesian Palm Oil Commission ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Clouds of doubt still hang over climate scientists
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Clouds+doubt+still+hang+over+climate+scientists/3253896/story.html
Calgary Herald: We tend to think of scientists as noble beings and science as the objective pursuit of truth. But once the fairy dust lifts, the reality is that science is a head-to-head competition -- a race to see who can get the academic credit and public fame first. Consequently, the purity of that pursuit can be clouded by the lowest of human motivations and behaviours. During my graduate studies, I witnessed a bitter feud between two supposedly reasonable adults who lived on different ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Obama loses drilling moratorium appeal
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100709/wl_afp/usoilenvironmentpollution
Agence France-Presse: BP's efforts to place a new containment cap over the gushing Gulf of Mexico oil well could effectively stop the disastrous spill as early as Monday, a US official said Friday. Admiral Thad Allen, who oversees the government's spill response, said on day 81 of the disaster that an operation to swap in the new cap could begin Saturday and the entire process would take "about three to four days." If successful, the new cap could capture all of the crude spilling into the Gulf and ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
US government loses drilling ban appeal
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266213/government-loses-drilling-ban
Business Green: A federal court yesterday rejected a government appeal requesting it be allowed to reinstate a six-month ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, paving the way for a partial resumption of drilling while a court case challenging the legality of the embargo is heard. However, the Obama administration immediately signalled it would impose a new ban on drilling activities in water below depths of 500 feet, arguing it was necessary in order to ensure enhanced safety measures in ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Italy set to cut solar incentives: industry sources
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6681R720100709?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Italy's new, long-awaited solar incentive plan includes gradual cuts in feed-in tariffs of up to 30 percent next year and 6 percent in both 2012 and 2013, two industry sources told Reuters on Friday. Italy's regional governors approved the government's three-year solar incentives plan on Thursday. The Industry Ministry is due to release the details on Friday. Solar energy has boomed in Italy, Europe's third-biggest solar market, since the launch in 2007 of the current support ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Obama will urge boosting clean energy tax credit
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6681RO20100709?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 urged the U.S. Congress on Friday to pass a $5 billion expansion of tax credits for clean energy manufacturing that he said would generate tens of thousands of new jobs. With anxiety over high unemployment threatening Obama's Democrats in November congressional elections, he used a campaign swing for key political candidates to defend his economic agenda and promote job-boosting measures. Obama, accused by Republicans and some business leaders of a ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Climate change science is vindicated
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-climate-change-science-is-vindicated-2020929.html
Independent (UK): Public scrutiny of science and the scientific method can never be a bad thing, especially when the research involves something as important as climate change. But there must come a time when the results are accepted by all reasonable people. This time has surely come in the case of the "Climategate" emails stolen from the University of East Anglia and posted on the internet last autumn with the evident purpose of discrediting scientists at the centre of the effort to understand climate ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Heat waves could be commonplace in the US by 2039, Stanford study finds
http://www.physorg.com/news197814357.html
Physorg: By 2039, most of the US could experience at least four seasons equally as intense as the hottest season ever recorded from 1951-1999, according to Stanford University climate scientists. In most of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, the number of extremely hot seasons could be as high as seven. Credit: Noah Diffenbaugh, Stanford University Exceptionally long heat waves and other hot events could become commonplace in the United States in the next 30 years, according to a new ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Heat wave air conditioners of doom
http://www.salon.com/technology/how_the_world_works/2010/07/07/air_conditioners_of_doom/index.html
Salon: When I lived in Taiwan in the mid-1980s, a version of the same news story would run every summer, right after temperatures spiked to their highest point of the year: "Electricity consumption breaks all-time records!" The news was reported with pride, no matter how badly the nation's electricity generating capacity was stressed, or how close the big cities came to black outs. Because the underlying narrative was the story of a nation whose standard of living was leaping forward each ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Hot weather prompts Met Office heatwave health alert
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/10566441.stm
BBC: The first weather health alert of the summer has been issued as temperatures soared in parts of the UK. Temperatures peaked at 31C (87.8F) in Gravesend, Kent, on Friday and similar temperatures are expected in south-east England on Saturday. The Met Office said the main health risk would be stifling temperatures at night of20C (68F) in some places. "It is the night-time values which are of real concern," said head of health forecasting Wayne Elliott. "High ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Soaring Arctic temperatures - a warning from history
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19155-soaring-arctic-temperatures--a-warning-from-history.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: With carbon dioxide levels close to our own, the Arctic of the Pliocene epoch may have warmed much more than previously thought "" and the modern Arctic could go the same way. Ashley Ballantyne at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and colleagues analysed 4-million-year-old Pliocene peat samples from Ellesmere Island in the Arctic archipelago to find out what the climate was like when the peat formed. At that time, CO2 levels are thought to have been close to current levels ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
EU and US intensify power plant emissions crack down
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266225/eu-intensify-power-plant
Business Green: Fossil fuel-fired power plants on both sides of the Atlantic are set to face tough new emissions rules after the EU and US this week moved forward with plans to tackle air pollution. The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of new legislation on Wednesday that aims to streamline and tighten existing rules governing power plant emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and particulates. Under the Industrial Emissions Directive, which is expected to be ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Italy set to phase in solar incentive cuts
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266237/italy-set-phase-solar-incentive
Business Green: The Italian government is poised to move forward with plans to cut incentives for solar energy in response to the falling cost of solar panels. The cuts are expected to be formally confirmed today, although industry sources told news agency Reuters that they expected feed-in tariffs to be reduced by up to 30 per cent next year. Under the plan, which is thought to have been approved at a meeting yesterday of Italy's Unified Conference of State and Regions, subsidies for ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Green loans like insulation scheme
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/green-loans-like-insulation-scheme-20100708-102ac.html
Age: DAMNING investigations into the federal environment department's handling of the Green Loans scheme have revealed bureaucrats repeatedly and systematically broke probity rules and took shortcuts when signing contracts. Three reports on the scheme, released by the Gillard Government yesterday, have now sparked further investigations within departments to work out if public servants should face charges. The release of three reports came as Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
"Climategate" debunking is (or should be) major news
http://www.salon.com/news/global_warming/index.html?story=/opinion/conason/2010/07/08/climate
Salon: There is more than a degree of poetic justice in the release of two reports exonerating the "Climategate" scientists during this brutal heat wave -- especially because so many of the broadcasters and journalists who popularized the bogus scandal are trying to stay cool in stifling New York and Washington. The rest of us suffer along with them, alas, so at the very least they ought to devote as much attention to the debunking as they did to the original accusations. By restoring the ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
In the past decade - extreme weather deaths outnumbered war casualties
http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2010/07/09/opinion/doc4c3698481a6e7362672490.txt
Register Citizen: Safe to say, nothing is so bad that a hurricane can't make worse. Take an existing problem, toss it around in the wind and smack it with flying debris -- it's certainly not going to improve. Shoddy construction is made worse, communication concerns -- made worse, a struggling economy -- made worse, disastrous Bush presidency -- made worse. And now the wonders of deregulation -- the BP Oil Spill -- the worst environmental disaster in the history of the U.S. -- has already found itself in the ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Wild weather could tip global food bowl
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/201007/s2949246.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: China's health ministry is advising the nation's hospitals to gear up for a rise in the number of people suffering from heat-stroke and other heat related conditions. This week, the mercury hit 40 degrees in Beijing, the city's highest temperature for early July in 50 years. A month ago it was floods wreaking havoc in southern China, the worst in the area since 1998. The official Xinhua newsagency says the torrential summer rainstorms caused economic losses of an estimated US$12 ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Climate skeptics take cue from Big Tobacco
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/os-ed-lee-bidgood-climate-070910-20100708,0,111348.story
Orlando Sentinel: Homo sapiens faces a crucial test. Can we swiftly reverse the global overheating and climate instability that we have caused? Our future may depend on passing this test. Signs that humanity's reckless greenhouse-gas emissions have overheated and destabilized the climate are unmistakable. This year is headed toward the highest average global temperature in 130 years. Weather extremes have become more frequent this decade with fierce storms, killer cold, killer heat waves, lethal floods ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Concerns spread over environmental costs of producing shale gas
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/07/09/09climatewire-concerns-spread-over-environmental-costs-of-36415.html
ClimateWire: Around suppertime on June 3 in Clearfield County, Pa., a geyser of natural gas and sludge began shooting out of a well called Punxsutawney Hunting Club 36. The toxic stew of gas, salt water, mud and chemicals went 75 feet into the air for 16 hours. Some of this mess seeped into a stream northeast of Pittsburgh. Four days later, as authorities were cleaning up the debris in Pennsylvania, an explosion burned seven workers at a gas well on the site of an abandoned coal mine outside of ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
United States: Big money drives up the betting on the Marcellus Shale
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/07/08/08climatewire-big-money-drives-up-the-betting-on-the-marce-22075.html
New York Times: Halliburton is building a permanent outpost here on the edge of a one of the 21st century's biggest energy booms. Southeast of here, on an old strawberry patch at a bend in the river, Halliburton's industrial dwelling rests against the lush landscape of hills and valleys. In July, the Texas oil services giant will start mixing cement and storing equipment for natural gas companies drilling in the tough shale rock of northeastern Pennsylvania. Halliburton is a ubiquitous ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Generating changes in the electrical power grid
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128360080
National Public Radio: The electricity grid in the U.S. wastes power and discourages the use of renewable sources of energy like solar and wind. The grid still relies on technology from the 1960s, says journalist Joel Achenbach, who wrote about the nation's electrical infrastructure in an article in July's National Geographic magazine. In an interview on NPR's Fresh Air, Achenbach tells contributor Dave Davies that most people don't think about the way electricity from a power plant hundreds of miles away ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Climate change could drive crocs out of the water
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727683.600-climate-change-could-drive-crocs-out-of-the-water.html
New Scientist: CROCODILES could find it harder to locate food and take refuge from predators as global warming bites. So says Hamish Campbell of the University of Queensland in St Lucia, Australia. His team recorded the dives made by 10 juvenile freshwater crocodiles in Lakefield National Park, Queensland, over 15 days in both summer and winter. Campbell's group tagged the crocs - which dive periodically to catch food, rest and avoid predators - with two recorders that clocked time ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
Chamber of Commerce urges Senate to derail climate bill
http://www.leaderpost.com/business/Chamber%20Commerce%20urges%20Senate%20derail%20climate%20bill/3252678/story.html
Canwest News Service: Canada's largest and most influential business organization has launched a lobbying campaign urging Canadian senators to kill legislation requiring the government to deliver a science-based plan to fight global warming and provide regular reports on its progress. In a policy alert obtained by Canwest News Service, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce is calling on its members to sign and send a template letter complaining that the Climate Change Accountability Act, Bill C-311, adopted in ...

