Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week’s Global Warming news roundup
Another week of Climate Instability News
Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
January 17, 2010
- Copenhagen, BASIC, UN Investors Summit, Berlin, WFES, IRENA, Cochabamba, Cold Snap, CRU
- Carbon Tariffs, Grumbine, In Case Of Failure, Objectivity
- Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
- Food Crisis, Food Production
- Hurricanes, Monsoon, GHGs, C & N Cycles, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, ENSO, Ocean Currents, Satellites
- Impacts, Forests, Climate Refugees, Wildfires, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
- Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering
- Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, DIY Science, James Hansen, Michael Mann, Mojib Latif, Pielke(s), Lindzen
- Kyoto, UN, Carbon Trade, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
- International Politics, Religioso, Polls, Agriculture
- America, Obama, Congress, Britain, Europe, Australia, India, China, Japan, Asia, Africa, South America, Canada
- Ecological Economics, Media, Books, Video, Courts
- Energy, Wind, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Business
- Joe’s List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
- 2010/01/15: VoxEU: Two good news from Copenhagen? by Carlo Carraro & Emanuele Massetti
Are the commitments from Copenhagen enough? The bad news is that the answer is “no”. This column examines the informal targets and the agreement to allocate funding to mitigate climate change. The good news is that this funding has the potential to at least reduce the gap between targets and reality. - 2010/01/11: UNDispatch: Copenhagen Reconsidered: An Interview With a Delegate [Tom Hilde]
- 2010/01/14: CSM: Did Copenhagen talks open door to a new global order?
Four formerly developing countries took the reins during climate talks in Copenhagen: China, India, Brazil, and South Africa. It could herald a redistribution of global clout, some experts say. - 2010/01/15: TerraDaily: Europe’s climate chief-to-be [Connie Hedegaard] regrets EU disunity in Copenhagen
- 2010/01/15: NatureCF: Copenhagen number crunch — How far does the Copenhagen Accord fall short?
- 2010/01/15: SciNews: Copenhagen climate summit yields ‘real deal’ to limit greenhouse gases — Nonbinding accord still needs beefing up, negotiators agree
- 2010/01/14: NYT: U.S. Official [Todd Stern] Says Talks on Emissions Show Promise
Todd Stern, the chief American climate change negotiator, said Thursday that the flawed and incomplete agreement reached last month in Copenhagen could provide significant benefits if countries followed through on its provisions. The three-page Copenhagen Accord is not legally binding, and the 192 nations that took part in the December talks did not formally accept it. But a sizable group of those countries said they would accept its terms and provide plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by Jan. 31. Wealthy countries also said they would follow through on promises to come up with $30 billion over the next three years to help developing countries adapt to global climate changes. - 2010/01/15: EarthTimes: EU climate chief nominee hopes for global deal despite Copenhagen
A global deal on reducing climate change is still possible despite the failure of the UN conference in Copenhagen, the EU’s designated climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard said on Friday in Brussels. “I believe it is still possible to create within the UN system a truly global deal,” the former Danish environment minister said after a confirmation hearing in the European Parliament. - 2010/01/14: SolveClimate: Todd Stern: Next Few Weeks Critical for Copenhagen Accord — Future Negotiations May Sidestep UN
- 2010/01/14: Guardian(UK): Next few weeks vital for Copenhagen accord, says US climate change envoy [Todd Stern]
Obama administration to work closely on formal details — US will not give full ownership of accord to UN - 2010/01/14: TDC: [Todd] Stern: Copenhagen Accord ‘best way to make progress’
- 2010/01/13: Guardian(UK): US officials helped prepare Obama for Copenhagen summit’s collapse
- 2010/01/13: Guardian(UK): Last-minute agreement at Copenhagen marks turning point for the world by Jonathan Lash WRI president
Dramatic finish to summit has radically changed approach to tackling global warming and indicates accord will succeed - 2010/01/12: OpenDem: Copenhagen: a successful failure
The Copenhagen climate-change summit has been widely portrayed as a failure. But in a deeper and longer perspective COP15 is an important milestone, says Joe Smith. […] For COP15 was not a one-off, but also just one more stage in the four-decade-long evolution of environmental politics: another step on the road in terms of what it means for humanity to take its habitat seriously as a non-renewable resource. - 2009/12/19: GAIA Education: Copenhagen – day 7 — The fifth story
- 2010/01/12: Grist: Copenhagen revealed a new dynamic between the U.S. and China
- 2010/01/11: Grist: A water perspective on Copenhagen and beyond
- 2010/01/09: Ekklesia(UK): Kenyan ecologist and theologian says Copenhagen leaves poor on the brink
- 2010/01/11: PlanetArk: China Says Achieved Goal In Copenhagen Climate Deal
- 2010/01/11: EarthTimes: Merkel: There is no alternative to binding emissions deal
- 2010/01/10: TheAge: Rich nations ‘ganged up’ in Copenhagen
China has no regrets over its abrasive negotiating tactics at Copenhagen, saying the “key lesson” rich countries should take from the conference is that China cannot be pushed around. In the first detailed, post-Copenhagen interview with the Western media by a Chinese official, climate change ambassador Yu Qingtai told The Age that the summit was “a step in the right direction”. But he repeatedly accused rich countries of ganging up on China. “During and before Copenhagen there was a concerted effort by a small group of developed countries who believed that by joining hands [they could] force us to go beyond what we are responsible for or capable of,” Mr Yu said. “Copenhagen proved that those attempts will not be successful. In fact they should have known better. So what the developed countries need to learn from this whole process is to make up their minds whether they want to pursue confrontation or co-operation with China.” Mr Yu said the underlying fissure at Copenhagen was whether rich countries would honour pledges made at Kyoto and Bali, particularly the principle of ”common but differentiated responsibilities” and an American commitment to make cuts comparable with other rich countries by 2050. Greenpeace spokeswoman Yang Ailun said China’s objections were directed mainly at the US but also Canada, Japan and Australia. - 2010/01/11: Reuters: Singapore pares emission cut plans after Copenhagen
Singapore said on Monday it will go ahead with existing plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but further pledged reductions will depend on a successful agreement in global climate talks. - 2010/01/11: CSM: Kyoto to Copenhagen: Why UN’s glacial global warming talks need overhaul
The BASIC group, Brazil, South Africa, India & China, is meeting Jan 24-25 in New Delhi:
- 2010/01/15: ChinaDaily: China, 3 others to chart climate roadmap
[…] While the official downplayed the scheduled conference on Jan 24-25 as an “ordinary event” among China’s international climate engagements, the government’s top-ranking advisors said the BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) are likely to coordinate their follow-up actions required in the Copenhagen Accord achieved by 190 economies in December. - 2010/01/14: PlanetArk: China-Led Group [BASIC] To Meet Ahead Of Climate Deadline
Four of the world’s largest and fastest-growing carbon emitters will meet in New Delhi this month ahead of a Jan 31 deadline for countries to submit their actions to fight climate change. The meeting, to be held either on Jan 24 or 25, would be attended by the environment ministers of Brazil, South Africa, India and China — the BASIC bloc of nations that helped broker a political accord at last month’s Copenhagen climate summit. - 2010/01/13: Guardian(UK): China, India, Brazil and South Africa prepare for post-Copenhagen meeting
Influential [BASIC] bloc of large developing countries expected to define common position on emissions cuts and climate aid - 2010/01/12: Guardian(UK): BASIC countries [Brazil, South Africa, India & China] to meet ahead of crucial Copenhagen accord deadline
- 2010/01/11: IndiaTimes: BASIC to meet in Delhi, discuss targets under ‘Hagen accord’
Even as India maintains that it is ready to meet the January 31 deadline to specify steps it would take to reduce emissions, a final decision likely only after the BASIC countries meets in the third week of January. Minister of state for environment Jairam Ramesh has made it clear that there would be no new announcements beyond the voluntary commitment of reducing emission intensity by 20 to 25% from 2005. Environment ministers of BASIC countries — Brazil, South Africa, India and China — will be meeting in New Delhi in the third week of January. “I have invited my counterparts in the BASIC group to attend a meeting in New Delhi in the third week of January before everyone finalises the entry into the appendix,” Mr Ramesh said. India set a voluntary target to cut its carbon intensity, or the amount of carbon dioxide released per unit of GDP, by 20 to 25% by 2020 from 2005 levels. No additional measures will be offered to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. - 2010/01/14: UNDispatch: Ted Turner and Sen Tim Wirth at the UN Today for Investors Summit on Climate Risk
- 2010/01/14: UNEP: Investors Representing $13 Trillion Call on U.S. and Other Countries to Move Quickly to Adopt Strong Climate Change Policies
“Cannot Wait for a Global Treaty,” Investors Tell Congress and other Government Policymakers at United Nations Investors Climate Summit - 2010/01/14: SolveClimate: The State of the Energy Industry: Risk and Resistance — Major Investors Call for Climate Policy; Industry Worries About Regulation
- 2010/01/14: Guardian(UK): Investors urge governments to take immediate action on climate change
There was a meeting of agriculture ministers in Berlin this week:
- 2010/01/16: EarthTimes: Farm ministers back climate-change action at Berlin talks
- 2010/01/16: EarthTimes: At farm meeting, China rejects climate blocker accusation
There is a World Future Energy Summit meeting next week in Dubai:
- 2010/01/17: GulfNews: Teams from 98 states to attend World Future Energy Summit
IRENA is meeting as well:
- 2010/01/14: PlanetArk: Green Energy Agency [IRENA] Set To Gain Members
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) expects new members to join at its next meeting [January 17, 2010] while China and world top oil exporter Saudi Arabia are to attend as observers, its head said on Wednesday. - 2010/01/13: CCurrents: Invitation To the Peoples’ World Conference On Climate Change And Mother Earth’s Rights by Evo Morales Ayma
The cold snap still got some attention:
- 2010/01/14: NewScientist: Errors and lies thrive in cold weather
Here’s the question to put to all those who confidently declare that the recent severe winter conditions prove that global warming is nonsense: “Next time there’s a heatwave in summer or an unusually mild spell in winter, will you publicly accept that the ‘warmists’ were right all along? If not, why not? If a cold snap means the climate is getting colder, surely a spell of hot weather proves it is getting warmer?” The point, of course, is that a bout of extreme weather does not prove anything about climate change. Climate is the average weather over decades. - 2010/01/15: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Despite Annual Recurrence of Winter, Global Warming Continued in 2009
- 2010/01/15: TerraDaily: India’s poor scramble for protection from winter chill
- 2010/01/16: CCP: James Hansen, Reto Ruedy, Makiko Sato, Ken Lo: If It’s That Warm, How Come It’s So Damned Cold?
- 2010/01/13: TerraDaily: Six people die in China cold snap: state media
- 2010/01/13: EarthTimes: Death toll tops 300 as cold wave intensifies in India
- 2010/01/11 TerraDaily: Despite icy weather, overall trend is warmer: experts
- 2010/01/11 TerraDaily: Snow hits southern Spain as big freeze sweeps Europe
- 2010/01/12: Wunderground: Cold wave of 2010 wanes; major jet stream pattern change coming
- 2010/01/12: EarthTimes: Climate change could bring more icy winters to China, experts warn
- 2010/01/12: CCP: NOAA’s National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center’s forecast for the Arctic Oscillation for the next 7-14 days, from January 12, 2010
- 2010/01/11: Guardian(UK): How will the snow and ice affect the public’s attitudes to climate change?
The UK’s recent extreme weather will not alter the levels of uncertainty and cynicism that are already prevalent - 2010/01/11: ClimateShifts: The Met on the cold weather
- 2010/01/11: Wunderground: Deep freeze in the South continues
- 2010/01/11: NatureCF: Comments on the cold spell
- 2010/01/11: KlimaZwiebel: The cold snap
The CRU email theft is lingering:
- 2010/01/15: AFTIC: Got ten more minutes?