Sat, 10 Jul 10
100m cars will be electric by 2030, says US energy secretary
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0709/1224274347141.html
Irish Times: UP TO 100 million cars on American roads will be electrically-powered or hybrid-electric vehicles by 2030, according to the US under secretary for energy, Dr Kristina Johnson, herself a "third-generation engineer". Speaking in Dublin yesterday at the Institute for International and European Affairs, she said this would be one of the measurable outcomes of President Barack Obama`s drive to create a "new clean energy economy". She stressed that the US needed to reduce its ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
The changing nature of illegal logging - and illegal logging investigations - in Brazil's Amazon
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0708-neme_amazon_illegal_logging.html
Mongabay: Operation Jurupari followed on several previous Brazilian Federal Police investigations into SEMA, including: Operation Curupira I (June 2005); Curupira II (August 2005); Mapinguari (2007), Arc of Fire (2008), Termes (April 2008); and Caipora (2008). It was led by Franco Perazzoni, Brazilian Federal Police "Delegado" (or chief), who, since 2006, has headed the environmental crimes unit in Mato Grosso and been responsible for about 300 investigations on environmental crimes, of which about ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Climate controversies: Flawed scientists
http://www.economist.com/node/16539392?story_id=16539392&fsrc=rss
Economist: EIGHT months after a trove of e-mails from climate researchers appeared on the internet, yet another inquiry into "climategate" reported its findings on July 7th. Two days earlier the Dutch environmental-assessment agency announced the results of a report it had been asked to produce on possible errors in the most recent review by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Neither report does anything to weaken the case for acting to limit carbon emissions. Greenhouse gases ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
US demands BP detail next steps to cap oil slick
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100708/ts_alt_afp/usoilenvironmentpollutiondeadline
Agence France-Presse: The US government Thursday gave BP 24 hours to outline its next steps to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, saying efforts to cap a fractured well were entering a "critical stage." The US pointman in the crisis, Thad Allen, wrote to BP managing director Bob Dudley saying that after talks to be held in Houston on Friday the British energy giant must hand over "detailed plans and timelines." BP is preparing to replace the containment cap on the ruptured wellhead with a more ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Australia: Julia Gillard looks for climate change win after asylum seeker battering
http://www.news.com.au/features/federal-election/bruised-julia-gillard-tries-climate-change-next/story-e6frfllr-1225889607629
News.com.au: JULIA Gillard will try to put her tarnished asylum seeker plan behind her by nailing down her final election plank - a new climate change policy. Ms Gillard, who failed to get the backing of East Timor's Parliament to build an asylum seeker detention centre in the impoverished country, will take her climate plan to Cabinet within days. Key measures are being finalised, including plans for a national "energy savings initiative". The mandatory scheme will replace a patchwork of ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Researchers warn sweltering Americans that climate change could lead to more heat waves
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/breakingnews/researchers-warn-sweltering-americans-that-climate-change-could-lead-to-more-heat-waves-98052579.html
Associated Press: Folks sweating out the heat wave battering parts of the United States may just have to get used to it. As global warming continues, such heat waves will be increasingly common in the future, a Stanford University study concludes. "In the next 30 years, we could see an increase in heat waves like the one now occurring in the eastern United States or the kind that swept across Europe in 2003 that caused tens of thousands of fatalities," Noah Diffenbaugh, an assistant professor of ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Tree flowers after 90 year wait
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/northern_ireland/10551223.stm
BBC: An ancient Chinese proverb tells us that with patience a mulberry leaf eventually becomes a silk gown. Its wisdom is not lost on staff at Rowallane Garden near Saintfield County Down. Since 1908, gardeners there have tended to the Chinese Goat Horn Tree, hoping that one day it would show off its capricious flower. After 92 summers, the day has finally arrived. "We had noticed in June that the tree was making flower bud growth which has slowly developed over the ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Glowing crops could minimise pesticide use
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/glowing-crops-could-minimise-pesticide-use-1.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment
SciDev.Net: Farmers may one day be able to target pesticides to only those parts of their fields that are at risk of disease simply by noting which ones are glowing, according to researchers. Scientists have genetically engineered the natural immune system of the tobacco plant to make it change colour or glow in the presence of viruses, bacteria and other pathogens known to reduce crop yields, which normally force farmers to apply costly pesticides. In laboratory tests, these ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Taking The Sizzle Out Of Summer In The City
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128384940&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: As the mercury soared into the triple digits this week along the East Coast, you can bet it was even more stifling in the asphalt and concrete jungles of cities like New York and Washington than in nearby rural areas. It's a phenomenon known as the "urban heat island" effect, and it's getting increased attention nationwide from planners, architects and building manufacturers searching for ways to cool sweltering cities, save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
La Nina developing, could mean more hurricanes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100708/ap_on_sc/us_sci_la_nina
Associated Press: The climate phenomenon known as La Nina appears to be developing, threatening more bad news in the efforts to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. When a La Nina occurs there tend to be more hurricanes than normal in the Atlantic and Caribbean regions, which include the Gulf of Mexico. The federal Climate Prediction Center said Thursday that La Nina conditions are likely to develop in July and August. La Nina is marked by an unusual cooling of the sea surface in ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Top officials busted in Amazon logging raids, but political patronage may set them free
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0708-neme_operation_jurupari.html
Mongabay: After two years of investigations, the Brazilian Federal Police arrested some of the most important politicians and authorities for illegal logging in the Amazon. Code-named Operation Jurupari, the Brazilian Federal Police uncovered a massive illegal logging scheme that resulted in the arrests of over 90 people and caused an estimated $500 million in damage to the Amazon rainforest. Over 496 square kilometers (192 square miles), an area the size of California or Spain, were affected and an ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
US, Indonesian scientists journey to bottom of sea
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100708/sc_afp/indonesiausscienceocean
Agence France Presse: US and Indonesian scientists on Thursday launched a joint expedition to map some of the deepest oceanic trenches in the world for clues on biodiversity and volcanic vents, officials said. The US embassy in Jakarta said the first joint expedition by Indonesia and the United States marked the beginning of a "multi-year partnership to advance ocean science, technology and education". "Indonesian waters are home to more marine biodiversity than any place else in the world," Jane ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
New batfish species found under U.S. Gulf oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100708/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_oil_spill_fish
Reuters: Researchers have discovered two previously unknown species of bottom-dwelling fish in the Gulf of Mexico, living right in the area affected by the BP oil spill. Researchers identified new species of pancake batfishes, a flat fish rarely seen because of the dark depths they favour. They are named for the clumsy way they "walk" along the sea bottom, like a bat crawling. "One of the fishes that we describe is completely restricted to the oil spill area," John Sparks of the ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Giant skimmer gets another shot at Gulf oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100708/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_giant_skimmer
Associated Press: The giant Taiwanese oil skimmer known as 'A Whale' is getting another chance to prove its value in the Gulf of Mexico. But the leader of the federal response, Thad Allen, doubts the effectiveness of the "A Whale." The ship is supposed to suck up to 21 million gallons of oily water per day. Allen said Thursday it seems more useful in a huge pool of oil than in thousands of smaller slicks. Bob Grantham, spokesman for TMT Shipping, says the U.S. Coast Guard has ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Amazon soy moratorium extended
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0708-amazon_soy_moratorium.html
Mongabay: Brazilian soy farmers have extended their moratorium on Amazon deforestation for another year, reports Greenpeace. The moratorium was established in July 2006 in response to concerns among big soy buyers -- notably McDonalds and Carrefour -- that soy expansion was driving large-scale destruction of Earth's largest rainforest. Soy producers in the region have since registered their holdings in order to sell their product to major crushers and traders. Registered properties are ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Photos: Glowing Oil Could Aid Gulf Spill Cleanup
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/07/photogalleries/100708-environment-science-gulf-oil-spill-glowing-ultraviolet-pictures/?now=2010-07-08-00:01
National Geographic: Late last week coastal geologist Rip Kirby was on the seashore as part of an effort to detect oil by shining UV lights--widely used to spot blood at crime scenes--on Gulf beaches. The method, he hopes, will allow scientists and cleanup crews to tackle hard-to-spot oil, such as crude mixed with mud or light stains on sand, that's washed ashore from the sinking of the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig. Under UV light, clean sand appears purple or black. Some minerals, such as calcium ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Christiana Figueres takes the reins at UN climate secretariat
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266185/christiana-figueres-takes-reins
Business Green: Christiana Figueres has today formally taken up her post as executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), receiving the reins of the international climate change secretariat from Dutch diplomat Yvo de Boer. The Costa Rican negotiator becomes the fourth executive secretary of the UNFCCC and will immediately begin preparing the groundwork for the next major UN climate summit in Cancun, Mexico in November. She will also be required to ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
BP drilling 'ahead of schedule'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10552860.stm
BBC: BP says its operation to drill a relief well to stop the Gulf of Mexico oil leak is "slightly ahead of schedule". A spokeswoman for the company told the BBC it was "ahead of the original schedule of completion in August". Asked about comments made by Bob Dudley, the man in charge, that finishing by 27 July was possible, she emphasised the caveats in what he said. Mr Dudley said completion between 20 and 27 July was possible but only "in a perfect world with no ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
EU Parliament bans illegal timber
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10557228.stm