- 2010/01/15: ScienceInsider: IPCC Pondering New Steps in Wake of Hacked E-mails Episode
- 2010/01/14: AFTIC: Travesty, sure, but what travesty? [Trenberth]
- 2010/01/13: NYT:CW: Insurance Group [NAMIC] Says Stolen E-Mails Show Risk in Accepting Climate Science
- 2010/01/11: BBC: Extremist unit helps in leak case
A police unit set up to support forces dealing with extremism in the UK is helping investigate the leaking of climate change data in Norfolk. In November it was revealed that the computer server at the Climate Change Unit at the University of East Anglia had been hacked and e-mails leaked. An inquiry was started by Norfolk Police. Now it has been revealed the force is getting help from the National Domestic Extremism Unit, based in Huntingdon. A spokesman for the unit said: “At present we have two police officers assisting Norfolk with their investigation, and we have also provided computer forensic expertise. - 2010/01/12: MTobis: The “Travesty” Travesty [Trenberth]
Carbon Tariffs still have people on edge:
- 2010/01/13: EurActiv: EU trade chief-designate rejects carbon border tariffs
The European Union should not impose border tariffs on goods from countries that fail to cut back their climate-damaging emissions, the EU’s trade commissioner-designate said yesterday (12 January). “I don’t think that’s the right approach myself,” Karel de Gucht told members of the European Parliament, which will vote whether to approve the European Commission line-up on 26 January. “It’s an approach that will run into many practical problems.” - 2010/01/12: Reuters: European International Trade Commissioner-designate Karel De Gucht rejects carbon border tariffs
The European Union should not impose border tariffs on goods from countries that fail to cut back their climate-damaging emissions, the EU’s trade commissioner-designate said on Tuesday - 2010/01/12: Reuters: EU’s incoming trade chief [Karel de Gucht] rejects carbon tariffs
The European Union should not impose border tariffs on goods from countries that fail to cut back their climate-damaging emissions, the EU’s trade commissioner-designate said on Tuesday. “I don’t think that’s the right approach myself,” Karel de Gucht told members of the European Parliament before they vote on his appointment. “It’s an approach that will run into many practical problems.” - 2010/01/13: MGS: Successive approximations
So what happens if there is no effective climate change mitigation by treaty or whatever?:
- 2010/01/12: NewScientist: Avoiding dangerous warming by 2100 ‘barely feasible’
- 2010/01/11: TDC: Disappearing options
A new study quantifies for the first time what happens to long-term policy options if mid-term emissions targets are not met. - 2010/01/11: NatureN: Missed 2050 climate targets will reduce long-term options — Models suggest that drastic action will be needed in the latter half of the century
- 2010/01/11: Eureka: Climate conditions in 2050 crucial to avoid harmful impacts in 2100
While governments around the world continue to explore strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a new study suggests policymakers should focus on what needs to be achieved in the next 40 years in order to keep long-term options viable for avoiding dangerous levels of warming. The study is the first of its kind to use a detailed energy system model to analyze the relationship between mid-century targets and the likelihood of achieving long-term outcomes. - 2010/01/11: ClimateSight: Partisan — How did objectivity itself become partisan?
The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:
- 2010/01/14: KSJT: Yale Science360: More good long form on line journalism — this time, about tundra’s fade, boreal forest’s advance
- 2010/01/11: Yale360: Arctic Tundra is Being Lost As Far North Quickly Warms
- 2010/01/12: PhysOrg: Trees invading warming Arctic will cause warming over entire region, study shows
- 2010/01/12: TreeHugger: All Alaskan Tundra Gone by 2100 as Fires and Permafrost Melting Change Vegetation
- 2010/01/12: CCP: NOAA’s National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center’s forecast for the Arctic Oscillation for the next 7-14 days, from January 12, 2010
- 2010/01/12: CCP: The Met’s Dr. Richard Betts gets it completely wrong wrt declining sea ice in the Arctic — retraction and correct data are required now!!!
- 2010/01/11: Yale360: Arctic Tundra is Being Lost As Far North Quickly Warms
The treeless ecosystem of mosses, lichens, and berry plants is giving way to shrub land and boreal forest. As scientists study the transformation, they are discovering that major warming-related events, including fires and the collapse of slopes due to melting permafrost, are leading to the loss of tundra in the Arctic. - 2009/12/21: UGothenburg: Melting tundra creating vast river of waste into Arctic Ocean
That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:
- 2010/01/16: SciDaily: Higher Temperatures Can Worsen Climate Change, Methane Measurements from Space Reveal
- 2010/01/15: CCP: A. A. Bloom et al., Science 327, Large-scale controls of methanogenesis inferred from methane and gravity spaceborne data
- 2010/01/15: APOV: Once Again: Climate Change, Shlimate Change!
- 2010/01/15: PeakEnergy: Arctic permafrost leaking methane at record levels, figures show
- 2010/01/14: BBC: Warming ‘speeds’ up gas emissions
Rising temperatures are not just a sign of climate change but are also a cause of it, a new study has suggested. Higher temperatures on the surface of the earth are fuelling a further increase in emissions of methane, Edinburgh University experts found. - 2010/01/14: Guardian(UK): Arctic permafrost leaking methane at record levels, figures show
Experts say methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame
[…]
The new study, published in the journal Science, shows that methane emissions from the Arctic increased by 31% from 2003-07. The increase represents about 1m extra tonnes of methane each year. - 2010/01/15: PlanetArk: Most Norwegians Want Arctic Drilling Study: Survey
An industry-backed survey published on Thursday shows most Norwegians favor an impact study that could pave the way to open a pristine, fish-rich Arctic area to oil activities and prolong Norway’s energy boom. The oil industry says the waters near the Lofoten and Vesteraalen islands in the Arctic now have the most prospects off Norway and must be tapped to prolong the North Sea state’s oil bonanza as output from mature oilfields declines. - 2010/01/15: Sphere: Huge Ice Chunk Breaks Away From Antarctica
- 2010/01/16: SciDaily: Tipping Point? West Antarctic Ice Sheet Could Become Unstable as World Warms
- 2010/01/16: CCP: Chunk of ice shelf the size of Rhode Island disintegrates from Antarctica’s Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf, annual event
- 2010/01/15: CCP: R. F. Katz & M. G. Worster, Proc. R. Acad. A, Stability of ice-sheet grounding lines [of the Pine Island Glacier (PIG) on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS)]
- 2010/01/15: DeSmogBlog: Antarctica is Losing Ice Quickly, Melting Away Another Climate Skeptic Myth
- 2010/01/15: CCP: Ken Levenson: Western Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Pine Island Glacier (PIG) passes tipping point
- 2010/01/15: NatureCC: The bottom line [Antarctic grounding-line stability]
- 2010/01/15: NatureCF: Antarctic glacier PIG [Pine Island Glacier] is unstable, suggests new study
- 2010/01/14: MongaBay: Climate change pushes massive Antarctic glacier past tipping point
- 2010/01/14: ENN: Is Antarctica melting, or not?
- 2010/01/13: TCoE: Antarctic woes — Major Antarctic glacier is ‘past its tipping point’
- 2010/01/11: Reuters: Sea icy off part of Antarctica despite fear of melt
Sea water under an East Antarctic ice shelf showed no sign of higher temperatures despite fears of a thaw linked to global warming that could bring higher world ocean levels, first tests showed on Monday. - 2010/01/16: TreeHugger: Monsanto Has Farmers Cornered
- 2010/01/15: Grist: Climate change and food culture — Drought drives Middle Eastern pepper farmers out of business, threatens prized heirloom chile
- 2010/01/13: CNBC: One in Eight Americans Receives Food Stamps
- 2010/01/12: UN: UN agency appoints Tunisian film star Ambassador against Hunger
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today appointed Tunisian film star Hend Sabry as an “Ambassador against Hunger” to help the agency fight hunger in developing countries around the world, especially in the Middle East region. - 2009/12/30: G&M: How much longer will our Chinese food be delivered?
If you think you’re eating local now, you haven’t tasted anything yet. Food and energy are intertwined at many levels, not the least of which starts right at the production stage. Behind the green facade of the farm gate lies one of the most energy-intensive industries in the world. From fertilizer to farm machinery, most modern agriculture is really about making hydrocarbons edible. No matter what the crop, the most important input is always energy — and it’s getting to be more so every day. Driven by ever greater fertilizer use and farm mechanization, energy represents half the cost of growing wheat (up from 30 per cent only a decade ago), and over 40 per cent of the cost of growing corn or sorghum. That should tell you right away that a world of rising energy costs translates directly into a world of rising food costs. And that’ll be even truer in the future. Arable land has not increased in over a decade and virtually every model of global warming predicts that it will in fact decrease. - 2010/01/11: UN: Sudan: UN agency warns of massive food deficit in southern region
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
- 2010/01/12: WFP: Yemen: Flour Ration Allows Displaced Families To Make Bread
- 2010/01/15: IRIN: Climate-proof food plants are coming
What if we could create a food plant that defied all those doomsday scenarios where extreme temperatures take us all to oblivion, and instead kept growing and fruiting regardless of whether it got very hot or very cold? - 2010/01/15: AlterNet: Why a Burger Should Cost $200
- 2010/01/15: PlanetArk: China Needs To Cut Use Of Chemical Fertilizers: Research
- 2010/01/13: DM:80B: GM Corn Leads to Organ Failure!? Not So Fast
- 2010/01/01: FF: Three Approved GMOs Linked to Organ Damage
- 2010/01/13: NakedCapitalism: Monsanto GM Corn Linked to Organ Damage in Animals
- 2010/01/12: Guardian(UK): Pick-your-own vegetables to replace flowers in high street
Climate change and food shortage issues prompt Lancashire town to consider growing edible crops in public - 2010/01/12: Eureka: Sunflower genome holds the promise of sustainable agriculture
- 2010/01/10: SolveClimate: Return to Small Farms Could Help Alleviate Social and Environmental Crises
- 2010/01/11: AlterNet: Michael Pollan’s New ‘Food Rules’: 64 Easy Steps to Better Health
Edzani faded in the South Indian and otherwise it was quiet:
- 2010/01/13: Eureka: NASA satellite sees Tropical Storm Edzani becoming extra-tropical
- 2010/01/12: NASA: NASA TRMM Satellite Sees Rainfall in Ebbing Edzani
- 2010/01/11: Eureka: Still safely at sea, Edzani now a tropical storm
As for the Monsoon:
- 2010/01/13: Eureka: Heat and moisture from Himalayas could be a key cause of the South Asian monsoon
Climate scientists offer revised view of what influences water source for billions of people Harvard climate scientists suggest that the Tibetan Plateau — thought to be the primary source of heat that drives the South Asian monsoon — may have far less of an effect than the Himalayas and other surrounding mountains. As the monsoon brings needed rainfall and water to billions of people each year, understanding its proper origin, especially in the context of global climate change, is crucial for the future sustainability of the region. - 2010/01/13: FuturePundit: Cheating On Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reports?