BBC: The European Parliament has voted to ban imports of illegal timber. From 2012, companies importing timber will need to prove where it came from, and will face legal sanctions if they do not comply with the new law. The vote follows several years of wrangling over how stringent the legislation should be. Campaigners say they are pleased that the issue is to be addressed at last. About 20% of timber coming into the EU is thought to be illegal. The illegal timber ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
New batfish species found under Gulf oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100708/sc_nm/us_oil_spill_fish
Reuters: Researchers have discovered two previously unknown species of bottom-dwelling fish in the Gulf of Mexico, living right in the area affected by the BP oil spill. Researchers identified new species of pancake batfishes, a flat fish rarely seen because of the dark depths they favor. They are named for the clumsy way they "walk" along the sea bottom, like a bat crawling. "One of the fishes that we describe is completely restricted to the oil spill area," John Sparks of the American ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
European Union could cut emissions by 95% with renewables - Greenpeace
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/08/renewable-energy-climate-change-targets
Age: The European Union could obtain 92% of its energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2050 while cutting carbon emissions by 95% compared with 1990, according to a report. An extra EUR2tn (Â£1.7tn) worth of investment would be needed by the middle of this century but that could easily be outweighed by EUR2.65tn of fuel cost savings, argues Greenpeace International and the European Renewable Energy Council. The report, Energy (R)evolution: Towards a fully renewable ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Australia: Back me on climate, says PM as emission trading stays on ice
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/back-me-on-climate-says-pm-as-emission-trading-stays-on-ice-20100708-102bs.html
Sydney Morning Herald: Julia Gillard has declared she is the woman to back if voters want action on climate change, despite confirming she will not reverse the government decision to shelve the emissions trading scheme until 2013. Speaking yesterday in Brisbane, the Prime Minister said the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, does not believe climate change is caused by human activity and his position on a carbon price is unreliable. Ms Gillard is preparing to announce new policies to address climate ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Q&A: "Latin America Faces an Environmental Emergency"
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52089
Inter Press Service: The Latin American economy based on exploitation of natural resources does not create social well-being and is unsustainable in the context of climate change, says Uruguayan Eduardo Gudynas, lead researcher at the Latin American Centre for Social Ecology (CLAES). Gudynas, who was in Lima to lead a workshop with the Peruvian Network for Equitable Globalisation, is one of the contributors to the new report Global Environmental Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean (GEO-ALC), ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
SeaEnergy launches supply chain joint venture in bid to attract suitors
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266179/seaenergy-signs-deal-chinese
Business Green: Scottish offshore wind farm developer SeaEnergy Renewables (SERL) has entered into a joint venture with a major Chinese ship builder to produce turbine jacket foundations in a bid to boost the company's attractiveness to potential buyers. The Aberdeenshire-based company yesterday signed an initial strategic corporation agreement with state-owned manufacturer Nantong COSCO Ship Steel Structure Company (NCSC) at a ceremony in Shanghai also attended by Scottish First Minister Alex ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Gillard sees the light
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/labor-shifts-green-focus-to-households/story-e6frea8c-1225889560789?from=public_rss
Advertiser: FAMILIES and business owners will be offered energy-saving light bulbs, shower heads and other efficient appliances as Prime Minister Julia Gillard tries to restore Labor's green credentials. Energy-sapping household items such as clothes dryers face tighter restrictions and could be phased out if they fail to meet tougher standards as part of a push to make Australia a leader in energy efficiency. Corporations are likely to receive financial incentives to "retro fit" old ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Thirsty world faces up to water fears
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100708/FOREIGN/707079901/1015/NEWS
National: The next generation of water experts met this week in Australia to tackle the threat of war and climate change on the world's supplies. Representatives from 25 countries gathered at the International Young Water Professionals conference to look at ways to keep taps flowing in the face of worsening droughts and population growth. "We want to make the young water professionals understand that they are the future of the global water industry," said Rita Henderson, a senior ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Europe wields axe against illegal timber
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Europe_wields_axe_against_illegal_timber_999.html
Agence France-Presse: The European Union on Wednesday barred the import and sale of illegally harvested timber in a bid to fight climate change and deforestation from the Amazon to Asia. The European Parliament voted 644-25 to outlaw illegal timber or products made from such wood, which makes up around one-fifth of all timber imports into the European Union, and punish unscrupulous dealers. "With this, we are sending a signal to the world that the EU will no longer serve as a market for illegally ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
We can't wait for the UN to act on climate change, says report
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/we-cant-wait-for-the-un-to-act-on-climate-change-says-report-20100707-100q6.html
Sydney Morning Herald: THE urgent need to act on climate change means the world's major economies cannot wait for a global agreement to be struck through the United Nations, the economist and Reserve Bank board member, Warwick McKibbin, said. In a paper released by the Lowy Institute, Professor McKibbin said after last year's failed Copenhagen summit the world's biggest carbon polluters, such as Australia, should agree to adopt similar carbon prices which would rise over time. An emissions trading ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Sea otters worth $700 million in carbon credits
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19145-sea-otters-worth-700-million-in-carbon-credits.html
New Scientist: Want to slow global warming? Save a sea otter. So says Chris Wilmers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, whose team has calculated that the animals remove at least 0.18 kilograms of carbon from the atmosphere for every square metre of occupied coastal waters. That means that if sea otters were restored to healthy populations along the coasts of North America they could collectively lock up a mammoth 10<SUP>10</SUP> kg of carbon "" currently worth more than $700 million on the ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Western Climate group sees carbon cuts and savings
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN0716880420100707
Reuters: A coalition of U.S. states and Canadian provinces planning a cap-and-trade market to curb carbon emissions, can meet their environmental goals and reap modest cost savings, a study released on Wednesday said. The analysis by the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) said the effort to foster a clean-energy economy can significantly reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases linked to climate change and achieve about $100 billion in net savings by 2010. California, British Columbia and ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Julia Gillard on the climate change attack
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/julia-gillard-on-the-climate-change-attack/story-e6frf7jx-1225889424499
AAP: DESPITE ruling out any kind of carbon price before 2012, Julia Gillard says she's still the safest bet for the planet. The Prime Minister says the Opposition leader believes climate change is "absolute crap". "My understanding about Mr Abbott is he has been dismissive of the science that human activity causes climate change," she said in Brisbane today. "He has been in favour of a carbon pollution reduction scheme, he has been against a carbon pollution reduction scheme ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Obama administration set for drill ban legal fight
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100708/ts_nm/us_oil_spill_moratorium
Reuters: The Obama administration heads to court on Thursday with a single goal -- to reinstate a six-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling imposed in response to the BP Plc oil spill but blocked by a federal judge. The high-stakes showdown starts at 3 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET) at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, where government lawyers will square off for one hour against drilling companies before a three-judge panel. The Obama administration said ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Australian Greens set to be kingmaker after poll
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SGE666095.htm
Reuters: Australia's Greens party is on course to win control of the upper house Senate at elections that loom within weeks and will seek to push environmental policies to the fore of the next government's agenda. The Labor government is expected to snare a narrow victory at the election, possibly in late August, but regardless of who wins the poll the next government will probably rely on the Greens to pass laws on everything from the economy to the environment. And Greens leader ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Where next for climate policy in Australia?
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6670T620100708?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Australia faces an election within months and new Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said she will announce additional steps on fighting climate change before the poll. Climate change will be an election issue and analysts say Gillard must do something to win back voters angry over the government's shelving of an emissions trading scheme in April. Gillard has said Australia needs to place a cost on planet-warming carbon emissions from industry, transport and households. A ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
BP dampens hope of early leak fix
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100708/ts_nm/us_oil_spill
Reuters: BP dampened hopes that it could plug its leaking Gulf of Mexico well sooner than forecast on Thursday, while a battle between the U.S. government and the oil industry over a deepwater drilling ban heads to court. BP stuck to its August target to complete a relief well to halt the worst oil spill in U.S. history, after a press report raised hopes the company could stem the 80-day-old leak sooner. The head of BP's Gulf Coast restoration unit, Bob Dudley, told the Wall Street ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
BP aims to fix leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well by 27 July
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/08/bp-fix-gulf-mexico-oil-leak
Guardian: BP is working to fix the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico by 27 July, weeks before its publicly stated deadline. The company is due to report second-quarter results that day. It hopes to provide more information on its liabilities from the oil spill to shareholders, as well as its initial findings on the causes of the disaster. BP had previously stated that it hopes to have a fix in place by mid-August. It wants to make progress by 20 July, the day David Cameron is ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Weather Delays BP's Plan To Collect More Oil
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128376926&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Weather is delaying BP's plans to collect more oil from its blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico. The company had been planning to hook up an additional ship to collect oil from the well, but the seas have been too rough.