- 2010/01/13: RealClimate: Plass and the Surface Budget Fallacy
- 2010/01/12: TreeHugger: Germany Stands Up For Science – Maintains 40% by 2020 Emissions Reductions Pledge
And in the carbon & nitrogen cycles:
- 2010/01/13: CSM: Earth’s growing nitrogen threat
- 2010/01/11: PhysOrg: Oceans losing ability to absorb greenhouse gas
As for the temperature record:
- 2010/01/17: Wunderground: December 2009: 4th or 8th warmest December on record
- 2010/01/14: Grist: Past decade the hottest on record
- 2010/01/13: SciNow: 2009 Hottest Year on Record in Southern Hemisphere
- 2010/01/14: ClimateP: 2009 hottest year on record in Southern Hemisphere and tied for second globally
- 2010/01/14: TreeHugger: Past Decade the Hottest on Record
- 2010/01/12: NOAANews: U.S. December Wetter and Colder than Average — 2009 yearly precipitation and temperature above average
- 2010/01/12: PhysOrg: Australian city’s hottest night in 108 years
The Australian city of Melbourne has sweltered through its hottest night since 1902, with temperatures topping 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit), meteorologists said Tuesday. - 2010/01/12: PhysOrg: New research sheds light on Earth’s coldest temperatures
- 2010/01/11: TS:QuarkSoup: December Was 7th Warmest of the Past 31 Years
- 2010/01/11: USAToday: Report: 2009 was a warm year in USA
Despite an unusually chilly year in the Midwest, the national U.S. temperature was slightly above average in 2009, according to the National Climatic Data Center. This marked the 13th consecutive year the nation experienced a warmer-than-normal average temperature. Since the late 1980s, 21 of the last 24 years have been unusually warm in the USA. Beginning in late 1800s, when accurate weather records began, the country has been warming at a rate of about 0.1 degree per decade, according to the climate center. Overall, the nation measured 53.1 degrees for the year, which ranked it as the 35-warmest year on record. The long-term average is 52.8 degrees. The climate center reported that while much of the central Plains and Midwest had below-normal temperatures in 2009, the coolness there was counterbalanced by above-average readings in parts of the South, Southwest and West. - 2010/01/12: BBerg: Melbourne Swelters Through Hottest Night in a Century
Residents of Melbourne sweltered through the hottest night in more than a century as warm winds swept the city in Australia’s southeast, straining air conditioners and sending crowds to area beaches for relief. Temperatures in Australia’s second-most populous city soared to as high as 43.6 degrees Celsius (110.5 degrees Fahrenheit) yesterday, remaining above 30 degrees Celsius throughout the night. - 2010/01/14: Eureka: Much of the early methane rise can be attributed to the spreading of northern peatlands [5 kya]
- 2010/01/12: PhysOrg: Underground gases tell the story of ice ages — and America’s split jet stream
Deep underground aquifers in the American Southwest contain gases that tell of the region’s ancient climate, and support a growing consensus that the jet stream over North America was once split in two. - 2010/01/12: Springer: Stable climate and plant domestication linked — New study argues climate change was not responsible for the Agricultural Revolution
While on the ENSO front:
- 2010/01/11: EarthTimes: ‘El Nino’ leaves behind trail of destruction in Kenya
As for ocean currents:
- 2010/01/11: SciNow: Bering Strait’s Ups and Downs Alter Climate
- 2010/01/11: CSM: How the Bering Strait influences Earth’s climate
At 50 miles wide, the Bering Strait, which separates Alaska from Russia, hardly seems like a major player in Earth’s climate. But a new study in the journal Nature Geoscience concludes that this shallow strait between the North Pacific and the Arctic oceans has played a large role in climate fluctuations during recent ice ages. Depending on whether it’s closed or open, the strait dramatically changes the distribution of heat around the planet. When sea levels decline enough that water can no longer flow from the Pacific to the Arctic through the strait, the North Atlantic responds by growing warmer. That warmth is strong enough to melt ice sheets and temporarily reverse the glaciation of the Northern Hemisphere. - 2010/01/15: Eureka: GOES-P spacecraft being processed in Florida
- 2010/01/14: Spacemart: Europe offers space station as platform for climate science
- 2010/01/14: SWRI: NASA’s Rosetta “Alice” spectrometer reveals Earth’s ultraviolet fingerprint in Earth flyby
- 2010/01/14: DeSmogBlog: The Real “Climategate” Story — Current Climate Satellites are Woefully Inadequate [CERES & DSCOVR]
- 2010/01/14: ESA: ESA’s ice mission [CryoSat-2] arrives safely at launch site [for launch on 25 February]
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2010/01/17: Guardian(UK): Ski property faces meltdown as global warming chills the market — Rental income will melt away if scientists are right about low-lying resorts in the Alps
- 2010/01/15: Eureka: Wilder weather exerts a stronger influence on biodiversity than steadily changing conditions
- 2010/01/15: PhysOrg: Wilder weather exerts a stronger influence on biodiversity than steadily changing conditions
- 2010/01/13: Guardian(UK): Exaggerating the impact of climate change on the spread of malaria
A recent press release from Dfid suggested that millions in Kenya are susceptible to malaria due to a rise in temperature. Simple analysis shows questions this claim. - 2010/01/13: TreeHugger: Butterflies Not Coping Well With Double Whammy of Climate Change and Habitat Loss
- 2010/01/12: PhysOrg: Migratory birds bear brunt of climate-charged weather
As global climate change fuels more frequent and intense hurricanes and droughts, migratory birds, especially those whose populations are already in decline, will bear the brunt of such climate-fueled weather, suggest a pair of new studies. - 2010/01/11: Eureka: Climate change and habitat destruction affect butterfly populations
And then there are the world’s forests:
- 2010/01/15: UNEP: Tree planting in Kenya’s Mau Complex signals new beginnings for a critical ecosystem
- 2010/01/13: TreeHugger: Ecuador’s Plan to Protect the Amazon Gets Deadline, Minister Resigns
- 2010/01/12: Grist: A fiery battle over land in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest
- 2010/01/12: Eureka: Northern forests do not benefit from lengthening growing season
Climate refugees are becoming an issue:
- 2010/01/17: BBC: Spain sees sharp drop in migrants
Spain says the number of migrants coming to the country by sea from Africa fell by almost half in 2009. Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said 7,285 such migrants arrived in Spain last year, compared with 13,425 in 2008. The number reaching the Canary Islands was the lowest in a decade, he said. Mr Rubalcaba attributed the change to security measures, repatriations and co-operation with African nations, and not to the recession in Europe. - 2010/01/16: CCurrents: The March Of Refugees
As for heatwaves and wild fires:
- 2010/01/12: SMH: Red alert in NSW as temperatures soar — NSW braces for fire danger
Sea levels are rising:
- 2010/01/16: CharlotteObserver: Sea rising along N.C., but how quickly? Accelerating upward creep could reshape the coast and endanger Outer Banks, scientists say.
- 2010/01/15: APP: Rising sea level bringing change to [New Jersey] coastal life — Flooding will increase from less severe storms
- 2010/01/16: HotTopic: Dealing with sea level rise: retreat, defend, or attack?
- 2010/01/15: TreeHugger: Get Ready for 7 Foot Sea Level Rise by 2100 + Antarctic Glacier Past Tipping Point
- 2010/01/15: BBC: Radical sea defence rethink urged
Rising sea levels and more storms could mean that parts of at-risk cities will need to be surrendered to protect homes and businesses, a report [Facing up to Rising Sea Levels] warns. The authors say that “radical thinking” is needed to develop sea defences that can cope with the future threats. About 10 million people in England and Wales live in flood risk areas. The project, launched on Friday, is a joint venture between the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). - 2010/01/15: BF: Facing Up to Rising Sea Levels — Retreat? Defend? Attack?
- 2010/01/15: Guardian(UK): British coastal cities threatened by rising sea ‘must transform themselves’
Hull and Portsmouth could be dramatically remodelled, suggests report [by the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Royal Institute of British Architects] - 2010/01/15: CBC: B.C. deluge brings flooding, water ban
- 2010/01/14: TCoE: Infonugget: Rising sea levels
- 2010/01/15: HotTopic: Seven feet high and rising
- 2010/01/13: PoAC: Experts at Philadelphia forum say prepare for sea-level rise on New Jersey coast
- 2010/01/14: Yale360: How High Will Seas Rise? Get Ready for Seven Feet
- 2010/01/10: Times(UK): Climate change experts [Stefan Rahmstorf & Jason Lowe] clash over sea-rise ‘apocalypse’
- 2010/01/11: KSJT: Sunday Times: Brit Met Office rejects a forecast for a six foot sealevel rise by 2100 as “incredibly unlikely”
- 2010/01/10: CCP: TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1 and Jason-2: Historical sea level changes over the last two decades, 3.3 +/- 0.4 mm per year
And speaking of floods & droughts:
- 2010/01/17: BBC: Thaw and rain leads to flooding
Melting snow, heavy rain and frozen ground have caused flooding in much of England, Scotland and Wales. There are no severe flood warnings in force in the UK. There are 21 flood warnings in England and two in Wales. - 2010/01/15: ABC(Au): Perth in the grip of a Big Dry
The Bureau of Meteorology says there has been no rain for 55 days and there are no signs of any on the horizon. - 2010/01/15: PlanetArk: Kenyan Flood Death Toll Rises To 38: Red Cross
- 2010/01/14: BBC: Thaw begins but flood fears rise
Temperatures have climbed above freezing across much of the UK, signalling the start of a thaw but giving rise to fears of flooding. - 2010/01/12: EarthTimes: Stars summit Kilimanjaro to highlight world water crisis
- 2010/01/12: CSM: Water conservation: Is it necessary in the Northeast?
- 2010/01/12: SMH: Floodwaters fail to stop drought’s creep across state
- 2010/01/11: CSM: Will drilling more wells in California help or hurt?
The government is spending $40 million in federal stimulus funds to pull water from underground aquifers in drought-stricken California, even as evidence is growing that the well-drilling boom could degrade the quality of water delivered to millions of residents. Farmers, conservationists and engineers are criticizing the Interior Department’s plan to spend taxpayer money on digging more wells, saying the approach risks marring the environment. Canals buckle, aquifers collapse and drinking water turns saltier due to so much pumping, and studies show that the state’s water supplies are dwindling. - 2010/01/11: EarthTimes: Flooding kills four in Indonesia’s East Java
- 2010/01/11: TCoE: got water (awareness)? — the energy/water nexus
Elsewhere on the mitigation front:
- 2010/01/13: FAO: Fighting climate change with grasslands — Vast potential seen in pastures
- 2010/01/13: UN: UN agency [FAO] highlights potential to fight climate change with grasslands
- 2010/01/13: Eureka: From the ancient Amazonian Indians: A modern weapon against global warming [biochar]
- 2010/01/13: CCurrents: The Ends And Means Of Climate Change Mitigation
Consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2010/01/16: Asahi: State calls for green tax on ships
The transport ministry, in a proposal Friday to a U.N. body, called for the introduction of a worldwide surcharge on fuel used by tankers, container ships and other ocean-going vessels to curb their carbon dioxide emissions. It suggested to the International Maritime Organization that the surcharge, a de facto environmental tax, could be levied on fuel oils of all ocean-going ships, estimated to number in excess of 50,000. Revenue from the surcharge would be pooled and managed as an international fund. The fund would be used for the research and development of “eco-ships” featuring solar, wind and other renewable power, as well as for helping developing countries combat global warming. - 2010/01/15: PhysOrg: A road map for greener transport
An Oxford University study says the best way to reduce emissions in the short term is a ‘drastic downscaling of both size and weight’ of conventional petrol and diesel cars. - 2010/01/13: OilDrum: Chinese Transportation Growth
- 2010/01/13: CalcRisk: Rail Traffic in 2009: Lowest since at least 1988
- 2010/01/13: Eureka: ‘Greenroads’ rates sustainable road projects
Road construction is a more than $80 billion annual industry in the United States. Yet nothing comparable to the LEED rating system for buildings, or the Energy Star system for appliances, exists for highways and roads. - 2010/01/13: BRitholtz: Traffic Trends of North American Rail Freight
- 2010/01/12: PhysOrg: China unveils ‘world’s fastest train link’
Last month China unveiled what it billed as the fastest rail link in the world — a train connecting the modern cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan at an average speed of 350 kilometres (217 miles) an hour. - 2010/01/12: PeakEnergy: China’s High-Speed-Rail Revolution
- 2010/01/11: TreeHugger: Carbon Free From Stem to Stern: B9 Shipping Runs on Wind, Biomass
- 2010/01/10: NBF: High Speed Rail in China Using Dedicated Lines
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2010/01/13: NYT:GreenInc: A Cement Giant Tackles its CO2 Emissions
- 2010/01/13: USAToday:GH: California approves toughest statewide green building code in U.S.
- 2010/01/12: USAToday:GH: Cash for saving energy? California considers this and first statewide green building code
As for carbon sequestration:
- 2010/01/14: SciDaily: Global Warming: Is Making Carbon ‘SAFE’ the Answer?
Mandating fossil fuel producers to sequester (bury) a steadily increasing fraction of the carbon they extract would be a simple, effective, and fair way of sharing out the pain of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a leading group of climate researchers. The concept, called SAFE (Sequestered Adequate Fraction of Extracted) carbon, is put forward by scientists from Oxford University and the University of Wyoming in a Commentary article published online today in a special issue of Nature Geoscience focusing on carbon sequestration. - 2010/01/11: PopMech: Basalt Vaults Could Store CO2 — And Turn it to Rock
With cap and trade legislation looming, carbon emissions seem on a track to becoming currency. But the problem lingers: Where to safely stash the vast amounts of carbon dioxide still pouring forth from coal-fired power plants? A new analysis suggests basalt formations off the east coast of the United States could store billions of tons of the greenhouse gas — and then transform it into rock. - 2010/01/11: PhysOrg: Figuring out where to put the carbon
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- 2010/01/12: Guardian(UK): Climate scientists convene global geo-engineering summit
Meeting in [Asilomar] California in March will discuss possible field trials of schemes that would tackle climate change by reflecting sunlight or fertilising the ocean with iron - 2010/01/15: DerSpiegel: Science vs. Global Warming — Can CO2 Catchers Combat Climate Change?