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Report Backs Climate Data, Scolds Scientists
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703636404575352623519599344.html
Wall Street Journal: A U.K. investigation concluded Wednesday that researchers at a prominent climate-change institute didn't skew science to inflate evidence of man-made global warming, but it criticized them for not sharing data and, in one instance, for presenting information in a "misleading" way. The report is the third and largest in recent months to reach the complex conclusion about the conduct of climate scientists at the Climatic Research Unit of the U.K.'s University of East ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Solar Impulse completes 24-hour flight
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/08/solar-impulse-24-hour-flight
Guardian: An experimental solar-powered plane landed safely today after completing its first 24-hour test flight, proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft all night. Pilot AndrÃ© Borschberg eased the Solar Impulse aircraft on to the runway at Payerne airfield, about 31 miles south-west of the Swiss capital, Berne, at 9am local time today. Helpers rushed to stabilise the pioneering plane as it touched down, ensuring that its massive ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
The Ash Comes Down Like a Blessing to Some
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52086
Inter Press Service: "It's unbelievable, the eruption has had a very good effect on the grass," says farmer Finnur Tryggvason in Raudafell, just beneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier that erupted in April and continued till late May. The ash is thought to keep the soil warm, hence enhancing growth. "It's like putting fertilizer with potassium and phosphorous on the ground," he says. But it was not an entirely unmixed blessing. "The species composition has changed slightly, and some species have ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
3 Greenpeace activists disrupt Israel-bound ship
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100708/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_activists_arrested
Associated Press: Israel says it has arrested three Greenpeace activists who sneaked onto an Israel-bound coal ship on the high seas to protest the country's plans to build a new coal-fueled power plant. Greenpeace spokeswoman Hila Krupsky said on Thursday that the activists trailed the Orient Venus vessel on one of the group's ships. She says they got into inflatable dinghies and boarded the coal ship using rope ladders. They then barricaded themselves to a mast and put up a banner saying: ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Climate scientists praise report on hacked email scandal
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6671D120100708?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Leading climate scientists on Thursday welcomed a British report that cleared researchers of exaggerating the effects of global warming and said they hoped it would restore faith in the fight against climate change. The University of East Anglia, in eastern England, launched an inquiry after more than 1,000 emails hacked from its climate research unit were put on the Internet. Climate change skeptics leaped on the "climategate" emails as evidence scientists had exaggerated or ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Switzerland: Solar Impulse completes record-breaking night flight
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266133/solar-impulse-complete-record
Business Green: The Solar Impulse airplane successfully landed earlier this morning, completing the first 24-hour flight by a solar-powered aircraft. The plane, piloted by Solar Impulse chief executive and former fighter jet pilot Andre Borschberg, landed at the Payerne airbase in Switzerland at 9am local time, having flown through the night using power stored in the aircraft's batteries. The Solar Impulse team said that the plane had more than three hours power left in its batteries when it ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Appeals court to hear drilling moratorium case
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100708/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_moratorium
Associated Press: A federal appeals court is set to hear the Justice Department's bid to delay a judge's decision to overturn a six-month deepwater drilling moratorium. A three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday from lawyers on both sides of a lawsuit filed by companies that oppose the Obama administration's temporary drilling ban. The Interior Department says it halted new permits for deepwater projects and suspended ...

Fri, 9 Jul 10
Map: Oil spill permeates the Gulf's most productive environments
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/picture/2010/jul/08/bp-oil-spill-oil-spills
Guardian

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Gulf oil spill progress hampered by bad weather
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/usoilenvironmentpollution
Agence France-Presse: High seas in the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday scuppered immediate hopes of deploying a third ship that could see almost all the leaking crude contained. The Helix Producer processing vessel would more than double the amount of oil that can be siphoned up from a "top hat" funnel a mile down on the sea floor to 53,000 barrels a day, officials say. The latest estimate for the amount of oil leaking from the wreck of the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig is between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Climate Review Finds Scientists Not Guilty Of Dishonesty
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1888975/climate_review_finds_scientists_not_guilty_of_dishonesty/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: Climate scientists have emerged from an inquiry with their reputations still intact. The Independent Climate Change Email Review was set up by the University of East Anglia (UEA) after over 1,000 emails were hacked into through its servers. Climate "skeptics" claimed that the emails proved that UEA scientists manipulated key climate data involving climate change. However, these accusations are largely dismissed by the report. The review did not discover anything ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
La. senator seeks $1B a year for restoring Coast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100707/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_coastal_restoration
Associated Press: Sen. Mary Landrieu is pushing for up to $1 billion a year to restore Louisiana's battered and oily coastline. But President Barack Obama's point man in the Gulf says the administration is not yet ready to commit such an amount. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus on Wednesday took his first flight over Louisiana's fast-eroding marshes since his appointment last month to head up the recovery from the BP spill. Mabus says the administration wants to make the marshes even better than ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Climate change affects meadows' ecosystems
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/07/07/Climate-change-affects-meadows-ecosystems/UPI-58601278542148/
United Press International: Studying drought effects on a pristine ecosystem could show how climate change may affect flora and fauna diversity, an Iowa State University researcher said. Researcher Diane Debinski has studied meadows in the Rocky Mountains' Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem since the 1990s, finding that if the area's climate becomes drier as the Earth's temperature rises, it could change the types of plants and animals living there, the Ames, Iowa, university said Tuesday in a release. To ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Canada: Extreme heat wave example of climate change: expert
http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100707/climate-canda-heat-100707/20100707/?hub=WinnipegHome
CTV: Canadians should expect more extreme weather like the current heat wave baking southern Ontario and Quebec in the future because of climate change, a leading climatology professor says. "My strong opinion is that these kinds of extremes are something you would expect in a warming world, and expect to happen more frequently," Harry McCaughey, a professor of climatology at Queen's University, told CTV.ca. McCaughey says climate models show that overloading the climate with carbon ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Germany targets switch to 100% renewables for its electricity by 2050
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/07/germany-renewable-energy-electricity
Guardian: Germany could derive all of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2050 and become the world's first major industrial nation to kick the fossil-fuel habit, the country's Federal Environment Agency said today. The country already gets 16% of its electricity from wind, solar and other renewable sources – three times' higher than the level it had achieved 15 years ago. "A complete conversion to renewable energy by 2050 is possible from a technical and ecological point of ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Climategate inquiry: no deceit, too little cooperation
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19143-climategate-inquiry-no-deceit-too-little-cooperation.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: The official UK inquiry into the climategate affair has found that the "rigour and honesty of the scientists involved are not in doubt". But it also concluded that researchers at the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU), who were at the centre of the row, showed a "consistent pattern of failing to display the proper degree of openness." The seven-month investigation by former civil servant Muir Russell found that the scientists responded to requests for data under ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Researchers Calculate The Cost Of CO2 Emissions
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1888767/researchers_calculate_the_cost_of_co2_emissions/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: Two Rice University researchers are calling on policymakers to encourage the transition from coal-based electricity production to a system based on natural gas through a carbon tax. Such a mechanism would help limit carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen last December, the United States pledged to reduce the 2005 levels of CO2 emissions by 17 percent by 2020. Dagobert Brito, the George A. Peterkin Professor of Political ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Obama administration fights to keep deepwater drill ban
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100707/bs_nm/us_oil_spill_moratorium
Reuters: The oil drilling industry goes head-to-head with the Obama administration in court on Thursday over the White House effort to suspend deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico for six months in the wake of the catastrophic BP Plc well blowout. Given the business and environmental stakes, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans is expected to rule quickly, after a rare one-hour oral argument on Thursday, on whether deepwater drilling should be temporarily ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Violence a part of the illegal timber trade, says kidnapped activist
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0707-hance_doherty.html
Mongabay: The European parliament made a historical move today when it voted overwhelmingly to ban illegal timber from its markets. For activists worldwide the ban on illegal timber in the EU is a reason to celebrate, but for one activist, Faith Doherty of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), the move has special resonance. In early 2000, Doherty and an Indonesian colleague were kidnapped, beaten, and threatened with a gun by illegal loggers in Indonesian Borneo. "My colleague ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Europe studies new rocket options
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10543581.stm
BBC: The European Space Agency (Esa) has asked a consortium led by EADS Astrium to investigate what sort of rocket should succeed the Ariane 5. The new vehicle, dubbed simply the Next Generation Launcher (NGL), would not come into service before 2025 - if ever it were developed. Although highly regarded for accuracy and reliability, the Ariane 5 is expensive to operate. Lower costs will be critical in maintaining a competitive position. The 15-month study will report ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Climate scientist vilified by sceptics 'relieved, vindicated' and back at CRU
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/07/climategate-scientist-relieved-vindicated