While nations bicker about who should cut greenhouse gas emissions and by how much, scientists are dreaming up their own solutions to global warming. A German professor [Klaus Lackner] has created a filter which extracts more than a thousand times more carbon dioxide from the air than a tree. - 2010/01/13: Telegraph(UK): Solar shield on agenda at climate summit
Emergency measures to slow global warming, such as a ‘solar shield’ to block the sun or artificial trees to soak up CO2, will be discussed at a ‘geo-engineering’ conference. - 2010/01/14: AGWObserver: Papers on the ocean carbon dioxide sink
- 2010/01/15: ACPD: Impact of brown and clear carbon on light absorption enhancement, single scatter albedo and absorption wavelength dependence of black carbon by D. A. Lack & C. D. Cappa
- 2010/01/15: ACPD: Anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing in Asia derived from regional models with atmospheric and aerosol data assimilation by C. E. Chung et al.
- 2010/01/15: ACPD: Enhancement of marine cloud albedo via controlled sea spray injections: a global model study of the influence of emission rates, microphysics and transport by H. Korhonen et al.
- 2010/01/15: TC: Reduced glacier sliding caused by persistent drainage from a subglacial lake by E. Magnússon et al.
- 2010/01/14: TCD: Monitoring ice shelf velocities from repeat MODIS and Landsat data — a method study on the Larsen C ice shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, and 10 other ice shelves around Antarctica by T. Haug et al.
- 2009/11/13: IOP:ERL: The impact of geoengineering aerosols on stratospheric temperature and ozone by P Heckendorn et al.
- 2010/01/15: Science: ($ummary) Catalyst Offers New Hope for Capturing CO2 on the Cheap by Robert F. Service
- 2010/01/11: ACPD: The effect of misleading surface temperature estimations on the sensible heat fluxes at a high Arctic site — the Arctic Turbulence Experiment 2006 on Svalbard (ARCTEX-2006) by J. Lüers & J. Bareiss
- 2010/01/11: ACP: Modeling of Saharan dust outbreaks over the Mediterranean by RegCM3: case studies by M. Santese et al.
- 2010/01/14: ACPD: Volcanic ash as fertiliser for the surface ocean by B. Langmann et al.
- 2010/01/13: RSPA: Stability of ice-sheet grounding lines by Richard F. Katz & M. Grae Worster
- 2010/01/13: TCD: Spatial and temporal variability of snow depth and SWE in a small mountain catchment by T. Grünewald et al.
- 2010/01/12: PNAS: Ocean acidification and marine trace gas emissions by Frances E. Hopkins et al.
- 2010/01/12: PNAS: Atmospheric CO2 concentrations during ancient greenhouse climates were similar to those predicted for A.D. 2100 by D. O. Breecker et al.
- 2010/01/12: PNAS: Precipitation extreme changes exceeding moisture content increases in MIROC and IPCC climate models by Masahiro Sugiyama et al.
- 2010/01/12: PNAS: [Commentary] Fossil soils constrain ancient climate sensitivity by Dana L. Royer
- 2009/12/10: BiolSci: A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health by Joël Spiroux de Vendômois et al.
And other significant documents:
- 2010/01/13: EnergyBulletin: [link to 13.4 meg odf] Report of the Bloomington Peak Oil Task Force: Redefining Prosperity: Energy Descent and Community Resilience
Before we get into politics, there was some science done:
- 2010/01/16: QD: Cosmic rays and everyday life
- 2010/01/16: TCoE: About that “Archer bonus” [that we’re granting ourselves by artificially limiting our vision to what happens up to the year 2100]
- 2010/01/16: PeakEnergy: A New Way to Make Useful Chemicals from CO2?
- 2010/01/15: JEB: Reliability of the IPCC AR4 (CMIP3) ensemble
- 2010/01/14: NatureN: Pollutants plucked from air with copper
Fortuitous catalyst discovery offers a new way to suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
[…]
Still, the system is far from being a practical method of cleaning CO2 from the air to combat global warming. “The efficiency of the compound is not good enough,” says Bouwman. So far her team has cycled the system just six times in seven hours — and that rate is only achieved in pure CO2 in the laboratory, not in air. An efficient catalyst needs to be capable of tens of thousands of cycles an hour, [Elisabeth] Bouwman [at Leiden University in the Netherlands] says. - 2010/01/14: NewScientist: CO2 in the air could be green fuel feedstock [methanol]
- 2010/01/13: Tamino: Models
- 2010/01/11: APSmith: Peer review failures – another example?
- 2010/01/10: RealClimate: L&C, GRL, comments on peer review and peer-reviewed comments
- 2010/01/11: BBC: Science must end climate confusion
Climate scientists need to take more responsibility about how their work is presented to the public, suggests the Met Office’s Richard Betts. In this week’s Green Room, he says it is vital to prevent climate science being misunderstood or misused. - 2010/01/11: CCC: All-Python ccc-gistemp release
- 2010/01/12: BCLSB: GISSTEMP In Clear
- 2010/01/10: CC&G: RClimate Script Introduction
- EdGCM, a research-grade Global Climate Model (GCM)
- CCC: Clear Climate Code
- OpenTemp — An Open Analysis of the Historical Temperature Record
James Hansen, redux:
- 2010/01/16: ClimateP: Hansen wants your feedback on “If It’s That Warm, How Come It’s So Damned Cold?”
- 2010/01/16: CSW: New Hansen analysis and global temperature data counter disinformers who say the planet is cooling
- 2010/01/13: SolveClimate: The People vs. Cap-and-Tax by James Hansen
- 2010/01/13: CCP: James Hansen: The People vs. Cap-and-Tax
- 2010/01/12: Guardian(UK): James Hansen rails against cap-and-trade plan in open letter
NASA scientist advocates using fee-and-dividend approach to reducing carbon emissions - 2010/01/15: DeSmogBlog: The Latest Smear Campaign Against Michael Mann
- 2010/01/11: KSJT: Phil. Inquirer: On ‘climategate’ and a long conversation with Michael Mann, the hockey-stick man who has more on his c.v. than that
Regarding Mojib Latif:
- 2010/01/15: IoD: Latif sets the record straight (again) on “several years of cooling”
- 2010/01/14: ClimateP: Dr. Mojib Latif sets the record straight on what his work says about global warming and what it doesn’t say about global cooling
- 2010/01/11: ClimateP: FoxNews, WattsUpWithThat push falsehood-filled Daily Mail article on global cooling that utterly misquotes, misrepresents work of Mojib Latif and NSIDC
- 2010/01/12: TCoE: More on Daily Mailgate
Honestly, the breadth and depth of the Daily Mail fiasco, and what it tells us about media in general, is almost hard to imagine happening except in some wretched piece of fiction. Now another UK paper, The Guardian, has taken the astonishing step of actually interviewing Mojib Latif, the scientist who had bizarre conclusions stuffed into his mouth by the Daily Mail. The Guardian better be careful — they’re committing Real Journalism here, and we certainly can’t have that. - 2010/01/12: NatureCF: UK press gets ‘Mr Global Warming’ [Mojib Latif] hot under the collar
- 2010/01/11: DeSmogBlog: Scientist [Mojib Latif] hits back at Daily Mail’s “global cooling” claim
- 2010/01/11: DeepClimate: Mojib Latif slams Daily Mail
- 2010/01/11: Guardian(UK): Leading climate scientist challenges Mail on Sunday’s use of his research
Mojib Latif denies his research supports theory that current cold weather undermines scientific consensus on global warming - 2010/01/11: TWTB: About that Daily Mail “mini ice age story”
The Pielke fan clubbe, alas:
- 2010/01/14: KlimaZwiebel: Three hypotheses [Pielke Sr]
- 2010/01/11: CCP: Buffalo Beast censors own article on climate villain Roger Pielke, Jr., well-known climate science obfuscator
- 2010/01/11: ERabett: Where’s Roger?
Regarding Lindzen:
- 2010/01/11: ClimateP: Lindzen debunked again: New scientific study finds his paper downplaying dangers of human-caused warming is “seriously in error”
Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:
- 2010/01/15: BizStd: ‘Kyoto is in intensive care’ [Jairam Ramesh, Environment Minister interview]
- 2010/01/11: Eureka: The Asia-Pacific Partnership and the Kyoto Protocols: In conflict or cooperation?
While at the UN:
- 2010/01/14: Guardian(UK): UN should be sidelined in future climate talks, says Obama official [Jonathan Pershing]
- 2010/01/12: PTI: Binding agreement on climate in UN priority list
UN chief Ban Ki-moon today said getting a binding agreement sealed on climate change was among his top priorities for the year after the Copenhagen conference that marked “an important step forward”. - 2010/01/12: TreeHugger: Barack Obama and the UNFCCC
- 2010/01/11: CSM: Kyoto to Copenhagen: Why UN’s glacial global warming talks need overhaul
And on the carbon trading front:
- 2010/01/15: PlanetArk: Forest CO2 Market In The Balance: Report
The global market for carbon offsets from planting trees and preserving forests, worth nearly $150 million to date, could stall without a U.S. climate bill or a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol, a report said on Thursday. “At the end of 2009, the market for forest carbon stands in an uncertain position on the verge of potentially enormous growth,” the State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2009 report said. - 2010/01/12: Reuters: Graft threatens Indonesia’s carbon offset billions: report
Billions of dollars set to flood into Indonesia under a U.N.-backed forest protection scheme are at risk because of graft unless the country puts strong oversight mechanisms in place, a report released on Tuesday warned. - 2010/01/12: SciAm: Graft threatens Indonesia’s carbon offset billions: report
Billions of dollars set to flood into Indonesia under a U.N.-backed forest … - 2010/01/11: Reuters: EU carbon prices up as cold weather snap continues
The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets, auction vs. allocation, and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:
- 2010/01/14: TreeHugger: Anything But a Carbon Tax! Psychology Reveals How to Better Price Pollution
- 2010/01/12: PhysOrg: You say offset, I say tax? Study suggests labels and political affiliation may affect preferences
- 2010/01/11: SolveClimate: Cap-and-Trade, California Style: Who Gets the Money? Economists Recommend Paying People Before Polluters
Meanwhile on the international political front:
- 2010/01/12: Grist: Copenhagen revealed a new dynamic between the U.S. and China
Among the world’s religions:
- 2010/01/16: TreeHugger: Faith Leaders Hold No-Fly Climate Summit
- 2010/01/15: ClimateP: Being Green and Muslim — Connecting Islam and Environmentalism
- 2010/01/11: Guardian(UK): Pope Benedict XVI denounces failure of world leaders at Copenhagen summit
Polls! We have polls!
- 2010/01/11: UNDispatch: Brookings Survey Shows Public View on Climate Change Mercurial at Best
- 2010/01/11: MongaBay: Canadians say climate change bigger threat than terrorism
- 2010/01/11: CanWest: Climate change bigger threat than terrorism: Poll
Canadians believe climate change poses a significantly bigger threat to the “vital interests” of this country over the next decade than international terrorism, a new poll suggests. While nearly half of those surveyed said climate change is a “critical threat,” only about one in four people said the same about international terrorism. A similar poll conducted in 2004 showed Canadians believed the two threats were about equal. The results come from a survey commissioned by the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute and conducted by the Innovative Research Group, Inc. between Dec. 22, 2009, and Jan. 4, 2010. - 2010/01/11: DeSmogBlog: Climate Change a Bigger Threat to Canadians than Terrorists
Regarding agriculture and global warming:
- 2010/01/13: CommonTragedies: Old McDonald hates climate legislation
- 2010/01/14: EarthTimes: Germany to press for farmers to fight global warming
- 2010/01/12: Reuters: U.S. farm group: Stop EPA on greenhouse gases
- 2010/01/12: MoJo: Ag Lobby Vows Even More Aggressive Fight Against Climate Bill
- 2010/01/11: DerSpiegel: German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner Interview — Debate on Farming and Climate ‘Must Be More Honest’
German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner insists that no emissions reduction targets should be set for the German agriculture sector. International Green Week begins in Berlin on Thursday and the German government is hosting the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture. Despite the fact that some farming adds to greenhouse gases, German agriculture minister Ilse Aigner says the sector will not be saddled with any emissions goals. - 2010/01/16: ClimateP: MA Senate candidate Scott Brown pushes anti-science nonsense, flip-flops on clean energy action
- 2010/01/15: BBerg: Soros Says U.S. Needs Carbon Cap to Unlock Clean-Energy Finance
A U.S. law to curb carbon emissions would spur billions of dollars of spending on green-energy projects in developing countries, billionaire George Soros said. - 2010/01/15: BizGreen: California toughens up biofuel standards
Domestic producers of corn-based ethanol warn new sustainability requirements will price them out of the market - 2010/01/13: TP: ‘Grassroots’ Opposition To Clean Energy Reform Bankrolled By Foreign Oil, Petro-Governments
- 2010/01/13: TreeHugger: California Mulls Cap-and-Dividend Program – Families Could Get $1000 Back Per Year
- 2010/01/13: TP:WR: Coming Back for Renewable Energy Thirds In Colorado
- 2010/01/11: LA Times:GS: California cap-and-trade: A political gamble?