Guardian: Professor Phil Jones,the pivotal figure in the 'Climategate' affair, is to assume the newly created post of director of research in the Climatic Research Unit, following his exoneration by the Russell review, the University of East Anglia said today. Jones stood down from his role as director of the university's Climatic Research Unit in November 2009 after an inquiry was announced into questions raised by the hacking and publication online of 13 years of emails between the professor and his ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
British Panel Clears Climate Scientists
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/science/earth/08climate.html?_r=5&src=mv
New York Times: A British panel on Wednesday exonerated the scientists caught up in the controversy known as Climategate of charges that they had manipulated their research to support preconceived ideas about global warming. But the panel also rebuked the scientists for several aspects of their behavior, especially their reluctance to release computer files backing up their scientific work. And it declared that a that graph they produced in 1999 about climate in the past was "misleading" and should ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Global heat wave hits US, reignites climate change debate
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0707/Global-heat-wave-hits-US-reignites-climate-change-debate
Christian Science Monitor: "You can't say any one heat wave is caused by global warming. But you can say that what global warming does is it makes events just like this more likely," says Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change. Indeed, 2010 is set to be one of the world's hottest years on record, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for the first five months of the year was the warmest ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Solar-powered plane set to fly through the night
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266103/solar-powered-plane-set-fly
Business Green: As the sun sets over the Swiss Alps this evening those taking in the breathtaking view may also catch a glimpse of an aircraft making a journey of genuine historic significance. The Solar Impulse project is today staging the first ever attempt to fly a solar-powered plane through the night, taking the research initiative a major step closer to its aim of staging a round the world solar-powered flight. The Solar Impulse plane took off from the Payerne airbase at 06:51 this ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Effects of Spill Spread as Tar Balls Are Found
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/us/07spill.html?_r=5&partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: All along the Gulf Coast for the past two months, the threat of oil hitting shore has kept communities on edge. But the sight of oil on a Texas beach and at the passes leading into Lake Pontchartrain over the weekend has reinforced what many already suspected: nowhere along the coast may be left unstained by this huge spill. While the tar balls discovered in Texas appear to have been an anomaly, the tar balls in Lake Pontchartrain, a brackish body of water that is technically ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
U.S. Lawmakers Oppose New Canadian Pipeline, and Oil Sand as Dirty
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/science/earth/07sands.html?_r=5&partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Facing a decision on a proposed pipeline to bring Canadian crude oil to the United States, the Obama administration is confronting growing resistance from politicians who oppose the project or, at the very least, urge further study before approval. The massive pipeline, known as Keystone XL, would allow Canada to export an additional 1.1 million barrels a day of oil to the United States. The United States currently imports 1.9 million barrels a day from Canada. Canadian oil sands are ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Guardian Daily podcast: 'Rigour and honesty' of scientists not in doubt, says review; legacy of 7/7 terr
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/audio/2010/jul/07/guardian-daily-podcast
Guardian: Climate scientists at the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit - whose emails were leaked by hackers - have been cleared of wrongdoing by an independent review. They'd been accused of falsifying data and trying to silence their critics in an effort to promote the case for man-made global warming. But environment correspondent David Adam says the scientists were insufficiently open when dealing with Freedom of Information requests. It's five years to the day that 52 ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Humans' early arrival in Britain
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10531419.stm
BBC: Researchers have discovered stone tools in Norfolk, UK, that suggest that early humans arrived in Britain nearly a million years ago - or even earlier. The find, published in the journal Nature, pushes back the arrival of the first humans in what is now the UK by several hundred thousand years. Environmental data suggests that temperatures were relatively cool. This raises the possibility that these early Britons may have been among the first humans to use fire to keep ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
BP's Operating Officer: 'We've Been Going Flat Out'
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128361612&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: As BP continues to come in for criticism for the way it has responded to the Gulf oil spill, it's American-born chief operating officer is again making the case that the British company is doing all it can. And, Doug Suttles tells NPR's Melissa Block, the entire oil industry and the government will learn valuable lessons from the disaster. Meanwhile, retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who has been supervising the Gulf oil spill response, says BP's capacity to collect oil from the ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
'Climategate' review: verdict | The panel
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/jul/07/climategate-review-expert-verdict
Guardian: The report by Sir Muir Russell et al confirms what everybody who has worked with Phil Jones and Keith Briffa knew all along – they are honest, hard-working scientists whose reputations have been unjustifiably smeared by allegations of unscrupulous behaviour. These allegations are soundly rejected by the report. I hope that the media will devote as much attention to this comprehensive dismissal of the allegations as it did to promoting the hysteria surrounding the email theft in the ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
CBO report: Kerry's climate bill would cut deficit by $19b
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2010/07/cbo_report_kerr.html
Boston Globe: Senator John F. Kerry's signature energy and climate change legislation would cut the deficit by $19 billion, according to a new estimate released today by the Congressional Budget Office. The legislation has uncertain political prospects, but the estimate gives proponents another argument at a time when there are rising concerns about adding to the deficit. "There is no more room for excuses – this must be our year to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation and begin ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Women at Forefront of Resisting Climate Change
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52081
Inter Press Service: The Mozambican government has adopted various policies to address the effects of climate change, with special attention to women as studies show that they are more adversely affected by this phenomenon. The south-east African country, with its coastline of 2,700 km stretching along the Indian Ocean, has increasingly been subjected to environmental disasters over the past decade. The government's policies aim to reduce the number of victims and the loss of property; developing a ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
The Return of the Giant Tortoise
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52080
Inter Press Service: The historic reintroduction of giant tortoises is under way on Pinta Island, where not a single one of the famous animals that gave their name to the Ecuadorian archipelago of GalÃ¡pagos remained. "The tortoises have adapted well to their new habitat and are moving in a radius of approximately 1.5 kilometres from the site where they were released," said biologist Washington Tapia, of GalÃ¡pagos National Park, head of the experiment on Pinta Island, which has an area of 60 square ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Europe should freeze deep water drilling: top official
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100707/sc_afp/usoilenvironmentpollutioneu
Agence France-Presse: Europe should freeze new deep water drilling until the causes of the rig explosion which triggered the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are known, a top EU official said Wednesday. EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said governments need to make sure that the energy industry launches all possible measures to boost safety and enhance disaster prevention. "Utmost caution must be exercised for the moment with respect to new drillings," Oettinger said, according to prepared ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
UK inquiry exonerates climate row scientists
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e2c11328-89bf-11df-9ea6-00144feab49a,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Fe2c11328-89bf-11df-9ea6-00144feab49a.html%3Fftcamp%3Drss&_i_referer=&ftcamp=rss
Financial Times: Claims that prominent climate scientists distorted and concealed data were dismissed on Wednesday by an investigation into a scandal that threatened to destroy the credibility of global warming science. But the review of the so-called "climategate" e-mails, which were hacked from the University of East Anglia in the UK last November, castigated climate scientists for their culture of secrecy, which the investigators blamed for creating public mistrust of their findings. Sir ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Study Shows Cleaner Water Mitigates Climate Change Effects On Florida Keys Coral Reefs
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1888772/study_shows_cleaner_water_mitigates_climate_change_effects_on_florida/index.html?source=r_science
Red Orbit: Improving the quality of local water increases the resistance of coral reefs to global climate change, according to a study published in June in Marine Ecology Progress Series. Florida Institute of Technology coral reef ecologist Robert van Woesik and his student Dan Wagner led the study, which provides concrete evidence for a link between environmental health and the prospects for reefs in a rapidly changing world. Van Woesik and his team showed that when waters in the Florida Keys ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
'Climategate' report: the main points
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/07/climategate-scientists-main-points
Guardian: Was it the greatest scandal in modern science or a storm in a teacup whipped up by climate sceptics and an uncritical media? The report from a panel of experts led by Sir Muir Russell into the "climategate" affair that saw thousands of personal emails from global warming scientists released on to the internet was eagerly awaited by all sides. The report, which effectively cleared the scientists of the most serious charges – including deliberately fudging climate change results, is ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
No Free Press for BP Oil Disaster
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52082
Inter Press Service: Last week, the U.S. Coast Guard, working in concert with oil giant BP, instituted new restrictions across the U.S. Gulf Coast that prevent the media from coming within 20 metres of booms or response vessels on beaches or water. But the insidiousness of the restrictions runs even deeper. "You can't come in here," Don, the security guard hired by BP, told IPS at the Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center at Fort Jackson, Louisiana. Inside, the International Bird Rescue Research ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Some BP gas station owners switching brands
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100707/ap_on_bi_ge/mi_oil_spill_michigan
Associate Press: Some independent owners of BP gas stations in Michigan say they have switched or are trying to switch brands amid customer boycotts sparked by the continuing Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Abdel Berry, who owns three BP stations in the Detroit area, is converting two of them to the Sunoco brand. Berry said business is down at one location from 800 gallons to 500 gallons a day. "It's either change or go out of business," he told the Detroit Free Press for a story ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Why Congress Should Join U.S. Military Leaders in the Fight Against Climate Change
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/phyllis-cuttino/why-congress-should-join_b_637926.html
Huffington Post: To date, much of the debate over climate change and our energy independence has been limited to the halls of Congress and Sunday morning talk shows. But according to an array of our nation's most distinguished military and security experts, climate change in the years and decades ahead could place an additional burden on our armed forces and increase international instability. What we know about the global impacts of climate change and our energy use has grown by leaps and bounds over ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Some oil spill events from Wednesday, July 7, 2010
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100707/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_today
Associate Press: A summary of events Wednesday, July 7, Day 78 of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that began with the April 20 explosion and fire on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, owned by Transocean Ltd. and leased by BP PLC, which is in charge of cleanup and containment. The blast killed 11 workers. Since then, oil has been pouring into the Gulf from a blown-out undersea well. OIL PRAYERS Religious leaders who see environmental activism or "creation care" as a religious duty are visiting ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Climate Change Affecting Insurers; Industry Weathering The Storm
http://www.property-casualty.com/News/2010/7/Pages/Climate-Change-Affecting-Insurers-Industry-Weathering-The-Storm.aspx
National Underwriter: According to Carl Hedde, senior vice president and head of risk accumulation for Munich Reinsurance American Inc., catastrophe losses in the United States have been "tame" compared to the rest of the world, but the country has suffered significant catastrophe losses that, compared to the past 20 years, have outpaced losses in the past. Among losses the nation has seen so far in 2010, he said thunder storms have resulted in 28 fatalities and $3 billion in insured losses; winter storms ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Economic peril seen from offshore drilling ban
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100707/us_nm/us_oil_spill_moratorium_meeting
Reuters: A Gulf of Mexico deepwater drilling ban has already cost offshore jobs in a nascent U.S. economic recovery and a lengthy moratorium will put the industry at peril, sector executives said on Wednesday. Their remarks came a day ahead of a court hearing on the moratorium imposed by the Obama administration, which says it is needed to prevent a repeat of the BP Plc well blowout that brought environmental havoc to the Gulf, polluting beaches, killing wildlife and scaring away ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Probe vindicates embattled climate researchers
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/07/2068859/probe-vindicates-embattled-climate.html
Los Angeles Times: Climate-change researchers at a British university failed to respond to critics in an open manner but hewed to high standards in their science and did not manipulate their data, according to findings released Wednesday of an independent review of hundreds of hacked e-mails. The e-mails were taken from the server of the University of East Anglia late last year and caused an international stir just before an international environment summit in Copenhagen. Skeptics of human-caused ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Timeline: Gulf of Mexico oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100707/bs_nm/us_oil_spill_events
Reuters: Millions of gallons/liters of oil have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico since an April 20 explosion on a drilling rig triggered the worst spill in U.S. history. Below is a timeline of the disaster and its impact. April 20, 2010 - Explosion and fire on Transocean Ltd's drilling rig Deepwater Horizon licensed to BP Plc; 11 workers are killed. The rig was drilling in BP's Macondo project 42 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana, beneath about 5,000 feet of water and 13,000 feet under ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Land owner argues over definition of hedge
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/countryside/7877210/Land-owner-argues-over-definition-of-hedge.html
Telegraph: By Martin Evans Published: 4:08PM BST 07 Jul 2010 Legal representatives from both sides have spent hours arguing over whether a line of blackthorn and hawthorn trees at the edge of a field constitutes an official hedgerow boundary or is merely a strip of scrub. Thomas Cook, a descendant of Thomas Cook the Victorian traveller who first developed the idea of package holidays and owner of the stunning Sennowe Park Estate at Guist in Norfolk, first triggered the row with his ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Europe bars illegal timber from markets
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0707-eu_timber_ban.html
Mongabay: The European Parliament today voted overwhelming to bar illegally logged timber from E.U. markets. The legislation, which passed 644-25, will require all companies selling timber products in the E.U. to prove their wood is legally sourced. Companies that fail to demonstrate credible sourcing practices will be subject to fines. The rules will go into effect in 2012, but paper products will be exempted for five years. The legislation was supported by domestic timber ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Solar-power plane heads into first night flight
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66633A20100707?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A solar-powered aircraft designed to fly round the clock without traditional aviation fuel or polluting emissions headed on Wednesday into its crucial first night flight. The plane, named Solar Impulse, took off for its first 24-hour test flight just after dawn from an air base near this central Swiss town and began climbing above nearby lakes and mountains toward a peak altitude of 8,500 meters (27,900 feet). "It is going well. This is an incredible moment," said Bertrand ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Fish Populations Under Threat By Carbon Emissions
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1888528/fish_populations_under_threat_by_carbon_emissions/index.html?source=r_science
Red Orbit: Humanity's rising CO2 emissions could have a significant impact on the world's fish populations according to groundbreaking new research carried out in Australia. Baby fish may become easy meat for predators as the world's oceans become more acidic due to CO2 fallout from human activity, an international team of researchers has discovered. In a series of experiments reported in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), the team found that as ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Feds ask court to reinstate drilling moratorium
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100707/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_moratorium
Associate Press: Federal authorities have asked an appeals court to reinstate a moratorium on deepwater drilling declared after BP's oil well blew out in the Gulf of Mexico. In a filing late Tuesday in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, the government challenged a federal judge's finding the Interior Department did not offer clear reasons for the six-month moratorium. A lawsuit against the moratorium was filed by Hornbeck Offshore, an oil field service company that claims it would have ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Climategate scientists' honesty not in doubt, says review
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/climategate-scientists-honesty-not-in-doubt-says-review-2020829.html
Independent: The "rigour and honesty" of the scientists at the centre of a row over climate research, sparked when hundreds of emails were stolen from a world-renowned research centre, is not in doubt, an independent review said today. But the review into the "climategate" affair, led by Sir Muir Russell, found the scientists at the University of East Anglia's climatic research unit (CRU) had not been sufficiently open about their studies. The row was sparked when 13 years of emails were ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
'Climategate' review clears scientists of dishonesty over data
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266089/climategate-review-clears
Business Green: The climate scientists at the centre of a media storm were today cleared of accusations that they fudged their results and silenced critics to bolster the case for man-made global warming. Sir Muir Russell, the senior civil servant who led a six-month inquiry into the affair, said the "rigour and honesty" of the scientists at the world-leading Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia (UEA) are not in doubt. They did not subvert the peer review process to censor ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Europe bans illegal timber to protect forests
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100707/sc_afp/euparliamentenvironmentwarmingtimbertrade
AFA: The European Union on Wednesday barred the import and sale of illegally harvested timber in a bid to fight climate change and deforestation from the Amazon to Asia. The European Parliament voted 644-25 to outlaw illegal timber or products made from such wood, which makes up around one-fifth of all timber imports into the European Union, and punish unscrupulous dealers. "With this, we are sending a signal to the world that the EU will no longer serve as a market for illegally ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Earth at Farthest Distance From SunÂ—Why the Heat Wave?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/07/100707-aphelion-heat-wave-earth-sun-science-weather-nation/
National Geographic: It doesn't seem to make sense. The eastern United States is broiling in a dangerous heat wave, with temperatures in some cities shooting above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). Yet this week Earth is farther away from the sun than the planet will be at any other time during 2010. How can that be? The answer, astronomers say, is that the distance between our planet and the sun has little do with Earth's surface temperature--and therefore almost no bearing on ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Germany could kick fossil fuel habit by 2050: study
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6662UQ20100707?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Germany could derive all of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2050 and become the world's first major industrial nation to kick the fossil fuel habit, the Federal Environment Agency said on Wednesday. Germany is already a global leader in renewable energy and exports green technology around the world. It gets 16 percent of its electricity from wind, solar and other renewable sources -- triple the five percent level it had 15 years ago. "A complete ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Climate change scientists cleared of dishonesty
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100707/wl_uk_afp/climatewarmingsciencebritainprobe
AFA: Scientists at a top research unit embroiled in a row over climate research were cleared of dishonesty on Wednesday but their lack of openness was criticised. Climate change sceptics claimed hacked emails showed the scientists had manipulated and suppressed key data to support a theory of man-made climate change. The row was sparked when hundreds of emails were hacked from the servers of the University of East Anglia (UEA) and posted online. But the concerns were largely ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
Pakistan president woos Chinese energy investment
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100707/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_pakistan
Associate Press: Pakistan's president appealed Wednesday for Chinese help in developing his country's stagnant energy sector, pointing to nuclear power as one growth area but making no public mention of a deal with China that has alarmed the U.S. and others. The weeklong visit to China is Asif Ali Zardari's fifth since he came to office in September 2008, underscoring the robust diplomatic, military and commercial ties between the neighbors. He met President Hu Jintao on Wednesday and signed six ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
EPA gives final "no" to Texas refinery permits
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66632A20100707?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has told Texas pollution regulators that flexible permits issued by the state since 1994 for refineries, chemical plants and power plants did not meet the standards set by the U.S. Clean Air Act. The plants have continued operating under the permits as EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality work to resolve the dispute which began in September. "EPA is disapproving the permit program after determining that it allows ...