- 2010/01/11: TreeHugger: California Might Auction 100 Percent of Emissions Credits
- 2010/01/11: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Another $1.5 Billion Cut?!? Governor Schwarzenegger Kicks Transit When It’s Down
- 2010/01/09: Missoulian: State lawmakers, business groups reject proposed greenhouse gas limits
A bipartisan legislative panel Friday voted to delay the creation of rules to regulate greenhouse gases as a pollutant in Montana, after a host of business interests objected to the initiative. - 2010/01/11: LA Times: Environmental groups try to block parts of California’s green building code
The Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council are among six groups waging a last-minute campaign to derail some of the rules, saying they aren’t tough enough. - 2010/01/15: MoJo: The New Storm Brewing On the Climate Front
With the cap and trade bill stalled, its foes move to block the Environmental Protection Agency from tackling greenhouse gases. - 2010/01/11: PRWatch: Energy Lobbyists Help Draft Polluter-Friendly Amendment
- 2010/01/15: ClimateP: Politico: “Lobbyists led meeting on Murkowski EPA amendment”
- 2010/01/15: NYT:CW: From Climate Bill Co-Sponsor to EPA Critic, Murkowski’s Motives Draw Scrutiny
- 2010/01/11: WaPo:PC: Murkowski and the lobbyists, cont.
- 2010/01/12: WaPo:PC: Murkowski and lobbyists, take three
- 2010/01/13: Grist: Polluter lobbyists, Senate staff: A murky relationship
At first it seemed like simply one bad idea from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). But now we know the real story — a tangled web of public officials, polluter lobbyists, and efforts to gut the Clean Air Act. - 2010/01/13: TP:WR: Lisa Says, Let Alaska Melt
- 2010/01/12: TheHill: Enviro group [Greenpeace] seeks ethics probe of Murkowski-lobbyist ties on EPA amendment
- 2010/01/13: BBerg: Gore Urges Senate to Defend EPA’s Power to Limit Greenhouse Gas
- 2010/01/12: USNWR: Chamber of Commerce Considering EPA Lawsuit — Tom Donohue says Congress should handle greenhouse gas regulation, not EPA
- 2010/01/12: TPMM: Bushies-Turned-Lobbyists Helped Murkowski Write Anti-Enviro Measure
- 2010/01/12: MiamiHerald: Lobbyists aided Alaska’s Murkowski in writing EPA limits bill
- 2010/01/12: ClimateP: Polluters work with Lisa “fiddle while Nome burns” Murkowski on amendment to thwart EPA GHG regulations that might help save her state
- 2010/01/11: NYT:GW: Small Businesses See Devil in Details of EPA Greenhouse Gas Rule
- 2010/01/11: Reuters: California wants EPA to slow down climate rules — Rules would bog down development of renewables-CEC
- 2010/01/11: DeSmogBlog: Murkowski Amendment To Protect Polluters Was Written By Dirty Polluter Lobbyists
- 2010/01/12: ADN: Lobbyists helped Murkowski write bill to limit EPA — Both men held top posts in the agency under Bush, D.C. newspaper reports.
Two lobbyists had a hand in writing language proposed by Sen. Lisa Murkowski that could curtail the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate major emitters of greenhouse gases. Their involvement, first reported Monday by The Washington Post, came at the request of a staffer on the Senate Energy and Environment Committee, where the Alaska senator is the top Republican. Both of the lobbyists, Jeff Holmstead and Roger Martella Jr., represent a number of high-profile energy clients. Both had top positions in the EPA during the Bush administration. Murkowski has led the charge against the EPA’s role in regulating greenhouse gas emissions, saying she has concerns about an executive branch agency, rather than Congress, writing such regulations. Her original amendment would have been attached to a spending bill and it would have prohibited the EPA for one year from spending any money on developing regulations for greenhouse gases. Her original amendment failed to move forward but Murkowski has continued to search for a way to keep the EPA from drawing up regulations for large emitters, such as power plants and manufacturers. - 2010/01/11: WaPo:CC: Murkowski and her lobbyist allies
That scientific report on mountaintop removal mining still grabbed attention:
- 2010/01/16: TreeHugger: New Scientific Concerns Beg for End to Mountaintop-Removal Coal Mining
- 2010/01/13: GreenGrok: Mountaintop Mining: Scientists, Government at Cross Purposes
- 2010/01/15: CSW: Condemnation of mountaintop removal coal mining: A good example of citizen-scientist action
- 2010/01/11: SolveClimate: The EPA, Science and Mountaintop Mining — Is Mining an Exception to the ‘Base Our Decisions on Science’ Rule?
The Obama chatter is nonstop:
- 2010/01/15: CSW: Revisiting Presidential Transition recommendations on climate change assessment and preparedness
- 2010/01/12: TreeHugger: Barack Obama and the UNFCCC
- 2010/01/12: Reuters: U.S. eyes new nuclear plants in climate battle
White House pleased with outcome of Copenhagen talks – Obama sees nuclear power as part of U.S. energy future - 2010/01/15: NYT: Geothermal Drilling Safeguards Imposed
The United States Energy Department, concerned about earthquake risk, will impose new safeguards on geothermal energy projects that drill deep into the Earth’s crust. The new policy is being instituted after a project in California that used the new technology was shut down by technical problems and encountered community opposition, federal documents indicate. - 2010/01/14: EnvFin: US government awards $2.3bn for clean energy manufacturing
- 2010/01/13: FP: The End of Magical Climate Thinking [N&S]
One year ago, America’s president said he was going to start a green-energy revolution. Here’s why the Obama administration failed — and what needs to come next. - 2010/01/15: KSJT: Foreign Policy: Time to show some spine on climate change [N&S]
- 2010/01/14: AutoBG: Obama administration shifting transportation priorities to include livibility, environment
- 2010/01/15: SolveClimate: Algae Emerges as DOE Feedstock of Choice for Biofuel 2.0 — Chu Pledges $80 Million for Algae R&D
- 2010/01/14: PlanetArk: U.S. Government Ditches Transportation Funding Limits
- 2010/01/13: AutoBG: U.S. Deparment of Energy gives out $80 million for advanced biofuels
- 2010/01/12: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Heavy Truck Efficiency Standards Can Make DOE Investment a Success for Jobs, Security and Environment
- 2010/01/12: TreeHugger: DOE Gives $115 Million for Development of Efficient ‘Super Trucks’
- 2010/01/12: Recharge: US decision awaited on 2010 cellulosic biofuels mandate
The biofuels industry expects a federal government review to conclude this month of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s lifecycle analysis for the proposed rule to implement expansion of the renewable fuels standard, or RFS2. - 2010/01/11: Guardian(UK): White House climate adviser [Carol Browner] offers hope after Copenhagen
- 2010/01/10: CSW: White House Science Office reactivating U.S. National Assessment of Climate Change
- 2010/01/11: Reuters: U.S. announces $187 million for fuel efficiency
- 2010/01/09: PVTech: Production stimulant: Of $2.3B in new U.S. manufacturing tax credits, solar firms score cool billion
As for what is going on in Congress:
- 2010/01/15: SolveClimate: Climate Advocates on the Defensive as Congress Returns
- 2010/01/15: ClimateP: Green talk vs. green action: Sen. Feinstein’s scuttling of solar, wind projects a baffling mistake
- 2010/01/14: ClimateP: Senate Majority Leader [Harry Reid] expects to pass bipartisan energy and climate bill this spring: It “may be the most important policy we will ever pass.”
- 2010/01/15: TreeHugger: Harry Reid: Expect Climate Bill to Pass this Spring
- 2010/01/15: TheHill: Inhofe: I’m the planet’s #1 worst enemy
- 2010/01/14: ClimateP: Reid aide: Carbon pollution cap remains in 2010 mix
- 2010/01/13: NewsWeek: Not in Anyone’s Backyard [Feinstein bill]
Protect the environment or create renewable energy? A new bill shows they’re far from the same thing - 2010/01/14: EnvFin: Renewables targets, ‘Green Bank’ likely if cap and trade fails
If climate legislation stalls in the US Congress this year, lawmakers will likely move forward with an energy bill that includes a federal renewable portfolio standard (RPS) and a ‘Green Bank’ to help finance renewable energy projects, according to law firm Van Ness Feldman’s 2010 outlook. - 2010/01/13: CSM: Want to help the environment and get cash back for cutting carbon emissions?
The Alaska dividends model is just one of several ways the 1,200-page Waxman-Markey climate change bill could be simplified and made more effective. - 2010/01/12: NYT:GW: Energy-Only Option Tests Senate’s Climate Bill Backers
- 2010/01/13: WSJ:EnvCap: Scrap-and-Trade: Would An Energy Bill Alone Do Any Good?
- 2010/01/11: WaInd: Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Flips, Would Now Vote Against Climate Bill
- 2010/01/10: ClimateP: The central question for 2010: Will anti-science ideologues be able to kill the bipartisan climate and clean energy jobs bill?
What are the lobbyists pushing?
- 2010/01/12: TEC: Impressive List of Supporters Ask Dr. John Holdren To Pay More Attention To Nuclear Energy Development and Deployment
- 2010/01/13: MTobis: Pro-Nuclear Petition
- 2010/01/12: NRDC:SwitchBoard: U.S. Chamber in 2010 Offers Little in the Way of Moderation on Climate Legislation
The American Farm Bureau is lobbying hard against the climate bill:
- 2010/01/13: CommonTragedies: Old McDonald hates climate legislation
- 2010/01/12: Reuters: U.S. farm group: Stop EPA on greenhouse gases
- 2010/01/12: MoJo: Ag Lobby Vows Even More Aggressive Fight Against Climate Bill
- 2010/01/11: Grist: From AFB with love: STFU — Industrial farming head just says ‘no’ to call for civility
For those of you wondering if we can have a more civil discourse over food and agriculture in this country, American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman has an answer for you: Fat chance! According to Stallman, the top challenge facing farmers isn’t the rising cost of seed, fertilizer, and pesticides. Or the alarming growth of superweeds (a new report says that over 50 percent of fields in Missouri harbor weeds resistant to the herbicide RoundUp, upon which the entire GMO production style is based). Or the threat posed by climate change, which could reduce U.S. grain yields substantially soon and by 80 percent within decades. No, the top challenge facing farmers is, and I quote, “the nonstop criticism of contemporary agriculture.” - 2010/01/11: Grist: Seeking sustainability, finding skeptics at the American Farm Bureau meeting
- 2010/01/10: Reuters: Largest U.S. farm group rallies against climate bill
While in the UK:
- 2010/01/16: BBC: Met Office rethink on forecasts
The UK Met Office is debating what to do with its long-term and seasonal forecasting after criticism for failing to predict extreme weather. - 2010/01/11: EurActiv: UK plans unprecedented offshore wind expansion
- 2010/01/12: Guardian(UK): A fair comparison of CO2 emissions requires a more detailed analysis
The diverse uses of public buildings make measuring efficiency a complex task - 2010/01/11: Guardian(UK): UK emissions cuts ‘meaningless’ without global deal, warn MPs
- 2010/01/11: Guardian(UK): Costs of managing nuclear risk slows construction of new power stations
- 2010/01/11: Reuters: UK should mull tougher CO2 goal: gov’t [Environmental Audit] committee
- 2010/01/11: BBerg: U.K. to Meet Carbon Goals Only Due to Recession, Lawmakers Say
The U.K. is only on track to meet its self-imposed greenhouse gas reduction targets because of the recession, a panel of lawmakers from the nation’s three main political parties said. The Environmental Audit Committee said Britain should step up efforts to reach an international agreement on capping emissions of heat-trapping gases and ensure they peak “as soon as possible.” The findings were published in a 51-page report in London today. - 2010/01/16: EarthTimes: EU seeks to gain clout in climate-change debate
- 2010/01/16: EarthTimes: EU countries disagree over emission cuts target
- 2010/01/16: EarthTimes: EU to seek binding climate change agreement after Copenhagen
- 2010/01/15: EarthTimes: EU climate chief nominee hopes for global deal despite Copenhagen
- 2010/01/14: EnvFin: Proposed ISO criteria get cool response from bioenergy sector
- 2010/01/15: EurActiv: Commission wants quick follow-up on Copenhagen
During an informal meeting of European energy and environment ministers in Seville, the European Commission will tomorrow (16 January) call for swift implementation by the EU of the Copenhagen Accord on climate change, urging other countries to follow suit and reach a legally-binding agreement in 2010, EurActiv has learned. - 2010/01/15: EUO: Hedegaard: EU must speak with one voice on climate
Europe risks again being sidelined, as in the final hours of the UN climate talks in December, unless the bloc speaks with one voice at future talks, the incoming climate commissioner warned on Friday (15 January). “There are very important lessons from Copenhagen. In the last hours, China, India, Russia, Japan each spoke with one voice, while Europe spoke with many different voices,” Denmark’s Connie Hedegaard, the presumptive new ‘climate action’ chief, told MEPs during her job hearing in the European Parliament. - 2010/01/14: EarthTimes: Germany to press for farmers to fight global warming
- 2010/01/12: EUO: Trade nominee attacks Chinese currency and [border] carbon tax idea
With MEPs on the lookout for overly vague responses during the ongoing European Parliamentary hearings, trade commissioner-designate Karel De Gucht was crystal clear on two matters on Tuesday (12 January). The Belgian politician candidly told euro deputies that he is not in favour of an EU border carbon tax, adding that he saw an undervalued Chinese currency as a “major problem” for the European Union. France has led European calls for an EU border tax on products manufactured in external countries with weaker environmental standards, but Mr De Gucht said the measure risked triggering an international trade war. - 2010/01/12: TreeHugger: Germany Stands Up For Science – Maintains 40% by 2020 Emissions Reductions Pledge
- 2010/01/11: Reuters: Germany sticking to ambitious CO2 target: adviser
Germany will stick to a more ambitious goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 even though the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen fell short of expectations, a government adviser said on Monday. - 2010/01/11: MongaBay: Saving biodiversity ‘on the same scale’ as climate change: German Chancellor
- 2010/01/10: PhysOrg: Spain begins to flood park with peat fire
Hoping to save a dried Spanish wetland from an underground peat fire, the government has unleashed floodwaters onto an expanse of the marsh now under threat due to past water mismanagement. - 2010/01/11: EarthTimes: Merkel: There is no alternative to binding emissions deal
In Germany a decision over feed-in tariff rates is coming up next week:
- 2010/01/15: Reuters: German [feed-in] tariff cuts to spark solar sector bloodbath
A potential deep cut in feed-in tariffs in Germany will hit solar companies around the world and increases pressure on large players to reduce exposure to the world’s largest photovoltaic market - 2010/01/15: Reuters: Germany’s BSW warns against double-digit FIT cut
A double-digit reduction in solar feed-in tariffs in the middle of 2010 would ruin many German firms and end Germany’s worldwide leadership in solar technology, Germany’s BSW solar industry association said on Friday. Carsten Koernig, managing director of the BSW solar industry lobby, told Reuters that a steep cut in 2010 beyond the scheduled 10 percent cut that took effect in January would likely end up knocking many German solar firms out of business. - 2010/01/13: Reuters: Germany moves toward trimming solar power incentives [feed-in tarifs]
Meanwhile in Australia:
- 2010/01/16: SMH: Carbon plan may break us: generator
The country’s largest single power generator, Macquarie Generation, has warned that its viability is threatened by the Federal Government’s proposed emissions trading scheme. Its concerns throw into doubt the State Government’s plans to privatise the power industry by selling electricity retailers and output from power generators. - 2010/01/16: ABC(Au): The Federal Government has accused Tony Abbott of walking away from his promise to release a detailed climate change policy
- 2010/01/15: ABC(Au): Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has defended his new environmental policies, saying they are just as important as action on climate change
- 2010/01/15: Reuters: Australia opposition opens election fight on climate
- 2010/01/14: ABC(Au): Eradicating camels ‘will cut emissions’
The Federal Opposition’s agriculture spokesman, John Cobb, says eliminating Australia’s feral camels would mean huge savings in carbon emissions. - 2010/01/15: ABC(Au): Abbott in play for Greens preferences
- 2010/01/15: ABC(Au): The Greens have backed two environmental initiatives raised by the Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott
- 2010/01/14: ABC(Au): Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has attacked the Federal Government on its environmental policies in his first major policy speech
- 2010/01/14: ABC(Au): Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has accused the Federal Government of being too focused on tackling climate change and neglecting other environmental problems
And in the Indian subcontinent:
- 2010/01/15: BizStd: ‘Kyoto is in intensive care’ [Jairam Ramesh, Environment Minister interview]
- 2010/01/13: TreeHugger: India Outlines First Phase of 22 GW National Solar Mission = 1.3 GW by 2013
- 2010/01/11: IndiaTimes: India plans 20,000 MW through solar power by 2022
And in China:
- 2010/01/12: ClimateP: China pursues the technology that will save humanity
- 2010/01/11: Grist: China powers the global green tech revolution
While in Japan:
- 2010/01/16: Asahi: State calls for green tax on ships
And elsewhere in Asia:
- 2010/01/15: JakartaPost: Indonesia ready for binding targets on emissions reduction
In Africa:
- 2010/01/15: PlanetArk: Kenya Plans Open-Ended Green Energy Fund: Government
And South America:
- 2010/01/13: BBerg: Venezuelans Face Blackouts as Opposition Sees Opening
Venezuela began rolling blackouts today that will continue for the next five months as the worst drought in 50 years threatens to shut the nation’s biggest hydroelectric plant and collapse the power grid. - 2010/01/13: Reuters: Ecuadorean minister resigns over Amazon project
Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Fander Falconi quit on Tuesday after President Rafael Correa criticized the way he was negotiating a project to protect the Amazon rainforest and set a June deadline to close the deal. “Falconi presented his resignation,” a government statement said. He had served as the Andean country’s chief diplomat since December 2008. Under Correa’s Yasuni initiative, OPEC-member Ecuador would leave 850 million barrels of oil, worth $6 billion, underground in its Amazon region as a contribution to countering climate change. In return for not extracting the oil, Ecuador is looking to donor countries to pay it $350 million a year. Falconi headed Ecuador’s effort to get international support for the initiative, but Correa said on Saturday the negotiations with donor nations were being handled “shamefully.” The president said the committee headed by Falconi was not tough enough in negotiations and potential donors such as Germany and Belgium were attempting to dictate terms. - 2010/01/12: PlanetArk: Brazil Cuts Ethanol Blend In Gasoline To 20 Pct
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
- 2010/01/17: CanWest: Greenpeace protest interrupts Ignatieff’s town hall in Vancouver
A group of Greenpeace activists interrupted a speech by Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff in Vancouver on Friday when several protesters stood up and began chanting loudly against his stance on Canada’s oilsands. - 2010/01/13: EmbassyMag: Oil and gas grab Prentice’s pre-Copenhagen attention — Minister met six times more industry representatives than environmental groups.
- 2010/01/12: APOV: Anti-Science Harper: Because Ignoring It Will Make It All Go Away
- 2010/01/11: CanWest: ‘It’s like a death watch’ — Environmentalists say Canada is dithering despite clear evidence showing many species in decline [polar bears]
Looks like Harper is up to his old tricks – defunding inconvenient voices:
- 2010/01/13: CBC: Canada’s Arctic researchers call for polar policy
Canada needs a national polar policy and better research co-ordination to effectively monitor the changing northern climate, says a Canadian Arctic researcher. John England of the University of Alberta, writing in the journal Nature this week, said Canadian scientists are finding it more difficult to get to remote Arctic regions to conduct their research. - 2010/01/14: CanWest: Arctic scientists frozen out — Cold cash; Glacier, polar bear studies waiting for federal funding
Ottawa’s bureaucracy is grounding critically important Arctic expeditions, says a top polar scientist. “Many northern researchers simply can’t afford to get where they need to go,” said earth scientist John England, at the University of Alberta, who is urging the Harper government to intervene. In a report in the high-profile British journal Nature today, he deplores the lack of support for researchers charting the transformation underway in Canada’s North, one of the most rapidly changing places on Earth. - 2010/01/13: Hullabaloos: Funding Only Drop in Bucket
[…]
One project listed to receive funding is the Bay of Fundy tidal energy demonstration. Alas, we heard about this (and I blogged on it!) last October. Same goes for the geothermal project in Yellowknife, the Senate heard about that one two years ago while on a trip to the North. The list can likely go on. Regrettably it seems as though the most renewable thing about this news release, is the re-release of information. - 2010/01/14: BCLSB: Elaine McCoy On Government’s Clean Energy Initiatives
- 2010/01/11: CBC: Con Mine geothermal plan nets federal funding
The City of Yellowknife’s proposal to harness geothermal heat from a defunct gold mine is slated to get at least $10 million from the federal government. The Con Mine geothermal project is one of 19 developments across Canada to be promised money Monday from the government’s $1-billion Clean Energy Fund. - 2010/01/13: MetroNews: Charest defends his greenhouse-gas position as Harper stands nearby
He was shoulder to shoulder with Stephen Harper on Tuesday but Premier Jean Charest stood firm in his public scolding of the prime minister last month for failing to back tougher targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “There’s not a single word I would change,” Charest said at a ceremony in eastern Quebec announcing funding for an environmental project. - 2010/01/12: Impolitical: Signs [Harper & Charest in Quebec]
- 2010/01/13: CanWest: Feisty Charest raps feds on emissions
Premier, PM announce biogas project; Quebec leader reiterates government’s pledge to make drastic cuts in greenhouse gases A joint announcement yesterday of a green-energy project by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Quebec Premier Jean Charest does not mean the two have reconciled their differences. In December, at the UN conference on climate change in Copenhagen, Charest openly criticized as too meek the Harper government’s goal to reduce Canada’s greenhouse-gas emissions from the internationally agreed reference year of 1990, by only three per cent by 2020. - 2010/01/12: Tyee: Mediacheck — A Yes Men Double Fake? Did shutting down activists’ fake website lead to another hoax?
- 2010/01/11: TStar: Geist: Ottawa pulls its own Internet hoax
Well, they let Wiebo go. What was this? A fishing expedition?
- 2010/01/11: CBC: RCMP end search at Ludwig’s Alberta compound
Anti-oilpatch activist Wiebo Ludwig speaks to reporters on the weekend. Police have been searching Ludwig’s property near Hythe, Alta., for evidence related to six EnCana gas pipeline bombings in northeastern B.C. Anti-oilpatch activist Wiebo Ludwig speaks to reporters on the weekend. Police have been searching Ludwig’s property near Hythe, Alta., for evidence related to six EnCana gas pipeline bombings in northeastern B.C. (CBC)The intense search of anti-oilpatch activist Wiebo Ludwig’s Alberta property has ended, RCMP announced Monday afternoon. “The RCMP has concluded the search of this property. A number of items have been seized and will be submitted for forensic assessment to determine their evidentiary value,” RCMP Insp. Tim Shields told reporters outside Ludwig’s Trickle Creek farm. Crown prosecutors in British Columbia will review the evidence and determine whether charges will be laid, Shields said. - 2010/01/11: CBC: Ludwig search could end soon
An intense search of anti-oilpatch activist Wiebo Ludwig’s Alberta property by RCMP could end by Monday. Police started searching Ludwig’s family compound near Hythe, Alta., on Friday. They’re looking for evidence related to six EnCana gas pipeline bombings in northeastern B.C. The five-day search warrant allows RCMP to go through the property until early Wednesday morning. - 2010/01/10: CBC: Ludwig talks of ’10-hour drilling’ by police
New Brunswick has been making energy news:
- 2010/01/12: CBC: N.B. premier promises control over energy future
Premier Shawn Graham is promising that New Brunswick will have a say in NB Power’s operations even after the province’s electrical utility is in Quebec’s hands. The New Brunswick and Quebec governments are still negotiating the final agreement that would see most of NB Power’s assets go to Hydro-Québec for $4.8 billion. - 2010/01/11: CBC: TransAlta expands N.B. wind farm
Calgary-based TransAlta will expand the capacity of its southeastern New Brunswick wind farm after securing a 25-year power purchase deal from the East Coast province. TransAlta operates a 96-megawatt wind farm in Kent Hills and under the new proposal, it will expand that site by an additional 54 megawatts, the company said Monday. The company estimates the capital costs for the expansion will hit $100 million. - 2010/01/10: Google:CP: N.B. premier threatens to sue Ottawa over nuclear power plant refurbishment
New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham has delivered an ultimatum to the federal government – cover the cost overruns on the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant or his government will sue Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. - 2010/01/17: OilDrum: The Avatar Movie and the Mining of Oil Sands
- 2010/01/15: Yahoo:AFP: Canada should consider slowing oil sands boom: official [Alberta Energy Minister Ron Liepert]
Canada should consider reining in development of its booming oil sands, the world’s second largest reserve behind Saudi Arabia, Alberta’s new energy minister said in an interview published Friday. - 2010/01/14: G&M: Alberta to study pace of oil sands growth — New Energy Minister [Ron Liepert] signals shift away from policies that favour development frenzy
- 2010/01/13: Guardian(Ca): Conference Board: don’t single out oilsands on greenhouse gas emissions
- 2010/01/12: CBC: Oilsands unfairly targeted: report — Vehicles produce more emissions, according to Environment Canada
Alberta’s oilsands are getting too much of the attention when it comes to the public debate about curbing Canada’s carbon emissions, a Conference Board of Canada study said Tuesday. - 2010/01/11: DeSmogBlog: Government of Canada’s Hidden Tar Sand Truths
As for miscellaneous Canadiana:
- 2010/01/13: CBC: Warm weather closes Vancouver Olympic ski venue
- 2010/01/11: CBC: Mild B.C. weather raising Olympic concerns — Warm rain shuts freestyle and snowboard venue
- 2010/01/11: MongaBay: Canadians say climate change bigger threat than terrorism
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
- 2010/01/14: EnergyBulletin: [WWI] 2010 State of the World – Transforming Cultures: From Consumerism to Sustainability (excerpt)
- 2010/01/14: EnergyBulletin: An invitation to think differently
- 2010/01/12: DemNow: Raj Patel on “The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy”
- 2010/01/12: Guardian(UK): US cult of greed is now a global environmental threat
- 2010/01/10: EnergyBulletin: Making society forecast-proof
As for how the media handles the science of climatology:
- 2010/01/15: ClimateP: Paging Neil Cavuto: UAH global satellite data has record WARMEST day for January
- 2010/01/16: AKWAG: The Wall Street Journal is Bad for Business
- 2010/01/14: CJR: BBC Trust to Review Science Coverage — Outlet’s “accuracy and impartiality” to be scrutinized following criticism
- 2010/01/14: ArsTechnica: Why is the news media comfortable with lying about science?