Thu, 8 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Climategate scientists far from squeaky clean
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/jul/07/climategate-scientists
Guardian: Generally honest but frequently secretive; rigorous in their dealings with fellow scientists but often "unhelpful and defensive", and sometimes downright "misleading", when explaining themselves to the wider world. That was the verdict of Sir Muir Russell and his fellow committee members in their inquiry into the role of scientists at the University of East Anglia in the "climategate" affair. Many will find the report indulgent of reprehensible behaviour, particularly in peer review, ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Overriding context of wind power controversy is climate change
http://www.manitoulin.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=298:overriding-context-of-wind-power-controversy-is-climate-change-&catid=34:stories
Manitoulin Expositer: The great Manitoulin wind farm debate seems to be winding down, but the truly crucial issue behind that whole debate is still very much with us. It's a global issue, which may explain why it has attracted very little attention in the local debate. But the problem is crucial because it is likely to kill us in the long run, by destroying our life support system, if we don't face it now. Even supposing that wind turbines really do affect some people's health as claimed by the anti-wind groups, ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
NASA satellite adds carbon dioxide to its repertoire
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100629112030.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: A NASA-led research team has expanded the growing global armada of remote sensing satellites capable of studying carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth's climate. The newest addition is the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) instrument on NASA's Aura spacecraft, launched in 2004. TES measures the state and composition of Earth's troposphere, the lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere, located between Earth's surface and about 16 kilometers (10 miles) in ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Australian Greens aim for power role after elections
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/100707/us/australia_politics_greens__interview_1
Reuters: Australia's Greens party is on course to win the balance of power in the Senate at elections within months and will seek to push environmental policies to the fore of the next government's agenda. Australia's Labor government is expected to snare a narrow victory at the election, possibly in late August, but regardless of who wins the poll, the next government will likely rely on the Greens to pass legislation on the economy to the environment. And Greens leader Senator Bob ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
East Swelters in Triple Digits; More to Come
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/us/07boston.html?hpw
New York Times: Children at a day camp near here were pulled from the swimming pool once an hour so the lifeguards could plunge in and cool off. Commuter trains in Washington were slowed because of overheating tracks. Horse-racing tracks were closed in Philadelphia and Wilmington, Del. Up and down the Eastern Seaboard on Tuesday, safety concerns upended the usual routines as a brutal blast of heat brought temperatures in excess of 100 degrees in several cities, with little relief expected for days to ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
A Record 103Â° Pushes Limits of Con Edison
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/nyregion/08heat.html?hp
New York Times: The Northeast faced a fourth day Wednesday of a record-breaking heat wave, after triple-digit temperatures tested power supplies throughout the region and tried the patience and resilience of anyone who dared to venture outside. While temperatures were expected to moderate some from Tuesday's peak - which saw a record set at 103 degrees for the day in New York City - utilities warned that the length and intensity of this heat wave was testing the limits of the power grid. The ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
PG&E opposes CA prop. to halt global warming law
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100707/ap_on_bi_ge/us_california_climate_law
Associated Press: California's largest utility says it will oppose Proposition 23, the initiative that seeks to suspend the state's landmark global warming law. Pacific Gas & Electric Company Chairman and CEO Peter Darbee said in a statement Tuesday that climate change could cost California's economy tens of billions of dollars a year, with losses to agriculture, tourism and other sectors. The 2006 law, known as AB32, requires utilities, manufacturers and other businesses to reduce the state's ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
BP agrees to inform US ahead of transactions
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100707/wl_uk_afp/usoilenvironmentpollutionbritaincompanybp
Agence France-Presse: BP has agreed to inform the United States government of major transactions that may affect the future shape of the company in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, a British paper reported Wednesday. The oil giant has bowed to demands to notify the Department of Justice at least 30 days ahead of major financial moves, said The Times daily. The request came in a letter from Tony West, the US Assistant Attorney-General, to Rupert Bondy, BP's general counsel, on June 23, said the ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Public drinking fountains cool down New Yorkers
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/public-drinking-fountains-cool-down-new-yorkers-2020267.html
Independent (UK): As temperatures approach 40 degrees Celsius, New York offers drinking fountains to cool down the public and reduce consumption of bottled water. In a bit to reduce consumption of bottled water, New York City has begun providing residents with portable drinking fountains for use over the coming months. The ten fountains located around the city are attached to fire hydrants and are rotated around the city on a schedule to hydrate residents as the temperatures are expected to reach ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Clean-air rule aims to limit coal emissions
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/06/AR2010070605226.html?wprss=rss_nation
Associated Press: The Obama administration proposed Tuesday a new rule to tighten restrictions on pollution from coal-burning power plants in the eastern half of the country, a key step to cut emissions that cause smog. The Environmental Protection Agency said the new rule represented its most consequential effort yet to tackle pollution that contributes to smog and soot that hangs over more than half the country. The rule would cost nearly $3 billion a year, costs that are likely to be passed along to ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
United States: From Safe To A Flood Zone, Without Moving An Inch
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127929410&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Across the country, millions of people are suddenly finding themselves in federal hazard zones -- not because of any natural or man-made disaster, but because the Federal Emergency Management Agency is updating its old flood risk maps. Even if they've never been under water, home and business owners in places deemed hazardous are now forced to buy flood insurance. For one Midwestern industrial area, the stakes are higher. In southwestern Illinois, there are serious fears federal ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
US aims at power plant emissions reduction in 31 states
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100706/sc_afp/environmentuspollutionepa
Agence France-Presse: The US Environmental Protection Agency proposed rules Tuesday to reduce toxic emissions from power plants across 31 states on the US eastern seaboard and the nation's capital. The aim, said the EPA, is by 2014 for sulfur dioxide (SO2) levels to be reduced by 71 percent over 2005 levels, said the agency. In the same period, nitrogen oxides (NOx) would be cut 52 percent. "This rule is designed to cut pollution that spreads hundreds of miles and has enormous negative impacts on ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
EPA: Clean-air rule would overturn Bush-era plan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100706/ap_on_bi_ge/us_epa_clean_air
Associated Press: The Obama administration is proposing a new rule to tighten restrictions on pollution from coal-burning power plants in the eastern half of the country, a key step to cut emissions that cause smog. The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday the new rule represented its most consequential effort yet to tackle deadly pollution that contributes to smog and soot that hangs over more than half the country. The rule would cost nearly $3 billion a year and those costs are likely to be ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Climate e-mail inquiry prepares to report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10530554.stm
BBC: Environment correspondent, BBC News CRU's work is critical in understanding and projecting climate change An inquiry into questions raised by the so-called ClimateGate affair will release its conclusions on Wednesday. The Independent Climate Change Email Review was commissioned by the UK's University of East Anglia following the hacking of emails from its servers. Climate sceptics allege that the emails undermine the integrity of researchers at the university's Climatic ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
EPA to crack down on interstate pollutants from power plants
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100706/sc_mcclatchy/3558688
McClatchy Newspapers: The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed a new federal plan to reduce the pollution from electric power plants that wafts hundreds of miles across state lines. The new rule would require pollution reductions in 31 states and the District of Columbia -- most of the Eastern half of the U.S., from Texas and Minnesota to the coast. To make the cuts, power plants would be required to install new equipment or use lower-sulfur fuels. The plan is one of the most ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Queen Calls on UN to Tackle Poverty, Climate Change
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-06/queen-calls-on-un-to-tackle-poverty-climate-change.html
Bloomberg: Queen Elizabeth II of the U.K. urged the United Nations to pursue efforts to tackle poverty, terrorism and climate change, calling the world body a "real force' for promoting peace and delivering aid. "So much remains to be done,' the 84-year-old queen said in her first speech to the UN's General Assembly since 1957. "The challenge now is to continue to show this clear and convincing leadership while not losing sight of your ongoing work to secure the security, prosperity and dignity ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Key U.S. lawmaker opposes Canadian oil sands pipeline
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100706/pl_nm/us_pipeline_oilsands_congress
Reuters: A key U.S. lawmaker has called on the government to block a TransCanada pipeline designed to supply U.S. refineries with Canada's oil sands crude, arguing the "dirtiest" fuel undermined efforts to battle global warming. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee, urged the State Department to block TransCanada's planned Keystone XL pipeline. "This pipeline is a multibillion-dollar investment to expand our reliance on the dirtiest source of transportation ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Rules Proposed to Cut Pollution at Power Plants
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/science/earth/07epa.html?_r=5&partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Acting under federal court order, the Obama administration proposed new air-quality rules on Tuesday for coal-burning power plants that officials said would bring major reductions in soot and smog from Texas to the Eastern Seaboard. The Environmental Protection Agency is issuing the rules to replace a plan from the administration of President George W. Bush that a federal judge threw out in 2008, citing numerous flaws in the calculation of air-quality effects. Gina McCarthy, ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Cuts caveat on nuclear waste plan
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10528937.stm
BBC: The UK's deep store for nuclear waste should open for business around 2040 - but spending cuts could delay the plans, and community support is vital. These are the key messages in a report from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the agency charged with managing the nation's waste. So far, only two Cumbrian communities have expressed interest in hosting a deep permanent repository. The cost of developing such a facility is estimated at about Â£4bn. The ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
United States: EPA finishing up Pavillion-area monitoring wells
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100706/ap_on_bi_ge/wy_wyoming_fracking
Associated Press: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has almost finished drilling two monitoring wells to test for pollution in a central Wyoming community where residents suspect chemicals related to gas drilling have contaminated their well water. Meanwhile, the EPA has pushed back a meeting with residents of the Pavillion area. Originally planned for July, the public meeting now will be held in August. The agency wants to make certain ahead of the meeting that homeowners have accurate ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Texas group will look at oil, natural gas drilling
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100707/ap_on_bi_ge/tx_texas_offshore_drilling
Associated Press: A new group will pool Texas' brightest minds to come up with better and safer ways of drilling and producing oil and natural gas in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, Gov. Rick Perry announced Tuesday. The Gulf Project will focus on developing and testing current equipment as well as new technologies for the next generation of oil and gas drilling, Perry said. The group also will look to develop better ways of monitoring the equipment once it's in place and improve training for ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Heat wave smothers climate skeptic jokes
http://www.salon.com/news/global_warming/?story=/tech/htww/2010/07/06/heat_wave
Salon: Living in Berkeley, Calif., it can be difficult getting excited about the weather back East. Every blogger on the East coast in my RSS feed has been moaning and bitching about the record-breaking heat wave, but in Berkeley, I was wearing a sweater in the mid-afternoon and the thermometer hadn't broken 60. And guess what, the exact same conditions prevailed during the great Snowpocalypse-ageddon earlier this year. So while Washington and New York convulse in cataclysms of sweltering heat and ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
UPS goes global with carbon-neutral shipping
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266031/ups-goes-global-carbon-neutral
Business Green: Logistics and delivery giant UPS yesterday announced that it has expanded its carbon-neutral shipping programme to 35 countries and territories across Europe, Asia and the Americas, allowing its customers to pay a small premium to calculate and offset the carbon emissions associated with their shipments. The move follows the launch late last year of the company's US carbon offsetting programme, which offered customers the chance to pay fees ranging from $0.05 (Â£0.03) to $0.75 per ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Has the Green Investment Bank selected the right target?