- 2010/01/15: MoD: Why is the news media comfortable with lying about science?
- 2010/01/15: KSJT: CJR Observatory: At BBC, the bosses gonna be eyeballing the science staff, seeking “impartiality, accuracy”
- 2010/01/14: ClimateP: WSJ shutters Environmental Capital blog; Revkin wonders “Green media bubble popping?”
- 2010/01/15: DM:CCM: “Blinded by Science: How ‘Balanced’ Coverage Lets the Scientific Fringe Hijack Reality”
- 2010/01/14: MediaMatters: [Cal] Thomas misrepresents climate science to claim “global warming is a falling doctrine” [cold snap & media]
- 2010/01/14: KSJT: UK Media swing to and fro on report we’re in for decades of global cooling
- 2010/01/11: DeSmogBlog: The truth is out there: And they’re trying to keep it out
- 2010/01/14: Stoat: Climate and Cancer
- 2010/01/13: KlimaZwiebel: Look Who’s Talking
- 2010/01/12: ClimateP: FoxNews’ Neil Cavuto still thinks winter chill disproves global warming; actual scientists disagree
- 2010/01/12: OilChange: “Its easier to defeat Hitler than Big Coal and Oil…”
Its not often now in journalism that someone tells you how it is and puts their neck on the line in no nonsense language. So good old Rolling Stone – the grandfather rock and roll mag that has a great article on how the oil and gas killed hopes of a climate deal in the US and with it Copenhagen. And then, undeterred they go on to list who they believe are the biggest “Climate Killers” in the US who are derailing climate change efforts. - 2010/01/11: KSJT: CJR, Yale Forum: On weathercasters, decline of enviro reporting, etc.
- 2010/01/11: KSJT: E&E On Point: Reporters say what they mean when it comes to DC politics and climate change
- 2010/01/11: DeSmogBlog: Climate Denier Rod Liddle Considered For Editor Position at The [UK] Independent
An interesting statistic, which I don’t much believe:
- 2010/01/11: TDC: 2009 climate coverage — Worldwide some 11,000 reporters wrote more than 32,400 stories on climate change in 2009, a 17 percent increase from 2008…
Regarding the quality of blogosphere discussion:
- 2010/01/15: MTobis: Luciagate
Here is something for your library:
- 2010/01/09: Guardian(UK): [Book Review] _Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto_ by Stewart Brand
- 2010/01/12: Archein: The Value of Nothing [Book Plug] _The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy_ by Raj Patel
- 2010/01/12: HotTopic: Ethics and climate action: we’re in this together
[Book Review] _World Ethics and Climate Change: From International to Global Justice_ by Paul Harris - 2010/01/16: Asymptotia: It’s a Feel-Good Movie! [The Road]
- 2010/01/10: ClimateP: A pretty good, but poorly titled, BBC video on weather vs. climate
- 2010/01/11: PlanetArk: “Garbage Dreams” A Green Success Story
Shortlisted for this year’s feature-documentary Oscar race, “Garbage Dreams” is poised to benefit from the current passion for going green. This portrait of the Zaballeen, the “garbage people” who for years have handled the mountains of trash produced by the city of Cairo, is an evocative examination of the clash between tradition and modernism in the handling of an age-old problem. For decades, Cairo has not had organized sanitation service, relying instead on the Zaballeen, who garner their income not from the city but rather from recycling. Based in a nearby village, they have a “green” record that modern societies can only envy, reportedly recycling about 80% of the garbage they collect. - 2010/01/10: ClimateSight: [5] CCC Movies!
Meanwhile among the ‘Sue the Bastards!’ contingent:
- 2010/01/15: StarTrib: North Dakota vs. Minnesota: Dust-up over carbon
North Dakota is none too pleased with Minnesota as a deadline nears for what North Dakota claims will be a tax on coal-fired electricity. - 2010/01/14: WarmingLaw: A New Preemption Lawsuit? Groups Challenge California Low-Carbon Fuel Standard
A coalition of bio-fuel producers has filed a federal lawsuit against California, alleging that the state’s newly-adopted “low carbon fuel standard” is unconstitutional because it is preempted by federal law and violates the so-called “dormant Commerce Clause.” - 2010/01/12: Reuters: Pacific islanders bid to stop Czech coal plant [courts]
A small pacific island state’s challenge to a Czech coal-fired power plant extension some 6,000 km away on grounds it could harm its environment could open a new front in the fight over global climate change. Micronesia has filed a plea with the Czech environment ministry using a measure designed originally to settle disputes between near neighbors but which could spur others to do the same when opposing power plants, environmental advocates said. “This is part of a new phase in environmental law,” said Tim Malloch, a climate and energy lawyer at London-based ClientEarth. - 2010/01/15: NYT: Geothermal Drilling Safeguards Imposed
- 2010/01/16: TreeHugger: Let The Electric Bill Outrage Begin: As Two-Month Cold Snap Overlaps Disappearing Utility Rate Cap
- 2009/12/09: RFF: Report Finds New U.S. Gas Supplies a Bridge to Low-Carbon Future, But Only When Combined with Climate Policies
- 2010/01/15: PeakEnergy: Taking distributed energy seriously
- 2010/01/14: WSJ:EnvCap: Who’s Afraid of a Clean-Energy Future?
- 2010/01/13: NYT: Forget Wind. Pickens Turns Focus to Gas
- 2010/01/13: NYT:GreenInc: Producing ‘Green’ Natural Gas in Canada [by 2013]?
- 2010/01/14: TreeHugger: Pickens Plan Putters Out – Cheap Natural Gas + Lack of Transmission Pull Pampa’s Plug
- 2010/01/14: WSJ:EnvCap: Boiling Point: High Hopes for Geothermal Energy
- 2010/01/14: BBC: Hydro scheme awarded major prize
A UK scheme to generate power from mountain streams is one of three winners of a £1m prize for saving carbon emissions at the local level. The prize is awarded by the lottery-funded body Nesta, which encourages innovation in the UK. The Green Valleys project in Wales’ Brecon Beacons currently generates power from 10 wild mountain streams. The eventual aim of the venture is to make the Brecon area a net exporter of electricity. - 2010/01/12: WoodHeat: Wood Heating and Energy Literacy
- 2010/01/13: OilDrum: Oil Demand Seems to be Moving Up – Are Higher Prices around the Corner?
- 2010/01/12: Guardian(UK): We need new energy governance
Globally, our systems are flawed. Better internationally agreed rules are essential for our economies and environment - 2010/01/12: PhysOrg: 1,000m underground central heating system planned
A pioneering scheme to build a giant central heating system that will harness heat from deep underground is being developed by university scientists. - 2010/01/10: NewScientist: Artificial leaf could make green hydrogen
- 2010/01/11: OilDrum: Jevons’ Law: Enforcing the Age of Energy Decline – Part 1
- 2010/01/11: PeakEnergy: Top Ten Energy Storage Stories of 2009
- 2010/01/11: WSJ:EnvCap: Gas Pains: The Problems with a Gas-Fired Bridge to Clean Energy
- 2010/01/11: BBC: China leads oil to 15-month high
Oil prices have continued their steady rise in 2010, hitting a fresh 15-month high of nearly $84 a barrel. US crude oil for February delivery was up 93 cents at $83.68 a barrel, after earlier touching $83.95 – the highest price since October 2008. The price of Brent crude also rose, adding 99 cents to $82.32 a barrel. The gains were mainly fuelled by positive economic news from China, which showed that demand for oil there had jumped by 25% in December. - 2010/01/15: Reuters: Texas wind plans advance despite Pickens retreat
A move by billionaire oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens to cut his order for wind turbines and to postpone construction of a huge wind farm in Texas isn’t a sign that the appetite for wind electricity in the state has diminished, a wind advocate said on Friday. - 2010/01/13: DallasNews: Pickens reduces order for wind turbines, puts Panhandle wind farm on hold
- 2010/01/11: BBerg: China Drops ‘70% Home-Made’ Rule for Wind Turbines
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2010/01/16: AlterNet: Solar Power Is Now an Option for Even the Most Cash-Strapped Suburbanites
- 2010/01/13: Grist: 2010 outlook for solar in California
- 2010/01/14: NYT:GreenInc: China Snaps Up California Solar Market
- 2010/01/13: TreeHugger: India Outlines First Phase of 22 GW National Solar Mission = 1.3 GW by 2013
- 2010/01/12: BBC: The solar cell that builds itself
Researchers have demonstrated a simple, cheap way to create self-assembling electronic devices using a property crucial to salad dressings. - 2010/01/11: PlanetArk: China’s Solarfun To Increase Capacity In 2010
On the coal front:
- 2010/01/13: SolveClimate: Kansas Coal Plant Back in the Bullseye — Sunflower Saga Revolves Around Health, Environment Dangers Posed by CO2
Sunflower Electric Corp. today submitted a revised permit application to build a new coal plant in Holcomb, Kan., reviving a long-running effort to break ground on a locally polluting facility that would send most of its electricity to customers out of state. The saga first drew national attention in 2007, when the head of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment rejected Sunflower’s air permit request, making history as the first state official to base the rejection in part on the potential dangers greenhouse gas emissions pose to human health and the environment. The legislature tried four times to get around the department, and four times it ran into vetoes from former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, now U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services. Her replacement brokered a deal a week after taking office. Sunflower’s plans are smaller now, but the plant is sure to become the focus of national attention yet again. - 2010/01/12: ClimateP: Despite EPA deal, Massey water violations more frequent
- 2010/01/12: TreeHugger: Forget Market Mechanisms, Why Don’t We Just Ban Coal?