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/comment/2266032/green-investment-bank-selected
Business Green: Last week's report from the Green Investment Bank (GIB) Commission, Unlocking Investment to Deliver Britain's Low Carbon Future, provided a welcome sense of urgency to UK efforts to transform its energy landscape. It correctly identifies the scale of the challenge ahead, estimating required investment of up to Â£550bn by 2020, dwarfing even Ofgem's recent estimate of Â£200 bn. Yet, with a focus on large, utility scale project financing activity and no mention of energy market ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Group challenges law on RI wind farm proposal
http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2010/07/06/group_challenges_law_on_ri_wind_farm_proposal/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news
Associated Press: Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch says he's challenging a contract for a proposed wind farm off the coast of Block Island. Lynch on Tuesday called the arrangement between the developer, Deepwater Wind, and the utility National Grid an "inside deal." He urged the state Public Utilities Commission to reject the contract, which would require National Grid to buy the energy generated from the wind farm at 24.4 cents per kilowatt hour. The agreement still requires PUC ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Oil spill fuels opposition to Canada-US pipeline
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100706/wl_canada_afp/usoilenvironmentpollutioncanadapolitics
Agence France-Presse: The plan to build a vast oil pipeline from Canada to the southern shores of the United States faced congressional opposition Tuesday amid fierce anger over the Gulf of Mexico spill. Top US lawmaker Henry Waxman called on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to block the proposed 2,151 mile (3,461 kilometer) Keystone pipeline, which would transport crude from Alberta, Canada to refineries in Texas. In a letter released on Tuesday Waxman -- who chairs the House of Representatives ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Research Helps Predict Future Impact Of Climate Change
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1888318/research_helps_predict_future_impact_of_climate_change/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: A new study, involving academics at the University of Sheffield, has accurately measured for the first time the current carbon cycles in the world. The research will enable scientists to make more accurate predictions concerning the impact of climate change in the future. The paper, which will be published today (5 July 2010) in the journal Science, used large amounts of remote sensing, climate and carbon data from around the world to assess Gross Primary Production. This is the ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
EPA proposes tougher air rules on power plants
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6654BQ20100706?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Power plants in the eastern half of the United States will have to slash emissions of pollutants blamed for premature deaths under proposed rules issued on Tuesday by federal regulators. The Environmental Protection Agency said the rules, part of a series of steps to control emissions from power plants, would overturn and toughen clean air regulations issued by former President George W. Bush's administration. The agency hopes they would begin taking effect in 2012. The plan ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Indonesia's Sinar Mas "clearing rainforest": group
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6650JY20100706?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Greenpeace leveled on Tuesday new accusations of rainforest destruction against Indonesian agribusiness giant Sinar Mas and urged retailers Carrefour and Walmart to stop buying their products. Several top palm oil buyers, including Unilever and Nestle, have said they will stop buying from Sinar Mas after earlier Greenpeace accusations that Sinar Mas units such as pulp and paper firm APP and palm oil producer PT Smart Tbk cleared virgin rainforests and peatlands. Preservations ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Greenpeace publicises companies on Indonesia paper
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100706/bs_afp/indonesiaforestrywarmingspeciescompanysinarmasus
Agence France-Presse: Greenpeace on Tuesday accused foreign firms like Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco of contributing to forest destruction and species loss in Indonesia by buying from paper and palm oil giant Sinar Mas. The environmental group said Sinar Mas subsidiary Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) was "relentlessly trashing rainforests", spewing carbon into the atmosphere and driving species to extinction in the Southeast Asian archipelago. "Sinar Mas's 'sustainability commitments' are not worth the ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Climate change could be worse than Gulf spill
http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2010/07/climate_change_could_be_worse.html
Patriot-News: Over the last two months the U.S. Congress has been engaged in a great operatic drama over what many have called the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history: the BP Gulf oil spill. Although oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform site might be creating the greatest environmental and economic harm in U.S. history, there is new evidence that another looming environmental problem is likely to produce far worse environmental and economic impacts not only for the ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
BP Wants Help With Gulf Cleanup Costs
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128328838&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: MARY LOUISE KELLY, host: To BP news now: The company says the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has already cost it more than $3 billion. It also says it wants some of its corporate partners in the well to pay for part of the cleanup. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports. JIM ZARROLI: BP released updated figures yesterday for how much the Gulf spill has cost it, and the numbers keep rising. So far, the company says it has paid $3.12 billion to contain the spill, drill a relief well ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Germany poised to phase in solar subsidy cuts
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2265976/germany-poised-phase-solar
Business Green: Controversial cuts to the feed-in tariff incentives offered to German businesses and households that install solar panels could be introduced, after a parliamentary mediation committee recommended that the proposed cuts be watered down over the next three months. Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government had proposed cuts of 16 per cent to the feed-in tariffs offered for rooftop solar panels. It also planned to reduce incentives for solar installations on open-field sites by 15 ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
European Parliament prepares to vote on illegal timber ban
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/06/european-illegal-timber-ban
Business Green: The European Parliament is this week set to vote through new regulations that will ban the import of timber obtained through the illegal logging of tropical forests. The Parliament will debate the new directive late this afternoon and is then expected to vote in favour of the proposed regulations tomorrow. The European Council, which signaled last month that it would support the proposed new rules, is then expected to rubber stamp the legislation in September. The new ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Dutch review backs UN climate change report
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/07/dutch-review-backs-un-climate-change-report/1
USA Today: A Dutch review of a United Nations climate report backs its finding of global warming's dangers but says the U.N. panel should be more transparent in its work. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, an institute that advises the Dutch government, released its review Monday of a landmark 2007 report by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was heavily criticized by climate skeptics because of a few factual errors. The agency found "no errors" that ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Kenya to get Brazil's help to produce biodiesel
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100706/ap_on_bi_ge/af_kenya_brazil
Associated Press: Brazil, the world's leading ethanol exporter, will help Kenya produce biodiesel and improve its agriculture sector, the two nations' leaders said Tuesday. Kenya is an investment hub that Brazilian companies and entrepreneurs can use to seek business opportunities in the wider East African Community, a five-nation economic bloc of more than 125 million people, Brazil's President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva said at a news conference with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki. Silva's visit ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
United Kingdom: Climate activists prepare for secret camp to take 'direct action' against coal mining
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/07/06/climate-activists-prepare-for-secret-camp-to-take-direct-action-against-coal-mining-91466-26791442/
Wales Online: CLIMATE activists have threatened to take "direct action" against coal mining corporations ahead of this year`s South Wales climate camp. The annual climate camps see large numbers of protesters meet at venues across Europe, with last year`s taking place near Ffos-y-fran in Merthyr Tydfil, the largest opencast coal mine in the UK. Protesters camped out near the Ffos-y-fran Opencast site for four days to raise climate change awareness and encourage sustainable ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Solomon Islands: Mangroves under threat
http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/national/6846-mangroves-under-threat
Solomon Star: MANGROVES are continuously under threat from overharvesting, degradation and land reclamation. Yet we continue to cut them down unaware at times of the role these trees are playing within the coastal ecosystem. Fiji and other Pacific Islands are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and because we cannot prevent it we have to find means to adapt to climate change. Conservation of mangroves and associated coastal ecosystems has been identified as a key ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Dead zone in gulf linked to ethanol production
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/05/MNF91E84SL.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: While the BP oil spill has been labeled the worst environmental catastrophe in recent U.S. history, a biofuel is contributing to a Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" the size of New Jersey that scientists say could be every bit as harmful to the gulf. Each year, nitrogen used to fertilize corn, about a third of which is made into ethanol, leaches from Midwest croplands into the Mississippi River and out into the gulf, where the fertilizer feeds giant algae blooms. As the algae dies, it ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Vindicated scientists warn against rising climate risks
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266014/vindicated-scientists-warn
Business Green: The first independent review of the criticisms levelled at the most recent climate science report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) yesterday concluded that it had found no errors that would undermine the central conclusions regarding mankind's contribution to climate change. The investigation from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency was commissioned by the Dutch government in the wake of the so-called "climategate" scandal and subsequent revelation ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
UN's climate report 'one-sided'
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/uns-climate-report-one-sided/story-e6frg6so-1225888714749
Australian: IPCC's report on climate change failed to make clear it often presented a worst-case scenario on global warming, an investigation has found. THE UN body that advises governments on climate change failed to make clear how its landmark report on the impact of global warming often presented a worst-case scenario, an investigation has concluded. A summary report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on regional impacts focused on the negative consequences of climate ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Nested REDD+ vital in forest solution: Report
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=2040
Carbon Positive: In order for REDD+ to be successful in halting deforestation in developing countries, carbon finance incentives will need to be delivered through smaller scale channels as well as big national bureacracies, The Nature Conservancy argues. To this end, the Nature Conservancy has issued a report, 'A Nested Approach to REDD+', proposing ways that REDD+ forest carbon projects and programmes at the smaller end of the scale could operate within big national schemes. REDD+ refers to carbon ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
Activists block road to Maine wind power site
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100706/ap_on_bi_ge/us_wind_blockade
Associated Press: A national environmental group says three of its members who blocked the entrance to a western Maine wind power construction site have been arrested. Maine Earth First spokeswoman Emily Posner says one woman who was arrested attached herself to a truck hauling a windmill blade. The two others arrested were among about 50 people who blocked the road to TransCanada's Kibby Mountain construction site Tuesday morning. TransCanada spokeswoman LeAnne LeBlanc says work continues at ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
La Nina likely to develop in coming months: UN weather body
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100706/sc_afp/environmentweatherclimateun
Agence France-Presse: The UN weather agency said Tuesday that El Nino, which wreaks havoc around the Pacific and east Africa, has dissipated, but La Nina -- another disruptive weather phenomenon, is likely to develop. "Following the rapid dissipation of El Nino in early May 2010, cool-neutral to weak La Nina conditions have developed in the tropical Pacific," said the World Meteorological Organisation in a statement. "These conditions are more likely than not to strengthen into a basin-wide La Nina ...

Wed, 7 Jul 10
The Return of the Bicycle
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52066
Inter Press Service: The bicycle has many attractions as a form of personal transportation. It alleviates congestion, lowers air pollution, reduces obesity, increases physical fitness, does not emit climate-disrupting carbon dioxide, and is priced within the reach of the billions of people who cannot afford a car. Bicycles increase mobility while reducing congestion and the area of land paved over. Six bicycles can typically fit into the road space used by one car. For parking, the advantage is even ...