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2010/01/14: EnvFin: Proposed ISO criteria get cool response from bioenergy sector
European bioenergy organisations have expressed concerns about plans by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for a new standard to address sustainability issues linked to bioenergy. - 2010/01/12: OilDrum: The Wheels Come Off the Biodiesel Wagon
- 2010/01/11: PhysOrg: Biodiesel industry on hold after tax credit runs out
The biodiesel industry is revving up efforts to reinstate the U.S. biodiesel tax credit, warning that as many as 23,000 jobs could be at risk if lawmakers don’t revive the program that expired at the beginning of 2010. - 2010/01/07: TruthOut: Energy Department, NRC Back Nuclear, Ignore Industry’s Dirty Little Secrets
- 2010/01/06: TruthOut: Meltdown, USA: Nuclear Drive Trumps Safety Risks and High Cost
- 2010/01/15: DerSpiegel: The Curse of Gorleben — Germany’s Endless Search for a Nuclear Waste Dump
Germany has been looking for a permanent storage site for its nuclear waste for over 30 years. The history of the Gorleben salt dome, a potential nuclear repository, is one full of deception and political maneuvering. And if opponents to the plans have their way, the search might even have to start again from scratch. - 2010/01/15: NPDaily: South Korea signs deal to build nuclear reactor in Jordan
- 2010/01/15: PressEurop: Salty nuclear waste nightmare
Germans are terrified of what they will find in an old mine at Asse near Hanover. The mine, which has been used to store 126,000 barrels of nuclear waste has been slowly filling up with salt water since 1988, and radioactive leaks have already been recorded. - 2010/01/15: BBC: Nuclear storage options examined
Nuclear waste could be stored permanently at up to four locations across Scotland, it has emerged. The Scottish government has launched a consultation exercise on the issue. - 2010/01/11: NZHerald: Fusion breakthrough a magic bullet for energy crisis?
To date, experimental fusion projects have largely been focused on generating intense heat so they can fuse, and containing the super hot gases from this reaction consumes most if not all of the energy being produced by the fusion reaction.
The University of Florida have taken a different tack, by putting hydrogen and boron fuel into an accelerator that fires them towards each other at incredibly high velocities. When the hydrogen and boron 11 atoms smash into each other, they fuse, producing fast moving helium nuclei whose motion is converted into electricity.
This new process is clean, highly efficient and most important of all, simple. The output of the new reactor is electricity with its by-product being the same helium gas used to make voices squeaky and party balloons float, so there’s no toxic radioactive waste to dispose of.
Initial calculations also show that this new type of fusion generation could produce clean electricity at similar levels but far more cheaply than oil or coal.
Because the reactor also operates using relatively simple engineering principles (especially compared to the current crop of fusion reactors), commercialising it is likely to involve significantly shorter time-frames than other fusion technologies. - 2010/01/13: PeakEnergy: Fusion breakthrough a magic bullet for energy crisis?
- 2010/01/13: BNC: From nuclear sceptic to convert
- 2010/01/11: SlashDot: Another Crumbling Reactor Springs a Tritium Leak
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
- 2010/01/16: EnergyBulletin: The Peak Oil Crisis: Gasoline Prices Revisited
More people are talking about the electrical grid:
- 2010/01/13: Guardian(UK): Scottish island of Eigg wins green energy prize — Hebridean islanders build renewable electricity grid
- 2010/01/13: SolveClimate: Smart Grid Manufacturers Struggle for Funding — Government and Private Investment is Flowing, but to Research Instead
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
- 2010/01/14: GreenGrok: Building a Better Light Bulb
- 2010/01/14: PhysOrg: NASA Technology to Enhance ‘Green’ Building’s Efficiency [with next-generation intelligent, automated, and integrated environmental monitoring and management capability]
- 2010/01/15: Fraunhofer: Making it easier to save energy [with programs that help show at a glance how much energy devices are consuming]
- 2010/01/12: CBC: Internet energy efficiency goal of green initiative
- 2010/01/11: SolveClimate: Bell Labs Launches Global Effort to Make Internet 1,000 Times Greener by 2015 — ‘Open Invitation’ to Entire ICT Industry to Join
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2010/01/16: AutoBG: Canada’s largest electric vehicle project? 50 Mitsubishi i-MiEVs in Boucherville
- 2010/01/15: Guardian(UK): Electric cars struggle to spark enthusiasm
All the big carmakers at the Detroit motor show had electrically powered and hybrid cars on display, but Americans still aren’t buying green vehicles - 2010/01/15: Times(UK): Car giants giving false hope of emission-free future, report says
- 2010/01/15: BBC: Tata Motors sees huge sales jump
Tata Motors says it sold 74,707 vehicles around the world in December, a rise of 84% from a year earlier. - 2010/01/15: BBC: European car sales up in December
European car sales rose by 16% in December, marking signs of recovery in the sector after another tough year. However, total sales for 2009 were down 1.6% on 2008, according to figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). Some countries with scrappage schemes saw rises in sales in 2009, including France and Germany. Sales in the UK were down 6.4% for the year as a whole, though December sales were up 39% compared with a year ago. A total of 14.5 million cars were sold across 28 European countries in 2009. - 2010/01/15: CBC: Car sales drop 6% in November [mom]
New-vehicle sales decreased to 124,764 units in November, down six per cent from the previous month, on weaker sales across all the provinces, Statistics Canada said Friday. - 2010/01/15: CBC: Mitsubishi testing [i-MiEV] electric cars in Quebec — Biggest Canadian pilot project
- 2010/01/14: PhysOrg: Smarter control of electric vehicle batteries
- 2010/01/14: PlanetArk: Carmakers Bet On Electric; See Early Hurdles
- 2010/01/13: TechRev: Tesla to Use High-Energy Batteries from Panasonic
- 2010/01/13: AutoBG: Toyota to deploy 100 fuel cell vehicles in U.S. demonstration program
- 2010/01/13: AutoBG: Surprise: Study finds electric cars a good fit for urban environments
- 2010/01/11: BBC: Detroit motor show goes electric
- 2010/01/11: BBC: China ‘overtakes US’ in car sales
China has said it overtook the United States to become the world’s biggest car and van market in 2009. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said 13.6 million vehicles were sold within the country last year. That compares with just over 10 million vehicles in the US, which was previously the world’s largest market. - 2010/01/15: PlanetArk: Climate Is Investment Chance Of A Lifetime: Deutsche [Bank]
- 2010/01/13: Telegraph(UK): Climate change: investors ignore it at your peril
There are three trends which are set to unfold which will have major impact on the global economy: climate change; water shortages; and changing demographics - 2010/01/15: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for January 15…
- 2010/01/14: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for January 14…
- 2010/01/12: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for January 12…
- 2010/01/11: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for January 11…
Other (weekly) lists:
- 2010/01/15: Grist: A Walk Through the Week’s Climate News — The Climate Post: The only good strategy is a dead strategy
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2010/01/17: HotTopic: Source for the goose: footnotes to history
- 2010/01/16: DeSmogBlog: The Disingenuous Environmentalist offers a solution with no funding model
- 2010/01/16: IJI: Judicial Watch watch
- 2010/01/16: PeakEnergy: Puzzle me this: climate change theory allows no ice age
- 2010/01/16: TCoE: Dust bunnies
- 2010/01/15: ERabett: Came up empty and got dissed
- 2010/01/15: ERabett: The GISS Email Dump
- 2010/01/15: TCoE: Infonugget: Lomborg strikes again
- 2010/01/15: BCLSB: Fraudulinking With Marc Morano
- 2010/01/14: BSD: Credible scientists don’t necessarily mean credible science
- 2010/01/14: ERabett: Numberology
- 2010/01/14: DeSmogBlog: The Skeptic John Coleman: Charming, Grandfatherly – and not the least credible
- 2010/01/14: MoD: Inadequate proof that AGW is bunk
- 2010/01/13: Grist: Climate Denial’s most famous fraud — 32000 scientists dispute global warming?
- 2010/01/14: Deltoid: Roy Spencer hides the increase
- 2010/01/14: OilChange: A Message from the Warmists…
- 2009/12/16: Lippard: Who are the climate change skeptics?
- 2010/01/02: D-HW: Top Ten Ways Climate Deniers are like Creationists
- 2010/01/03: D-HW: Reality has a well-known liberal bias
- 2010/01/13: D-HW: The Emperor finds your lack of faith disturbing . . .
- 2010/01/13: MTobis: OK Getting Serious Again …the nature of evil in the context of science
- 2010/01/13: MTobis: Fuller Wit — I don’t really want to follow Tom Fuller’s writing…but…
- 2010/01/13: Guardian(UK): Rightwing climate change deniers are all for free speech – when it suits them
Frank Furedi’s witchhunt comparsion exposes double standards when UK snow does not undermine global warming consensus - 2010/01/13: Guardian(UK): Monckton climate change lecture costs Australian sceptics $100,000
- 2010/01/12: DeSmogBlog: Massey Energy running attack ads against “tree hugging extremists”
- 2010/01/13: OilChange: Meet the Top Dozen “Climate Killers”
- 2010/01/12: DeSmogBlog: Tucker Carlson’s ‘Daily Caller’ Website Bankrolled by Climate Change Denier
- 2010/01/12: HotTopic: Follow the climate money? Well, they did…
- 2010/01/12: ClimateP: WattUpWithThat labels Australia’s government “retarded”
- 2010/01/11: ClimateP: FoxNews, WattsUpWithThat push falsehood-filled Daily Mail article on global cooling that utterly misquotes, misrepresents work of Mojib Latif and NSIDC
- 2010/01/05: TWM: Revisionaries — How a group of Texas conservatives is rewriting your kids’ textbooks
- 2010/01/12: DM:CCM: How the Texas Textbook Censors Got Onto Climate Change
- 2010/01/12: PeakEnergy: A Viscount Down Under
- 2010/01/12: OilChange: “Its easier to defeat Hitler than Big Coal and Oil…”
Its not often now in journalism that someone tells you how it is and puts their neck on the line in no nonsense language. So good old Rolling Stone – the grandfather rock and roll mag that has a great article on how the oil and gas killed hopes of a climate deal in the US and with it Copenhagen. And then, undeterred they go on to list who they believe are the biggest “Climate Killers” in the US who are derailing climate change efforts. - 2010/01/11: MTobis: Fullergate
- 2010/01/12: MoD: No we are not cooling, nor are we entering into a mini-ice age!
- 2010/01/11: Deltoid: The Australian’s War on Science 42
- 2010/01/10: BSD: The Europa science conspiracy is no climate science conspiracy
Meanwhile in the ‘clean coal’ saga:
- 2010/01/12: USGS: Contaminated House Dust Linked to Parking Lots with Coal Tar Sealant
- 2010/01/12: TreeHugger: GOP ‘Expert’ Witness Testifies that He’d Eat Coal Ash on Cereal (Video)
- 2010/01/11: ClimateP: Must-see video of coal industry witness: Go ahead and put some coal ash on your cereal!
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2010/01/11: FuturePundit: Appliance Rebate Increases Energy Usage?
- 2010/01/17: BNC: Hypocrisies of the antis
- 2010/01/15: MoD: An illustration of the climate change debate, part 2
- 2010/01/12: WarmingLaw: The Good News for 2010
- 2010/01/12: JQuiggin: A surprise invitation — I’ve just received an invitation from the Brisbane Institute to participate in a debate with Ian Plimer and Citizen Monckton
- 2010/01/12: IoD: Obstacle No. 64 to dealing with climate change: The cult of celebrity
- 2010/01/12: HuffPo: Pioneering Towns (Big and Small) Are Rushing to Kick Their Carbon Addiction
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- EdGCM, a research-grade Global Climate Model (GCM)
- CCC: Clear Climate Code
- OpenTemp — An Open Analysis of the Historical Temperature Record
- Climate Institute
- D-HW: Demon-Haunted World
- Wood Heat Organization
- AGWObserver: Anti-AGW papers debunked
- TEC: The Energy Collective
- Wiki: Aneutronic fusion
- FF: Food Freedom
- NOAA: Carbon Tracker
- CO2 Quota
- LCV: League of Conservation Voters – News
- EarthJustice: Environmental Law
There is still some Copenhagen chatter:
A United Nations Investors Climate Summit didn’t get much coverage:
And Evo Morales posted an invitation to the Alternative Climate Meeting in Cochabamba on April 20-22:
Rob Grumbine continues his gentle education series:
Ah, the plaintive cry:
As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:
While in Antarctica:
The food crisis is ongoing:
As for GHGs:
While in the paleoclimate:
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
Meanwhile in the journals:
Yippee! DIY science:
Regarding Michael Mann:
And on the American political front:
The Republican fight against possible EPA CO2 endangerment regulations continues:
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
Kerry-Boxer, Waxman-Markey or whatever — the future climate bill — defines a battleline:
And in Europe:
Looks like Harper is up to his old tricks – re-announcing:
Here is an interesting moment in Quebec-Ottawa relations:
Late coverage of the Yes Men:
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
And for your film & video enjoyment:
Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:
The answer my friend…:
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:
Low Key Plug
My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.
<regards>
P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.
“A simpler, more robust world is possible, and we would be wise to choose it before that simplification is forced upon us by circumstances that we may find exceedingly unpleasant.” -Kurt Cobb
A Few Things Illconsidered 